May 11, 2022: Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine has moved here.

Lenta.ru newsroom is seen in this file photo in Moscow.

Journalists Yegor Polyakov and Aleksandra Miroshnikova, working for Russian online newspaper Lenta.ru, told CNN that the idea to publish dozens of articles critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine came about because they couldn’t continue working as usual with the war in Ukraine raging on.

The articles were published to Lenta.ru, a pro-Kremlin news outlet in Russia, on May 9. It coincided with Russia’s Victory Day, a major national holiday in the country that celebrates the surrender of the Nazis in Berlin during World War II. 

The two journalists published a number of articles with headlines such as, “Putin unleashed one of the bloodiest wars of the 21st century” and “Vladimir Putin lied about Russia’s plans in Ukraine.”

“Some people say, ‘We had no other choice but to keep working,’” the two journalists said. “We had no choice but to do what we did. It was the only right decision for us.” 

Fearful of reprisals against their families in Russia, the two journalists would not go into details of how they published the articles. But said they have been hard at work for the last week, only sleeping two to five hours a day. 

“The articles that we have published are not just catchy headlines, they are well-thought-out materials, with all links, with visual inserts,” the two said. 

It’s unclear whether the two journalists have been fired from Lenta.ru, but they say that they no longer have access to the site’s publishing tools.  

“Our bosses deleted all correspondence with us,” they said. “Yegor had a rather unpleasant conversation with them, but they didn’t even bother to say a word to [Aleksandra].  

They realize that the risk, and the potential repercussions, they may face for publishing the articles. 

“Perhaps this will have serious consequences for us,” they said. “I can’t exclude the possibility that our actions will also have consequences for our colleagues, who did not participate in this, but who can become just demonstrative victims so that no one else dares to repeat this.” 

They hope their action will inspire others in Russia to do the same. For now, the two say they are no longer in Russia. 

“I don’t know what’s next,” Miroshnikova said. “I am in another country, completely alone, I have some small savings to live on for a few months. But I have no idea what to do, where to go and how to live on. Hope I will figure it out.”  

Both have also received a positive response from some readers thanking them for setting an inspiring example. 

“Some stranger people abroad even wrote that they were ready to shelter Yegor and [Miroshnikova] on their couches,” the two said. “It was very heart-warming and such comments make me feel less alone.” 

Some even offered to shelter the two of them while they figured out what to do next.

“It was very heart-warming and such comments make me feel less alone,” Miroshnikova said.  

However, the ​responses from some, namely colleagues and family members, were not supportive. 

“For me personally, the situation is quite difficult, because many of my relatives did not approve of my decision at all,” Miroshnikova said. “Someone considered it a betrayal, someone - just stupidity, because of which I will be left without a job and any future.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko speaks with CNN on Wednesday May 11.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko tells CNN’s Erin Burnett he worries about the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin using a tactical nuclear weapon on Kyiv.

“Safety is the main priority right now …Yes of course we worry, and we hope our warriors defend us, but the risk is still there and without our partners, without United States and European countries we can’t survive,” Klitschko said.

He also said there is “no doubt” the capital of Ukraine is still Russia’s “main target.”

He said Russian attacks could happen “any second.”

Klitschko added that war “changed the life for everyone” and he says he is keeping his fingers crossed to “stop this senseless war as soon as possible.”

Ukrainian Capt. Svyatoslav Palamar

Ukrainian Capt. Svyatoslav Palamar, who is hunkered down inside Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant, told CNN on Wednesday that he believes all civilians sheltering inside the plant are now out — with the caveat that due to the constant bombardment, it is difficult to make a full assessment of the situation across the massive facility.

Palamar, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, made the comments to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday. 

“If you’re talking about the Azovstal plant itself, then the civilians that we knew about, the civilians that we had with us, the civilians that we were taking care of, they are not with us. They managed to leave the plant. And as far as the – I cannot tell you for sure, maybe there’s someone else further down in the territory because no international organization at any point came or had access to come and assess the situation,” he told CNN.

Here are more of the latest headlines in the Russia-Ukraine war:

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton tells CNN it is “unfair” to call the European Union divided over an oil embargo against Russia, despite Hungary saying it would not support the sanctions.

The European Commission is now discussing changes to win over countries, including Hungary and Slovakia. Hungary has warned it cannot accept the EU’s planned ban on Russian oil saying it would amount to an “atomic bomb” for its economy.

Breton insisted the EU has acted very quickly to put in place five packages of sanctions so far and that they must hold discussions to take care of everyone.

Breton also had strong words for the chief executive of Volkswagen, who had called for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine so that sanctions can be lifted.

“Listen, there is a war here. And a war is a matter of states, it’s not a matter of companies. We have always been very clear, with every single industrial ecosystem and companies. We will take care of what we have to take care of, but a war is a matter of the state- no one else,” he said.

The Ukrainians have — twice in the last 24 hours — stopped Russians efforts to cross the Siverskyi Donets River in the Luhansk oblast, blowing up two pontoon bridges near Bilohorivka.

A satellite image collected by geospatial intelligence firm BlackSky shows a Russian pontoon bridge crossing the river on May 10 shortly after a Ukrainian artillery barrage hit the surrounding area.

Smoke is seen rising from the western shore of the Siverskyi Donets River at one end of the bridge. On the eastern bank, craters and smoke are also seen on the eastern shore, including around Russian military vehicles that crossed over.

Grainy drone video circulating on social media, geolocated and its authenticity verified by CNN, shows the aftermath of the strikes. The military strikes destroyed the bridge, which is seen half-sunk in the river. 

Additional photos circulating on social media, also taken by a drone, show the Russians tried to erect a second pontoon bridge across the river. That bridge, too, was blown up by the Ukrainians in addition to a number of military vehicles.  

Traversing Ukraine’s topography — specifically its rivers — has repeatedly proven a logistical nightmare that’s hampered Russian military advances for weeks, across numerous parts of Ukraine. In more remote areas, or in places that bridges have been blown up, they have resorted to utilizing pontoon bridges.

These bridges have repeatedly been targeted and blown up by Ukrainian forces. 

CNN has previously reported the bridge first appeared on May 8.

Serhiy Hayday, the Luhansk regional military administrator, said on Wednesday that the Russians are continuing to try to construct bridges across the Siverskyi Donets River. He also said that the Ukrainians have repeatedly blown them up.  

They fought side-by-side in the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, two Ukrainian soldiers among hundreds refusing to surrender. 

And on May 5, Valeria and Andrew were married. 

Three days later Andrew was killed, according to a Facebook post by Valeria on Wednesday.

The post included photographs of the two getting married in a bunker wearing their uniforms and photographs of the couple before the siege began. 

The Facebook post — created on Wednesday night local time — also includes a message from Valeria:

She promised him that she would survive the siege - and live for the two of them.

For the first time, a civilian in Russia has reportedly died as a result of cross-border shelling from Ukraine, according to Russian authorities.

The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that “one person was killed during shelling of the village of Solokhi.”

Solokhi is a village ten kilometers from the Ukrainian border. 

“The population of the village of Solokhi will be taken to a safe place under the leadership of the head of the district, Vladimir Pertsev, and the head of the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergey Potapov,” Gladkov said.

The Belgorod region has seen several explosions in recent weeks that appear to have been caused by missiles and bombs. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied being responsible for the blasts. 

Last week, Gladkov said five houses had been destroyed in another village, Nekhoteevka.

“Today there are just under 30 people left in the settlement,” he said then. “We have already evacuated most of the people to safety.”

Ukraine has offered Russia to release Russian prisoners of war in exchange for the evacuation of injured Ukrainian soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Wednesday.

In a Facebook post, Vereshchuk said there is no agreement yet and negotiations are underway regarding the proposal.

She said the government is working out different options to get Ukrainian soldiers out of Azovstal but that none of the options are “ideal.”

“We are not looking for an ideal option, but a working one,” Vereshchuk said.

Smoke rises above the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 10.

Ukrainian Capt. Svyatoslav Palamar, who is hunkered down inside Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant, tells CNN that he believes all civilians sheltering inside the plant are now out — with the caveat that due to the constant bombardment, it is difficult to make a full assessment of the situation across the massive facility.

Palamar, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, made the comments to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday. 

Palamar added that a ceasefire was needed so that an international NGO could enter the steel plant to properly assess the situation, because the current siege did not allow for a proper assessment of current conditions.

“Basically what needs to be done is [that] a ceasefire is called upon so that some international organization can come and assess the situation, because under this constant bombardment, we are not able to go around and check anything,” Palamar said. 

On Saturday, Ukraine’s President Voldomyr Zelensky said in his nightly addressed that “phase one” of the Azovstal evacuations was over and that essentially all civilians —meaning women, children and elderly — had exited the plant. 

The president said “phase two” would involve the exodus of the wounded and medics, as well as military still inside the plant.

The Russian-installed leadership of the Kherson region said that the issuing of Russian passports to residents of the region who want them will begin by the end of the year.

Speaking on a newly created television network in the region, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed military-civilian administration, said: “The next step will be an offer to issue passports of the Russian Federation to everyone. I think that this year we will already begin issuing passports.”

He said it would not be obligatory for residents of the region to obtain Russian passports.

Earlier Wednesday, the new Russian-installed leadership of the Kherson region said it plans to make a formal request to become part of the Russian Federation, according to a statement on a new Telegram channel that appears to be linked to the pro-Russian administration.

Russian soldiers stand near trucks in Kherson, Ukraine on March 7.

A resident of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson said that her city is like a “zombie apocalypse” since Russian troops took over.

The woman, who requested to be identified as Tanya, said in an interview on CNN International that the invasion has taken a physical and psychological toll.

“It’s very hard to live in such conditions, physically, because you cannot do things that you did before the war,” she said. “You can’t go out as much, you can’t breathe fresh air, so it’s hard physically.”

“Psychologically, it’s even more harder because you see all those empty shelves in the stores, you see all those armed people going out to walk by you, by the street, and it’s terrifying because they are all around the city. So it’s hard,” she continued

The new Russian-installed leadership of the Ukrainian region of Kherson today announced plans to make a formal request to become part of the Russian Federation.

“Authorities of Kherson region will appeal to the President of Russia with a request to include the region into Russia,” according to a statement on a new Telegram channel, which appears to be linked to the pro-Russian administration.

Tanya said she is scared of Russian soldiers patrolling the city and that no one she knows wants to be a part of Russia.

Tanya said that many people have left the city and it’s fairly empty by 3 p.m. local time.

The woman told CNN she wants to leave the city — like many of her friends have already — but it’s very difficult because there are no official evacuation corridors and dozens of Russian checkpoints.

She said the city’s train station has not been operating since the Russians took over the city, and Russian troops are now using it as a base.

Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

The social media giant Meta is walking back a call for advice on how to moderate Facebook and Instagram content related to the war in Ukraine.

The company said Wednesday it has withdrawn a request for its external Oversight Board to opine on how to handle material surrounding Russia’s invasion.

The move leaves Meta to continue figuring out on its own, for now, how to deal with the myriad of platform challenges posed by the conflict, ranging from Ukrainians’ calls for violence against Russian invaders to fake videos of the war to malicious hacking of Ukrainian military officials’ Facebook accounts. 

Some more context: The Oversight Board, created by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as an independent, court-like entity, is composed of experts on civil rights and free expression and can issue non-binding policy guidance to Meta on its content moderation, as well as review specific cases of content removals.

Meta declined to characterize details of the original request for advice and the types of questions it had for the board, citing “ongoing security concerns on the ground” as a reason for pulling its call for policy guidance. 

The Oversight Board, in a separate statement, said Meta had cited “specific” security concerns in its notification of withdrawal. 

Meta’s initial request for guidance was filed on March 25, the company told CNN. The Oversight Board told CNN it had agreed to take up the matter on March 29. Meta then withdrew the request in late April, it said. 

“The withdrawal of this request does not diminish Meta’s responsibility to carefully consider the ongoing content moderation issues which have arisen from this war,” the Oversight Board said in its statement.

After two days of sharp losses, oil prices rose sharply Wednesday on renewed concerns about the flow of energy from Russia. 

US oil jumped 6.3% to $105.97 a barrel in recent trading. Brent crude, the world benchmark, gained 5.2% to $107.75 a barrel.

The rebound comes amid continued uncertainty over the supply of Russian energy to Europe.

Not only is the European Union debating an embargo on Russian oil, but Ukraine suspended the flow of some Russian natural gas to Europe. The Ukrainian gas transmission system operator blamed “interference by the occupying forces.”

“The ante has been upped. Markets are skittish,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst for the Americas at data and analytics firm Kpler.

US oil fell 9% over the prior two days, finishing Tuesday at $99.76 a barrel. 

The volatility comes as prices at the pump continue to march higher, contributing to high inflation gripping the US economy.

Gas prices hit $4.40 a gallon on Wednesday for the first time ever, up three cents in one day, according to AAA. The fresh record leaves the national average up 17 cents in just the past week and well above the March peak of $4.33. 

US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia, in 2021.

US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan visited the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow on Wednesday to deliver a message to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, a US State Department official said. 

The meeting was to discuss bilateral issues, the official said, without detailing what specific issues were discussed. The Russians did not summon Sullivan, this was a previously planned meeting, the official said. 

The official said that reports about the meeting lasting for about 20 minutes were roughly accurate, but noted that is a normal amount of time for meetings between US and Russian officials.

More context: Sullivan’s meeting comes just weeks after a prisoner swap between the US and Russia led to the release of a wrongfully detained American citizen, Trevor Reed. Sullivan was a key player in the Biden administration who worked on securing Reed’s release. 

After that release a different senior State Department official noted that the Biden administration could not share many details about the process behind the release because of the other wrongfully detained Americans in Russia right now, who they are still trying to get home. 

“We need to be cautious because this is not the end, by any means, of what we are involved with in discussing the status of wrongfully detained American citizens in Russia. We need to protect the way that this came about. I am not saying that the others will come about in same way, but I need to be careful about what we say publicly,” the senior State Department official told CNN last week. 

US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC, on April 5.

US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said the Russian use of hypersonic weapons in Ukraine was not having “really significant or game-changing effects” during a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing.

“Other than the speed of the weapon, in terms of its effect on a given target, we are not seeing really significant or game-changing effects to date with the delivery of the small number of hypersonics that the Russians have used,” Milley said.

A senior US defense official said on Tuesday that Russia had launched between 10 and 12 hypersonic missiles against Ukraine so far.

Milley confirmed this was the first time hypersonic weapons had ever been used in combat, and he said that the Defense Department has analyzed each hypersonic strike, but added he could only elaborate on the details in a classified session.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the same hearing that he concurred with Milley, and he did not think that Russian President Putin’s use of hypersonics would “cause him to be willing to elevate to use a nuclear weapon.”

Earlier in the hearing, Austin said it was US President Joe Biden’s decision to share intelligence with US allies and partners in the lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“That created trust amongst our allies in a more meaningful way,” said Austin, “and that trust allowed us to create greater unity.”

Austin said that intelligence sharing was “a key element” in fostering that unity, which he hoped would continue.

As Wednesday winds down in Ukraine, these are the latest developments in Russia’s war:

Since the last time CNN’s team was on the ground in southern Ukraine six weeks ago, nothing has changed, and yet, everything has.

The heavily contested areas are in a brutal stalemate with the give and take on Russian advances as they try to move towards Mykolaiv, a strategic port city.

Constant shelling has torn apart much of the area, trapping many who cannot flee while leaving many isolated — and alone.

The village of Shevchenkove was held by Russia in March but the Ukrainian military has taken it back.

On Sunday, CNN visited and witnessed what is left of it— buildings damaged on every road and empty homes. So much is abandoned, but the sounds of outgoing and incoming artillery fire continue.

More the 50% of this village is destroyed, the military escort told CNN.

The shelling starts getting closer, but two neighbors walking down a gravel road continue chatting, not a flinch in reaction to the sounds of the blasts.

The damage from shrapnel is visible outside the home. She showed CNN the area where she sleeps in their dark and damp candle-lit bunker. She and her husband have been lucky.

Driving into another village nearby, the damage looks the same. In Kotlyareve, few people walk the streets, several elderly are seen on bikes.

“In war I was born, and in war I will die,” Valentina said as she sat alone in her front yard under the shade of a tree.

Using a stick to help her walk, she showed CNN the damage to her home and the craters the shelling left behind.

For many, there is nowhere else to go. Some say they are too old to evacuate. For others, it’s their land they don’t want to give up.

“It would be best to lie down at night and not get up. Neither hear nor see. Pity all the people, pity the soldiers,” Valentina added, sometimes mumbling to herself.

But for mothers like Svitlana, it’s waiting for her son to return from the war in Mariupol that keeps her here.

“Our children are all at war. My son is a prisoner. If he comes back, and if I have gone, it’s like I’ve abandoned him. We wait, hope, worry, he is alive and we will live,” she told CNN.

Ukraine has announced the first Russian soldier set to stand trial in the death of a 62-year-old man in Ukraine’s Sumy region, according to a statement published by the country’s prosecutor general’s office on Wednesday.

The prosecutor general’s office said it has filed an indictment against Vadim Shishimarin, commander of the military unit 32010 of the 4th Tank Kantemirov Division of Moscow region.

The investigation alleges the 21-year-old Russian killed an unarmed 62-year-old resident who was riding a bicycle along the roadside in the village of Chupakhivka in Sumy region on Feb. 28.

According to the statement, the Russian forces drove into the village in a stolen car with punctured wheels. 

On the way, they saw a man returning home and talking on the phone, according to the statement. One of the Russians ordered a sergeant to kill a civilian so that he would not report them to the Ukrainian army. Shishimarin fired several shots through the open window of a car from a Kalashnikov rifle at the head of the resident, prosecutors allege.

“Shishimarin is currently in custody. Prosecutors and SBU investigators have gathered enough evidence of his involvement in violating the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He faces between 10 and 15 years in prison or life in prison,” Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said in a statement on Facebook. 

CNN has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, right, meet in Moscow, Russia, on April 26.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said it was right to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin and that one needed “to deal with those that cause the problem or that can solve the problem” to find solutions.

Guterres met Putin in Moscow in late April before making his way to Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky. His itinerary had received a lot of criticism.

The UN chief said the Putin meeting had produced “concrete results” and resulted in the evacuation of civilians trapped in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

“I think the lives that were rescued of civilians that were in the bunkers of Mariupol deserve that I meet anybody in any part of the world without having any doubt that that is the right thing to do,” Guterres said when asked by reporters whether his Moscow visit had been the right thing to do.

Guterres was at the news conference with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg Wednesday,

Nehammer, who in April became the first European Union leader to meet with Putin since the invasion of Ukraine, also defended his decision to travel to Moscow, saying, “there cannot be one talk too many, only one too few.”