Summary

  • Troops at a Mariupol steelworks insist they will never surrender to the Russian forces surrounding them

  • In an extraordinary news conference, members of the Azov regiment heavily criticise Ukraine's government over their plight

  • Russia has besieged the area for weeks, demanding the surrender of its defenders from the Azov battalion

  • More than 60 people are now feared dead after a Russian bomb hit a school in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, the local governor says

  • Nations across Europe are marking VE Day - the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two

  • Against the backdrop of war, Russia is also preparing for huge celebrations on Monday of Nazism's defeat

  • Ukraine's president is holding talks with G7 leaders - including US President Joe Biden and the UK's Boris Johnson - via video conference

  • EU ambassadors are also meeting in Brussels on Sunday to discuss the sixth round of economic sanctions against Moscow

  1. WATCH: Firefighers at school hit by Russian bombpublished at 10:51 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    Ukrainian Emergency Services have posted video of the ruins of the school in Bilohorivka, in eastern Ukraine, which was hit by a Russian bomb on Saturday.

    It took firefighters three hours to extinguish the blaze, according to the local governor, writing on Telegram, external.

    Up to 60 people are feared dead under the rubble. Thirty people have been rescued so far, with seven injured and two confirmed dead.

    It comes amid reports of renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine on Sunday morning.

  2. All that time we were praying - Escaped Izyum residentpublished at 10:30 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    Sophie Williams
    BBC News, Lviv

    Izyum came under heavy bombardment soon after the Russian invasion beganImage source, Maxym Strelnik

    The town of Izyum, referred to as the gateway to the Donbas, has been occupied by Russian troops since 1 April.

    One city council official, Maxym Strelnik, estimates 80% of the city has been destroyed - while up to 15,000 civilians - out of a population of 50,000 - remain in the city.

    Since the Russian occupation last month, little has been heard about what is going on inside Izyum.

    Now, residents who recently escaped the city - using a route organised by volunteers - have told the BBC about how they were forced to live in the basement for months.

    One woman recalled the horror of bodies lying in the streets. drunken Russian troops looting homes, and how she and her daughter survived off vegetables cooked on open fires.

    "All that time we were praying," said Elena, 52, who spent two nerve-shredding days on the road fleeing to safety.

    Read her story.

    Facts about Izyum, Ukraine
  3. Rain on the parade in Moscow?published at 10:03 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile systems, drive in Red Square during a rehearsal for a military parade marking the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two in central Moscow, Russia May 7, 2022Image source, Reuters

    Unseasonably cold weather is forecast for Moscow on Monday morning when President Vladimir Putin is due to address the Victory Parade on Red Square.

    The temperature is expected to reach barely 10C in the Russian capital, after heavy rain overnight and with showers forecast on Monday afternoon.

    The commemoration of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two is always one of the biggest holidays of the year in Russia, a moment of genuine thanksgiving and celebration, but under Putin the parade has increasingly become a show of military might.

    Putin's bloody invasion of Ukraine is inevitably colouring this year's event, and his speech will be studied for clues as to how he intends to pursue the war.

    "Everyone is expecting something to happen, both the enemies of Putin and his supporters," political expert Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin, told the BBC's Jenny Hill.

    "These expectations created a vacuum that needs to be filled. If it's not, Putin will lose politically."

    Read Jenny's preview of the parade in full.

  4. Small chance of survivors in school - Governorpublished at 09:39 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    School building destroyedImage source, Reuters

    The governor of Ukraine's Luhansk region has been giving more details about what he says was a Russian airstrike on the school sheltering civilians in the village of Bilohorivka.

    Serhiy Haidai told reporters: "An aircraft bomb went into a school. Unfortunately, it is completely destroyed... There were 60 people hiding from the shelling...

    "Considering it was an aircraft bomb, not an artillery shell, when the explosion happened, the temperature was wild. Of course, our State Service Emergency workers will try to clear the debris as fast as they can, but the chances of people still being alive are small.

    "But we hope for the best. A bit later, when the debris is cleared, I will report on the situation. Maybe, someone will actually stay alive."

  5. 'Extremely difficult' to evacuate troops - Zelenskypublished at 09:34 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    Hugo Bachega
    BBC News, Dnipro

    Smoke rises over Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, UkraineImage source, EPA

    President Zelensky says efforts are continuing to try to rescue the wounded, and medical staff, from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol after the evacuation of all civilians was completed on Saturday.

    The president also said officials were trying to evacuate the military forces who remained at the site, holed up in deep underground shelters and tunnels, with very little food, water or medical supplies.

    But he acknowledged that this was “extremely difficult”.

    The sprawling industrial site, which has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in a city now almost entirely occupied by Russian forces, has been largely destroyed after weeks of intense Russian bombardments.

    Relatives of the fighters are desperately waiting for a plan for their safe passage.

    “Everyone must be evacuated,” Oksana, whose husband is a fighter at the plant, told me on Saturday. “There’s a large number of wounded and sick [fighters].”

    Ukrainian officials fear Russia may step up its attacks ahead of Russia’s Victory Day, to mark victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, on Monday.

    Russia has said the fighters must lay down their weapons. They say they will not surrender.

  6. Viewpoint: Putin now faces only different kinds of defeatpublished at 09:08 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    President Vladimir PutinImage source, Getty Images

    On Monday Russia will celebrate Victory Day, with a grand military parade and flypast in Moscow's Red Square.

    Vladimir Putin may have hoped to have used the annual holiday - which commemorates the Soviet Victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 - to present the Russian people with a victory of his own in Ukraine.

    But the invasion hasn't gone to plan. And regardless of the spin the Russian leader puts on it tomorrow, his war is one that Russia cannot win in any meaningful sense - writes defence analyst Michael Clarke.

    Within two months, the Kremlin has moved rapidly from Plan A to Plan C - and even if the Russians now succeed in overrunning the whole of the Donbas and all across the south, they still have to hold those territories for the indefinite future in the face of several million Ukrainians who don't want them there.

    There is not much Putin can do but carry grimly on - here's why.

    Map showing the current occupation by Russian forces in Ukraine
  7. WATCH: Rebuilt railway bridge a symbol of hopepublished at 08:50 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    James Waterhouse
    Kyiv correspondent, BBC News

    Railway lines and stations are increasingly being targeted by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine. But the authorities there are determined to maintain some normality across the country, as the Russian invasion continues into a third month.

    With this in mind, a railway bridge connecting war-torn towns such as Irpin, Bucha and Borodyanka with the capital Kyiv has been rebuilt - in just one month - allowing some 400,000 people who depend on the service to return to a semblance of everyday life.

    It's a symbol of hope for devastated communities. "Destruction like this can be recovered with time," says one passenger. "Rome was not built in a day."

  8. Entire village sheltering in bombed school - local governorpublished at 08:30 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    Rescuers in BilohorivkaImage source, Serhiy Haidai
    Image caption,

    Rescuers in Bilohorivka

    Returning to our top story this morning, many are feared dead after a bomb hit a school in the village of Bilohorivka, in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.

    Regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, confirmed two deaths, but claimed as many as 60 people could be lying dead under the rubble.

    About 90 people had been sheltering in the building and 30 were rescued, seven of them wounded, he added. Two deaths have been confirmed so far.

    Haidai said a Russian plane had dropped the bomb on Saturday, but his accusation could not be independently verified and there was no immediate response from Russia.

    The blast brought down the building which caught fire and it took firefighters three hours to extinguish the blaze, according to the governor, writing on Telegram, external.

    He said almost the entire village had been sheltering in the basement of the school.

    The final death toll would only be known when the rubble had been cleared, he added.

    Bilohorivka is close to the government-held city of Severodonetsk, where government forces are battling Russian troops and separatists. Heavy fighting was reported in the suburbs there on Saturday.

  9. What is happening in Ukraine right now?published at 08:00 British Summer Time 8 May 2022

    Welcome back to our live coverage on the 74th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is what has been happening:

    • More than 60 people are now feared dead after a Russian bomb hit a school in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, the local governor says. Some 90 local residents had been sheltering in the school in the village of Bilohorivka, near the frontline in the Donbas region - 30 have been rescued
    • Diplomatic efforts are continuing to try to rescue wounded soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, after the evacuation of civilians was completed, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says. Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters are still holding out in the sprawling industrial site, which has been subjected to weeks of Russian bombardment
    • President Zelensky is also set to hold talks with G7 leaders - including US President Joe Biden and the UK's Boris Johnson - via video conference later. Ambassadors from EU member states will also meet in Brussels on Sunday to discuss their sixth round of economic sanctions against Moscow
    • In Russia, final rehearsals have taken place for Monday's huge annual parade marking the Soviet victory in World War II, where its military might will be showcased amid Moscow's ongoing campaign in Ukraine

  10. The latest in Ukrainepublished at 20:00 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    A Ukrainian serviceman looks on from a self-propelled howitzer, at an undisclosed area of Kharkiv, UkraineImage source, EPA

    Here, we pause our live coverage for the day with a reminder of main developments on the 73rd day of Russia's invasion:

    • Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol - the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the city
    • It marks a turning point with Vereshchuk stating: "This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed"
    • President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that diplomatic efforts continue to secure the evacuation of Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the factory
    • Four missiles hit the port city of Odesa in the afternoon, with locations around the airport targeted and radar equipment destroyed. No casualties have been reported
    • Air-launched Russian missiles have also hit two locations in Sumy, a city in northern Ukraine near the Russian border; elsewhere a cruise missile in the Poltava region was reportedly shot down, while another hit an infrastructure facility in Karlivka
    • A 28-year-old civilian was killed when heavy shelling hit her home in Korobochkyne, Kharkiv's regional military administration reports

  11. Russia says it has destroyed Ukrainian aircraftpublished at 19:48 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    On Saturday, Russia's defence ministry said its high-precision missiles had destroyed Ukrainian aircraft at air fields in Artsyz, Odesa and Voznesensky.

    The defence ministry reported that its Iskander missiles hit US and European equipment near Kharkiv.

    There is no confirmation from Ukrainian or Western officials.

    Throughout the day, there have been several missile strikes across Ukraine.

    The attacks ranged from Kharkiv and Sumy in the north-east to Odesa in the south-west. But the main focus of the Russian assault remains the Donbas.

  12. 200 healthcare facilities hit in Ukraine, WHO reportspublished at 19:33 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    Destroyed hospital in Volnovakha in the Donetsk regionImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Hospitals have been the target of Russian missiles since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

    The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has documented 200 attacks on healthcare centres in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion on 24 February.

    WHO's emergencies director Mike Ryan told a news conference that it would pass its findings on to those who could assess whether crimes had been committed.

    During the same news conference, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Moscow to stop waging a war on its neighbour and told Ukrainians "WHO stands by you".

    Ukraine's Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said 40 hospitals in Ukraine had been completely destroyed.

    Lyashko was quoted by the Unian news agency saying that "about 500 hospitals were damaged, in which medical care cannot be provided".

  13. Putin 'believes he cannot afford to lose'published at 19:24 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    CIA director William Burns says Russia's President Vladimir Putin is in "a frame of mind in which he doesn't believe he can afford to lose".

    "I think he's convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress," Burns said.

  14. Russia not preparing nuclear strikes, says CIA chiefpublished at 19:23 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) says the intelligence community has seen no "practical evidence at this point of Russians planning for the deployment or even potential use of tactical nuclear weapons" in Ukraine.

    Director William Burns was addressing a conference hosted by the Financial Times.

    Russia announced it was placing its nuclear arsenal on high alert after launching the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, and Mr Burns warned: "Given the kind of saber rattling that ... we've heard from the Russian leadership, we can't take lightly those possibilities.

    "So we stay very sharply focused as an intelligence service ... on those impossibilities at a moment when the stakes are very high for Russia."

    Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 10, 2022 in Washington, DC.Image source, Getty Images
  15. Who's left at the steelworks?published at 19:12 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    As we've been reporting, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

    For days, small numbers of civilians have slowly been leaving the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in a city that has seen some of the worst fighting since the start of Russia's invasion.

    Ukraine has often accused Russia of firing on the area, and therefore disrupting the planned evacuations.

    It is unclear what the situation is like for Ukrainian fighters from the Azov battalion, who are also sheltering in the steel plant.

    For weeks Russia has been demanding their surrender - which they have repeatedly ignored.

    Nonetheless, one of the Ukrainian fighters there told the BBC: "The situation at the steelworks is now critical; it has been critical for a long time, and now it is getting worse."

    During his late night address on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "influential intermediaries" and "influential states" were involved in a diplomatic effort to save the fighters.

    Mariupol banner
  16. Shelling as Ukraine tries to regain Kharkiv regionpublished at 18:53 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    Sophie Williams
    BBC News, Lviv

    Intense fighting is continuing in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine as troops attempt to regain control of the area from the Russians.

    It comes after Ukraine's armed forces claimed on Saturday that they had taken five villages north-east of the country's second largest city.

    Analysts say the Ukrainian operation is developing into a successful counter-offensive.

    Kharkiv has been the focus of intense shelling since the February invasion.

    The governor of Kharkiv region said on Saturday that Russian troops continue "to fire on civilians in Kharkiv region".

    Oleh Synyehubov on Telegram reminded people to "not go out unnecessarily" and told people not to ignore the air raid sirens.

    There is concern that the Russian shelling could intensify in the run up to Victory Day on May 9, when Russia commemorates its win over Nazi Germany in 1945.

    Read Sophie's piece here.

    A destroyed museum in Kharkiv region
    Image caption,

    Ukrainian troops are trying to regain full control of the region

    Ukraine's military claims it has regained control of five villages close to the country's second city.

  17. Civilians were evacuated from Azovstal, what next?published at 18:20 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    Service members of pro-Russian troops with civilians next to buses carrying people evacuated from Mariupol on 7 May 2022.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Pro-Russian troops next to civilians being evacuated from Mariupol to temporary accommodation centres in Bezimenne in the Donetsk region

    So, Ukraine says all elderly people, women and children have been evacuated from the Mariupol steel plant, encircled by Russian forces.

    It is not clear where the evacuees that have just left Mariupol are and it might take a while until we have further information.

    In the past, once civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant - and other areas surrounded by Russian-controlled troops - they were re taken to Russia's so-called filtration camps, set up outside Mariupol to house civilians before being allowed to proceed into Ukrainian-held territory.

    On one occasion, this transfer lasted five days, even though the distance travelled could be covered in hours.

  18. UN and Red Cross haven't confirmed Azovstal evacuationpublished at 17:57 British Summer Time 7 May 2022

    The evacuation efforts from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are being coordinated by the United Nations and the Red Cross.

    But they have not yet commented on the announcement made by Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vershchuk.

    Vereshchuk said all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the steel plant in the besieged city.

  19. 'This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed' - Ukraine deputy PMpublished at 17:42 British Summer Time 7 May 2022
    Breaking

    As we've been reporting, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

    Vereshchuk said: "This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed."

    The besieged southern port city in Ukraine has been targeted by Russia since the start of the war.

    Several humanitarian corridor attempts were made during the last couple of weeks, but over the past few days Ukrainian officials have reported progress on the evacuation.

  20. All women, children and the elderly evacuated from Azovstal, Ukraine's Deputy PM sayspublished at 17:30 British Summer Time 7 May 2022
    Breaking

    Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on her Telegram channel that all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

    Earlier this week it was estimated that 200 civilians were still trapped inside the plant - the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the city.

    Azovstal graphic