Russia tightens grip on Ukrainian city, slams US for supplying rockets

Kyiv: Russian forces were attempting to extend and consolidate their hold on Ukraine's industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Thursday (June 2), edging closer to claiming a big prize in their offensive in the eastern Donbas region. 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 Sergei 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 centre.
"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 defence 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 fulfil 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.

Thousands of people have been killed in Ukraine and millions more displaced since the invasion began. 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 NATO 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.