Russian troops were approaching the strategic city of Severodonetsk in a relentless offensive to control Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, as the war triggered a historic schism between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its Russian patriarchate.

Pro-Russian separatists said they had captured the town of Lyman between Severodonetsk and Kramatorsk, on the road leading to the key cities still under Kyiv's control.

Russian forces were also closing in on Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in the Lugansk province, with conflicting reports about the extent of their advance.

To further help Ukraine fight back against the invasion, Washington was preparing to send advanced long-range rocket systems, according to US media reports.

Mykhaylo Podolyak, an advisor of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, referring to the rocket systems, said on Twitter that some of the country's partners "avoid giving the necessary weapons because of fear of the escalation. Escalation, really?" 

Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby would not confirm the plans to deliver the M270  Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) to Ukraine.

"We are still committed to helping them succeed on the battlefield," he said.

- Historic schism -

The war caused the Moscow-backed branch of Ukraine's Orthodox Church to sever ties with Russia Friday, in a historic move against the Russian spiritual authorities.

A church council that focused on Russia's "aggression" condemned the pro-war stance of Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and declared "full independence".

"Not only did he (Kirill) fail to condemn Russia's military aggression but he also failed to find words for the suffering Ukrainian people," church spokesman Archbishop Kliment told AFP.

Ukraine has been under Moscow's spiritual leadership since at least the 17th century, but part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church broke with Moscow in 2019 over Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Donbas. 

- Severodonetsk 'surrounded' -

Three months after Russia launched its invasion on February 24, leaving thousands dead on both sides and forcing 6.6 million Ukrainians out of the country, Moscow has gained control over a wide swathe of  eastern and southern Ukraine, including port cities Kherson and Mariupol.

"Russian forces have made steady, incremental gains in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine in the past several days, though Ukrainian defenses remain effective overall," said the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

A Lugansk police official, cited by Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti, said Severodonetsk was "now surrounded" and Ukrainian troops could no longer leave the city.

That was denied by senior city official Oleksandr Stryuk, though he acknowledged the situation was "very difficult" with incessant bombing.

"People are willing to risk everything to get food and water," said Oleksandr Kozyr, the head of the main aid distribution centre in Lysychansk.

"They are so psychologically depressed that they are no longer scared. All they care about is finding food," he said.

Meanwhile, around 10 people were killed in Russian strikes on a military facility in the central city of Dnipro, the regional head of the national guard said.

- EU debates oil embargo -

Zelensky will speak with EU leaders at an emergency summit Monday as they try to agree on an embargo on Russian oil, which is being held up by Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has close relations with Putin.

In Moscow, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the country expects to receive one trillion rubles  ($14.4 billion) in additional oil and gas revenues this year, a windfall from the sharp rise in oil prices caused in part by its invasion of Ukraine.

"Rather than continue trading with (Russia), we need to act until they stop their policy of aggression," Zelensky told a think tank in Indonesia.

- Grain exports still blocked -

As his navy blockades Ukrainian ports, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected accusations that he was using food as a weapon.

Russia and Ukraine supply some 30 percent of the wheat traded on global markets.

Russia has tightened its own exports and Ukraine has vast amounts stuck in storage, driving up prices and cutting availability for importers across the globe.

But in a call Friday with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Putin blamed "anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and the European Union, among other things," according to the Kremlin.

He also accused Kyiv of "sabotaging" negotiations and urged Ukraine to de-mine ports "as soon as possible" to allow the passage of grain-carrying vessels, the Kremlin said.

Nehammer said the Russian president had "given signals that he is quite willing to allow exports via the seaports". 

"The real willingness will only become apparent when it... is actually implemented," he added.

Latest developments

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

- Pro-Russian forces claim key eastern town - 

Moscow-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine say they have captured Lyman, a strategic town between the city of Severodonetsk and the eastern administrative centre of Kramatorsk, which remain under Kyiv's control.

The pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region say they have "liberated and taken full control of 220 settlements, including Krasny Liman", using an old name for Lyman.

Ukrainian forces are also battling to hold onto Severodonetsk as Russia wages all-out war for the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which make up Donbas, Ukraine's industrial heartland.

- Orthodox Church cuts Russia ties -

The Moscow branch of Kyiv's Orthodox Church says it is cutting ties with Russia over the invasion, declaring "full independence" in a historic move against Russia's spiritual authorities.

After holding a council focused on Russia's "aggression", the church declares "full independence" from Russian Patriarch Kirill, the second Orthodox schism in Ukraine in recent years.

Ukraine has been under Moscow's spiritual leadership since at least the 17th century.

- 10 killed in central city - 

Ukraine's national guard says around 10 people have been killed in strikes on a military facility in the central city of Dnipro, which had so far been relatively spared by the fighting.

- Zelensky warns of Donbas 'genocide' -

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accuses Moscow of carrying out a "genocide" in Donbas, where Russian forces are closing in on the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

In his daily televised address, Zelensky warns that Russia's offensive could empty Donbas of its population.

"All this, including the deportation of our people and the mass killings of civilians, is an obvious policy of genocide pursued by Russia," he says.

- Ukraine flag removed from Putin Peak -

Kyrgyzstan's climbing federation says it has removed a Ukrainian flag from a mountain named after Russian President Vladimir Putin, following a police investigation of the stunt, and replaced it with the Kyrgyz flag.

A climber earlier this week posted a video of the flag on the mountain dubbed Putin Peak, which rises 4,446 metres (14,587 feet) above sea level.

- Russian lawmakers urge 'immediate withdrawal' -

Two Communist lawmakers in Russia's far east urge Putin to put an end to Moscow's offensive in Ukraine in a rare public show of dissent.

Lawmaker Leonid Vasyukevich warns "there will be even more orphans in our country" if troops are not immediately withdrawn. He is backed by another lawmaker in the assembly of the Primorsky Krai region.

The head of the local Communist faction says the statement had not been agreed with the party and promises to take "the toughest measures" against the pair.

- Russian to boost grain exports -

Russia says it plans to ramp up grain exports against the backdrop of a looming global food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. 

Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev says Russia will increase its grain exports from over 37 million tonnes in the 2021-2022 season ending June 30 to 50 million tonnes in the new season starting July 1.

Kyiv and the West blames Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports for stalling grain exports from Europe's breadbasket.

Putin tells Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in a telephone call that the accusations are "groundless" and blamed Western sanctions on Russia for spiralling food prices.

- Ukraine's debt rating cut -

S&P Global Ratings cuts Ukraine's debt rating and says the outlook is negative, due to the ongoing fallout from the Russian invasion and the expectation the conflict will not end any time soon.

The agency lowers the grade on Ukraine's long- and short-term foreign currency debt to 'CCC+/C' from 'B-/B' due to the "expectation of a prolonged period of macroeconomic instability in the country."

- Russia expects energy revenue windfall -

Russia expects to receive $14.4 billion in additional oil and gas revenues this year, the finance minister says, adding that part of the windfall will be spent on Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

"We expect to receive up to a trillion rubles in additional oil and gas revenues, according to the forecast that we have developed with the ministry of economic development," Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in remarks broadcast on state television.