Harpoon missile. File photoWASHINGTON, May 26Two dozen Ukrainian soldiers are learning to use the Harpoon anti-ship systems provided to them by Denmark, a senior Pentagon official said. He added that the United States is participating in their training, which is taking place outside Ukraine.Denmark to hand over Harpoon missiles and launchers to Ukraine»We… are helping prepare Ukrainians to handle coastal defense missiles now that the Danes are going to hand over Harpoon, Harpoon launchers and vehicles… A little less than 20 Ukrainians are undergoing training right now,» he said at a briefing for journalists. The official added that 419 Ukrainian military have already been trained in handling M777 howitzers, another 20 are mastering Phoenix drones. Ukraine, according to him, received 85 of the 108 M777 howitzers allocated to it, nine out of 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 220 out of 300 Switchblade loitering munitions.The West has created a military titan in Ukraine that will destroy it. «We did not see any signs, and the Ukrainians did not tell us that the Russians managed to hit any Western equipment in various warehouses,» the source said. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
