PRESIDENT Zelensky has issued a fierce warning to Vladimir Putin in his nightly address, making it clear he will not back down.
The Ukrainian said the Russians would meet the same fate of all previous invaders over the centuries, moments after Putin attended Moscow’s Victory Day parade.
Zelensky said: “On February 24, Russia launched an offensive. Treading on the same rake. Every occupier who comes to our land treads on it. We have been through different wars. But they all had the same finale.
“Our land was sown with bullets and shells, but no enemy was able to take root here. Enemy chariots and tanks drove through our fields, but it did not bear fruit.
“Enemy arrows and missiles flew in our skies, but no one will be able to overshadow our blue sky.”
The news comes as Ukraine’s defence ministry says Russian forces are conducting “storming operations” at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Hundreds of Ukrainian defenders continue to remain in the steel plant and are holding out under Russian attacks.
Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said the Russian forces began laying siege to the plant after a UN convoy left the Donetsk region.
The Russians were trying to blow up a bridge used for evacuations in order to trap the last few defenders inside, he said.
Follow our Russia-Ukraine live blog below for up-to-the-minute updates…
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Ukraine calls for UN to hold special session on war
Ukraine has asked the UN Human Rights Council to hold a special session on the conflict with Russia, according to a letter seen by the Reuters news agency.
“The current situation requires the urgent attention of the Council in view of the recent reports of war crimes and large-scale violations in the town of Bucha and other liberated areas of the country and ongoing reports of mass casualties in the city of Mariupol,” Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, wrote.
The note was dated 9 May and signed by 55 countries.
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UN Human Rights Council to meet Thursday on Ukraine
The UN Human Rights Council announced it will convene a special session on Thursday to address alleged worsening Russian violations in its war in Ukraine.
More than 50 countries on Monday backed Kyiv’s request for an extraordinary meeting of the UN’s top rights body to examine “the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression”.
Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said the move would send a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he insisted Russia’s war in Ukraine was necessary to defend the “Motherland”.
“Together, we are sending another strong message to Putin and his clique of war criminals: you are isolated as never before,” Filipenko said in a video message on Twitter.
“We want to see the UN take practical steps to address Russia’s violation of human rights in Ukraine and the war crimes which it commits daily against our people.”
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David Miliband: Putin’s Victory Day address was ‘downbeat’ and ‘indeterminate’
David Miliband, President and Chief Executive of the International Rescue Committee spoke to Sky News about the nature of Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day speech yesterday evening.
He said many people had thought the 9 May parade would give us an insight into Mr Putin’s war plans – but “my immediate reflection is that we haven’t got that”.
Mr Miliband added: “This wasn’t a significant speech in terms of announcement, it has been described as downbeat… as ineffectual.
“And I think that speaks to this fundamental point that has emerged over the past 10 weeks really, which is that what President Putin expected to be a swift and victorious invasion with the installation of a new government has not come to pass.
“That obviously creates enormous danger on the ground, but it also means that the ability of the Ukrainian government to uphold their national sovereignty and their own will about their future has been asserted in a way completely contrary to the original invasion aims.
“Perhaps that explains the downbeat and rather indeterminate nature of the speech today.”
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Pentagon: ‘Indications’ Ukrainians are being moved against their will
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby has revealed today that the US has seen indications that some Ukrainians are being moved to Russia against their will.
He condemned the actions as “unconscionable.”
Those in Ukraine have made similar claims throughout the war, with some alleging children are among those being moved across the border.
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Macron: It could take ‘several decades’ for Ukraine to join EU
The French president Emmanuel Macron has said it would likely take “several decades” for Ukraine to join the EU.
He made the remark during an event in Strasbourg, in which he expressed support for a new form of “political European community”, which would allow countries outside the bloc to share in “European core values”.
Marcon said: “Even if we grant it candidate status tomorrow, we all know perfectly well that the process to allow it to join would take several years indeed, probably several decades”.
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News you may have missed
- Sixty people are feared dead after Putin’s troops bombed a school in Ukraine where survivors were sheltering.
- Putin’s mental health is “bad” and the threat he could launch nuclear weapons is “very real”, an oligarch close to the tyrant has revealed.
- Volodymr Zelensky yesterday commemorated Victory Day by promising besieged Ukraine would see a new dawn
- A missile mountain lays bare the scale of Russia’s murderous bombardment in Ukraine.
- Putin has been stunned to discover his lover is pregnant again, it was reported in Moscow yesterday.
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Explained: What is Russia’s Victory Day?
8 May celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Yesterday, the celebrations included a military parade in Moscow and more than two dozen Russian cities.
Usually, the parade involves nearly 65,000 people, 2,400 types of weapons and military equipment and more than 460 planes, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Russian president Vladimir Putin also gave several speeches about WWII – or the Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Russia.
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Putin watches military parade with BLANKET over his legs
VLADIMIR Putin sat watching his meagre military parade with a thick green blanket across his legs as rumours continue to swirl around his health yesterday.
The Russian president was one of the only attendees using the covering as he sat amongst elderly World War 2 veterans while Russian celebrated Victory Day.
Putin was seated wearing a buttoned up black puffer jacket with a victory ribbon tied his chest as he watched soldiers and military vehicles roll by in Moscow’s famous Red Square.
But across his legs was a thick green blanket, which had been left for him on his seat when he first arrived at the viewing platform.
It is believed to have been around 9C at the time.
Rumours persist about the Russian leader’s declining physical and mental health – with persistent reports he is suffering Parkinson’s and is due to undergo cancer treatment in the coming months.
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UK: Putin could resort to ramping up ‘brutality’ to win war
The UK’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has said that Vladimir Putin could still use “brutality” to win the war in Ukraine after having failed with its “battle-winning components” of technology, leadership and intelligence.
Speaking at the Defence of Europe conference at King’s College London (KCL), Mr Wallace said: “There is one component he still has in his back pocket, which we should really worry about, which is brutality.”
He continued: “If you win your war by killing, murdering, raping, bombing civilian territories, breaching all human rights, all Geneva Conventions, corruption, and that becomes the battle-winning component, the message that sends around the world to other adversaries around the world is incredibly dangerous.
“That you don’t need to have all the best kit or the best training or appropriate rule of law, you just need to be able to be more brutal than the other person and more prepared to destroy everything in your path.”
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Thank you for reading my coverage this evening. My colleague, Louis Allwood will be back with you tomorrow morning.
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Macron offers Ukraine ‘full support’
French President Emmanuel Macron offered Ukraine “full support” on Monday as he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Berlin’s symbolically important Brandenburg Gate, illuminated in Ukraine’s national colours, AFP saw.
Macron said “full support for Ukraine” as he and Scholz approached around 200 people gathered nearby, with some draped in Ukraine’s blue and yellow national colours and chanting “Mariupol”, an eastern Ukrainian city devastated by Russian strikes.
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Pentagon: ‘Indications’ Ukrainians are being moved against their will
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby has revealed today that the US has seen indications that some Ukrainians are being moved to Russia against their will.
He condemned the actions as “unconscionable.”
Those in Ukraine have made similar claims throughout the war, with some alleging children are among those being moved across the border.
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Biden signs measure speeding up US weapons deliveries to Ukraine
President Joe Biden on Monday eased the acceleration of US weapons shipments to Ukraine through a law based on a World War II measure helping US allies to defeat Nazi Germany.
Biden signed the Lend-lease Act in the Oval Office, saying the United States supports Ukrainians’ “fight to defend their country and their democracy against Putin’s brutal war.”
Acknowledging the billions of dollars already spent by the United States, Biden said “caving to aggression is even more costly.”
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David Miliband: Putin’s Victory Day address was ‘downbeat’ and ‘indeterminate’
David Miliband, President and Chief Executive of the International Rescue Committee spoke to Sky News about the nature of Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day speech earlier.
He said many people had thought the 9 May parade would give us an insight into Mr Putin’s war plans – but “my immediate reflection is that we haven’t got that”.
Mr Miliband added: “This wasn’t a significant speech in terms of announcement, it has been described as downbeat… as ineffectual.
“And I think that speaks to this fundamental point that has emerged over the past 10 weeks really, which is that what President Putin expected to be a swift and victorious invasion with the installation of a new government has not come to pass.
“That obviously creates enormous danger on the ground, but it also means that the ability of the Ukrainian government to uphold their national sovereignty and their own will about their future has been asserted in a way completely contrary to the original invasion aims.
“Perhaps that explains the downbeat and rather indeterminate nature of the speech today.”
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Russia hits out after diplomat covered in ‘red paint’
Earlier we reported that the Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreev, was covered in what appears to be red paint by a crowd of protesters in Warsaw.
Crowds around him chanted “fascists” as the red liquid was thrown while he was trying to lay flowers at the cemetery of Soviet soldiers on Russia’s Victory Day.
The Russian foreign ministry has since condemned the action.
Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says: “Neo-Nazis have once again shown their face – and it is bloody.”
She went on to accuse the West of “set[ting] a course for the reincarnation of fascism”.
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UN Human Rights Council to meet Thursday on Ukraine
The UN Human Rights Council announced it will convene a special session on Thursday to address alleged worsening Russian violations in its war in Ukraine.
More than 50 countries on Monday backed Kyiv’s request for an extraordinary meeting of the UN’s top rights body to examine “the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression”.
Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said the move would send a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he insisted Russia’s war in Ukraine was necessary to defend the “Motherland”.
“Together, we are sending another strong message to Putin and his clique of war criminals: you are isolated as never before,” Filipenko said in a video message on Twitter.
“We want to see the UN take practical steps to address Russia’s violation of human rights in Ukraine and the war crimes which it commits daily against our people.”
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Mariupol steel plant pounded by tanks
Ukraine’s defence ministry has claimed that Mariupol’s Azovstal steel works is being pounded by Russian tanks and artillery.
Russia has declared victory in Mariupol, but the sprawling steel works remains under the control of Ukrainian fighters.
“The enemy continues to blockade our units in the area of the Azovstal factory, and is conducting storming operations with the support of tank and artillery fire,” defence ministry spokesman Oleksander Motuzyanyk told an online briefing.
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Former Ukrainian leader: ‘This is a defeat march’ not Victory Day
Petro Poroshenko, the former president of Ukraine, spoke to Sky News earleir today following the Victory Day parade in Moscow.
He described the festivities as a “defeat March”, adding: “This is another evidence that [Vladimir] Putin is completely crazy.
“He lives in an absolutely parallel world, a different universe.”
Mr Poroshenko then addressed Mr Putin directly, saying: “This is Ukrainian land, and this is nothing to do with you and we hate you.
“He said that in reality he is opposing NATO. Mr Putin, NATO is for security of the member states and they do not oppose you, it is you that is trying to attack everybody including the NATO states.”
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Putin holds portrait of his father
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a portrait of his father as he took part in the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day in Moscow, which marks the end of World War Two.
His father, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, was a war veteran.
In Saint Petersburg (not pictured), there was also an Immortal Regiment march.
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Mystery after Putin’s Doomsday nuclear plane cancelled
A FLYOVER by Vladimir Putin’s Doomsday nuclear war command post plane was today mysteriously cancelled.
The plane was meant to be in a 77 strong fly-past over Red Square as part of the Victory Day parade but it was cancelled with bad weather given as reason – despite there being clear skies in Moscow.
Questions have now been raised about the real motive for the emitting such a key part of the traditional part of the annual Victory Day celebrations.
Russian military analyst told the New York Times “there cannot be hurricanes all across the country” adding that bad weather “doesn’t look plausible” as an explanation.
The Doomsday plane had been due to take part in the annual Victory Day military parade on Red Square marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, presided over by the Russian tyrant.
The IL-80 Doomsday jet was seen flying above Moscow in the run up to the Victory Day paradeCredit: Reuters 
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Ukraine calls for UN to hold special session on war
Ukraine has asked the UN Human Rights Council to hold a special session on the conflict with Russia, according to a letter seen by the Reuters news agency.
“The current situation requires the urgent attention of the Council in view of the recent reports of war crimes and large-scale violations in the town of Bucha and other liberated areas of the country and ongoing reports of mass casualties in the city of Mariupol,” Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, wrote.
The note was dated 9 May and signed by 55 countries.
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EU chief to meet Orban amid Russia oil ban row
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen headed to Hungary today to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is holding up Brussels’ plans for an embargo on Russian oil.
“They will discuss issues related to European security of energy supply,” von der Leyen’s spokesman Eric Mamer said.
Landlocked Hungary relies on Russian oil from a single pipeline and Orban has warned he cannot approve the European Commission’s proposed sixth package of EU sanctions against Moscow.
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Update from Mariupol
Ukraine has said today that Russia is continuing its attack on the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol with tank and artillery fire.
“The enemy continues to blockade our units in the area of the Azovstal factory, and is conducting storming operations with the support of tank and artillery fire,” a Ukrainian defence ministry spokesperson said.
“The possibility of a renewal of its bombardment from Tu-22 M3 bombers is not excluded,” they added.
The evacuation of civilians from the besieged steelworks was recently completed.
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Mexico’s president urges for a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement
Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said today in a regular news conference that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine would be the best option to lower inflation.
“The most important thing would be for a peace agreement to be reached between Russia and Ukraine.
“That would help a lot, because that is what precipitated the economic crisis,” said Lopez Obrador.
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Macron warns Russia’s ‘humiliation’ won’t serve peace
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that Russia and Ukraine would have to come to a negotiated truce and that peace efforts would not be served by Russia’s “humiliation”.
“Tomorrow we’ll have a peace to build, let’s never forget that,” he told reporters. “We will have to do this with Ukraine and Russia around the table.
“The terms of the discussion and negotiation will be set by Ukraine and Russia, but that will not be done through… the exclusion of one another, nor even in their humiliation.”