Ukraine says it hit Russian air defence systems in occupied Crimea
Ukraine’s military said it damaged three Russian surface-to-air defence systems overnight in missile attacks on the Moscow-occupied Crimea peninsula.
The statement came after a series of explosions were reported in the peninsula at night.
One S-400 anti-aircraft missile unit was hit near Dzhankoi, and two more S-300 anti-aircraft missile units were attacked near occupied Chornomorske and Yevpatoria, according to the military.
The radars of the systems reportedly stopped working “immediately” after the strikes.
“None of our missiles fired were intercepted by the enemy’s ‘highly effective’ air defence,” the General Staff said.
“In addition, further detonations of ammunition were observed in all three areas of the launching positions of the Russian anti-aircraft missile divisions.”
The General Staff did not provide further details on the consequences of the attack or what weaponry was used.
Key events
Ukraine’s air force may keep some F-16 jets abroad to protect them from Russian strikes, military officer says
Ukraine may keep some of the F-16 fighter jets it is set to receive from its western allies at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes, a senior Ukrainian military officer said.
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with over 60 US-made F-16 fighter jets to help it fend off Russian attacks. Ukrainian pilots are currently undergoing training to fly the warplanes ahead of the deliveries expected to start later this year.
Serhii Holubtsov, head of aviation within Ukraine’s air force, said that “a certain number of aircraft will be stored at secure airbases outside Ukraine so that they are not targeted here.”
Holubtsov told the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that those F-16s could be used to replace damaged aircraft as they undergo repairs as well as for training Ukrainian pilots abroad.
“This way, we can always have a certain number of aircraft in the operational fleet that corresponds to the number of pilots we have,” he said. “If there are more pilots, there will be more aircraft in Ukraine.”
Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow could consider launching strikes at facilities in Nato countries if they host the warplanes used in Ukraine.
“If they are stationed at airbases outside the Ukrainian borders and used in combat, we will have to see how and where to strike the assets used in combat against us,” the Russian president said last year. “It poses a serious danger of Nato being further drawn into the conflict.”
Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma lower house of parliament’s defence committee, was quoted as saying earlier that F-16 jets and military airfields outside Ukraine will become legitimate targets for Moscow if they take part in combat missions against Russian forces (see earlier post at 10.55).
Ukraine says it hit Russian air defence systems in occupied Crimea
Ukraine’s military said it damaged three Russian surface-to-air defence systems overnight in missile attacks on the Moscow-occupied Crimea peninsula.
The statement came after a series of explosions were reported in the peninsula at night.
One S-400 anti-aircraft missile unit was hit near Dzhankoi, and two more S-300 anti-aircraft missile units were attacked near occupied Chornomorske and Yevpatoria, according to the military.
The radars of the systems reportedly stopped working “immediately” after the strikes.
“None of our missiles fired were intercepted by the enemy’s ‘highly effective’ air defence,” the General Staff said.
“In addition, further detonations of ammunition were observed in all three areas of the launching positions of the Russian anti-aircraft missile divisions.”
The General Staff did not provide further details on the consequences of the attack or what weaponry was used.
Ukraine reconstruction agency chief quits day before recovery conference
The head of Ukraine’s reconstruction agency has resigned a day before an international conference on the country’s long-term reconstruction, saying he had been prevented from attending after being systematically undermined by the Ukrainian government from doing his job.
Mustafa Nayyem announced his resignation in a Facebook post on Monday after previously sending a strongly worded email to a number of foreign partners criticising the Ukrainian administration for a wide range of mistakes.
Nayyem said the final straw was when his permission to travel to Berlin was revoked.
The two-day Ukraine recovery conference starts in Berlin on Tuesday and is due to be addressed by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
My colleagues Kate Connolly, Shaun Walker and Patrick Wintour have the full story here:
We have some more information on Russia claiming its forces captured a village in the south of the eastern Donetsk region (see earlier post at 11.48).
The defence ministry said its troops “continued to advance into the depths of the enemy’s defence and liberated the settlement of Staromaiorskoye” (Staromaiorske in Ukrainian), located southwest of the Russian-held city of Donetsk.
Ukrainian troops retook the village, close to the southern Zaporizhzhia region, in July last year during its summer counter-offensive, which had limited success but enabled it to retake some territory in the south.
Staromaiorske is located on the southern front on the south-western edge of the Donetsk region, where there is now fierce fighting after a successful ground assault in the Kharkiv region last month.
Vladimir Putin told an economic forum last week that Russia has taken 47 Ukrainian towns and villages so far this year.
US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday that Russia’s advance on the Kharkiv border region has “stalled out” after Washington partially lifted restrictions on using US-donated weapons to strike inside Russia.
Russia has shifted its focus to two strategic towns in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian soldiers fighting there told AFP at the weekend.
“The fiercest fighting is taking place in this area: Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar. This is the direction they really want. This is their idee fixe,” said Oleksandr, a 36-year-old tank crewman.
Another soldier, Danylo Madiar, 33, said Russia has been advancing “very strongly” since autumn and “it became very difficult to hold this frontline” with many losses.
The US announced on Monday that it is setting up an operation in Warsaw, the Polish capital, to help neighboring Ukraine counter Russian disinformation.
The US state department’s Global Engagement Centre, which works to highlight disinformation by what it considers hostile states, said in a statement that the US and Poland have jointly launched a Ukraine Communications Group “to support Ukraine against Russia’s aggression in the information space”.
Increasingly, Polish officials say Poland is also a target of sabotage and other disruptive measures by the Russian secret services.
Poland is a member of Nato along the military alliance’s eastern front. It has been a hub for western weapons sent to Ukraine. It has also been a place of refuge for a significant number of Ukrainians who have fled Russia’s full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.
The state department said the new group would bring together allies to “coordinate messaging, promote accurate reporting of Russia’s full-scale invasion, amplify Ukrainian voices and expose Kremlin information manipulation”.
It said that the Kremlin “repeatedly uses lies and manipulation to peddle false pretexts for its unjustifiable invasion, obfuscate its war aims and attempt to fracture worldwide solidarity with the Ukrainian people”.
A top Ukrainian reconstruction official known for his reform efforts resigned on Monday, citing budget cuts and bureaucratic delays, at a time when Kyiv seeks crucial international investment to rebuild after Russia’s invasion.
The resignation of Mustafa Nayyem, head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, comes a day before a major international conference in Berlin dedicated to mobilising international support for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“I made the decision on my own due to systemic obstacles that do not allow me to continue to effectively exercise my powers,” Nayyem said on Telegram.
“Starting from November last year, the Agency’s team began to face constant opposition, resistance and the creation of artificial obstacles,” he said, which included delays in payment for defence fortifications.
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Nayyem hailed his agency’s work on restoring roadways and bridges in recaptured areas, building a critical water pipeline after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam and protecting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amid Russian air strikes.
The prominent former lawmaker also criticised a government decision to prevent him from travelling to the event in Berlin, as well as the dismissal of the deputy prime minister for infrastructure, another critical wartime official, last month.
Four people were injured by a landmine in Russia’s Belgorod, the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.
Among the injured was a cameraman for Russian state TV channel Rossiya 24, who suffered shrapnel wounds to his abdomen Gladkov said.
Russian politicians gloated on Monday over heavy defeats for the parties of French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in European Parliament elections, and the Kremlin said right-wing parties were on the rise in Europe.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said the results reflected, in part, both leaders’ “inept policy” of backing Ukraine in the war with Russia.
“Time to retire. To the ash heap of history!” Medvedev posted on social media platform X.
Valentina Matviyenko, head of the upper house of parliament, said Macron and Scholz had “suffered a crushing defeat with their parties (that) once again confirms their failure as both national and European politicians.
“Moreover, in their case this is a well-deserved result, arising from many years of complete disregard for the real needs of people and society,” she wrote on Telegram.
Russia has long courted leaders on Europe’s political right such as Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban and France’s Marine Le Pen, and is keen to exploit any signs of division in Europe that could weaken support for Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that after the EU elections, the majority in the European Parliament would still be pro-EU and pro-Ukraine, but the rise of right-wing parties was clear.
“This dynamic is visible to the naked eye and of course, despite the fact that the pro-Europeans retain their leading positions for the time being, over time the right-wing parties will step on their heels,” he said.
“We are closely tracking these processes.”
Rajan Menon
Is the risk of nuclear escalation rising between Russia and the west?
For Opinion, Rajan Menon writes of the risk that is notoriously hard to predict
Warnings about nuclear escalation in Ukraine are now being issued with increasing frequency and urgency, due to dramatic changes in policy by some of Kyiv’s main western supporters.
Some European countries, including Britain, France, the United States and Germany, have changed course, giving Ukraine the green light to use their weapons against sites within Russia. The latter two limited their permission to Ukrainian strikes aimed at defending Kharkiv province – although, according one report, Joe Biden may even lift that geographic restriction, as well. These steps are responses to devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine, many from points beyond its reach.
These changes in western policy – plus the French president Emmanuel Macron’s plans to send French troops to train Ukrainian forces on site and even possibly to fight – have heightened anxieties that Russia may undertake nuclear escalation in retaliation.
Vladimir Putin to visit North Korea in the coming weeks – report
Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea and Vietnam in the coming weeks, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper reported on Monday, with an official telling Reuters the Vietnam visit was planned for June 19-20 but has not yet confirmed.
Putin’s visit to Pyongyang is being “actively prepared”, Russian ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora confirmed to the newspaper. The newspaper reported that Putin could visit Vietnam as early as June and most likely immediately after his visit to North Korea.
An official in Vietnam told Reuters the dates of the Hanoi visit had been agreed, but the agenda was still under discussion. Energy, military cooperation, settlement of payments and an agreement in the education field are among the main issues expected to be discussed, the official said.
Vedomosti quoted Russia’s trade representative in Vietnam as saying last month that the most pressing trade issue between the two countries was banking support for settling payments.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
Russia claims to have taken Donetsk village
The Russian military has taken control of the village of Staromaiorske in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said on Monday.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
