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What Western weapons pledges meant on 2 June 2022
Summary
As fighting for Sievierodonetsk continued, London and Stockholm added to a wave of Western military aid for Ukraine.
What was the West prepared to send Ukraine by 2 June 2022, and how was Moscow reacting? The answer, as reported at the time, was a widening list of heavier weapons, announced against a backdrop of fierce fighting in the east and counter-moves in the south.
London and Stockholm add to the pledges
On 2 June 2022, the United Kingdom announced that it would send M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems to Ukraine. A day earlier, the British defence minister, Ben Wallace, had said London agreed to provide more of the rocket systems and to train Ukrainian troops to use them.
Sweden also announced additional military aid on 2 June 2022. The package included anti-ship missiles, anti-tank guided missiles and rifles for the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
The announcements followed others made on 1 June 2022. U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to provide Ukraine with long-range rocket artillery systems, after Ukraine reportedly gave assurances that it would not use them to strike Russian cities. The systems formed part of a new $700 million weapons package that would also include ammunition, counter-fire radars, a number of air surveillance radars and additional Javelin anti-tank missiles. Germany said the same day that it would send the IRIS-T air defence missile system, following a Ukrainian request for heavy weapons.
Moscow's warning
Russia responded on 1 June 2022 by saying that the U.S. decision to supply advanced long-range rocket systems and munitions could widen the conflict and risked direct confrontation with Russia. It accused Washington of purposefully and diligently adding fuel to the fire.
The same day, Taiwan imposed an export ban on all modern computer chips to Russia and Belarus, together with the technology and equipment used to manufacture them.
Fighting in the east
The pledges came while Ukrainian forces were under heavy pressure in Luhansk region. On 31 May 2022, Ukraine said Russian forces had taken control of most of Sievierodonetsk after launching a full-scale assault on the city. Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said 60% of the structures in the city had been destroyed. On 1 June 2022, battles for control of the city continued, and Haidai reported that Russian forces already held 80% of its territory.
Elsewhere in the east, three civilians were killed on 1 June 2022 when Russian forces shelled the Sviatohirsk Lavra monastery.
Strikes on supply routes
On 1 June 2022, Russian cruise missiles hit a railway station near the Beskyd tunnel in the Carpathians for the second time, wounding two people. Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister, said the strike was meant to halt rail traffic and stop the delivery of fuel and weapons from Ukraine's allies.
Claims of gains in the south
On 2 June 2022, Ukrainian officials said the Armed Forces of Ukraine had recaptured 20 settlements in Kherson Oblast, as part of the southern offensive.
Taken together, the reports from 1 and 2 June 2022 show Western governments committing artillery, air defence, anti-ship and anti-tank weapons while Russia pressed its assault on Sievierodonetsk and targeted rail links in the west.
