- The US House of Representatives passes bill to provide Ukraine with $40bn in military and economic assistance, $7bn more than President Joe Biden requested in April.
- The governor of Kharkiv says attacks on the region are intensifying.
- Ukrainian officials claim the country’s forces have recaptured villages from Russian troops north and northeast of Kharkiv.
- Ukraine’s gas system operator announces it will declare force majeure on the transportation of gas through the Sokhranivka entry point, with flows stopping on Wednesday.
Here are all the latest updates:
Russians resume attack on Azovstal
Russian forces resumed their attempts on Wednesday to seize the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol where hundreds of Ukrainian service members have been holed up for weeks, a Ukrainian official has said.
“They tried to break through the bridge that served as a gate for the evacuation” of civilians from the sprawling plant, mayor’s adviser Petro Andriushchenko said on Telegram.
“Unsuccessfully,” he concluded next to a video of what appears to be several Russian service members running under a bridge in thick smoke.
Reporting from Mansur Mirovalev in Kyiv.
US senators introduce resolution to list Russia as terror sponsor
Two United States senators have introduced a resolution that would call on the Biden administration to list Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Republican Lindsey Graham and Democratic Richard Blumenthal cited actions during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and incidents where Russia supported fighters in Syria and Chechnya prior to the invasion.
Members of the Ukrainian parliament voted last week to urge the US to recognise Russia as a terror sponsor, citing atrocities committed in Bucha, Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy asked Biden to name Russia last month.
Zelenskyy thanks US House for passing aid package
Zelenskyy has thanked US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress who voted in favour of a $40bn aid package for Ukraine.
“We are looking forward to consideration of this important document for us by the Senate,” he wrote in a tweet.
I thank @SpeakerPelosi and all friends of ?? in ?? House of Representatives for the quick approval of the law on additional financial support for our state initiated by @POTUS. We are looking forward to consideration of this important document for us by the Senate.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 11, 2022
China government-backed trader secures rare Russian oil deal: Reuters
China’s Shandong Port International Trade Group, a provincial government backed commodities and oil trader, has secured a rare shipment of Russian crude oil for arrival into east China this month, according to traders and a company statement.
The Reuters news agency reports that this marks the first such deal under which a Chinese firm other than Beijing’s national oil giants has directly bought oil from a Russian supplier.
Shandong Port group said in a statement that a 100,000 tonne (730,000 barrel) crude oil shipment was scheduled to arrive at Shandong province in the middle of this month.
Although it did not specify the origin of the shipment, trading sources who closely monitor Russian oil sales to China said the cargo size and the shipping voyage would indicate it is a cargo of ESPO blend, Russia’s flagship export grade from its Far East port Kozmino.
Russians shell special needs school in Luhansk, no casualties: Governor
Russian forces “opened fire 15 times” on residential areas and…
Read More: Russia-Ukraine live news: Attacks on Kharkiv ‘intensifying’ | Russia-Ukraine war News