The Ukrainian military said early on Thursday that Russian forces had “resumed the offensive” to seize the large Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where the city’s last defenders are still resisting.
The reports call into question a pledge by the Russian military to pause its military operation there for three days from Thursday morning to allow civilians to leave.
Follow the latest updates in the live blog below, and watch Euronews TV coverage in the video player above.
10:05
Thursday’s key points:
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Russian forces have “resumed the offensive to take control” of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine’s military command says in its daily update early on Thursday.
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This comes despite a Russian military pledge to open a humanitarian corridor from 0800 to 1800 Moscow time (0700 to 1700 CET) on May 5, 6 and 7 to allow civilians to leave the besieged plant.
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Late on Wednesday the commander of the main Ukrainian defending force at the plant said Russian troops had broken into the premises for the second day running and “there are heavy, bloody battles”. Earlier, Mariupol’s mayor said contact with Ukrainian defenders had been lost.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said women and children are still trapped in Azovstal and a prolonged ceasefire is needed to get them out. He has appealed for UN help. No civilians were reported evacuated from the plant on Wednesday.
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Air raid sirens sounded in cities across Ukraine on Wednesday night and missile fire followed shortly after in the cities of Cherkasy, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Five people were killed and at least 25 more wounded in shelling of several eastern cities over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said.
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Ukraine’s foreign minister has accused Russia of wanting to “break us down with their missile terrorism”.
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The United Nations says more than 300 civilians from Mariupol and four other towns have been taken to Ukrainian-held Zaporizhzhia in a second successful evacuation operation. Zelenskyy said the 344 evacuated Wednesday are in addition to the more than 150 people who were evacuated earlier this week from the Azovstal bunkers.
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Hungary says it won’t support an EU proposal for banning Russian oil imports in a move that could derail the bloc’s efforts to apply united pressure against Moscow.
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Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that EU nations phase out imports of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year as part of a sixth package of sanctions.
11:18
Ukraine: Russian shelling in the east hit houses and a school
Five people were killed and at least 25 more wounded in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours because of the Russian shelling, Ukrainian officials said Thursday.
Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russian troops shelled the region 24 times on Wednesday, hitting the cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Girske and Popasna, damaging at least 23 houses and killing five people.
An overnight shelling of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region wounded at least 25 people, Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Thursday. He added that nine houses, a school and other civilian infrastructure were damaged as the result.
Video footage released by Kramatorsk City Council on Thursday showed damage to an apartment building after overnight shelling.
11:02
France ‘confident’ EU27 will agree on Russian oil embargo
France’s ecology minister says she is confident that the European Union’s 27 nations will quickly agree to a proposed ban on oil imports from Russia.
Speaking to FranceInfo radio Thursday, the minister, Barbara Pompili, said the embargo could be agreed upon within days.
“I am confident,” she said. “It is normal that there are discussions because some counties are more dependent than others on Russian oil, so we have to try to find solutions so they can get on board with these sanctions.”
She added: “I think we’ll get there perhaps by the end of the week or at least as soon as possible.”
Pompili said the embargo would be “for everyone” in the bloc and that “is to show Russia that Europe, from the end of this year, will completely do without its oil.”
On Wednesday Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that EU member nations phase out imports of Russian crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year.
The proposals must be unanimously approved to take effect. Von der Leyen said that getting all 27 member countries — some of them landlocked and highly dependent on Russia for energy supplies — to agree on oil sanctions “will not be easy.”
Hungary says it will oppose a sixth round of sanctions unless it is exempted from the oil embargo.
10:51
Ukraine FM: ‘UN’s reputation at stake’ over Mariupol evacuations
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine was not afraid of Russia and would win the war “because we have no other choice.”
Kuleba said he did not anticipate negotiations with Russia would be successful any time soon.
“If you prefer talks to war, you do not hit Ukrainian cities’ infrastructure across the entire country with cruise missiles,” he said.
Kuleba said some NATO allies had been more active in their support for Ukraine than others.
“Since 24th of February, I do not see NATO acting as an alliance in providing Ukraine with weapons. We see some allies providing us with weapons,” he told the UK’s Sky News on Wednesday.
“Some allies are more active than others. The role of such NATO members as the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, Turkey is crucial.”
The foreign minister went on to comment on the United Nations’ involvement in the evacuation process in the besieged city of Mariupol and the Azovstal steelworks.
“This evacuation is taking place under the auspices of the United Nations,” he said. “So the reputation of the United Nations is also at stake in this process and we are 100% open to working with them because we need to save as many human lives as possible.”
09:31
Ukraine claims to have repelled Russian attacks in the east
Ukraine’s General Staff says the country’s forces made some gains on the border of the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv and repelled multiple Russian attacks in the east.
In its daily morning update, the General Staff said that the Russians “lost control over several settlements on the border of Mykolayiv and Kherson regions.” Ukrainian forces also repelled 11 attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the update said.
At the same time, fighting over the Azovstal plant in Mariupol continued, the General Staff said.
“With the support of aircraft, the enemy resumed the offensive in order to take control of the plant,” the update said, adding that the Russian troops were “trying to destroy Ukrainians units” at this last remaining pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the ravaged port city.
The General Staff also noted Russian efforts to stir tensions in the Moscow-backed breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova, which borders with Ukraine and has a Russian peacekeeping contingent. The Russian military “carries out regrouping of troops in certain areas, takes measures to replenish reserves” and is “trying to improve the tactical position of its units.”
The General Staff’s statements could not be independently verified. (AP)
08:07
EU plan for Russian oil embargo ‘impossible’ for Hungary
Hungary’s foreign minister says the country won’t support a European Union proposal for banning oil imports from Russia in a move that could derail the bloc’s efforts to apply united pressure against Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
In a video on social media, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Wednesday that Hungary’s energy supply “would be completely destroyed” by an EU embargo of Russian oil, which he said would make it “impossible for Hungary to obtain the oil necessary for the functioning of the Hungarian economy.”
Szijjarto’s statement came as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that EU member nations phase out imports of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year as part of a sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
The proposals must be unanimously approved to take effect, and reluctance by governments in Hungary and Slovakia to support sanctions against Russian fossil fuels has placed roadblocks before a united EU response.
Szijjarto said Hungary would only support the sixth round of sanctions if oil imports were exempted.
08:04
‘Better than nothing’: Ukraine FM welcomes EU oil embargo
In a video message posted on Twitter, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the European Union’s decision to propose an embargo on Russian oil. He said Ukraine isn’t happy it will be delayed for several months, but “it’s better than nothing.”
Kuleba said it should be clear now “that times for half-sanctions or half-measures when it comes to sanctions is gone.” He says the EU can no longer support Ukraine on one hand by imposing sanctions, while continuing to pay Russia for oil and gas and support their “war machine.”
He also said if any country continues to oppose the embargo on Russian oil, it will be a reason to say the country is complicit in the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. (AP)
07:35