Russia controls 20 pc of Ukraine: Zelensky
Friday, 3 June 2022
KYIV, June 02 (AFP): Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Russian troops control about one-fifth of his country, including the annexed Crimean peninsula and territory in the east held by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
"Today, about 20 percent of our territory is under the control of the occupiers," he said during an address to lawmakers in Luxembourg, as Russian forces were solidifying their hold on the eastern Donbas region and pushing towards Ukraine's de facto administrative centre there.
Moscow said Thursday that it has managed to stem the arrival of foreign "mercenaries" in Ukraine over the past month and that it has killed "hundreds" of them.
"Hundreds of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine have been destroyed by Russia's long-range precision weapons shortly after their arrival" to undergo training, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
"Most of the mercenaries have been destroyed in combat zones due to their low level of training and lack of real combat experience."
The Russian army said it has managed to stem the arrival of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine, estimating their current number in the pro-Western country at around 3,500.
UK to send US rocket
systems to Ukraine
Britain says it will send sophisticated medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine, in a move coordinated with the United States.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says the U.K. will send an unspecified number of M270 launchers, which can send precision-guided rockets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles).
Britain says the decision has been coordinated closely with a U.S. decision to send Ukraine High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. The two missile systems are similar, though the American one has wheels while the British one-also U.S.-built-runs on tracks.
Britain says Ukrainian troops will be trained in the U.K. to use the equipment.
Ukraine has implored its Western allies to send longer-range missiles to help it counter Russian artillery assaults in the eastern Donbas region, the focus of Moscow's offensive.
The U.S. said Ukraine has promised not to launch the weapons into Russia.