Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukraine was "reborn" when Russia invaded six months ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, marking 31 years of his country's independence from the Moscow-controlled Soviet Union with a vow to drive Russian forces out completely.

Ukraine was "reborn" when Russia invaded six months ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, marking 31 years of his country's independence from the Moscow-controlled Soviet Union with a vow to drive Russian forces out completely. INDEPENDENCE DAY

* Zelenskiy told Ukrainians in an emotional speech that their country would never give up its fight for freedom from Moscow's domination. * He said Ukraine would recapture its annexed peninsula of Crimea from Russia by any means it deemed right, and that it would not consult other countries before doing so.

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Zelenskiy in Kyiv to mark independence day, promising a further package of military support to Ukraine. * The capital, Kyiv, has banned public celebrations commemorating Ukraine's independence from Soviet rule. Kharkiv and Mykolaiv have also imposed curbs.

FIGHTING * Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the slowing pace of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine was deliberate and aimed at reducing civilian casualties.

* The Russian-installed head of Mykhailivka in the Russian-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region was killed in a car bomb on Tuesday, an official in the region's Russian-backed administration said. * Russian air defences shot down an unspecified number of Ukrainian drones near the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Tuesday night, Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

* Reuters could not confirm the battlefield reports. * Two employees of Ukraine's Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have been detained for passing information to Ukrainian authorities, Russia's National Guard said on Wednesday.

DIPLOMACY, ECONOMY * U.S. President Joe Biden marked Ukraine's independence day with a new security assistance package of about $3 billion in military aid for Kyiv in its war with Russia.

* Pope Francis called for "concrete steps" to end the war and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia. * After half a year of war in Ukraine, a slim majority of Americans agree the United States should continue to support Kyiv until Russia withdraws all its forces, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

* Russian opposition politician Yevgeny Roizman was shown being detained at his home in a video on social media, as authorities punish critics of the war. QUOTE

* "Today would normally be filled with joyful concerts, picnics and parades, held under a blue Ukrainian summer sky ... But the dark shadow of Russia's brutal war of aggression remains a heavy burden," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. (Compiled by Hugh Lawson)

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