Latest Developments in Ukraine: June 19

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT: 3:36 a.m.: Al Jazeera, citing Russia's state news agency, reports that the top commanders in charge of defending Ukraine's Azovstal steel plant have been sent to Russia for investigation. Russian forces captured hundreds of fighters when they gained control of the city of Mariupol. 2:28 a.m.: Ukraine's defense intelligence directorate said five Ukrainian civilians had been returned in a five-for-five prisoner swap with Russia, Reuters reported. It did not say whether the exchanged Russians were combatants. The directorate said four of the five Ukrainian civilians had been taken prisoner during Russia's occupation of parts of Kyiv region, from where Russian forces withdrew at the end of March, Reuters reported. 1:30 a.m.: The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, said in its latest assessment that Russia made minor gains near Severodonetsk and likely made it into Metolkine. The assessment says Russia's trying to force Ukrainian troops out of artillery range of railway lines around Kharkiv City. Russia's using those lines to supply its troops. The update also said Russian forces continue to face partisan activity in parts of south Ukraine. 12:02 a.m.: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday the war in Ukraine could last years and Ukrainian forces faced intensified Russian assaults after the EU executive recommended that Kyiv should be granted the status of a candidate to join the bloc, Reuters reported. Stoltenberg was cited by Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper as saying the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would increase the chance of liberating the eastern Donbas region from Russian control. "We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine," he said, according to Reuters. "Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices." Some information in this report came from Reuters.

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