Britain will supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away, it said on Monday, in a move that was coordinated with the United States in response to Russia’s invasion.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain’s support for Ukraine would change as Russia’s tactics evolved, explaining the gift of the M270 multiple-launch systems.
“These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities,” Wallace said in a statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden last week said Washington would supply Ukraine with M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, after he received assurances from Kyiv that it would not be used to hit targets inside Russian territory. read more
Putin said the arms shipments were “nothing new” but warned that there would be a response if the United States supplied longer-range munitions for the HIMARS systems.
The U.S. Department of Defense said it was supplying Ukraine four M142 HIMARS systems along with the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System that it said had a range of over 40 miles (64 km). read more
Britain said Ukrainian troops would be trained on how to use the new launchers in Britain, after it previously announced that it would train Ukrainian personnel to use armoured vehicles.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian troops fought street-by-street to win control of the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Monday in the pivotal battle of the Kremlin’s eastern Ukraine offensive.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed for more weapons to arrive faster, saying things could become very difficult for Ukraine if Russian forces broke through front lines in Donbas, the eastern region where Sievierodonetsk is the main city still in Ukrainian hands.
* Zelenskiy said Russian forces had the numerical advantage in the city but that Ukraine’s forces had “every chance” of fighting back.
* Ukraine’s defence ministry accused Russia of firing on civilian infrastructure around Sievierodonetsk, further north in the Kharkiv region and to the west around Sloviansk, where it said Russia was pushing forward. Moscow denies targeting civilians.
* The governor of Russia’s Kursk region said the village of Tyotkino near Ukraine’s northeastern border had come under fire from Ukraine.
* Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
Diplomacy and weapons
* Russia should not close the U.S. embassy in Moscow because the world’s two biggest nuclear powers must continue to talk, the U.S. ambassador was quoted as saying on Monday. The Kremlin said it was interested in nuclear arms talks with Washington though they were unlikely to take place at this time.
* Britain said it would supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away. read more
* Putin said earlier that Russia would strike new targets if the West supplied longer-range missiles to Ukraine. His foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said it would also respond by pushing back Ukrainian forces further from Russia’s border. read more
Economy
* Zelenskiy said up to 75 million tonnes of grain could be stuck in Ukraine by this autumn, and that Kyiv wanted anti-ship weapons that could secure safe passage for its exports.
* Russian aluminium producer Rusal (RUAL.MM) has filed a lawsuit against global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), seeking to win back access to its 20% share of alumina produced at a jointly owned refiner in Queensland. read more
* Russia’s national wealth fund (NWF) jumped in value to $197.7 billion as of June 1 from $155.2 billion a month earlier as proceeds from 2021 oil revenues were transferred in, the finance ministry said.
Reuters
