Russian attack destroys apartment building in Kyiv
In a long-awaited humanitarian mission, the United Nations is conducting a “safe passage operation” for civilians near the steelworks serving as the last-remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol.
Up to 1,000 civilians are thought to have been stuck underneath the Azovstal plant with minimal supplies alongside hundreds of fighters – some said to be suffering with festering wounds – after Vladimir Putin told Russian troops to blockade the area last week “so that a fly can’t get through”.
The first groups of civilians, totalling around 50 people so far, reportedly including children, were photographed by a Reuters journalist arriving to the relative safety of a temporary accommodation centre in the nearby Donetsk village of Bezimenne on Sunday.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to indicate he would meet with an initial group of 100 evacuees in the town of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.
Asda chairman warns of ‘knock-on effect’ on food prices as Ukraine war impacts wheat and oil supplies
Asda chairman Lord Rose would not predict how much food prices could increase but said “there is knock-on effect” due to the cost of raw materials and the impact of inflation.
Sunflower oil, wheat and oil prices have been affected by the war in Ukraine.
Lord Rose told the BBC Sunday Morning show: “We don’t know what will happen to gas prices and whatever else and clearly that will be dictated by however long this war goes on for, but I am afraid there is knock-on effect for all raw materials.
“There is going to be a new level of costs for these raw materials and they won’t go down. It is a new high and that is something that people are going to have to accommodate.
“What we are now going to have to think about is, is that going to have a long-term effect on inflation because then will we have a wage spiral, or won’t we?
“The converse side of that is we could end up, if we have no growth in the business, having stagflation.
“They are both evil and the Government has got a very difficult and tricky road to navigate.”
Thomas Kingsley1 May 2022 16:40
Greens still seek UK’s exit from Nato despite Ukraine war, says leader
The Green Party would seek to move the UK out of Nato in the long-term once the conflict in Ukraine is over, its co-leader has said.
Adrian Ramsay told Sky News he did not want to “change structures in the middle of a conflict”, but believes the UK should leave the military alliance in the future.
Asked on Sky News whether the Greens’ position on Nato has changed as a result of the Ukraine conflict, Mr Ramsay confirmed it has not.
He said: “We have a long-term policy about reviewing what structures we need to have to build peace in the world and we have to remember this conflict has happened at a time when we are part of Nato, when we are still seeing nuclear weapons dominate.
“Of course we are not about changing structures in the middle of conflict and what we need to do at the moment is focus on how Ukraine can be supported in a wide variety of ways.”
Mr Ramsay suggested the UK needs to focus on “peacekeeping and getting the parties to the table” as well as “stronger economic action”.
Thomas Kingsley1 May 2022 16:25
Zelensky indicates he will meet first Azovstal evacuees tomorrow
A first group of 100 Ukrainian civilians being evacuated from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel works will reach the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Andy Gregory1 May 2022 16:08
‘Everyone here is kind and respectful’: The Ukrainian family sheltering a Yemeni student
Koshmanivka village in Poltava Oblast is a far cry from the seaport city of Mukalla in…
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