The 100th day of conflict: Russia occupies 20% of Ukraine’s territory

“Fighting continues on the front line more than 1,000 kilometers long,” President Zelenksy told the Parliament of Luxembourg on June 2. He said the area of ​​​​Ukrainian territory occupied by forces Russia control comparable to the whole of the Netherlands.

Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army has recaptured 20 small towns and villages in the Kherson region in the south of the country. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to attack Sievierodonetsk, the last major city nominally held by Ukraine in the Lugansk, Donbass region in the east.

Lugansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said Russia controlled about 70% of the city as fierce street battles continued. Meanwhile, according to the British Ministry of Defense, Russia has taken control of most of the city. The ministry said Ukrainian forces controlled the main road into Sievierodonetsk, while Russia had achieved “stable local interests through dense artillery support”.

A Ukrainian official says that Kiev’s forces are hoping to recapture territory previously lost in the war in southern Ukraine, partly to tie some Russian forces to focus more on fighting in the region. Donbass.

In particular, on June 1, US President Joe Biden announced a new weapons support package for Ukraine worth 700 million USD, including helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapons systems, tactical vehicles, spare parts. and many other weapons.

“This new package will equip Ukraine with new capabilities and advanced weapons, including the High Mobility Artillery Missile (HIMARS) and battlefield munitions, to defend their territory against Russian advances,” Biden said.

According to US officials, the new weapons package “fits the needs” of the current period of conflict that is taking place in eastern Ukraine.

U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl announced that the United States will send four of the new missile systems and will take about three weeks to train Ukrainian forces to use. He declined to say where that training would take place, saying only that the systems were on the European continent.

HIMARS is a lightweight, high-tech rocket launcher mounted on a wheeled chassis that is lighter, faster and more maneuverable on the battlefield. Each HIMARS system can carry six GPS-guided missiles, which can be recharged in about 1 minute with only a small crew.

The highly mobile artillery missile system provided by Washington to Kiev has a range of about 80 km, more than twice the range of the M777 artillery pieces provided by the US and was introduced into the Ukrainian battlefield in May. This point makes it possible to deploy it in a position out of range of Russian artillery, on the other hand can threaten Russian complexes. In addition, it also threatens Moscow’s logistics depots.

Speaking in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on June 1, Secretary General NATO Jens Stoltenberg said it was not clear how or when this conflict would end, but NATO would like to see Ukraine in a strong position when peace talks take place.

Earlier, President Joe Biden wrote in an article in The New York Times on May 31 that he did not seek war with Russia. “As long as the US or our allies are not attacked, we will not be directly involved in this conflict, not send US troops to fight in Ukraine or attack Russian forces,” he said. Biden writes.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the supply of missile launchers to Ukraine increased the risk of an extension of the conflict and called Ukraine’s urging its Western ally to supply weapons a “provocative act”. directly aimed at drawing the West into the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US supply of weapons harms the resumption of talks Russia-Ukraine peace talks.