US helping ensure Russia’s strategic ‘failure’ in Ukraine: Biden
US President Joe Biden says military assistance to Ukraine is a ‘direct investment’ in defence of democracy.
- Russian strikes have killed 21 civilians and wounded 27 others in eastern Ukraine, the governor of Donetsk says.
- US President Joe Biden says Ukrainian forces are “making fools of the Russian military in many instances” with the help of American military aid.
- A convoy of more than 100 civilian evacuees from Mariupol reaches the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for more humanitarian pauses to evacuate civilians.
Here are all the latest updates:
Biden says military aid to Ukraine ‘direct investment’ in democracy
Biden has called the US military aid to Ukraine a “direct investment” to protect democracy.
“Since Russia invaded Ukraine just over two months ago, we have sent more than $3bn in security assistance to Ukraine – alone us, not counting our allies,” Biden said.
“That money is a direct investment in defending freedom and democracy itself, because if you don’t stand up to dictators, history has shown us they keep coming… their appetite for power continues to grow.”
Biden added that Ukrainian forces are “making fools of the Russian military in many instances” with the help of US military aid.
Russian strikes kill 21 in eastern Ukraine, governor says
Russian strikes have killed 21 civilians and wounded 27 in eastern Ukraine, the governor of the Donetsk region has said.
“At least 10 killed and 15 wounded, the consequences of the shelling of the Avdiivka coke plant by the Russian occupiers,” Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram.
Kyrylenko said five others were killed in shelling in the town of Lyman, four were killed in the town of Vugledar, and two people were killed in the villages of Velyka Novosilka and Shandrygolove.
He said this was the highest death toll since a Russian strike on a train station in the city of Kramatorsk killed 59 people about a month ago.
UN chief calls for ‘more humanitarian pauses’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for more humanitarian pauses after a safe passage operation allowed more than 100 civilians to leave a besieged steel plant in the war-torn port city of Mariupol.
“I hope the continued coordination with Kyiv and Moscow will lead to more humanitarian pauses that will allow civilians safe passage away from the fighting and aid to reach people where the needs are greatest,” Guterres said in a statement.
US helping make the war a ‘strategic failure’ for Russia: Biden
Military support to Ukraine by the United States and its allies is helping make the invasion a “strategic failure” for Russia, US President Joe Biden has said.
Speaking at a Lockheed Martin factory in Alabama that produces anti-tank Javelin missiles, which have been a crucial asset for Ukrainian forces, Biden credited the workers at the plant for helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion.
“A big part of the reason they [Ukrainians] have been able to keep up fighting and to make this war a strategic failure for Russia is because the United States, together with our allies and partners, have had their back,” he said.
‘This is our fight,’ says German opposition leader on Ukraine visit
Germany’s opposition leader has said during a visit to Ukraine that the country’s battle against Russian invaders was a fight on behalf of freedom everywhere, raising pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to make an appearance in the Ukrainian capital.
“These aren’t images you forget in a hurry,” Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democrats, who lost power in last September’s election, said of the destruction. “It’s not enough to see it on television: you have to see it in person to understand the extent of the tragedy.”
Merz added: “The Chancellor [Scholz] is right that it’s not just Ukraine that’s being defended here, but democracy and freedom – the very way we live in Germany.”
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Read the updates from Tuesday, May 3.