Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has confirmed that 60 people who took shelter at a school in Bilokhorivka, near the eastern city of Luhansk, were killed when Russian forces bombed him this weekend. The United Nations has condemned the attack, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying he was “horrified” by it.
More than 170 civilians were successfully evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol and arrived in Zaporozhye. Authorities said more than 600 people had been evacuated from the plant and Mariupol in total.
Members of Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, trapped at the Azovstal steel plant, meanwhile said they feared they would be killed if captured by Russian forces, as they begged Ukrainian authorities to help organize their extraction. Speaking to the media from inside the besieged steel mine, Lieutenant Iliya Samoilenko vowed to fight, saying the surrender would be a “gift” to the enemy.
US President Joe Biden and other G-7 leaders held a video interview with Zelensky in a demonstration of unity ahead of Monday’s Victory Day celebrations in Russia. The G-7 has said it is committed to phasing out or banning Russian oil and condemned President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “His actions are a disgrace to Russia and the historical victims of its people,” the group said in a statement, referring to the role of Soviet Russia in defeating Nazi Germany 77 years ago.
New visa bans in the United States for more than 2,600 Russian and Belarusian servicemen include personnel believed to be operating in Bucha, a city outside Kyiv that has become synonymous with war crimes, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. .
US senior diplomat in Ukraine Christina Quien arrived with her team in Kyiv on Sunday in a step towards resuming the country’s presence in the capital. The visit was aimed at celebrating Victory Day in Europe.
A woman was injured in Russian airstrikes on Sunday and electricity was cut off in six settlements in the Odessa region, authorities said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised new weapons and other equipment to Ukraine after a surprise visit to the country, during which he toured Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv and the site of some of Russia’s worst early attacks. He also said Canada would remove trade tariffs on all Ukrainian imports next year.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Berlin had “made a mistake” by banning all flags, including Ukrainian flags, as part of its decision to suppress all public support for Russia’s Victory Day invasion. “The withdrawal of the Ukrainian flag from peaceful protesters is an attack on anyone who is now defending Europe and Germany from Russian aggression with this flag in his hands,” he said.
US President Jill Biden’s wife met with Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska during another unannounced visit on Sunday to mark Mother’s Day, while U2’s Bono and Edge presented themselves at a bomb shelter in Kyiv.
In a speech marking Ukraine’s Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on May 8, Zelensky said his country pays tribute to all those who helped Adolf Hitler’s victory, but accused Russia of repeating his crimes. “This year we say ‘Never again’ in a different way. We hear “Never Again” in a different way. Sounds painful, cruel. Not surprisingly, but with a question mark. You say: never again? Tell Ukraine about it. “
Ukraine will prevail over Russia, as freedom prevailed over the Nazi dictatorship in 1945, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address on the 77th anniversary of Europe’s Victory Day. Scholz, whose relationship with Zelensky is icy, has not yet said whether he will accept an invitation to travel to Kyiv on Monday.
The United States has unveiled a new layer of sanctions against Russia, targeting services, Russia’s propaganda machine and its defense industry. They are designed primarily to close the door on existing sanctions and to tighten the noose around the Russian economy by a few more steps.
The UK government has expanded its sanctions against Russia to include punitive tariffs on imports of Russian precious metals, as well as bans on exports of some British products to increase economic pressure on Moscow.
Putin’s regime “reflects” Nazi actions, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday as the Russian leader held a military parade to celebrate Russia’s victory in World War II, according to a preliminary copy of the speech. Wallace will say that Putin and his inner circle must share the same fate as the Nazis, who were eventually defeated and faced with the Nuremberg Trials for their atrocities.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is due to travel to Berlin for talks with Scholz on Monday and make a big address.
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