May 12, Thursday, 2022 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline

1.The International Labor Organization estimates that nearly a third of Ukraine’s jobs have been lost due to the Russian aggression. In a brief released on Wednesday, the ILO said 4.8 million jobs have been lost in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion in February. That accounts for 30 percent of the pre-conflict employment in Ukraine.
2.The wives of Ukrainian fighters holed up in a besieged steel plant in Mariupol have appealed to the Pope for help to evacuate the soldiers safely. Kateryna Prokopenko and Yuliia Fedusiuk met with Pope Francis on Wednesday in the Vatican. Their husbands are among the Azov battalion fighters at the Azovstal steel plant, which is surrounded by Russian troops.
3.Ukraine says it is negotiating with Russia over the evacuation of seriously injured Ukrainian fighters from a steel plant in Mariupol in exchange for captured Russians. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Miniser Iryna Vereshchuk said in a messaging app post on Wednesday that Ukraine has offered the exchange and negotiations are underway.