Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukraine's military said it was working to evacuate all remaining troops from their last stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russia after months of bombardment. * Ukraine said troops defending its second-largest city, Kharkiv, had repelled Russian forces and advanced as far as the border with Russia.

Ukraine's military said it was working to evacuate all remaining troops from their last stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russia after months of bombardment. FIGHTING, CIVILIANS

* A series of explosions struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Some reports said about 10 blasts occurred in quick succession. * Ukraine said troops defending its second-largest city, Kharkiv, had repelled Russian forces and advanced as far as the border with Russia. Reuters could not immediately verify Ukraine's battlefield account. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the achievement and thanked the troops.

* Nine civilians were killed by Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the region's governor said. Reuters was not able to independently verify the report. * Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra returned home after an emotional Eurovision Song Contest victory. Frontman Oleh Psiuk said he hoped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the war effort by selling the Eurovision trophy.

DIPLOMACY * The U.S. Senate voted to advance $40 billion more aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia, setting the stage for a vote on the bill possibly later this week.

* Vladimir Putin said there was no threat to Russia if Sweden and Finland joined NATO - the war's biggest strategic consequence so far. But the Russian president's unexpectedly calm reaction came with a warning that Moscow would respond to any military build-up in the alliance's new Nordic members. * EU foreign ministers failed in their effort to pressure Hungary to lift its veto of a proposed oil embargo on Russia.

ECONOMY * The United States supports efforts by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to get Ukrainian grain back into the international marketplace, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said.

* McDonald's Corp, whose arrival in Russia was an emblem of the Cold War's end, said it would sell all its restaurants there. * Renault said it would sell its majority stake in carmaker Avtovaz to a Russian science institute, reportedly for just one rouble, with a six-year option to buy it back.

QUOTES * "It is terrifying that St Petersburg and the Leningrad region will be so close to NATO's bases," said St Petersburg resident Natalia Vostrikova.

* "They are in hell. They receive new wounds every day. They are without legs or arms, exhausted, without medicines." Natalia Zaritskaya, wife of a member of the Azov Battalion, describes conditions at the steel works. (Compiled by Nick Macfie and Catherine Evans, editing by Cynthia Osterman and Rosalba O'Brien)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)