On UKRaine’s Southern Front Line, tension reigns before decisive counteroffensive; UKR’s air defense able to shoot down any RUssian missile type; UKR aircraft strikes RU units 9 times in a day; RU Volunteer Corps and Freedom of RU Legion announce breaking into RU again, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

On Ukraine’s southern front line, tension reigns before decisive counteroffensive:

SOUTHEASTERN UKRAINE – After months of seeing Russia’s war against Ukraine through the drab gray-brown landscapes of winter, the lush green visuals of zero-line trenches at the onset of summer are a strange sight to adapt to.

Though both incoming and outgoing artillery fire can be heard regularly, new foliage provides valuable cover for soldiers and vehicles.

Beyond the trench’s observation points, no man’s land stretches outwards over the flat Ukrainian steppe towards Russian lines around a kilometer away.

These positions mark the first line of defense on the southern front line, stretching across Zaporizhzhia Oblast into the west of Donetsk Oblast, of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

It is across the fields of this southern front that many, both in Ukraine and abroad, expect that Ukrainian forces armed with Western tanks and armored vehicles will surge forward at the vanguard of a major counteroffensive in the coming weeks or even days.

Anticipated for over half a year since Ukraine liberated Kherson and the rest of the occupied territory west of the Dnipro River, Kyiv’s next major push looks likely to be decisive for the future course of the war.

In the best-case scenario, Ukrainian forces achieve a major strategic breakthrough in the south, reaching the Azov Sea and cutting off Russia’s “land bridge” to occupied Crimea. Not only would such an attack devastate Russian logistics in southern Ukraine, it would also isolate the Crimean peninsula itself and provide a pathway for the total defeat of Russia in the war.

On the other hand, if Russian lines hold and the counteroffensive fails to make a real breakthrough, such a scenario could signal the beginning of a deeper military stalemate, where neither side is capable of major new offensive operations.

With the beginning of major counteroffensive operations potentially as little as a week away, the Kyiv Independent visited positions manned by the 110th Brigade of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense forces, its ranks filled almost entirely with locals from Zaporizhzhia Oblast who took up arms immediately upon the full-scale invasion. —>READ MORE HERE

Zelensky: Ukraine’s air defense able to shoot down any Russian missile type

Thanks to foreign partners, Ukraine’s air defense network is capable of shooting down all types of Russian missiles, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference on June 1, as reported by Ukrinform.

However, Ukraine still needs more Patriot air defense systems, the president added during his visit at the 2nd European Political Community Summit in Moldova.

At the summit, Ukraine’s president highlighted the need for further means of protection against Russia’s air strikes, including Patriot air defense systems and Western fighter jets.

Zelensky’s comments came after three people were killed by debris in a Russian mass ballistic missile attack on Kyiv in the early morning of June 1.

According to the Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat, Western systems like Patriot or SAMP/T are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, but Kyiv currently lacks a sufficient number to cover its entire territory. —>READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:

+++++Russia-Ukraine News LATEST UPDATES: (REUTERS) (AP) (NY POST) and (WSJ)+++++

+++++Ukrainian aircraft strikes Russian units 9 times in a day – General Staff report+++++

+++++Russian Volunteer Corps and Freedom of Russia Legion announce breaking into Russia again+++++

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