March 11, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Julia Hollingsworth, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Jeevan Ravindran and Jason Kurtz, CNN

Updated 9:59 a.m. ET, March 12, 2022
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1:02 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022

White House says US stands with companies pulling out of Russia, after Kremlin threatens to seize assets

In a Twitter thread Thursday night, White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed reports that Russia could seize the assets of Western companies that have suspended operations in the country.

The decision to withdraw or suspend services in Russia is "ultimately up to companies," Psaki said. "As President Biden said earlier this week, we welcome the decisions of companies to exit Russia because they want no part of Russia’s war of choice against Ukraine."

"Any lawless decision by Russia to seize the assets of these companies will ultimately result in even more economic pain for Russia. It will compound the clear message to the global business community that Russia is not a safe place to invest and do business," she added. "We stand with American companies who are making tough decisions regarding the future of their Russian operations."

Some context: Dozens of American, European and Japanese companies from almost every sector of the economy have abandoned joint ventures, factories, stores and offices in the past two weeks in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ensuring sanctions.

The sanctions have hit most of Russia's financial sector, including its central bank, trashed the Russian currency and are likely to trigger a sovereign debt default and deep recession. And there may be more to come.

Russia's threat: Speaking Thursday at a meeting with government officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin backed a plan to introduce "external management" of foreign companies leaving Russia.

"We need to act decisively with those [companies] who are going to close their production," Putin said according to a video posted by the Kremlin and aired on state media. "It is necessary, then ... to introduce external management and then transfer these enterprises to those who want to work," he added.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said earlier that legislation had been drafted.

12:44 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022

More airlines suspend flights with Russia

From CNN's Masha Angelova and Paul Murphy

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana and Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines are suspending all flights to and from Russia.

In a statement tweeted Thursday, Air Astana said it "sincerely regrets to advise that due the withdrawal of insurance coverage for commercial flights to, from and over the Russian Federation, all flights to the Russian Federation are suspended with immediate effect." 

Pegasus Airlines said it is suspending flights from March 13-27, citing operational risks and limitations under European sanctions.

The bigger picture: Airlines and countries are increasingly taking moves that leave Russia more isolated.

Earlier this month, US-based United Airlines said its flights will now avoid Russian airspace. Airbus suspended support to Russian airlines, while Boeing said it had suspended major operations in Moscow and temporarily closed its office in Kyiv.

Most of the Western world has now closed airspace to Russian aircraft, including the United States.

What's happening in Russia: Moscow has also banned flights for carriers from dozens of countries.

Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline, has suspended all flights abroad — except to Minsk, Belarus — according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. It comes after the majority government-owned carrier’s ability to sell seats was crippled after being removed from the global distribution system.

1:05 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022

Analysis: After more than 3 decades of covering Russia, I leave in despair

Analysis from CNN's Nic Robertson

CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson.
CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. (CNN)

I leave Moscow angry and sad.

It feels like a passage out of darkness to light, but left behind are friends trapped in one man's tunnel vision.

Russian President Vladimir Putin isn't just destroying Ukraine, but two nations, condemning Russians to an isolation they didn't necessarily choose.

Over the past couple of months while I've been reporting from Moscow, I've met many people who have been horrified, shocked and numbed by Putin's wanton aggression. Some of them believed him when he said he wouldn't invade Ukraine. Some even knew players in the Kremlin inner circle and thought they understood the President's red lines, but now that trust is blown and they fear he has no limits at all.

What makes Putin's actions all the more galling is how he executed his plot in plain sight. Distracting with one hand, transfixing attention on diplomacy, even while insisting falsely that his massed troops were carrying out exercises on Ukraine's borders.

Ordinary Muscovites didn't even flinch as he perpetrated this betrayal by marching the nation to war on a cocktail of carefully stewed grievances.

Putin's empire: Putin spent years building a false narrative along with his empire. The wishes that he was denied, such as NATO withdrawing to 1997 lines or barring Ukraine from membership, was the West's fault, he claimed.

But if Putin did believe Russia's security was threatened, and that the modern Western world was pitted against him, the truth was that he never adjusted to the changing dynamics of the 21st century.

This year, while I have been in Moscow covering the buildup and outbreak of war in neighboring Ukraine, it became painfully clear to me that, just as the Nazis did in Germany during the 1930s and 40s, Putin has had laws made to his order. And like many a strongman before him, the Russian President is ruthlessly unleashing the compliant and complicit state apparatus that he himself built, to obediently enforce them.

In short, his every wish is readily executed.

Read the full analysis here.

12:13 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022

They fled their house in Ukraine, but a CNN Hero helped make Poland their new home

From CNN's Gabriel Kinder

Within 24 hours of reading a news story about Ukrainian refugees sleeping in a train station, Aaron Jackson left his Florida home for an area near the border between Poland and Ukraine.

"There I saw the true cost of war," Jackson wrote on Facebook of his visit to Poland. "Families fleeing their homes. Families separating from their loved ones. Families fleeing from the lives they knew."

Right away, he got to work helping refugees secure emergency housing.

Jackson is a 2007 CNN Hero and the founder of Planting Peace, a humanitarian and environmental non-profit 

While walking through a packed refugee center near the Krakovets border crossing, Jackson spotted a little girl playing with a toy. Speaking through a translator, he learned her parents were originally from Congo and had lived in Ukraine for the last 12 years.

The father, Donatien Tshikele Mubabinge, said that when Russian bombs fell too close to their home, he, his wife, Ngalula, and their 2-year-old daughter, Tushike, left everything behind, including their savings. They tried taking a taxi to the border, but when traffic got too backed up, he says they had to walk nearly 40 miles (about 60 km), much of it with Tushike on his back.

After learning of their ordeal, Jackson booked a hotel room for the family and began searching for more permanent housing.

"It's horrible why they're leaving, but it's inspiring at the same time — to see the human will and the human spirit and what they're willing to do to save their own lives and the life of their child," Jackson said.

Read the full story:

12:03 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022

It's 7 a.m. in Kyiv. If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know

Russia's 40-mile convoy near Ukraine's capital Kyiv has largely dispersed, and the UN nuclear watchdog says Kyiv has lost all communications with the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Meanwhile, Russia and China are pushing a conspiracy theory about an alleged American bioweapons lab in Ukraine, and President Joe Biden is expected to announce Friday that the US will revoke "most favored nation" status for Russia.

Here's the latest developments:

  • Trade relations: Biden will announce Friday that the United States, along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking "most favored nation" status for Russia, referred to as permanent normal trade relations in the US, sources familiar with the move told CNN. Biden will make the announcement Friday and Congress then is expected to introduce legislation.
  • Bioweapons conspiracy: The UN Security Council will hold a meeting Friday at the request of Russia about the allegation the US is developing chemical weapons in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said no chemical weapon or weapons of mass destruction were developed in the country. Meanwhile, the US' UN Mission spokeswoman Olivia Dalton said Russia has a track record of falsely accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetuating, and warned Russia is "gaslighting the world."
  • Chernobyl communications: Ukraine has lost all communications with the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a statement Thursday. The statement came just a day after the Russian-controlled site lost external power. The IAEA said it is aware of reports that power has been restored to the site and is looking for confirmation.
  • Russian convoy: New satellite images taken Thursday show the Russian military convoy northwest of Kyiv that stretched more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) has "largely dispersed and redeployed," according to Maxar Technologies.
  • Evacuations: Zelensky said Thursday about 100,000 people had been evacuated via humanitarian corridors over the past two days. However, Mariupol and Volnovakha remain completely blocked, he said, adding that despite Ukrainian officials’ best efforts to make the corridor work, "Russian troops did not cease fire."
1:02 a.m. ET, March 11, 2022

Zelensky hits back at Russian chemical weapons propaganda

From CNN's Hira Humayun and Masha Angelova

(Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky)
(Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at widely discredited Russian disinformation suggesting Ukraine is preparing a chemical attack. 

In a video message posted to Facebook late Thursday, Zelensky said no chemical weapon or weapons of mass destruction were developed in Ukraine, and Moscow's accusations that Kyiv was developing biological weapons and preparing a chemical attack made him "really worried."

"We’ve been repeatedly convinced: If you want to know Russia's plans, look at what Russia accuses others of," he said.
“We are accused of attacks on allegedly peaceful Russia. And now what? ... What else have you prepared for us? Where will you strike with chemical weapons?” Zelensky asked, addressing Russia.

Some context: The United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting Friday at the request of Russia about its false claim the US is developing chemical weapons in Ukraine. The US' UN Mission spokeswoman Olivia Dalton said the move was "exactly the kind of false flag effort we have warned Russia might initiate to justify a biological or chemical weapons attack."

11:53 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Russian major general killed in Ukraine at end of February

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy and Josh Pennington

Russian Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky seen in March of 2021.
Russian Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky seen in March of 2021. (Sergei Malgavko/TASS/Sipa USA)

Russian Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky was killed while fighting in Ukraine, according to a statement from the Novorossiysk city government in Russia on March 3.

In the statement, the government said Sukhovetsky — the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Russian Ground Forces — died on Feb. 28 "while performing a combat mission during a special operation in Ukraine."

Sukhovetsky had previously served in the Russian military during operations in the North Caucasus region and Syria, the statement said. 

11:41 p.m. ET, March 10, 2022

Biden to announce Friday that US will move to revoke "most favored nation" status for Russia

From CNN's Kaitlan Collins

President Joe Biden will announce Friday that the US, along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking "most favored nation" status for Russia, referred to as permanent normal trade relations in the US, sources familiar with the move tell CNN.

The move requires an act of Congress.

Each country is expected to implement this measure based on its own national processes. The sources made note of congressional efforts to revoke Russia's permanent normal trade relations.

Biden will make the announcement Friday and Congress then is expected to introduce legislation.

Read more:

1:02 a.m. ET, March 11, 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.