Ukrainian troops prepare to detonate unexploded Russian ammunition on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 1, 2022.
Highlight
- US and Germany pledge to equip Ukraine with some advanced weapons on June 1
- Germany said it would supply Ukraine with up-to-date anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems
- The US is trying to help Ukraine fight the Russians without starting a wide-ranging war in Europe
Russo-Ukraine War News Updates: The US and Germany on Wednesday (June 1) pledged to arm Ukraine with some advanced weapons it has long wanted to shoot down aircraft and destroy artillery, as Russian forces attack a major city in the east was closed to capture.
Germany said it would supply Ukraine with up-to-date anti-aircraft missile and radar systems, while the US announced it would provide four sophisticated, medium-range rocket systems and ammunition.
The US is trying to help Ukraine fight the Russians without starting a wide-ranging war in Europe. The Pentagon said it had received assurances that Ukraine would not launch new rockets into Russian territory.
The Kremlin accused the US of “adding fuel to the fire”.
Western weapons have been instrumental to Ukraine’s success in stopping Russia’s much larger and better equipped army, thwarting its attempt to attack the capital, and turning Moscow into the industrial Donbass region to the east. Compelled to.
But as Russia bombed cities in the east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly called for more and better weapons and accused the west of moving too slowly.
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrey Yermak, praised the new Western weapons.
“I am sure we will win if we get all the necessary weapons and strengthen the effective sanctions regime,” he said.
Retired French general Dominique Trinquand, a former premier of France, said the new weapons could help Ukraine establish and hold new lines of defense in the east by hitting back at Russian artillery pieces and limiting Russian air strikes. Military Mission in the United Nations.
“NATO countries – European countries and Americans – have progressively increased the means they are putting at the disposal of Ukraine, and in my opinion this increase is aimed at testing Russian borders,” he said. “Every time, they measure the Russian response, and since there is no reaction, they keep supplying increasingly effective and sophisticated weapons.”
What did military analysts say in this regard?
Military analysts say Russia is hoping to overcome the Donbass before any weapons can turn the tide. The Pentagon said it would take at least three weeks to bring precision American weapons and trained soldiers to the battlefield. But Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl said he believed they would arrive in time to bring about a turnaround in the fight.
The rocket systems are part of a new $700 million package of security assistance from the US to Ukraine that includes helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapons systems, radars, tactical vehicles, spare parts and more.
The rockets have a range of about 50 miles (80 km) and are highly mobile. Ukraine had unsuccessfully pushed for rockets with a range of up to 186 miles (300 km).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow does not rely on assurances that Ukraine will not fire on Russian territory. “We believe that America is deliberately and diligently adding fuel to the fire,” he said.
Colonel General Mikhail Myzintzev later directly accused Ukraine of planning to fire US-provided missiles from the northeastern Sumy region in areas bordering Russia. The claim, which he said was based on radio intercepts, could not be independently verified.
What did Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov say?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine’s pressure for more weapons was a “direct provocation to engage the West in the fight”. He warned that multiple rocket launchers would risk an extended conflict.
“Seneve Western politicians understand those risks very well,” he said.
Officials said as soon as the new weapons shipments were announced, a Russian missile hit rail lines in the western Lviv region, a major conduit for supplies of Western weapons and other supplies. Regional government Maksim Kozitsky said five people were injured in Wednesday’s strike, and the head of Ukrainian railways said the damage was still being assessed.
Germany’s promise of IRIS-T air defense systems would mark the first delivery of long-range air defense weapons to Ukraine since the start of the war. The delivery of the first portable, shoulder-launched air defense missiles increased the Ukrainian military’s ability to shoot down helicopters and other low-flying aircraft, but did not give it enough range to challenge Russia’s air superiority. .
Germany in particular has come under criticism from allies at home and abroad that it is not doing enough. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers that the IRIS-T surface-to-air missiles are the country’s most advanced air defense system.
“This will enable Ukraine to defend the entire city from Russian airstrikes,” he said. The radar system will also help Ukraine detect enemy artillery.
A regional governor said Russian forces now control 80% of Svyarodonetsk, a city critical to Moscow’s efforts to capture the Donbass, where Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have fought for years and where separatists have even occupied territory. before the attack.
Luhansk Governor Serhi Haidai said Russian troops were advancing into the city during fierce street fighting with Ukrainian forces, although he said Ukrainian troops managed to push them back in some districts.
Lisichansk, the only other city in Luhansk that the Russians have not yet captured, is still under full Ukrainian control, he said, but is likely to be the next target. Two cities are separated by a river.
“If Russia manages to take full control of Svierodonetsk within two to three days, they will start installing artillery and mortars and hit Lisichansk more intensely,” Haidai said.
Meanwhile, Zelensky said the country was losing between 60 and 100 soldiers a day in the fighting.
He focused on the children in his nightly video address, saying that 243 of them have been killed in battle, 446 wounded and 139 missing. The actual number could be higher, he said, as his government does not have a complete picture of the Russian-occupied territories.
Zelensky also said that 200,000 children are among Ukrainians who were forcibly taken to Russia and dispersed across that vast country: “The purpose of this criminal policy is not just to steal people, but to make people who have been deported.” Gone and forgot about Ukraine and unable to return.
In southern Ukraine, a regional governor heard a more positive note, saying that Russian troops were retreating and blowing up bridges behind them.
The governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaly Kim, said on the Telegram messaging app, “They are afraid of a retaliatory attack by the Ukrainian army.”
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