Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.

Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased. ECONOMY

* The United States said it will hold Russia accountable for implementing a U.N. brokered deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports and called out China for stockpiling grain that could be used for global humanitarian needs. * A number of insurance underwriters are interested in providing cover for grain shipments from Ukraine after an agreement was reached to re-open Black Sea ports although details need to be worked out, a senior London marine insurance market official said on Friday.

* Russian state-owned companies Rosneft and Gazprom will be able to ship oil to third countries under an adjustment of European Union sanctions agreed by member states this week aimed at limiting the risks to global energy security. * Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Friday the current contract with Siemens Energy does not require Russia to take any further action in order to facilitate the return of a turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

* Russia has sent combine harvesters from Crimea to two Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine to cover a shortage of equipment needed to bring in the crop, a representative of a Russian-installed local administration said. * Japan warned on Friday of escalating national security threats, including repercussions from Russia's war with Ukraine, Chinese intimidation of Taiwan, and vulnerable technology supply chains, in its annual defence white paper.

FIGHTING * The United States will provide Ukraine with an additional roughly $270 million to aid in its defense against Russian aggression, including $100 million for drones, the White House said as fighting raged on in eastern Ukraine.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a cease-fire with Russia without reclaiming the lost lands would only prolong the war, according to an interview with the Wall Street Journal. * Any "provocations" by Russia over a deal to reopen Ukrainian ports for grain exports will meet a military response, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday.

* Russia's defence ministry said on Friday its forces had destroyed four U.S.-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) between July 5-20. * The United States believes that Russia's military is sustaining hundreds of casualties a day in its war in Ukraine, including having lost thousands of lieutenants and captains in total, a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday.

* Russia has increased its use of air defence missiles in a secondary ground attack mode because of critical shortages of dedicated ground-attack missiles, British military intelligence said on Friday. It was not immediately possible to verify the battlefield reports.

QUOTE "Today, there is a beacon on the Black Sea. A beacon of hope..., possibility ... and relief in a world that needs it more than ever," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said of the grain exports deal.

"If respected and enacted in good faith, today's deal to protect Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea will help ease grain shortages, but let's be clear - this will not end or significantly alter the trajectory of the worsening global food crisis," said Mercy Corps Chief Executive Officer Tjada D'Oyen McKenna. (Compiled by Nick Macfie; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)