Ukraine war: UK sends ‘advanced’ missile system despite Putin’s threats – as Zelenskyy visits front line | World News
The UK will send a “state-of-the-art” missile system to Ukraine to help its military counter Russia’s advance in the east of the country, despite threats from Vladimir Putin.
The M270 multiple launch missile system is now heading to the battlefield, though Putin’s warning that the supply of longer-range missiles will make Russia more aggressive.
It can hit targets up to 50 miles (80 km) away with “high accuracy”, according to the Department of Defense (MoD).
The pledge came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the cities of Lysychansk and Soledar, after visiting the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia earlier.
Lysychansk in Luhansk and Soledar in Donetsk – the eastern regions that together make up the Donbas, are now the epicenter of Russia’s war and the site of fierce fighting.
Mr Zelenskyy shared a video of the trip and said: “I’m proud of all the people I met, the people I shook hands with, the people I’ve connected with and have expressed my support for.”
In Zaporizhzhia, he visited a medical facility and spoke to people forced from their homes due to the war, including those from Mariupol – now controlled by Russia after a punitive siege. punish.
Zelenskyy meets military commanders in Zaporizhzhya
The President also met people who were forced to leave their homes
Ukrainian troops arrive in the UK
MoD says their latest move has been coordinated with Recent US decision to donate a variant of the same systemand it complied with the requirements for a longer-range precision weapon to attack Russian heavy artillery.
Ukrainian troops will travel to the UK to learn how to use the weapon, which is piloted by a crew of three and mounted on a tracked armored launcher.
To date, the UK has donated £750 million in military equipment, including more than 5,000 anti-tank missiles and 120 armored vehicles.
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‘New insidious attacks’
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s 5-week break has been broken early Sunday when two suburban districts, Darnytski and Dniprovski, were hit with rockets.
Moscow claimed it destroyed tanks supplied by its Western allies, while Ukraine said the attack targeted a railway carriage repair facility. No deaths were immediately reported, but one person was taken to hospital.
The capital has not seen a similar attack since late April.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter: “The Kremlin must resort to new covert attacks. Missile attacks on Kyiv today have only one goal – to kill as many as possible.”
To the east, the center of the Russian offensive, cities and villages in the Luhansk region were hit again with rockets and air strikes.
Regional Governor Serhiy Haidai said helicopters hit Girske and Myrna Dolyna, while Ustynivka was targeted by Su-25 jets.
Smoke rises after rockets hit Kyiv
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Other attacks were reported in Lysychansk – where Mr. Zelenskyy was visiting – and in the eastern city of Kramatorsk north of Donetsk.
However, the Ukrainian military said it repelled seven attacks across the Donbas, shot down a helicopter and destroyed four tanks.
Smoke rises after rockets hit Kyiv
A Ukrainian soldier with an NLAW anti-tank weapon near Bakhmut in Donbas
According to Haidai, a counterattack in Severodonetsk also recaptured a piece of territory and put Ukraine in control of half the city.
In recent weeks, the city has become a key battleground in Moscow’s attempt to capture the Donbas.
On Sunday, the MoD said counter-attacks there may have reduced the “operational momentum” that Russia had gained.
Another high-ranking commander was also killed.
Russian state journalist Alexander Sladkov said on the Telegram app that Major General Roman Kutuzov had died in eastern Ukraine, adding that several Kremlin military leaders appeared to have been killed in the fighting.
The Kremlin has not commented on the report.
