Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukraine said its forces were holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians, after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the war's bloodiest battles. * Russia's TASS news agency reported at least five people killed on Monday in the Russian-backed separatist Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

Ukraine said its forces were holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians, after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the war's bloodiest battles. FIGHTING * Russia's Defence Ministry said it had offered Ukrainian fighters sheltering in the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk the chance to surrender on Wednesday. * Russian troops are "trying to gain a foothold in the central part of the city" (of Sievierodonetsk), the Ukrainian military said in its daily round-up 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. * Ukraine's military has enough ammunition and weapons, but needs more long-range weapons, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Danish journalists. * 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 struck an artillery weapons depot with Kalibr cruise missiles in Ukraine's Chernihiv region, RIA news agency reported, citing Russia's defence ministry. * Six people were injured on Tuesday by shelling in the Russian town of Klintsy in the Bryansk region near the border with Ukraine, the regional governor said. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the report. * Russia's TASS news agency reported at least five people killed on Monday in the Russian-backed separatist Ukrainian region of Donetsk. There was no independent confirmation of the attacks and no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the reports. * Serhiy Khlan, adviser to the head of southern, mainly Russian-occupied Kherson province, said Ukraine was having tactical success retaking territory there for a second straight week. * Russian President Vladimir Putin likely still wants to capture much if not all of Ukraine but has had to narrow his tactical objectives in war, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said. ECONOMY * Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine's presidential office, accused Russia of using the global food crisis as a weapon and of selling stolen Ukrainian grain, especially to African countries.

* Farmers of Ukraine's southern Odesa region have begun the 2022 grain harvest, taking advantage of favourable weather. * But Russia's invasion of Ukraine will create a global wheat shortage for at least three seasons by keeping much of the Ukrainian crop from markets, pushing prices to record levels, Ukraine's agriculture minister told Reuters. DIPLOMACY * 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. QUOTES * "The shelling is so powerful that people can no longer stand it in the shelters, their psychological state is on edge. In the last few days residents are finally ready to go, without further ado," said Luhansk governor Gaidai of people in Sievierodonetsk. * "The entire front is being subjected to constant shelling," Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian TV.

(Compiled by Simon Cameron-Moore, Gareth Jones and Mark Heinrich)