The 67th day of hostilities: The US declares its side with Ukraine

Video posted today on Twitter by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter shows him, escorted by armed security guards dressed in military uniforms, greeting the US congressional delegation led by Speaker of the House Pelosi outside the office. presidential suite a day ago.

“Our delegation came to Kiev to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the whole world: America always side by side Ukraine,” she said. Pelosi is the highest-ranking American official to visit Kiev since Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February.

In eastern Ukraine, Russia continues to step up its campaign to control the entire Donbass . regionwhere Moscow-backed separatists control parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Kharkov Governor Oleh Synehubov today warned people in the north and east of the city not to get out of their shelters because of Russian shelling.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, in a social media post urged people to evacuate while they still can.

The Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling a school, kindergarten and cemetery in the villages of the southern town of Kherson, Russian news agency RIA Novosti news.

The ministry said civilians were killed and injured but did not provide further details. Russian forces took control of the town of Kherson, about 100 kilometers north of Crimea, in March.

Ukraine has not yet commented.

The Ukrainian military in a news release on May 1 said that Russian forces were advancing north from Kherson to the cities of Mykolayiv and Kryvyi Rih.

Ukrainian President Zelensky today said a group about 100 civilians was evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol.

“The process of evacuating civilians from Azovstal has begun. The initial group of about 100 people has reached the controlled area. Tomorrow we will meet them in Zaporizhzhia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter. “Very grateful to our team. They are working with the United Nations to evacuate other civilians from the factory.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also issued a statement confirming that it is coordinating with the United Nations to evacuate civilians from the city of Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant.

Earlier, according to Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy battalion of the Azov Battalion of Ukraine, the first 20 people were evacuated from the Azovstal factory thanks to a ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol that was agreed on in April 30th.

After nearly two months of siege, Russian forces controlled most of the city of Mariupol, leaving only the last point of resistance for the Azov Battalion at the factory. Ukrainian authorities estimate about 1,000 civilians trapped in the factory Azovstal.

The Azovstal factory owns a system of solid underground tunnels, making it like an “underground fortress” in Mariupol. Russian forces continuously bombarded this target but could not subdue the Azov Battalion fighters entrenched below.

The Russian Ministry of Defense on May 1 announced that destroy some weapons The US and European countries aided Ukraine when they raided the airport near Odessa. Accordingly, the country’s military used high-precision Oniks cruise missiles to attack the military airport near the city of Odessa, southwestern Ukraine.

Maksym Marchenko, governor of Odessa province, earlier confirmed that Russian forces had launched a missile that damaged a newly built airstrip at the main airport of the port city of Odessa. However, Marchenko said that the weapon used by Russia was the Bastion shore missile, which was fired from the Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine and related parties have not commented on this information.

Vu Hoang (According to CNN, AFP, Reuters)