Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

He said earlier that some 21,000 civilian residents had been killed during the siege. * Russia is beefing up forces for a new assault on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, setting the stage for a protracted battle certain to inflict heavy losses on both sides as the Russians try to encircle Ukrainian fighters.

Russia said it had taken control of the port in Mariupol on Wednesday and that more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered in the southeastern Ukrainian city, whose capture would free up forces for a wider offensive. The Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman said he had no information on such a surrender. [ FIGHTING

* Russian television broadcast clips of what it said was the surrender in Mariupol. In the footage, unarmed men in military fatigues were visible walking with their hands up along a grass- and tree-lined path towards masked soldiers cradling assault rifles. * The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, said in televised remarks that more than 100,000 people remained in the city awaiting evacuation. He said earlier that some 21,000 civilian residents had been killed during the siege.

* Russia is beefing up forces for a new assault on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, setting the stage for a protracted battle certain to inflict heavy losses on both sides as the Russians try to encircle Ukrainian fighters. * The major of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest, said bombing had increased significantly on Wednesday and satellite photos from Maxar technology showed long columns of armoured vehicles in the region.

* Russia will view U.S. and NATO vehicles transporting weapons on Ukrainian territory as legitimate military targets, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the TASS news agency in an interview. HUMAN IMPACT

* Residents in Lubianka, a village northwest of Kyiv, are trying to rebuild their lives all while Ukrainian soldiers remove deadly mines from a nearby forest where Russian troops had set up camp. DIPLOMACY

* U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time that Russia's invasion amounts to genocide. The Kremlin said it categorically disagreed with Biden's description and that it was unacceptable. * The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding to a procession of European leaders pledging backing for Ukraine against Russia's invasion.

* A mission of experts set up by Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) nations has found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russia in Ukraine, an initial report by the mission said. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in the conflict. ECONOMY AND BUSINESS

* Russia can easily redirect exports of its vast energy resources away from the West to countries that really need them while increasing domestic consumption of oil, gas and coal, President Vladimir Putin said. * Countries seeking commercial advantage by failing to condemn Russia's "heinous war" against Ukraine are being short-sighted and will face consequences if they undermine Western sanctions, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

* Britain said it had imposed new sanctions on 206 individuals in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including 178 who it said were involved in propping up Russian-backed breakaway regions of Ukraine. * Reckitt Benckiser Group said it had begun a process aimed at transferring ownership of its Russian business, becoming the first major personal goods maker to do so following the invasion.

QUOTES * "The United States is ready to fight with Russia until the last Ukrainian - that is the way it is." - Putin

* The Russian army is using all types of artillery, all types of missile, air bombs in particular phosphorous bombs against residential districts and civilian infrastructure...This is clear terror against the civilian population." - Zelenskiy (Compiled by Michael Perry; Editing by Alex Richardson and Mark Heinrich)