Despite months of complaints from troops over shortages and fatigue, Kyiv has been slow to ramp up mobilization, leaving some areas of the front critically understaffed.

Ukraine needs more long-range weapons to fight off Russian advances in the northern Kharkiv region where the situation around the country's second-largest city remains "highly dramatic", Germany's foreign minister said on Friday.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, is "under missile attack", its mayor has said. Ihor Terekhov made his comment not long after regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least five Russian drones had struck the northeastern city late on Thursday.

The move could draw the United States and Europe more directly into the war. The Biden administration continues to say there will be no American troops on the ground.

Ukrainian units locked in street battles with the Kremlin's forces in a key northeastern Ukraine town have halted the Russian advance, military officials in Kyiv claimed Thursday, though a senior Moscow official said the front-line push had enough resources to keep going.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine,. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo KYIV (Reuters) - The United States is rushing ammunition and weapons to the front lines in Ukraine,

During a trip to Ukraine, the US secretary of state announced that $2bn would be spent to speed up delivery. His comments came as Russian advances forced Ukrainian to retreat from several villages in the Kharkiv region.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted U.S.-supplied weapons to Ukraine, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Kyiv.