Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

* Russian air defence systems shot down two Ukrainian drones in Russia's Kursk region which borders eastern Ukraine, regional governor Roman Starovoyt said. * Russia fired rockets at targets near two towns in Ukraine's central Vinnytsia region on Monday, killing five people and wounding 18, the regional prosecutor's office said.

The United States promised on Monday to reopen its embassy in Kyiv soon, as Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ukraine's capital and hailed its success so far against Russia's invasion. FIGHTING * Regular morning air raid sirens across Ukraine lasted more than two hours, much longer than usual.

The following reports could not be immediately verified: * Five railway stations came under fire in western and central Ukraine in the space of an hour, causing an unspecified number of casualties, state-run Ukrainian Railways said. * Russia said it had hit 56 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities overnight. * Ukraine's general staff said Russia was shelling its second biggest city, Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine and towns and villages to the south but that Ukrainian forces had staved off assaults on three settlements. The governor of the southern Mykolaiv region said Ukrainian forces had destroyed 13 Russian units. * Russian forces carried out missile and bomb strikes on Ukrainian positions in the Azovstal steel plant, the main remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol where more than 1,000 civilians are also sheltering, Ukrainian officials said. * One person was killed and seven wounded in missile strikes on the Kremenchuk oil refinery and power plant in the Poltava region southeast of Kyiv, regional governor Dmytro Lunin said. Russia said it had destroyed facilities there. * A large fire broke out at an oil storage facility in the Russian city of Bryansk, 154 km (96 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border. Video with sounds of explosions appeared on social media but could not immediately be verified. * Russian air defence systems shot down two Ukrainian drones in Russia's Kursk region which borders eastern Ukraine, regional governor Roman Starovoyt said. * Russia fired rockets at targets near two towns in Ukraine's central Vinnytsia region on Monday, killing five people and wounding 18, the regional prosecutor's office said. * Britain said Russia had made minor advances since shifting its forces to fully occupying the eastern Donbas region but had tied up many units with its focus on Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant. * Ukrainian human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova said the Russian military had destroyed 347 health facilities including all of those in the Luhansk part of the Donbas, threatening thousands of lives. All of the Luhansk province was without electricity on Monday after Russian attacks, the governor said. * Ukrainian prosecutors said 215 children had been killed and 391 wounded so far the war. Moscow denies targeting civilians. DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS * U.S. officials said Blinken and Austin pledged $713 million in new aid for Ukraine and other countries in the region. The aid would help Ukraine's armed forces transition to NATO-capable systems, one official said. nL2N2WN04W] * Russia warned Washington against sending more arms to Ukraine. * The European Union is preparing "smart sanctions" against Russian oil imports, possibly an oil embargo, the Times newspaper said https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/brussels-prepares-to-hit-russia-with-smart-sanctions-on-oil-imports-k3f230l3j on Monday, citing the European Commission's executive vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis. * President Vladimir Putin accused the West of trying to destroy Russia, demanding prosecutors take a tough line with what he cast as plots hatched by foreign spies to divide the country and discredit its armed forces.

WAR CRIMES INQUIRY * The International Criminal Court will take part in the joint team investigating allegations of war crimes in Ukraine After Russia's invasion, the European Union's agency for criminal justice cooperation said on Monday. QUOTES * "In terms of Russia's war aims, Russia has already failed and Ukraine has already succeeded," Blinken said. * "What the Americans are doing is pouring oil on the flames," Moscow's ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said of U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

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