Ukraine War highlights: UK slaps fresh sanctions on Russia, Belarus; UN chief 'appalled' at school attack
Russia-Ukraine war highlights: The fighting between the two countries entered its 74th day with no signs of peace. Thousands of people have been killed in the war, with the latest attack on Azovstal steel work plant.
Russia-Ukraine war highlights: The fighting between Vladimir Putin's Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky's Ukraine is continuing for the 74th straight day, with no signs of peace between the two countries. All women and children were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged Mariupol port city, Kyiv said on Saturday. ...Read More
US president Joe Biden, UK PM Boris Johnson and other G-7 leaders are set to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky via a video call on Sunday. Ahead of the virtual meeting, the UK announced an aid of $1.3 billion in military assistance to the war-torn nation.
Follow all the updates here:
- May 09, 2022 03:16 am IST
Russia has 'forgotten' all that mattered to WWII victors: Zelensky
Russia has forgotten everything that mattered to the victors of World War II, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, a day before Moscow commemorates the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany.
Denouncing Russia's heavy shelling in the east of the country including one strike on a school that he says killed 60 people, he added: "Russia has forgotten everything that was important to the victors of World War II. "
"Civilians who simply hid in the school from the shelling. It was a targeted blow to the school. Another crime of the occupiers. I am sure that today Ukraine has shown that we are already a full-fledged part of the free world and a united Europe," he added.
Russia will on Monday mark the 77th anniversary since victory in what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War.
- May 09, 2022 03:13 am IST
UK slaps fresh sanctions on Russia, Belarus
Britain announced on Sunday it will increase tariffs on platinum and palladium imports from Russia and Belarus in a new package of sanctions targeting 1.7 billion pounds ($2.10 billion) of trade, which it said aimed to further weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine.
Import tariffs on a range of products will be raised by 35 percentage points, Britain said, while it will also ban exports of goods such as chemicals, plastics, rubber and machinery to Russia, worth a combined 250 million pounds ($310 million).
The UK government will legislate for the new sanctions in due course, it said.
- May 09, 2022 02:51 am IST
UN chief 'appalled' at reported school attack
The United Nations chief says he is “appalled” at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting, news agency PTI reported.
A U.N. spokesman said Sunday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric says: “This war must end, and peace must be established in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Ukraine will continue supporting those whose lives have been shattered by war.”
- May 09, 2022 01:55 am IST
60 dead in bombed east Ukraine school: Zelensky
Sixty civilians died in the bombing of a school in eastern Ukraine's Lugansk region this weekend, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday as news agency AFP.
"Just yesterday in the village of Bilogorivka, Lugansk region, a Russian bomb killed 60 people. Civilians," Zelensky said during an address to the G7 summit by video conference.
- May 09, 2022 01:25 am IST
Jill Biden pays surprise visit to Ukraine, meets first lady
Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions, reports PTI.
She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zalenska's public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24
- May 09, 2022 12:01 am IST
Dozens feared dead in bombing of Ukrainian school, reports AP
Scores of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school where about 90 people were taking shelter in the basement, while Ukrainian fighters held out inside Mariupol's steel plant as Moscow's forces apparently raced to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.
Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people at the school in the village of Bilohorivka after Saturday’s bombing, according to the governor of Luhansk province, part of the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas.
“Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,” Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.
- May 08, 2022 10:55 pm IST
US imposes visa restrictions on Russian military officers
The State Department on Sunday announced a raft of visa bans and a new policy of visa restrictions on more than 2,500 Russian military officials and Russian-backed forces in Ukraine, according to a department fact sheet, Reuters reported.
- May 08, 2022 10:24 pm IST
Russia says it hits US-supplied weapons at railway station in Ukraine
Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that its high-precision missiles had destroyed weapons and military equipment supplied to Ukrainian forces from the United States and unspecified Western countries at a railway station near the town of Soledar. The ministry also said that it had destroyed six depots storing missile and artillery weapons in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions while its air defences shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 warplane.
- May 08, 2022 10:02 pm IST
G-7 Leaders Commit to Banning Imports of Oil From Russia
Leaders of the Group of Seven most industrialized countries pledged to ban the import of Russian oil in response to President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The heads of the leading economies made the commitment after holding a video call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday, the eve of Russia’s May 9 Victory Day, which commemorates Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
- May 08, 2022 09:52 pm IST
Putin will not win his war, says German chancellor Scholz
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a televised address to the nation on Sunday May 8, marking the anniversary of the end of World War Two, assured Ukraine of solidarity in its fight against Russia's invasion. "Putin will not win this war. Ukraine will persevere," said Scholz. The date takes on special meaning this year as two countries that were once victims of Nazi Germany - Ukraine and Russia - are now at war because Russia unleashed it, he said.
- May 08, 2022 09:21 pm IST
US diplomats return to Kyiv embassy on first visit since invasion
The US top diplomat to Ukraine Kristina Kvien and her team arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, a senior State Department official said, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised on a visit last month to reopen the US. embassy in the Ukrainian capital soon, Reuters reported.
The move is the latest step toward the resumption of a full US presence in Kyiv after diplomats began returning to the western city of Lviv last month, having left the country ahead of Russia's Feb. 24 invasion out of security concerns.
- May 08, 2022 08:42 pm IST
Ukraine's Kuleba discusses how to unblock food exports with Blinken
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday he discussed with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken how to unblock Ukraine's food exports and ensure global food security.
Ukraine, one of the world's major grain and oilseeds, used to export most of its cereals through its Black Sea ports, which have been blocked by Russia since the start of Moscow's invasion on Feb. 24.
- May 08, 2022 08:21 pm IST
Pelosi urges US Cong to approve $33 bln in aid for Ukraine by end of May
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday told CBS that Congress needs to pass by the end of the month a bill that would give Ukraine $33 billion in military and humanitarian aid, Reuters reported.
- May 08, 2022 07:51 pm IST
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau visits Ukrainian town Irpin
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made on Sunday an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian town of Irpin, which had been temporary held by Russian troops, the town's mayor said on Telegram. "I've just had an honor to meet with the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, who came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror which Russian occupiers have caused to our town," Oleksandr Markushyn said on his Telegram channel.
- May 08, 2022 07:31 pm IST
US First Lady makes unannounced visit to Ukraine, meets Ukrainian counterpart
US First Lady Jill Biden on Sunday made an unannounced visit to Ukraine to show support to the war-torn country in its fight against Russia, Reuters reported. She also met her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska. "I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine,” she said. Full report
- May 08, 2022 07:07 pm IST
Rock band U2 performs in a subway station in Kyiv| Watch video
Ukraine's foreign ministry shares video of rock band U2 performing in a subway station in Kyiv.
- May 08, 2022 06:21 pm IST
Zelensky says 'evil' returned to Europe on victory anniversary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that "evil has returned" to Europe, comparing Russia's invasion to Nazi Germany during an address commemorating World War II.
"Decades after World War II, darkness has returned to Ukraine, and it has become black and white again," Zelensky said in a video address, in which he was filmed standing in front of destroyed residential buildings.
- May 08, 2022 06:05 pm IST
Hungary Continues to Block EU Oil Sanctions Against Russia
Hungary continued to block a European Union proposal that would ban Russian oil imports, holding up the bloc’s entire package of sanctions meant to target President Vladimir Putin over his war in Ukraine, according to people familiar with the talks, Bloomberg reported.
A meeting of the EU’s 27 ambassadors ended on Sunday without an agreement, with talks expected to resume in the coming days, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.
- May 08, 2022 05:44 pm IST
Ukrainian fighters at besieged Azovstal plant vow to fight till the end
Ukrainian fighters at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the southeastern port of Mariupol, who are the last holdout against Russian forces in the city, vowed on Sunday to continue their stand as long as they are alive.
"We will continue to fight as long as we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers," Captain Sviatoslav Palamar, a deputy commander of Ukraine's Azov Regiment, told an online conference.
- May 08, 2022 05:30 pm IST
Ukraine war overshadows France's WWII commemorations
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday marked the anniversary of the Allies' victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, overshadowed this year by the war in Ukraine, AFP reported. Paris' traditional WWII commemorations began on the Champs-Elysees avenue, with the president laying a wreath at the statue of Charles de Gaulle, the wartime French resistance leader and later founding president of France's Fifth Republic.
- May 08, 2022 05:01 pm IST
Ukraine battles to hold eastern bastions
Ukrainian forces were braced to defend their final bastion in the devastated port city of Mariupol on Sunday, desperate to deny Russia a symbolic win on the eve of Moscow's Victory Day celebrations. Shelling and missile strikes have intensified in the build up to the World War II anniversary, and rescuers are hunting for 60 Ukrainian civilians feared killed in the bombing of a village school.
- May 08, 2022 04:35 pm IST
UK pledges more aid to Ukraine as Europe marks VE Day
Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds (USD 1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the country defend against Russian forces, officials said Sunday, AP reported. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries are expected to hold online talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss the further support.
- May 08, 2022 03:57 pm IST
Jill Biden to Ukrainian mom: Russia war 'hard to understand'
U.S. first lady Jill Biden gets a hug as she meets Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian workers at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia, (REUTERS) US first lady Jill Biden spent Mother's Day in Slovakia, meeting with Ukrainian mothers who have been displaced by Russia's war and assuring them that the “hearts of the American people” are behind them. At a bus station in the city of Kosice that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with an emotional Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot even explain it to herself.
- May 08, 2022 03:39 pm IST
Ukraine troops retreat from Popasna, Luhansk governor confirms
Ukrainian troops retreated from the eastern Ukrainian city of Popasna, the governor of Luhansk region said on Sunday, confirming previous reports that it had been taken, Reuters reported. The head of Russia's republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, had said on Sunday his troops had taken control of most of Popasna.
- May 08, 2022 02:23 pm IST
Time for Sweden, Finland to join NATO now: Former NATO Secretary-General
Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says that the time for Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance is now, while Russian President Vladimir Putin is "preoccupied" with Ukraine. "As far as Finland and Sweden are concerned, I think there's a window of opportunity for [the] two countries to join, exactly now because Putin is preoccupied elsewhere. He can't do anything about it," Rasmussen told CNBC on Saturday.
- May 08, 2022 02:00 pm IST
This country, Ukraine’sTiny Neighbor, is suffering economic fallout from war
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has spurred a rush of loans to help tiny Moldova defray the economic hit from the war raging next door. Things are so perilous that the International Monetary Fund is now calling on nations to send cash, Bloomberg reported. Full report
- May 08, 2022 01:14 pm IST
Zelensky marks day of remembrance in Video
Rescue efforts are under way after a Russian air strike on a school in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, with dozens of civilians feared dead. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a video to mark Ukraine’s Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, Bloomberg reported.
- May 08, 2022 12:13 pm IST
US renews Pak engagement, spoils Russian party
The revival of diplomatic-military ties between US and Pakistan after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call to Foreign Minister Bilawal Zardari this week was a dampener to serious Russian efforts to cultivate Islamabad during the ousted Imran Niazi regime. Read more
- May 08, 2022 11:12 am IST
Bombing of school in Ukrainian town kills two, 60 more under debris
Two people have been killed in the Russian bombing of a school in the Ukrainian village of Bilohorivka and 60 who remained under debris are feared dead, Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said on Sunday, Reuters reported.
- May 08, 2022 10:13 am IST
Ukraine's Mariupol defenders face final showdown with Russian invaders
Ukraine's last soldiers in the port city of Mariupol face a brutal final showdown Sunday with besieging Russian forces, who are hoping to deliver a critical win ahead of the country's victory day, AFP reported.
- May 08, 2022 09:34 am IST
Ukraine Azovstal steelworks evacuation focuses on wounded, medics
Evacuation efforts will focus on getting the wounded and medics out of Mariupol's bombed-out Azovstal steelworks after all the women, children and elderly trapped in the plant were brought to safety, said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Reuters reported.
- May 08, 2022 07:56 am IST
UK to provide 1.3 billion pounds of further military support to Ukraine
Britain said it would provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.60 billion) in military support and aid to Ukraine, making the pledge ahead of a planned video call on Sunday by Group of Seven leaders with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- May 08, 2022 07:32 am IST
Ukraine evacuates civilians from steel plant under siege
Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, hoping to complete their conquest of the port in time for Victory Day celebrations, AP reported.