US to send more long-range rocket systems to Ukraine

And the European Commission called on EU members to slash demand for natural gas to relieve dependence on Russian energy.

Kherson’s Fabrika shopping mall, destroyed by Russian shelling. Picture: AFP

The US overnight Wednesday promised to send more precision rocket systems to Kyiv, after Moscow signalled it was aiming to seize more Ukrainian territory beyond the eastern industrial region of Donbas.

The announcement came as the European Commission called on EU members to slash demand for natural gas to relieve dependence on Russian energy, and the bloc agreed an embargo on Russian gold imports and froze assets of its largest bank, Sberbank.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington would send four more M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars), which have boosted Kyiv’s capabilities on the battlefield in recent weeks by allowing Ukrainian forces to hit Russian targets from long distances.

“Ukraine needs the firepower and the ammunition to withstand this barrage and to strike back,” said Mr Austin, adding that the new shipment would bring the total number of US Himars sent to Kyiv to 16.

Hours earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow’s military was no longer only focused on wresting control of the east Ukraine regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which have been partially controlled by pro-Moscow rebels for years. “The geography is different now. It is not only about the DNR and LNR, but also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhzhia region and a number of other territories,” he told state media.

On Tuesday, the US said Russia was “beginning to roll out a version of what you could call an annexation playbook” – citing the same areas mentioned by Mr Lavrov. Russian forces, since invading Ukraine on February 24, have steadily advanced into each of those regions, wreaking destruction as they captured key cities and met fierce resistance.

In recent weeks, they have also hit Ukrainian civilian targets in cities and towns far away from the frontline, leaving scores of civilians dead, in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called a terror campaign.

The steady progress of Russian troops in the east has come after Moscow’s forces failed early in the invasion to capture the capital Kyiv and were pushed back from Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv.

But Russian artillery has pursued an almost constant shelling campaign on Kharkiv, and strikes on Wednesday killed three people, including a 13-year-old boy.

While the brunt of recent fighting has focused on Donbas, a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south has slowly clawed back some Russian-held territory, thanks in large part to Western-supplied long-range artillery.

Mr Lavrov said Western arms deliveries to Ukraine had been a factor in Moscow’s decision to focus beyond the east and said its ambitions could expand even more if the shipments continued.

He also dismissed the idea of further peace talks, claiming that earlier rounds showed Kyiv was unwilling to negotiate in “earnest”.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations are nevertheless expected in Istanbul for more talks on unblocking Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped an agreement could be formulated “this week”.

Brussels asked EU members to reduce demand for natural gas by 15 per cent. Russia last year accounted for 40 per cent of EU’s imports. Mr Zelensky criticised those measures as inadequate: “Russia must pay a much higher price for this war, which would force it to seek peace.”

AFP