Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

FIGHTING * More than 1,000 people were inside when two Russian missiles slammed into the mall in Kremenchuk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had told NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that his country needs missile defence systems to prevent Russian attacks. * Ukrainian forces still controlled Lysychansk but its loss was possible as Russia poured resources into the fight, Luhansk Governor Gaidai said.

Firefighters and soldiers searched for survivors in the rubble of a shopping mall in central Ukraine after a Russian missile strike killed at least 18 people in an attack condemned by the United Nations and the West. FIGHTING

* More than 1,000 people were inside when two Russian missiles slammed into the mall in Kremenchuk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. * Russia denied hitting the mall, saying it had struck a weapons depot and a subsequent explosion of ammunition had triggered a fire in the nearby complex.

* The G7 called the strike a Russian war crime. * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had told NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that his country needs missile defense systems to prevent Russian attacks.

* Ukrainian forces still controlled Lysychansk but its loss was possible as Russia poured resources into the fight, Luhansk Governor Gaidai said. * Russia shelled Kharkiv, hitting apartment buildings and a primary school, the regional governor said. The shelling killed five people and wounded 22 including children.

ECONOMY AND DIPLOMACY * G7 leaders agreed to explore imposing a ban on transporting Russian oil that had been sold above a certain price, according to an extract of their summit's final communique.

* G7 leaders have agreed to push for a ban on imports of Russian gold as part of efforts to tighten the sanctions squeeze on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, an EU official said. QUOTES

* "It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims ... It's useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia," - President Zelensky. * "Russian President Putin and those responsible will be held to account," - G7 leaders.

* "I flew head first and splinters hit my body. The whole place was collapsing," mall attack survivor Ludmyla Mykhailets.