Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on a school in Bilohorivka on Saturday afternoon where at least 90 people had sought refuge. A fire broke out after the bombing. Thirty people were evacuated. The message could not be independently verified.
In the southern port city of Mariupol, according to both Ukrainian and Russian authorities, all women, children and the elderly have now been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel factory, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol. In total, more than three hundred civilians were said to have been evacuated from the underground tunnel complex in which they had been hiding for weeks. The evacuation attempts, mediated by the United Nations and the Red Cross, are now said to target wounded soldiers and medical personnel.
Resistance fighters in the Azovstal complex fight on
Whether the remaining resistance fighters in the complex (it is unclear how many there are) can also be rescued is the question. Now that the last civilians are safe, Russia would like to clear the complex as soon as possible. “We will continue to fight as long as we live,” deputy commander Sviatoslav Palamar of the Azov regiment emphasized during a rare online press conference on Sunday. Capitulation is not an option, according to another Azov officer, because the Russians will not spare them after surrender. “Russia doesn’t care about our lives.”
Russian-backed separatists said on Sunday that 182 civilians evacuated from the Azovstal factory had arrived at a shelter in their controlled town of Bezimenne. Refugees who wanted to go to Ukraine are said to have been handed over to representatives of the UN and Red Cross. According to evacuees in Zaporizhzhya who have fled Mariupol, there are still many civilians in the city who want to leave but are unable to. Moscow said on Saturday that more than 1.1 million Ukrainians have fled to Russia.
Putin announces victory, Zelensky reacts emotionally
Russian President Vladimir Putin already celebrated the Victory Day on Sunday, the annual celebration of the victory over Nazi Germany by the Allies. That day is celebrated in Russia on May 9. Russia will also win in the current “special military operation” in Ukraine, Putin said. “Today our soldiers, like their ancestors, are fighting shoulder to shoulder to liberate their homeland from the Nazis. This is done in the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours.’ Russia said it invaded Ukraine to ‘demilitarize’ and ‘denazify’ the neighboring country.
Putin’s counterpart, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, took a very different tone in his video address celebrating the victory over Nazi Germany. “Darkness has returned to Ukraine after decades,” said an emotional Zelensky, filmed in black and white in front of a bombed-out apartment building in Borodjanka, near Kyiv. “It wears a different uniform and uses different slogans, but serves the same purpose.” However, Ukraine will prevail, said Zelensky. ‘No evil can escape its responsibility or hide in a bunker’ – a closely veiled reference to the last days of Adolf Hitler.
Britain once again pledges military aid
Zelensky videoconferenced later Sunday with US President Joe Biden and other leaders of the G7, the seven major industrialized nations, in what was supposed to be a display of Western unity on the eve of May 9. The G7 leaders agreed to further isolate Russia economically, including by restricting the import of Russian oil. In the run-up to the video summit, Britain pledged Ukraine an additional £1.3 billion (1.5 billion euros) in military aid. The US announced sanctions against the three largest Russian television channels and 2,600 prominent Russians and Belarusians.
US First Lady Jill Biden spoke with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska on Sunday during a short visit to Uzhhorod, near the border with Slovakia. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and pop singer Bono also made surprise visits to Ukraine, Trudeau was in Kyiv and Irpin, Bono performed in a subway station in Kyiv.
The European Union also failed to reach an agreement this weekend on a boycott of Russian oil. Talks will continue in the coming days “in a spirit of solidarity”, the European Commission and EU President France said in a joint statement on Sunday. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia want more guarantees for the security of supply of their energy if the import of Russian oil stops. This could be done by setting the boycott in these countries at a later date. A term of two years is being discussed, while the boycott for the other member states should start in six months.
Russia reports Ukrainian losses
Fighting in Ukraine, meanwhile, continues, especially in the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and in the south. Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday that a Ukrainian naval vessel near Odesa had been destroyed in a missile strike. Four Ukrainian warplanes, four helicopters and an assault boat were also reportedly destroyed within 24 hours. The Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed the reports.
Ukraine said nine Russian attacks had been repulsed in the Donbas, destroying 19 tanks and 20 combat vehicles. Ukrainian troops are said to be on a counter-attack around the northeastern city of Kharkiv. However, they have left the besieged city of Popasna. ‘Everything is broken there. Our troops withdrew to more defensible positions,” Luhansk Governor Gaidai said.