Russian Foreign Minister Serhiy Lavrov said that due to the supply of
long-range weapons to Ukraine, Russia changed the offensive's objectives on
Ukrainian territories, expanded the geography of hostilities, and decided not
to limit itself to the capture of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In
particular, he mentioned HIMARS, saying that because of this weapon, Russia
should "move away from the current line" of the front.
In fact, the fighting is currently taking place in those regions of Ukraine
that the Russian military attacked back in February-March 2022, except for the
Kyiv region. It's about Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions.
Therefore, theses about the "expansion of geography" through HIMARS
is a manipulation, which is part of the message that the supply of weapons by
the West seems to indicate the desire of Western countries to "continue
the war in Ukraine for their benefits." In this way, Russia tries to
demonize the "collective West" and present itself in a
"positive" context, saying that it is "defending itself, not
attacking."