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March 10, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo, Andrew Raine, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Leinz Vales and Matt Meyer, CNN

Updated 4:16 p.m. ET, March 12, 2023
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1:53 a.m. ET, March 10, 2023

Russia says it launched the "massive retaliation strike" on Ukraine in response to alleged Bryansk attack

From CNN's Radina Gigova and Anna Chernova

Locals gather around a shelling crater after a rocket hit the Pisochyn neighborhood outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 9.
Locals gather around a shelling crater after a rocket hit the Pisochyn neighborhood outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 9. (Pavlo Pakhomenko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Thursday the barrage of missile strikes launched on Ukraine Thursday was retaliation for what the ministry called "terrorist actions" organized by Kyiv in Russia's Bryansk region last week.

"High-precision long-range air, sea and land-based weapons, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system, hit key elements of Ukraine's military infrastructure, military-industrial complex enterprises, as well as energy facilities that serve them," the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed in a statement.

It claimed that the target was reached and "all assigned objects have been hit."

"Unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed, the transfer of reserves and railway transportation of foreign weapons was disrupted, and production facilities for the repair of military equipment and the production of ammunition were disabled," the ministry said in the statement. 

Ukrainian authorities said Russia fired 84 missiles into multiple Ukrainian regions, including the nation’s capital overnight into Thursday. At least 11 people were killed in attacks across the country, including the shelling, according to regional authorities.

Here's what happened in Bryansk: Russian security officials claimed a small Ukrainian armed group had crossed the Russian border last week into the southern Bryansk region. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said the agency was carrying out operations following “armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border.” Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a "terrorist attack." A local official said two civilians were killed.

An adviser in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the alleged raid was either a Russian provocation or the work of local partisans taking a stand against the Kremlin, denying any Ukrainian involvement.

CNN cannot independently verify the Russian claims, and local media have not carried any images of the supposed incidents, any type of confrontation or an alleged raid reported by Russian authorities.

Ukraine rejects Russia's narrative: Kyiv responded dismissively to Moscow's claim the overnight assault on "peaceful cities and villages of Ukraine" was retaliatory. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense issued a statement likening the Kremlin's narrative to Nazi propaganda that sought to justify attacks on British civilians during WWII.

CNN's Olga Voitovych, Vasco Cotovio, Nathan Hodge and Rob Picheta contributed to this post.

1:53 a.m. ET, March 10, 2023

Ukraine is a “battle lab” for testing Iranian weapons outside of Middle East, US defense official says

From CNN's Mostafa Salem

Ukraine is becoming a “battle lab” for testing Iranian weapons outside of the Middle East, a senior US defense official said Thursday.

This comes ahead of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Israel where Iranian-Russian military cooperation will be on the agenda.

“Everyone should be preparing for what the threat scenarios look like when Iran takes the tactics, techniques and procedures it learned in Ukraine and starts to use those coercive tactics here,” the official said in reference to the Middle East.

The official added that Russia is willing to transfer advanced technology to Iran in order to receive Iranian “lethal aid.”  

1:53 a.m. ET, March 10, 2023

Ukraine's prime minister calls for more weapons and sanctions against Russian air strikes

From CNN's Radina Gigova in London 

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal laying flowers at the graves of Ukrainian soldiers at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on February 22.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal laying flowers at the graves of Ukrainian soldiers at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on February 22. (Pavlo Palamarchuk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on Western allies to supply more weapons to Ukraine and impose more sanctions on Russia, following recent Russian attacks that killed nearly a dozen people across the country.

"Residential buildings have been hit. There are casualties. We need more weapons and more sanctions to stop the aggressor," he said in a series of Twitter posts.

Noting that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was also impacted by the strikes — the sixth time since Russia launched its invasion — Shmyhal urged the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to "take decisive action" to stop Russia's "nuclear terrorism."

Power to the plant has since been restored, but it was operating on emergency mode after the shelling, according to the national energy company.

“Russia is deliberately creating such critical situations at our nuclear facilities," Ukrianian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.

1:52 a.m. ET, March 10, 2023

Holding Bakhmut becomes more important each day, a top Ukrainian general says

From CNN's Radina Gigova and Svitlana Vlasova

Ukrainian servicemen load an armored car before being deployed to the frontline of Bakhmut, in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, on March 9.
Ukrainian servicemen load an armored car before being deployed to the frontline of Bakhmut, in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, on March 9. (Ignacio Marin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The importance of Ukraine holding on to the eastern city of Bakhmut is "constantly growing," as every day of sustained resistance allows Kyiv's forces to chip away at Russia's offensive capabilities, one of Ukraine's top military leaders said Thursday.

"The importance of holding Bakhmut is constantly growing. Every day of the city's defense allows us to gain time to prepare reserves and to prepare for future offensive operations," Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's land forces, said in a statement.

"In the battles for this fortress, the enemy loses the most trained and combat-ready part of its army, the Wagner (private military company) assault units," said Syrskyi, who is Ukraine's second highest-ranking general.

According to the Ukrainian commander, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin has said if Bakhmut is captured by his fighters, Russia will be able to launch a "large-scale offensive" using army and airborne units.

"This once again proves the very important role of Bakhmut in the overall defense system of our grouping," Syrskyi said. "Thousands of enemies who died during the assault on the town are a vivid confirmation of this."

"Fighting in the Bakhmut sector continues," he said. "I am proud of the courage and heroism of our soldiers who are disrupting the aggressor's plans with their resilience."

The latest from the front: Russian forces have kept up their assaults near the invasion's eastern front in Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Thursday.

Ukraine's military said its forces had recently repelled attacks in the villages of Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Dubovo-Vasylivka to the northwest of Bakhmut, in Ivanivske to the west of the city and in Oleksandro-Shultine to the southwest.

"The enemy continues to violate the norms of International Humanitarian Law, continues to carry out strikes, shell civilian objects and civilian homes, and tries to destroy the critical infrastructure of our country," the General Staff said.