MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Kiev is seeking to do as much harm as possible to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) during the referendum on its accession to Russia, with a lot of drones and rockets, including those fired from US HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, intercepted over the republic’s territory, DPR’s head, Denis Pushilin, said on Sunday.
"Naturally, Kiev is seeking to do as much harm as possible. That is why our forces are taking exhaustive measures. Many drones and rockets, including those fired from HIMARS and Olkha multiple rocket launchers, and unmanned aerial vehicles have been intercepted over various cities and districts of the republic," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.
The M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) is a highly mobile multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) developed by Lockheed Martin. A launcher with six guides for firing 227-millimeter rockets or one guided operational-tactical ballistic missile of the ATACMS family (Army Tactical Missile System) is mounted on a five-tonne six-wheeled chassis created for a hole family of medium tactical vehicles (FMTV). More than 20 types of ammunition have been created for the system, their range, depending on the type, varying from 30 kilometers to 80 kilometers (in the MLRS mode) and up to 300 kilometers (when used in the capacity of an operational-tactical missile system).
The Olkha multiple rocket launch system was developed in Ukraine om the platform of the Soviet-era Smerch system. According to data from open sources, the Olkha system uses 300mm guided missile compatible with the Smerch system.