The day before, the Ukrainian military struck 10 Russian air targets. Among them, one Su-25 attack aircraft and 9 Orlan-10 drones. The towns and villages of Luhansk Oblast withstood 16 massive artillery attacks: the Russians destroyed two schools and 20 houses. Russian troops storm Rubizhne and Popasna, where they fired at two evacuation buses. The contact with the drivers was lost. In the Izyum direction, the National Guards, together with artillerymen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, struck at the Russian troopsʼ location, destroying more than 30 units of enemy equipment.
20 civilians, who were rescued from the rubble, were evacuated from the territory of Azovstal. They will go to Zaporizhzhia. In addition, today, Ukraine returned seven service members and seven civilians from Russian captivity.
Unknown people are settling in the houses of Mariupol residents who have left the occupied territory. A permit is issued by the so-called village council, which operates under the “DNR” flag. In addition, the Russians are killing captured Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.
Pope Francis has asked the Russian authorities three times to organize a humanitarian corridor for civilians in Mariupol. After several talks with the Moscow Patriarchate, Francis first addressed them in late March. The second time was in mid-April, at Easter. For the third time, the Pope offered to save people by sea on a Vatican ship. Each time, Russia turned down [the proposal] or did not provide any security guarantees.
The Russians launched a missile strike on the Odesa Oblast — the runway of Odesa airport was damaged. Now it is impossible to use it.
Mobile communication and the Internet of all operators have disappeared in the temporarily occupied Kherson, Kakhovka district, Novotroitsk, and Chaplyn communities. In Henichesk, only Kyivstar communication is available.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. They agreed on defense cooperation and increased humanitarian aid from France.
Estonia sends a team of demining specialists to Ukraine. They will be helping Ukrainian sappers on a rotating basis. Five Estonian specialists will work in three cars in Ukraine all the time. Denmark will hand over 25 Piranha 3 armored personnel carriers, M10 heavy mortars, and shells to Ukraine.
German Minister of Finance Christian Lindner has said that Russia will not be able to blackmail Europe with energy resources. He stressed that Germany would not pay for Russian gas in rubles. According to him, now Germany is doing everything to eliminate its dependence on Russian energy resources.
American actress Angelina Jolie visited the Lviv railway station, where she met the passengers of the evacuation train from Pokrovsk. She arrived in Ukraine with a humanitarian mission and visited a boarding school and a medical institution where children who suffered from a missile strike at Kramatorsk station are staying.