Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Britain's Ministry of Defence also warned of the risks of a major cholera outbreak as Russia struggles to provide basic public services to the population in territories it has occupied. ECONOMY, DIPLOMACY * The U.N. food agency said reduced exports of wheat and other food commodities from Ukraine and Russia could inflict chronic hunger on up to 19 million more people globally over the next year. * Germany, the world's fifth-largest arms exporter, plans to revise its rules on arms exports to make it easier to arm democracies like Ukraine and harder to sell weapons to autocracies, Der Spiegel reported.

Ukraine pleaded to Western countries for faster deliveries of weapons as better-armed Russian forces pounded the east of the country, and for humanitarian support to combat growing outbreaks of deadly diseases. FIGHTING

* In Sievierodonetsk, the small city that has become the focus of Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine and one of the bloodiest flashpoints in a war well into its fourth month, further heavy fighting was reported. * Ukraine's army command said Russian troops had secured positions in two communities near Sievierodonetsk, while Serhiy Gaidai, the Luhansk governor, said Russians were in control of “most” of the city.

* "Intense street to street fighting is ongoing and both sides are likely suffering high numbers of casualties," Britain's Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Twitter. * Cholera and other deadly diseases could kill thousands in the southern port of Mariupol as corpses lie uncollected and summer brings warmer weather, its mayor said. Britain's Ministry of Defence also warned of the risks of a major cholera outbreak as Russia struggles to provide basic public services to the population in territories it has occupied.

ECONOMY, DIPLOMACY * The U.N. food agency said reduced exports of wheat and other food commodities from Ukraine and Russia could inflict chronic hunger on up to 19 million more people globally over the next year.

* Germany, the world's fifth-largest arms exporter, plans to revise its rules on arms exports to make it easier to arm democracies like Ukraine and harder to sell weapons to autocracies, Der Spiegel reported. QUOTES

"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is what happens when oppressors trample the rules that protect us all," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told an Asian security forum. "It's a preview of a possible world of chaos and turmoil that none of us would want to live in." (Compiled by Kim Coghill)

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