Here are the key events so far on Tuesday, May 3.
Get the latest updates here.
Fighting
- Russian forces shelled Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv and devastated several towns in eastern Ukraine.
- At least three civilians were killed in the Russian shelling of the city of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian president’s office said. Some other areas of Donetsk were under constant fire and regional authorities were trying to evacuate civilians from front line areas, it said.
- A Bayraktar drone operated by Ukraine destroyed two Russian Raptor-class patrol ships in the Black Sea, Ukraine’s military chief said.
- Russia is planning to imminently “annex” the two eastern regions of Ukraine after failing to overthrow the government in Kyiv, a senior US official says.
- More than 200 civilians are still holed up with fighters in a huge steel plant in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city’s mayor said.
- Russia has not been able to take advantage, in Ukraine, of its more than decade-long military modernisation programme, the UK’s defence ministry has said.
Diplomacy
- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will deliver an address to Ukraine’s parliament – the first by a foreign leader since Russia invaded on February 24 – where he is set to hail the country’s resistance as its “finest hour”.
- He is also expected to announce nearly $400m in military aid to Ukraine.
- Russian football clubs have been banned by UEFA from participating in the Champions League and all other European competitions next season, European football’s governing body announces.
Business and economy
- Berlin will be ready to back an immediate European Union ban on Russian oil imports, two German ministers said.
- To keep the bloc united, the EU executive may offer Hungary and Slovakia exemptions or transition periods and phase in the ban by year-end.
- Foreign financial aid will ensure the stability of Ukraine’s central bank reserves as the country deals with the economic shock from the Russian invasion, central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko said.
- Italy aims to cut off its dependence on Russian gas by the second half of 2024, Italy’s ecological transition minister said.
- Pope Francis says he asked for a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to stop the war in Ukraine but has not received a response, Reuters reported.
- Ukraine is forecast to have a significant shortage of grain storing facilities in the 2022-2023 season due to a sharp fall in exports resulting from the invasion, analyst APK-Inform said.
