President Zelenskyy has reiterated his call for a Marshall Plan for Ukraine. According to the UN, a new evacuation from Mariupol has started. All developments in the live blog.
1:50 a.m
Media: Ukraine sank Moscow with US intelligence
According to media reports, US intelligence information helped the Ukrainian military sink the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Moscow. However, the US government had no knowledge of Ukraine’s plans, reported several US media such as the Washington Post or the New York Times, citing unnamed people who were familiar with the matter. The United States identified the ship as “Moscow” at the request of the Ukrainian military and helped locate it, NBC News reported. The “Moscow” was sunk in mid-April, presumably with Ukrainian anti-ship missiles of the “Neptun” type. Moscow denies that.
1:04 a.m
Zelenskyy reiterates call for Marshall Plan for Ukraine
Despite the West’s massive financial support for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is sticking to his thoughts about a sort of Marshall Plan for his country after the war. The international donor conference in Warsaw, which a few hours earlier had raised a little more than six billion euros in support for Kyiv, was “an element of our protection, an element of protection for the whole of Europe,” said Zelenskyj in his daily video address. The fate of Ukraine and Europe will now be decided “not only on the battlefield”, but also in the economic sphere, in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
However, the billions pledged in Warsaw are “only part of what is really necessary to restore normal life in the entire area to which Russia brought the war”. This requires even greater participation from the free world and international institutions. “Therefore we need a modern analogue of the Marshall Plan for Ukraine.”
1:04 a.m
UN: New evacuation from Mariupol underway
The United Nations want to once again bring civilians from the bombed Ukrainian city of Mariupol and its surroundings to safety. A new operation has started, a spokesman for the UN emergency aid program, Saviano Abreu, told the AP news agency. They work together with the parties to the conflict and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Further information will only be given when the situation allows it, Abreu said. Abreu did not want to say how many people are to be brought to safety and whether there are also people who are staying in the Azovstal steelworks.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed the start of a third evacuation operation in the Security Council. United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths added that the goal is to get more civilians out of Mariupol and the Azovstal facility.