A view shows a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is being fired in an undisclosed location, in Ukraine in this still image obtained from an undated social media video uploaded on June 24, 2022 via Pavlo Narozhnyy/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. REUTERS WAS NOT ABLE TO VERIFY THE LOCATION OR DATE THE VIDEO WAS FILMED. THE VIDEO SHOWS THE FIRING OF WHAT PURPORTS TO BE A HIGH MOBILITY ARTILLERY ROCKET SYSTEM (HIMARS). THE SHAPE OF THE WEAPON MATCHES FILE IMAGES OF THE ROCKET SYSTEM.

In the war against the Russian invaders, the Ukrainian military had long awaited the delivery of American multiple rocket launchers of the “Himars” type. The General Staff has now published a video on Twitter for the first time that is supposed to show the system in action. “These weapons are in good hands, dear Americans!” the message said. The authenticity of the recordings cannot be checked independently.

On Thursday, Ukraine confirmed that it had received “Himars” rocket launcher systems after German howitzers. “Summer will be hot for the Russian occupiers and for some of them the last,” Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov wrote on Twitter.

The 55-year-old thanked US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin personally “for these powerful tools” and published photos of the rocket launchers. According to US information, four systems were delivered, and four more are to be added.

Kyiv is to receive missiles with a range limited to around 80 kilometers for the systems. Technically, however, precision rockets with a range of 500 kilometers and thus reaching targets in the Russian hinterland are also possible. However, Washington initially refrained from doing so in order to avoid a further escalation of the war launched by the Kremlin at the end of February.