domestic priority on the same day that gas prices hit a new record high. plus, a mixed night for trump-backed candidates in yesterday s primaries. with a win in west virginia, but a loss in nebraska. we ll discuss what this says about the former president s hold on the republican party. and the latest on the war in ukraine. u.s. officials say that vladimir putin is in it for the long haul. thinking he ll be able to wear down western support. we ll hear from the nation s top spy chief. good morning. welcome to way too early on this wednesday, may 11th. i m jonathan lemire. russia claims its forces have made significant gains in eastern ukraine, three weeks after moscow launched renewed offensive there. the russian defense ministry yesterday said its troops have advanced to the border between donetsk and luhansk the two russian-speaking provinces together known as the donbas. the ministry said it now controls more of the region than it did before the war started on f
country s borders. welcome to the show, everyone. it is now 8:00 a.m. in lviv, ukraine, and we re getting a clearer picture about russia s goals in ukraine. russia s military now confirming its objective is to take full control of ukraine s black sea coast. and key to that is a city that we ve been talking about for days now of mariupol, where an unknown number of ukrainian troops as well as civilians are trapped inside a large steel factory, a large steel complex as you can see it on your screen. ukraine s prime minister spoke about the dire situation as he met with u.s. officials in washington. have a listen. the situation in mariupol is terrible. this is the biggest humanitarian catastrophe during this and maybe during last centuries because many thousands of people, maybe many thousands of people are died in mariupol, and we will see the terrible atrocities and terrible war crimes in mariupol when it will be liberated from russians. that s the situation in mariupol.
according to the british military, ukraine s assault on the island is helping disrupt moscow s attempts to expand its influence in the region. the island is located in the black sea 80 miles off the coast of the city of odesa, a strategic prize for the kremlin. during the early days of the invasion, ukrainian soldiers stationed on the island used a expletive to rebuff a demand by the now sunk russian warship moskva to surrender. that expletive now a rallying cry for the war. joining us now is nbc s jay gray. thank you for being with us again today. they have stopped the shipment of russian gas. tell us more about that and what sort of impacts it could have. reporter: yeah. jonathan, it comes this morning officials in ukraine saying the pipeline transmitting natural gas from russia through to europe is just unsafe at this point. that several sections of that
people, maybe many thousands of people are died in mariupol, and we will see the terrible atrocities and terrible war crimes in mariupol when it will be liberated from russians. that s the situation in mariupol. in a small town just outside of kyiv, new video, as you can see there, shows damaged and destroyed homes left by russian shelling during the first phase of the conflict. and ukrainian resistance here was said to be pivotal in blocking the russian advance on the capital. it looks almost like a tornado has gone through it, doesn t it? but it is not. well, moscow has finally acknowledged casualties from the sinking, meanwhile, of its warship moskva. that happened more than a week ago if you remember. it says one sailor was killed and 27 are missing. moscow also claims that 396 remaining crew members were rescued and taken to crimea.
she doesn t want to let go of him. scenes of separation that have become all too familiar. everything will be okay, the organizer tells her. comforting words that mask a grim reality. cnn s clarissa ward reporting from ukraine. well, images on social media seem to support ukraine s claim that the russian arship moskva was hit by two anti-ship missiles. video clip show as huge plume of shoek pillowing from the ship as it lifts to one side. and shows large black holes on the port side of the vessel just above the waterline. notably, the jagged edges are pointing inwards, not outwards, which would have been indicative of an internal explosion.