Ukraine's Defense Ministry said it had received the first shipment of an advanced M-270 missile launcher system, while Hungary criticized European sanctions on Russia, saying the EU "shot a bullet in the chest".

"The first shipment of the MLRS M-270 system has arrived. It will boost HIMARS missiles on the battlefield," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on his Twitter account on Friday. To the US missile system that Kyiv is now using against Moscow.

Minister Reznikov did not mention the name of the western country that provided his country with the new missile system, but Britain had said last month that it would deliver the said missile system, which has a range of 80 kilometers, to Ukraine.

Moscow does not stop warning Western countries against providing Kyiv with long-range weapons, and says that this will prolong the war that Moscow started against its western neighbor on February 24.

Ukraine's defense minister told the Financial Times that Ukraine's allies had sent military representatives to the country to monitor the flow of their donated arms, and that it was in his country's interest to keep all the military equipment provided by Western allies.


Reznikov added that Ukraine is using NATO software obtained in 2019, to monitor the direction and use of Western-supplied weapons that NATO allies have access to.

Vinnitsa attack

In a related context, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday that his country's forces targeted a military headquarters with "Kalibr" missiles on Thursday in the southwestern city of Vinnytsia, where a meeting was being held between the leadership of the Ukrainian Air Force and representatives of foreign arms suppliers. .

The Russian military spokesman added that the missile attack killed all participants in the meeting.

The city of Vinnytsia is located 250 km southwest of the capital Kyiv, far from the battle lines between the Ukrainian forces on the one hand and the Russian forces and the separatist forces on the other.

On the other hand, a US Defense Department official (Pentagon) rejected on Friday what Russia said about the missile attack on the city of Vinnytsia, which Ukraine said left 23 people dead, including children, and 29 missing and dozens wounded.

Part of the damage caused to a building in the city center of Vinnytsia as a result of Russian missile strikes (Anatolia)

"I have no indication that there is a military target in the vicinity," the Pentagon official said, on condition of anonymity, and added that Russia launched its attack on the city Thursday using a missile launched from a submarine.

The Ukrainian military reported that the Russian attack hit a building in the center of Vinnytsia that houses offices and small shops.

battle fronts

In the Dnipro region of central Ukraine, the Ukrainian Military Administration said that a Russian missile attack was launched on an industrial facility in the city of Dnipro on Friday evening, killing 3 people and wounding 15 others.

"The missiles hit a factory and a crowded street next to it," Dnipro Governor Valentin Ryzhnichenko said on his Facebook page.

The Ukrainian military said it had shot down 4 of the 6 missiles fired at the city of Dnipro and the Dnipro region in an evening attack.

In the Mykolaiv region in southeastern Ukraine, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that dozens of missiles fell on Friday in separate areas of the city.

Mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Senkevich stated that the Russian forces targeted the district today with 49 missile and artillery strikes, which fell on the shipbuilding complex in the city, in addition to schools and private buildings.

In Donetsk Province (east), Al-Jazeera correspondent reported, quoting Ukrainian medical sources, that two people were killed and about 10 others were injured, as a result of Russian bombing targeting the cities of Kramatorsk, Bakhmut and Slovyansk.

The reporter explained that the bombing hit the center of the city of Bakhmut and its main market, and a shell landed in front of the regional administration building in the center of the city of Kramatorsk. Donetsk.

In the Kharkiv province, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces targeted sites in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, leaving 200 Ukrainian soldiers dead.

political developments

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday criticized tough EU sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine.

In a radio statement, Orban called on EU leaders to modify their policy in this regard, and said, "I initially thought that we only fired a bullet in the foot, but the European economy shot in the chest and choked."

The Hungarian prime minister, whose country belongs to the European Union, added, "There are countries involved in the policy of sanctions, but Brussels (the Union) must admit that it was wrong, and that (the sanctions) did not achieve their goals and had side effects."

During a meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Czech Republic, European Commissioner Maros Sivkovic said on Friday that the European Union intends to target Russian gold exports in the next package of sanctions that it will impose on Moscow against the backdrop of Russia's war on Ukraine, according to what was decided by the G7 countries at the end of June. Past.