Ukraine-Russia war top developments: 60 killed in bombing of Ukraine school; G7 countries pledge to stop Russian oil imports

As many as 60 people are feared dead after a bomb struck a village school in eastern Ukraine Sunday, Luhansk region Governor Serhiy Gaidai said. The school in Bilohorivka, where about 90 people were sheltering, was hit on Saturday a Russian bomb, setting it ablaze.
Meanwhile, leaders from the G-7 countries met online Sunday and announced their commitment to ban or phase out Russian oil imports in their latest effort to pressure Moscow into ending its aggression on Ukraine. US President Joe Biden, along with other G-7 leaders, held a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of unity ahead of Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on Monday.

Here are the top developments on the Russia-Ukraine crisis:
🔴 The G-7 said it was committed to phasing out or banning Russian oil and denounced President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “His actions bring shame on Russia and the horic sacrifices of its people,” the group said in a statement, referring to Soviet Russia’s role in defeating Nazi Germany 77 years ago.
A view shows an explosion at a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 8, 2022. (REUTERS)
🔴 Russia is set to celebrate ‘Victory Day’, which marks the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany during World War 2 in 1945. Massive military parades will take place across the country and President Vladimir Putin will deliver his annual address from Red Square today.
Russian artillery system ‘Grad’ launchers and other military vehicles stand ready on the eve of the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square on May 9 to celebrate 77 years after the victory in World War II in St. Petersburg, Russia. (AP Photo)
🔴 Over 170 people have been evacuated from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after weeks of shelling and fighting as Russia attempts to take over the port city, according to a statement Osnat Lubrani, the United Nation’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine. The evacuees have been taken to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine.
🔴 Canadian Prime Miner Justin Trudeau on Sunday made an unannounced visit to Kyiv and announced new weapons and equipment for Ukraine. Addressing a news conference after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trudeau said that Canada was imposing new sanctions on Russian individuals and entities in connection with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
This image provided the Irpin Mayor’s Office shows Canadian Prime Miner Justin Trudeau, second from right, speaking with mayor Oleksandr Markushyn, center wearing t-shirt, in Irpin, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Trudeau made a surprise visit to Irpin on Sunday. The city was severely damaged during Russia’s attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. (Irpin Mayor’s Office via AP)
🔴 In another surprise visit, US first lady Jill Biden visited western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother’s Day meeting with the nation’s first lady, Olena Zelenskyy. Biden travelled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.
First lady Jill Biden receives flowers from Olena Zelenskyy, spouse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, outside of School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
🔴 Japan will ban Russian crude oil imports in unity with the Group of Seven’s effort against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Prime Miner Fumio Kishida said. “It’s an extremely difficult decision for a country that mostly relies on energy imports, including oil,” Kishida told reporters Monday. “But G-7 unity is most important right now.”
🔴 The United States has also announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russia’s three biggest television stations, banning US accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russia’s industrial sector.
🔴 Russia’s defence minry has said that its high-precision missiles had destroyed weapons and military equipment supplied to Ukrainian forces from the United States and unspecified Western countries at a railway station near the town of Soledar.
🔴 United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was “appalled” at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting. A UN spokesman said Sunday that Guterres reiterated that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.
🔴 In other news, Ukrainian troops retreated from the eastern Ukrainian city of Popasna, the governor of Luhansk region said on Sunday, confirming previous reports that it had been taken. The head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, had said on Sunday his troops had taken control of most of Popasna.