'Hundreds' injured, trapped in battered Mariupol steel plant; Russian assault on Donbas behind schedule: Live Ukraine updates
Many badly wounded fighters are among the 1,000 Ukrainian troops still holed up at the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, the last major holdout in the port city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Tuesday.
About 100 civilians also remain trapped in the maze of bunkers and tunnels, she said.
"Hundreds are injured," Vereshchuk told AFP. "There are people with serious injuries who require urgent evacuation. The situation is deteriorating every day."
Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, said Russian bombardments have targeted the complex dozens of times in the last day or so.
"It is easier to say when the shelling does not happen than when it happens," he said. "Aviation and artillery are almost constantly at work there."
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Russian troops have overwhelmed most of the embattled city, home to 450,000 people before the war. Local officials say fewer than 100,000 remain, but Russia has struggled to complete a takeover that would deprive Ukraine of an important port while providing Russia with a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula and a staging area to send troops elsewhere in the country.
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Latest developments:
►Finland and Sweden, two non-aligned European countries in close proximity to Russia -- Finland shares a border -- are expected to announce this week whether they'll pursue NATO membership.
►Maria Alyokhina, the leader of the punk band Pussy Riot who was jailed at least seven times for her activism against Russia's repressive regime, escaped the country last month as Moscow police sought her, the New York Times reported.
►About 14 million Ukrainians had been forced from their homes by the end of April, including more than 5.9 million who left the country, the United Nations said.
►Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the shipment of a multimillion dollar aid package to Odesa, including medical supplies and body armor. Odesa, the subject of intensifying Russian shelling, is a sister city of Baltimore.
►At least 44 bodies of civilians were found under the rubble of a destroyed residential building in Izium, near Kharkiv, said Oleh Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration.
US House passes $40 billion aid package
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday night passed a package of about $40 billion in additional aid money for Ukraine, $7 billion more than President Joe Biden's request to Congress.
The package comprises military and humanitarian aid, provide economic assistance, help regional allies, replenish weapons the Pentagon has shipped overseas and provide $5 billion to address global food shortages.
The measure had bipartisan support, with 57 Republicans voting against. It heads to the Senate for a vote before Biden can sign it.
The new aid package comes as Biden says he has "nearly exhausted" the amount of aid money approved by Congress that he could send help Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion. The new legislation would bring American support for the effort to nearly $54 billion.
Pentagon official: Russian assault on Donbas weeks behind schedule
Russia appears to be at least two weeks behind schedule in its attempt to wrest the eastern Donbas region from Ukrainian troops, a senior Defense Department official said Tuesday. It remains unclear what Russian President Vladimir Putin’s overall strategy is for Ukraine, said the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about intelligence assessments.
Putin may seek to capture eastern Ukraine, where separatists have fought with Ukrainian troops since 2014, or he may have a broader aim to control more of the country. But Putin has not achieved any of the success he sought, the official said.
Tuesday on Capitol Hill, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Army Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he expected a prolonged stalemate in Ukraine under current conditions.
Berrier also said Ukrainian forces have killed eight to 10 Russian generals.
Russia warplanes busy – but not over Ukraine
Russian warplane activity has increased in recent days, including more than 300 missions flown in the last 24 hours, a Pentagon official said. However, the airspace over Ukraine continues to be contested, said the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about intelligence assessments.
Many of the airstrikes launched by Russian pilots have been conducted inside Russian airspace, an indication that they fear Ukrainian air defenses, the official said. The strikes are focused on the eastern Ukraine region of Donbas and the south, including the embattled city of Mariopul. The Russians are not flying routine combat air patrols over Ukraine, the official said.
Russia targets Odesa, disrupting weapons shipments and grain exports
Russia appears to be trying to disrupt supply lines and Western weapons shipments critical to Ukraine's defense with an intensified bombardment of the southern port city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.
One person was killed and five were wounded when Russian missiles struck a shopping center and a warehouse Monday, the officials said. Around that time, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and European Council President Charles Michel were forced to move their meeting in Odesa to a bomb shelter because of the shelling.
The city on the Black Sea, Ukraine's largest port, is a major gateway for grain shipments, and its blockade by Russia already threatens global food supplies. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy pointed out Russia’s blockade of ports on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov won't allow Ukraine to export vital products.
“If we cannot export wheat, barley, sunflower, sunflower seed oil, then it means that people in North Africa and Asia will be lacking food and the prices will go up,” Zelenskyy said. “Later, there could be new chaos and a new migration crisis.''
In his nightly update, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces are gradually pushing Russian troops away from Kharkiv in the northeast.
Americans support Biden's handling of war in Ukraine, but many worry about confrontation with Russia
More Americans continue to approve than disapprove of the Biden administration's response to the war in Ukraine, but half of them are at least very concerned the U.S. may wind up in a war with Russia, according to new survey.
The poll of more than 5,000 adults, conducted by the Pew Research Center from April 25-May 1, reveals support for the administration's stance diminished slightly from 47% in March to 45% in May, but opposition decreased by a larger amount, from 39% to 34%. The approval rate from respondents who identified as Republicans or leaning that way increased from 21% to 26%.
Those opinions might have been swayed at least in part by the early-April revelation of Russian atrocities in the town of Bucha, outside Kyiv.
Regardless, Americans are clearly worried about the possibility the U.S. support of Ukraine may lead to a direct confrontation with Russia: 81% said they're at least somewhat concerned, and 50% said very or extremely concerned.
Ukraine cuts off some gas headed from Russia to Europe
Ukraine’s gas transmission operator says it will shut off almost a third of Russian gas transported through the country en route to much of Europe "as a result of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine." The company said it has facilities in territory temporarily controlled by Russian troops and thus cannot carry out operational and technological control.
"These actions under the current transit contract are force majeure circumstances that make it impossible to fulfill obligations," the company said. “Force majeure” is essentially an escape clause in contracts allowing for for so-called “acts of God."
The company said it would offer Russia the chance to try to reroute gas through another crossing held by the Ukrainian government.
Biden concerned that Putin 'doesn't have a way out' of war
Russian President Vladimir Putin has no exit strategy for the Ukraine war – and that is a problem for the West, President Joe Biden says.
Biden, speaking Monday at a political fundraiser outside Washington, said Putin had mistakenly believed the invasion of Ukraine would break up NATO and weaken the European Union, according to a Reuters report.
Eight years ago, Russia stormed into Crimea with little international resistance. But much of the western world rallied behind Ukraine when Moscow sent troops into the heart of the country in February, rolling to within miles of the capital Kyiv. Russian troops have reportedly taken heavy losses while gaining limited ground across Ukraine.
Biden said Putin is a very calculating man who "doesn't have a way out right now, and I'm trying to figure out what we do about that."
Biden choice for ambassador to Ukraine faces confirmation hearing
President Joe Biden’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Ukraine told senators Tuesday she does not underestimate the task ahead if she is confirmed.
“I would assess the challenge to be enormous,” Bridget Brink, a veteran foreign service officer, said at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senators from both parties praised Brink’s background and called it urgent to get her on the job.
“It's absolutely crucial that we get someone there,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
– Deirdre Shesgreen and Maureen Groppe
Russia's Victory Day ends without an escalation of war as some expected
Some analysts and Western officials braced for Russian President Vladimir Putin to ramp up attacks or declare victory in the war in Ukraine on the country's Victory Day, the nation's largest public holiday.
But Putin refrained from doing so during his speech in Moscow's Red Square on Monday, instead sticking with the phrase he's used since Feb. 24 to describe Russia's invasion: "special military operation." He didn't declare victory, and there was no discernible increase in attacks Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also celebrated Victory Day on Monday, promising that Ukraine will soon have two Victory Days: one celebrating the defeat of Nazism in Europe and the other celebrating Ukraine's victory against Russia.
Contributing: The Associated Press