Fundamental in Ukraine’s defense in recent weeks have been manpads, a shortrange antiaircraft missile system that can be carried on the shoulder and is effective against lowflying aircraft and targets a few kilometers away. The best known are the Stingers, the USdeveloped heatseeking surfacetoair missiles, but now Starstreaks have also arrived in the wartorn country from the UK. These kinds of weapons make a difference because Russia has failed to take out Ukraine’s longrange radarguided S300 surfacetoair missile network. Moscow’s planes are therefore practically forced to fly at low altitudes to avoid detection and hit targets more easily.
Ukraine, Italian ports are closed to Russian ships. Kremlin bans Johnson from entering Russia
To Ukraine from the US Mi17 helicopters capable of destroying Russian tanks and Slovak MiG29 jets
In its first sortie on the Ukrainian battlefield, the British manportable missile system reportedly shot down a Russian helicopter, nearly splitting it in half, the Times reported and appears to emerge from video. Ukrinform, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, reported on Telegram that “in the Kharkiv region successfully destroyed an air defense unit of 95 UAVs ».
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Starstreak Missiles are highvelocity weapons with three kinetic darts that destroy targets. On the ground, the missiles can be shoulderlaunched or combined into Manportable Multiple Light Launchers (LMLs) that can be mounted on light vehicles and carry three readytofire projectiles. One of the most innovative features of the Starstreak is the laser aiming system with a thermal sensor that tracks the target. This antiaircraft system has been operational since the last week of March.
Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, has meanwhile been declared “persona non grata” by Russia: Moscow has imposed an entry ban on him and ten members of his government, including Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney General Dominic Raab, Foreign and Defense Ministers Elizabeth Truss and Ben Wallace and former Prime Minister Theresa May. This comes in response to what Russia calls “unprecedented hostile action by the British government,” Moscow’s foreign ministry said in a statement. London is accused of also waging an “unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally and creating conditions to stall its economy.”
Moscow’s Foreign Ministry claims that the British leadership is “deliberately aggravating the situation around Ukraine by supplying the Kiev regime with deadly weapons and coordinating similar NATO efforts.” Johnson met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week and pledged Britain’s “unwavering support” in the fight against the Russian invasion. That is not everything. The Times revealed that British special forces began training Ukrainian troops in Kyiv for the first time since the invasion. The Ukrainian military also reportedly received training in using Starstreak missiles in online and digital modes.
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