Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia's republic of Chechnya whose forces have been fighting in Ukraine, said Russian troops will have complete control of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Thursday.

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia's republic of Chechnya whose forces have been fighting in Ukraine, said Russian troops will have complete control of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Thursday. Ukraine's defense ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Ukraine proposed talks with Russia about evacuating troops and civilians from the southeastern port, with about 1,000 civilians trapped at the steel plant. WIDER IMPACT

* U.S. President Joe Biden will deliver an update on Ukraine at 1345 GMT as he works to complete a new arms package for its military. * Top finance officials from Britain, the United States, and Canada walked out of a meeting of finance officials from the world's top 20 economies as Russian representatives spoke.

* G7 finance ministers said they have provided and pledged together with the international community additional support to Ukraine exceeding $24 billion for 2022 and beyond, adding they were prepared to do more. * World Bank President David Malpass said the food security crisis caused by the war was expected to last months and perhaps into next year.

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said any peace talks over Ukraine are likely to fail, as he compared holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiating with a crocodile. FIGHTING

* Russian forces are advancing from staging areas in Donbas towards Kramatorsk, which continues to be hit by rocket attacks, a British military update said on Thursday. High levels of Russian air activity continue as it seeks to provide close air support to its offensive in eastern Ukraine, and to suppress and destroy Ukrainian air defense capabilities, the UK Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.

* Ukraine's deputy prime minister said an agreed humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from Azovstal had not worked as planned, blaming Russian forces. MISSILE TEST

* Russia said it conducted a first test launch of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, an addition to its nuclear arsenal which Putin said would make Russia's enemies stop and think. QUOTES

* "Russia likely desires to demonstrate significant successes ahead of their annual 9th May Victory Day celebrations. This could affect how quickly and forcefully they attempt to conduct operations in the run-up to this date," the UK Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin. * "The new complex has the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern means of anti-missile defense. It has no analogs in the world and won't have for a long time to come," Putin said about Sarmat.

* "It is a pleasure ... to leave after this nightmare. We lived in basements for 30 days," pensioner Tamara, 64, said tearfully as she waited to get on a bus out of Mariupol.

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