MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military is ratcheting up its use of Czech-made multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) in its attacks on Donetsk because the Russia-Donbass allied forces have mostly wiped out enemy Soviet-era Grad rocket launchers, acting Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Head Denis Pushilin reported on Monday.
"At present, the enemy is very frequently employing Czech-made multiple launch rocket systems. This has made its mark, considering that we have mostly destroyed Grad launchers and our troops have ground them down," Pushilin said in a live broadcast on the Rossiya-24 TV Channel.
The Ukrainian troops continue bringing new armaments to Donbass’ most intense frontline areas and although Russian forces have destroyed some of the firing positions from which the Ukrainian military is shelling Donetsk, the city has not yet been fully secured against these bombardments, the acting DPR head said.
DPR People’s Militia Lieutenant-Colonel Andrey Bayevsky earlier explained that Czech rocket launchers were a longer-range modification of the Soviet-made Grad multiple launch rocket systems. These weapons carry rockets with a heavier high-explosive fragmentation warhead that enables them to fire from a greater distance of about 24 km, he clarified.
As the DPR people’s militia officer explained, these Czech-made rocket systems are also employed because the advance by Russian troops in Donbass has made the previous firing positions of the Ukrainian army unsafe and it has to look for more distant weapon emplacements.