Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

* The Ukrainian military said Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region were "creating conditions" for offensives on Sloviansk, Lyman, Yampil and Siversk - all located to the west of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. * Russia's TASS news agency reported at least five people were killed on Monday in the Russian-backed separatist Ukrainian region of Donetsk in what separatist officials said has been an upsurge in Ukrainian shelling.

Russian forces cut off all routes for evacuating citizens from the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk by destroying the last bridge linking it to a Ukrainian-held city on the other side of the river, a Ukrainian official said. FIGHTING * Russian troops are "trying to gain a foothold in the central part of the city" (of Sievierodonetsk), the Ukrainian military said in its daily roundup of the conflict nationwide. * Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said: "About 500 civilians remain on the grounds of the Azot (chemicals) plant... 40 of them are children," he said. The industrial zone was under heavy bombardment by Russian forces. * The Ukrainian military said Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region were "creating conditions" for offensives on Sloviansk, Lyman, Yampil, and Siversk - all located to the west of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. * Russia's TASS news agency reported at least five people were killed on Monday in the Russian-backed separatist Ukrainian region of Donetsk in what separatist officials said has been an upsurge in Ukrainian shelling. There was no independent confirmation of the attacks. There has been no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the reports. ECONOMY * Farmers of Ukraine's southern Odesa region have begun the 2022 grain harvest, taking advantage of favorable weather. DIPLOMACY * Pope Francis said Russian forces in Ukraine were behaving brutally and cruelly and he praised Ukrainians for their "brave" resistance, but he also suggested the war had been "perhaps in some way provoked". * British foreign minister Liz Truss said she would do whatever was necessary to secure the release of two British nationals who have been sentenced to death by Russian proxy authorities in Donbas. * The European Commission will recommend granting Ukraine official status as an EU candidate country, Politico reported, citing several unnamed officials. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday that the EU executive's opinion would be ready in the coming week.

QUOTES * "The entire front is being subjected to constant shelling," Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian TV.