Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine , Russian troops have launched over 2,000 missiles on the country and their fighters have carried out almost 2,700 sorties : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in a video link at the “Brave Ukraine” charity event. "In total, during this war, the Russian army launched 2,014 missiles on Ukraine and 2,682 Russian warplanes sorties were recorded in our skies - says Zelensky -. Each of these sorties is the death of our people , the destruction of our infrastructure, "he commented.
Zelensky himself, however, in these hours opens a very timid opening for the negotiations, saying that Ukraine would be willing to accept a compromise peace agreement with Russia if the Moscow forces withdraw "on the positions of February 23" . Therefore, without demanding the return of Crimea , annexed by Moscow in 2014.
On the battlefield, the clashes continue in Mariupol : a "hell", as the secretary general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres defined it. The UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross have so far helped nearly 500 civilians to flee the Azovstal steel plant area in the port city in two operations, while a third has started in the last few hours. A person was killed in Lozova, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv , following a Russian missile attack: the mayor of the town, Serhii Zelenskyi, reported on Telegram, according to reports from Ukraine Pravda.
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The day by the hour :
19.25 - "Another 23 civilians evacuated from Azovstal"
Another group of 23 civilians managed to leave the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. This was reported by TASS, after Russian media reported this afternoon of an evacuation of 12 people, including 4 children. The news has not so far been confirmed by Ukrainian sources.
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18.54 - Di Maio: "Italy ready to act as guarantor"
"Italy is ready to become a guarantor state in the framework of a possible Russian-Ukrainian treaty that provides for Kiev's neutrality". This was stated by Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio at the conclusion of The State of the Union in Florence.
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6.42 pm - Biden: "US and EU will talk about new sanctions"
US President Joe Biden will attend a video call with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday about the war in Ukraine. White House spokesman Jen Psaki said this in a press briefing on Air Force One, underlining that among the topics there will be the new sanctions to be imposed on Russia for its "unprovoked war".
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18.10 - Zelensky invites Scholz on May 9th
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take a "mighty step" and go to Kiev on 9 May. Ukrainian media reported this, quoting Reuters. "The invitation has been open for some time. He is invited to come to Ukraine, he can take this very powerful political step: come here to Kiev on May 9. I don't need to explain its meaning, I think it is well. aware, "Zelensky said.
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5.42 pm - Cristoforetti: "Here in Space there are no divisions"
"Up here there are no divisions: it is important for the whole crew to keep the bridges built
so far and collaborations ": said astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, of the European Space Agency (ESA) in the connection from the International Space Station organized by NASA for the American media, in which the Italian astronaut participated with the NASA colleague Jessica Watkins. "We understand what is happening on Earth, but - Watkins said - here we are friends and we continue to work together."
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17.08 - New EU sanctions, agreement postponed again
Despite the "general consent to the sixth sanctions package " against Russia presented by the European Commission, and the political will to approve it, the 27 - as far as we know - have not yet found the square on the agreement. In fact, there are still "resistances" on the part
relating to oil. Permanent representatives will return to meet on the weekend course, hoping to approve the package before Monday. The crux remains the duration of the derogations for some countries and the extent of the compensations.
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16.16 - Zelenskyy: "Ready for peace without asking for restitution Crimea"
Ukraine would be willing to accept a compromise peace agreement with Russia if it did
Moscow forces withdrew "to the positions of February 23". This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking on video at Chatham House, a British think tank based in London, and hinting that at least for now Kiev would not expect the return of Crimea, annexed by the Russians in 2014. "For our part, not all the diplomatic bridges have been burned ", he then specified, avoiding making requests even on that part of the Donbass between Donetsk and Lugansk which in turn has been removed from the control of Kiev since 2014.
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16.02 - Zelensky, "in Mariupol it is not war but bestial torture"
The Russians believe they can "go unpunished" with respect to "their war crimes because they have the power of a nuclear state". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced this today in a video speech from Kiev to Chatham House, a well-known British think tank, not without defining the attack by Moscow forces on Mariupol's Azovstal as something that "is not a" military action "but" torture "by attempting to" starve "the besieged. A strategy, he added, is the result of the "bestial attitude" of the Russian military, fueled, according to him, by decades of "hatred" and "anti-Ukrainian propaganda".
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3.22 pm - Kremlin, "Poland threatens the territorial integrity of Ukraine"
Poland could pose a threat to Ukraine's territorial integrity. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, reports Tass. "The fact that in recent months there has been very hostile rhetoric from Poland - it has long since ceased to be friendly, but has become hostile in recent months - and the fact that a threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine may come from Poland - the facts are obvious, "Peskov said speaking to reporters.
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14.41 - Guerini: "Arms in Kiev on Parliament's mandate"
"The Government is working in support of Ukraine according to the indications given by the
Parliament with a resolution that was voted by a very large majority, almost unanimously, in that resolution the Government undertook, among other things, to support through
the sending of military material, the Ukrainian resistance, with defensive weapons systems: this is what we are doing ”. This was declared by Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini.
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2.13 pm - "Massive bombing ahead of May 9"
"Ukrainian citizens should pay particular attention to the alarms of 8 and 9 May: in these days, the Russian occupiers can organize massive bombings of various settlements to increase the terror of the civilian population". The alert is from the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, according to UNIAN.
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13.57 - "Critical situation in Azovstal"
"The situation in the steel plant is now critical. And now it is getting worse." This was stated by Mykhailo Vershynin, one of the Ukrainian soldiers who is defending Mariupol's Azovstal, speaking to the BBC. "The worst thing is that we still have civilians in the air raid shelters," he said, pointing out that "lately, after a heavy bombardment, 2 civilians have died and I think 10 are injured. Now we have no information on how many civilians have been killed because we are unable to get out. and reach the bunkers they are in ".
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13.02 - Beijing: "Taiwan different from Ukraine"
China rejects the alarm launched on East Asia by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who warned of the risk that Taiwan could become the Ukraine of tomorrow without clear opposition from democracies to autocracies. Beijing "firmly opposes" Kishida's words, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, assuring that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory" and is "an issue that entirely concerns China's internal affairs, not comparable with the situation in Ukraine ".
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12.47 - G7 meeting with Zelensky
G7 leaders will hold a videoconference on Ukraine on Sunday with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Berlin announces it.
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11.50 am - Scholz: "There can be no return to the status quo ante"
"With each day, with each month, it becomes clearer: Putin and his regime are making a radical change also from the point of view of civilization. A reckless exit from the world community, as we thought possible only in the 21st century. a simple return to the status quo ante cannot and will not be ". German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this in a speech in Hamburg. "The world after this war and this attack will never be the same again. It already isn't."
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11.11 - Moscow: "We don't want to use nuclear weapons"
"Russia has no intention of using nuclear weapons in its special operation in Ukraine." This was stated by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Serghiei Lavrov, quoted by the Russian agency Tass.
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11 am - The UN: "On the evacuated deep traumas and psychological wounds"
In Mariupol there are still "many civilians, men, women and children trapped, living in horrible conditions. We have tried to organize a number of convoys together with the Red Cross to bring these people to safety. My people on the ground, on the buses. with them, they tell me that these people have deep trauma, deep psychological scars ", having had to live with" little water, little food and no sunlight ". The spokesman for the secretary general of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, told the BBC Radio 4's Today radio program.
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10.20 - Moscow: "Leaving the EU is the only way to maintain sovereignty"
"If the states that are members of the EU today want to preserve their sovereignty and support the interests of their citizens, they have only one option, which is to leave the European Union". This was supported by the president of the Russian Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, according to Interfax reports, in reference to the reform that provides for the cancellation of the principle of solidarity when crucial decisions are taken. "In other words, the idea is to eliminate the veto right of EU member states. The opinion of individual states, and that of their citizens, will no longer be taken into consideration".
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9.40 am - Metsola: "The EU is in the streets of Bucha and in the tunnels of Mariupol"
"There is a pre-February 24 reality and a post-February 24 reality. The world has changed. We need to understand that the weight of the democratic global order now rests heavier than ever on Europe's shoulders. It is our whatever-it-takes moment. A moment that comes once every generation. A moment in which we must understand that Europe is also in the streets of Bucha, in the tunnels of Mariupol, in the cellars of Irpin, on the shores of the Isle of Snakes ". Thus the president of the EU Parliament Roberta Metsola at the European conference The State of the Union.
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8.20 am - Kiev: "Mariupol, 500 civilians evacuated"
"About 500 civilians have already been evacuated from the city of Mariupol" in southern Ukraine. This was announced by the Ukrainian presidency, specifying that the evacuation operation continues.
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7.10 - Zelensky: "The situation in the steel mill is like hell"
Russian forces continue to bomb the Azovstal steel plant even though "the civilians have yet to be evacuated, it's hell": Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said according to reports from the Kyiv Independent. "The women and many children are still there - said Zelensky -. Imagine hell: more than two months of continuous bombing and constant death in the vicinity. It is not clear how many civilians are trapped in the plant".
(Unioneonline)