June 1, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

All NATO allies agree that "Ukraine will become a member of the alliance," its chief Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

Part of Russia’s premise for its invasion of Ukraine was to fend off NATO from expanding close to its borders.

Even though Ukraine is not a member of the alliance, and NATO has insisted that it is not a party to the conflict, the bloc has��played a critical role in supporting Kyiv, donating billions in military aid and other support.

On Thursday, Stoltenberg said NATO's most important task was to ensure that Ukraine prevails in the war against Russia — and to prevent the conflict from spilling over beyond Ukraine's borders.  “That's the reason why we have increased our major presence in Eastern lines on NATO territory,” he said.

New faces at NATO: Finland’s accession to the alliance earlier this month marked a major shift in the security landscape in northeastern Europe, more than doubling NATO’s frontier with Russia.

Finnish public support for accession snowballed following the invasion of Ukraine, and also reignited calls from Kyiv to join.

Sweden also applied to join the bloc shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion began, with the support of an overwhelming majority of NATO members — but its membership has so far been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Turkey has accused Sweden of harboring members of terrorist groups, which Stockholm denies, while Hungary has claimed Sweden behaved hostilely toward its government.

Stoltenberg said Thursday he would soon travel to the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss Sweden's NATO membership, though did not specify the timing.

The Russian Volunteer Corps, a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals aligned with the Ukrainian army, has denied shelling civilians as it claimed its “second phase” inside Russia had begun on Thursday.

In a video message, a fighter from the Russian Volunteer Corps said they were “once again fighting on Russian territory.” 

“Very soon the outskirts of Shebekino will appear," the group said, referring to a village in Russia's border region of Belgorod.

The message comes amid an uptick in cross-border mortar and artillery in Shebekino and other border districts in recent days. Belgorod's governor said five people were injured by shelling early Thursday.

A day earlier, the governor said children will be evacuated from Shebekino and the nearby town of Grayvoron.

The Russian Volunteer Corps on Telegram accused “Putin's army” of hitting “Russian villages and hamlets.”

Anti-Putin Russians: The Russian Volunteer Corps and another anti-Putin Russian group, the Freedom for Russia Legion, last week claimed responsibility for an attack in Belgorod.

The legion also posted a video message Thursday claiming they were “near the border of our homeland.”

Moscow's ambassador to the United States on Wednesday accused Washington of aiming to deliver “strategic defeat on Russia” after the White House announced a new military aid package for Ukraine.

The Biden administration said Wednesday that it will send an estimated $300 million worth of additional weaponry and equipment to Kyiv, focusing the latest military aid package on air defense systems to help Ukraine fend off Russian aerial attacks. 

Moscow drone attack: Antonov also accused the US of being indifferent to a drone attack on the Russian capital on Tuesday, which Moscow has blamed on Kyiv. Ukraine has denied direct involvement.  

The White House reiterated on Wednesday that US officials have told Ukraine they do not support attacks on Russian territory, especially not with US-provided equipment. However, two US officials said there is no evidence right now that the drones used in Moscow were provided by the US. 

The dissident Freedom for Russia Legion, an anti-Putin formation dedicated to ending the war in Ukraine and to toppling President Vladimir Putin, claim they are near the Russian border and will soon advance into the country. 

The legion, which is made up of a few hundred Russian citizens who are fighting in Ukraine under the command of the Ukrainian security forces, last week claimed responsibility for an incursion inside the Russian border region of Belgorod.

Belgorod attacks: When speaking to CNN last week, a spokesperson for the legion codenamed "Caesar" said the dissident fighters used US-made armored vehicles — a claim that provoked minor consternation in Washington, which has insisted that Ukraine not use weapons it receives from members of the NATO security alliance inside Russia.

After the Belgorod attack, Ukrainian officials confirmed it had been carried out "by Russian citizens," but insisted they were acting independently.

Read more here.

A 9-year-old girl and her mother were among three people killed following Russian strikes on Kyiv early Thursday, Ukrainian officials said, as a clearer picture emerged of the victims and the damage.

In an update, Ukraine's national police said the girl, her mother, 34, and a 33-year-old woman died. Twelve others were injured, the police said.

Air defenses destroyed all 10 Russian missiles launched at the Ukrainian capital overnight, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said earlier

Falling debris from the missiles damaged a children's clinic, two schools and a police station, according to the Kyiv city military administration. A residential building was also damaged from the blast wave.

The administration had originally stated that two children were among the three people killed.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the girl's mother's age. She was 34.

At least five people were injured in the town of Shebekino in Russia's Belgorod region early Thursday morning by Ukrainian shelling, said Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov on Telegram. 

Three people have been hospitalized, one woman was treated at the scene, and "there is information about a man who is unconscious with multiple shrapnel wounds," Gladkov said, adding the man was being taken to hospital.

Gladkov earlier reported that two people were injured in the shelling, including a man who was in critical condition after having an arm amputated. 

Residential and administrative buildings were also damaged, according to Gladkov.

Attacks inside Russian: Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, has seen a rise in shelling in recent days following an incursion last week by anti-Putin Russians aligned with the Ukrainian military. Gladkov said Wednesday that children will be evacuated out of Shebekino and the nearby town of Grayvoron. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has called the situation there "alarming."

Ukraine's air force destroyed all 10 missiles launched at Kyiv overnight, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Thursday.

Russian forces had targeted "civilian and critical infrastructure" with Iskander short-range missiles, the General Staff said.

Falling debris from the missiles damaged a children's clinic, two schools and a police station, according to the Kyiv city military administration in a Telegram post. A residential building was also damaged from the blast wave.

At least three people, including two children — ages 5 or 6 and 12 or 13 — were killed by falling debris, officials said.

Earlier Thursday, the head of Kyiv's military administration said the strikes were from ground-based tactical missile systems and did not come from planes.

Russia resumed its overnight bombardment of Kyiv early Thursday, launching missile strikes on Ukraine's capital that killed at least three people, including two children.

Meanwhile, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said at least two people were injured by Ukrainian shelling there early on Thursday.

The war has taken a new turn this week amid increased shelling and drone strikes inside Russia’s border, including Moscow. Ukraine has denied involvement in drone attacks on the Russian capital Tuesday, even as one top official made it clear that Russia was getting a taste of its own medicine after months of bombarding Ukrainian cities. 

Here's what to know:

Russian forces used ground-based tactical missile systems to target Kyiv in early Thursday morning strikes, according to a Ukrainian military official.

Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said the missiles were not fired from planes. Preliminary information showed cruise and ballistic missiles were used, he added.

All identified air targets were shot down by Ukrainian forces, but falling debris resulted in casualties and damage, according to Popko, with three people — including two children — killed and at least 10 people injured.

Earlier, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 14 people were injured in the strikes.