May 7, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine has moved here.

Elderly people evacuated from Mariupol gather near buses at a temporary accommodation center in Bezimenne, Ukraine on Saturday May 7.

The Ukrainian government said “all women, children and elderly people” have been rescued from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol and President Volodymyr Zelensky said they are now preparing to evacuate the wounded, medics and the military from the complex.

Here’s what we know:

The wider situation in Mariupol:

A Russian Il-78 military transport aircraft and MiG-29 fighter jets fly in formation during a rehearsal in Moscow on Saturday May 7.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has given details of some of the military aircraft planned to take part in an aviation display over Moscow’s Red Square Monday to mark “Victory Day.”

The ministry said “77 planes and helicopters,” will be showcased in the fly-past representing the number of years since the end of World War II. 

According to a ministry statement issued on April 28, highlights of the display are said to include:

Using the Kremlin’s approved language to describe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ministry said, “For the first time, eight MiG-29SMT fighters will fly over the Red Square in the form of the letter “Z” in support of Russian military personnel participating in a special military operation in Ukraine.” 

Some context: May 9, known as “Victory Day” inside Russia, commemorates the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. Victory Day is marked by a military parade in Moscow, and Russian leaders traditionally stand on the tomb of Vladimir Lenin in Red Square to observe it.

People evacuated from Mariupol stand near a bus at a temporary accommodation center in Bezimenne, Ukraine on May 7.

More than 300 civilians have been rescued since the start of evacuations from the besieged Azovstal steel plant, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Saturday.

It marked the end of the first phase of evacuations, which started just over a week ago, prompting a thank you from the Ukrainian leader.

“I am grateful to the teams of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations for helping us carry out the first phase of the Azovstal evacuation mission. More than 300 people were saved, women and children.”

Authorities are now preparing for the second stage of evacuations for the wounded, medics, and military.

As of Saturday, the Russian army has destroyed or damaged nearly 200 cultural heritage sites, Zelensky added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during his evening video message on Saturday May 7.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his government is now preparing for the second stage of the evacuation mission from Azovstal, focusing on “the wounded and medics.”

“Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements. Of course, if there are no lies,” Zelensky said during his evening message. “Of course, we are also working to evacuate our military. All heroes who defend Mariupol. This is extremely difficult but it is important.”

Hinting Russia is to blame for holding up the evacuation of the remaining soldiers trapped in Mariupol, Zelensky said “everyone understands the root cause of this complication,” but he added the Ukrainian people will not lose hope.

“We do not stop. Every day we are looking for a diplomatic option that can work out,” Zelensky said.

The president also thanked the International Red Cross and the United Nations for helping to carry out the first phase of the Azovstal evacuation, and said the government would try to establish humanitarian corridors for all residents of Mariupol and surrounding settlements on Sunday.

Emergency personel clear away debris after a bomb destroyed a school in the village of Bilohorivka, Ukraine on Saturday May 7.

Ukraine has accused Russia of dropping a bomb on a school in Luhansk region where 90 people were taking shelter.

Serhiy Hayday, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, said a Russian aircraft had dropped a bomb on the school in the village of Bilohorivka, which is about 7 miles from the front lines. 

Hayday said 30 people had so far been rescued from the rubble. 

“Almost the entire village was hiding. Everyone who did not evacuate. After the social club was hit, the basement of the school was the only place of salvation, but the Russians took this chance from people,” Hayday said.

The rescue operation is ongoing, he said. Photographs posted by the regional authorities show the school in ruins. 

The Ukrainian government said the evacuation of many civilians from the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol was completed on Saturday.

Catch up on the latest developments in the war here — and a look ahead to events on Sunday and Monday.

Azovstal evacuations: Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that “all women, children and elderly people” have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. “This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed,” she said. There were no further details on numbers.

As of Saturday morning local time, more than 100 civilians — including children — were thought to be trapped inside the sprawling complex, along with several hundred soldiers, many of them injured.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces said that Russian forces continue to blockade the Ukrainian troops inside the plant. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said Friday he’s working on diplomatic options to help evacuate the remaining military in Azovstal. 

The self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said Saturday that a total of 152 people had been evacuated from the city of Mariupol in the eight hours since 8 a.m. local time. It remains unclear whether the total includes any civilians who are trapped at Azovstal.

Odesa strikes: Russia fired six cruise missiles at the southwestern port city of Odesa on Saturday, according to Ukraine’s military. Video from the city shows thick columns of black smoke in several locations.

The United Nations has called to reopen the port to help ease a global food crisis.

Here’s what to be on the lookout for in the coming days:

G7 meeting with Zelensky: On Sunday, US President Joe Biden will meet virtually with the Ukrainian president and his G7 counterparts during a meeting of the G7 forum, deliberately scheduled ahead of Russia’s Victory Day. Sanctions will be on the agenda for the meeting.

Victory Day: On Monday, Russia will commemorate the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. Western officials have long believed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would leverage the symbolic significance and propaganda value of the day to announce either a military achievement in Ukraine, a major escalation of hostilities — or both.

The Kremlin said Friday that May 9 is a “sacred” day for Russians, and it won’t be “overshadowed” by the events unfolding in Ukraine. The Kremlin confirmed that Putin will attend the traditional parade held in Moscow’s Red Square and will make a speech. At the end of the parade, Putin will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Smoke rises above Snake Island, Ukraine, on May 7.

The Russian defense ministry claimed that its forces in the area of Snake Island off the coast of Ukraine have shot down several Ukrainian aircraft and drones. 

What Russia is saying: In a briefing in Moscow, the defense ministry spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said that a Ukrainian Su-24 bomber, a Su-27 fighter aircraft, three Mi-8 helicopters with a landing force and two Turkish-made attack drones had been shot down. 

“The Ukrainian amphibious assault boat Stanislav has also been destroyed,” he said. 

The ministry posted a video purporting to show Russian air defenses on Snake Island bringing down a drone. 

What Ukraine is saying: Earlier, the Ukrainian military also reported combat around Snake Island but did not comment on any losses. It released drone footage which, it said, showed its forces destroying a Russian landing craft on the island. It said that two anti-aircraft missile systems had also been hit. 

Snake Island is where, early on in the war, Ukrainian soldiers reacted with words of defiance against Russian attackers. According to a purported audio exchange, a Russian officer told the Ukrainians to lay down their arms, but a soldier responded: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.” All 13 Ukrainian defenders were at first believed to have been killed; it was later revealed that they were alive but had to surrender due to lack of ammunition.

CIA Director Bill Burns speaks at a Senate hearing on March 10, in Washington, DC.

CIA Director Bill Burns warned on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has staked a lot on the second phase of his war in Ukraine and believes that “doubling down” on the military conflict is still his best path forward. 

It is this mindset, Burns said, that makes the second phase of the offensive at least as risky — and maybe even riskier — than the first phase of the conflict. 

“He’s in a frame of mind in which he doesn’t believe he can afford to lose,” Burns said about Putin during a Financial Times event in Washington. “I think he’s convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress.”

“His convictions about Ukraine and the reality of Russia’s capability to continue to grind away at Ukrainian resistance — I don’t know whether that’s been shaken yet,” he added. “So the stakes are quite high.”

That view is informed by what Burns said he has observed about Putin over the last several years.

Burns also said that the risk of the war escalating into a nuclear conflict should not be underestimated during the second phase, even though the US intelligence community does not see “practical evidence at this point of Russian planning for deployment … of tactical nuclear weapons.”

“Given the kind of saber-rattling … we’ve heard from the Russian leadership, we can’t take lightly those possibilities,” Burns said. “At a moment when … the stakes are very high for Putin’s Russia and those risks at this second phase of the conflict are serious and should not be underestimated.”

Ramifications outside Russia: Burns also said that Russia’s conflict in Ukraine has affected China’s calculations when it comes to “how and when” it goes about attempting to take control of Taiwan.

“Clearly the Chinese leadership is trying to look carefully about the lessons they should draw from Ukraine about their own ambitions in Taiwan,” Burns said. 

“I don’t think for a minute it’s eroded Xi’s determination over time to gain control over Taiwan but I think its something that’s affecting their calculation about how and when they go about doing that,” he added. 

Civilians evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol arrive at a temporary accommodation center in the village of Bezimenne, Ukraine on May 6.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that “all women, children and elderly people” have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant.

“The order of the president has been done,” she said. “This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.”

In brief comments to CNN from inside the Azovstal plant on Saturday evening local time, one of the Ukrainian defenders at the complex said that an evacuation of civilians had been conducted without incident.

The comments were made by Mykhailo Vershynin, the chief of the Mariupol Patrol Police. He gave no details about the number that had been able to leave.

Separately, the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that Russian forces continue to blockade the Ukrainian troops inside the plant and were using artillery and tank fire as they conducted assault operations.

What Russia is saying: A senior Russian official has agreed that the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant has been completed.

Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Center for Defense Management, said that Russia had evacuated a total of 51 civilians from Azovstal, in cooperation with the United Nations and the Red Cross, since May 5. Mizintzev said the tally included just one person evacuated Saturday.

The Russian account, which was carried by the state news agency TASS, appeared to match that of the Ukrainian government.

The total of 51 evacuees is much lower than previous estimates of the number of civilians still trapped at Azovstal. As of Saturday morning local time, more than 100 civilians — including children — were still thought to be trapped inside the sprawling complex, along with several hundred soldiers, many of them injured. It’s not known how many men besides the Ukrainian soldiers might still be in the sprawling complex. 

One of the Ukrainian soldiers still at Azovstal, Serhiy Volina, posted on Facebook late Saturday local time: “Looks like I’m in some hellish reality show where we military fighting for life, taking every chance to save and the whole world is just watching an interesting story!” he said.

Volina said he was hoping for a miracle from the “higher powers” and that “this hell of a reality show will end.”

“Time goes by, and time is our lives!” he concluded.

Smoke rises above the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 5.

There have been no public statements from any side on the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol Saturday.

The Ukrainian government had expressed the hope that another batch of civilians would be able to leave the complex today.

The area around Azovstal appears to have been relatively quiet Saturday.

The self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, whose militia controls the surrounding area, said Saturday that a total of 152 people had been evacuated from the city of Mariupol in the eight hours since 8 a.m. local time. It remains unclear whether the total includes any civilians who are trapped at Azovstal.

The DPR said the total includes 32 children. All had been taken to a filtration facility in the town of Bezimenne.

CNN cannot verify the statement. 

There has been no comment from the Ukrainian side or the United Nations on the latest evacuations.

Late Friday, the Ukrainian government had proposed an evacuation that would collect civilians from Azovstal and then more people from the city of Mariupol. The proposed time for the departure of that convoy passed at 5 p.m. local time (which was 10 a.m. ET), and there has been no further word on developments.  

The defenders of the Azovstal complex raised the number of dead in a clash that took place Friday on the edge of the plant from one to three. 

A plume of black smoke rises after explosions in Odesa, Ukraine, on May 7.

Russia fired six cruise missiles at the southern port city of Odesa Saturday, according to Ukraine’s Security and Defense Force South.

Video from the city shows thick columns of black smoke in several locations.

It said there were no casualties.

The regional military administration also posted a drone video purporting to show a strike against a Russian patrol boat in the Black Sea.

Some background: In the last few days, Ukrainian air force units have carried out several strikes against Russian positions on Russian-occupied Snake Island off the coast of Crimea.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said they hit at least two Russian military positions there using a Bayraktar UAV, a military drone.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme has called for the reopening of ports in Odesa to help rein in the global hunger crisis.

The self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said that a total of 152 people have been evacuated from Mariupol Saturday.

It’s unclear whether the total includes any civilians who were trapped at the Azovstal steel plant.

The DPR said that “on 7 May, from 08:00 to 16:00, 152 people, including 32 children, were evacuated from Mariupol to Bezimenne, Novoazovsk district.”

“At the present moment, they are in the evacuation assistance point, which has been deployed by the DNR Ministry of Emergency Situations,” the DPR added.

There has been no comment from the Ukrainian side or the United Nations on the latest evacuations. 

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the number of civilians evacuated from Mariupol on Saturday — it was 152, not 50 — and it is unclear whether the total includes anyone from the Azovstal steel plant.

US first lady Jill Biden and Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis visit with Ukrainian refugee students and teachers at the Uruguay School in Bucharest, Romania, on May 7.

US first lady Jill Biden, accompanied by Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis, visited a school earlier this morning where they talked with Ukrainian and Romanian educators, spoke to Ukrainian mothers and met with children.

Following her visit to the Uruguay School, Biden spoke shortly to reporters before boarding a plane, discussing the emotional impact of her visit to the school and the bravery of the mothers she met.

“It was so emotional, right? I think that really the Ukrainians know that we are standing with them,” Biden told reporters.

Inside a classroom, children told Biden they were tracing their hands and making cutouts from copies of the Ukrainian and Romanian flags. At one point, a small girl approached the first lady holding her handprint cutout of the Ukrainian flag. Biden asked her to share her message, and a translator next to the girl said that she said, “I want to return to my father.” 

Biden sat down at a table to talk to a group of children who, according to their teacher, were working on a drawing of what the world would look like without war.

US first lady Jill Biden and Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis meet with teachers and refugees at the Uruguay School in Bucharest, Romania, on May 7.

The first ladies also had a listening session with educators and refugees. 

Anastasia Konovalvoa, a Ukrainian teacher who fled in March to Romania, was among those who shared her story. 

“We stand with you,” Biden told her. “I hope you know that,” later adding, “I think you are the amazing ones, really.”

Biden also thanked Iohannis and said the Romanian people are “heroes.”

After the listening session, they went outside where students sang the Romanian national anthem followed by the Ukrainian military march song. 

Biden is now headed to Slovakia. 

This post also includes information from pool reports.

Destroyed buildings are seen in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Friday, May 6.

With Russia’s traditional May 9 “Victory Day” approaching, there is speculation that President Vladimir Putin will use the day to declare some form of success in his invasion, or ramp up his assault on the country.

There were evacuations Friday in the besieged city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters and civilians are sheltering in the Azovstal plant – which saw its perimeter breached this week by Russian forces, according to a commander inside.

Here’s what you need to know:

Storage silos and shipping cranes are seen at the Odesa port on January 22, in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on Saturday, May 7.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the war in Ukraine during his inauguration on Saturday, saying France needs to “act to avoid” any escalation in the conflict, and vowing to “help democracy and courage” prevail. 

The French leader told his country that by re-electing him as President, France had chosen “a project of independence in a destabilized world.”

Some background: Last month, Macron became the first incumbent President to be re-elected in France in two decades, beating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a few days later that French military support to Ukraine, in addition to humanitarian assistance, “will continue to grow.”

“The President of the Republic reaffirmed to President Zelensky his willingness to work actively during his second term of office to restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, always maintaining close coordination with his European partners and allies,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement last month.

After weeks of incessant artillery fire and air strikes, Ukrainian troops are “holding on” in a belt of towns in the Luhansk region, according to the head of its military administration.

Serhiy Hayday said on Ukrainian television that the situation was difficult. 

“The biggest efforts made by the enemy are to break through in Popasna and the direction of Severodonetsk and Voievodivka. That’s where they deployed the biggest amount of their troops and equipment.”

“That’s where the largest number of shellings and rockets, and air strikes are constant – it’s just a terrible situation. Our guys are holding on, we are waiting for help, for reinforcement,” he said.

Hayday said Russian artillery and rocket forces were being supported by private military contractors tasked with leading any ground assault. “There are PMC Wagner Group, there are the [Chechen] Kadyrovites – but they are mostly about making videos for TikTok, and then there are the LPR [Luhansk People’s Republic] servicemen,” he said.

Hayday said Russian shelling had inflicted further heavy damage Friday in Hirske, Popasna and Severodonetsk.

An estimated 15,000 people are still living in Severodonetsk, where five high-rise apartment buildings were hit by shelling on Friday, Hayday said. The town of Zolote had also been hard hit, he said.

Russia has claimed it has destroyed a large “concentration of military equipment from the USA and European countries” near a railway station in the Kharkiv region.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the equipment was hit “near the Bogodukhov railway station,” which is north-west of the city of Kharkiv.

CNN cannot independently verify the claim. The Ukrainian side has not reported the strike. Bogodukhov has been repeatedly shelled by the Russians.

The Russians also claimed that an ammunition depot was hit in Bakhmut, a rear-base for Ukrainian military operations in the east.

Ukraine said there had been an airstrike on Bakhmut in the Donetsk region early Saturday morning, damaging a factory and killing two people.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said that its air defenses had brought down 13 Ukrainian drones, and three Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles had been intercepted in the Izium area, where fighting has continued for more than a month.

There were no signs of further evacuations of civilians from the besieged Azovstal plant in Mariupol on Saturday, after a flurry of activity late Friday.

Both Russia and Ukraine have said that the evacuations should continue Saturday. At least 100 civilians – including children – remain trapped in underground bunkers at the sprawling complex, which covers 11 square kilometers.

Around 50 civilians left the plant late on Friday, and were taken in buses escorted by Russian armored vehicles to a reception center at Bezimenne to the east of Mariupol, a town now controlled by Russian-backed separatists of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic.

Civilians evacuated from Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol walk accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross as they arrive at a temporary accommodation center in the village of Bezimenne to the east of Mariupol, Ukraine on May 6.

The Ukrainians said they were later able to travel to Ukrainian-held territory.

The evacuations are brokered by the United Nations and International Red Cross.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said she hopes that a broader evacuation of people wishing to leave Mariupol will resume later Saturday, after it failed to get underway Friday.

“If all goes according to plan, there will be buses to Port City at 5:00 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) to take people to Bezimenne,” she said. Port City is a shopping center on the outskirts of Mariupol. 

“There, people from Port City will join our column from Azovstal, which will leave for Zaporizhzhia the next day,” she said.

Still unknown is the fate of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who remain trapped at the steelworks. Russia has repeatedly said that they can only leave if they lay down their arms.

On Friday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “We are also working on diplomatic options to save our military, who still remain at Azovstal. Influential mediators are involved, including influential states.”

Russia is continuing its attacks across Ukraine’s eastern flank ahead of May 9, when it’s speculated that President Vladimir Putin could declare some form of victory or step up his assault on the country.

But Ukraine’s counter-offensives to the north and east of Kharkiv have made gains, and “may successfully push Russian forces out of artillery range” of the city in the coming days, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

And with Russia’s May 9 “Victory Day” approaching, cities throughout Ukraine are on high alert. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko is urging citizens to stay inside from Sunday into Monday.