Russia destroys US-made radar system, downs HIMARS missiles

Russian forces have destroyed a US-made radar system and advanced US-made missiles in eastern Ukraine.

In its daily briefing, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Friday that two High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and AN/MPQ-64 radar systems in use by Ukrainian forces were destroyed in the Donetsk region.

On Wednesday, the ministry said that Russian forces destroyed a German-supplied Gepard anti-aircraft system in use by Ukrainian forces in the Mykolaiv region.

The defense ministry also said it had shot down three Ukrainian warplanes in the Mykolaiv region, as well as seven HIMARS missiles in the neighboring Kherson region.

Russia has repeatedly warned that US and NATO shipments of weapons systems to Ukraine add fuel to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev and could bring unpredictable consequences.

In the meantime, Western countries pledged an additional $1.55 billion in aid to Ukraine's Kiev regime.

Moscow accuses Kiev of committing atrocities against the ethnic Russians in the two self-proclaimed breakaway Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Since the onset of Russia's special military operation in the Donbas in late February with the aim of “defending people who for eight years were suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime”, the United States and its European allies have poured billions of dollars worth of advanced weapons inside the ex-Soviet country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the more weapons arrive in the country, the longer the war will last.

“The more they pump weapons into Ukraine, the longer this conflict will last, and the longer the agony of the Nazi regime, which is supported by the Western capitals, will continue,” Lavrov warned.

SS