Ukraine 'controls half of Severodonetsk'

KYIV, June 06 (AFP/Reuters): Ukrainian troops have beaten back Russian forces to control half of a flashpoint eastern city, local officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the front lines to support his country's "true heroes".
As the see-saw battle raged on for the strategically important city of Severodonetsk-the largest in the Lugansk region not under Russian control-more help was promised from abroad.
The United Kingdom said it would follow the United States and send long-range missile systems to Ukraine, defying warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin against supplying Kyiv with the advanced weapons.
Thousands of civilians have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine on February 24.
Fighting since April has been concentrated in the east of the country, where Russian forces have made slow but steady advances after being beaten back from other parts of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv.
Ukraine's gains in Severodonetsk, announced by regional governor Sergiy Gaiday, would represent a significant advance by Kyiv's troops, who earlier appeared on the verge of being driven out of the city.
"The Armed Forces have cleared half of Severodonetsk and are moving forward," Gaiday posted on Telegram.
However, he warned in a video in the same post that a major new Russian push on the industrial hub appeared imminent.
Across a river in the neighbouring city of Lysychansk, pensioner Oleksandr Lyakhovets said he had just enough time to save his cat before the flames engulfed his flat after it was hit by a Russian missile.
UK to send M270 rocket
launchers to Ukraine
Britain will supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away, it said on Monday, in a move that was coordinated with the United States in response to Russia's invasion.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain's support for Ukraine would change as Russia's tactics evolved, explaining the gift of the M270 multiple-launch systems.
"These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities," Wallace said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden last week said Washington would supply Ukraine with M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, after he received assurances from Kyiv that it would not be used to hit targets inside Russian territory.