Soccer stadium and library in Ukrainian city of Chernihiv hit in airstrike
From Eoin McSweeney and Celine Alkhaldi, CNN
A soccer stadium and library in Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, have been badly damaged by an airstrike.
Video footage circulating on Telegram Friday shows debris scattered outside the gates of the city's Olympic sports training center, which was built in 1936, and is where the local soccer team FC Desna Chernihiv and the women's national team play their home games.
Large holes can be seen blown into a nearby library, where hundreds of books are scattered across the ground. A large crater, similar to the ones seen in the aftermath of strikes in Mariupol, lies between the two sites.
Chernihiv is surrounded by Russian forces and parts of the city have sustained significant damage, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies show.
The Ukrainian football association confirmed the strikes in a statement and released pictures showing damage to the stands and pitch.
"For the third time, the Muscovite occupiers fired on the most dangerous military infrastructure facility in the city -- the stadium of our home team. In the photo -- the consequences of the night bombing", the statement said sarcastically.
"But we will be able to rebuild all this, we will only become stronger and better, and you, 'neighbors,' will live with it all your life," it added.
8:12 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
Baltic countries rename addresses of Russian embassies to honor Ukraine
From CNN’s James Frater in London
A worker hangs street signs reading “Ukrainian Heroes Street” on the section of road where the Russian embassy is located in Vilnius, Lithuania on March 9. (Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images)
Authorities in the Lithuanian of capital Vilnius have renamed the section of road where the Russian embassy is located to “Ukrainian Heroes Street” in an act of support for the people of Ukraine.
The business card of every employee of the Russian embassy will be decorated with a note honoring Ukraine's fighting,” the mayor of Vilnius, Remigijus Šimašius, said in a statement.
He added that “everyone will have to think about the cruelty of the Russian regime against the peaceful Ukrainian nation when writing this street name.”
This follows a similar move by neighboring Baltic country Latvia, whose capital also changed the address of the Russian embassy in Riga to “Independent Ukraine Street.”
Kaspars Līcītis from Riga's city council told CNN the renaming of the street was to support the “heroic struggle of the Ukrainian people against the hostilities launched by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine.”
7:59 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
Kharkiv mayor describes "merciless shelling" and freezing conditions
From CNN's Tim Lister and Julia Kesa
Damaged buildings are seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 10. (Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Civilians have been left with no heating in sub-zero temperatures amid relentless shelling and missile strikes, the mayor of Kharkiv said Friday.
Ihor Terekhov said that for "all 16 days of war the Russian army has been mercilessly shelling Kharkiv with air strikes. But we are holding up and we will win."
He added that a lot of apartment blocks have been destroyed and that heating systems cannot be restored in more than 400 houses.
Terekhov said: "Severe frosts are coming so I'm calling on you, whose homes are left without heating due to shelling to please go into the metro stations, shelters, schools and kindergartens, that haven't been destroyed yet."
He said that 48 schools had been destroyed so far.
Separately, the State Emergency Service said that a residential home for the disabled near Izium was hit by an airstrike. There were no casualties among the 30 staff and 300 patients, most of whom are elderly, it said.
10:47 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
UN "gravely concerned" as Ukraine death toll rises
From CNN's Radina Gigova in Atlanta
The casing of a Russian rocket capable of carrying cluster munitions is seen east of the strategic Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, on March 10. NATO says Russia is using cluster bombs during its assault on Ukraine. (Scott Peterson/Getty Images)
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday it remains "gravely concerned by the rising death toll and human suffering in Ukraine" and called "for an immediate end to the attacks."
"Civilians are being killed and maimed in what appear to be indiscriminate attacks, with Russian forces using explosive weapons with wide area effects in or near populated areas. These include missiles, heavy artillery shells and rockets, as well as airstrikes," spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement.
The OHCHR said it had recorded 549 civilian deaths and 957 injuries since the invasion began, "although the actual figure could be much higher."
Schools, hospitals, and kindergartens have been hit – with hugely devastating consequences," Throssell said.
On March 3, 47 civilians were killed when Russian airstrikes hit two schools and several apartment blocks in Chernihiv and on March 9, a Russian airstrike hit a Mariupol hospital injuring at least 17 civilians, she added.
"We are still investigating reports that at least three civilians may have been killed in the airstrike."
Sources in Mariupol, Throssell added, said the hospital was "both clearly identifiable and operational when it was hit."
The OHCHR also received "credible reports of several cases of Russian forces using cluster munitions, including in populated areas," said Throssell.
The use of one cluster munition was reported on February 24 in the Central City Hospital in Vuhledar, in Donetsk, killing four civilians and injuring t10. At least nine other civilians were killed and 37 injured in "other cluster munition attacks" in several districts of Kharkiv, she said.
"Due to their wide area effects, the use of cluster munitions in populated areas is incompatible with the international humanitarian law principles governing the conduct of hostilities," Throssell said.
"Civilian casualties are rising daily, as is general human suffering. We remind the Russian authorities that directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as so-called area bombardment in towns and villages and other forms of indiscriminate attacks, are prohibited under international law and may amount to war crimes," she added.
The OHCHR, she added, was also concerned by reports of “arbitrary arrests and detention” of Ukrainians who voiced opposition to the Russian attack, including in peaceful protests.
"We believe that those detained are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment and call for their immediate and unconditional release.”
OHCHR is also concerned "by the pejorative use of labels such as 'saboteurs' and 'mercenaries,' with the intent or effect of exposing certain individuals to higher risks of harm," she said.
"We call on the parties to fully respect the rights of everyone under their control," Throssell said. "Those who have laid down their weapons ... including prisoners of war, must be treated humanely, and be protected from any form of torture or degrading treatment."
6:46 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
Finland's President to speak with Putin today
The Finnish President Sauli Niinistö arrives for a meeting in Helsinki, Finland, on March 5. (Mikko Stig/Lehtikuva/AFP/Getty Images)
The Finnish President Sauli Niinistö spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky on Friday and is also expected to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The Presidents discussed the situation of the war in Ukraine and Finland’s support and aid for Ukraine. Particular themes were the need to secure a safe evacuation of civilians through humanitarian corridors and the safety of nuclear facilities. The Presidents agreed to continue their contact,” a Finnish government statement said.
A conversation between Niinistö and Putin is planned for later Friday, it added.
Finland borders Russia and the two countries have long had a neutral relationship. Finland is not a member of NATO.
However, Niinistö expressed his sympathy for the Ukrainian people "fighting bravely for their country" during a meeting with US President Joe Biden on March 4 in the Oval Office.
6:31 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
Everything is going to plan, Russian defense minister tells Putin
Russia's defense minister has said that its invasion of Ukraine is being carried out successfully, despite claims from Western leaders that Russia's military has encountered unplanned obstacles and resistance.
“All is going according to the plan, we report to you here every day this week,” Sergei Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin at a televised Security Council Meeting on Friday.
Shoigu also claimed that the Russian army has received over 16,000 applications from volunteers in the Middle East wanting to join the war in Ukraine.
We receive a huge number of applications from all sorts of volunteers from different countries who would like to come to the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics in order to participate in what they consider to be the liberation movement."
The defense minister also asked Putin for more weapons to arm the separatist regions of Donbas; in particular, air defense systems, including MANPADS, along with light anti-tank missile launchers.
Shoigu added: “We have accumulated a large number of Ukrainian weapons: tanks, armored vehicles and all types of small arms, quite a lot of artillery. In addition, there are many Javelin and Stinger complexes. It is also proposed to transfer this to the Luhansk and Donetsk republics, to the militia, so that they can more effectively carry out the defense of their republics.”
Putin supported both suggestions saying Russia needs to help volunteers willing to fight in Donbas get transferred to the front lines.
“If you see that there are people who want on a voluntary basis, especially not for money, to come and help people living in Donbas, well, we need to welcome them and help them move to the war zone,” Putin said.
Number of refugees from Ukraine has reached 2.5 million, says UN
From CNN's Radina Gigova in Atlanta and Nadine Schmidt in Berlin
Refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine wait for free accommodation offered by residents, at a railway station in Budapest, Hungary on March 9. (Janos Kummer/Getty Images)
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said Friday that the number of people who have fled from Ukraine has now hit 2.5 million.
"We also estimate that about two million people are displaced inside Ukraine. Millions forced to leave their homes by this senseless war," he said.
More than 1.5 million of those who have left have gone to Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday.
Over 110,000 refugees have also arrived in Germany from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion just over two weeks ago, according to Germany's interior ministry.
German Federal Police registered 109,183 refugees -- including more than 13,270 people from the day before, Germany's interior ministry said in a statement on Friday.
However, due the absence of border checks between Poland and Germany, where most Ukrainian refugees are coming from, the actual number of incoming people could be significantly higher, the ministry added.
5:19 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
EU aims to double support for Ukraine’s military to over $1 billion, foreign policy chief says
From CNN’s Joseph Ataman in Paris.
European Union leaders will vote Friday on doubling the bloc's financial support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Friday. He was speaking to journalists ahead of the second day of an EU leaders’ summit in Versailles, France. If approved by the leaders, this will bring the bloc’s financial support to the Ukrainian military to over $1 billion.
Everyone was completely aware that we have to increase our military support to Ukraine to continue putting pressure on Russia, so, $550 million more,” he said.
It wasn’t difficult to convince EU leaders to take the step, he said, which will come via the European Peace Facility scheme. Borrell said he is sure that the European Union Council will confirm the proposal this morning.
The financial support will be “immediate,” Borrell said, “now the money flows quickly.”
On February 28, the Council of the European Union agreed to help fund the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including lethal equipment, for the first time.
4:59 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022
The Russian army is facing difficulties, according to a French military spokesperson
From CNN’s Camille Knight and Joseph Ataman in Paris
The Russian army was poorly prepared for its invasion of Ukraine and is now facing many difficulties on the ground, “particularly in the logistical field and in the field of intelligence,” French armed forces spokesperson Pascal Ianni told French TV station France2 on Friday.
“It is possible that an attack on Kyiv will be carried out in the next few days, but actually taking control of Kyiv is a whole other matter and will take a long, long time,” he said, pointing to the Russian army’s “reserve problem.”
The Russian army is also caught up in a premature spring,” he added, with the defrosting ground causing mobility issues for the military.
