Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Russian forces pounded Ukraine's eastern Donbas region but failed to capture three target areas, Ukraine's military said, while Moscow said Western sanctions on Russia and arms shipments to Ukraine were impeding peace negotiations.

Russian forces pounded Ukraine's eastern Donbas region but failed to capture three target areas, Ukraine's military said, while Moscow said Western sanctions on Russia and arms shipments to Ukraine were impeding peace negotiations. FIGHTING * Russia said its artillery units had struck 389 Ukrainian targets overnight, including 35 control points, 15 arms and ammunition depots, and several areas where Ukrainian troops and equipment were concentrated. * Russian air defences prevented a Ukrainian aircraft from entering the Bryansk region, Russian news outlets reported citing the region's governor, adding that as a result shelling hit parts of an oil terminal and adjacent territory.

Reports of battlefield developments could not be immediately verified by Reuters. DIPLOMACY * Lavrov said lifting Western sanctions on Russia was part of peace talks to end the war. Zelenskiy said chances were "high" that the talks would end because of Russia's "playbook on murdering people". * U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday she hopes to pass Biden's $33 billion aid package "as soon as possible."

CIVILIANS * More than 1 million people have been evacuated from Ukraine into Russia since Feb. 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. They include 120,000 foreigners and people evacuated from Russian-backed breakaway regions of Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics. ECONOMY AND BUSINESS * Russian forces have stolen "several hundred thousand tonnes" of grain in the areas of Ukraine they occupy, Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister said. * Ukraine will soon stamp out fuel shortages, even though Russian forces have damaged a number of oil depots, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday. 

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