KHERSON, August 2. /TASS/. After the Kherson Region joins Russia, Kiev will stop its shelling attacks, Deputy Head of the regional Military-Civilian Administration Kirill Stremousov told TASS on Tuesday.

"As soon as the Kherson Region fully becomes a Russian Federation entity, any attack involving HIMARS systems, that is, US-made weapons, will be considered as a US attack on Russia’s sovereign territory, which may raise many questions in the US and EU establishment," he explained.

Spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate Vadim Skibitsky told the Telegraph newspaper earlier that Ukraine held consultations with the US before using HIMARS rocket systems, and Washington could stop potential attacks if it was unhappy with the intended target.

According to Stremousov, "Russia fully protects the liberated areas, not only the Kherson Region. Experience shows that Russian regions, namely the Belgorod Region, also come under attacks. These attacks are conducted by Nazis who don’t use HIMARS systems. If a HIMARS attack on Russia takes place, it would in fact mean World War III," he added.

Head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control Konstantin Gavrilov said on July 27 that the use of US multiple launch rocket systems and other long-range NATO weapons by the Ukrainian Armed Forces would have serious consequences. Chief of the Ukrainian presidential office Andrey Yermak announced on July 24 that following a meeting with Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky, US lawmakers had announced plans to deliver up to 30 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and multiple rocket launchers to Kiev.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. In response, the West imposed major sanctions on Russia. In addition, Western countries started to provide weapons and military equipment to Kiev.