Mariupol resident: ‘Can’t believe we survived’

The mass evacuation of Mariupol was underway Monday with Ukrainian authorities hoping thousands more residents will escape the devastated city that once was home to about 500,000 people.

Mayoral adviser Petro Andryushchenko told Radio Svoboda that buses were rolling toward Zaporizhzhia, about 140 miles west of Mariupol. People were also encouraged to join the exodus in their own cars.

The Ukraine military said civilians were already arriving in Zaporizhzhia, a city of about 750,000 people, and were being provided hot meals, physical and psychological examinations and medicines.

Mariupol resident Yaroslav Dmytryshyn arrived at a reception center in Zaporizhzhia in a car full of kids with two signs taped to the back window that read: “Children” and “Little ones.”

“I can’t believe we survived,” Dmytryshyn said. “There is no Mariupol whatsoever. Someone needs to rebuild it, and it will take millions of tons of gold.”

Israel demands apology over ‘unforgivable’ Jewish comments

Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on Monday demanded an apology and summoned the Russian ambassador for a “clarification meeting” after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made inflammatory statements about Nazis and the Jewish people.

Russia has claimed one reason for its invasion was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. A reporter on Italian TV asked Lavrov how Russia could need to “de-Nazify” Ukraine when its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish.

“Well I think that Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it means nothing,” Lavrov said. “For a long time now we’ve been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid described Lavrov’s remark as “both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error. Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism.”

First lady Jill Biden to visit Romania, Slovakia

First lady Jill Biden will leave for Romania and Slovakia on Thursday for a five-day trip to meet with U.S. service members, embassy personnel, displaced Ukrainians, humanitarian aid workers and educators, the White House announced. On Mother’s Day, she will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their home country.

The trip will begin with a visit to Mihail Kogalniceau Airbase in Romania, where she will meet with United States military service members. On Sunday she will meet with refugees and humanitarian aid workers in Slovakia. On May 9, Biden will meet with Slovakia government officials.

Pelosi thanks Poland for heroic efforts to support Ukrainians

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed gratitude to the Polish people Monday for their humanitarian aid and other support for Ukraine.

Pelosi and a half dozen U.S. lawmakers met with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Polish lawmakers in Warsaw on Monday. The visit followed a weekend visit to Kyiv where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pledging support until Russia is defeated.

“Further informed and deeply moved by our experiences throughout our engagements in Poland, our delegation will return to Washington ready to continue our work until victory is won, and Ukraine has defended Democracy for their nation and the world,” Pelosi said in a statement.