© Reuters. A woman sits with children as evacuations, including civilians, leave the area near the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, to a temporary accommodation center during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the village of Bezimenne in the Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 1
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(Reuters) – Ukraine said a new effort was underway on Friday to mass evacuate civilians trapped in a heavily bombed steel structure in the city of Mariupol, after bloody clashes with Russian forces had thwarted efforts to bring them to safety the day before.
THE FIGHT
* Russian forces at the Ukrainian port of Mariupol continued their ground assault on the Azovstal steel plant for a second day, British military intelligence said.
* The Russian Defense Ministry said that its missiles destroyed a large ammunition depot in the city of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.
It also said its air defenses shot down two Ukrainian warplanes, a Su-25 and a MiG-29, in the eastern Luhansk region.
Reports of battlefield developments by both sides could not be independently verified by Reuters.
HUMAN IMPACTS
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has devastated hundreds of hospitals and other medical facilities, and left doctors without cancer drugs or the ability to operate.
ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
* Hungary cannot support the new EU sanctions package against Russia in its current form, including an embargo on Russian imports, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
* US President Joe Biden said he would talk to leaders of the G7 advanced economies this week about more sanctions.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
* Germany will deliver seven self-propelled artillery vehicles to Ukraine, up to five artillery vehicles that the Netherlands has committed, German Defense Minister Lambrecht said.
QUOTE
“If you consider only the medical infrastructure, as of today, the Russian military has destroyed or damaged almost 400 healthcare facilities: hospitals, maternity wards, outpatient clinic.
