Dozens of 'foreign mercenaries' killed in Ukraine – Russia
Russia has claimed that its military has destroyed a number of high-value targets with “high-precision” strikes in Ukraine, including killing 90 “Polish mercenaries” in just one day.
On Thursday, the Defence Ministry’s telegram channel published a tally of the latest estimates. According to the post, “as a result of high-precision Russian Air Force strikes” in Zaporozhye Region, “five US-made MLRS and German-made MARS-II multiple launch rocket systems” were hit.
On top of that, in the Donetsk People’s Republic, “two US-made HIMARS units were destroyed,” the ministry added.
Elsewhere along the frontline, the Ukrainian military is said to have lost more than 200 personnel, a helicopter and multiple vehicles.
The US shipped the first HIMARS M142 units to Ukraine in June, followed by several more in the following months. A number of MLRS M270 systems, which are the track-based cousin of the HIMARS, have also been provided to Kiev. Germany has supplied MARS-II systems, which is a clone of the MLRS as well.
According to Ukrainian officials, the weapons, which have a longer range and higher precision than similar Soviet-made systems, have enabled the country’s military to hit Russian targets deep behind the frontline, including ammunition and fuel depots as well as bridges.
In late August, Ukraine’s defense ministry said it had more than 20 units of HIMARS, MLRS, and MARS. Four more HIMARS units arrived in the country in October, officials in Kiev revealed.
Meanwhile, the Russian military has claimed on multiple occasions that its forces have knocked out many of these Western weapons systems in Ukraine.
