Russia-Ukraine live news: Mariupol steel plant evacuation falters | Russia-Ukraine war News

Prospect of evacuating Ukraine civilians trapped inside the besieged steel factory has become uncertain as negotiations stall with Russia.

• An operation to evacuate civilians trapped in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant stalls.
• Mayor of Mariupol says the situation inside the plant is “dire” with people running out of food and water.
• Russia does not consider itself at war with NATO over Ukraine since such a development would increase the risks of nuclear confrontation, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says there is a big risk peace talks with Moscow will end because of public anger over “atrocities” by Russian troops.

Here are the latest updates:

3 mins ago (21:10 GMT)

‘Begging to get saved’: Mariupol plant survivors in dire conditions

The United Nations continues to broker an evacuation of civilians from the increasingly hellish ruins of the besieged city Mariupol.

The mayor of Mariupol said the situation inside the steel plant, which has become the southern port city’s last stronghold, is dire and citizens are “begging to get saved”.

Mayor Vadym Boichenko added: “There, it’s not a matter of days. It’s a matter of hours.”

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13 mins ago (20:59 GMT)

Putin’s ‘middle finger’ to the UN sends clear message

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a missile attack on his city Kyiv was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s way of giving “his middle finger” to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the West over the war in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Fesenko, a Ukrainian political analyst and head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center think-tank, said the missile attacks carried a message: “Russia is sending a clear signal about its intention to continue the war despite the international pressure.”

Guterres and his team were not hurt. Read more here

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1 hour ago (20:08 GMT)

Ukraine to play friendly against Gladbach ahead of World Cup playoff

Ukraine’s national football team will play a friendly game against Bundesliga side Borussia Moenchengladbach next month in their first match since the country’s invasion, their national soccer association (UAF) has announced.

The game will be held at Borussia-Park on May 11, with all proceeds going to Ukrainian charities.

“We’re very happy to be able to help the Ukrainian FA through this game,” said Gladbach chief executive Stephan Schippers. “(We) hope that as many football fans as possible from all over the country come to the stadium… all Ukrainian citizens will have free entry to the game.”

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1 hour ago (20:06 GMT)

Pro-Russia cyber gang hits Romania government websites

A pro-Russia cyber-crime group attacked Romanian government websites over the country’s support for Ukraine.

A series of attacks hit “public institutions and private entities”, Romania’s National Cybersecurity Agency said in a statement.

The so-called Ddos attacks, where multiple requests are sent to a website to overload its servers, knocked several websites offline for a few minutes, including the defence ministry, border police, and railways.

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1 hour ago (19:50 GMT)

No sign of Mariupol steel plant evacuation

As dusk fell on Ukraine, there was no sign a planned evacuation of civilians out of the steel works plant in the city of Mariupol would be carried out.

President Zelenskyy expressed pessimism over the prospect of continued peace talks with Russia, blaming public anger with what he said were atrocities by Russian troops.

“People [Ukrainians] want to kill them. When that kind of attitude exists, it’s hard to talk about things,” Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

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2 hours ago (19:11 GMT)

Russia does not consider itself at war with NATO: Russia’s FM

Russia does not consider itself to be at war with NATO over Ukraine since such a development would increase the risks of a nuclear conflict, RIA news agency cited Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying.

Lavrov also said Ukraine was at fault for stalled peace talks with Russia, blaming what he said was Kyiv’s changing negotiating positions.

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Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Read the updates from Friday, April 29 here