Russia-Ukraine War top developments: Evacuation of civilians from Ukrainian steel plant begins; Kyiv closes 4 ports

The first group of civilians trapped for weeks inside a steel plant in Mariupol under Russian siege was expected to reach a Ukrainian-controlled city on Monday, as a new attempt was launched to allow people sheltering elsewhere in the city to leave.
The evacuation, if successful, would represent rare progress in easing the human cost of the almost 10-week war, which has caused particular suffering in Mariupol. Previous attempts to open safe corridors out of the port city on the Sea of Azov and other places have broken down.
Here are some key updates:
➡️ Around 100 civilians evacuated from the ruined Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol were due to arrive in a Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a surprise visit to Kyiv. “For the first time, we had two days of a ceasefire on this territory, and we managed to take out more than 100 civilians – women, children,” Zelenskyy said in a nightly video address. The strategic port city on the Azov Sea has endured the most destructive siege of the war with Russia – now in its third month – with Pope Francis, in an implicit criticism of Moscow, telling thousands of people in St Peter’s Square on Sunday it had been “barbarously bombarded”.
➡️ Russia’s defence minry said that the Russian military had shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet near Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine. It said in a briefing it had hit 38 military targets in Ukraine, including ammunition depots and control centres.
➡️ Two explosions took place in Belgorod, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, early on Monday but there was no damage or security threat, the top official in the area said. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said he “wanted to dispel apprehensions among inhabitants of the region that someone or something flew in from the territory of Ukraine”. “That is not the case. Our military aviation was performing combat tasks as part of the special military operation,” he added, using the official term which Russia refers to the war in Ukraine.
➡️ A Ukrainian Bayraktar drone destroyed two Russian Raptor-class patrol ships in the Black Sea on Monday, Ukraine’s military chief said.”Two Russian Raptor-class boats were destroyed at dawn today near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island,” Chief of General Staff Valeriy Zaluzhniy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
➡️ European Union energy miners will meet Monday to discuss Russia’s decision to cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, and debate planned new sanctions over Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The 27 nation-bloc has imposed five rounds of sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, banks, companies and other organizations since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February. The European Commission is working on the sixth round of measures which could include oil restrictions, but Russia-dependent countries like Hungary and Slovakia are wary of taking tough action.
➡️ First lady Jill Biden will visit Romania and Slovakia from May 5-9 to meet with US service members and embassy personnel, displaced Ukrainian parents and children, humanitarian aid workers, and teachers, her office said on Monday. On Sunday, celebrated as Mother’s Day in the United States, Biden will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their homes because of Russia’s war against Ukraine, her office said.
➡️ Ukraine could lose tens of millions of tonnes of grain due to Russia’s blockade of its Black Sea ports, triggering a food crisis that will affect Europe, Asia, and Africa, Zelenskyy said. “Russia does not let ships come in or go out, it is controlling the Black Sea,” Zelenskyy told the Australian news programme 60 Minutes. “Russia wants to completely block our country’s economy.” Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and other food products and also of metals.
➡️ Ukraine has formally closed its four Black and Azov Sea ports, which Russian forces have captured, the Ukrainian agriculture minry said. The Azov Sea ports of Mariupol, Berdiansk, and Skadovsk and the Black Sea port of Kherson were closed “until the restoration of control”, the minry said in a statement. “The adoption of this measure is caused the impossibility of servicing ships and passengers, carrying out cargo, transport and other related economic activities, ensuring the appropriate level of safety of navigation,” it said.
➡️  Daily nominations, or requests, for Russian gas deliveries through Ukraine into Europe via the Slovakian border point of Velke Kapusany rose to their highest since the end of November on Monday, data from Slovakian operator TSO Eustream showed.