Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Reports of battlefield developments could not be immediately verified by Reuters. WEST'S RESPONSE * The U.S. mission to the OSCE said the Kremlin might attempt "sham referenda" in southern and eastern areas it had captured since the Feb. 24 invasion, using "a well-worn playbook that steals from history’s darkest chapters". * NATO is ready to maintain support for Ukraine for years in the war against Russia, including help for Kyiv to shift from Soviet-era weapons to modern Western arms and systems, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33 billion to support Ukraine - a dramatic escalation of U.S. funding for the war with Russia - and for new tools to siphon assets from Russian oligarchs. "The cost of this fight - it's not cheap - but caving to aggression is going to be more costly," said Biden at the White House.

FIGHTING * "The enemy is increasing the pace of the offensive operation. The Russian occupiers are exerting intense fire in almost all directions," Ukraine's military command said.

* Two explosions rocked a central district of Kyiv after Russian forces fired on the Ukrainian capital, mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online post. * Ukraine fired three rockets at the centre of the southern city of Kherson but Russian occupying forces shot down two of them, RIA news agency cited a security source as saying.

* Russian forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a pro-Ukraine rally in the occupied city of Kherson, Ukraine's prosecutor general said, as Moscow tightened its grip over the southern region. * Two powerful blasts were heard in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine, two witnesses told Reuters. It was not immediately clear what caused the blasts.

* Western countries are openly calling on Ukraine to attack Russia and the West should take Moscow seriously when it says strikes on Russian territory will lead to a response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said. Reports of battlefield developments could not be immediately verified by Reuters.

WEST'S RESPONSE * The U.S. mission to the OSCE said the Kremlin might attempt "sham referenda" in southern and eastern areas it had captured since the Feb. 24 invasion, using "a well-worn playbook that steals from history’s darkest chapters".

* NATO is ready to maintain support for Ukraine for years in the war against Russia, including help for Kyiv to shift from Soviet-era weapons to modern Western arms and systems, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. DIPLOMACY

* Ukraine's lead negotiator said no agreement had been reached for the Ukrainian and Russian presidents to discuss the war despite efforts by Turkey to arrange talks. HUMAN AND ECONOMIC IMPACT

* The bodies of 1,150 civilians have been recovered in Ukraine's Kyiv region since Russia's invasion and 50-70% of them have bullet wounds from small arms, Kyiv police said. * Real disposable incomes in Russia dropped 27.8% in the first quarter of 2022, the official statistics service said, pointing to a slide in purchasing power since the Ukraine conflict began.

* Ukraine accused Russia of stealing grain in territory it has occupied, an act which it said increased the threat to global food security posed by disruptions from the conflict. The Kremlin said it had no information on the matter. QUOTES

* "The situation is difficult, but we're going to battle and fight for as long as we have to," said Captain Sviatoslav Palamar, a deputy commander in Ukraine's Azov Regiment, from the besieged steel works in Mariupol. * "Innocent civilians were living in these buildings, they were paying the highest price for a war which they have not contributed to at all," said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was visiting the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburbs of Borodyanka and Bucha. (Compiled by Angus MacSwan and Toby Chopra)