NATO meeting: The gathering of NATO defense ministers in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Thursday and Friday comes at a “critical” time, according to the bloc’s chief Jens Stoltenberg.But Maliar warned that the “enemy is putting up strong resistance,” and that Ukraine is also performing defensive actions. Gradual progress: Ukraine’s military offensive is continuing in “several directions” and Kyiv’s troops are “gradually but surely advancing” in the south of the country -which is where many expect to be the main focus of Ukraine’s counteroffensive - Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said.Since the beginning of June, Ukrainian air defense forces had shot down 74% of the cruise missiles used by Russia and almost 60% of the attack UAVs, Hromov claimed, adding that there is a growing missile threat because the Russians had moved a missile division closer to Ukraine's northern border. CNN is unable to verify the claim. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the latest round of missile attacks early Thursday had targeted drone production sites. Russia had attacked Ukrainian infrastructure with more than 140 missiles and 250 drones in the first two weeks of June, "focusing on targets related to logistics, industrial facilities, as well as oil and gas supply," he added. On the Donetsk front, Ukraine's Tavria group of forces claimed to have advanced by up to 1 kilometer (less than a mile) in an effort to improve their tactical position near the town of Vuhledar, which has been on the frontlines since the invasion began, Hromov said.įollowing the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam last week, Russian forces are "focusing on equipping new defensive lines," Hromov said. His comments are consistent with claims made by other Ukrainian officials. Meanwhile, Russia is attempting to advance in other areas, with assault operations in the Kharkiv region and along parts of the Donetsk front, but it is on the back foot around Bakhmut, Hromov said. The Russian Defense Ministry says that its Vostok group of forces in the area had used "air strikes, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems" to repel two attacks in the area. He echoed other Ukrainian officials who claim that seven settlements in the area have been retaken - most of the settlements are small villages. "Over the past week, our troops have advanced into the enemy's depths to 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) near Mala Tokmachka and 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) south of Velyka Novosilka," said Oleksii Hromov, deputy chief of the Ukrainian general staff in a briefing in Kyiv. But the radar emission necessary to spot threats at a distance also makes it possible for the enemy to detect the Patriot battery and figure out its location.ĬNN's Tim Lister, Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Jim Sciutto contributed to this report. The Patriot has a powerful radar to detect incoming targets at long range, making it a potent air defense platform capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and more. It was not clear whether the system was damaged by an actual missile strike or falling debris. US officials inspected the system and said damage was “minimal,” CNN reported. It carries a warhead of nearly 500 kilograms (about 1,100 pounds).Īttack on the Patriot: The Russian Ministry of Defense claims it destroyed a US-made Patriot air defense system in Kyiv during the May 16 assault, despite Ukraine saying it destroyed all Russian missiles in the early morning attack. It travels at about 10 times the speed of sound and is derived from the shorter-range Iskander ballistic missile, which is ground-launched. More on the Russian missiles: The Kinzhal, or Kh-47, has been touted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military as an example of Moscow’s modernized missile arsenal, claiming that its hypersonic speed makes it extremely difficult to intercept. An air-launched ballistic missile, the Kh-47 has a range of some 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), so it can be fired far from the battlefield. The grueling defense proves the Patriot system's value to Ukraine, holding its own even against weapons Moscow has positioned as impossible to combat, Yaremenko said. Later they learned there were six Kinzhals among the assault. Yaremenko said the Ukrainian fighters were emotional when all the targets had finally been destroyed and the airspace declared clear. “They did not panic for a second, acted in a coordinated and organized manner, shared targets across sectors, and ensured their destruction at a minimum range, high enough to reduce the likelihood of damage to infrastructure." People realized that ballistic missiles were moving directly toward them," he continued.
“I'm always proud of my subordinates, but this time even I was shocked by their endurance.
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