NATO Has a Problem: Russia Claims to Have Destroyed Warehouse Full of Harpoon Missiles

Russia Boasts of Destroying NATO-Supplied “Precision” Guided Missile Systems – According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Russian troops have used long-range air-launched missiles to destroy a warehouse housing Harpoon missiles supplied by the West. Russia’s news agency TASS also claimed that a missile launcher and a transport loading vehicle for a HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) were destroyed in an additional strike.

The news comes as Ukraine becomes more proficient in the use of NATO-standard weapons, including several HIMARS supplied by the United States in recent weeks. The high-precision missile systems have allowed Ukraine to conduct a number of longer-range strikes against Russian targets, including two Russian ammunition depots in the last week alone.

An additional eight HIMARS were sent to Ukraine from the United States last week, with an additional four on their way.

In a statement shared on Telegram, the Russian Ministry of Defense described the “significant losses in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” and claimed that “cases of desertion are growing.”

The statement also described how the Russian armed forces “continue to strike at military facilities on the territory of Ukraine.”

“Harpoon anti-ship missiles, transferred to Ukraine by NATO countries, were destroyed by high-precision long-range air-launched missiles in one of the buildings of an industrial enterprise in the city of Odessa,” it continues.

Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov of the Russian Ministry of Defense also commented on the strike, describing how “high-precision long-range air-launched missiles in one of the buildings of an industrial enterprise in the city of Odessa destroyed a storage warehouse for Harpoon anti-ship missiles transferred to Ukraine by NATO countries.”

“As a result of the strike on the deployment point of the 97th battalion of the 60th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the settlement of Novodanilovka, Zaporozhye region, up to 65 nationalists and over 10 units of special vehicles were destroyed,” Konashenkov.”

The strikes are a positive development for the Russian military, if reports due prove accurate, particularly following the recent “operational pause” and after several crippling strikes by Ukrainian forces using HIMARS.

The loss of Harpoon missiles is also bad news for Ukraine. One of the most successful and effective weapons in its class, the Harpoon missiles have been used by Ukrainian forces in several instances, which certainly made Russia take note. They are used by 30 armies all over the world, including Chile, India, Israel, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan.

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.