Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

NUCLEAR PLANT, FIGHTING * An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) convoy has set off from Kyiv towards the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine's south and is expected to arrive on Thursday morning.

U.N. nuclear inspectors set off for Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Wednesday after weeks of shelling nearby sparked fears of a Fukushima-style radiation disaster, with tensions rising between Kyiv and Moscow over the visit. NUCLEAR PLANT, FIGHTING

* An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) convoy has set off from Kyiv towards the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine's south and is expected to arrive on Thursday morning. * The head of the Ukrainian military administration of Nikopol across the Dnipro river from the Zaporizhzhia plant said Russian forces were shelling near the plant to try to give the IAEA the impression that Ukraine was attacking it. Russia accuses Ukraine of shelling the plant.

* Ukrainian forces have had "successes" in three areas of the Russian-occupied region of Kherson, a Ukrainian regional official said, two days after Kyiv announced the start of a southern counter-offensive to retake territory. * Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine's attempts to mount a counter-offensive in the south of the country had failed, with their forces suffering heavy losses in equipment and men.

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports. DIPLOMACY, ECONOMY

* Russia halted gas supplies via a major pipeline to Europe, intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and raising the prospect of recession and energy rationing in some of the region's richest countries. * France's energy minister said Gazprom was using an excuse to switch off gas deliveries to its French contractor but added that France had anticipated the loss of supply.

* Russia blamed sanctions for the supply halt. * The U.S. government has assessed that Russia is preparing to stage sham referenda in areas of Ukraine under its control to claim that Ukrainian people want to join Russia, the State Department said.

* The EU's foreign policy chief urged bickering nations to settle their differences on restricting travel for Russian citizens, saying Europe must remain united vis-a-vis Moscow six months after the invasion of Ukraine. QUOTE

Roman Kachanov, chief of a fire station in the eastern Kharkiv, on the question running through the minds of his team as they fight fires set off by Russian bombing: "Will they bomb again?"

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