The separatists in eastern Ukraine announced - on Thursday - that they "seized" heavy US weapons from the Ukrainian forces, while Europe condemned what it called "screening camps" established by Moscow in Ukraine.

The Russian "Novosi" news agency quoted the leadership of the forces of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic loyal to Russia, that the first "Howitzer" cannon of the model "M777" (M777) caliber of 155 mm fell "booty" in the hands of its members recently.

The separatists showed a video clip containing various types of weapons, including a howitzer, without indicating the place and time of its filming, and it was not possible to verify the authenticity of the video from an independent source.

Zdobyta amerykańska 155-mm haubica M777 została zademonstrowana przez Milicję Ludową LPR.

pic.twitter.com/jXbm9VI3mk

— Michał Krupa (@MGKrupa) July 14, 2022

The self-propelled howitzer, which Washington announced to provide to Kiev with dozens of pieces, is of the lightest type without sacrificing its range or accuracy, which facilitates its deployment and transfer in different and changing locations.

Washington has equipped this gun with a Global Positioning System (GPS), which allows it to locate targets easily and accurately.

Russian bombing

Meanwhile, for the first time in weeks, Russian raids Thursday morning targeted the city of Vinnytsia, which is located hundreds of kilometers from the front lines of the battles in the east of the country, and this resulted in the deaths of more than 20 people, according to the Ukrainian authorities, while Kyiv called for the establishment of a court International to hold Russia accountable.

The Ukrainian military said that "3 missiles" targeted a parking lot and the commercial building in the city center, which contains offices and small companies.

Commenting on the bombing of Vinnitsa, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba vowed - in a tweet on Twitter - to prosecute those he described as Russian war criminals for every drop of Ukrainian blood and tear, describing what happened in the city as another Russian war crime, as he put it.


For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the bombing of the city and other Ukrainian cities, considering the daily targeting of civilians and the killing of Ukrainian children an act of terrorism and inhumane, as he put it.

The Ukrainian president published a video clip showing the moment of targeting the center of the city of Vinnytsia in the center of the country, while activists circulated on social media clips showing the extent of the destruction of buildings and cars as a result of the missile shelling with 3 missiles that hit the city at ten in the morning Thursday.

Over the course of several weeks, Russian strikes far from the front lines were relatively rare, but the war swept over areas such as the strategic port of Mykolaiv in the south and near the Black Sea.

Screening Camps

In the same regard, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed its "grave concern" over Moscow's treatment of Ukrainian civilians in what it called "screening camps" it has set up in Ukraine to identify people suspected of having ties to the Kyiv authorities, according to a report published Thursday.

According to the 115-page report, "according to witnesses," this mechanism "includes brutal interrogations and humiliating body searches."


The report added that "Ukrainians who have been evacuated from besieged cities such as the strategic port of Mariupol or those who leave the territories annexed by the Russian forces are forced to cross from these centers, and their personal data is recorded, their fingerprints are taken, and their identity papers are copied."

According to observers, the goal appears to be to determine if these people fought alongside Ukrainian forces or had links to the "Azov" battalion or the Ukrainian authorities, in which case "these people are separated from others and often simply disappear."

Russian accusations

In the opposite camp, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the United States is providing intelligence to Ukraine to bomb Donbass using "HIMARS" missile systems.

The spokeswoman added that the Baltic Sea will not become an inland sea for NATO after Finland and Sweden join the alliance, and issued a warning to Moldova against joining Western sanctions against Russia.

Commenting on the accusations of bombing the city of Vinnytsia, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian government's "Segodnya" media group, said - via the Telegram application - that the Russian army informed her that it had targeted "the officers' house where the nationalists were deployed."