Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukraine is seeking more help from the West, pleading for faster deliveries of weapons to hold off better-armed Russian forces and for humanitarian support to combat deadly diseases. * Russia is looking for weak points in Ukrainian defences near the Siverskyi Donets River in eastern Ukraine, said Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk.

Ukraine is seeking more help from the West, pleading for faster deliveries of weapons to hold off better-armed Russian forces and for humanitarian support to combat deadly diseases. FIGHTING

* In Sievierodonetsk, the small city that has become the focus of Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine and one of the bloodiest flashpoints in a war well into its fourth month, further heavy fighting was reported. * Russia is looking for weak points in Ukrainian defences near the Siverskyi Donets River in eastern Ukraine, said Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk. He told national television that Russian forces had not abandoned attempts to launch storming operations in the area.

* Cholera and other deadly diseases could kill thousands in the southern port of Mariupol as corpses lie uncollected and summer brings warmer weather, its mayor said. Britain's Ministry of Defence also warned of the risks of a major cholera outbreak as Russia struggles to provide basic public services to the population in territories it has occupied. ECONOMY, DIPLOMACY

* The U.N. food agency said reduced exports of wheat and other food commodities from Ukraine and Russia could inflict chronic hunger on up to 19 million more people globally over the next year. * Russia's central bank cut its key interest rate to the pre-crisis level of 9.5% and kept the door open to further easing as inflation slowed, while noting uncertainty related to external risks such as the Western embargo on Russian oil.

* Ukrainian grain exports are rising and nearing 2 million tonnes per month now, said European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski. * Germany, the world's fifth-largest arms exporter, plans to revise its rules on arms exports to make it easier to arm democracies like Ukraine and harder to sell weapons to autocracies, Der Spiegel reported.

(Compiled by Kim Coghill)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)