First response: Ukraine strikes Belgorod region after US authorization
After receiving permission from the United States on Friday to use their weapons to strike military targets in Russia, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched HIMARS missiles at the occupiers’ base in the Belgorod region of Russia the same night.
That night, the Ukrainian army aimed several of its HIMARS wheeled launchers at Belgorod, 30 kilometers north of the Russian-Ukrainian border.
“This is a welcome step that will now allow us to better protect Ukraine and Ukrainians from Russian terror and attempts to start a war,” Zelensky wrote.
Belgorod and nearby towns are the base of operations for the northern group of Russian army troops, which has been attacking Ukrainian border towns since May 10. The Russians’ goal is to break through the Ukrainian lines and advance toward Kharkiv.
In three weeks of fierce fighting, this group of Russian troops captured a string of border villages at great cost and turned the town of Vovchansk into a battlefield.