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The Italian Foreign Ministry said 63 Ukrainian orphans would be flown on Wednesday from Krakow, Poland to Trapani, Sicily, The Associated Press reported. The transport was organized by the Pope John XXIII Community, along with Italian diplomats in Ukraine and Poland, the report said.
“This humanitarian evacuation confirms Italy’s commitment to assisting civilians hit by the conflict in Ukraine,” the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to AP.
The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on an aid package worth more than $40 billion for Ukraine on Tuesday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
U.S. Department of Defense officials said Russian efforts to halt the flow of supplies and munitions to the Ukrainian forces has had no impact. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters Tuesday, “We’re tracking no impact to the flow of a shipment of material into Ukraine either as a result of the strikes on Odessa or the strikes anywhere else. That stuff continues to flow every day.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited some good news Tuesday from the front, where he said the Ukrainian military was gradually pushing the Russian troops away from Kharkiv, The Associated Press reported. The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces drove the Russians out of four villages to the northeast of Kharkiv as it tries to push them back toward the Russian border.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced a shipment of a multimillion-dollar aid package to Odesa, Ukraine, on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. The Maryland Department of Health is donating more than 485,000 bandages and wound care supplies, 95 Eternity mechanical ventilators for intensive care units, and 50 Astral portable ventilators, the governor’s office said. The package also includes nearly 200 pieces of body armor, including tactical vests and shields, which have been donated by the Maryland State Police. Odesa is a sister city of Baltimore, Maryland. The governor was joined for the announcement at a warehouse in Hanover, Maryland, by Yaroslav Brisiuck, deputy chief of mission for the Embassy of Ukraine.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, has accepted an invitation to join top diplomats from the Group of Seven nations later this week, The Associated Press reported. Baerbock spoke during a visit Tuesday to Kyiv, where she met Kuleba and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The G-7 foreign ministers will meet at Schloss Wissenhaus, a luxury resort on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, from May 12-14. Russia’s attack on Ukraine is expected to be a major topic at the meeting.
Leonid Kravchuk, who led Ukraine to independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union and served as its first president, died Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said, according to an Associated Press report. He was 88. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid tribute to Kravchuk, calling him not just a historical figure but "a man who knew how to find wise words and to say them so that all Ukrainians would hear them," AP reported.
Ukraine welcomed what it called a "historical turning point" as on Tuesday backing Ukraine's bid for full European Union membership and cutting energy ties to Russia. Germany has thrown its weight behind an embargo on Russian oil and Baerbock said it aimed to cut its imports of Russian energy to zero, adding "and that will stay that way forever." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said,“The fact that Germany is standing up for peace, for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine - this is a big historical turning point and I am grateful to the German government for this position."
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Belarus will deploy special operations troops in three areas near its southern border with Ukraine, the armed forces said on Tuesday as President Alexander Lukashenko talked up the role of Russian-made missiles in boosting the country’s defenses. A close ally of Russia, Belarus said in March that its armed forces were not taking part in what Moscow calls its “special operation” in Ukraine, but it did serve as a launchpad for Russia to send thousands of troops across the border on February 24, .
At least 112 soldiers from the Buryatia region in Russia's Far East have been killed in Ukraine since February, according to an anti-war group, the Free Buryatia Foundation. and spoke to people in the region, many of whom support the invasion of Ukraine. (WARNING: Viewers may find the content of this video disturbing).