What did Western rocket pledges mean on 1 June 2022?

What did Ukraine's partners agree to send on 1 June 2022, and what was happening on the rail lines that carried such supplies? The day brought commitments on rocket artillery from both Washington and London, alongside a Russian strike in the Carpathians.

Rockets from Washington

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 were part of a new $700 million weapons package. The package also included ammunition, counter-fire radars, a number of air surveillance radars and additional Javelin anti-tank missiles.

The decision followed Biden's announcement on 31 May 2022 of an 11th military aid package for Ukraine. He said it would include more advanced rocket systems and ammunition, among them High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), to help Ukraine hit key targets more precisely. NATO said it did not expect Russia to take any action in response to the decision.

London follows

The same day, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced that the United Kingdom had agreed to send more M270 multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukrainian forces. London also agreed to train Ukrainian troops to use them.

Strike near the Beskydy tunnel

On the ground, Russian cruise missiles hit a railway station near the Beskydy 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 deliveries of fuel and weapons from Ukraine's allies.

A note from the region

Elsewhere in the region, on 30 May 2022 Aleksandr Rozenberg was sworn in as the new prime minister of Transnistria.