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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9:07 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Ukraine asks to withdraw more than 300 peacekeepers from UN missions

From CNN's Richard Roth and Laura Studley

Ukraine has requested to withdraw more than 300 peacekeepers from five operations, a United Nations representative said Thursday.

According to UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the peacekeepers are in Mali, Cyprus, Kosovo, South Sudan and Abyei — a disputed border region claimed by Sudan and South Sudan.

This includes 250 troops, 36 staff officers and experts on mission and 22 police officers —  a total of 308 personnel from Ukraine.

“It is the right of any member state to withdraw, and we do need to thank the Ukrainian personnel and the use of their equipment for their longstanding contribution to peace operations and obviously the individual peacekeepers themselves as well," Dujarric said. 

Additional peacekeepers from other regions will remain in these five locations.

“We are in discussions with other states to maintain our troop capabilities in all those missions," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the Secretary-General told CNN Thursday. 

It comes after an earlier Ukrainian request to withdraw peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

8:58 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Ukraine has lost all communications with Chernobyl, UN nuclear watchdog says

From CNN's Hira Humayun

Ukraine has lost all communications with the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement Thursday.

The statement comes a day after the Russian-controlled site lost external power supplies.

Power to the site: IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said the United Nations' nuclear watchdog is aware of reports that power has been restored to the site and is looking for confirmation.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine’s regulatory authority told the IAEA that emergency generators were providing electricity to the Chernobyl plant.

“The subsequent loss of communication meant that the regulator could no longer provide updated information about the site to the IAEA,” the statement read.

IAEA cited the Ukrainian regulatory authority, saying: “According to the information received before the loss of communication, both of the site’s power lines had been damaged, in effect disconnecting it from the grid.”

Effect of the disconnection: The IAEA statement said the disconnection from the grid “will not have a critical impact on essential safety functions at the site, where various radioactive waste management facilities are located, as the volume of cooling water in the spent fuel facility is sufficient to maintain heat removal without a supply of electricity.” 

According to the IAEA, Ukraine’s regulator said eight of the country’s 15 reactors remained operating, including two at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, three at Rivne, one at Khmelnytsky and two at South Ukraine. Radiation levels at the four sites were normal, it said.

Grossi also said the IAEA is in touch with Ukrainian authorities about radiation monitoring systems in Ukraine.

The IAEA has not been able to re-establish communication with the monitoring systems installed to monitor nuclear material and activities at the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia facilities following the loss of remote data transmissions from those systems.

8:36 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Satellite images show suburbs of Kyiv have sustained significant damage

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy

Fuel storage tanks are seen on fire at the Russian-controlled Antonov Airbase in Hostomel,Ukraine.
Fuel storage tanks are seen on fire at the Russian-controlled Antonov Airbase in Hostomel,Ukraine. (Maxar Technologies)

The northwest suburbs of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and parts of the northern city of Chernihiv have sustained significant damage, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies show.

Satellite images taken on Thursday show fuel storage tanks on fire at the Russian-controlled Antonov Airbase in Hostomel, a northwest suburb of Kyiv. A thick black plume of smoke can be seen rising from the tanks, which are located on the southern end of the airbase.

A series of apartment buildings demolished are seen in Borodyanka, Ukraine, a town just northwest of Kyiv.
A series of apartment buildings demolished are seen in Borodyanka, Ukraine, a town just northwest of Kyiv. (Maxar Technologies)

The images also show a series of apartment buildings demolished in Borodyanka, a town just northwest of Kyiv. CNN has previously reported that these apartment buildings were damaged by Russian military strikes

A burned out warehouse in Stoyanka, Ukraine.
A burned out warehouse in Stoyanka, Ukraine. (Maxar Technologies)

A satellite image shows a warehouse just outside Kyiv's city limits in Stoyanka completely gutted by fire. 

The Epicenter K supermarket destroyed by fire n Chernihiv, Ukraine.
The Epicenter K supermarket destroyed by fire n Chernihiv, Ukraine. (Maxar Technologies)

In Chernihiv, roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Kyiv, the Epicenter K supermarket has also been destroyed by fire, the images show. The charred remains of the building can be seen —  but there is no roof.

A fire burning in an industrial district in Chernihiv, Ukraine.
A fire burning in an industrial district in Chernihiv, Ukraine. (Maxar Technologies)

A fire is also seen burning in one of Chernihiv's industrial districts, located on its south side.

7:58 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Stalled 40-mile-long Russian convoy near Kyiv now largely dispersed, satellite images show

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy

Russian military vehicles are seen sitting on roadways in residential areas in the town of Ozera, Ukraine -- 17 miles northwest of Kyiv. 
Russian military vehicles are seen sitting on roadways in residential areas in the town of Ozera, Ukraine -- 17 miles northwest of Kyiv.  (Maxar Technologies)

With the clouds temporarily clearing around the Ukrainian capital, new satellite images taken earlier on Thursday show that the Russian military convoy northwest of Kyiv that stretched more than 40 miles (more than 64 kilometers) has "largely dispersed and redeployed," Maxar Technologies says.

The satellite images show that some elements of the convoy have "repositioned" into forests and treelined areas near Lubyanka, Ukraine, according to Maxar. The satellite images were taken at 11:37 a.m. Kyiv time (4.37 a.m. ET) on Thursday.

Just north of the Antonov Airbase in Hostomel, Ukraine, Russian military vehicles are seen sitting on roadways in residential areas in the town of Ozera — 17 miles northwest of Kyiv. 

Towed artillery and other vehicles are seen taking cover in a sparse patches of trees near Lubyanka — about three miles northwest of the Antonov Airbase.

In Berestyanka — 10 miles west of the airbase — a number of fuel trucks and, what Maxar says, appears to be multiple rocket launchers are seen positioned in a field near trees.

Southeast of Ivankiv — the end of what was the 40+ mile convoy — a number of trucks and equipment are still seen on the roadway.

See more of the images below:

In Berestyanka -- ten miles west of the airbase -- a number of fuel trucks and what Maxar says appears to be multiple rocket launchers are seen positioned in a field near trees.
In Berestyanka -- ten miles west of the airbase -- a number of fuel trucks and what Maxar says appears to be multiple rocket launchers are seen positioned in a field near trees. (Maxar Technologies)

According to Maxar, the satellite images show that some elements of the convoy have "repositioned" into forests and treelined areas near Lubyanka, Ukraine.
According to Maxar, the satellite images show that some elements of the convoy have "repositioned" into forests and treelined areas near Lubyanka, Ukraine. (Maxar Technologies)

Southeast of Ivankiv -- the end of what was the 40+ mile convoy -- a number of trucks and equipment are still seen on the roadway.
Southeast of Ivankiv -- the end of what was the 40+ mile convoy -- a number of trucks and equipment are still seen on the roadway. (Maxar Technologies)

8:08 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

On the ground: CNN's Clarissa Ward reports on how heavy fighting unfolded east of Kyiv Thursday 

From CNN's Jason Kurtz

Drone video shows Russian tanks being attacked.
Drone video shows Russian tanks being attacked. (Ukrainian Military Defense)

After multiple days of significant fighting to the west and northwest of Kyiv — the capital of Ukraine — Thursday saw additional battlefields develop.

There has been "an alarming development today, which is a real uptick in Russian activity to the east of the city, beyond a suburb called Brovary. We saw some very heavy fighting there," said CNN's Clarissa Ward, in a live report from Kyiv.

We "also saw a large column of Russian tanks come under fire in this extraordinary drone video, which appears to show Ukrainian forces firing anti-tank missiles, like those javelins that the US military has supplied them with, and basically picking off tanks in that Russian convoy," Ward told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

In addition to video of the battle, Ward noted that there is also relevant audio.

"There is a voice heard over this video. Apparently, the voice of a Russian soldier in that tank unit saying that his commander has been killed," she said.

But as the Ukrainians fight to defend their position, it's worrisome for citizens of Kyiv, Ward noted, that Russian forces are expanding their offensive.

"It is certainly of grave concern to everybody here in this city that the Russians appear to be making a real play, pushing east and then potentially, of course, pushing downwards, presumably, the goal would be to totally encircle the city [of Kyiv]. And meanwhile, so many civilians, Wolf, are still pinned down and trapped under heavy fighting," she added.

Ward noted that Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs — Dmytro Kuleba — shared social media video showing the war's impacts, especially on children.

"We saw a tweet today from the Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, where he ... shows the true cost of this, which are the children who are so often the victims in this war. And [Kuleba] posted some dramatic video that was shot during an evacuation in a town called Vorzel, again to the northwest, of an orphanage. A young child, a toddler, Wolf, one of two very sick children being ferried out of that orphanage looking frankly, completely unconscious," reported Ward.

As the fighting continues, so too does the civilian suffering in the suburb, Ward said.

"The people in this suburb have had no access to water, to medicine, to food, to gas, to heat, to electricity. It has been a completely traumatic experience and rescue workers still struggling to get into these hardest-hit areas and get Ukraine's most vulnerable citizens out," said Ward.

7:14 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

CNN boarded a NATO surveillance plane above the Polish-Ukrainian border. Here's what we saw.

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand

Russia has been using Belarus as a springboard for many of its air operations in Ukraine, according to intelligence collected by NATO surveillance planes flying over the Polish-Ukrainian border and radar seen by CNN.

CNN accompanied NATO's Flying Squadron 2 on one such surveillance mission on Thursday. Within two hours of taking off at 8 a.m. CET, the radar on board the NATO AWACS plane — short for Airborne Warning and Control System — picked up about a dozen Russian-made planes idling in Belarus just north of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, NATO tactical director Denis Guillaume told CNN.

Hours later, at least nine Russian-made planes were spotted entering Ukrainian airspace from Belarus, appearing to head toward Kyiv, the radar showed.

The "vast majority" of the Russian-made fighter jets that NATO forces have seen entering Ukrainian airspace since Russia's invasion began have originated in Belarus, the NATO mission's technical director told CNN on board Thursday's flight.

On one particularly "active" day last week, NATO forces saw about 20 Russian jets heading to Kyiv from Belarus, he said. The military aircraft taking off from Belarus and entering Ukrainian airspace have been in support of Russian military operations in Ukraine, the NATO airmen told CNN.

Among the major questions looming over the war has been whether Belarusian forces have directly entered the conflict to support Russia. But the NATO troops said they could not answer that — Belarus and Russia use the same Soviet-era MiG-29s, they said, so it is difficult to say in real time who is actually operating them. Ukrainian pilots also use the MiG-29s, they noted, so it is similarly unclear how contested Ukraine's airspace has become.

Still, some signs are obvious, they say. For example, the jets flying into Ukraine from Russian-allied Belarus are clearly not Ukrainian.

The AWACS plane on which CNN flew Thursday is one of the few military assets owned by NATO itself, rather than donated by a member country, and the fleet of 14 AWACS planes together conduct nearly two dozen missions per week, spying more than 400 kilometers east to ensure that no unfriendly aircraft are headed toward NATO's airspace.

The missions are routine but have become particularly "intense" since Russia invaded Ukraine, one of the co-pilots told CNN. NATO has stepped up its defense of the eastern flank members over the last several weeks, and Thursday's surveillance flight was particularly long, requiring a midair refueling.

Read the full report here.

7:10 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

About 100,000 people have evacuated Ukraine through evacuation corridors in the past 2 days, Zelensky says

From CNN's Hira Humayun

Karolina, who fled Poltava, waits with her son at a distribution center in Przemysl, Poland on March 10, to board a bus heading to Pforzheim.
Karolina, who fled Poltava, waits with her son at a distribution center in Przemysl, Poland on March 10, to board a bus heading to Pforzheim. (Sebastian Gollnow/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 100,000 people have been evacuated via evacuation corridors over the past two days.

“One of the main tasks for us today was the organization of humanitarian corridors," Zelensky said in a video address posted to Facebook late Thursday night. "Sumy, Trostyanets, Krasnopillya, Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel, Izium. Almost 40,000 people have already been evacuated this day. They were given safety at last. In Poltava, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Lviv."

He said humanitarian aid, food and medicine was delivered.

“We are doing everything to save our people in the cities that the enemy just wants to destroy,” Zelensky said.

Mariupol and Volnovakha, however, remain completely blocked, he said, adding that despite Ukrainian officials’ best efforts to make the corridor work, “Russian troops did not cease fire.” Regardless of this, Zelensky said he still decided to send a convoy of trucks carrying food, water and medicine.

“But the invaders started a tank attack exactly in the area where this corridor was supposed to be. Corridor of life. For the people of Mariupol," the president said.

Earlier on Thursday: Local authorities in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol said Russian forces have begun dropping bombs on the "green corridor" designated to evacuate Mariupol residents.

"Right now, the air bombardment of Mariupol is underway," said Petro Andryushchenko, the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol.

“They did it consciously. They knew what they were disrupting. They have a clear order to hold Mariupol hostage, to torture it, to carry out constant bombardment,” Zelensky said.

He added: “Today they destroyed the building of the main department of the State Emergency Service in the Donetsk region. Right next to this building was the place where Mariupol residents were to gather for evacuation”

Earlier in the day, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, also issued a furious video message condemning what he calls Russia's "cynical and destructive war against humanity" and said every 30 minutes the city was invaded by Russian forces. The mayor said humanitarian aid cannot get through to Mariupol for the sixth day in a row.

Zelensky noted that the state would continue trying to bring Mariupol the aid its people “so desperately need.”

7:01 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Ukrainian authorities say 20,000 evacuated from Sumy region Thursday

From CNN's Tim Lister in Kyiv

Debris is seen next to houses destroyed by shelling, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine March 8, in this picture obtained from social media.
Debris is seen next to houses destroyed by shelling, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine March 8, in this picture obtained from social media. (Andrey Mozgovoyvia Reuters)

Regional authorities in eastern Ukraine say 20,000 people were evacuated from the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine Thursday.

Dmytro Lunin, head of the Poltava region administration, said that “20,000 people left the Sumy region through a green corridor. Buses from Sumy and Trostianets are already arriving in Lubny, from where the evacuees will travel by train to the west of the country.” 

CNN cannot independently verify the number of evacuees, but in recent days the Ukrainian authorities have said that tens of thousands of civilians have been evacuated through evacuation corridors from Sumy, including hundreds of foreign students. 

7:15 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

US senators in talks about taking aim at Russia's trade status and changing House bill

From CNN's Manu Raju

Bipartisan talks in the US Senate are taking shape to take more aggressive action on Russia's trade status — after the White House effectively watered down the Russia bill that passed the House Wednesday night.

Initially, there had been a bipartisan and bicameral agreement to revoke the "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) that Russia and Belarus enjoy with the United States. But the White House objected to that language, so the bill that passed in the House — which would ban Russian energy imports — instead simply called for a review of Russia's status in the World Trade Organization.

Now, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, told CNN that he is engaging in talks with the top tax writers in Congress and the Biden administration about the matter, as pressure grows to include tougher language in the House bill when the Senate takes it up — as soon as next week.

"I believe the Russians — the inhumane behavior of Russia does not justify it get the fruits of the international community," Wyden told CNN.

GOP Sen. Mike Crapo from Idaho, the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, said he probably wouldn't support the House bill without stronger language on its trade status — and made clear there would be an effort to amend it.

"The question is PNTR, which is absent. And then they had some other stuff on the WTO in there, which is kind of hollow if we don’t do PNTR," Crapo said. "So, I probably would not support it because it doesn't have the key things that you need for a proper trade response."