Long-Range Artillery Delivered As Russian Lawmaker Called For Airstrikes On US Embassy

Deputy chairman Yury Shvytkin alongside other Putin allies has repeatedly made threatening bombastic threats around the war. A Russian lawmaker on Thursday called for airstrikes on the US Embassy in Kyiv after Ukraine received a new batch of American long-range artillery.

In an interview with the Russian news outlet Lenta.ru, Yury Shvytkin, the deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's defense committee, made the suggestion. 

He said that the US delivery of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine "emphasizes the step-by-step movement towards a third world war." 

"One must understand that we must react harshly. In my view, we should also react to those countries that are supplying weapons," Shvytkin told Lenta.ru. 

"The main center of decision-making is the US Embassy," Shvytkin continued. "My position is that we need to destroy the government quarter in Kyiv, we need to destroy the relevant points." 

"We will not stand by and watch this mess. While they slap us on the one cheek, we will not turn the other." 

He did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

Shvytkin does not have any power to order such a strike — the invasion is being run by President Vladimir Putin and his generals. 

But his words reflect a deep animosity in Russia to Ukraine's Western allies, which have slowed Russia's advance by providing advanced weaponry. 

Russian officials repeatedly warned that such deliveries would escalate the war, and even said they would consider Western forces helping deliver arms to be fair targets for an attack.

Embassies of third countries are generally considered not to be fair targets for attack. 

His comments come after Ukraine confirmed that it had received four HIMARS from the US on Thursday. 

"HIMARS have arrived to Ukraine. Thank you to my colleague and friend @SecDef Lloyd J. Austin III for these powerful tools! Summer will be hot for russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them," Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted Thursday. 

The US was initially reluctant to give Ukraine weapons that could reach beyond its own borders into Russia, but went ahead after Ukraine promised to limit their use. 

In response to Ukraine's assurance, Shvytkin told Lenta.ru: "This is the range that allows reaching the territory of our country. 

"Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sworn to the US that he will not launch strikes on Russian territory, we cannot trust him in any way." 

Last month, he warned that Finland and Sweden's decision to apply for NATO membership could move Russia closer to a "nuclear disaster."