Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – The British government said on Monday that the multi-launch rocket systems it offers in Ukraine will bring “a significant increase in capacity” for the country’s efforts to resist the invasion of Russia.
“If the international community continues to support it, I believe Ukraine can win” its war against Russia, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement.
The statement came after comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the West not to send more powerful rocket systems to Ukraine.
The British government described the M270 weapons system as an “avant-garde” military asset that can hit targets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away “with extreme accuracy”. The United Kingdom pledged last week to send weapons. He did not give details of the delivery dates.
Last week, the United States announced plans to provide $ 700 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including four precision-guided medium-range rocket systems, as well as helicopters, Javelin anti-tank systems, radars, and tactical vehicles. and much more.
Washington and London hope that the deliveries will help Ukraine change the course of the war in its eastern Donbas region, which Russia appears to want to capture completely.
However, they are unlikely to have an immediate impact. The Pentagon said last week that it would take at least three weeks to bring U.S. weapons to the battlefield. Russia-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian government in the Donbas since 2014.
The United States has stopped before offering Ukraine longer-range weapons that could shoot deep into Russia and escalate tensions with Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia’s own use of missiles in Ukraine continued to hit targets, and the Russian military said on Monday that it had hit a Ukrainian factory that was repairing armor.
Russian warplanes fired long-range missiles to destroy a plant near the city of Lozova in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, which was repairing armored vehicles, said a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry. Commander-in-Chief Igor Konashenkov.
Russian planes hit 73 areas of concentration of Ukrainian troops and equipment, while Russian artillery hit 431 military targets, Konashenkov said. His claims could not be independently verified.
Putin promised to attack the heart of Ukraine more deeply if the West sends more powerful missile systems to Kyiv. In a showdown, Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on Sunday.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that Russian forces fired five X-22 cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea towards Kyiv, and one was destroyed by air defenses. Four more missiles hit “infrastructure facilities”, but Ukraine said there were no casualties.
Prior to the attack on Sunday morning, Kyiv had not faced any Russian airstrikes since the April 28 visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the command posts and front positions of Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which make up the Donbas.
Ukraine’s fight on the 103rd day of war was sincere for D-Day veterans who gathered Monday in northern France.
D-Day veteran Charles Shay, 97, was on the beach in Omaha, Normandy in the morning to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, landing and to pay tribute to those who fell. that day.
Asked about his feelings about the ongoing war on the European continent, Shay told The Associated Press that “this is a very sad situation.”
“In 1944 I landed on these beaches and we thought we would make peace in the world. But it is not possible “, he added with regret.
A regional governor of Ukraine said on Monday that the situation in a key eastern city has worsened for the defense of troops.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said on Monday that heavy fighting continues in the city of Sievierodonetsk, which is the epicenter of the Russian offensive.
He described the fighting situation as “quite dynamic”, adding that Ukrainian forces had lost some of the gains made over the weekend, but maintained their positions in the city’s industrial zone.
The Russians have continued heavy bombardment of nearby Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, Haidai said.
Russian forces have focused on capturing Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.
To the west of these cities, in the cities of Sloviansk and Bakhmut, military cars and vehicles have been speeding into the city from the direction of the front line. Dozens of military doctors and paramedics worked Sunday to evacuate Ukrainian civilians and military, many of whom had been wounded by artillery shelling.
Western military intelligence reports say Ukrainian counterattacks in Sieverodonetsk are likely to halt the operational momentum that Russian forces previously gained by concentrating their combat units and firepower in the area.
On Monday, Serbia confirmed that a planned visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the Balkan country will not take place following reports that Bulgaria, northern Macedonia and Montenegro refused to allow their plane. fly over its airspace to reach Serbia.
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Associated Press journalists David Keyton and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv contributed to this report.
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