War day number 68. While Russian artillery is stepping up its attacks in eastern Ukraine, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, met with Ukrainian President Zelensky in Kiev. “Don’t be intimidated by bullies, if they threaten you can’t back down,” said Pelosi, speaking at a press conference in Kiev. And, while Pope Francis launched a new appeal from Rome: «We need humanitarian corridors for civilians. I suffer and cry for Ukraine and Mariupol “, Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov interviewed in Zona Bianca on Rete 4 complained about the Italian opposition to the war and argued that wanting to pay for gas in euros, as required by the contracts,” is to steal”.
In Mariupol, 100 civilians were evacuated from the steel mill, thanks to a humanitarian corridor in which the Red Cross participated and the Azov battalion also asked for evacuation, appealing to the Ukrainian authorities and the leaders of other countries to “do everything possible” to obtain a safe conduct for the fighters.
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00.02 – Kiev: Russian bombings on Azovstal resumed, still dozens of children inside
Russian forces resumed shelling of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol immediately after the evacuation of a group of civilians. This was stated by an official of the Ukrainian army, the brigade commander of the Ukrainian National Guard Denys Shlega, in an interview broadcast on TV. According to Shlega, at least one more round of evacuations is needed to get all the civilians out of the plant and he says that dozens of small children remain inside the steel mill’s bunkers.
The commander of the Ukrainian army estimates that there are still several hundred civilians inside the Azovstal plant, along with nearly 500 wounded soldiers and numerous corpses. The factory is the only part of the city not occupied by the Russians. A video released today by the Russian Defense Ministry shows some people, including a small group of women accompanied by two dogs, coming out of the steel mill. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today’s evacuations from Mariupol marked the start of a vital humanitarian corridor.
00.01 – President of the US intelligence commission: for Biden in Kiev only a matter of time
US House Intelligence Commission Chairman Adam Schiff said it was “only a matter of time” before US President Joe Biden visits Ukraine. “I have to think a presidential visit is something under consideration, but just a question of how soon it will be feasible,” Schiff told CNN.
Yesterday’s news and insights
Away from the nightmare: the first civilians emerge from the Azovstal steel mill