Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 11, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba <§> PAGE A1 STARTING AT 1.10%* INTEREST ON SAVINGS The 8SCU *Rate subject to change. & & & SCU.MB.CA/SAVING5 Free Press FOR MANITOBA. FOR 150 YEARS. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022 SERVING WINNIPEG AND THE WEST SINCE 1872 EVGENIY MALOLETKA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Ukrainian serviceman takes a photograph of a damaged church after shelling in a residential district Thursday in Mariupol, Ukraine. Convoy on outskirts of Kyiv breaks up, Russia continues hammering Mariupol EVGENIY MALOLETKA Mariupol, Ukraine — Russian forces kept up their bombardment of the port city of Mariupol on Thursday, while satellite photos showed that a massive convoy that had been mired outside the Ukrainian capital split up and fanned out into towns and forests near Kyiv, with artillery pieces moved into firing positions. International condemnation escalated over an airstrike in Mariupol a day earlier that killed three people at a maternity hospital. Western and Ukrainian officials called the attack a war crime. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian refusal to permit evacuations from the port city amounted to “outright terror.” Meanwhile, the highest-level talks held since the invasion began two weeks ago yielded no progress, the number of refugees fleeing the country topped 2.3 million, and Kyiv braced for an onslaught, its mayor boasting that the capital had become practically a fortress protected by armed civilians. Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed the 64-kilometre convoy of vehicles, tanks and artillery has broken up and been redeployed, the company said. Armoured units WAR IN UKRAINE were seen in towns near the Antonov Airport north of the city. Some of the vehicles had moved into forests, Maxar reported, with towed howitzers nearby in position to open fire. The convoy had massed outside the city early last week, but its advance appeared to have stalled amid reports of food and fuel shortages. U.S. officials said Ukrainian troops also targeted the convoy with anti-tank missiles. A U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some vehicles were seen moving off the road into the tree line in recent days, but the official could not confirm whether the convoy had dispersed. In Mariupol, a southern seaport of 430,000, the situation was increasingly dire as civilians trapped inside the city scrounged for food and fuel. More than 1,300 people have died in the 10-day siege of the city, said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Residents have no heat or phone service, and many have no electricity. Nighttime temperatures are regularly below freezing, and daytime ones normally hover just above it. Bodies are being buried in mass graves. The streets are littered with burned-out cars, broken glass and splintered trees. “They have a clear order to hold Mariupol hostage, to mock it, to constantly bomb and shell it,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. He said the Russians began a tank attack right where there was supposed to be a humanitarian corridor. On Thursday, firefighters tried to free a boy trapped in the rubble. One grasped the boy’s hand. His eyes blinked, but he was otherwise still. It was not clear if he survived. Nearby, at a mangled truck, a woman wrapped in a blue blanket shuddered at the sound of an explosion. Grocery stores and pharmacies were emptied days ago by people breaking in to get supplies, said local Red Cross official Sacha Volkov. A black market is operating for vegetables, meat is unavailable, and people are stealing gasoline from cars, Volkov said. Places protected from bombings are hard to find, with basements reserved for women and children, he said. Residents, Volkov said, are turning on one another: “People started to attack each other for food.” An exhausted-looking Aleksander Ivanov pulled a cart loaded with bags down an empty street flanked by damaged buildings. “I don’t have a home anymore. That’s why I’m moving,” he said. “It doesn’t exist anymore. It was hit, by a mortar.” Repeated attempts to send in food and medicine and evacuate civilians have been thwarted by Russian shelling, Ukrainian authorities said. “They want to destroy the people of Mariupol. They want to make them starve,” Vereshchuk said. “It’s a war crime.” All told, 100,000 people have been evacuated during the past two days from seven cities under Russian blockade in the north and centre of the country, including the Kyiv suburbs, Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy told Russian leaders the invasion will backfire on them as their economy is strangled. Western sanctions have dealt a severe blow, causing the Russian ruble to plunge, foreign businesses to flee and prices to rise sharply. • WAR, CONTINUED ON A2 • ZELENSKYY TO ADDRESS CANADA / A5 Officer accused of ticket fixing off hook Despite 'almost implausible' defence, judge says DEAN PRITCHARD A Winnipeg police officer has been acquitted of logging into a police database to fix his own speeding ticket, despite the judge acknowledging his defence was “almost implausible.” Const. Sean Cassidy, dressed in a suit and seated in the front row of the court gallery beside a supporter, showed no visible emotion as provincial court Judge Cindy Sholdice signalled her verdict in the opening minutes of her 30-minute decision Thursday. Cassidy was tried on a charge of unauthorized use of a computer, fraud and obstruction of justice. Cassidy had testified he was conducting an “integrity check” when he entered his own licence plate number into the Winnipeg Police Service’s photo radar database on Oct. 1, 2019. “While his explanation^ is highly suspicious, convenient and almost implausible^ when considering his evidence in the context of all the evidence I am left in doubt of his guilt,” Sholdice said. Court heard evidence Cassidy was driving his personal vehicle following a breakfast meeting with co-workers when he was caught by a photo radar camera speeding in a school zone. Cassidy drove up to the radar vehicle and talked to the operator, who confirmed he would receive a ticket. Cassidy, who at that time was assigned to the photo radar unit, testified that when he returned to work that morning he received an email with the licence plate numbers of four vehicles to be added to a database of vehicles exempt from photo radar and red light camera enforcement. Cassidy testified when he added the four licence plate numbers to the database, one of them did not appear, causing him to be concerned. Cassidy said he wanted to “test the integrity of the system” and submitted his own plate number several times to see if it would show up. When another officer in the unit asked Cassidy about a report an officer had approached a photo radar operator that morning, Cassidy readily admitted it was him, defence lawyer Lisa LaBossiere told court in a closing argument last November, noting Cassidy continued to try to enter his plate number into the database two more times that day. “It makes no sense whatsoever that after being caught, he would go into the software with the intention of zapping his ticket,” LaBossiere said. “That is just not consistent with an individual who has just been confronted about doing something bad.” • OFFICER, CONTINUED ON A2 Danger zone: truckers concerned about snow clearing, highway closures CHRIS KITCHING ONE of the most treacherous winters in years has forced the province to close twice as many highways and roads than it did last year, sparking frustration among Manitoba truckers and commuters. Fifty-three provincial routes have been shut down this season, a jump from 22 in 2020-21 and 31 in 2019-20, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure statistics show. Stretches of the Trans-Canada Highway, particularly between Headingley and Portage la Prairie, and Brandon and the Saskatchewan boundary, have closed multiple times due to conditions that put drivers and emergency services personnel in danger. The Perimeter Highway around Winnipeg has closed five times in a season blighted by frequent blizzards, blowing snow, freezing rain, and dramatic temperature swings which have caused ice to form. “It’s been like none other,” Heading-ley-based Cpl. Richard Janzen, from the Manitoba RCMP traffic service, said about the number of closures. “The last time I can remember something like this happening is 1997.” That was a winter of heavy snowfall that resulted in the “flood of the century” in southern Manitoba that spring. When it comes to closing a highway in collaboration with the provincial highways department, police take a “common sense” approach and consider the conditions, the potential for them to get worse and the number of calls for service, he said. Strong winds and snow have led to many of the closures, said Janzen. After taking calls from concerned members, the Manitoba Trucking Association reached out to the province to discuss possible improvements to keep highways clear of snow and ice, and to improve safety, said executive director Aaron Dolyniuk. The association wants to discuss the frequency of plowing and sanding, how snow is piled near highways and if fences or tree lines could help to stop blowing snow from accumulating, he said. “It’s one of the worst years in memory (for closures),” said Dolyniuk. “Kudos to all the front-line truck drivers who keep goods moving on our behalf in all weather.” When a highway closes for hours, stranded truckers keep their rigs idling to stay warm, he said. It means diesel fuel is being wasted at a time when prices have soared to record highs. Lengthy delays can result in goods arriving late. “Sitting there idling is very expensive,” said Dolyniuk. • HIGHWAYS, CONTINUED ON A2 WEATHER PARTLY SUNNY. 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