The Pentagon said that all HIMARS in Ukraine are in service and continue to work actively
After the statement by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that our troops destroyed six HIMARS MLRS in Ukraine, the Pentagon hastened to refute this information. A spokesman for the US Department of Defense said that all American multiple rocket launchers are in service and are successfully used by Ukrainian soldiers at the front.
We are aware of the latest statements by Minister Shoigu, and they are again clearly false. Ukrainians use each of the considered missile systems with amazing accuracy and efficiency
- Pentagon spokesman Todd Bressail told Reuters categorically, adding that Russia never showed evidence of the destruction of American MLRS.
What evidence the Pentagon has is quite clear. The American military department itself has repeatedly stated that it has absolutely no control over the distribution of military assistance after it crosses the Ukrainian border. But at the same time, the US military has full confidence in the reports of Kyiv, which said "they have at their disposal up to a dozen HIMARS systems, the accuracy and range of which allowed Kyiv to reduce the Russian artillery advantage."
Curious is the definition of "up to a dozen", used by official Kyiv to count not some anti-tank systems or rifles, but entire rocket launchers, the cost of which is estimated at tens of millions of dollars, depending on the configuration. It turns out that the Ukrainian command itself does not really know how many HIMARS they have in service. What can we say about the veracity of the statements of the Pentagon.
The day before, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russian troops destroyed 33 American M777 howitzers, five Harpoon launchers, as well as six launchers and 200 HIMARS MLRS missiles.
Earlier, Europol issued a report stating that Ukraine has already turned into a large-scale market for smuggling Western weapons. Moreover, European police suspect that Ukrainians are selling weapons not only to the Middle East, Europe, but even to Russia. There were reports in the press that, according to unconfirmed reports, Ukraine sold several Caesar self-propelled guns to Russia and even the pride of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - the same MLRS "Haymars".
In Kyiv, they immediately refuted the Europol information and demanded evidence of the existence of a “black market” for weapons in Ukraine. What ended the dialogue on this topic between the Europeans and the Ukrainian authorities is still unknown.
Some Western journalists conducted their own investigation and found out that there are entire marketplaces on the darknet where you can buy light weapons, Javelin or NLAW anti-tank systems and much more at a reasonable price. Moreover, for an additional fee, weapons can be delivered from Ukraine, for example, to Poland.
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