BRITAIN has DEFIED Vladimir Putin's threat to strike harder by planning to send lethal rocket systems to the Ukrainan effort.
The M270 multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) is now on it's way to the frontline, despite the Russian dictator's chilling warning that supplies of hardware would see Russia ramp up attacks on Ukraine.
According to the Times, the MLRS come with precision-guided rockets with the ability to strike targets 50 miles away.
Britain is sending the lethal weapons after a request from Ukraine for longer-range weapons to counter Russian heavy artillery, which has been used to devastating effect in the eastern Donbas region.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the launchers, which have a longer range than any missile tech in use in the Ukraine war, will help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.
He said: "The UK stands with Ukraine in this fight and is taking a leading role in supplying its heroic troops with the vital weapons they need to defend their country from unprovoked invasion.
"If the international community continues its support, I believe Ukraine can win. As Russia's tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine.
"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 Putin's forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities."
Read our Ukraine war blog below for the latest rolling news and updates…
- Joseph Gamp
Putin gives stark warning to West
President Vladimir Putin warned the West that Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday.
If such missiles are supplied, “we will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting,” Putin was quoted as saying in an interview Rossiya-1 state television channel.
Putin did not name the targets Russia planned to pursue if Western countries began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
Ukraine has been seeking Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (MLRS) such as the M270 and M142 HIMARS to strike troops and weapons stockpiles at the Russian forces’ rear.
- Joseph Gamp
Russia brands Lavrov flight block a 'hostile action'
The Kremlin on Monday said airspace closures by three eastern European countries which prevented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from travelling to Serbia were a "hostile action."
Countries surrounding Serbia – Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro – closed their airspace to an official plane that would have carried Moscow's top diplomat to Belgrade on Monday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters such actions could cause problems with the timetabling of high-level diplomatic meetings. But they would not prevent Moscow from maintaining contacts with friendly countries, he said.
- Joseph Gamp
Moscow to hit new targets if long-range missiles supplied to Ukraine, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Sunday that Moscow will strike new targets if the West supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine and said new arms deliveries to Kyiv were aimed at “prolonging the conflict”.
If Kyiv is supplied with long-range missiles, “we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our arms…. to strike targets we haven’t hit before,” Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying, without specifying which targets he meant.
- Joseph Gamp
PM says new rocket systems will 'effectively repel the Russian onslaught'
Boris Johnson said the systems will help Ukraine "effectively repel the continuing Russian onslaught".
"We cannot stand by while Russian long-range artillery flattens cities and kills innocent civilians," the Prime Minister said.
The MoD said the decision to provide the launchers was closely coordinated with the US government, which said it will supply High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to Ukraine.
- Joseph Gamp
Ukraine says Russia using ‘phosphorus arms’ in village
Ukraine’s General Staff has accused Russian forces of using phosphorus munitions in the village of Cherkaski Tyshky in the Kharkiv region. The claim couldnt be independently verified.
The update also confirmed strikes on Kyiv, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday. It wasnt immediately clear from the statement which infrastructure facilities in Kyiv were hit.
The General Staff said Russian forces continue assault operations in Sievierodonetsk, one of two key cities left to be captured in the Luhansk region of the Donbas. The Russians control the eastern part of the city, the update said, and are focusing on trying to encircle Ukrainian forces in the area and blocking off main logistical routes.
- Joseph Gamp
The Pope calls for ‘real negotiations’ for Ukraine
He said that it is an ‘increasingly dangerous escalation’ of the conflict in Ukraine.
The pontiff said from the window of the apostolic palace in St Peter’s Square: “As the fury of destruction and death rages and clashes flare, fuelling an escalation that is increasingly dangerous for all, I renew my appeal to the leaders of nations: Please do not lead humanity to destruction,”
On Saturday, the 85-year-old pope confirmed his desire to visit Ukraine, but said he wanted to wait for “the right moment”.
- Joseph Gamp
Ukraine says position 'has worsened' amid Sievierodonetsk fighting
The position of Ukrainian forces fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk has "worsened a little", the regional governor said on Monday.
"Our defenders managed to undertake a counter-attack for a certain time; they liberated almost half of the city. But now the situation has worsened a little for us again," Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told national television.
- Joseph Gamp
Explosions heard in southern city of Mykolaiv
Explosions were heard on Monday in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said in a post on the Telegram messaging service.
- Joseph Gamp
Russia says western oil sanctions will have no effect
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday said Western sanctions would have no effect on the country’s oil exports and predicted a big jump in profits from energy shipments this year, Tass news agency reported.
“Considering the price level that has been established as a result of the West’s policies, we have suffered no budgetary losses.
“On the contrary, this year we will significantly increase the profits from the export of our energy resources,” Tass quoted Lavrov as telling a Bosnian television station
- Joseph Gamp
Battle for Severodonetsk rages on
In the east of Ukraine, the battle for control of Severodonetsk rages on.
The city is the largest still in Ukrainian hands in the Lugansk region of the Donbas, where Russian forces have been advancing gradually after retreating or being beaten back from other parts of the country, including Kyiv.
Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said that Russian forces had lost ground in the city and it was now “divided in two”.
“The Russians were in control of about 70 percent of the city, but have been forced back over the past two days,” he said on Telegram.
“They are afraid to move freely around the city.”
Russia’s army on Saturday claimed some Ukrainian military units were withdrawing from Severodonetsk, but Mayor Oleksandr Striuk said Ukrainian forces were fighting to retake the city.
- Joseph Gamp
Putin gives stark warning to West
President Vladimir Putin warned the West that Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday.
If such missiles are supplied, “we will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting,” Putin was quoted as saying in an interview Rossiya-1 state television channel.
Putin did not name the targets Russia planned to pursue if Western countries began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
Ukraine has been seeking Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (MLRS) such as the M270 and M142 HIMARS to strike troops and weapons stockpiles at the Russian forces’ rear.
- Joseph Gamp
Russia says Kyiv strikes destroyed tanks donated by West
Russia’s defense ministry said the military destroyed tanks donated by Ukraine’s allies and other armor in a barrage of missile strikes that shattered five weeks of eerie calm in Ukraine’s capital early Sunday.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
In a posting on the Telegram app, the Russian ministry said high-precision, long-range air-launched missiles were used.
It said the strikes destroyed on the outskirts of Kyiv destroyed T-72 tanks supplied by Eastern European countries and other armored vehicles located in buildings of a car-repair business.
- Joseph Gamp
Moscow to hit new targets if long-range missiles supplied to Ukraine, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Sunday that Moscow will strike new targets if the West supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine and said new arms deliveries to Kyiv were aimed at “prolonging the conflict”.
If Kyiv is supplied with long-range missiles, “we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our arms…. to strike targets we haven’t hit before,” Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying, without specifying which targets he meant.
- Joseph Gamp
Putin doesn’t think the west sending advanced rocketing systems will help Ukraine
He threatened to target new regions of Ukraine if the US sends military weapons to Ukraine.
Putin told the state television channel Rossiya-1 that, if missiles are supplied by the west: “We will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting.”
Shock explosions have been reported in the east of Kyiv, for the first time in many weeks, dashing hopes that the city dwellers could return to some form of normality.
- Joseph Gamp
Kyiv hit with missiles fired from the Caspian Sea
Russian forces battered the east of Kyiv, with dark tunnels of clouds shooting up into the sky.
No deaths were immediately reported, but there are worries more strikes could follow as this is the first Ukrainians have seen in Kyiv in weeks.
Ukrainian air defences shot down one incoming missile at around 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the military said.
This is a devastating turn of events as the future of Kyiv was looking fleetingly hopeful.
- Joseph Gamp
In pictures: Ukrainians clear up at site of destroyed house
A missile strike decimated homes in Druzhkivka, Donbass.
Russian military forces continue to batter Ukraine’s Donbass region, as a home was completely destroyed.
A church was also brought down by the terrifying strikes.
The strike also sadly killed an elderly lady.
Credit: AFP - Joseph Gamp
Kyiv’s chance of a ‘new normal’ shattered
The Russians had focused their brutal tirade on the Donbass region, leaving Kyiv to recuperate.
A man is pictured cutting his grass in his garden amidst the shrapnel and damage a bomb left.
While Ukrainians thought they had a chance of respite, further shelling has hit during the early hours of this morning (Sunday 5 June).
Black plumes of smoke have been spotted across the east of the city.
Credit: Getty - Lauren Lomas
Ukraine in pictures: Plastic body bag left in the woods
The bag has been left discarded in the woodland in the Dontesk region.
The harrowing image shows a bag used to contain bodies left in the shrubbery.
A historic monastery was burnt down on Saturday.
The all-wood 17th century All Saints Shrine in the village of Tetianivka was reportedly burnt down as a result of shelling.
A plastic bag used to collect bodies lies in the woods near the frontline in the Donetsk oblast region, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, June 5, 2022Credit: AP - Lauren Lomas
Putin doesn't think the west sending advanced rocketing systems will help Ukraine
He threatened to target new regions of Ukraine if the US sends military weapons to Ukraine.
Putin told the state television channel Rossiya-1 that, if missiles are supplied by the west: “We will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting.”
Shock explosions have been reported in the east of Kyiv, for the first time in many weeks, dashing hopes that the city dwellers could return to some form of normality.
- Lauren Lomas
Kyiv hit with missiles fired from the Caspian Sea
Russian forced battered the east of Kyiv, with dark tunnels of clouds shooting up into the sky.
No deaths were immediately reported, but there are worries more strikes could follow as this is the first Ukrainians have seen in Kyiv in weeks.
Ukrainian air defences shot down one incoming missile at around 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the military said.
This is a devastating turn of events as the future of Kyiv was looking fleetingly hopeful.
- Lauren Lomas
Ukraine condemns French President Macron after he said Russia should not humiliated over its invasion
He said Vladimir Putin should have a 'way out' of the invasion he has held over Ukraine.
It is thought Mr Macron had spoken to Mr Putin over the phone, to encourage him to negotiate a ceasefire.
The French methods of keeping an open communication with the Kremlin leader, is not mirrored by the UK or the US.
There are concerns Putin might drag France into the war.
- Lauren Lomas
In pictures: Ukrainian's clear a destroyed house
A missile strike decimated homes in Druzhkivka, Donbass.
Russian military forces continue to batter Ukraine's Donbass region, as a home was completely destroyed.
A church was also brought down by the terrifying strikes.
The strike also sadly killed an elderly lady.
People clean the debris from their destroyed house after a missile strike, which killed an old woman, in the city of DruzhkivkaCredit: AFP - Lauren Lomas
Kyiv's chance of a 'new normal' shattered
The Russians had focused their brutal tirade on the Donbass region, leaving Kyiv to recuperate.
A man is pictured cutting his grass in his garden amidst the shrapnel and damage a bomb left.
While Ukrainians thought they had a chance of respite, further shelling has hit during the early hours of this morning (Sunday 5 June).
Black plumes of smoke have been spotted across the east of the city.
A man cuts the grass in the garden of a bomb destroyed home in a village on the outskirts of Kyiv, in Makariv, UkraineCredit: Getty - Lauren Lomas
The Pope calls for 'real negotiations' for Ukraine
He said that it is an 'increasingly dangerous escalation' of the conflict in Ukraine.
The pontiff said from the window of the apostolic palace in St Peter's Square: "As the fury of destruction and death rages and clashes flare, fuelling an escalation that is increasingly dangerous for all, I renew my appeal to the leaders of nations: Please do not lead humanity to destruction,"
On Saturday, the 85-year-old pope confirmed his desire to visit Ukraine, but said he wanted to wait for "the right moment".
- Lauren Lomas
Russian sanctions against gas suppliers could cost German tax payer's BILLIONS
The sanctions against Gazprom Germania could cost German taxpayers and gas users an extra 5 billion euros a year to pay for replacement gas, the Welt am Sonntag weekly reported.
In May, Russia decided to stop supplying Gazprom Germania, which had been the German subsidiary of Gazprom, after Berlin put the company under trustee management due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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