War in Ukraine live: Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces seven injured in a strike at a cultural center in Lozova

Live moderated by Marie Slavicek

Cover photo: Ukrainian soldiers board a bus leaving the Azovstal factory in Mariupol after surrendering to pro-Russian forces May 20, 2022. ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / REUTERS

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• Russian bombing left 12 dead and 40 injured in Sievierodonetsk in the Luhansk region (east) on Thursday, May 19, according to local governor Serhi Haïdaï. He said most of the shots hit apartment buildings and the death toll could rise.
• Sievierodonetsk and Lyssytchansk form the last Ukrainian pockets of resistance in the Lugansk region. The Russians surround these two places, separated by a river, and bombard them relentlessly. Also in Donbass, the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, announced the deaths of five civilians on Thursday, who he said were killed by Russian soldiers.
• The American Congress confirmed Thursday evening Aid of 40 billion dollars (37.7 billion euros) for Ukraine. Within this framework, $6 billion should allow Ukraine to equip itself with armored vehicles and strengthen its anti-aircraft defenses.
• Joe Biden hosted in Washington on Thursday, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistöto once again demonstrate their enthusiastic support for their country’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
• Law enforcement officials from five western countries that make up the so-called “Five Eyes” alliance (the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom) announced on Thursday that they support Ukraine’s legal action to end war crimes linked to the to condemn the Russian invasion. Justice ministers or prosecutors general said in a statement that they “support” the action of Ukraine’s attorney general Iryna Venediktova, which aims to bring to justice those responsible for “war crimes committed during the Russian invasion.” The trial is open, a 21-year-old Russian sergeant is charged. He faces life imprisonment.
• The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that 1,730 Ukrainian soldiers have entrenched themselves at the Azovstal steel site Mariupol had surrendered since Monday. At least 12 people were killed and 40 others injured in the Luhansk region of Donbass Sieverodonetsk.
• Russia has announced that it wants to cut Ukraine off its Zaporizhia nuclear power plantthe largest in Europe, occupied by the Russian army, unless Kyiv pays Moscow for the electricity produced.
• Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was not in favor of giving Ukraine a “shortcut” to EU membership, citing a “principle of fairness to the six Western Balkan countries that have long wanted it.”
• The big moneymakers of the G7 in Germany to try to keep Ukraine’s finances afloat and to assess the effects of the war on the global economy: inflation, especially in connection with rising energy prices, the looming food crisis, the specter of over-indebtedness in many developing countries.

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