Ukraine receives Harpoon anti-ship missiles, howitzers
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov says his country has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, arms that would be used to by forces fighting Russia's military operation.
"The coastal defense of our country will not only be strengthened by Harpoon missiles – they will be used by trained Ukrainian teams," Reznikov wrote on his Facebook page.
Harpoon shore-to-ship missiles would be operated alongside Ukrainian Neptune missiles to defend the coast, including the southern port of Odesa, he said.
Russia took control of the strategic northeastern town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine on Saturday and is progressing to Sievierodonetsk, the largest Donbas city held by Ukraine.
It has also captured most of Donbas, where the majority are Russian speakers with a proud Russian culture.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is hoping to outnumber the Russians both technologically and in numbers of artillery, relying on its western allies to support and fulfill their promises to regain back the Donbas area.
Reznikov said the Ukrainian army has received new heavy artillery pieces, including modified US made M109 self-propelled howitzers, which will give the Ukrainian military the ability to strike from longer distances.
Ukraine is also planning to secure deliveries of US-made long-range M270 multiple-rocket launchers (MLRS), a high-mobility automatic system that can fire up to 12 MLRS rockets in fewer than 60 seconds.
Ukraine president adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said late on Saturday that “the weapons we so desperately need will most likely be delivered soon” hoping that “if the allies in the West do not delay” the front till change in favor of Ukraine.
This comes as Ukrainian officials said earlier in the day that they will do “everything” to defend Donbas to prevent the eastern area from being surrounded by Russian forces.
Russia launched the military operation in Ukraine on February 24, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, collectively known as Donbas.
At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
Western countries have responded to the Russian offensive by backing Ukraine with cash and heavy weaponry while imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russian officials and entities.
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