Live updates | Ukraine reports huge grain seizures by Russia

LONDON — Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson talkedabout the development of the U.N. effort to leave individuals from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol and “offered the U.K.’s continued financial and humanitarian assistance” throughout a talk Saturday with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskky.

“The prime minister repeated that he is more devoted than ever to enhancing Ukraine and guaranteeing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin stopsworking, keepinginmind how tough the Ukrainians are combating for their flexibility,’’ Johnson’s Downing Street workplace stated.

“He validated that the UK will continue to offer extra military help to provide the Ukrainians the devices they required to safeguard themselves,” the declaration stated.

The United Nations hasactually been trying to broker an evacuation in the port city where some 100,000 civilians remain.Up to 1,000 civilians are living below a Soviet-era steel plant in Mariupol, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Ukraine has not stated how numerous fighters are likewise in the plant, however the Russians put the number at about 2,000.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

— Ukrainian forces battle Russia’s grinding advance in eastern Donbas area

— Wives of Mariupol protectors appeal for soldiers’ evacuation from last holdout

— Some Ukrainians go back throughout front line towards houses, regardlessof threats

— Ukrainian ladies findout how to clear land mines at course in Kosovo

Follow all AP stories on Russia’s war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

A Russian rocket attack damaged an airport runway in Odesa, Ukraine’s third-largest city and a crucial Black Sea port, the Ukrainian army stated Saturday.

In a Telegram post, Ukraine’s Operational Command South stated there was no method that the Odesa runway might be utilized as a outcome of the rocket attack.

Local authorities prompted citizens of the location to shelter in location as Ukrainian news company UNIAN, mentioning army sources, reported that “several” surges were heard in Odesa.

Odesa’s local guv stated that the rocket was fired from Russian-occupied Crimea. Maksym Marchenko stated there were no reports of any injuries.

Russian forces haveactually embarked on a significant military operation to take substantial parts of southern and eastern Ukraine, the nation’s commercial heartland, and capture the nation’s Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s nationwide grid operator states it has has broughtback “reliable” power supply in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, around the website of the 1986 nuclear reactor catastrophe.

“In the afternoon, the last needed 330 kV power transmission line was put into operation,” the state-owned Ukrenergo composed in a Telegram post Saturday.

According to the verysame post, Ukrenergo likewise broughtback another 330 kV line in the northern Kyiv area last night, assisting support the energy supply in the capital. It stated the restoration of additional transmission lines in and around Kyiv stays underway.

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KYIV — The mayor of the eastern Ukrainian town of Popasna stated in a video interview that 2 buses headed to the town to leave homeowners hadactually been fired upon and that contact with the chauffeurs hadactually been lost.

“Yesterday we left 31 individuals from Popasna. Many more individuals were waiting; for that factor we dispatched 2 more buses to the evacuation point,” Mayor Mykola Khanatov stated in an interview published on the Telegram channel of Serhiy Haidai, the Ukrainian guv of the eastern Luhansk area.

“We understand that (the buses) reached the town and then came under fire from an opponent sabotage and reconnaissance group,” Khanatov stated. ”There is no contact with individuals who were inside the cars and were arranging the evacuation.”

Russian forces haveactually embarked on a significant military operation to take considerable parts of southern and eastern Ukraine, the nation’s commercial heartland.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Another mass tomb hasactually been discovered in the Kyiv residentialarea of Bucha, the scene of declared mass executions of civilians priorto its regain by Ukrainian forces in early March, the head of Kyiv’s local authorities force stated Saturday.

“On April 29, a pit with the bodies of 3 males was discovered in the Bucha district,” local cops chief Andriy Nebytov composed on Facebook. “The victims were tortured for a prolonged duration of time. Bullet injuries were discovered on the extremities of their bodies. In the end, each of the males was shot through the ear.”

“This is another mass burial made by the occupiers in the Bucha district, the long-suffering district where more than a thousand civilians haveactually been eliminated and tortured,” Nebytov included.

According to Nebytov’s post, the burial website was discovered in the forest near the town of Myrotske, 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of the town of Bucha. Nebytov stated the 3 bodies were being sentout for a forensic assessment, following a initial evaluation by the Kyiv local authorities.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Seven Ukrainian soldiers and 7 civilians haveactually been launched in a detainee swap Saturday with Russia, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk stated on social media.

““We’re bringing house 14 of our individuals: 7 military workers and 7 civilians,“Vereshchuk composed on Facebook and Telegram. “To me, this exchange is unique: one of the woman soldiers is 5 months pregnant.”

As of Saturday afternoon, the swap had not been verified by authorities Russian sources.

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NEW YORK — Prices for Russian credit default swaps — insurancecoverage agreements that safeguard an financier versus a default — plunged dramatically overnight after Moscow utilized its valuable foreign currency reserves to make a last-minute financialobligation payment on Friday.

The expense for a five-year credit default swap on Russian financialobligation was $5.84 million to safeguard $10