Here are the key events so far on Sunday, May 8.
Get the latest updates here.
Fighting
- Russian air attacks on a school in the Ukrainian village of Bilohorivka killed two people and 60 remain under the debris and are feared dead, the governor of the Luhansk region said.
- Evacuation efforts will focus on getting the wounded and medics out of Mariupol’s bombed-out Azovstal steelworks.
- Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said his soldiers have taken control of most of Popasna, but Ukrainian officials said the battle for the eastern city continues.
- Ukraine’s general staff said the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine aimed to establish full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and maintain the land corridor between these territories and Crimea.
Human impact
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal plant. Russia’s defence ministry said 51 people had been removed in a three-day operation.
- The World Health Organization said it is gathering evidence for a possible war crimes investigation, documenting 200 attacks by Russia on hospitals and clinics in Ukraine.
Diplomacy
- G7 leaders will hold a video call on Sunday with Zelenskyy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said.
- Britain pledged to provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6bn), double its previous spending commitments and what it said was the country’s highest rate of spending on a conflict since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- US CIA chief William Burns said Russian President Vladimir Putin believes “doubling down” on the war will improve its outcome.
- Russia’s most senior lawmaker accused Washington of coordinating operations in Ukraine, which he said amounted to direct US involvement in military action against Russia.
- The UN has called for a peaceful solution to the crisis, but avoided the use of the words “war”, “invasion” or “conflict”.
