Russia renews assault on Azovstal steel plant ahead of ‘Victory Day’; Ukraine says evacuations to continue. Follow our live updates

Russian forces in the besieged coastal city of Mariupol have continued their ground assault on the Azovstal steel plant for a second day, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry, despite Russian statements claiming they would only seek to seal it off.

The renewed effort to secure Azovstal and complete the capture of Mariupol is likely linked to Russia’s annual “Victory Day” commemorations on May 9, the U.K. said, and President Vladimir Putin’s desire to have a “symbolic success” in Ukraine.

This sustained effort “has come at personnel, equipment and munitions cost to Russia,” the U.K. ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

— Sam Meredith

Intelligence shared by the U.S. helped Ukraine sink the Russian cruiser Moskva, U.S. officials told NBC News, confirming an American role in perhaps the most embarrassing blow to Vladimir Putin’s troubled invasion of Ukraine.

A guided-missile cruiser carrying a crew of 510, the Moskva was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It sank on April 14 after being struck by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles, U.S. officials said. Moscow said the vessel sank after a fire. 

The attack happened after Ukrainian forces asked the Americans about a ship sailing in the Black Sea south of Odesa, U.S. officials told NBC News. The U.S. identified it as the Moskva, officials said, and helped confirm its location, after which the Ukrainians targeted the ship.

The U.S. did not know in advance that Ukraine was going to target the Moskva, officials said, and was not involved in the decision to strike. Maritime intelligence is shared with Ukraine to help it defend against attack from Russian ships, officials added.

Read the full story here.

— Ken Dilanian, Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee, NBC News

Former U.S. President George W. Bush and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met via an online video conference, where Zelenskyy invited Bush to visit Ukraine.

Bush in turn conveyed his support for the president and the people of Ukraine.

“Your courage is very important for further success. If you continue to do what you do, you will always have our support if you continue to fight as you do now,” he said, according to the Ukrainian president’s office.

Bush also called Zelenskyy “the Winston Churchill of our time,” according to a statment from the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Zelenskyy expressed his appreciation for support from the U.S. and Americans.

“Americans are sincere, open-minded people, and I feel it. We have common values. I feel that it is from the heart,” Zelenskyy said, according to the president’s office.

— Chelsea Ong

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he told both Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Kremlin’s invasion must end for the sake of the entire world.

“Throughout my travels, I did not mince words,” Guterres told the United Nations Security Council, following separate trips to the capitals of Russia and Ukraine.

“I said the same thing in Moscow as I did in Kyiv which is exactly what I have repeatedly expressed in New York. Namely that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of its territorial integrity and of the charter of the United Nations. It must end for the sake of the people of Ukraine, Russia, and the entire world,” he said.

Guterres said that one goal of his trip was to broker the safe passageway of Ukrainians trapped in a steel plant in Mariupol. He said that so far, nearly 500 civilians have been evacuated after living under relentless shelling and scarce availability of food and water.

Guterres said that a third evacuation was underway but declined to elaborate in order to “avoid undermining possible success.”

— Amanda Macias