Russia-Ukraine war: Top developments on May 11

Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline operator has stopped Russian shipments through a key hub in the east of the country. Wednesday’s move was the first time natural gas supply has been affected the war that began in February. It may force Russia to shift flows of its gas through territory controlled Ukraine to reach its clients in Europe.
Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom initially said it couldn’t reroute the gas, though preliminary flow data suggested higher rates moving through a second station in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
How much of Ukraine does Russia hold?
Russia invaded Ukraine with the intention of toppling the government; seizing Kyiv, the capital; and bringing the nation firmly into the Kremlin’s sphere of influence.
Russia made its swiftest and largest gains in the first weeks of the war in the south, sweeping north out of Crimea and taking over the city of Kherson and much of the surrounding region. After taking Kherson, Russian forces moved to seize territory to the east in the southeastern province of Zaporizka, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, on the edge of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, the once-thriving port city of Mariupol is now destroyed. Here is a detailed look at where things stand.
Crowdfunding a war: How online appeals are bringing weapons to Ukraine
In a workshop in western Ukraine, a technician adjusted a metal bracket that had been attached to a racing drone so that it could carry a grenade, turning an aircraft sold in hob stores into a lethal weapon.

Standing near were two American entrepreneurs, who had arrived at the workshop bearing gifts of a dozen other drones, a small installment in what has becoming a torrent of military aid to Ukraine. But this is not part of the state-sponsored arms shipments being raced into Ukraine to help the country fight a more powerful Russian army in the east.

Here are other key updates:
➡️ Russian forces are trying to stop Ukrainian troops moving further towards the border in the Kharkiv region and trying to fully capture the town of Rubizhne, Ukraine’s general staff said on Wednesday.
➡️ Ukrainian troops recaptured four settlements north of Kharkiv in recent days, a spokesperson for the main Ukrainian force there said on Tuesday.
➡️ Russia is trying to reinforce exposed troops on Zmiinyi Island, which could enable it to dominate the northwestern Black Sea, Britain’s Minry of Defence said.
➡️ Planned EU oil sanctions against Russia would destroy the Hungarian economy and does not offer a solution to the huge problems it would create, Hungary’s foreign miner said on Wednesday.
➡️ The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved more than $40 billion more aid for Ukraine as Congress races to keep military aid flowing and boost the government in Kyiv.
➡️ The new leader of the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia said on Wednesday it would wait for a signal from Moscow before holding a referendum on joining Russia.
➡️ Thousands more civilians have been killed in Ukraine than the official toll of 3,381 and more than 8 million internally displaced, the head of the United Nations’ human rights monitoring mission said.
(Compiled from Reuters and Associated Press reports)