Sweden seeks to join NATO, drawing objection from Turkey; Ukraine evacuates 260 fighters from Mariupol steel plant: May 16 recap

Editor's note: This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Monday, May 16. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Tuesday, May 17, as Russia's invasion continues.

After over 200 years as a nonaligned nation, Sweden will join neighboring Finland in applying for membership in NATO, a potentially historic shift motivated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson warned that the Nordic country would be in a “vulnerable position” during the application period and urged her fellow citizens to brace themselves for the Russian response.

“Russia has said that that it will take countermeasures if we join NATO,” she said. “We cannot rule out that Sweden will be exposed to, for instance, disinformation and attempts to intimidate and divide us.”

In addressing NATO expanding to include Finland and Sweden, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "Russia has no problems with those states," according to state-owned Tass news agency.

But, Turkey quickly raised strong objections, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing the countries of failing to take a “clear” stance against Kurdish militants and other groups that his country considers to as terrorists, and of imposing military sanctions on Turkey.

Countries can only join NATO if all current members agree.

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Latest developments:

►McDonald's said it has started the process of selling its Russian interests, which include 850 restaurants that employ 62,000 people. It is the latest corporation to announce a withdrawal from Russia following its attack on Ukraine.

►Sweden's defense minister is meeting Monday in Washington with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the Nordic nation's Defense Ministry announced.

►Ukraine's prosecutor's office said Sunday that 227 children have died and over 400 have been injured since the invasion began.

Loud explosions reported near western Ukrainian city of Lviv rock

The western Ukrainian city of Lviv was rocked by number of loud explosions early Tuesday morning.

An Associated Press team in the city witnessed the glare of bright explosions that lit up the night sky to the west of the city shortly after midnight local time. Witnesses counted at least eight explosions accompanied by distant booms. The city is currently under curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Facbeook that there was no confirmed information about the missiles hitting the city.

“Let’s thank those who protect our sky for this!,” Sadovyi said. “In the morning we will give more accurate information. Take care of yourself and do not ignore air alarms!”

Ukraine says 260 fighters evacuated from Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol

More than 260 Ukrainian fighters were evacuated Monday from the Azovstal steel plant in the ruined city of Mariupol and taken to areas under Russia's control, the Ukrainian military said.

Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said 53 seriously wounded fighters were taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, east of Mariupol. An additional 211 fighters were evacuated to Olenivka through a humanitarian corridor. An exchange would be worked out for their return home, she said.

Malyar said missions are underway to rescue the remaining fighters inside the plant, the last stronghold of resistance in the ruined southern port city of Mariupol.

Earlier Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced an agreement for the wounded to leave the steelworks for treatment in a town held by pro-Moscow separatists.

There was no immediate word on whether the wounded would be considered prisoners of war.

American support for US efforts in Ukraine remains strong: poll

Americans are holding steady in their support of U.S. efforts to back Ukraine in its war against Russia, a new Monmouth University poll out Monday finds.

Over three-quarters of those polled back the economic sanctions imposed on Moscow, just a few ticks down from a poll in March, 77% now versus 81% then. The U.S. ban on Russian gas and oil imports holds strong support across political leanings at 78%.

As the U.S. continues to send military equipment to Ukraine to repel Russian forces, 77% of those polled support the action, with 88% of Democrats approving, 77% of Republicans and 70% of independents, the poll found.

Before the Feb. 24 invasion, the Pentagon deployed troops to Europe to support NATO allies. Now, 66% of Americans still support that move, similar to shortly after the war began, at 69%.

– Katie Wadington

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Pentagon: Russia gains a little, loses a little in Ukraine

Heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continues in the eastern Donbas region, with Russia making incremental gains over the weekend, according to a senior Defense Department official.

Ukrainian forces continue to kill and wound Russian troops and destroy their equipment on a daily basis, said the official, who discussed battlefield intelligence on condition of anonymity. Of the 90 U.S. howitzer cannons sent to Ukraine, 74 are shelling Russian forces, the official said.

British intelligence assessments released Sunday indicated Russia has lost one-third of the ground forces it assembled for the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, and also said the Russian offensive in the east is significantly behind schedule. Russian losses of equipment such as temporary bridges and surveillance drones have further hindered their advance. Significant Russian advances are unlikely over the next month, the assessment concluded.

The U.S. Defense official declined to peg the percentage of Russian losses but noted that President Vladimir Putin had deployed 80% of Russia’s ground combat forces for the fight in Ukraine. That amounted to 150 Russian battalions. On Monday, Russia had 106 of the battalions inside Ukraine with very few on the border, the official said. Each Russian battalion tactical group has about 700 to 1,000 troops.

– Tom Vanden Brook

McDonald's says running a business in Russia 'is no longer tenable'

In announcing it would sell its businesses in Russia because of the country's invasion of Ukraine, American fast-food giant McDonald's said operating in Russia “is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values.”

The company temporarily closed its stores in early March but still paid employees. McDonald's now seeks to have a Russian buyer hire its workers and pay them until the sale closes. McDonald's opened its first restaurant in what was then the Soviet Union in 1991.

McDonald's will become one of the first restaurant companies to remove its entire business from Russia. Up until now, many firms had resisted a full shutdown because of employee welfare, but the overarching issue of the war held too much weight.

— Scott Gleeson

GOP senators visit Sweden, Finland

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with fellow Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas and John Barrasso of Wyoming visited Sweden and Finland on Monday, following a weekend in eastern Europe.

“It was a special honor to visit both these strong, proud nations during the exact days when both countries’ governments were concluding their deliberations and preparing to formally move forward with joining NATO," McConnell said in a statement issued Monday as the group returned to the U.S.

McConnell said the nations' applications for NATO membership have his support. The senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Saturday.

Belarusian troops mass at Ukraine border

Belarus has deployed forces, including special operations and air defenses, to the border of Ukraine, possibly in an effort to keep Ukrainian troops occupied there so they cannot fight Russians in the Donbas region, according to a new assessment from the British Ministry of Defense on Monday.

"Despite early speculation, to date Belarusian forces have not been directly involved in the conflict," the ministry said on Twitter.

Belarus served as a staging area before Russia's invasion in February. Moscow continues to use Belarus as a launchpad for missile strikes and sorties.

"Belarusian President (Aleksandr) Lukashenko is likely balancing support for Russia’s invasion with a desire to avoid direct military participation with the risk of Western sanctions, Ukrainian retaliation and possible dissatisfaction in the Belarusian military," the ministry said.

– Katie Wadington

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NATO: Russian military offensive 'losing momentum' in Ukraine

Almost three months after shocking the world by invading Ukraine, Russia's military advancement in Ukraine is "losing momentum" and "not going as planned," according to NATO officials.

“The brutal invasion (by) Russia is losing momentum,” NATO Deputy-Secretary General Mircea Geoana told reporters in Berlin. “We know that with the bravery of the Ukrainian people and army, and with our help, Ukraine can win this war.”

Top NATO diplomats, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met Sunday in Berlin to discuss added assistance to Ukraine.

While Moscow lost ground on the diplomatic front, Russian forces also failed to make territorial gains in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine said it held off Russian offensives in the east, and Western military officials said the campaign Moscow launched there after its forces failed to seize the capital, Kyiv, has slowed to a snail’s pace.

Will Putin use a nuclear weapon?

From nearly the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has teased the use of a nuclear weapon.

But most political scientists, nuclear arms experts, Western officials and seasoned Kremlin watchers say it's highly unlikely he would detonate a nuclear weapon to break an impasse over Russia's stalled offensive in Ukraine, now in its third month.

"If the conflict in Ukraine essentially remains an overt one between Russian and Ukrainian forces, with the West playing more of a proxy role, if we stay where we are today in terms of Western involvement in the conflict, I see no likelihood at all," said Dmitri Trenin, until recently director of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank.

Read more on Putin's strategy here.

– Kim Hjelmgaard

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine: Sweden wants in NATO; Azovstal wounded evacuated