Ballistics Putin’s ‘last argument’ as Ukraine brings his army to standstill

Ukraine’s quality to impede the travel of Russian supplies and unit to the beforehand lines has grown successful caller days, from the confederate regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson to the eastbound front, and has forced the Russian service to a standstill, according to battlefield analysis.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to onslaught refineries and munitions factories heavy wrong Russia, weakening its warfare effort.

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Sensing the increasing spot of their position, Ukrainian forces struck the metropolis of St Petersburg arsenic Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived determination for a high-profile economical forum, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote him an unfastened missive telling him helium could not triumph the war.

“Your resources are importantly dwindling,” Zelenskyy wrote. “You won’t person capable wealth and governmental powerfulness to proceed buying the loyalty of Russians, arsenic you’ve been doing for 26 years.”

Zelenskyy invited Putin to face-to-face talks. Russia did not respond directly, nor did it admit its deteriorating battlefield situation.

There is 1 country wherever Zelenskyy conceded the Russians had an advantage.

“You anticipation that ballistics volition bash for you what everything other has failed to do,” helium wrote to Putin.

Russia produces 120 ballistic missiles a month, Zelenskyy told the Ukraine-NATO Council, doubly arsenic galore arsenic the Patriot interceptors the United States produces.

“Compared to the existent challenges, this is nothing,” Zelenskyy told Face the Nation.

The effectiveness of Russia’s ballistics was demonstrated connected June 2, erstwhile it fired a cocktail of 656 drones and 73 missiles into Ukrainian civilian areas, sidesplitting 23 radical and injuring astatine slightest 130.

Ukraine intercepted 91.7 percent of the drones and 90.6 percent of the cruise missiles, but lone 27 percent of the ballistic missiles, according to its Air Force.

Serhiy Beskrestnov, Ukraine’s lawman defence minister, said Russia besides keeps a strategical stockpile of 180-250 Iskander ballistic missiles, dissimilar different types of missiles, which are fired wrong a fewer months of manufacture, oregon drones, which are fired wrong 2 weeks of production.

“Ballistics is the past Russian statement successful the war,” Zelenskyy wrote, and called for the US to let it to nutrient Patriot interceptors nether licence.

The US has refused to bash so, but Zelenskyy has pledged to nutrient a Ukrainian mentation of the Patriot strategy by the extremity of 2027.

[Al Jazeera]

On May 31, Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps said it had established occurrence power implicit the cities of Luhansk, Starobilsk, Alchevsk, Bryanka, and Kadiivka, each 50 to 90 kilometres (30 to 55 miles) wrong occupied Luhansk, and was capable to onslaught armoured vehicles and ammunition depots astatine the Russian border, 205km (130 miles) away.

It was the archetypal clip Ukraine declared it had specified interdiction powerfulness implicit the eastbound region.

Russian subject reporters confirmed Ukraine’s capableness to onslaught queues of Russian trucks lumbering done borderline checkpoints.

In summation to traffic, Ukraine has besides begun striking grooming centres.

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said that connected Saturday his forces struck the Tryokhizbenko grooming crushed of the Russian 3rd Army successful Luhansk, incurring astatine slightest 30 casualties.

[Al Jazeera]

Ukraine has been perpetually improving the scope and show of its drones, and has reportedly present sent a first-person presumption drone, usually a short-range weapon, much than 100km (60 miles) into force territory.

Ukraine’s Beskrestnov confirmed that Kyiv was besides utilizing drones to remotely excavation large proviso roads successful occupied Ukraine, aft this was reported connected Russian subject reporters’ sites.

Russia astatine a standstill

Ukraine’s tactics look to beryllium winning. Battlefield analysts person travel to the decision that Russia is fundamentally astatine a standstill.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based deliberation tank, precocious assessed that Russia had made a nett summation of conscionable 104 quadrate kilometres (40 quadrate miles) this year.

In the past week, it said it had utilized caller grounds to reassess those gains astatine 40.64sq km (15sq miles), including December 2025, judging that galore of the areas antecedently thought to beryllium Russian-controlled were simply infiltrated and contested.

Over the aforesaid period, the ISW said, Russia mislaid power of 281.1sq km (108sq miles) it had occupied, arsenic Ukraine contested those lands.

[Al Jazeera]

The unfastened root quality task DeepState estimated that Russia had gained a full of 14sq km (five quadrate miles) successful May, its worst show since September 2023.

“There are practically nary harmless roads for the occupier successful the southbound and eastbound of our country,” wrote Zelenskyy connected his Telegram messaging channel.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Moscow had heard Zelenskyy large and clear, describing the Ukrainian leader’s intentions arsenic being “to recapture these lands”.

Russia has insisted connected shuttle diplomacy via Washington, but showed disappointment with the information that United States President Donald Trump’s efforts to reposition the US arsenic a neutral appeared to beryllium failing.

“Right now, they’re saying successful the EU: ‘We’re not mediators, we’re firmly connected Ukraine’s side’. I was amazed that [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio said the aforesaid happening the different time portion speaking successful Congress,” Lavrov told RT Arabic.

He saw that arsenic a departure from what Trump had promised Putin astatine their Alaska acme successful August 2025.

Ukraine’s heavy strikes

Ukraine besides kept up its long-range onslaught run against Russian lipid and defence infrastructure.

On May 30, it destroyed a ballistic rocket launcher and 2 Tupolev-142 long-range strategical bombers astatine the Taganrog airbase connected the Sea of Azov.

On Sunday, it deed the Saratov and Rostov lipid refineries, followed by the Ilsky refinery, 1 of Russia’s largest, and the Novoshakhtinsky refinery connected Tuesday.

On the eve of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Ukraine struck the St Petersburg lipid terminal and heavy damaged a corvette, the Boykyi, berthed successful the city.

There were galore different strikes connected lipid retention tanks and pumping stations.