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How Western arms pledges shaped 1 June 2022
Summary
A look back at a day when new long-range rocket and air defence commitments for Ukraine coincided with intense fighting in Sievierodonetsk.
What did Western governments commit to Ukraine on 1 June 2022, and how did Moscow respond? The day brought a cluster of arms announcements while fighting in the east continued.
The pledges
U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to provide long-range rocket artillery systems, after Ukraine reportedly gave assurances that it would not use them to strike Russian cities. They formed part of a new $700 million package that also included ammunition, counter-fire radars, a number of air surveillance radars and additional Javelin anti-tank missiles.
The United Kingdom said it would send more M270 multiple-launch rocket systems and train Ukrainian troops to use them, according to British defence minister Ben Wallace. Germany said it would send the IRIS-T air defence missile system, following a Ukrainian request for heavy weapons.
Moscow's reaction
Russia said the U.S. decision could widen the conflict and risked direct confrontation. It accused Washington of purposefully and diligently adding fuel to the fire.
The front and the rear
On the ground, battles for Sievierodonetsk continued. Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai had said on 31 May that Russian forces controlled most of the city and that 60% of structures had been destroyed; reports on 1 June put Russian control at 80% of the territory. On 31 May an airstrike had also hit a tank of nitric acid in the city, and residents were told to stay in bomb shelters because of the risk of toxic fumes.
Elsewhere, three civilians were killed when Russian forces shelled the Sviatohirsk Lavra monastery. A day earlier, a Russian missile had hit an apartment in Sloviansk, killing three people and injuring six.
Russian cruise missiles also struck 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 aim was to halt rail traffic and stop deliveries of fuel and weapons from Ukraine's allies.
Sanctions
Pressure on Russia's economy also grew. On 31 May the UK and the EU agreed a ban on insuring Russian oil tankers, to be phased in from six months later. On 1 June Taiwan banned exports of modern computer chips, and the technology and equipment to make them, to Russia and Belarus.
Taken together, the day showed Western support shifting towards heavier weapons and air defence, while Russia pressed its offensive in the east and targeted supply routes in the west.
