Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in heavy fighting in different parts of Ukraine on Tuesday as Russian-organised referendums in four regions Moscow hopes to annex drew to a close.

Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Referendums

• President Vladimir Putin is preparing to formally annex around 15% of Ukrainian territory after referendums on joining Russia in areas controlled by Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists.

• Britain announced a new package of sanctions linked to what it described as Moscow’s “sham” referendums.

Russian mobilisation

• Ukrainians in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol fear they will be called up by Moscow after some residents said they were forced to vote in referendums at gunpoint, its exiled mayor said.

• The Kremlin acknowledged that some military call-ups had been issued in error. * Russian men are fleeing into neighbouring Georgia to avoid being called-up to fight in Ukraine.

Economy

• Negotiators in the US Congress agreed to include about $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.

• Ukraine on Monday urged the European Union to support its plans to make the emergency paths for grain exports through the bloc permanent.

• Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban sharply criticised European Union sanctions imposed on Russia, which he said have “backfired”, driving up energy prices.

• The Russian economy is taking a “huge” hit from sanctions, a senior OECD official said.

Fighting

• Ukraine’s president and security chiefs met to plan ways to counteract Russia’s use of “new types of weapons” after Moscow stepped up attacks in the Odesa region using Iranian combat drones.

• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the military situation in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region as difficult and said it was the country’s “No. 1 goal” because it was also Russia’s No. 1 goal.

• Ukrainian forces continued their campaign to put out of action bridges and other river crossings to disrupt supply lines to Russian forces in the south.

• Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had founded the Wagner Group private military company in 2014, the first public confirmation of a link he has previously denied and sued journalists for reporting.

• UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said he is ready to hold talks in Ukraine and Russia this week on setting up a protection zone at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine that he often says is needed urgently.