INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian troops fought to take complete control of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday as the United States said it
will provide Ukraine with advanced rockets to help it force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war.President Joe Biden said the United States
would provide Ukraine with more advanced rocket systems and munitions so it can &more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield&.We
have moved quickly to send Ukraine a significant amount of weaponry and ammunition so it can fight on the battlefield and be in the
strongest possible position at the negotiating table,& Biden wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times.A senior Biden administration
official said weaponry provided would include the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which Ukraine&s armed forces chief
said a month ago was &crucial& to counter Russian missile attacks.Addressing concerns that such weapons could draw the United States into a
direct conflict with Russia, senior administration officials said Ukraine gave assurances the missiles would not be used to strike inside
Russia.These systems will be used by the Ukrainians to repel Russian advances on Ukrainian territory, but they will not be used on targets
in Russian territory,& the United States official told reporters.Shortly after the United States decision was announced, the Russian
defence ministry said Russia&s nuclear forces were holding drills in the Ivanovo province, northeast of Moscow, the Interfax news agency
reported.Some 1,000 servicemen were exercising in intense manoeuvres using more than 100 vehicles including Yars intercontinental ballistic
missile launchers, it cited the ministry as saying.There was no mention of the United States decision to supply new weapons in the Interfax
report.The latest United States pledge of weapons for Ukraine & on top of billions of dollars worth of equipment already provided including
anti-aircraft missiles and drones & came as Russia pressed its assault to seize the eastern Donbas region, having abandoned its earlier
thrust toward Kyiv from the north.Russian troops have now taken control of most of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk in
Luhansk, one of two provinces in the Donbas, regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai on Tuesday.Nearly all critical infrastructure in
Sievierodonetsk had been destroyed and 60% of residential property damaged beyond repair, he said
Russian shelling had made it impossible to deliver aid or evacuate people.A Russian victory in Sievierodonetsk and its twin city of
Lysychansk across the Siverskyi Donets river would bring full control of Luhansk, one of two eastern provinces Moscow claims on behalf of
separatists.A pro-Moscow separatist leader said Russian proxies had advanced slower than expected to &maintain the city&s infrastructure&
and exercise caution around its chemical factories.We can say already that a third of Sievierodonetsk is already under our control,&
Russia&s TASS state news agency quoted Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of the pro-Moscow Luhansk People&s Republic, as saying.Gaidai warned
Sievierodonetsk residents not to leave bomb shelters due to what he said was a Russian air strike on a nitric acid tank.The Luhansk People&s
Republic&s police force said Ukraine&s forces had damaged it
Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists traded accusations over a similar incident in April.Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian
Refugee Council aid agency which had long operated out of Sievierodonetsk, said he was &horrified& by its destruction.Up to 12,000 civilians
remain caught in crossfire, without sufficient access to water, food, medicine or electricity, Egeland said.The near-constant bombardment is
forcing civilians to seek refuge in bomb shelters and basements, with only few precious opportunities for those trying to escape,& he
said.WEAPONS PACKAGEUkraine says weapons sent by the United States and other countries since the beginning of the invasion have helped fend
off Russian gains.The high mobility artillery rocket systems are part of a $700 million weapons package expected to be unveiled by the
United States on Wednesday.The package includes ammunition, counter fire radars, a number of air surveillance radars, additional Javelin
anti-tank missiles, as well as anti-armour weapons, officials said.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for more weapons while
lambasting the European Union, which agreed on Monday to cut imports of Russian oil, for not sanctioning energy from Russia sooner.The EU
said it would ban imports of Russian oil by sea
Officials said that would halt two-thirds of Russia&s oil exports to Europe at first, and 90% by the end of this year.Responding to the EU
oil embargo, Russia widened its gas cuts to Europe, pushing up prices and ratcheted up its economic battle with Brussels.Putin launched his
&special operation& in February to disarm and &denazify& Ukraine
Ukraine and its Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war to seize territory.Ukraine accuses Russia of war crimes on a huge
scale, flattening cities and killing and raping civilians
Russia denies the accusations.The post United States agrees to send advanced rockets to Ukraine first appeared on Ariana News.
