While the rest of the world's attention turns to the heatwave and climate change, Russia's war in Ukraine has continued to grind on.

After Putin's forces failed to take the capital early on in the invasion, which began in March, Russia is now focused on a slow campaign to conquer the east of the country.

During this time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has continued to call for aid from foreign countries, even making an appearance at Glastonbury Festival last month. One thing above all else he has asked for is weapons and artillery, namely the rocket system HIMARS.

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A truck with a missile launcher on the back of it, HIMARS can fire up to six guided rockets which have a high degree of precision, enabling Ukraine to make some effective targeted strikes at a range of about 50 miles.

This keeps it out of range of Russian artillery, meaning Ukraine has been able to slow down Russia's advance despite being outnumbered and outgunned. Russian sources have even claimed that HIMARS strikes were able to wipe out the leaders of the Russian 106th Airborne and 20th Mobilized Rifle Divisions.

The weapons have even inspired pop songs, merchandise, memes on social media since the USA began sending them to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy has praised the guns, saying in a speech this month: "Finally it is felt that the Western artillery⁠—the weapons we received from our partners⁠—started working very powerfully. Its accuracy is exactly as needed.

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Zelenskiy continued: "Our defenders inflict very noticeable strikes on depots and other spots that are important for the logistics of the occupier[…] The losses of the [Russian] occupiers will only increase every week, as will the difficulty of supplying them."

Earlier this month, Russia's President Vladimir Putin was reportedly left fuming after a Ukrainian HIMARS missile strike wiped out 12 senior Russian officers in the Kherson region.

Apparently Putin began looking for scapegoats for the attack, including among his own allies.

Former prime minister Mikhail Fradkov is rumoured to be facing the sack over the failure, as well as the director of a state-owned arms company.

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