Ukraine keeps up pressure on Russian airfields and war production

Ukraine has kept up the unit connected Russian airfields and warfare accumulation successful the past week aft its highly palmy Operation Spiderweb, which destroyed Moscow’s strategical bombers connected June 1.

Russia responded with its biggest aerial raids connected Ukrainian cities, causing dozens of civilian casualties and introducing a jet-powered mentation of the Iranian-designed Shahed drone.

On Friday, Ukraine struck astatine slightest 3 substance tanks astatine Engels airbase 500km (310 miles) southeast of Moscow. Fires were besides reported astatine Dyagilevo airbase, 170km (105 miles) from the capital. Both had been targeted successful Operation Spiderweb.

Andriy Kovalenko, caput of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, besides said Kyiv’s forces struck the JSC Progress works successful Michurinsk, a cardinal nexus successful Russia’s defence concern concatenation manufacturing physics stabilisation and power systems for artillery and rocket systems.

Ukraine deed Russia’s munitions manufacture again connected Sunday, targeting the Azot chemic works successful Novomoskovsk, which produces subject explosives.

Ukrainian drones besides stopped operations astatine the Tambov Gunpowder plant, 430km (270 miles) southeast of Moscow, connected Wednesday. Kovalenko said it was “one of the main suppliers of explosives for the Russian army”, providing gunpowder for bullets, shells and rocket systems.

Geolocated footage confirmed the hit.

(Al Jazeera)

At the commencement of this week, Ukraine destroyed 2 combatant planes connected the tarmac of the Savasleyka airbase successful the portion of Nizhny Novgorod eastbound of Moscow. The planes were utilized to occurrence Kinzhal ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said.

Ukrainian drone strikes caused fires astatine a works successful the metropolis of Cheboksary, 500km (310 miles) eastbound of Moscow, which manufactures Comet antennas that supply Russian Shahed drones with absorption to Ukrainian physics warfare. The works besides makes guidance kits retrofitted onto inertial bombs, turning them into precision-guided glide bombs.

Russia has been dropping much than 3,000 of these bombs onto Ukrainian front-line positions each month. It is cardinal to Moscow’s quality to support unit connected the ground. Ukraine’s strikes against airfields and factories purpose to halt these bombs’ accumulation and delivery.

Ukrainian servicemen occurrence a BM-21 Grad multiple-rocket motorboat strategy towards Russian troops successful the Donetsk portion of eastbound Ukraine [Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters]

Russia reported that it downed 102 Ukrainian long-range drones connected Tuesday morning.

“We person travel precise adjacent to the infinitesimal erstwhile we tin unit Russia to halt the war. We consciousness it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said successful an ABC interrogation connected Saturday, a imaginable notation to the increasing effectiveness of Ukrainian long-range interdiction of Russian warfare production.

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said connected Saturday that carmaker Renault was launching a caller concern successful Ukraine to physique drone accumulation lines – a effect of Kyiv’s months-long effort to pull much Western concern successful home weapons production.

Russia strikes back

Stung by the nonaccomplishment of possibly a 3rd of its strategical bomber fleet, utilized to motorboat cruise missiles against Ukraine, Russia has scaled up its attacks.

It launched much than 1,400 Shahed drones successful the past week and launched astatine slightest 59 cruise missiles.

On June 5, 2 Russian attacks destroyed the Kherson determination medication building. On Friday, a deadly cocktail of 407 drones and 45 missiles of assorted kinds killed astatine slightest 4 radical successful Kyiv and injured dozens crossed the country.

At slightest 1 idiosyncratic was reported killed erstwhile Russian bombs deed an flat gathering successful Kharkiv connected Saturday. Kharkiv, which is lone 30km (20 miles) from the Russian border, had been shelled continuously for 24 hours, Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s aerial unit said connected Saturday that Russia had launched 215 drones crossed the state overnight.

Russia launched its largest yet onslaught of drones and missiles connected Sunday nighttime astatine Kyiv and Dubno successful the Rivne portion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s aerial unit said connected Monday that it had intercepted 479 of 499 Russian aerial targets. Of the 479 downed objects, 460 were drones.

On Tuesday Ukraine said it intercepted 277 retired of 315 launched drones and stopped 7 missiles.

(Al Jazeera)

A further salvo of drones targeted Kyiv connected Tuesday, which reportedly included a jet-propelled mentation of the Shahed for the archetypal time, susceptible of reaching speeds of 600 kilometres per hr (370 miles per hour). The onslaught targeted “Ukraine’s aviation, missile, armour and shipbuilding industries successful Kyiv”, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said.

At slightest 2 radical were killed successful Kharkiv connected Wednesday aft 17 Shahed drones fell connected the city.

Russia is present susceptible of manufacturing 2,700 Shahed drones and 2,500 decoys each month, compared with 500 a twelvemonth ago, according to Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence Service, meaning that strikes of this standard and density are indefinitely sustainable.

In addition, Russia has travel to an statement with North Korea to physique Harpy and Shahed-type drones, Kyrylo Budanov, caput of Ukraine’s quality community, said successful an interrogation with The War Zone.

“This is highly unsafe some for Europe and for East and Southeast Asia,” Zelenskyy wrote connected Telegram. “This indispensable beryllium addressed present – not erstwhile thousands of upgraded ‘Shahed’ drones and ballistic missiles statesman to endanger Seoul and Tokyo.”

Russia reaches Dnipropetrovsk

While the aerial warfare played retired astatine these caller levels of intensity, Russian troops successful eastbound Ukraine’s Donetsk portion astatine the play reached the borderline of Dnipropetrovsk, a Ukrainian portion that Russian boots had yet to measurement connected successful the much than three-year war, achieving a intelligence milestone.

While Ukrainian officials said warring was inactive raging successful Donetsk and had not spilled implicit the administrative border, geolocated footage connected Monday showed that the Russians had reached it.

Russian units were “developing an violative connected the territory of the Dnepropetrovsk Region”, Russia’s Defence Ministry said connected Wednesday.

A rescue idiosyncratic assists a pistillate during an evacuation from an flat gathering damaged by a Russian drone onslaught successful Kharkiv, Ukraine [Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters]

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian troops intended to make a buffer portion successful Dnipropetrovsk, utilizing the aforesaid statement Russia has offered for its 2nd effort to invade bluish Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Sumy regions past twelvemonth and this year, respectively.

The lawman president of Russia’s National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, sought to leverage the quality to diplomatic vantage connected Telegram: “Those who garbage to admit the realities of warfare astatine the negotiating array volition look caller realities connected the battleground,” helium wrote. “Our Armed Forces person launched an violative successful the Dnepropetrovsk region.”

EU and US propulsion further apart

United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not be the 28th Contact Group for Ukraine connected June 4, successful keeping with US President Donald Trump’s frost connected assistance to Ukraine, but Ukraine’s European allies did amusement up and pledged important subject upgrades.

Britain said it would walk $476m to physique 100,000 drones for Ukraine successful 2025, 10 times its drone assistance past year.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced that a long-range limb Ukraine has been gathering with German backing could participate work imminently. “The archetypal systems tin beryllium enactment into cognition successful the equipped forces of Ukraine successful a fewer weeks,” helium said.

On Tuesday, the European Commission floated an 18th bundle of sanctions targeting Russia’s banks, vigor revenues and military.

Among different things, the sanctions would forbid immoderate transactions involving Russia’s damaged and presently inoperable Nord Stream state pipelines. The measurement would nonstop “a wide connection to planetary liquefied earthy state producers, which whitethorn beryllium hesitant to grow partnerships with the European buyers arsenic agelong arsenic a relapse to Russian state dependence is simply a possibility”, wrote Olga Khakova, lawman manager for European vigor information astatine the Atlantic Council.

(Al Jazeera)

Europe has already banned each Russian lipid imports but allows tankers insured successful the European Union to commercialized lipid to 3rd parties for up to $60 a barrel. It would present little that terms headdress to $45.

The proposals besides included sanctioning an further 22 Russian banks and banks from 3rd countries.

The lipid terms headdress was to beryllium discussed astatine the Group of Seven gathering successful Canada adjacent week. EU leaders are to o.k. the sanctions aboriginal this month.

“Europe remains focused connected the warfare and, let’s say, continues to prosecute successful militaristic bravado,” Peskov said. “There are perfectly nary signals astir the willingness to question immoderate communal ground.”

Meanwhile, Hegseth told a US Senate Appropriations Committee proceeding connected Thursday that the US would supply nary subject assistance to Ukraine.

“The president is committed to bid successful this conflict,” Hegseth said.