Ukraine instensively uses HIMARS systems against Russia It is said to have hit ammunition depot in Donetsk - VIDEO

On July 5, the Ukrainian ministry of defence released footage of a rocket launcher firing from the middle of a highway somewhere in the Zaporizhzhia region, the rockets arching high into what looked like an early evening sky.

They did not say what they were firing at. But the same day, a massive strike was reported on the airbase at the occupied city of Melitopol - about 50 miles south of the Zaporizhzhia region frontline, The Telegraph informs. It was the latest in a series of deep precision strikes by Western weapons that Kyiv hoped could turn the tide of the war.

The United States has promised Ukraine eight M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems - HIMARS. At least four, including the one seen firing from Zaporizhzhia on July 5, arrived in the last week of June. The remainder is meant to arrive before the end of this month. It is a small number, but the HIMARS outrange and are more accurate than anything either the Ukrainians or the Russians use.

Kyiv hopes that could help erode Russia's most feared battlefield advantage. Russia is currently firing an estimated 20,000 artillery rounds a day compared to Ukraine's 6,000 rounds, according to Ukrainian officials cited in a recent report by the Royal United Services Institute.