Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

* Three Russian missiles destroyed a fuel storage depot in the eastern town of Novomoskovsk, said the head of the regional administration. * Russia is sending a large number of reserve troops to Sievierodonetsk from other battle zones to try to gain full control of the eastern city, said Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai.

The war in Ukraine could last for years, the NATO chief said, as Russia stepped up its assaults after the EU recommended that Kyiv become a candidate to join the bloc. FIGHTING

* Zelenskiy visited frontline troops again, including near Sievierodonetsk, praising soldiers holding forward positions as brave and hardworking. * Three Russian missiles destroyed a fuel storage depot in the eastern town of Novomoskovsk, said the head of the regional administration.

* Russia is sending a large number of reserve troops to Sievierodonetsk from other battle zones to try to gain full control of the eastern city, said Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai. He said Russian forces controlled most but not all of Sievierodonetsk. * Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.

PRISONERS, DIPLOMACY * Two top commanders of fighters who defended the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine's southeastern port of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation, Russia's state news agency TASS reported.

* Ukraine's defense intelligence directorate said five Ukrainian civilians had been returned in a swap for five Russian prisoners. It did not say whether the Russians were combatants. * British Prime Minister Johnson warned of a need to prepare for a long war, which meant ensuring "Ukraine receives weapons, equipment, ammunition, and training more rapidly than the invader".

ECONOMY * BP remains Rosneft's biggest private shareholder despite having announced its departure in February, said Igor Sechin, head of the Russian oil major. BP could not immediately be reached for comment.

* Russia's 2022 coal production could fall 17% to 365.1 million tonnes and exports could decrease 30% to 156 million tonnes, the Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing the energy ministry. QUOTES

* "We will not give the south to anyone, and all that is ours we will take back," Zelenskiy said in a video that appeared to have been recorded on a moving train after what the government said was a trip to the south of the country. 

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