Some of the first evacuees from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are due to arrive in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday morning, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. On Sunday around 100 civilians were evacuated from plant, the last redoubt for Ukrainian forces in the city. Zelenskiy said he hoped that “all the necessary conditions” would be met to allow the evacuation to continue on Monday.
US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has become the highest-ranking US official to visit Ukraine since the outbreak of war, where she met president Zelenskiy. In a press conference afterwards, Pelosi said that the US would not be bullied. “If they are making threats, you cannot back down,” she said. Pelosi was presented with the order of Princess of Olga medal by Zelenskiy.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has denied that Russia is demanding the “surrender” of Zelenskiy as a condition for peace, or that Russia would attempt to claim victory in Ukraine by 9 May. “The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends, first of all, on the need to minimise any risks for the civilian population and Russian military personnel,” he told Italian broadcaster Mediaset.
