Russia-Ukraine War LIVE: Finland, Sweden to jointly submit NATO applications Wednesday

Russia-Ukraine War highlights: As the Russia Ukraine war continues for its 83rd day, A series of explosions struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Some reports said about 10 blasts occurred in quick succession.

In Mariupol, Ukraine's military said it was working to evacuate all remaining troops from their last stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russia after months of bombardment.

Ukraine said troops defending its second-largest city, Kharkiv, had repelled Russian forces and advanced as far as the border with Russia. In eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, Nine civilians were killed by Russian attacks, the governor said.

Six million refugees have fled Ukraine since the war began on Feb 24, and another eight million have been internally displaced, according to UN agencies.

Russia calls its action a special military operation to demilitarise Ukraine and eradicate what it calls “dangerous nationalists”. The West and Kyiv accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression.

Follow all the updates here:

• May 17, 2022 11:29 PM IST

  Finland, Sweden to submit applications for NATO membership together on Wednesday

  Following their dramatic decisions to seek NATO membership over Sunday and Monday, Sweden and Finland will submit their applications for becoming a member of the US-led military alliance on Wednesday. During a joint press briefing with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that she is “happy” that their countries have taken the “same path” and can do it “together”, according to AFP. Read more.

• May 17, 2022 09:57 PM IST

  Zelensky talks to Macron over phone, discusses Ukraine's EU membership

  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he had a “long and meaningful" telephonic conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron about the ongoing war in the east-European nation. “Told about the course of hostilities, the operation to rescue the military from Azovstal and the vision of the prospects of the negotiation process. Raised the issue of fuel supply to Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

  The Ukrainian President added that the two leaders also spoke about Ukraine's application status for EU membership.

• May 17, 2022 09:10 PM IST

  ‘If reports are true…’: EU top diplomat on ‘impressive losses’ faced by Russian army

  The European Union's (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrel said on Tuesday that if reports and numbers are true, Russia has lost 15 per cent of its soldiers since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. “This is a world record of the losses of an army invading a country,” he told reporters in Brussels after a meeting of the bloc's defence ministers, according to Reuters.

• May 17, 2022 08:14 PM IST

  Russian prosecutor asks court to declare Ukraine's Azov Regiment "terrorist organization" -Ifax

  The office of Russia's Prosecutor General has asked the Supreme Court to recognise Ukraine's Azov Regiment as a "terrorist organisation", Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday citing the Ministry of Justice website, Reuters reported.

• May 17, 2022 06:49 PM IST

  Eight dead in Russian strike on Ukraine village housing military facility: local official

  Eight dead in Russian strike on Ukraine village housing military facility, AFP reported.

• May 17, 2022 06:21 PM IST

  Biden to host leaders of Sweden, Finland amid NATO bids

  President Joe Biden Biden will host Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland at the White House for a meeting Thursday amid their push to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AP reported.

• May 17, 2022 05:42 PM IST

  Russia withdraws from Council of Baltic Sea States: Foreign ministry

  Russia has decided to withdraw from the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

• May 17, 2022 04:17 PM IST

  Russian negotiator says Ukraine's Azov fighters 'don't deserve to live'

  A Russian lawmaker taking part in peace talks with Kyiv said on Tuesday that Russia should consider the death penalty for what he called nationalist fighters from Ukraine's Azov regiment, Reuters reported.

• May 17, 2022 03:31 PM IST

  Russia to expel two Finnish diplomats in tit-for-tat move

  Russia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it was expelling two diplomats from the Finnish embassy in Moscow in retaliation against Helsinki's decision to expel two of its diplomats, Reuters reported. 

• May 17, 2022 02:35 PM IST

  265 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered at Azovstal: Russian ministry

  Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday that 265 Ukrainian soldiers, including several dozen wounded, surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine's port city of Mariupol, AFP reported. 

• May 17, 2022 02:11 PM IST

  Czech volunteer found shot dead in Ukraine

  The Czech Republic said on Tuesday one of its citizens had died in Ukraine. Local media identified him as a volunteer shot dead and found in a roadside grave. The 49-year-old truck driver had gone to the war-torn country to help drive people to safety soon after Russia invaded, his wife told Czech media.

• May 17, 2022 01:39 PM IST

  UK ‘strongly supports’ Sweden, Finland joining NATO, reports PTI

  The UK government has said it “strongly supports” the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as Sweden and Finland confirmed their intention to apply for membership of the military alliance, in a historic shift of foreign policy stance in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

  UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Monday evening that the two Nordic countries should be integrated into NATO, which operates on a collective defence basis under which an attack against any one ally is considered as an attack against all allies.

• May 17, 2022 11:25 AM IST

  Russian governor says border village draws Ukrainian fire; no injuries

  A village in Russia's western province of Kursk bordering Ukraine came under Ukrainian fire on Tuesday, regional governor Roman Starovoit said as per news agency Reuters, but there were no injuries, although three houses and a school were hit.

  Russian border guards returned fire to quell the shooting from large-calibre weapons on the border village of Alekseyevka, Starovoit wrote on messaging app Telegram.

• May 17, 2022 10:25 AM IST

  Ukraine says over 1,000 schools destroyed by Russia

  The Ukrainian government says Russia has shelled more than 1,000 schools, destroying 95, news agency AFP reported. On May 8, a bomb flattened a school in Zaporizhzhia which, like School No. 21 in Chernihiv, was being used a shelter. As many as 60 people were feared dead.

• May 17, 2022 09:17 AM IST

  Putin warns Finland, Sweden over NATO

  President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Sweden and Finland joining NATO would be no threat to Russia but warned the Western alliance that moving troops or weapons into the Nordic neighbours would provoke a "response."

• May 17, 2022 08:22 AM IST

  Turkey objects as Sweden, Finland seek NATO membership

  Turkey´s president on Monday complicated Sweden and Finland´s historic bid to join NATO, saying he cannot allow them to become members of the alliance because of their perceived inaction against exiled Kurdish militants.

• May 17, 2022 07:43 AM IST

  US may send more aid to Ukraine soon

  The U.S. Senate voted to advance $40 billion more aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia, setting the stage for a vote on the bill possibly later this week.

• May 17, 2022 07:19 AM IST

  Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from Mariupol steelworks

  Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steelworks -- the last holdout of troops defending the southern port city of Mariupol -- Kyiv said on Monday.

  The plant had become a symbol of resistance, with around 600 soldiers holed up in underground tunnels and bunkers fighting a rear-guard battle to prevent Russian troops taking full control of the strategically located city.