Earthquake hits eastern Uzbekistan near the border with Afghanistan

Russia has imposed sanctions on units of Gazprom Germania and dozens of other former subsidiaries in countries that imposed sanctions against Russia after Kyiv stopped using a major transit route for Russian gas.

Live Briefing: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

RFE/RL’s live briefing gives you all the major developments around the Russian invasion, how Kyiv is resisting, the plight of civilians, and the Western reaction. For all RFE/RL coverage of the war, click here.

The moves came on May 11 amid continuing heavy fighting in eastern and southern Ukraine, and with Germany announcing that it had begun training Ukrainian soldiers to use a powerful artillery system.

Russian gas flows to Europe through Ukraine fell by a quarter after Kyiv announced it would halt Russian shipments through its hub at Novopskov in the east, blaming Russian forces’ interference in the region.

This is the first time exports have been disrupted since Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, but the immediate impact is likely to be limited because Russia can divert gas to another pipeline and because Europe relies on a variety of suppliers.

Later, on May 11, Russia announced its sanctions against the units of Gazprom Germania, which had been placed under German state control in early April, and other former subsidiaries of Gazprom.

The 31 companies listed by the Russian government are prohibited from conducting transactions with Gazprom and its ships are prohibited from entering Russian ports.

A ministry spokesman said the German Economy Ministry is studying the announcement, adding that gas supplies are under constant checks and are currently guaranteed.

As fighting raged in southern and eastern Ukraine, the German Ministry of Defense began training about 60 Ukrainian soldiers on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery system, an advanced self-propelled howitzer. Germany has promised to send seven of the German-made systems to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Schulz discussed how Berlin could provide more assistance to help Ukraine fend off a Russian invasion.

He said that the talks dealt with “defense assistance, cooperation in the energy sector and increasing sanctions against the Russian aggressor,” adding that Kyiv appreciates “the high level of dialogue with Germany and its support in our struggle!”

German government spokesman Stephen Hebestreet said Zelensky also informed Schulz of the status of Ukraine’s on-and-off negotiations with Russia to end the violence.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said Russian Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan met with Russian officials to discuss a “narrow set of issues” in bilateral relations.

“These tend to be very narrow. And in many cases they tend to focus on the work of our embassy,” spokesman Ned Price told a news briefing.

On May 11, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General revealed plans to try a captured Russian soldier for war crimes accused of killing a civilian.

Prosecutor Irina Venediktova said on Facebook that the suspect is accused of killing a 62-year-old civilian who was riding a bicycle in the village of Chubakivka in the northeastern Sumy region.

The prosecutor’s office has referred the case against Vadim Shishimarin, a tank commander, to court, Venediktova said, adding that the 21-year-old, who is currently detained in Ukraine, could face life imprisonment. If convicted of murder.

The Ukrainian National Police said May 5 that since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, more than 10,000 investigations have been opened into war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Several alleged atrocities came to light last month after Russian troops withdrew from towns around Kyiv after aborting their mission to capture the capital. In cities like Bucha, residents’ accounts of murder, rape and torture shocked the world.

And in the southern Kherson region, a politician appointed by the Kremlin said regional officials want Russian President Vladimir Putin to make Kherson a “suitable region” for Russia.

“The city of Kherson is Russia,” Kirill Strimosov, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, told RIA Novosti news agency.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “up to the residents of the Kherson region … to decide whether such an appeal should be lodged.” He said that any move to annex the lands must be subject to careful evaluation by legal experts.

Ukrainian officials said an area around Zaporizhia was among those targeted in the fighting on May 11. A Russian missile attack destroyed an unspecified infrastructure, but there were no reports of casualties. The southeastern city was a haven for civilians fleeing Mariupol.

Defenders of the Russian forces said that Russian forces continue to bombard a steel plant in Mariupol, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance. The Azov Battalion said on social media on May 11 that Russian forces had carried out 38 airstrikes in the past 24 hours on Azovstal steel plants.

On May 11, Pope Francis met the wives of the fighters of the regiment. Katerina Prokopenko and Yulia Fedosyuk told the Pope that there was no food or water left in the steel mills.

“You are our last hope. We hope you can save their lives. Please don’t let them die,” one Ukrainian told the Pope at a meeting at the Vatican.

Francis replied that he would pray for those at the Azovstal plant, according to an account of the meeting in The Insider.

Pope Francis meets soldiers’ wives in the Azov Regiment.

Ukrainian forces have also targeted Russian air defenses and resupply ships on Snake Island in the Black Sea in an attempt to disrupt Moscow’s efforts to expand its control over the coast, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense.

Ukraine said it had shot down a cruise missile targeting the Black Sea city of Odessa.

In the southeast, Serhiy Heidi, governor of the Luhansk region, said mobile communications to the region had been cut off.

“We are working to resolve the situation, but there is little hope,” he wrote on Telegram. He pointed out that the humanitarian situation in the area has worsened, and there is only a little aid left in warehouses, and what is difficult to deliver due to the bombing of the road.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said it had recaptured the village of Bitumnyk on the main highway north of Kharkiv, a city just 40 kilometers from the border with Russia.

Crossing the border north of Kharkiv on May 11, the governor of the Belgorod region said it was bombed from Ukraine. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that at least one person had been killed and six wounded.

The governor and leaders of other Russian border regions have repeatedly said that Ukraine bombed Russian territory, but this was the first time they announced casualties.

With reports from AP, Reuters, BBC and dpa

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