“In the near future, Shostka is expected to receive long-range missile systems from the United States, with the help of which militants of the armed formations of Ukraine, on the orders of the SBU, plan to strike at the border territory of the Russian Federation directly from residential areas of the city,” he said at a briefing.
It is clarified that the purpose of the shelling is to provoke the Russian side into return fire and the subsequent accusation of the Russian Armed Forces of indiscriminate strikes on civilian infrastructure and civilians.
US President Joe Biden previously announced a new military aid package for Ukraine that includes HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Kyiv's demands to the West for the supply of multiple launch rocket systems are a direct provocation aimed at drawing other countries into the situation in Ukraine.
According to the Deputy head of the Pentagon, Colin Kohl, the US administration will consider any use by Kyiv of the HIMARS MLRS on the territory of Ukraine as defensive.