Russian forces advance in factory city

Russian forces on Wednesday pressed closer to the centre of an industrial city in a drive to grab a swathe of eastern Ukraine, while the United States said it would supply advanced rockets to Kyiv to help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war.   

Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces, now 98 days into their invasion, were pounding infrastructure in eastern and southern regions including the symbolically important city of Sievierodonetsk, which they entered on May 27. It has been the main focus of their ground offensive for several weeks.   

US President Joe Biden announced the supply of precision rocket systems and munitions that could strike at long-range Russian targets, part of a $700 million weapons package expected to be unveiled on Wednesday.    A senior Biden administration official said the new supplies - which comes on top of billions of dollars worth of equipment such as drones and anti-aircraft missiles - included the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which Kyiv has said is “crucial” to counter Russian missile attacks.  Addressing concerns that weapons such as HIMARS could draw the United States into direct conflict, Jonathan Finer, deputy White House national security adviser, said Washington had asked Ukraine for assurances the missiles would not strike inside Russia.

 
Russia, however, warned of an increased risk of direct confrontation with the United States.   KYIV, June 1 (Reuters) -