The Russian military said that its forces destroyed the M-270 and M-142 KHIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems near the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, TASS reports.

“American-made M-270 and M-142 HIMARS anti-aircraft missile launchers were destroyed in the area of ​​the city of Kramatorsk of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said during a briefing on Thursday. his daily reports on the development of the “special military operation”.

He also reported on the destruction of three missile and ammunition warehouses of the Ukrainian military in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

This would be the first time that the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the destruction of the HIMARS systems after months of not mentioning the subject.

In early August of last year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu personally stated that Moscow forces had destroyed 6 HIMARS systems after their arrival in Ukraine on June 23.

Shoigu’s statement at the time was distinguished by the fact that he usually does not comment on the situation at the front, which rests on the shoulders of General Konashenkov.

In addition, this would mean that Russian forces managed to destroy half of the HIMARS systems that Ukraine had received up to that point, and Moscow could not demonstrate such a strike on video.

The Russians “forgot” about the HIMARS systems after an article appeared in the American press

Shoigu’s statement on August 2 came just a day after the Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of two more American-made multiple rocket launchers.

In July, Russia also said it had destroyed HIMARS systems, as Ukrainian forces quickly began using them to launch devastating attacks on logistics centers and ammunition depots of Russian forces.

However, reports of the destruction of some HIMARS systems came to an abrupt halt after The Washington Post reported on August 30 that the Russian military had used multimillion-dollar Kalibr missiles to fire at wooden decoys made by Ukrainians to resemble American missile launchers.

A U.S. diplomat told The Post on condition of anonymity that the mock strikes may partly explain why Russia’s Defense Ministry has reported the destruction of more HIMARS systems than Ukraine has ever received.

“After several weeks in the field, at least 10 Kalibr cruise missiles were fired on decoys, an initial success that allowed Ukraine to expand production of copies for wider use,” it said.

The cost of production of the Kalibr missile is estimated at 6.5 million dollars.

It is interesting that this time the spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense also did not say how many HIMARS complexes would be destroyed by his forces, limiting himself to stating that those near Kramatorsk were destroyed.

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