Ukraine war highlights: 3rd operation to evacuate people from Mariupol underway

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that a third operation is under way to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and the besieged Azovstal steel plant.

Russia said on Thursday that its air force destroyed 45 Ukrainian facilities. 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said that his government will offer a 2-billion-US- dollar aid for Ukraine. 
"France released 100 million euros for humanitarian aid, which is used in particular to finance international organizations and NGOs present in the field. Already, 800 tons of humanitarian and medical goods have been sent to Ukraine and to the countries of the region", Macron said. 

Russian shelling killed five civilians in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, governor Serhiy Gaidai said.

The European Union should confiscate and sell Russian assets it has seized and use the proceeds to rebuild Ukraine, EU chief Charles Michel says, echoing an idea already floated in the United States.

The EU said early last month it had frozen 30 billion euros ($32 billion) in assets linked to blacklisted Russian and Belarusian individuals.

In call with Ukraine's Zelenskyy, UK PM Boris Johnson discussed the Ukrainian armed forces reuirements, including the provision of longer-ranage weaponary to prevent the bombardment of civillians, his office states in a release. 

The Kremlin claims that humanitarian corridors to get civilians out of Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant are functioning, after the Russian army announced a three-day ceasefire at the site.

"The corridors are functioning today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters, adding that the steelworks remain besieged by Russian forces.

Ukraine's army says Russia is "trying to destroy" its remaining soldiers holed up in the steel plant, with Kyiv's last defenders in the destroyed city saying Moscow forces have broken into the giant factory.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, in an exclusive interview to The Associated Press (AP), on Thursday said he was doing “everything” to put an end to the war in Ukraine that has been going on for more than two months now. He further said that he did not think Russia's “military operation” in its former Soviet neighbour would “drag on this way”. Read More

Ukrainian presidential adviser says he does not expect Ukraine to launch a counter-offensive before mid-June when it hopes to have more arms from west.

The Kremlin said on Thursday it was well aware that the United States, Britain and other NATO countries were constantly feeding intelligence to the Ukrainian military and that this would not stop Russia from achieving its objectives.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was reacting to a New York Times report that the United States had provided intelligence that helped Ukrainian forces kill Russian generals.

Russia said on Thursday that its artillery struck multiple Ukrainian positions and strongholds overnight, killing 600 fighters.

At least 25 civilians were wounded as Russian forces shelled the town of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the region's governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko reported that Russian airstrikes hit residential areas in the city overnight on May 5, damaging at least three high-rises, a school and a kindergarten, reported Ukrainian media. 

Ukraine’s military has reportedly killed 12 Russian generals thus far, although U.S. officials declined to confirm the numbers, reported Ukrainian media.

More than 300 civilians were evacuated from Mariupol and other areas in southern Ukraine as part of a joint U.N.-Red Cross operation, the United Nations said.

Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine will relocate from Poland to Ukraine, reports Ukrainian media.

Civilians including women and children are still trapped inside Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol and a prolonged ceasefire is needed to ensure their evacuation as Russia presses its assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday.

Russian forces have been slowed by supply line and morale problems in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman said, reported Bloomberg.