Ukraine latest: Volodymyr Zelensky addresses G7 leaders, PM says cost of Ukraine support is price worth paying

US first lady Jill Biden has met with her Ukrainian counterpart in a surprise visit to western Ukraine.

She later wrote on Twitter: “This Mother’s Day, I wanted to be with Ukrainian mothers and their children. Over the last few months, far too many Ukrainians have had to flee their homes – forcing them to leave behind their loved ones.

“As a mother, I can only imagine the grief and anxiety they must feel every day from Russia’s unprovoked attack. I’ve seen firsthand how the people of Slovakia and Romania have opened their homes, their schools, their hospitals, and their hearts.

“Together, we are united for Ukraine.

“I hope by being here I can convey how much their strength and resilience inspires the world, and remind them that they are not alone.”

Victory Day is Russia’s central national holiday and carries ongoing importance to ordinary Russians, many of whom carry portraits of their relatives who fought in the war.

While the annual event is always a mix of pride and patriotism for the Kremlin, this year there is also apprehension around what President Vladimir Putin may say, given his desire to make military progress as his brutal invasion of Ukraine stalls.

Early on in the conflict, Victory Day on 9 May was earmarked by Russia as a point of focus, even if it has become clear to Moscow that a swift victory was impossible in the face of stern Ukrainian defence.

But what is Victory Day, how is it celebrated in Russia, and what could Putin announce? Read our explainer on what you need to know.

Ukraine’s military said it has recaptured areas in the south and repelled Russian attacks in the east as a battle rages at a steel mill in Mariupol – where Ukrainian troops are holed up in tunnels and bunkers fending off a Russian onslaught.

Ukrainian fighters have held out at the sprawling Azovstal steel mill — the last pocket of resistance in a city that is otherwise controlled by Moscow’s forces.

“With the support of aircraft, the enemy resumed the offensive in order to take control of the plant,” the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said on Thursday.

Video posted on social media on Wednesday night showed Russian air strikes on the steel plant.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ending the EU’s dependency on Russian oil “will not be easy but we simply have to do it”.

Osnat Lubrani, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Ukraine, said evacuees from the besieged city of Mariupol have spoken of the “hell” they have experienced in the city.

Boris Johnson has said any threat or attack on British diplomats in Ukraine is “totally beyond the pale”.

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain about the UK’s ambassador, the Prime Minister said: “I’m proud of our diplomats in Ukraine and Melinda Simmons, who is going back to open the embassy and she has done an amazing job.”

Mr Johnson added that threats toward British diplomats are “totally beyond the pale” and that there is “no justification for it”.

He said the UK has “led the world in helping the Ukrainians to protect themselves against wanton aggression, barbaric aggression” and later added that the UK has also “marshalled the world in delivering a very tough package of economic sanctions”.

“We are not saying we are doing this to drive some geopolitical change or have some outcome in Moscow,” he said.

“What we care about is Ukrainian people and their suffering. It is totally unjustifiable to have a free country like Ukraine to be overwhelmed and obliterated like it has been.”

Boris Johnson will address the Kyiv parliament today where he is expected to say:

Russian football clubs and the national team have been hit with more sanctions from footballing body UEFA.

The country will be barred from competing in this summer’s women’s Euro 2022 tournament as the Ukrainian invasion continues.

Teams at club level will also continue to be barred from UEFA competitions next season, after they were removed from this year’s ongoing competitions “until further notice”.

UEFA has also confirmed that Russia’s bids to host the men’s Euro 2028 or 2032 tournaments are now ineligible.

Israel has hit out at Russia over “unforgivable” comments by its foreign minister about Nazism and antisemitism – including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish.

Israel, which summoned the Russian ambassador in response, said the remarks blamed Jews for their own murder in the Holocaust.

It marks a sharp decline in relations between the two countries at a time when Israel has sought to remain neutral between Russia and Ukraine due its security needs in the Middle East.

What did Sergei Lavrov say?

Asked in an interview with an Italian news channel about Russian claims that it invaded Ukraine to “denazify” the country, Sergei Lavrov said that Ukraine could still have Nazi elements even if some figures, including the country’s president, were Jewish.

“So when they say ‘How can Nazification exist if we’re Jewish?’ In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn’t mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish,” he said, speaking to the station in Russian, dubbed over by an Italian translation.

The Israeli response

Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid called Mr Lavrov’s statement “unforgivable and scandalous and a horrible historical error”.

“The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust,” Mr Lapid said. “The lowest level of racism against Jews is to blame Jews themselves for antisemitism.”

While official evacuations have often faltered, many people have managed to flee Mariupol under their own steam in recent weeks.

Others are unable to escape.

“People without cars cannot leave. They’re desperate,” said Olena Gibert, who was among those arriving at a UN-backed reception centre in Zaporizhzhia in dusty and often damaged private cars.

“You need to go get them. People have nothing. We had nothing.”

Anastasiia Dembytska, who took advantage of the brief ceasefire around the evacuation of civilians from the steel plant to leave with her daughter, nephew and dog, told the Associated Press (AP) her family survived by cooking on a makeshift stove and drinking well water.

She said she could see the steel plant from her window, when she dared to look out.

“We could see the rockets flying” and clouds of smoke over the plant, she said.