Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– Ukraine says 60 dead in school bombing –
Some 60 people sheltering in a village school in east Ukraine died after a Russian air strike, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an address to the G7 summit by video conference.
UN chief Antonio Guterres is “appalled” by the bombing, his spokesman says, reiterating that “civilians and civilian infrastructure must always be spared in times of war”.
– G7 meets on Ukraine –
As President Volodymyr Zelensky talks with G7 leaders via video conference, the White House saying the club of rich nations is “committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil”.
Washington also announces new sanctions on three major Russian television stations and says it will deny Russian companies and wealthy individuals access to US accounting and consulting services.
– US First Lady Biden, Canada’s Trudeau visit Ukraine –
US First Lady Jill Biden makes an unannounced visit to Ukraine, meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska at a school.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pays a separate visit to Irpin outside Kyiv, a city badly damaged by Moscow’s forces early in the war, saying Russian leader Vladimir Putin is “responsible for heinous war crimes”.
– Mariupol steelworks soldiers vow no surrender –
Ukrainian forces in the sprawling Azovstal steelworks in the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol — the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port city — vow to fight on.
Ukraine has said all women, children and elderly civilians have been evacuated from Azovstal as part of a UN and Red Cross humanitarian mission.
– Kyiv protests German police confiscating Ukraine flag –
Kyiv condemns Berlin’s “mistake” after German police confiscate a giant Ukrainian flag displayed by demonstrators at the Soviet War Memorial in the German capital.
Police say it was to ensure that a World War II commemoration ceremony stayed peaceful after a ban on displays of flags or military symbols at 15 memorial sites across Berlin.
But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweets. “It’s deeply false to treat them equally with Russian symbols.”
– Battle for eastern city –
Ukrainian forces are struggling to hold on to the nearly surrounded city of Severodonetsk, the easternmost city still held by Kyiv which, if captured, would give Russia de facto control of Lugansk — the smaller of the two republics comprising the eastern war zone.
A local official says about 15,000 civilians remain in the city.
– Azovstal evacuees reach safety –
Eight buses carrying 174 Mariupol civilians, including 40 evacuated from the Black Sea port’s besieged Azovstal steelworks, arrive in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia.
Evacuees, some with young children, leave white buses that had transported them to a shopping centre car park. Humanitarian workers escort elderly people, including a woman in a wheelchair.
– Victory Day parade –
Russia is poised to hold its annual parade Monday marking the Soviet victory in World War II, where its military might will be showcased amid Moscow’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine.
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