Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

* CIA chief William Burns said Putin believes "doubling down" on the war will improve his outcome. * Russia's most senior lawmaker accused Washington of coordinating military operations in Ukraine, which he said amounted to direct U.S. involvement in military action against Russia.

Evacuation efforts in Mariupol's bombed-out Azovstal steelworks will focus on the wounded and medics after all the women, children, and elderly were brought to safety, Zelenskiy said. FIGHTING

* Zelenskiy said more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal plant. Russia's defense ministry said 51 people had been rescued in a three-day operation. * Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said his soldiers have taken control of most of Popasna, but Ukrainian officials said the battle for the eastern city continues.

* The World Health Organization said it is gathering evidence for a possible war crimes investigation, documenting 200 attacks by Russia on hospitals and clinics in Ukraine. * Ukraine's general staff said the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine aimed to establish full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and maintain the land corridor between these territories and Crimea. Reuters could not independently verify reports of battlefield developments.

DIPLOMACY * G7 leaders will hold a video call on Sunday with Zelenskiy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said.

* Britain pledged to provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), double its previous spending commitments and what it said was the country's highest rate of spending on a conflict since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. * CIA chief William Burns said Putin believes "doubling down" on the war will improve his outcome.

* Russia's most senior lawmaker accused Washington of coordinating military operations in Ukraine, which he said amounted to direct U.S. involvement in military action against Russia. QUOTE

* "Targeted strikes against museums - not even terrorists would think of this. But this is the kind of army we are fighting against," Zelenskiy said of Russia destroying a museum dedicated to the 18th-century philosopher and poet Hryhoriy Skovoroda. 

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