Ukrainian forces have reportedly taken out air defenses within Russia, “likely” using the American-supplied Himars rocket system, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The attack targeted a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in Belgorod oblast on June 1 or 2, stated the US-based think tank.
They noted: “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 destroyed Russian system was located approximately 60km from the frontline in northern Kharkiv oblast and over 80km from Kharkiv city.
This range is within the operational capacity of Himars, surpassing the range of other systems believed to be employed by Ukrainian forces for strikes in Belgorod oblast.
Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the strike.
Ukraine plans to request further easing of restrictions on using allied-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia, stated the foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.
The ISW noted in a recent assessment that Western air defense systems and the permission to target locations within Russia with Western weaponry “remain crucial for Ukraine to repel Russian glide bomb and missile strikes against Kharkiv city.”
In other developments, Italy is set to send a second Samp/T air defense system to Ukraine, as announced by its foreign minister.
This Italian-French system, also known as Mamba, can track numerous targets and intercept 10 simultaneously.
It is the only European-manufactured system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
The ISW also reported that Ukrainian field commanders are compensating for training challenges, exacerbated by mobilization, by training new personnel directly on the frontline.
“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,” the ISW stated.
US Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to attend the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland on June 15, accompanied by President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
The White House justified President Biden’s decision to skip the summit in favor of attending an election fundraiser.
John Kirby, the national security council spokesperson, remarked, “There hasn’t been any single leader around the world who has supported Ukraine more and more stridently than Joe Biden.”
On Monday, a rare protest by about 20 women took place outside Russia’s defense ministry, demanding the return of their mobilized husbands and sons from Ukraine.
Russian authorities have labeled at least one such group as a “foreign agent,” a tactic commonly used to stifle dissent.
French police are investigating whether the recent placement of five full-sized coffins covered with the French tricolor at the Eiffel Tower was another act of Russian interference.
In Poland, 18 individuals have been arrested on charges of engaging in pro-Russian and pro-Belarusian hostile actions.
Among those arrested was a person allegedly involved in a plot to assassinate Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to Polish interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak.
Ten of those arrested since December were directly involved in planning sabotage across Poland, Siemoniak added.