The Russian forces are opening a humanitarian corridor on May 5, 6 and 7, from 8 AM until 6 PM Moscow time, for the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel mills in Mariupol, the Russian TASS reports.

Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to help save the lives of the remaining Ukrainians trapped in Azovstal. Russian forces have been storming the defenders of the plant and have entered the tunnels of the compound.

Eleven Russian attacks have been staved off in Donbas in the past 24 hours. The Ukrainian army has taken back control of several settlements in Mykolayiv and in Kherson region, the Ukrainian state news agency UNIAN reports.

Discussions of the European Commission’s proposals for a 6^th package of economic sanctions against Russia are to begin at an EU ambassadors level on 5 May. Brussels is proposing the phasing out of the import of Russian oil within the space of 6 months. Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia have reservations regarding this deadline.

Yesterday’s pro-Ukrainian initiative to wrap the monument to the Soviet army in Sofia in Bulgarian and Ukrainian flags was interrupted in the evening by pro-Russian protesters. The police intervened to prevent clashes between the two protests