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US furnishes Kiev with intelligence for HIMARS strikes on Donbass residents, says diplomat

The diplomat pointed out that the list of populated localities in the DPR, LPR and the Kherson Region suffering "from such barbaric bombardments" "can be updated daily"

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. Washington provided Kiev with intelligence data and sent instructors to Ukraine to direct precision strikes using HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) on Donbass residents, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

She stressed that the Ukrainian side continues massive bombardments of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) while "the shelling is selectively targeting residential blocks, stores, markets, healthcare facilities and other social facilities." "Ukraine’s armed formations widely used the HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems received from the United States of America and did so with the direct assistance of the Americans who not only provided the necessary intelligence data but also surreptitiously sent instructors who helped members of the Kiev regime ‘to point them in the right direction’," the diplomat noted.

"It is precisely the deliveries of these heavy armaments that caused a noticeable activation of the Ukrainian army’s artillery which, by all appearances, received an order from Kiev to use the aforementioned systems without any qualms against civilians," she added.

The diplomat pointed out that the list of populated localities in the DPR, LPR and the Kherson Region suffering "from such barbaric bombardments" "can be updated daily." According to Zakharova, the US "is more than satisfied" with this situation. "Otherwise, it is not possible to explain in any other way Washington’s intention, expressed on July 8, to deliver another four units of the HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems and their munitions and spare parts to Ukraine. About $2.7 bln have been earmarked for these purposes," she noted.

On June 1, Washington announced that they were providing Ukraine with a new $700-mln military aid package which would include the HIMARS MLRS and munitions.

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