Victorious news of 461st day of war: British arms manufacturer to open office in Ukraine, Moscow attacked by drones, and Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed 4 enemy artillery units

One of the world's largest arms manufacturers opens an office in Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with representatives of the British defence company BAE Systems: CEO Charles Woodburn, Managing Director Gabby Costigan and Director for Ukraine Christian Seear. They discussed the localisation of production in Ukraine.

"We have agreed to start work on opening a BAE Systems office in Ukraine, and later on, repair and manufacturing facilities for the company's products," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. 

"We are ready to become a major regional hub for the repair and manufacture of various types of BAE Systems products and are interested in more global relations than we have now,” he added.

Moscow under attack by drones

On the morning of 30 May, an elite district of Moscow was attacked by drones. Although the drones did not cause any serious damage, the attack had a military and informational effect, said Serhiy Zgurets, director of the information and consulting company Defense Express.

"The story of this strike on Moscow, or rather on Rublevka, where the elite houses of the Russian authorities are located, has a military and informational effect. GPS coverage was switched off over Moscow so that these drones could not navigate, but this does not entirely affect the efficiency of these drones. The situation suggests that the effectiveness of the electronic warfare system is not significant, nor is the effectiveness of the air defence system all the way to Moscow. This is a strategy that is probably being implemented by the Ukrainian side in response to the Shahed strikes on Kyiv," he said on Espreso.

Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed four enemy artillery units

According to the General Staff, Ukrainian defence aviation carried out 8 strikes on enemy concentration areas over the last day.

During the day, missile and artillery units struck three control points, an area of enemy manpower concentration, four artillery units at firing positions, an anti-aircraft missile system, four fuel and lubricant depots, and an electronic warfare station.

Ukraine may receive a new IMF tranche

Ukraine and the IMF have signed a staff-level agreement to revise the 4-year cooperation programme. This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

"This is the result of the negotiations that took place last week in Vienna. Representatives of the Fund praised Ukraine's performance in implementing a number of measures and meeting performance indicators, and noted the resilience of the Ukrainian economy and the prospects for recovery in 2023," he said.  

The IMF Board of Executive Directors is expected to approve the agreement in the near future.

The document paves the way for Ukraine to receive the next tranche of about $900 million.

At the same time, the IMF said that Ukraine had met all quantitative performance criteria by the end of April and structural benchmarks by the end of May, which allows it to disburse $900 million.

Italy is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced the preparation of another military aid package for Ukraine, which is likely to include certain elements of the air defence system.

Crosetto discussed the issue of military assistance to Ukraine during a hearing at the parliamentary committee on oversight of intelligence services. The text of his speech - as well as the kind of weapons Kyiv will receive from Rome - is classified.

According to Italian media reports, the new military aid package to Ukraine - the seventh in a row - may include SAMP-T and other air defence systems. The agreement on the delivery of air defence elements could have been reached last week during a meeting in the Ramstein format, which focused on the need to strengthen the air defence capabilities of the country, which was subject to intense Russian air strikes.