LUHANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2022) Two civilians died after Ukrainian troops shelled the city of Alchevsk using the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), the Luhansk People's Republic's (LPR) mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination on the ceasefire regime (JCCC) said.
"As a result of the shelling of the city of Alchevsk from the US multiple launch rocket system M142 HIMARS (a total of 6 missiles), two civilians were killed, six multi-storey residential buildings, a bus and trolleybus depot and the sanatorium Druzhba were damaged," the LPR mission stated.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the United States had provided intelligence to Ukraine for shelling Donbas cities using HIMARS missiles. According to Zakharova, with the supply of such heavy arms, the artillery attacks of Ukraine's armed forces have become more active and it appears that Ukrainian troops have received an order from Kiev to use such systems against civilians without hesitation.
Last month, the United States committed 12 and delivered eight HIMARS systems to Ukraine. Pentagon policy chief Colin Kahl said on June 1 that the United States obtained the promise of the Ukrainian authorities, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, not to use the HIMARS against Russian territory. According to Russia's defense ministry, at least two HIMARS systems have been destroyed to date.
