US to give Ukraine advanced rocket systems, Biden says

Ukrainians have promised not to fire into Russia, US officials say

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  Rescuers carry the body of civilian from a residential building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters

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  Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, is feeling the strain after coming under heavy Russian bombardment. Reuters

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  Ukrainian troops help an elderly man out of a damaged apartment building after an air strike in the city of Slovyansk in Donbas region. AFP

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  A school bus carrying Ukrainian refugees leaves Kharkiv. EPA

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  The pain of war hits this woman hard shortly after her apartment building in Slovyansk was damaged by Russian shelling. AFP

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  A crater scars the road surface in Slovyansk, Donbas. AFP

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  A Russian soldier oversees the loading of steel on to a Russian ship at Mariupol port in Ukraine. AP

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  European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, left, talk before the second day's session of an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security, in Brussels. AP

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  Rescuers extinguish a fire at a meat factory, amid fighting in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Reuters

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  A man waits to collect water in Mariupol. AFP

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  Ukrainians cross a makeshift bridge built next to a destroyed structure, in the Kharkiv region. EPA

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  A destroyed tank in Mariupol. AFP

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  People charge electronic devices outside a theatre building, in Mariupol. Reuters

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  Pensioner Gennady Ivanov, 83, sits outside a residential building heavily damaged by shelling, in Mariupol. Reuters

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  Ukrainian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a house that was hit by Russian strikes, in Kharkiv. AP

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  Russian Navy sailors of the Black Sea Fleet prepare to raise a sunken Ukrainian warship at the sea port, in Mariupol. AP

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  A Ukrainian soldier in the city of Lysytsansk, in the eastern region of Donbas. AFP

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  A boy, Yarik, plays in a playground in front a building destroyed during attacks, in Irpin. AP

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  Two Ukrainian soldiers enjoy a tender off-duty moment near the village of Stoyanka, Kyiv region. GettyImages

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  A girl in Kyiv looks at Russian weapons used in the attack on Ukraine. Reuters

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  Children play on a destroyed car in a residential area of Mariupol. AFP

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  Demonstrators hold Ukrainian flags at a charity telethon in support of Ukraine, in Berlin. Reuters

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  Ukrainian servicemen near Zaytseve village in Donetsk, Ukraine. EPA

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  A shell hole near a destroyed building in Zaytseve village. EPA

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  In the Saltivka district of Kharkiv, writing on the vans reads "warning, shelling" and "warning, passing by for civilians is prohibited". AFP

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  A heavily damaged residential building in the Saltivka district of Kharkiv. AFP

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  Ukrainian servicemen inspect a Russian amphibious vehicle near Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. AP

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  A rocket launcher belonging to a "Donetsk People's Republic" militia is fired from its position not far from Panteleimonivka, eastern Ukraine. AP

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  The damaged building of the economics department of Karazin National University in Kharkiv. AFP

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  Karazin National University in Kharkiv came under heavy Russian bombardment. AFP

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  Ukrainian troops approach a destroyed military vehicle in the village of Rus'ka Lozova, north of Kharkiv. AFP

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  A bridge is a destroyed near Rus'ka Lozova, north of Kharkiv. AFP

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  A building after a Russian military strike in the town of Marinka, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region. Reuters

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  An employee mows the lawn near a destroyed warehouse refrigerator, belonging to the Chanta factory, in Novi Petrivtsi, near Kyiv. AFP

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  Defiant Ukrainian service members ride on top of a military vehicle, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on the road connecting Kostiantynivka and Bakhmut, in Donetsk region. Reuters

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  Vladimir Mihailovich, a solar plant manager, surveys a crater after the business in Merefa on the outskirts of Kharkiv was hit by Russian shelling. Reuters

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  A KA-52 helicopter gunship fires rockets on a mission at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. AP

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  Locals walk past a road damaged by shelling in a residential area in Kharkiv. EPA

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  Diana, on the train, waves to her mother Viktoriya and sister Kseniya as she leaves Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. AP

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  Yana Skakova and her son Yehor, who fled from Lysychansk, sit in an evacuation train in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine. AP

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President Joe Biden has said the US will 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," Mr Biden said in an opinion piece in The New York Times, published late on Tuesday.

He had said on Monday that the US would not send Ukraine “rocket systems that can strike into Russia".

Any weapons system can shoot into Russia if it is close enough to the border, but US officials said they had reassurances from Ukraine that they would not fire beyond Ukraine's borders.

An aid package expected to be unveiled on Wednesday would send what the US considers to be medium-range rockets that generally can travel about 80 kilometres, US officials said.

“If Russia does not pay a heavy price for its actions, it will send a message to other would-be aggressors that they too can seize territory and subjugate other countries,” Mr Biden wrote.