Ukraine said a new attempt was underway on Friday to evacuate scores of civilians trapped in a heavily bombed steel works in the city of Mariupol, after bloody fighting with Russian forces thwarted efforts to bring them to safety the previous day.
On the other hand, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev said on Friday that Russia will not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Zaitsev told reporters the use of nuclear weapons by Russia - a risk that Western officials have publicly discussed - was not applicable to what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia might step up its offensive before May 9, when Moscow commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
France will increase its financial aid to Ukraine this year to $2 billion from $1.7 billion, President Emmanuel Macron said in a video address to an international donors’ conference in Warsaw, Poland.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office informed on Thursday that since the beginning of Russia’s against Ukraine, 221 children have died and 408 injured.
The United Nations says a third operation is underway to evacuate civilians from Mariupol’s besieged steel plant and the city, which is surrounded by Russian forces.
The conflict began escalating on February 21, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised separatist regions in eastern Ukraine and deployed troops in a peacekeeping role.
Here are the latest updates
Russia will remain in southern Ukraine “forever”: Russian Parliament official
Andrey Turchak, a senior official from the Russian Parliament said on Friday that the country will remain in southern Ukraine “forever”. Mr. Turchak was on a visit to Kherson, a Ukrainian city now under Kremlin’s control, when he made the statement.
“Russia is here forever. There should be no doubt about this. There will be no return to the past,” Mr. Turchak said, according to a statement released by the United Russia party. -- AFP
War in Ukraine is barbarous, says Pope Francis
Speaking to members of a Vatican office department, Pope Francis said that Christians should question themselves on their actions and make efforts to foster fraternity with one another. He said that the war in Ukraine is particularly “barbarous” since it involves Christians killing Christians. — AP
No Victory Day celebrations in Ukraine’s Mariupol: Russia
Russia has denied that it is planning to conduct celebrations in Ukraine's Mariupol to mark this year's Victory Day. "A time will come and there will be a big celebration there (In Mariupol). There will certainly be Russians there, and there will be many Russians on May 9, but I don't know about any official delegation," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peksov said.
Russia celebrates Victory Day every year on May 9 to commemorate its victory over Nazi Germany in World War II in 1945. The Russian military carries out a parade in Moscow and events are held all across the country. — AFP
Russian forces surround Severodonetsk, the easternmost city under Kyiv’s control: Ukrainian officials
Russian forces are trying to storm the city, a local official said on Friday. Taking control of Severodonetsk will be beneficial for Russia since the Kremlin has refocussed its efforts towards capturing the eastern Donbas region. Severodonetsk is situated in the Luhansk oblast that lies close to Donbas.
Oleksandr Striuk, the head of the Severodonetsk military administration, said that 15,000 people still remain in the city. He also informed that Ukrainian forces are fighting off the Russian forces but they are pressing on. — AFP
Ukraine asks Doctors Without Borders to help Azovstal fighters
Ukraine has appealed to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) to aid the evacuation of its fighters gathered in the vast Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol that is blockaded by Russians.
Ukraine's Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories wrote to the medical charity, asking it to assess the fighter's physical and mental condition, collect evidence of their conditions, and give medical assistance to "Ukrainians whose human rights have been violated by the Russian Federation."
Russia maintains, however, that it did not target civilians and has urged the fighters in the sprawling plant to surrender. -Reuters
Amnesty Int says there is evidence of Russian war crimes near Kyiv
Amnesty International said on Friday there was compelling evidence that Russian troops had committed war crimes, while occupying an area outside Kyiv in February and March.
A report by the human rights group said that civilians also suffered abuses such as "reckless shootings and torture" at the hands of Russian forces during their failed attack on Kyiv in the initial stages of the invasion.
"These are not isolated incidents. These are very much part of a pattern wherever Russian forces were in control of a town or a village," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, told a news conference in Kyiv.
Ukrainian authorities have said that they are investigating more than 9,000 potential war crimes by Russian troops. The International Criminal Court at the Hague is also probing the alleged war crimes.
The Amnesty report is the latest to record alleged war crimes by Russian forces during their occupation of an area northwest of Kyiv, including the town of Bucha, where Ukraine says over 400 civilians lost their lives.- Reuters
Ukraine says Russia is continuing the assault on Azovstal
A Kyiv army spokesman in a video today: “The blockade of (Ukrainian) defence forces in the Azovstal area continues.”
"In some areas, with aviation support, there are resumed assault operations to take control of the plant."
The statement comes on the same day as another planned civilian evacuation from the Azovstal steel plant in the strategic besieged city of Mariupol, where Kyiv’s last soldiers and some civilians still remain. The Russian army had announced a three-day ceasefire at the steel plant from Thursday to allow civilians to leave, but a Ukrainian commander said the promise had been violated. -AFP
Global food prices dip slightly- UN FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says world food prices eased slightly in April after hitting a record high in March, but global food security remains a concern because of the difficult market conditions owing in part to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
FAO’s food price index which tracks the most globally traded food commodities averaged 158.5 points in April as against an upwardly revised 159.7 for March.
"The small decrease in the index is a welcome relief, particularly for low-income food-deficit countries, but still food prices remain close to their recent highs, reflecting persistent market tightness and posing a challenge to global food security for the most vulnerable," said FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen.
Despite a month-on-month decline, the April index was 29.8% higher than a year earlier. -Reuters
Hungary slams EU plan to ban Russian oil
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban says that an EU ban on Russian oil will be equivalent to dropping an “atomic bomb” on Hungary’s economy and can thus not be accepted. Mr. Orban said for Hungary’s oil refineries and pipelines to be able to process oil from different sources, it will take five years and a huge investment.
Mr. Orban, speaking on state radio, reiterated Hungary’s stand that it would not support a new round of proposed EU sanctions against Russia if they included a ban on Russian oil exports. He added that he was willing to negotiate on any EU proposals that are in Hungary’s interests, it was unfeasible to ban Russian oil given the country’s geography and existing energy infrastructure.
Hungary has strongly opposed EU plans to include Russian energy exports in its sanctions, arguing that 85% of Hungary’s gas and over 60% of its oil comes from Russia. -AP
EU gives Hungary and Slovakia time to implement Russian oil ban
The European Commission has tweaked its Russian oil embargo plan, giving more time to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic more time to implement it by upgrading their oil infrastructure, in a bid to win over the reluctant states, sources told Reuters.
Under the changed proposal, Hungary and Slovakia will be able to buy Russian oil from pipelines until the end of 2024, while the Czech Republic would be given till June 2024, if it does not get oil via a pipeline from southern Europe earlier, the sources said.
It also includes a three-month transition period before banning EU shipping services from transporting Russian oil, instead of the initial one month.
Under the original plan, EU countries would have to stop buying Russian crude oil six months after the adoption and halt imports of refined oil products from Russia by the end of the year. At the start, Hungary and Slovakia were given until the end of 2023 to adapt. - Reuters
Russia says it will not use nuclear weapons
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev, speaking to reporters, says his country will not be using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The use of nuclear weapons by Russia, he said, a risk that Western officials have publicly discussed - was not applicable to Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In mid-April, the director of the U.S.’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, had said that given the setbacks Russia had suffered in Ukraine, “none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.” - Reuters
Jill Biden to meet Ukrainian refugees during border visit
For weeks, first lady Jill Biden has been transfixed by the news coming out of Ukraine, by the bombings and scenes of “parents weeping over their children’s broken bodies in the streets,” as she said in a recent speech.
Now Biden is using her second solo overseas trip to get an up-close look at the Ukrainian refugee crisis by visiting Romania and Slovakia, where she will spend Mother’s Day meeting with displaced families in a small Slovakian village on the border with Ukraine. -AP
U.K.: Russia aims to take Mariupol before V-Day
The British military believes Russia wants to take the port city of Mariupol and its vast steel mill before its marks Victory Day on Monday.
The British Defense Ministry made the comment in a daily intelligence briefing it makes on Twitter.
The Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol has been the scene of weeks of fighting. It has a vast network of underground bomb shelters shielding fighters and civilians from Russian bombardment, though the site has been repeatedly struck by high-explosive bombs. -AP
Germany to send seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine
Germany will deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five such artillery systems the Dutch government already pledged, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Friday, May 6, 2022.
Germany reversed its long-held policy of not sending heavy weapons to war zones last week following pressure at home and abroad for it to help Ukraine fend off Russian attacks.
The heavy weapons will come out of the Bundeswehr inventories and be delivered as soon as they emerge from maintenance over the next weeks, Lambrecht and her chief of defence, general Eberhard Zorn, told reporters in the Slovak town of Sliac.
The training of the first group of some 20 Ukrainian troops on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 is expected to kick off next week in the German town of Idar-Oberstein, Zorn said, adding that these troops had experience in operating Soviet-built howitzers.-- Reuters
There will be no winning side in Russia-Ukraine conflict: India tells UNSC
Asserting that there will be no winning side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has told the UN Security Council that diplomacy will be a lasting casualty while underscoring the immediate need to evacuate innocent civilians from areas witnessing intense fighting in Ukraine.
Speaking at the UNSC briefing on Ukraine on Thursday, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T.S.Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace. -PTI
Zelenskyy describes lack of medical access
In his nightly video address Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described a “catastrophic” lack of access to medical services and medicines in areas of the country under Russian occupation.
In those areas, he said almost no treatment was available for those suffering from cancer and where insulin for diabetics was difficult to find or non-existent. He said antibiotics were in short supply. -AP
Pentagon: Most Russian forces left Mariupol
The Pentagon says the majority of Russian forces that had been around the port city of Mariupol have left and headed north, leaving roughly the equivalent of two battalion tactical groups there, or about 2,000 troops.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that even as Russian airstrikes continue to bombard Mariupol, Moscow’s forces are still making only “plodding” and incremental progress as the main fight presses on in the eastern Donbas region. -AP
Russian oligarch’s yacht seized in Fiji on U.S. request
Authorities in Fiji have seized the $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov after the US Justice Department requested the vessel be held for violating sanctions and for alleged ties to corruption, the department said Thursday.
The five-year-old, 348-foot (106 meter) “Amadea” was berthed in Lautoka, Fiji in the South Pacific when local authorities took control of it based on a US warrant and a Justice Department request. -AFP
