Steelworks where some 200 civilians remain trapped underground reportedly targeted by artillery and planes; convoy from Mariupol reaches Zaporizhzhia

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Mark Voyger is an expert on transatlantic relationships at the Center for European Policy Analysis and a former special adviser to the US army. He has been interviewed on Sky News in the UK this morning, and told viewers that the virtual address by the UK’s prime minister Boris Johnson to the Ukrainian parliament will be seen as a significant moment of support. He told viewers:

It is absolutely important and critical for Ukraine to see this massive international support being demonstrated in these difficult times. Obviously, we’ve already had multiple high- level visits, including the UN general secretary, and from the European Union’s leadership, the US.

So this is a clear sign to not only the government, but the Ukrainian people, that the west is ready to do what is necessary to help them achieve victory.

Volatile regions are only those that are not members of Nato. The history of those conflicts shows that Russia attacks effectively non-Nato members – that is Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. It hasn’t dared to touch any an inch of Nato territory yet.

I must say Vladimir Putin with his arrogant aggressive policies in the region has achieved the miracle really of convincing even the Swedes to forego their 300 plus years of neutrality. So I expect them to get fast tracked into Nato. This is a historical chance for them.

12 enemy attacks were successfully repelled on the front line of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Six tanks, five artillery systems, 22 units of armoured combat vehicles and eight motor vehicles were destroyed. Air defence units shot down five unmanned aircrafts guided by remote control Orlan-10.

About 100 people expected to reach Zaporizhzhia but efforts to rescue more survivors from horrific conditions delayed

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

A first group of civilians trapped for weeks inside Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks were expected to reach a Ukrainian-held city on Monday, but efforts to save more people from the horrific conditions inside the huge plant were held up.

Hundreds remain trapped in underground bunkers and tunnels beneath the sprawling industrial site – the last stronghold of resistance to Russia’s siege of the devastated southern port city – which Moscow’s forces resumed shelling overnight.

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Finland will decide to apply for Nato membership on 12 May, according to a local media report.

Citing anonymous government sources, the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti reports the decision to join will come in two steps on that day, with the nation’s president Sauli Niinistö first announcing his approval for the Nordic neighbour of Russia to join the western defence alliance, followed by parliamentary groups giving their approval for the application.

Russia’s foreign ministry says nuclear war ‘should never be unleashed’, as its forces regroup for battle for eastern Ukraine

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Russia’s defence ministry has claimed that its artillery units had hit 389 Ukrainian targets overnight.

The figure, reported by Russian news agency Interfax, includes 35 control points, 15 arms and ammunition depots, and several areas where Ukrainian troops and equipment were concentrated, it said.

Forces to be redeployed over smaller areas with simplified command structure, says UK military report

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Russian troops have been forced to merge and redeploy units from their “failed advances” in Ukraine’s north-east, the UK Ministry of Defence has said, as both Kyiv and Moscow deal with serious losses on the frontline in the Donbas region.

“Russia hopes to rectify issues that have previously constrained its invasion by geographically concentrating combat power, shortening supply lines and simplifying command and control,” a British military intelligence report released early on Saturday said.