War in Ukraine: First civilians evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol

While the Russian forces maintained their pressure on the eastern regions of Ukraine on Saturday April 30, particularly around the city of Kharkiv, where they continue to nibble on the ground, and in the south where they destroyed the runway of the Odessa airport. About twenty civilians were able to be evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday during a surprise visit to Kyiv.

Nancy Pelosi makes a surprise visit to Kyiv

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday during a surprise visit to Kyiv to show U.S. support for Ukraine, Kyiv and Washington said Sunday.

“Thank you to the United States for helping to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state,” the Ukrainian president tweeted. This message is accompanied by a video where we see him, flanked by armed guards, welcoming Nancy Pelosi and a congressional delegation in front of the presidency, in kyiv, and then meeting with the American delegation. “The United States is a leader in strong support for Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression,” he continued. “Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unequivocal and resounding message to the world: the United States stands with Ukraine,” according to a statement from the American delegation.

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During their trip, the two officials announced the gradual return of an American diplomatic presence in Ukraine and additional direct and indirect aid of more than $700 million. As a reminder, US President Joe Biden asked Congress last Thursday to release 33 billion dollars to increase their aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine announces evacuation of 20 civilians from Azovstal factory in Mariupol, Moscow says 50

A first group of civilians was extracted overnight from Saturday to Sunday from the Azovstal steelworks, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine, a region where the Russian army concentrates most of his strengths. The exit of about twenty civilians from the underground of this immense industrial complex represents a great first. All previous evacuation attempts had failed, in this southeastern port city almost completely destroyed after weeks of siege.

The Azov regiment, which defends this area, spoke of “twenty civilians, women and children”. “They have been transferred to an agreed place and we hope that they will be evacuated to Zaporizhia, in the territory controlled by Ukraine,” said Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the regiment in a video on Telegram. According to kyiv, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are buried in underground galleries dating from Soviet times.

This Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that nearly fifty civilians had been evacuated. “On April 30, after the establishment of a ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor, two groups of civilians left the residential buildings adjacent to the territory of the Azovstal Metallurgical Plant” , he said on Telegram. “In the afternoon, 25 residents came out. At the beginning of the evening, a second group of 21 people left, who were taken to Bezimenoye”, a town east of Mariupol, halfway between this port city and the Russian border. “All civilians have received housing, food and the necessary medical assistance,” assured the ministry, which does not specify where the first group was taken.

“Radio silence on the evacuation pending official information. We ask everyone to refrain from giving information from Mariupol today. Thank you for your understanding”, wrote on Telegram Petro Andryushchenko, adviser to the mayor from Mariupol.

The total capture of this city would allow Moscow to make the connection between the territories conquered in the South, in particular the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014, to the pro-Russian separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, in the east.

Odessa airport targeted by missile fire on Saturday evening

In the south of the country, Odessa airport was hit by missile fire on Saturday evening. “Today the enemy struck from Crimea by a Bastion coastal defense missile system. The runway at Odessa airport was destroyed. Thank God there were no casualties,” the governor said in a video on his Telegram account.

Odessa, a large port city on the Black Sea of one million inhabitants, with major symbolic and historical weight, has so far been relatively spared from the fighting. It is located in the coastal strip that Russia could consider conquering to connect to the west with the pro-Russian separatist enclave of Transnistria, in Moldova, where it has troops.

Russian authorities cite seizure of assets from countries deemed hostile

Russian authorities hinted on Sunday that Russian assets from certain countries deemed hostile could be seized, in response to the US administration’s proposal to liquidate assets seized from Russian oligarchs and transfer the proceeds to the Ukraine.

“It is right, with regard to a company located on Russian territory, whose owners come from hostile countries where such decisions are taken (to seize Russian assets, editor’s note), to respond with mirror measures: confiscate these assets,” thundered the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, on his Telegram channel. “And the proceeds from the sale will be used for the development of our country,” he adds. He also accuses “a number of hostile countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and even the United States” of not respecting international law and of “simply indulging in theft”.

Biden mentions Russia at White House Correspondents Gala Dinner

Returning from the White House Correspondents’ Gala Dinner on Saturday night in Washington, US President Joe Biden pointed to Russia and paid tribute to journalists covering the war in Ukraine. He notably alerted to “the poison which is spreading in our democracy (…) with disinformation which is increasing sharply”. “You, the free press, are more important than you have ever been in the last century,” he said.

Russian plane violates Swedish airspace

A Russian reconnaissance plane briefly violated Swedish airspace on Friday, the staff of the Scandinavian country announced on Saturday, whose authorities are considering a possible candidacy for NATO after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Angelina Jolie in Lviv with displaced civilians

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, made a surprise visit to Lviv in western Ukraine on Saturday, where she spoke with displaced people. She was notably seen in a cafe.

“For all of us, this visit was a surprise,” Lviv region governor Maxim Kozytski wrote on Telegram, posting photos and videos of the actress playing with children and posing with volunteers.

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The actress notably went to a hospital to meet children injured in the April 8 bombardment outside Kramatorsk station in the east of the country, attributed to Russia, which had killed more than 50 civilians, according to the governor.