Ukraine has “largely neutralised” the threat posed by Russia in the north-west Black Sea, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
In its latest military update, the MoD said Kyiv had successfully used western-donated Harpoon anti-ship missiles against the Russians for the first time, destroying the naval tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh while it was on a resupplying mission near Snake Island on 17 June.
Through such actions, Ukraine has “undermined the viability of Russia’s original operational design for the invasion, which involved holding the Odesa region at risk from the sea”, the MoD added.
Elsewhere, the situation in the eastern Donbas region is “extremely difficult”, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk province has said, warning that Russia was preparing for a large-scale offensive.
Speaking on Monday evening, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow was likely to increase its attacks in the build-up to an EU summit on Thursday and Friday.
“We are defending Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk, this whole area, the most difficult one. We have the most difficult fighting there,” he said. “But we have our strong guys and girls there.”
