Russian forces were attempting to extend and consolidate their hold on Ukraine's industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Thursday, edging closer to claiming a big prize in their offensive in the eastern Donbas region.
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But in a boost for Ukraine, locked in a grinding struggle against Russia's invading army, the United States announced a $700 million weapons package for Kyiv that will include advanced rocket systems with a range of up to 80 km (50 miles).
Russia accused the United States of adding "fuel to the fire." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the supply of the rocket launchers raised the risk of a "third country" being dragged into the conflict.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukraine had promised it would not use the systems to hit targets inside Russia. President Joe Biden hopes extending Ukraine's artillery reach will help push Russia to negotiate an end to the war, which on Friday marks its 100th day.
After days of heavy fighting around Sievierodonetsk, much of which has been laid to waste by Russian bombardment, Russian troops were inching forward through city streets. Ukraine says about 70% of the city is under Russian control, with Russian troops in the city center.
"The enemy is conducting assault operations in the settlement of Sievierodonetsk," Ukraine's armed forces general staff said on Thursday, adding that Russian forces were also attacking in other parts of the east and northeast.
At least four civilians were killed and 10 wounded in the east and northeast, other officials said.
Russia denies targeting civilians.
If Russia fully captures Sievierodonetsk and its smaller twin Lysychansk on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, it would hold all of Luhansk, one of two provinces in the Donbas that Moscow claims on behalf of separatists.
Britain's Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update that Russia controlled most of the city, which before the war had a population of about 101,000, and that Ukrainian forces had destroyed bridges over the river to Lysychansk.
Capturing all of Luhansk would fulfill one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's main aims and solidify a shift in battlefield momentum after his forces were pushed back from the capital Kyiv and from northern Ukraine.
Luhansk's regional governor, Serhiy Gaidai, said civilians were sheltering from Russian attacks under a Sievierodonetsk chemical plant that he said was hit by an air strike on Tuesday, releasing a large pink cloud.
"There are civilians there in bomb shelters, there are quite a few of them left," Gaidai said.
About 15,000 people remained in the city, Gaidai said.
Gaidai has warned that Ukrainian troops in Sievierodonetsk could be forced to retreat to Lysychansk, which he said was easier to defend from its vantage on a hill.
Amid worries about the global ramifications of the war, Ukraine's grain traders' union said this year's wheat harvest was likely to drop to 19.2 million tonnes from a record 33 million in 2021.
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key fertilizer exporter and Ukraine a major supplier of corn and sunflower oil.
Biden is due to meet North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday in Washington. Stoltenberg told reporters he would soon convene a meeting in Brussels with Swedish, Finnish, and Turkish officials to discuss Turkey's opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.
Besides the advanced rocket systems, called HIMARS, the new US package includes ammunition, counterfire radars, air surveillance radars, additional Javelin anti-tank missiles, and anti-armor weapons, officials said.
The decision to give Ukraine the rocket systems was made after Washington received assurances from Kyiv that it would not use them to hit targets inside Russian territory, which could broaden the war.
Ukraine has been seeking Multiple Rocket Launch Systems such as the M270 and M142 HIMARS to provide more firepower at a longer range to hit Russian forces well behind the front line.
The Pentagon said Washington would initially provide Ukraine with four HIMARS systems.
The new supplies come on top of billions of dollars worth of equipment such as drones and anti-aircraft missiles. The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia, three sources said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the supplies would not encourage Ukraine's leadership to resume stalled peace talks.
Separately, US Cyber Command Director Paul Nakasone confirmed that the United States had conducted "offensive, defensive, and information" cyber operations to support Ukraine. He gave no specific details in comments to Sky News.
In related news, three people familiar with the situation said the Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia.
The sale of the General Atomics-made drones could still be blocked by Congress, the sources said, adding that there is also a risk of a last-minute policy reversal that could scuttle the plan, which has been under review at the Pentagon for several weeks.
Ukraine has been using several types of smaller shorter range unmanned aerial systems against Russian forces that invaded the country in late February, but the Gray Eagle represents a leap in technology because it can fly up to 30 or more hours depending on its mission and can gather huge amounts of data for intelligence purposes. Gray Eagles, the Army's version of the more widely known Predator drone, can also carry up to eight powerful Hellfire missiles.
The sale is significant because it puts an advanced reusable US system capable of multiple deep strikes on the battlefield against Russia for the first time.
The White House intends to notify Congress of the potential sale to Ukraine in the coming days with a public announcement expected after that, a US official said.
A White House spokesperson referred inquiries to the Pentagon and a Pentagon spokesperson said there was "nothing to announce."
Money from the recently passed $40 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative has been set aside to fund both the possible sale and the training needed for the drones, the US official and one of the people familiar said.
Training on the UAV system made by General Atomics usually takes months, Gettinger said, but a national plan to train experienced Ukrainian maintainers and operators in a handful of weeks has been proposed in recent weeks, the sources said.
Up until an announcement on Wednesday that Ukraine would get four HIMARS rocket systems, the Pentagon had stressed that smaller systems such as Javelin anti-tank systems and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which allies are shipping to Ukraine via truck near-daily, are most useful.
Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin Corp jointly produce Javelins, while Raytheon makes Stingers.
Meanwhile, soccer great Pelé published a message Wednesday urging Putin to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced millions.
The 81-year-old Pelé, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, said he published his message to the Russian president on the same day Ukraine's national team beat Scotland 3-1 in a playoff that took it a step closer to the soccer World Cup.
"Today Ukraine tries to forget, at least for 90 minutes, the tragedy that engulfs their country. To compete for a World Cup place is already a difficult task – almost an impossible one with so many lives at stake," the Brazilian great said in a post on Instagram that came with a plea to Putin: "Stop the invasion. There's absolutely no justification for this continued violence."
"When we met in the past and exchanged smiles accompanied by a long handshake, I never thought one day we would be as divided as we are now," the three-time World Cup winner posted. "The power to stop this conflict is on your hands. The same ones I shook in Moscow at our last meeting in 2017."
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