Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

FIGHTING * Russia says it withdrew from Snake Island as a "gesture of goodwill." * Oleksii Hromov, a brigadier general in Ukraine's armed forces, said Russian equipment on the island had been destroyed. * Greece is willing to provide ships to help export grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports that have been blocked by Russia, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said.

Russian forces have withdrawn from Snake Island in the Black Sea in a move Ukraine hailed as a victory. Russia said it showed Moscow was not obstructing U.N. efforts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine. FIGHTING * Russia says it withdrew from Snake Island as a "gesture of goodwill." * Oleksii Hromov, a brigadier general in Ukraine's armed forces, said Russian equipment on the island had been destroyed. There were no Ukrainian forces on the island yet, but there would be, he said. * The commander of Ukraine's armed forces said Ukrainian-made Bohdana howitzers played an important role in liberating the island and thanked foreign partners for their support. Ukraine fielded powerful U.S. HIMARS artillery batteries last week for the first time. * Russia says its forces destroyed a Ukrainian military control centre near the city of Dnipro in a missile strike. * Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

DIPLOMACY AND ECONOMY *Russia summoned the British ambassador to voice a strong protest against "offensive" and "false" British statements, "in particular about alleged Russian 'threats to use nuclear weapons'." *British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said in a radio interview this week that Russian President Putin had "small man syndrome" and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was "like a comedy turn - she does her statement every week threatening to nuke everyone". * Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov said a new "iron curtain" was descending between Russia and the West. * Greece is willing to provide ships to help export grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports that have been blocked by Russia, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said. * A first cargo ship has left the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk, a local official said, after Russia said the port had been de-mined and was ready to resume grain shipments. QUOTES * "In polite society, it is customary to apologise for such statements" - Russian foreign ministry in a memorandum to Ambassador Deborah Bronnert over what it said were "frankly boorish statements of the British leadership." * "KABOOM!" - Tweet from Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy's chief of staff. "No Russian troops on the Snake Island anymore. Our Armed Forces did a great job." (Compiled by Lincoln Feast, Frank Jack Daniel and Deepa Babington)

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