Russia-Ukraine War, live: latest news of the conflict and minute by minute

The Ukrainian president alluded to a celebration planned by the Kremlin; 20 civilians escaped from the Mariupol metallurgical plant; Ukraine promised to recover lost territories

04:05 Zelensky received the speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The president of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, Nancy Pelosi , traveled to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, to meet this Sunday with the country’s president, Volodimir Z elensky, who communicated the news through his Telegram channel. and on his Twitter account.

“Meeting with the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in kyiv,” Zelensky wrote, alongside a video of the meeting with Pelosi.

”The United States is a leader in efforts to support Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression. Thank you for helping to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state! ”, added the president.

The visit of Pelosi, leader of the Democratic Party in the lower house of the US Congress, continues the high-level meetings between US representatives and the Ukrainian president after the one held last weekend by the Secretaries of State and Defense, Antony Blinken and LloydAustin.

US President Joe Biden has on occasion stated his willingness to travel to Ukraine.

03:43: Ukraine destroyed 24 armored vehicles on Saturday
In its daily morning report, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that Russian troops are running offensive operations near Izyum (Barvinkove and Izyum) and Slovyansk, with around 300 weapons and equipment and around 1,000 troops transferred from Donetsk and Luhansk.

In Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukrainian forces also claim to have repelled nine Russian attacks in the last 24 hours. They stated that they also destroyed eight tanks, an artillery system, twenty-four units of armored combat vehicles, a special vehicle and five cars (including two fuel tanks).

02/25/2022 Military personnel travel in an armored vehicle on a road near the Russian-Ukrainian border in Belgorod region, Russia. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine following the recognition of the independence of the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.Image: 664882093, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Line credit: Anton Vergun / Sputnik / ContactoPhoto Editorial license valid only for Spain and 3 MONTHS from the date of the image, then delete it from your file. For non-editorial and unlicensed use, please contact EUROPA PRESS. POLITICS Anton Vergun / Sputnik / ContactPhoto

In turn, the Kiev command indicated that the air defense units destroyed seven unmanned aerial vehicles and two Su-25 aircraft.

“In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, a group of enemy troops is taking active action along the entire section of the line of contact,” they added.

02:56 Sweden will take diplomatic action
After the Swedish Armed Forces denounced this Saturday that a Russian plane made an incursion into its skies in the Blekinge province on Friday night, the Swedish government promised to take diplomatic action over what would be a violation of its airspace.

The plane was located east of Bornholm and then flew towards Swedish territory. For a short period, the aircraft violated Swedish airspace and then left the area. Swedish Incident Preparedness followed the entire process and photographed the incident,” the statement said. The plane was a propeller plane, type AN-30, a model used for reconnaissance.

The country’s defense minister, Peter Hultqvist , condemned the incident in a text message sent to the Swedish newspaper ‘Aftonbladet’. ”Of course, we will act diplomatically against this. The action is unprofessional and, given the general security situation, extremely inappropriate. Swedish sovereignty must always be respected ”, he stated.

Last March, the Armed Forces also reported a brief incursion into their skies by four Russian fighter planes over the waters of the Baltic Sea, east of the island of Gotland, some 300 kilometers from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

Swedish Air Force fighter planes documented this incident involving four Russian fighter planes: two Su-27 fighters and two Su-24 fighters. “This is an unprofessional and irresponsible action on the part of Russia,” Air Force chief Carl Johan Edstrom said at the time.

02:10 Zelensky cheated on Putin
“This war has already weakened Russia so much that they have to plan even less military equipment for the parade in Moscow ,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said on Saturday.

Zelensky alluded in this way to the celebrations that Russia plans to carry out on May 9. The Kremlin plans to hold its traditional Victory Day parade on Red Square on that day, commemorating Germany’s surrender to the Soviet Union in World War II.

According to Zelensky, Russia has lost about 23 thousand soldiers in the war and more than 1000 tanks were destroyed.

00:18 More than 1000 Russian tanks destroyed
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said that the Ukrainian military has already destroyed more than 1,000 Russian tanks , nearly 200 Russian aircraft, and nearly 2,500 armored fighting vehicles.

Despite these losses, Russian troops still have the equipment to launch additional attacks, Zelensky said.

“Of course, the occupants still have equipment in stock. Yes, they still have missiles to attack our territory,” he added. “But this war has already weakened Russia so much that they have to plan even less military equipment for the parade in Moscow.”

The Ukrainian president also said that Russia has already lost more than 23,000 soldiers since the invasion began. CNN cannot independently verify this claim.

Russia has sporadically released casualty figures that are low and that observers consider a massive underestimate. Two days before the Russia update, two senior NATO military officials estimated the number of Russian soldiers killed in action in Ukraine to be between 7,000 and 15,000.

23:56 Tribute to the journalists who died in the War
The White House Correspondents Association honored this Saturday, at its annual dinner, the eight journalists who died throughout the 65 days of the war in Ukraine.

They are journalists Yevhenii Sakun, Brent Renaud, Pierre Zakrzewski, Oleksandra Kuvshynova, Oksana Baulina, Maks Levin, Mantas Kvedaravičius, Vira Hyrych.

The institution projected a video on a giant screen in which it remembered the eight press workers.

President Joe Biden , who led the event, recognized the “courage” and commitment of journalists who cover the war in the region to report the truth. He insisted that Russia commits “war crimes”.

23.09 Blinken emphasized the “solid support of the United States” to Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke last week with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Kiev. At that meeting, according to a readout by US department spokesman Ned Price, Blinken updated Kuleba on plans for US government visits to Lviv and “emphasized strong US support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of brutal Russian aggression.

The two also discussed a $33 billion request from the administration to Congress, for security, economic and humanitarian aid to “empower Ukraine to defeat the Kremlin’s inconceivable war.”

22.38 Angelina Jolie interrupted her trip after air sirens sounded
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie visited the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday and attended a boarding school to meet people displaced by the war with Russia before leaving after air raid sirens sounded.

21.30. They denounce that Russia uses trolls to spread false news
The British Foreign Office said on Sunday that Russia is using a troll factory to spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine on social media and target politicians in several countries, including Britain and South Africa, Reuters reported.

Britain cited UK-funded expert research, which it did not publish. He said the investigation exposed how the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign was designed to manipulate international public opinion about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increase support and recruit new sympathizers.