Pentagon: Most Russian forces left Mariupol
The Pentagon has said the majority of Russian forces that had been around the port city of Mariupol have left and headed north, leaving roughly the equivalent of two battalion tactical groups there, or about 2,000 troops.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that even as Russian air strikes continue to bombard Mariupol, Moscow’s forces are still making only “plodding” and incremental progress as the main fight presses on in the eastern Donbas region.
He said he has seen no change in Russian momentum as May 9 draws near. Kirby said the US still assesses that Russia is behind schedule and not making the progress in the Donbas that it expected.
Zelenskyy describes lack of medical access
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described a “catastrophic” lack of access to medical services and medicine in areas of the country under Russian control.
In those areas, he said almost no treatment was available for those suffering from cancer and where insulin for diabetics was difficult to find or non-existent. He said antibiotics were in short supply.
Zelenskyy also said that during the course of the offensive, the Russian military has already fired 2,014 missiles on Ukraine, while 2,682 flights of Russian warplanes have been recorded in Ukrainian skies. He said the destroyed or damaged infrastructure includes nearly 400 hospitals and other medical facilities.
Russian oligarch’s yacht seized in Fiji on US request
Authorities in Fiji have seized the $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov after the US Justice Department requested the vessel be held for violating sanctions and for alleged ties to corruption, the department said.
The five-year-old, 348-foot “Amadea” was berthed in Lautoka, Fiji in the South Pacific when local authorities took control of it based on a US warrant and a Justice Department request.
“The Amadea is subject to forfeiture based on probable cause of violations of US law, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, money laundering and conspiracy,” the department said in a statement.
