March 10, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Meg Wagner, George Ramsay, Jack Guy, Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya, Jason Kurtz, Aditi Sangal and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 12:11 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
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5:44 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

US lawmakers expect to pass a $13.6 billion Ukraine aid package this week. Here's what is in it. 

From CNN's Katie Lobosco

US lawmakers are expected to pass a massive spending bill this week that would provide for a one-time $13.6 billion infusion of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as it fights back against Russia's invasion.

The House of Representatives voted late Wednesday night to approve the legislation, and the Senate will need to pass it next.

The amount of money the bill includes for Ukraine increased as lawmakers negotiated over the past several days, growing from the $10 billion the White House had asked for last week.

Here's a look at what is in the bill and how the Ukraine aid is expected to be spent:

  • About $6.5 billion in military aid so the US Department of Defense can deploy troops to the region and send defense equipment to Ukraine.
  • More than $4 billion in humanitarian aid to provide support for refugees fleeing Ukraine and people displaced within the country as well as provide emergency food assistance, health care and urgent support for vulnerable communities inside the region
  • Nearly $1.8 billion in economic aid to help respond to the financial needs in Ukraine and neighboring countries, like cybersecurity and energy issues.

The bill also calls for $25 million for the US Agency for Global Media, an independent federal agency, to combat disinformation in news broadcasts abroad.

Another $120 million would help support local Ukraine activists and journalists and promote accountability for Russian human rights violations.

Read more about the legislation here.

5:31 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Mariupol mayor describes "two days of hell" after the bombing of a maternity hospital

From CNN's Mariya Knight

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, has issued a furious video message, condemning Russia for its "cynical and destructive war against humanity."

Boychenko spoke of "two days of hell" after the bombing of a maternity hospital on Wednesday in which at least three people died, including a child.

"Today, they cynically shelled the State Service of Mariupol for Emergencies," he said in the video that showed the extensive damage to the building. "Every 30 minutes, Mariupol was invaded by Russian aviation that was shooting at civilian buildings killing civilians — elderly, women and children."

"It's genocide that was created by the Russian army with Putin," Boychenko said.

The mayor also said there is the "highest level of cynicism" around the evacuation corridors for civilians and humanitarian aid to pass.

"They cynically keep hostage of 400,000 Mariupol citizens that are waiting and hoping for a humanitarian corridor to open up," he said in the video. "Humanitarian aid can't get through to Mariupol for the sixth day now, although Russians claim it was peaceful and quiet in the occupied Mariupol. It's the highest level of cynicism."

4:57 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

The US has seen Russia increasingly firing weapons from a distance, senior US defense official says

From CNN's Ellie Kaufman

The US has seen an “increase” in the use of “long-range fires, bombardment, missile launches, both from aircraft” and “mobile” missile launchers by Russian forces in Ukraine over the last few days, a senior US defense official told reporters on Thursday.

“I mean, just looking at the imagery they are clearly hitting populated areas and causing a lot of damage, so we definitely have seen and independently can verify an uptick in the increase of long-range fires as they have struggled to overcome the challenges in momentum that they have suffered in the first couple of weeks,” the official said.

The official said the US expected Russian forces to “adapt” and “overcome” the initial logistical challenges they were facing, and that’s what the world is seeing in the increased use of long-range fires on major population centers in Ukraine.

“You’re starting to see a little bit of that happening in just the last 24 as they begin to creep a little closer towards Kyiv from the northwest,” the official said.

Russian forces have “encircled Mariupol,” but they have not taken it, the official added.

Here's a look at Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory: 

4:48 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

UK defense ministry: More Russian forces are being sent to encircle key cities, slowing Russian advance 

From CNN's Hira Humayun

Due to "strong Ukrainian resistance," Russian forces are increasing their number of deployed forces to encircle key cities which will reduce the number of forces available to continue advancing, according to an intelligence update from the UK’s Ministry of Defence on Thursday.

The UK MoD tweeted the update saying, “Due to strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian forces are committing an increased number of their deployed forces to encircle key cities. This will reduce the number of forces available to continue their advance and will further slow Russian progress.”

The UK MoD also tweeted that protests against Russian occupation have been reported throughout the week in the occupied cities of Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk, with 400 “reportedly detained by Russian forces in the Kherson Oblast yesterday.”

See the ministry's intelligence update:

6:42 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Ukrainian State Emergency Services says staff defused bomb from downed Russian fighter jet in Chernihiv

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy and Mariya Knight 

(Ukraine State Emergency Service)
(Ukraine State Emergency Service)

The Ukrainian State Emergency Services (SES) has released new video showing their staff members defusing a bomb from a downed Russian fighter jet in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.

A statement from the SES accompanied the video, which was published on March 9, which said that a group of pyrotechnic workers and the SES underwater demining department worked to defuse the bomb. The SES said they worked to clear 22 separate requests for defusing or demining in Chernihiv on March 9. 

CNN previously reported that the jet crashed in western Chernihiv on March 5. The Ukrainian military claimed responsibility for shooting down the Russian fighter jet.  

The plane crashed into a residential area, the SES said, adding that it was unknown if there were casualties. The crash caused fires in four private homes.

4:18 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Authorities say they are tackling a fire in Kharkiv near a physics and technology institute 

From CNN's Celine Alkhaldi and Paul Murphy

Emergency services in the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv say they are tackling a fire near the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology. 

The fire was at a dormitory near the institute.

CNN has not been able to confirm the cause of the fire.

6:40 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

The White House continues to blame Putin for skyrocketing gas prices

From CNN's Kate Sullivan

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki talks to reporters  at the White House on Thursday, March 10.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki talks to reporters at the White House on Thursday, March 10. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

There is “no question” that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has impacted gas prices in the US, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday after a new consumer price index report showed consumer prices spiked more than 7.9% over the last 12 months.

“There’s also no question that when a foreign dictator invades a foreign country, and when that foreign dictator is the head of a country that is the third largest supplier of oil in the world, that that is going to have an impact, and it is,” Psaki told reporters at a White House briefing.

Psaki added, “We’ve seen the price of gas go up at least 75 cents since President Putin lined up troops on the border of Ukraine.”

The President released a statement earlier on Thursday suggesting Putin’s war in Ukraine was responsible for the soaring inflation — he called it “Putin’s price hike” — and said a large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices. 

The White House is relying on the assessments of the Federal Reserve and of outside economic analysts, Psaki said, adding, “The expectations and their assessment at this point continues to be that it will moderate by the end of the year.”

3:47 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

A Ukrainian family was finally allowed into US after being stopped earlier at the US-Mexico border

From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez

A Ukrainian woman and her three children — aged six, 12 and 14 — crossed into the United States on Thursday after being turned away at the US-Mexico border a day earlier, according to the family's attorney.

On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris committed to taking in more Ukrainian refugees on an overseas trip, but just hours earlier, the Ukrainian family had been barred from claiming asylum in the US, according to their attorney and advocates on the ground.

The Ukrainian woman and her children tried to claim asylum at the San Ysidro port of entry in southern California, but US Customs and Border Protection officials denied them entry, citing a Trump-era border policy that remains in effect, according to Blaine Bookey, who spoke with the officials and is representing the family. 

The family arrived in Tijuana, Mexico, which sits across from San Diego, on Monday after fleeing Ukraine in late February, Bookey said. 

Some background: More than 2 million people have fled war-torn Ukraine within the last few weeks, with most going to Poland. Most Ukrainian refugees are headed to other parts of Europe, but refugee advocates have also urged the Biden administration to expedite the refugee resettlement process — which can be long and cumbersome — for Ukrainians. The US previously resettled thousands of Ukrainian refugees, but it's unclear how many will ultimately come to the United States as refugees as a result of the current conflict.

Read the full report here.

6:08 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Russian forces have moved about 3 miles closer to Kyiv and Chernihiv is now "isolated," US defense official says

From CNN's Ellie Kaufman

Russian forces have moved forward, in the vicinity of Hostomel Airport, by about 5 kilometers (or about 3 miles) in the last day, a senior US defense official told reporters Thursday.

Russian forces continue to “advance their troops” along two parallel lines outside of Kyiv, and in those lines, the closest line has “reached about 40 kilometers east of Kyiv,” the official said.

“We see Russian forces continue to advance their troops, they’re really along two sort of parallel lines there, and we assess that the northern most of those two lines, the closest line has reached about 40 kilometers east of Kyiv,” the official said. 

Out of those two lines, “the one that’s to the south of the two which kind of emanated out of Sumy, we also assess that some of [the Russian forces] might have reached approximately 40 kilometers from Kyiv," the official said.

On the southern line, the official believes Russian forces “might be repositioning themselves back towards Sumy,” but it is not clear how many forces, how fast they are moving back, or why they are doing that, the official said.

The town of Chernihiv is “now isolated,” the official said.

The official also said Thursday that Russian forces have conducted “775 missile launches” of “all stripes, all different varieties" since the beginning of their invasion in Ukraine.

The US has seen “reports of internet outages particularly around Mariupol and Kherson,” over the last 24 hours, the official added.