Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

* Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia's region of Chechnya, said Moscow should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine after a major new defeat on the battlefield - the loss of Lyman. ANNEXATION * Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of four regions in Ukraine, while Kyiv said it would continue its fight to retake occupied land. * Before signing documents to annex the four regions - an act denounced as illegal by Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and the head of the United Nations - Putin delivered a 37-minute anti-Western diatribe.

Russia said its troops had abandoned their bastion of Lyman in Ukraine's east for fear of encirclement and the leader of Chechnya, a close Kremlin ally, said Moscow should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in response. LYMAN

* Russia said its troops had withdrawn from Lyman to avoid being surrounded by Ukraine's army. * Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia's region of Chechnya, said Moscow should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine after a major new defeat on the battlefield - the loss of Lyman.

ANNEXATION * Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of four regions in Ukraine, while Kyiv said it would continue its fight to retake occupied land.

* Before signing documents to annex the four regions - an act denounced as illegal by Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and the head of the United Nations - Putin delivered a 37-minute anti-Western diatribe. * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday the country was formally applying for fast-track membership of the NATO military alliance and that Kyiv was ready for talks with Moscow, but not while Putin was president.

* The United States responded on Friday to the annexations by imposing more sanctions on Russia, targeting hundreds of people and companies, including those in Russia's military-industrial complex and lawmakers. ZAPORIZHZHIA

* A Russian patrol has detained the director general of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the state-owned company in charge of the plant said on Saturday, and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said it was seeking "clarifications". CASUALTIES

* Ukraine's SBU security service said at least 20 civilians were killed in the Russian shelling of a civilian convoy in late September in an eastern "grey zone" between Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-controlled territory. * At least 30 civilians were killed and almost 100 wounded in what Kyiv said was a cynical Russian missile strike on Friday on a convoy of civilian cars in southern Ukraine.

GAS FLOWS * Italy's Eni said it would nnot receive any of the gas it had requested from Russia's Gazprom for delivery on Saturday, but the firms said they were working to fix this.

* Greece and Bulgaria started commercial operation of a long-delayed gas pipeline which will help decrease southeast Europe's dependence on Russian gas and boost energy security. * Russia's Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Moldova on Saturday by around 30%, according to the director of gas firm Moldovagaz, Vadim Ceban. (Compiled by Kim Coghill and Frances Kerry)

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