Scores of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school where about 90 people were taking shelter in the basement, while Ukrainian fighters held out inside Mariupolsa国际传媒檚 steel plant as Moscowsa国际传媒檚 forces apparently raced to capture the city ahead of Russiasa国际传媒檚 .
Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people at the school in the village of Bilohorivka after Saturdaysa国际传媒檚 bombing, according to the governor of Luhansk province, part of the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas.
sa国际传媒淢ost likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,sa国际传媒� Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.
As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support. U.S. first lady Jill Biden met with her Ukrainian counterpart, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his countrysa国际传媒檚 flag at its embassy in Kyiv.
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The newly appointed acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, posted a picture of herself at the American Embassy, trumpeting plans for the eventual U.S. return to the Ukrainian capital after Moscowsa国际传媒檚 forces abandoned their effort to storm Kyiv weeks ago and began focusing on the capture of the Donbas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others warned in recent days that Russian attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, and some cities declared curfews or cautioned people against gathering in public. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square.
sa国际传媒淭hey have nothing to celebrate tomorrow,sa国际传媒� Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN. sa国际传媒淭hey have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe.sa国际传媒�
Russian forces struggled to complete their takeover of Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what was the only part of the city not under Russian control.
The last of the women, children and older civilians who were taking shelter with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines set by the Russians for laying down their arms.
Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, a unit holding the steel mill, said the site was targeted overnight by warplanes, artillery and tanks.
sa国际传媒淲e are under constant shelling,sa国际传媒� he said online, adding that Russian ground troops tried to storm the plant sa国际传媒� a claim Russian officials denied in recent days sa国际传媒� and lay mines. Palamar reported a sa国际传媒渕ultitude of casualties.sa国际传媒�
Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant but declined to reveal how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters didnsa国际传媒檛 have lifesaving equipment and had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that had collapsed under the shelling.
sa国际传媒淪urrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy,sa国际传媒� Samoilenko said.
The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the defenders.
The U.S. announced new sanctions against Russia, cutting off Western advertising from Russiasa国际传媒檚 three biggest TV stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russiasa国际传媒檚 industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.
Trudeau met with Zelenskyy and made a surprise visit to Irpin, which was damaged in Russiasa国际传媒檚 attempt to take Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also met with the German parliament speaker, B盲rbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance.
western Ukraine for a surprise Mothersa国际传媒檚 Day meeting with Zelenskyysa国际传媒檚 wife, Olena Zelenska.
Zelenskyy released a video address marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russiasa国际传媒檚 invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism. The black-and-white footage showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, a Kyiv suburb.
Zelenskyy said that generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words sa国际传媒淣ever again,sa国际传媒� a phrase often used as a vow not to allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Elsewhere, on Ukrainesa国际传媒檚 coast, explosions echoed again across the major Black Sea port of Odesa. At least five blasts were heard, according to local media.
The Ukrainian military said Moscow was focusing its main efforts on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.
In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukrainesa国际传媒檚 military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the warsa国际传媒檚 first days. A satellite image by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.
But Moscowsa国际传媒檚 forces showed no sign of backing down in the south. Satellite photos show Russia has put armored vehicles and missile systems at a small base in the Crimean Peninsula.
The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, the countrysa国际传媒檚 second-largest city, is making sa国际传媒渟ignificant progress,sa国际传媒� according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.
However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Popasna, regional authorities said.
Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoplesa国际传媒檚 Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.
The Kharkiv regional administration said three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kharkiv city.
South of Kharkiv, in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of such explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the agreement.
sa国际传媒淭his war is treacherous,sa国际传媒� the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on social media. sa国际传媒淚t is near, even when it is invisible.sa国际传媒�
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Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.
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