Moment Ukraine uses US-made ATACMS rockets to blitz Russian military base deep inside occupied Luhansk in daring strike

5 months ago 8

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THIS is the moment Ukraine has used US-made ATACMS rockets to pelt a Russian military base.

A series of deadly missiles were launched at Putin-occupied Luhansk as deafening explosions rang out in the city, causing panic.

Ukraine launched a fearsome ATACMS multiple missile strike on Putin-occupied Luhansk[/caption]

The base pictured after the blistering attack[/caption]

The Kremlin appointed regime said 20 people were wounded, including a child, 8.[/caption]

The long-range rocket was caught in the video as it ripped through a tower block in the eastern Ukrainian city.

Plumes of smoke can be seen rising in the sky as debris and shattered glass are scattered along the streets of Luhansk.

A fire reportedly broke out after the air attack by up to eight US-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles, though some were downed by Russian air defences.

The Kremlin-appointed regime reported that 22 people, including an eight-year-old child, suffered injuries in the blitz.

They blamed Ukraine for bombarding a 16-storey residential building and a five-storey apartment complex.

But Ukrainian forces insist that their targets are military.

According to Russian media, the buildings collapsed, trapping citizens underneath the rubble.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel of Luhansk Andrey Marochko said there may be casualties as the search for victims continues.

Meanwhile, Russian news outlet Mash reported that three people were killed in the strike.

The head of the Luhansk Leonid Pasechnik told Lenta that the shelling of the region intensified after Ukraine received long-range weapons from the West.

He said: “Unfortunately, shelling of the Luhansk People’s Republic has really become more frequent recently. We attribute this to two points.

“Point one: Ukraine received more advanced weapons from Western European countries with a longer range, more modern, more effective, more accurate.”

Ukraine used the £800,000 missiles for the first time earlier this year in two blistering attacks on a military base in Crimea and on Russian forces in occupied Ukraine.

ATAMC rockets are fitted with a 500lb warhead and can reach targets 300km away in just five minutes.

The killer 2,300mph missiles give Ukraine nearly double the striking distance it had with the mid-range version of the weapon it received from the US last October.

The US has also been supplying HIMARS missiles to the front which were deployed to destroy Putin’s S300 launchers.

Dramatic footage showed the HIMARS blasting key military targets and reportedly obliterating up to three of Moscow‘s S300 rockets which the warmonger used in Kharkiv.

In response, the despot threatened to send his allies long-range missiles to counter the West’s decision to allow his enemies to use lethal weapons against his troops on the frontlines.

An ever paranoid Putin has vowed to send his own terrifying set of weapons to his own pals across Europe to scare off Nato allies.

The latest escalation of war could see tempers reach boiling point with Russia aiming weapons directly at Western powers.

The strikes came as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the French parliament in Paris, accusing Vladimir Putin of “genocide” and pleading for Western unity to defeat him.

He said: “We have never relied only on the power of weapons. We have always cared about diplomacy.

“Putin rejected a diplomatic solution by launching a full-scale war and choosing to try to commit genocide of Ukrainians instead of a dialogue with Ukraine.

“This is his choice. We need the unity of the world to overcome it.”