On the 68th day of the war, the Ukrainians stuck in Mariupol’s steel plant amid a Russian attack were evacuated. The evacuation operation was in coordination with Ukrainian and Russian officials.

While US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Ukraine as a show of support to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zeleskyy in their battle against the Russian invasion.

HERE ARE THE TOP DEVELOPMENTS:

1. Nearly hundreds of civilians, primarily women and children, who were sheltering at Azovstal steel plant were carried out with the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday. These civilians are expected to arrive in Zaporizhzhia on Monday.

2. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday revealed her visit to Kyiv was to show America’s unflinching support for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression. Her visit came just days after Russia launched rockets at the capital during a visit by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. She is the senior-most US lawmaker to travel to the war-torn country since Russia’s invasion in February 24.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awards US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the ‘Order of Princess Olga’ medal after their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine April 30, 2022. (Photo: Reuters)

3. Germany pledges to continue to support Ukraine with money, aid and also weapons, saying a pacifist approach to the war is “outdated.” Speaking at a May Day rally in Dusseldorf, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “I respect all pacifism, I respect all attitudes, but it must seem cynical to a citizen of Ukraine to be told to defend himself against Putin’s aggression without weapons.”

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4. Poland on Sunday said that military exercises involving thousands of NATO soldiers have begun. The Polish armed forces said they are holding regular exercises aimed at improving the security of the alliance’s eastern flank but come this year with Russia’s war against Ukraine raging nearby.

5. India calls for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-nation European trip. Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said, insisting the key focus of the visit will be to boost ties on a range of areas including trade, energy and green technology.

6. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasised that the upcoming anniversary of Russia’s liberation at the end of World War II on May 9 will have no bearing on the military operations in Ukraine. “We’ll commemorate our victory in a solemn manner but the timing and speed of what is happening in Ukraine will hinge on the need to minimise risks for civilians and Russian solders,” he said on Italian television.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Photo: Reuters/File)

7. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, claimed he urged the European Union’s top diplomat that the bloc must sanction an oil embargo on Russia. “I also emphasised there can be no alternative to granting Ukraine EU candidate status…,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter after his call with Josep Borrell, as per a Reuters report.

8. The Ukrainian army has claimed that a Russian offensive along a broad front in the country’s east has been stalling. They said Russian troops were trying to advance in the Sloboda, Donetsk and Tauride regions, but were being held back by Ukrainian forces that continue to fight amid human and material losses inflicted by Kyiv’s forces.

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