Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukraine on Thursday hailed a lightning counteroffensive it said had recaptured swathes of its territory in the east and south, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the country to pledge further aid at what he called a "pivotal moment". FIGHTING

* Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov said Ukraine had recaptured more than 700 sq km (270 sq miles) of its territory, offering the first official assessment of the operation. * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported "good news" from the front near Kharkiv. Gromov said Ukrainian forces had advanced up to 50 kms (30 miles) behind Russian lines and recaptured more than 20 villages in the Kharkiv region.

* Heavy fighting was reported on Thursday in areas near the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine after Kyiv warned it might have to shut down the plant to avoid disaster. * Russian forces overnight fired rockets and heavy artillery into towns in several districts, killing seven civilians, wounding others and damaging more than a dozen houses and buildings, local Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday.

* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv at what he called a "pivotal moment" to pledge $2.2 billion in fresh security assistance. * Zelenskiy said that Blinken's visit "is a guarantee that we can return our territories and our land."

* Ukraine is using its modern Western weapons to devastating effect, striking hundred of Russian targets with the U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket system alone, General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. GRAIN DEAL

* The United States sees no indication that a U.N.-brokered Ukrainian grain export deal is unraveling, the White House said, after President Vladimir Putin triggered fears that Russia could withdraw support. * Too few ships are arriving in Ukraine to quickly clear mountains of grain built up over months of war despite a U.N.-backed sea corridor, threatening to drive up global food prices and leave the country's cash-strapped farmers struggling to plant crops.

(Compiled by Alexandra Hudson)

Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now
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