Azov Regiment

Alamy Photo

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has held a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, discussing Türkiye's relations with Ukraine and the grain deal.

Day 501 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Turkey to take on the role of mediator between Ukraine and Russia, and truce talks to be held in Istanbul with the participation of the UN. This was suggested by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin.

The situation in eastern Ukraine remains tense, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

New evacuations from Mariupol, Putin apologizes to Israel, London increases military supplies to Kyiv. Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

The UN announced that there will be more evacuations from Mariupol today

"Russia has broken the promised truce at the Mariupol steel plant, where Ukrainian forces are providing dire support to the city," a Ukrainian commander said, begging for help for his "dying" soldiers and the evacuation of civilians.

Ukrainian officials said today that Russian forces had launched a comprehensive attack on the Azovstal steel and iron works plant near Mariupol.
As the commander of the Azov regiment, Denys Prokopenko, said, the Ukrainian forces inside the factory have been waging "difficult, bloody battles" for the second day, reports the BBC.

Ukrainian defenders of a steel plant in Mariupol say Russian forces have started to storm the last pocket of resistance.

The move comes almost two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military not to storm the plant, but rather block it off.

Ukrainian civilians holed up inside a steel plant in Mariupol under siege by Russian forces nearly two months began evacuating over the weekend and people sheltering elsewhere in the city were to leave Monday, local officials said.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed Russia's "liberation" of Mariupol after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told him Moscow controlled the Ukrainian port city apart from the Azovstal steel plant.

Putin held an emergency meeting because of Russia's economy. He noted that the country has survived a severe blow due to sanctions.
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, believes that the West should respond to sanctions against the entire banking system of Russia due to its attempt to introduce a ruble zone in the territories it has occupied in the south of Ukraine.