HIMARS Key to Russian Forces Destruction, Ukraine's Success: Diplomat

Ukraine's former ambassador to Austria said Saturday the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) are the key behind Ukraine's success on the battlefield against Russia.

"American HIMARS keep destroying RU mil hardware. If it wasn't for them, RU mil hardware would be destroying Ukraine. It's this simple, really," the former diplomat, Olexander Scherba, said on Twitter.

Scherba also shared video footage of troops surrounded by rubble, walking in what appears to be a destroyed building, but the setting is unclear.

General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters this week that Ukrainians have used HIMARS to strike more than 400 targets during Russia's invasion.

The United States has so far sent the Eastern European country 16 HIMARS. American officials said Thursday that they would be providing more HIMARS ammunition, among other capabilities, to the country as part of a forthcoming $675 million security assistance package.

Ukraine has previously touted the effectiveness of HIMARS. Bohdan Dmytruk, a commander in Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade, told The Washington Post in July that the use of the weapons systems to strike a Russian ammunitions depot significantly decreased shelling.

"We have about one guy suffer a concussion every week now. Before the HIMARS hit, it was about two to three a day because of the intensity of the shelling," Dmytruk said.

The U.S. announcement of its latest aid package to Ukraine comes as Ukrainian troops are pushing to regain territory that has been occupied by Moscow in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions.

In recent days, video footage that appears to show Ukrainian soldiers liberating areas occupied by Russian troops have been shared on social media. CNN reported on Thursday that Ukrainian troops have so far taken back 1,000 square kilometers from the Russians.

According to the news outlet, a Ukrainian military spokesperson also said Friday that Ukrainian troops have "advanced on the enemy's positions from two to tens of kilometers in various areas. But we are not yet announcing the names of settlements and the directions in which we are successful."

On Saturday, Ukrainian military officials said troops had taken back the eastern city of Kupiansk in a counteroffensive. "Special forces of the SBU Special Forces A are in [Kupiansk], which was and always will be Ukrainian," Ukraine's security service tweeted. The news came after unverified reports that the city had been liberated.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian ministries of defense for comment.