Russia warns Ukraine against attacking Crimea with HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles

Europe, News June 22, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned that Ukraine is planning to attack Russian-controlled Crimea. Shoigu said that Kyiv plans to use Western-supplied weapons to carry out the large-scale attack in the Crimean Peninsula.

Russia’s highest military official and the country’s defense minister Sergei Shoigu said during the ministry board meeting on June 20, 2023, that he has been informed about Ukraine’s plot to deliver strikes on Russian territory, including Crimea, with U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets and UK-supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles.

Shoigu said, “According to our data, the leadership of the Ukrainian armed forces is planning to deliver strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation, including Crimea, with HIMARS [rockets] and Storm Shadow missiles.”

In his carefully chosen words, Shoigu stressed that “the use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centers in Ukraine.” Experts believe that Shoigu’s comment about “decision-making centers” were aimed to threaten the Western powers for their increasing military support for Ukraine.

Russia has been controlling the Crimean Peninsula since 2014 after its annexation. Russia considers Crimea to be outside of the scope of the so-called “special military operation” zone. Shoigu warned of a swift retaliation if the Western-supplied weapons are used outside the zone.

*^{The Lockheed Martin High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. (Image Credit: Lockheed Martin)}*

Kyiv, however, has a different stance on the status of Crimea in the ongoing war. Ukrainian forces are currently carrying out their much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russia to recapture the lost territories. Kyiv says that the counteroffensive is aimed to reclaim all the lost territories, including the Crimean Peninsula, which hosts Russia’s important naval base in the Black Sea.

In the latest development, Kyiv said that its forces recaptured eight villages in the early stages of its counter-offensive. Without revealing many details about the future strategy, Ukrainian defense officials have promised a “biggest blow” to Moscow that lay ahead.

Both sides have been claiming substantial success in recent times. During the high-level meeting of the Russian military leaders, Shoigu said that Ukraine has carried out 263 different attacks on the positions of Russian troops. “Thanks to the competent, selfless actions of our units, they were all repelled and the adversary did not achieve its goals,” he added.

Shoigu noted that the Ukrainian forces are carrying out frequent attacks in southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, engaging its elite NATO-trained units as well as Western-supplied weapons. Ukraine, however, provided no detail about the recent attacks.