Ukrainian forces have destroyed air defences inside Russia, “likely” with the American-supplied Himars rocket system, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said. The barrage struck a Russian S-300/400 air defence battery in Belgorod oblast on 1 or 2 June, said the US-based thinktank. It added: “Russian sources have increasingly claimed that Ukrainian forces are using Himars to strike Belgorod oblast since the US partially lifted its restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to use US-provided weapons to strike military targets in Russian border areas with Kharkiv oblast. Russian sources will likely continue to characterise any successful strike in Belgorod Oblast as a Himars strike regardless of the system used.” The Russian system was located about 60km from the frontline in northern Kharkiv oblast and over 80km from Kharkiv city, the ISW said. This was within the range of Himars while exceeding the range of other systems thought to be used by Ukrainian forces to hit Belgorod oblast. Ukrainian officials were yet to comment on the strike.
Ukraine will ask its allies to further lift restrictions on using their weapons against targets inside Russia, the foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said. The Institute for the Study of War wrote in an assessment on Tuesday that western air defence systems and permission to strike targets in Russia with western weapons “remain crucial for Ukraine to repel Russian glide bomb and missile strikes against Kharkiv city”.
Italy will send a second Samp/T air defence system to Ukraine, its foreign minister has said. The Italian-French system also known as Mamba can track dozens of targets and intercept 10 at once. It is the only European-made system that can intercept ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian field commanders are reportedly compensating for training difficulties that mobilisation has exacerbated by training new personnel on the frontline, the ISW has said. “Ukrainian field commanders’ decisions to train newly deployed personnel on the front before committing them to combat indicates that the overall quality of Ukrainian forces will likely remain higher than that of Russian forces in the near- to mid-term,” it said.
Kamala Harris, the US vice-president, will travel to Switzerland for the Ukraine peace summit on 15 June, White House officials have said. Harris will be accompanied by Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. The White House defended Biden’s decision to skip the summit in favour of attending an election fundraiser. “There hasn’t been any single leader around the world who has supported Ukraine more and more stridently than Joe Biden,” said John Kirby, national security council spokesperson.
A group of about 20 women held a rare protest outside Russia’s defence ministry on Monday demanding the return of their mobilised husbands and sons from Ukraine. Russian authorities have labelled at least one such group as a “foreign agent”, a tactic used to silence dissent.
French police are investigating whether the placing of five full-sized coffins covered with the French tricolour at the Eiffel Tower at the weekend was another act of Russian interference.
Poland has arrested 18 people on allegations of pursuing pro-Russian and pro-Belarusian hostile actions, including a person alleged to have been involved in a plan to assassinate Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Polish interior minister said. Ten arrested since December were directly involved in planning sabotage across Poland, said the interior minister, Tomasz Siemoniak.
