NEW YORK, July 23. /TASS/. The current US deliveries of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine are not enough to change the situation drastically, the Wall Street Journal quoted Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky as saying.

"The Western supplies of HIMARS, while making a material difference, are much lower than what Ukraine needs to turn the tide," the paper quoted Zelensky as saying.

An even more urgent need, however, is air-defense systems, he added.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said on Thursday that by now, his country has delivered 12 HIMARS systems to Ukraine and trained over 200 Ukrainians to use them.

On June 1, Washington announced it would supply HIMARS systems and ammunition to Ukraine. The M142 HIMARS is a highly mobile multiple launch rocket system developed by the US-based defense technology corporation, Lockheed Martin. The launcher with six tubes of 227mm rockets or one ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) ballistic missile is mounted on a five-tonne six-wheel chassis of FMTV (Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle) transporters.

The launcher fires over 20 types of munitions with a strike range of 30 km to 80 km (for rockets) and 300 km and more (for a tactical missile). The system has been accepted for service in some countries, including the United States, Singapore, the UAE, Canada, Poland, Romania and Jordan.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation following a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow's plans did not include an occupation of Ukrainian territories, its goals being the demilitarization and denazification of the country. In response, the West began to gradually introduce sweeping sanctions against Moscow and to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev estimated at billions of dollars.