Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

* Ukraine does not plan to use rocket systems it receives from the United States to attack facilities in Russia, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said. ECONOMY AND SANCTIONS * Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Moscow was preventing Ukrainian ports from exporting grain and said the best solution would be to ship it through Belarus, as long as sanctions on that country were lifted.

Russian forces tried to ford a river from the ruined eastern factory city of Sievierodonetsk but Ukrainian troops were still holding out there as Russia's assault on its neighbour reached its 100th day. FIGHTING

* After 100 days of war, Ukraine is fighting for time, trying to hold out against overwhelming Russian fire on its eastern front long enough for Western weapons to arrive and give it a badly needed edge. * Ukrainian forces have recaptured around 20% of the territory they lost in the city of Sievierodonetsk during fighting with Russia, according to the head of the eastern region of Luhansk.

* Two Reuters journalists were injured and a driver killed on Friday after the vehicle they were in came under fire while heading to Sievierodonetsk. * Russia will continue its military operation in Ukraine until all its goals have been achieved, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

* Prosecutors investigating war crimes cases in Ukraine are examining allegations of the forcible deportation of children to Russia since the invasion as they seek to build a genocide indictment, the country’s top prosecutor said. * Ukraine does not plan to use rocket systems it receives from the United States to attack facilities in Russia, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said.

ECONOMY AND SANCTIONS * Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Moscow was preventing Ukrainian ports from exporting grain and said the best solution would be to ship it through Belarus, as long as sanctions on that country were lifted. He earlier met the head of the African Union, who said Putin expressed willingness to facilitate grain exports.

* Turkey expects progress on a plan to unlock grains exports from Ukraine's Black Sea ports when Russia's foreign minister visits next week, a senior Turkish official said. * U.N. aid chief "had frank and constructive discussions" in Moscow on facilitating Ukraine grain exports, a U.N. spokesman said.

* United Nations officials warned a protracted war in Ukraine threatened a hunger crisis there and around the world. * The European Union blacklisted Russian military commanders who it said led troops involved in atrocities in Ukraine.

DIPLOMACY * Russia accused Germany of throwing European security into imbalance by "remilitarizing", as Berlin shores up its military spending.

* NATO should consider granting Ukraine "de facto" rather than "de jure" membership of the alliance when its summit discusses its strategy for the next 10 years in June, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said. (Compiled by Tomasz Janowski)