The Ukrainian military plans to attack the Russian border area in the near future using long-range American missile systems.

Such data, with reference to reliable operational information, was reported by the head of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev.

According to him, the missile systems are planned to be placed in the residential area of ​​the city of Shostka, Sumy region.

“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.

Mizintsev stressed that by these actions, the Ukrainian radicals expect to provoke the Russian Armed Forces to return fire, in order to then accuse them of indiscriminate strikes on civilian infrastructure and the destruction of civilians.

It is noted that during this provocation it is also planned to involve Ukrainian and foreign journalists.

On Wednesday, June 1, US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of a new military assistance package to Ukraine, which includes the supply of HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) with ammunition.

“Today I am announcing a new significant assistance package, the purpose of which is to provide the Ukrainian armed forces with timely and critical support ... The new package will expand its capabilities and provide it with advanced weapons, including HIMARS complexes with ammunition for (use within. -

RT

) field combat so that it can defend its territory from Russian encroachment, ”the White House press service quotes Biden’s statement.

  • Joe Biden

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According to the Pentagon, as part of the new assistance package, in addition to HIMARS systems and ammunition, the United States will also supply Ukraine with four Mi-17 helicopters, a thousand Javelin anti-tank systems, 15 combat vehicles, five counter-battery radars, two air surveillance radars, 6 thousand units of anti-tank weapons, 15 thousand shells of 155 mm caliber, spare parts and other equipment.

The cost of supplies under the 11th package in the defense department was estimated at $700 million. The Pentagon informed that the total amount of military assistance allocated by Washington to Ukraine after Biden came to the White House amounted to about $5.3 billion.

"Pour oil on the fire"

It is worth noting that the key problem in the supply of HIMARS systems was the range of the MLRS.

The distance that this installation can strike depends on the ammunition used.

According to open sources, the maximum range reaches 500 km.

However, at the end of May, Joe Biden assured that the United States would not supply Ukraine with missile systems capable of delivering strikes on Russian territory.

On the eve of the announcement of a new assistance package, a high-ranking representative of the presidential administration specified during a briefing that the range of missiles supplied to Kyiv for the HIMARS MLRS would not exceed 80 km.

  • HIMARS installation

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  • © US Army/ZUMA Press Wire Service

In Kyiv, too, they hastened to assure that they did not intend to strike at the territory of Russia with the help of American weapons.

Such a statement, in particular, was made by President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with Newsmax TV channel.

At the same time, he added that Ukraine does not fight on the territory of the Russian Federation, although it is known that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have repeatedly shelled the border regions of Russia.

The fact that the Ukrainian authorities gave the United States guarantees to use these complexes only for "defensive purposes" was also reported at a special briefing at the Pentagon.

In turn, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken noted that Washington trusts Kyiv's promises.

In Moscow, the statements of the Ukrainian side are treated differently.

According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, Russia has no reason to trust the words of Zelensky.

“In order to be trusted, one must have experience of cases where promises were kept.

Unfortunately, there is no such experience at all,” he stressed.

The Kremlin spokesman recalled that Zelensky did not fulfill his campaign promises to end the war in Donbass and did nothing to implement the Minsk agreements.

“Therefore, we don’t have a special credit of trust in the Ukrainian side,” Peskov stated.

The presidential press secretary also said that Russia is taking the necessary measures to minimize the risks in the event that Ukraine receives American MLRS.

“Our competent departments and the Ministry of Defense, border guards see all the risks, they systematically assess them and take appropriate measures,” Peskov said.

He noted that the United States is purposefully fueling the conflict with its arms supplies.

“There is nothing new here, we believe that the United States is purposefully and diligently adding fuel to the fire.

The United States, obviously, really adheres to the line of fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian," Peskov stressed.

In his opinion, such a policy of Washington does not contribute to "awakening the desire of the Ukrainian leadership to resume peace negotiations." 

Involvement of the West 

In parallel with the announcement of a new package of American military assistance to Kyiv, the German authorities also became more active.

Speaking in the Bundestag on Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the German government intends to supply Kyiv with air defense systems using IRIS-T missiles.

As the Bild newspaper previously reported, these complexes could be deployed in Ukraine in November.

It is noted that the launch range of such a missile is 40 km, and the altitude of use is up to 20 km.

  • Supply of American weapons to Ukraine

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  • © US Marines Photo

Scholz also recalled that Germany would send 12 PzH 2000 howitzers to the Kyiv authorities. According to him, the Ukrainian military is now being trained to use them.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, is negotiating with the United States a plan to re-export to Ukraine the American-made M270 MLRS.

At the same time, the transfer of Western weapons to Kyiv takes place against the backdrop of constant demands from the Ukrainian authorities to increase supplies.

So, at the end of May, Aleksey Arestovich, an adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, threatened that Kyiv would give Washington an “exemplary hysteria” if it did not provide Ukraine with MLRS.

The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that in this way Kyiv is trying to involve third countries in the conflict.

“What the Kyiv regime categorically, in a businesslike way, demands from its Western patrons, goes beyond all limits of decency and diplomatic communication.

This is a direct provocation aimed at drawing the West into hostilities.

These risks are well understood by sane Western politicians, although not all of them.

In the European Union, especially in its northern part, there are politicians who are ready to go to this madness in order to satisfy their ambitions, ”said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a speech following a meeting of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

"Damage to the civilian population"

According to analysts, the assurances of Kyiv and Washington that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not use HIMARS systems for strikes on Russian territory cannot be trusted.

“The United States said that they would not supply missiles that could reach the territory of the Russian Federation, but at the same time, their specialists admit that Washington cannot track where the weapons sent to Kyiv end up.

And it can be located at any point of combat contact.

It is not certain that these missiles will be used against military targets.

It is quite possible that they will be launched at civilian facilities located not only in the DPR and LPR, but also in the border areas of the Russian Federation.

If this weapon has a range of over 300 km, then it can reach cities, ”said military expert Alexei Leonkov in an interview with RT.

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He also drew attention to the fact that the United States does not specify what type of ammunition they supply to Ukraine along with the MLRS.

At the same time, experts believe that the supply of HIMARS and other Western weapons will not be able to change the course of the special military operation.

“The supply of weapons does not allow to radically change the situation along the entire line of contact.

The only thing they are capable of is to inflict maximum damage on the civilian population and infrastructure, ”Leonkov emphasized.

Experts note that the US and the EU are pumping weapons into Ukraine in order to prolong the conflict in this country as much as possible and thus harm Russia.

“This will continue as long as there is someone in Ukraine to supply weapons.

The Americans are playing hard.

Their goal is to deplete the Russian Federation as a potential adversary.

The American strategy is to weaken and destabilize Russia as much as possible.

The fact that during this process Ukraine will turn into ruins does not bother them, ”said Alexei Podberezkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Research at MGIMO, to RT.

A similar opinion is shared by Alexei Leonkov.

“The United States is at war with Russia at the hands of the Ukrainians.

They not only pump them with weapons, but also provide them with intelligence information that allows the Ukrainian army to build its defenses and even make attempts to counterattack.

But, despite this help, the Ukrainian army is still losing.

And when they finally lose, the United States will leave them to their fate, ”concluded the expert.