10 things you need to know today: March 6, 2022

1. Ukraine says over 11,000 Russian troops have been killed since the invasion began

Over 11,000 Russian troops have been killed in the 10 days since the invasion of Ukraine began, the Ukrainian military's general staff said on Sunday. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put the number of Russian military deaths at 6,000. Neither report included Ukrainian military casualties. Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that 498 Russian troops had been killed and 1,597 wounded. He also gave casualty numbers for the Ukrainian military: more than 2,870 killed, around 3,700 wounded, and 572 captured.

Reuters The Week

2. Harris to commemorate 'Bloody Sunday' anniversary in Selma

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Selma, Alabama, on Sunday to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the day law enforcement officers attacked civil rights marchers as they attempted to cross the city's Edmund Pettus Bridge. John Lewis, who helped organize the march and later became a long-serving Georgia congressman, suffered a fractured skull. Voting rights legislation bearing Lewis' name failed to pass the Senate in January after senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) refused to vote to circumvent the filibuster.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

ABC News The New York Times

3. Shell says it's 'appalled' by Putin's invasion after buying 100,000 metric tons of Russian oil

Dutch oil giant Shell, which on Friday bought 100,000 metric tons of Russian crude oil at a discount, released a statement Saturday claiming to be 'appalled' by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The deal was the first major purchase of Russian crude oil since the invasion began on Feb. 24. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded to news of the purchase by asking Shell if the Russian oil they'd purchased smelled like Ukrainian blood. In its statement, Shell said it "didn't take this decision lightly" and that it made the deal in order to "assure [sic] continued provision of essential products to people across Europe."

CNBC Reuters

4. Utah's GOP governor will veto bill banning trans girls from women’s school sports

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said Saturday that he plans to veto a bill banning student-athletes "of the male sex from competing against another school on a team designated for female students." The bill determines sex according to "an individual's genetics and anatomy at birth." Eleven Republican-run states have recently enacted similar bans. Cox announced his veto after GOP lawmakers rejected his compromise proposal to set up a commission that would make decisions about transgender student-athletes on an individual basis. "I just want them to know that it's gonna be okay," Cox said of the transgender youth the bill would impact.

USA Today Utah State Legislature

5. Mariupol evacuation fails as 2nd ceasefire agreement collapses

A second attempt to establish a temporary ceasefire to give civilians in the embattled Ukrainian city of Mariupol a chance to evacuate failed on Sunday as Russian troops continued shelling the city. The Mariupol City Council said earlier that day that Russian forces encircling the city had agreed to stop firing at 10:00 a.m. local time. The two sides came to a similar agreement on Saturday, but the proposed "humanitarian corridor" never materialized. "There are many dead bodies lying in the streets and no one can carry them," one Mariupol resident said Saturday. He also said the city's residents are running low on food and clean water.

CNBC BBC

6. Thousand-vehicle protest convoy plans to circle the D.C. Beltway twice per day

A convoy protesting COVID-19 restrictions and mandates plans to descend on Washington, D.C., on Sunday after experiencing delays the previous day. Around a thousand vehicles had reportedly gathered in Hagerstown, Maryland, about an hour's drive from downtown Washington, by Saturday night. Brian Brase, an organizer of the "People's Convoy," said the convoy will not attempt to "shut D.C. down" but will instead circle the Capital Beltway twice on Sunday and repeat that pattern on every subsequent day. At least one trucker, however, plans to go all the way to Capitol Hill. "[T]hat flag on the back of my truck will go down to Constitution Avenue between the White House and the Washington Monument," he said.

The Washington Post The New York Times

7. Trump jokingly suggests false flag operation against Russia

At an event with RNC donors on Saturday, former President Donald Trump joked about conducting a false flag operation against Russia. The United States should "put the Chinese flag on" F-22 stealth fighter aircraft, "bomb the s--t," out of Russia, "say, 'China did it, we didn't do it, China did it,'" and then "sit back and watch" as Russia and China "start fighting," Trump said. The audience reportedly laughed, but there were those who took Trump seriously. "Imagine someone is stupid enough to believe China would have access to our F-22 planes. Now imagine that person being the former President of America and former Commander in Chief," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) wrote on Twitter.

CBS News Rep. Ilhan Omar

8. Ukrainians protest in Russian-occupied Kherson

Ukrainian protesters took to the streets in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson on Saturday. An estimated 2,000 demonstrators began gathering in Kherson's Liberty Square Saturday morning, chanting and waving Ukrainian flags. One man even climbed on top of a Russian armored personnel carrier. Russian troops reportedly fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, but no casualties were reported. A port city of around 280,000 people in southern Ukraine, Kherson became the first major city to fall to invading Russian forces on Wednesday.

The New York Times The Week

9. Putin threatens Ukraine with loss of statehood

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Ukraine could lose its statehood if it continues to resist Russia's invasion. "The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood," Putin said in Moscow on Saturday. "If that happens," he continued, "they will have to be blamed for that." The precise goal of Putin's invasion remains unclear, but few experts believe he wants to fully annex Ukraine.

The Hill The Week

10. 'Ingraham' and 'Carlson' raise money for Russian oligarchs in new SNL cold open

Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson (Alex Moffat) and Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon) hosted a "Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular" fundraising telethon in the latest Saturday Night Live cold open. The two began by apologizing for taking a pro-Russia stance in the weeks prior to the invasion of Ukraine. McKinnon-as-Ingraham then told the audience that she and Moffat-as-Carlson planned to atone for their mistakes by "raising money for the real victims of this invasion: the [Russian] oligarchs." The sketch also featured appearances by former President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day), Kimberly Guifoyle (Cecily Strong), and Steven Seagal (Bowen Yang).

The Huffington Post