That's the end of our Ukraine live blog for Tuesday. 

We're back on Wednesday morning with all the latest developments. 

Biden: Ukrainian army 'making fools of Russian military' with Javelin missiles

President Joe Biden on Tuesday credited the assembly line workers at a Javelin missile plant for doing life-saving work in building the antitank weapons that are being sent to Ukraine to stifle Russia’s invasion as he made a pitch for Congress to approve $33 billion so the US can continue hustle aid to the front lines.

“You’re allowing the Ukrainians to defend themselves,” Biden told the workers, his podium flanked by Javelin missile launchers and shipping containers. “And, quite frankly, they’re making fools of the Russian military in many instances.”

The president’s visit to the Lockheed Martin factory in Alabama also drew attention to a growing concern as the war drags on: Can the US sustain the cadence in shipping vast amounts of arms to Ukraine while maintaining a healthy stockpile it may need if conflict erupts with North Korea, Iran or elsewhere?

The US has provided at least 7,000 Javelins, including some transferred during the Trump administration, or about one-third of its stockpile, to Ukraine in recent years, according to an analysis by Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies international security program. The Biden administration says it has committed to sending 5,500 Javelins to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on 24 February. 

Analysts also estimate that the United States has sent about one-quarter of its stockpile of shoulder-fired Stinger missiles to Ukraine. Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investors last week during a quarterly call that his company, which makes the weapons system, wouldn’t be able to ramp up production until next year, due to parts shortages.

(AP)

Slovakia will repair Ukrainian military vehicles

A Slovak company will repair damaged Ukrainian armored vehicles, responding to a request from Kyiv, the Defense Ministry in Bratislava announced on Tuesday.

"The state-owned company Konstrukta - Defence has concluded a contract with the Ukrainian side for the repair and modernization of Ukrainian military equipment," Defense Ministry spokeswoman Martina Koval Kakascikova said in a statement.

The first batch of military equipment sent to Slovakia from Ukraine will consist of dozens of BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles, she said.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad had previously expressed their willingness to help Ukraine by repairing its equipment.

Based in eastern Slovakia, Konstrukta - Defence repairs vehicles and equipment of all categories used by the Slovak armed forces, according to the company's website. The company also produces ZUZANA 2 self-propelled howitzers.

Similar aid was offered to Ukraine last month by the Czech Republic, and Ukraine's Soviet-designed T-64 tanks will be repaired there.

(AFP) 

UN Chief wants more 'humanitarian pauses' in Ukraine war

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said on Tuesday he hoped that "more humanitarian pauses” could be organized with Ukraine and Russia, on the model of the one that allowed the evacuation of a hundred civilians from Azovstal steelworks.

“I hope continued coordination with Kyiv and Moscow will lead to more humanitarian pauses that will allow civilians to walk safely away from the fighting and help reach people where they are most needed,” Guterres he said in a statement without specifying the location.

During a video link with journalists at the UN in New York, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Osnat Lubrani, also hoped that the operation organized last weekend in Mariupol could be repeated.

She said there are still civilians trapped inside the sprawling Soviet-era steel mill, "some of them may have been afraid to come out, or probably couldn't get out."

(AFP)

Russia claims it hit 400 targets in Ukraine on Monday

The Russian military says its artillery has hit more than 400 Ukrainian targets during the last day.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday that targets included Ukrainian artillery positions, troops strongholds and two fuel depots.

Konashenkov said Russian aircrafts have hit 39 other targets, including concentrations of troops and weapons and two command posts.

He charged that a US-supplied artillery radar, four air defense radars and six ammunition depots were among the targets destroyed with precision-guided weapons over the last day.

Konashenkov’s claims couldn’t be independently verified.

(AP)

Explosions heard in western city of Lviv

Russian strikes have apparently targeted the western Ukraine city of Lviv.

The strikes happened just before 8:30 pm local time on Tuesday in multiple directions. At least four distinct explosions could be heard from downtown Lviv.

It wasn’t immediately clear what was targeted. Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on a social message app that those in the city should take shelter. Trains coming out of Lviv stopped service.

Car alarms went off after the blasts and emergency sirens could be heard.

Electricity flickered momentarily in the city. Sadovyi acknowledged in another message the attacks had affected the power supply, without elaborating.

(AP)

American basketball star 'unfairly detained' in Russia

The Biden administration has determined that WNBA star Brittney Griner is being wrongfully detained in Russia, meaning the United States will more aggressively work to secure her release even as the legal case against her plays out, two U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Griner was detained at an airport in February after Russian authorities said a search of her bag revealed vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis. Since then, US officials had stopped short of classifying the Phoenix Mercury player as wrongfully detained and said instead that their focus was on ensuring that she had access in jail to American consular affairs officials.

Now, though, US officials have shifted supervision of her case to a State Department section -- the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs -- that is focused on negotiating for the release of hostages and other Americans classified as being wrongfully detained in other countries.

“Brittney has been detained for 75 days and our expectation is that the White House do whatever is necessary to bring her home,” said Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas.

The president of the WNBA players' union, Nneka Ogwumike, noted in a separate statement that “it has been 75 days that our friend, teammate, sister, Brittney Griner, has been wrongfully detained in Russia.”

“It is time for her to come home," Ogwumike added. “Having learned that the US government has now determined that BG is being wrongfully detained we are hopeful that their efforts will be significant, swift and successful.”

It was unclear what prompted the shift in approach to Griner's case, though President Joe Biden's administration had been under pressure from members of Congress and others to make her release a priority.

(AP)

Macron urges Putin to allow Mariupol steel mill evacuations 

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Russia's leader to allow evacuations from the besieged Mariupol steel mill to continue, in a Tuesday phone conversation.

Macron asked Putin to restart evacuations at the Azovstal plant, which has served as a refuge for Ukrainian civilians and fighters, in the south-eastern Ukrainian city, the Elysee Palace said in a statement. 

He urged Russia to rise to the level of its responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council by ending this devastating aggression, stressing the gravity of what impact Russia’s war was having on Ukraine, the Elysee added. 

Earlier Tuesday Russian forces launched a "powerful assault" on the steel mill, supported by tanks and infantry, which is one of the last pockets of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol. 

Hundreds of civilians are thought to remain trapped in the sprawling Soviet-era industrial complex, despite efforts by the United Nations to evacuate them this week. 

Macro also repeated his willingness to work on conditions for a negotiated solution to the war, which would include full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and reiterated his oft-stated demand for a cease-fire, the statement said.

(AP)

Just how dependent is the EU on Russian oil? 

The war in Ukraine has exposed the European Union's entrenched dependency on Russian oil, one of Moscow's most profitable exports.

But can the bloc wean itself off this dark addiction? 

Watch our explainer here.

Multiple deaths in Ukraine factory attack

At least ten people are dead and 15 injured after Russian troops shelled a chemical plant in Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine, the Donetsk regional governor said on Tuesday. 

“The Russians knew exactly where to aim — the workers just finished their shift and were waiting for a bus at a bus stop to take them home,” Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote in a Telegram post. “Another cynical crime by Russians on our land.”

He added that the "number of victims could probably be higher" after further "clarification" of the situation on the ground. 

Avdiivka, a town of some 30,000 people, is located only a few kilometres from the city of Donetsk, a stronghold for the Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The town has previously been calm since the start of the Russian invasion in February, although the area saw heavy fighting between Kyiv and separatists in 2014. 

(AP/AFP)

EU set to agree on new Russia sanctions 

The European Union’s top diplomat says the bloc’s executive branch is on the cusp of proposing a new raft of sanctions against Russia, including on oil.

EU policy commissioners have been discussing the new sanctions and are set to send their proposals later Tuesday to the 27 member countries for debate.

The union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a tweet that the executive is “working on the 6th package of sanctions which aims to de-swift more banks, list disinformation actors and tackle oil imports.” Swift is the most widely used international system for bank transfers.

Member countries have been involved in drawing up the proposals, but they routinely take days to endorse them. The sanctions can only enter force once they are published in the EU’s Official Journal. Hungary and Slovakia have already expressed reservations about signing on.

EU ambassadors are scheduled to meet on Wednesday. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is also likely to explain the proposals early Wednesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

(AP)

101 civilians rescued from Mariupol steel mill, as "powerful assault" begins 

The UN announced on Tuesday the "successful" evacuation of 101 civilians stuck for weeks in the Ukrainian industrial complex of Azovstal in Mariupol (southeast), besieged by the Russian army, which launched a new offensive there.

“I am happy relieved to confirm that 101 civilians have been successfully evacuated from the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Osnat Lubrani said in a statement.

On Twitter Ms Lubrani wrote that the people who escaped told "heartbreaking stories of the hell they went through." 

Meanwhile Russian forced launched a "powerful assault" on the steel mill on Tuesday, supported by tanks and infantry. 

Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of Ukraine's Azov regiment which has been defending the steel plant, said in a video message: "A powerful assault on the territory of Azovstal is currently underway, with the support of armored vehicles, tanks, with attempts to land troops, with the help of boats and a large number of elements of infantry."

There were thought to be a thousand civilians sheltering inside the vast Azovstal complex, which was build during the Soviet Union era, and which has become the last stronghold for Ukrainian forces in the city of Mariupol.  

(Euronews / AFP)

Putin tells Macron: West must stop supplying weapons to Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the West must stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.

He made the demand during a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

"The West could help stop these atrocities by exerting appropriate influence over the Kyiv authorities, as well as stopping the supply of weapons to Ukraine," the president said in a Kremlin statement, saying Kyiv "lacks preparation for serious work" in peace talks.

This was the first call between the two leaders since 29 March, before Macron's re-election. It's also the first since the discovery in early April of Russian atrocities committed in Bucha and other areas as Putin's forces withdrew from the Kyiv region and northern Ukraine. Macron called the Bucha atrocities "intolerable" and said Russia should be held accountable for its crimes.

Putin and Macron have previously spoken some 20 times since December, and eight times since the war started. The French president visited Moscow early in February before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Each time, Macron has failed to dissuade Putin from invading or from halting the Russian offensive, but he has insisted it is vital to keep channels of communication open.

(Euronews / AFP)

Britain announces new £300 million military aid for Ukraine

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new 300 million pound (€445 million) package of military aid to Ukraine, including radar, drones and armored vehicles.

He made the announcement during a live video address to Ukraine's parliament, telling lawmakers that their country has achieved the “greatest feat of arms of the 21st century” by repelling Russia’s attempt to capture Kyiv.

Johnson, one of Ukraine’s most prominent international supporters, said the nation had “exploded the myth of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s invincibility,” and expressed confidence Ukraine would win the war.

The British leader said Western allies had not done enough to stop Russia after it annexed Crimea and triggered a conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and said Ukraine’s allies should not press it to give up territory to make peace.

He said “you are the masters of your fate, and no-one can or should impose anything on Ukrainians. We in the UK will be guided by you and we are proud to be your friends.”

Johnson is the first world leader to address Ukraine's parliament -- called the Verkhovna Rada -- since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February.  

(AP)

Denmark urges India to try and influence Russia

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has urged her visiting Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, to try to influence Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

“Putin has to stop this war,” Frederiksen said Tuesday, adding immediately, “I hope that India will influence Russia.”

India’s neutral stance in the war has raised concerns in the West and earned praise from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who lauded India for judging “the situation in its entirety, not just in a one-sided way.”

(AP)

Scholz rules out Kyiv visit amid Germany-Ukraine tensions

Germany’s conservative opposition leader was expected to arrive in Kyiv on Tuesday for meetings with Ukrainian officials, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear he would not be visiting Ukraine any time soon.

Scholz has traded barbs with Ukrainian officials in recent weeks because of Kyiv’s refusal to invite Germany’s head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whom Ukraine accuses of cozying up to Russia during his time as foreign minister.

“It can’t work that a country that provides so much military aid, so much financial aid ... you then say that the president can’t come,” Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF late Monday.

Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, responded Tuesday by calling Scholz’s refusal to visit “not very statesmanlike.”

“This is about the most brutal war of extermination since the Nazi invasion of Ukraine, it’s not kindergarten,” he said.

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who heads former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc, was expected to meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the chairman of Ukraine’s unicameral parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, and other senior politicians in Kyiv. A meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not expected.

(AP)

Finland and Sweden undecided on joining NATO

The leaders of Finland and Sweden have indicated that their governments haven’t yet decided whether to join NATO, but stressed close security cooperation with other European countries in the face of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Speaking Tuesday after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz near Berlin, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin said “Russia’s attack on Ukraine has changed our security environment completely” and there was “no going back.”

“We have to decide on whether to apply for NATO membership or continue on our current path,” she said. “That is the discussion we are having now in our national parliament.”

Her Swedish counterpart, Magdalena Andersson, said the Nordic nation’s parliament is conducting a security review that will be presented on May 13.

“The analysis includes future international defence partnerships for Sweden, including a discussion on NATO, and all options are on the table,” she said.

“While our respective security arrangements are of course decided nationally, we coordinate very closely with Finland,” Andersson added.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said both countries would be welcomed if they decide to join the 30-nation military organization and could become members quite quickly.

The foreign ministers of NATO’s member countries are scheduled to meet in Berlin on May 14-15.

(AP)

Moscow confirms renewed assault on Mariupol steel plant

The Russian army and pro-Russian forces on Tuesday launched an offensive on the Azovstal factory, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the city of Mariupol, from which civilians have been evacuated in recent days thanks to a ceasefire.

"Units of the Russian army and the Donetsk People's Republic, using artillery and aircraft, are beginning to destroy" the "firing positions" of Ukrainian fighters coming out of the factory, the defence ministry said, quoted by Russian agencies.

(AFP)

Boris Johnson speaks to Ukraine parliament -- watch here

The British prime minister spoke via videolink to the parliament in Kyiv, echoing wartime leader Winston Churchill in saying that Ukraine is living its "finest hour" in resisting the Russian invasion.

He also detailed further military aid to Ukraine worth £300 million (€356 million), as well as logistical support to help evacuate civilians in eastern Ukraine, at the request of the Ukrainian government.  

Read the full story here:

Watch: UK PM Boris Johnson addresses Ukraine's parliament

Boris Johnson gave a "Churchillian" speech to Ukraine's parliament, saying the country will "win" against Russia. #EuropeNews

Mariupol steel plant evacuees 'on way' to Ukraine-controlled areas — WHO

The World Health Organization’s incident manager for Ukraine says evacuees from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol “are on the way” toward government-controlled areas away from the most intense combat zones where Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting.

Dr. Dorit Nitzan, speaking by video to reporters in Geneva from government-controlled Zaporizhzhia, said WHO teams have been among workers from the U.N. and other aid groups who have deployed to help dozens of evacuees — up to 100 — from the plant.

“Things are moving,” she said Tuesday. “We know that they are on the way.”

Nitzan said the U.N. health agency was not clear what kind of health needs that the evacuees would present but that hospitals nearby and trauma teams were on standby to help the arriving evacuees.

The United Nations humanitarian aid coordinator and the International Committee of the Red Cross were leading the evacuation, after securing agreement from Ukrainian and Russian authorities in recent days.

Nitzan said about 100 people have been trickling out in their own vehicles from Mariupol in recent days.

(AP)

Slovakia 'not ready' to join EU embargo on Russian oil

Slovakia's energy minister says the country is not ready to join a European Union embargo on imports of Russian oil as part of a new package of sanctions to be imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Slovakia is almost fully dependent of Russian oil it receives through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline. Economy Minister Rchard Sulik told reporters Tuesday that the sole Slovak refiner, Slovnaft, cannot immediately switch from Russian crude to any different oil. To change the technology would take several years, he said.

“We will insist on the exemption, for sure,” Sulik said.

European Union leaders are debating Tuesday new proposals for sanctions, which could include a phased-in embargo on oil. The 27 member countries are likely to start debating the plans on Wednesday, but it could be several days before the measures enter force.

(AP)

Moscow accuses Israel of 'supporting the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv' 

Moscow accused Israel of "supporting the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv" on Tuesday, following a diplomatic spat between the two countries. 

Yesterday Israel's Foreign Minister blasted his Russian counterpart over his "unforgivable" comments surrounding Nazism, Hitler and the war in Ukraine. 

"We have paid attention to the anti-historic statements of [Israeli] Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, which largely explain the current government's decision to support the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv," Russia's diplomatic service said in a statement. 

"History unfortunately knows tragic examples of cooperation between Jews and Nazis," it added.

On Sunday, Sergey Lavrov claimed the Nazis could still have power in Ukraine, even if the country's president was Jewish, adding that Hitler "had Jewish blood."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr “Zelensky makes this argument: how can Nazism be present [in Ukraine] if he himself is Jewish. I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood,” said Lavrov in an interview with the Italian media. 

In response, Lapid called these remarks "scandalous, unforgivable and a horrible historical error," saying that the Russian ambassador to Israel had been summoned for "clarifications."

"No war is comparable to the Holocaust... The use of the Jewish genocide as a political tool must stop immediately", said Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. 

(AFP)

Macron to speak by phone with Putin — Elysée

France's President Macron is to speak by phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at 1200 CET, his office says.

It's the first call between the two leaders since March 29, before Macron's re-election.

The pair have previously spoken some 20 times since December, and eight times since the war started. The French president visited Moscow early in February before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Each time, Macron has failed to dissuade Putin from invading or from halting the Russian offensive, but he has insisted it is vital to keep channels of communication open.

This call is the first since the discovery in early April of Russian atrocities committed in Bucha — Macron called them "intolerable" and called for Russia to be held accountable for its crimes — and other areas as Putin's forces withdrew from the Kyiv region and northern Ukraine.

Reports quoting French sources say Tuesday's call is Macron's initiative and follows a conversation he held with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy on Saturday.

Afterwards, Emmanuel Macron said France would "reinforce" its military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

The call between Macron and Putin comes as the EU prepares a sixth round of sanctions against Moscow. The European Commission is due to hold a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Paris believes it can play an important role as an interlocutor between Moscow and the West, especially as Russia's relations with the US and the UK are particularly strained.

Russians 'restricting progress' of Mariupol evacuees towards Zaporizhzhia

Russian forces are 'restricting' the progress of civilians evacuated from Mariupol heading for Ukrainian-held territory in a convoy of buses, according to the mayor of the besieged port city.

Vadym Boichenko told France's BFMTV that they were expected to arrive in Zaporizhzhia in the coming hours.

More than 200 civilians including children are still trapped in the massive Azovstal steel plant, which is once again being pounded by Russian attacks, the mayor added.

Despite an operation begun on Sunday to take evacuees to safety, the first convoy failed to reach safety in Zaporizhzhia on Monday night. 

Satellite photo shows Russian military helicopters 

A satellite photo analysed by The Associated Press show nearly 50 Russian military helicopters at a base close to the Ukrainian border.

The image captured Monday by Planet Labs PBC shows the helicopters in Stary Oskol, Russia, some 175 kilometres northeast of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

The helicopters are stationed on the tarmac, runway and grass of the otherwise civilian airport. Military equipment is stationed nearby to support the aircraft.

Russia has been using its military attack helicopters in its war on Ukraine, flying low to the ground to try to avoid anti-aircraft missiles.

Meanwhile, another satellite image showed a bridge repeatedly targeted by Moscow near the Black Sea port city of Odesa still standing as of around noon Monday. That strategic bridge connects Odesa to the wider countryside and would be key to defending the area.

Pope ready to go to Moscow but Putin 'doesn't want meeting'

Pope Francis says he is willing to travel to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and try to stop the fighting in Ukraine, in an interview with the Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera published on Tuesday.

Referring to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, Francis claimed to have "called on the phone" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "on the first day of the war".

"On the other hand, I did not call Putin. I spoke to him in December, for my birthday, but this time no, I did not call," added the Argentine pope.

"Subsequently, after 20 days of war, I asked Cardinal (Pietro) Parolin", number two of the Vatican, "to send Putin the message that I was ready to go to Moscow", he continued.

“We have not yet received a response and we are still insisting, although I am afraid that Putin cannot and does not want to have this meeting now,” added Pope Francis.

The sovereign pontiff has also ruled out going to Kyiv for the moment, despite invitations from the Ukrainians.

"I'm not going to Kyiv at the moment," he said, recalling having sent two cardinals there. "I feel like I shouldn't go," he insisted.

"I have to go to Moscow first, I have to meet Putin first," concluded Pope Francis, who has multiplied calls for an end to the fighting in Ukraine.

(AFP)

Russian carmaker 'seeking supplies from Iran' to offset sanctions

An unnamed Russian carmaker has asked Iran to supply it with key components it can no longer find in its country due to international sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine .

According to an official from the Iranian Association of Automobile Parts Manufacturers (IAMPA), quoted by the official Irna agency on Monday evening, the Russian automaker has sounded out Iranian parts and equipment manufacturers on the possibility of supplying its production lines. 

The war in Ukraine has disrupted vehicle production in Russia. Several global manufacturers have halted deliveries to Russia, while others have been forced to halt production due to component shortages.

(AFP)

Russian military 'significantly weaker' after Ukraine invasion

Russia's military has been left 'significantly weaker' as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, while recovery will be exacerbated by sanctions, having a lasting impact on Russia's ability to deploy conventional military force.

So says the British Ministry of Defence's latest intelligence update. 

CIA seeks out disaffected Russians to boost intelligence

The CIA says Russians disaffected by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine may be trying to get in touch with U.S. intelligence — and it wants them to go to the darknet.

The agency on Monday began a new push to promote its presence on a part of the internet accessible only through specialized tools that provide more anonymity. The CIA has a darknet site that has the same features as its regular homepage but accessible only through the Tor internet browser, which has encryption features not available on most regular browsers.

Instructions in English and Russian on how to access the darknet site appeared Monday on the CIA’s social media channels. The agency hopes Russians living abroad can share the instructions with contacts inside the country.

While many Russians appear to support what the Kremlin officially calls a “special military operation,” longtime Russia watchers think Putin’s management of the war may push away some powerful people who disagree with him. Even with immense capabilities to capture communications and satellite imagery, it remains critical for Western intelligence agencies to recruit human sources who can offer insight into the Kremlin and conditions inside Russia.

“Our global mission demands that individuals can contact us securely from anywhere,” the agency said in a statement.

(AP)

Over a million Ukrainians taken to Russia — TASS

More than 1 million people, including nearly 200,000 children, have been taken from Ukraine to Russia in the past two months, Russia’s Defence Ministry said Monday, according to the state-owned news agency TASS.

Defence Ministry official Mikhail Mizintsev said those included 11,550 people, including 1,847 children, in the previous 24 hours, “without the participation of the Ukrainian authorities.”

He said those civilians “were evacuated to the territory of the Russian Federation from the dangerous regions" of Donetsk, Luhansk and other parts of Ukraine, according to the report. No details were provided on the location or circumstances of the moves.

(AP)

Zelenskyy condemns Russian strike on Odesa 

In the south-west of Ukraine, the port of Odesa is again the target of Russian missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced on Monday evening a Russian strike on a "dormitory", killing a teenager and injuring a 17-year-old girl.

"How did these children and the dormitory threaten the Russian state? This is how they fight," Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainians fear that the city is one of Russia's targets, especially since a Russian general claimed that the Kremlin's offensive in Ukraine was aimed at establishing a corridor from Russia to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, which would pass through Odessa.

(with AFP)

Russia 'planning to annex' much of eastern Ukraine, says US official

A senior U.S. official says the United States believed Russia is planning this month to annex large portions of eastern Ukraine and recognize the southern city of Kherson as an independent republic.

Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Monday that the suspected actions are “straight out of the Kremlin’s playbook” and will not be recognized by the United States or its partners and allies.

Carpenter said the U.S. and others have information that Russia is planning “sham referenda” in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” that would attach the entities to Russia. He also said there were signs that Russia would engineer an independence vote in the city of Kherson.

“We believe that the Kremlin may try to hold sham referenda to try to add a veneer of democratic or electoral legitimacy and this is straight out of the Kremlin’s playbook,” he said, adding that the information suggested the votes could come as early as mid-May. “Such sham referenda, fabricated votes will not be considered legitimate, nor will any attempts to annex additional Ukrainian territory,” he said.

Carpenter did not detail the information that led to the assessment, although there have been public reports that Russia is moving to exert greater control over areas that it already controls and occupies in eastern and southern Ukraine. He pointed to evidence that local mayors and legislators there have been abducted, that internet and cell phone service had been severed and that Russian school curricula is soon to be imposed.

(AP)

Boris Johnson to address Ukrainian parliament

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to address Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday, the first Western leader to do so.

Johnson’s office says the UK leader will announce a new £300 million (€357 million) package of military aid to Ukraine when he speaks to the legislature by video link. Britain has already sent Ukraine equipment including missiles and missile launchers. The new package includes electronic warfare equipment, a counter battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices.

In advance extracts of the address released by the prime minister’s office, Johnson evokes a 1940 speech by World War II leader Winston Churchill as the UK fought attack from Nazi Germany. Johnson will say that “the British people showed such unity and resolve that we remember our time of greatest peril as our finest hour. This is Ukraine’s finest hour, an epic chapter in your national story that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come.”

Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelenskyy addressed Britain’s Parliament on March 8, and also likened his country’s struggle to Britain’s fight against the Nazis. Johnson visited Kyiv on April 9.

(AP)

Zaporizhzhia awaits evacuees amid confusion over their fate

In Zaporizhzhia, 200 km to the northwest of Mariupol, a car park transformed into a reception point for refugees, with two armoured 4x4s from Unicef and other vehicles from international NGOs, saw no convoy arrive from the besieged port city on Monday night.

Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told the BBC that the evacuees were making slow progress and would probably not arrive in Zaporizhzhia on Monday as hoped. Authorities gave no explanation for the delay.

At least some of the civilians were apparently taken to a village controlled by Russia-backed separatists. The Russian military said some chose to stay in separatist areas, while dozens left for Ukrainian-held territory.

In the past, Ukraine has accused Moscow’s troops of taking civilians against their will to Russia or Russian-controlled areas. The Kremlin has denied it.

(AFP, AP)

Russian forces 'resume fire on Azovstal plant' 

"After the partial evacuation of civilians from the territory of Azovstal, the enemy continues to fire on the territory of the plant, including buildings where civilians are hiding," a commander of Ukraine's Azov battalion said on Monday night.

According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, "hundreds of civilians" remain "blocked in Azovstal".

A Ukrainian fighter holed up the city of Mariupol said on Monday that up to 200 civilians remained trapped inside bunkers in the Azovstal steel works after an evacuation operation led by the United Nations to save civilians from the site.

Evacuations should resume Tuesday morning with the support of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Mariupol, the local council said.

(AFP, Reuters)

Good morning, this is Alasdair Sandford with Tuesday's updates on the war in Ukraine.