• Ukrainian officials say the ban on US weapons firing into Russia is exposing them to attack.

• Russia invaded Kharkiv this past weekend, weeks after Ukraine said it was massing troops on the border.

• Parliament official Oleksandra Ustinova said Ukraine could only watch as Russia prepared for the assault.

Ukrainian parliamentary officials are pushing the Biden administration to remove restrictions on Kyiv striking targets in Russian territory with its arsenal of US weapons, Politico reported.

In an interview published Tuesday, the outlet quoted two parliamentarians, David Arakhamia and Oleksandra Ustinova, who were visiting Washington to gather support for the request.

Ustinova, head of Ukraine's special parliamentary commission on arms and munitions and leader of the Holos opposition party, spoke repeatedly on the struggles Kyiv has faced because of the strike ban.

"We saw their military sitting one or two kilometers from the border inside Russia, and there was nothing we could do about that," Ustinova told Politico.

Russia launched an offensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv over the weekend, capturing several settlements and targeting bridges in the area. The renewed incursions come more than a year after Ukraine retook the region in mid-2022.

Ukraine knew for weeks that Russia was massing troops at the border, with intelligence officials saying in early May that Moscow was gathering some 50,000 to 70,000 personnel there.

But the Russian advance has rankled some Ukrainians, who questioned why the area seemed lightly defended after videos emerged of Moscow's troops crossing over unopposed. Ukrainian media reported that the top general responsible for the region's defense was sacked on Tuesday.

Speaking to Politico, Ustinova said the Russians had become "smart now because they know there is a restriction for Ukrainians to shoot at the Russian territory."

"And we saw all of their military equipment sitting one or two kilometers from the border and there was nothing we could do," she said.

Some observers say Moscow's goal on the northern front may be to establish a "buffer zone" that prevents Ukrainian forces from attacking the Russian border instead of pushing toward Kharkiv city.

It also gives the Kremlin space to wheel in artillery that can get in range of Kharkiv city. Ustinova told Politico that Russia aimed to make Kharkiv a repeat of the battle of Mariupol, where fighting was so intense that much of the eastern city was effectively leveled.

"You're giving us a stick, but you will not let us use it," she said.

Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War concurred in a Sunday assessment that Russia was able to advance in Kharkiv due to the strike ban for NATO weapons.

"Russian offensive efforts to seize Vovchansk are in large part a consequence of the tacit Western policy that Ukrainian forces cannot use Western-provided systems to strike legitimate military targets within Russia," it wrote.

Ukraine has been attacking targets beyond the border — more recently on Russia's oil facilities — but only with its own drones.

Washington and its allies fear that allowing Ukraine to attack Russian soil with Western equipment would cross a red line with Moscow.

While it's not immediately clear if this would lead to all-out war, other methods for the Kremlin to strike back include organizing terror attacks with radical groups embedded in the West.

To that end, some weapons systems, like the US-supplied HIMARS launchers given to Ukraine, were tweaked before delivery to prevent them from firing into Russia.

The policy has been criticized as a means of effectively shielding Russia from significant Ukrainian counterattack. Still, two anonymous US officials told Politico that the Biden administration isn't changing the rules.

"The assistance is for the defense and not for offensive operations in Russian territory," one official said, per Politico.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Kyiv has largely relied on Western-supplied equipment to stave off Russia's advance, saying US artillery has played a major role in its defense. The US recently earmarked some $25.7 billion in military equipment and weapons for Ukraine as part of a new $61 billion tranche of aid that was held back for months in Congress.

Get AfriPrime Android Web View app....Click the link to Amazon app store to download https://rb.gy/3xek46

Russia's Belbek Airbase In Crimea Hammered By Ukrainian Long-Range Strike

Wreckage of S-400 engagement radar at airbase of Belbek in Crimea, May 15, 2024.

Details are still scarce, but reports indicate that the Russian airbase at Belbek, on the occupied Crimean peninsula, has come under heavy attack by Ukrainian forces. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that it countered an overnight attack by U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), a short-range ballistic missile that has made a significant impact since its first appearance in the conflict last fall. Initial photos from the aftermath suggest that at least one Russian ground-based air defense system was successfully targeted, however.

Videos posted to social media show explosions purportedly in the vicinity of Belbek. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports citing local residents suggest that around 20 explosions were heard. These may well relate to both missile impacts and interceptions, as well as secondary explosions.

Imagery from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), which provides near real-time active fire data via orbital infrared sensing, indicated a cluster of blazes close to the flight line at the airbase, where aircraft are normally parked in the open.

Photos have since been posted to social media that claim to show the destruction of portions of an S-300/S-400 air defense system located at the airfield. In particular, it appears that a 92N6 ‘Grave Stone’ radar — the primary long-range detection radar associated with the S-400 — was hit.

Despite multiple Ukrainian claims that aircraft were also successfully targeted on the airfield, this has so far not been supported by imagery.

In a statement on the Telegram messaging app today, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that 10 ATACMS missiles were downed by its air defenses over Crimea last night but did not reveal whether any damage had been inflicted.

Get AfriPrime Android Web View app....Click the link to Amazon app store to download https://rb.gy/3xek46

Also on Telegram, the Russia-installed governor of the Crimean port of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, reported that missile debris fell onto a residential area. He added that preliminary information indicated no one had been hurt in the attack.

While Russia has repeatedly said that ATACMS missiles have been used in specific attacks, it has not provided evidence of this.

However, debris that is said to have been located in Sevastopol in the wake of last night’s attack does appear to show M74 submunitions, consistent with the use of an ATACMS missile fitted with a cluster warhead. As we have detailed in the past, this version of the missile is ideally suited for targeting aircraft in the open and air defense system, as well as vehicle pools, ammunition dumps, and more.

The threat that cluster versions of ATACMS pose to airbases in Crimea specifically, is a point that we have also raised in the past:

“Basically, a couple of ATACMS could be fired at a Russian airbase in Crimea and other occupied areas of Ukraine and destroy all the aircraft sitting on their main aprons. None of these aircraft are parked in fortified hangars or under any covering at all.”

Russia does tend to spread its aircraft out at Belbek due to the threat of an attack and the damage closely parked aircraft can do to each other if one is struck. This is a hard lesson Russia has learned multiple times.

The airbase at Belbek, in the suburbs of Sevastopol, was used by Ukraine before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Today it is home to the 38th Fighter Aviation Regiment (38 IAP, in Russian nomenclature), a unit that you can read more about here. The regiment flies a mix of original, non-upgraded Su-27 Flanker-B fighters, two-seat Su-27UB Flanker-C combat trainers, and upgraded Su-27SMs, but is expected to eventually be re-equipped with Su-35S Flanker-Es. In the meantime, a handful of two-seat Su-30M2 aircraft are also being used for crew training in preparation for the more advanced Flanker.

Get AfriPrime Android Web View app....Click the link to Amazon app store to download https://rb.gy/3xek46

The base plays a significant role in Russia’s war in Ukraine and has also accommodated detachments of other combat aircraft types, including additional Su-35S and Su-30SM aircraft, as well as Su-34 Fullback strike fighters and MiG-31 Foxhound interceptors. As of May 1, MiG-31s were still stationed at the base, satellite imagery confirms.

Soon after President Joe Biden announced he had signed a $61-billion aid package for Ukraine on April 24, it emerged that the United States had already supplied additional ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. Reportedly included for the first time were longer-range variants, delivered under a secret transfer operation.

 

Some of the first results of that delivery may well have been seen in an attack on the airbase at Dzhankoi, also in Crimea, which is home to multiple helicopters, tactical jets, and high-end ground-based air defense systems.

Russian sources said the attack was prosecuted by ATACMS and Ukrainian channels claimed that between three and five S-400 and S-300 air defense systems were hit, something that high-resolution satellite imagery appears to support.

Belbek Air Base has long been considered a top target for Ukraine with constant reports of the installation being hit that do not pan out. But with the arrival of longer-range ATACMS, it was only a matter of time before Kyiv took a shot at it. Now, as we wait for confirmation on just how extensive the damage is, it's becoming clearer that that these missile are likely putting targets very deep on the Crimean Peninsula at higher risk than ever before.

This is a developing story. We will update it when new information becomes available.

Get AfriPrime Android Web View app....Click the link to Amazon app store to download https://rb.gy/3xek46

UPDATE:

It looks like Belbek Airbase came under attack again tonight, with fires burning on the installation. We are still awaiting clear satellite imagery of the base.

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1790860668825977172

Russia's military claims to have shot down 10 U.S.-supplied missiles over Crimea as Blinken visits Ukraine

Russia claims its military shot down 10 U.S.-supplied missiles on Wednesday as the United States’ top diplomat is in Ukraine shoring up America’s support for the country.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses detected 10 ATACMS missiles that were allegedly targeting Crimea early Wednesday and shot them down over the Black Sea, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv.

Sevastopol Gov. Mikhail Razvozhayev confirmed the missiles were shot down near the Belbek air base, saying some of the missile fragments fell into residential areas. They caused no casualties, according to Razvozhayev.

Ukraine has launched a series of drone and missile attacks on various targets across Russia, including oil refineries and fuel depots, over recent months amid its attempt to fend off its larger neighbor.

Get AfriPrime Android Web View app....Click the link to Amazon app store to download https://rb.gy/3xek46

Blinken, who arrived Tuesday, visited Ukraine on an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure the country amid its war with Russia.

In a statement released after Blinken's arrival, the State Department said the diplomat was scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Following Blinken’s meeting with Zelenskyy, the State Department said the two "discussed recent battlefield updates and the importance of newly-arrived U.S. security assistance to helping repel Russian attacks."

"They also discussed long-term security arrangements and ongoing work to ensure Ukraine can thrive economically. Secretary Blinken reiterated the United States’ enduring support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and our commitment to Ukraine’s recovery," the statement added.

Ukraine's attacks this week come as Russian troops continue a massive offensive in northeast Ukraine that began last week, the most significant border incursion since the invasion began.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who won re-election earlier this month, continues his invasion of Ukraine that started in Feb. 2022, despite international pressure to end it.