May 7, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the war in Ukraine during his inauguration on Saturday, saying France needs to "act to avoid" any escalation in the conflict, and vowing to "help democracy and courage" prevail. 

The French leader told his country that by re-electing him as President, France had chosen "a project of independence in a destabilized world."

Some background: Last month, Macron became the first incumbent President to be re-elected in France in two decades, beating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a few days later that French military support to Ukraine, in addition to humanitarian assistance, "will continue to grow."

"The President of the Republic reaffirmed to President Zelensky his willingness to work actively during his second term of office to restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, always maintaining close coordination with his European partners and allies," the Elysee Palace said in a statement last month.

After weeks of incessant artillery fire and air strikes, Ukrainian troops are "holding on" in a belt of towns in the Luhansk region, according to the head of its military administration.

Serhiy Hayday said on Ukrainian television that the situation was difficult. 

"The biggest efforts made by the enemy are to break through in Popasna and the direction of Severodonetsk and Voievodivka. That's where they deployed the biggest amount of their troops and equipment."

"That's where the largest number of shellings and rockets, and air strikes are constant -- it's just a terrible situation. Our guys are holding on, we are waiting for help, for reinforcement," he said.

Hayday said Russian artillery and rocket forces were being supported by private military contractors tasked with leading any ground assault. "There are PMC Wagner Group, there are the [Chechen] Kadyrovites -- but they are mostly about making videos for TikTok, and then there are the LPR [Luhansk People's Republic] servicemen," he said.

Hayday said Russian shelling had inflicted further heavy damage Friday in Hirske, Popasna and Severodonetsk.

An estimated 15,000 people are still living in Severodonetsk, where five high-rise apartment buildings were hit by shelling on Friday, Hayday said. The town of Zolote had also been hard hit, he said.

Russia has claimed it has destroyed a large "concentration of military equipment from the USA and European countries" near a railway station in the Kharkiv region.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the equipment was hit "near the Bogodukhov railway station," which is north-west of the city of Kharkiv.

CNN cannot independently verify the claim. The Ukrainian side has not reported the strike. Bogodukhov has been repeatedly shelled by the Russians.

The Russians also claimed that an ammunition depot was hit in Bakhmut, a rear-base for Ukrainian military operations in the east.

Ukraine said there had been an airstrike on Bakhmut in the Donetsk region early Saturday morning, damaging a factory and killing two people.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said that its air defenses had brought down 13 Ukrainian drones, and three Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles had been intercepted in the Izium area, where fighting has continued for more than a month.

There were no signs of further evacuations of civilians from the besieged Azovstal plant in Mariupol on Saturday, after a flurry of activity late Friday.

Both Russia and Ukraine have said that the evacuations should continue Saturday. At least 100 civilians -- including children -- remain trapped in underground bunkers at the sprawling complex, which covers 11 square kilometers.

Around 50 civilians left the plant late on Friday, and were taken in buses escorted by Russian armored vehicles to a reception center at Bezimenne to the east of Mariupol, a town now controlled by Russian-backed separatists of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.

The Ukrainians said they were later able to travel to Ukrainian-held territory.

The evacuations are brokered by the United Nations and International Red Cross.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said she hopes that a broader evacuation of people wishing to leave Mariupol will resume later Saturday, after it failed to get underway Friday.

"If all goes according to plan, there will be buses to Port City at 5:00 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) to take people to Bezimenne," she said. Port City is a shopping center on the outskirts of Mariupol. 

"There, people from Port City will join our column from Azovstal, which will leave for Zaporizhzhia the next day," she said.

Still unknown is the fate of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who remain trapped at the steelworks. Russia has repeatedly said that they can only leave if they lay down their arms.

On Friday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "We are also working on diplomatic options to save our military, who still remain at Azovstal. Influential mediators are involved, including influential states."

Russia is continuing its attacks across Ukraine's eastern flank ahead of May 9, when it's speculated that President Vladimir Putin could declare some form of victory or step up his assault on the country.

But Ukraine's counter-offensives to the north and east of Kharkiv have made gains, and "may successfully push Russian forces out of artillery range" of the city in the coming days, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

And with Russia's May 9 "Victory Day" approaching, cities throughout Ukraine are on high alert. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko is urging citizens to stay inside from Sunday into Monday.

For the first time, the Ukrainian military has said that Russian forces have begun to blow up bridges to slow a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the north-east.

In its latest operational update, the General Staff said Saturday that in the area of Tsyrkuny and Rusky Tyshky east of Kharkiv, "the occupiers blew up three road bridges in order to slow down the counter-offensive actions of the Defense Forces."

CNN cannot independently verify the claim.

In the past two weeks, Ukrainian troops have retaken a number of villages to the north and east of Kharkiv, making it more difficult for Russians to use artillery against the city as well as threatening to interdict Russian supply lines for forces fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Kharkiv is close to the Russian border, and was one of the first cities to come under attack when Russia invaded.

Lull in Russian offensive: The General Staff said for the second consecutive day that there had been few offensive actions by Russian forces, but that artillery fire and aerial reconnaissance continued.

Some Ukrainian officials believe Russian units are pausing before launching the next phase aimed at securing all of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Beyond these two regions, the General Staff says, the Russians have continued to shell the southern city of Mykolaiv. To the north of the city, Ukrainians claimed to have destroyed "a warehouse with ammunition and up to 20 units of enemy military equipment."

Russia's "Victory Day": Tensions are rising ahead of May 9, known as Russia's "Victory Day" -- marking Moscow's victory over Nazi Germany. Western officials have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could formally declare war on that day, allowing him to mobilize reserves and ramp up the Russian assault.

In the lead-up to the day, Russian forces occupying the Ukrainian region of Kherson have increased checkpoints and patrols, said the Ukrainian General Staff.

The Russian-appointed deputy head of the Kherson military administration, Kirill Stremousov, said on Friday that residents would be allowed to have Russian passports. Also on Friday, a senior Russian official was in the region with the leader of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic.

Evacuation efforts are continuing in the besieged city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters and civilians are sheltering in the Azovstal plant -- which saw its perimeter breached this week by Russian forces, according to a commander inside. Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the lead-up to May 9 — Russia's symbolic "Victory Day" holiday, which could bring a formal declaration of war.

Here are the latest developments:

British Ambassador to Moscow Deborah Bronnert was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday over the latest sanctions against Russia, including sanctions against the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, according to a statement from the Russian foreign ministry.

The imposition of sanctions against the Russian media "only because their coverage and interpretation of events taking place in the world is not consistent with Western patterns, once again clearly confirms the duplicity and cynicism of British politicians, for whom such a thing as freedom of the media is nothing more than a tool for solving market problems," the statement added.

The ministry accused the UK and its officials for imposing sanctions and making statements with "threats" that are "interspersed with lies and outright rudeness" against Russia.

"Russian side will continue to respond harshly and decisively to all sanctions initiated by London and take retaliatory measures," the statement added.

Taiwan has imposed sanctions against Belarus targeting the export of 57 high-tech commodities to the country, citing Belarus' “active involvement” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs in a statement Friday.  

The sanctioned items include designated telecommunications equipment, integrated circuit parts and variable-frequency drives with dual civil and military purposes.

Taipei imposed sanctions of the same scope against Russia in early April.  

In a separate statement, Taiwan’s foreign ministry noted that the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Japan have already announced sanctions on Belarus.