when that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm, it was the best call i could've made. call the barnes firm now, and find out what your case could be worth. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. and the breaking news this hour, moscow starting to feel the fallout from a slew of western sanctions. in just the past couple of hours, the central russian bank

has announced that it will more than double its key interest rate from 9.5 to 20% per year. now, the bank says drastic changes in what they call external conditions has prompted the change, and all of this coming as moscow faces mounting pressure from world leaders to draw back its forces from ukraine. but so far it is not clear if the kremlin is listening. ukrainian and russian delegations will meet for talks near the belarus border soon, but bitter fighththtg coinue ukraine's major cities. and ukraine's president seems to have little hope that those talks will resolve the conflict. >> translator: alexander lukashenko asked for the ukrainian russian delegations to meet on the pripyat river, and i emphasize this without any conditions. i will say this frankly as always, i don't believe in the result of this meeting, but let them try.

so then later on no citizen of ukraine would have any doubt that i, the president, did not try to stop the war when i had a chance, small as it was. >> so far ukrainian forces have managed to defend the capital kyiv despite being outgunned and outmanned. and we've just learned the city is lifting its curfew now, allowing grocery stores and public transportation to open during the day, but urging residents to leave home only when necessary. meanwhile, we've seen intense fighting in and around ukraine's second largest city, kharkiv. in all, ukrainian officials say more than 350 civilians, including g g rehan a dozen children, have been killed since the invasion began. in the hours ahead, we are also expecting u.s. president joe biden to host a call with allies to discuss the latest developments in ukraine and coordinate a united response to the crisis.

max is the moscow bureau chief for the financial times e. joins me now from moscow. we only spoke a couple of hours ago, but new developments. what does this increase in interest rates tell us about the impact that these sanctions are having on moscow? >> well, this is going to be absolutely dramatic because it's going to enormously increase the cost of imported goods in russia. it's going to cause enormous headaches for anyone who has a loan or mortgage because your prices just -- your rate is just more than doubled. this is going to have serious effects on gdp growth because the central bank in trying to stop the rapid ruble depreciation and the inflation is going to come with that, they basically have to sacrifice everything else to try to get this through. this is going to hit russian people very hard. >> that was my next question. what does it mean for the average person living in russia? what are they going to face? what are you going to face?

>> i don't know how we're going to continue to finance our bureau, quite frankly. i think i'm the last person i need to worry about. there are 20 million people who live in poverty, millions more who live paycheck to paycheck. uzbekistan and kyrgyzstan who have rubles. they'll be wiped out, suffering from enormous inflation and price rises. and it's going to be very, very difficult for the russian people. this is something that the russian government has already tried to spin this. you saw this on state tv last night. you know it's not just the government, it's not just the oligarchs. they don't like you because you're russian, that was one of the most popular propaganda tv presenters said. it's possible a lot of russian people think this, not that it's vladimir putin's fault for starting the war, but a hostile action against them.

>> yeah, well, that state media and the effect it has -- i wanted to ask you one more question. when we spoke an hour or two ago, i can't remember when, we were talking about, you know, the pace and the ifferocity of battle. you said putin is not one to back down. with the financial aspect of things, enormous financial pressure on moscow, is it likely to have any impact on him and his positions at the moment when it comes to this invasion? >> i think the impact is likely to have -- he may see himself as forced to escalate further. he said even before he ordered the invasion of ukraine that sanctions don't matter because we can prepare for them somewhat, and we can safely expect they would have done it anyway because he seems to think the sanctions are just -- the way he tells it, an instrument of the west, particularly america to try to contain russia and stop it from being a great

nation. and even if he were interested in de-escalating, which he doesn't really seem to be, there don't seem to be many off ramps so far he's been offered by the u.s. and uk and europe to try to back down. we already saw yesterday in response to the sanctions that were already in and some of the things that nato leaders had said, the increased weapons supplies to ukraine, he ordered his nuclear forces on alert. i think we can all be in for a very, very trying fraught and uncertain time now. >> yeah, it's hard to know what off ramp would be appealing to vladimir putin. one more thing real quick before i let you go. you mentioned what statehouse, state media is spinning this. what do russian people think -- do they have any other information sources outside of that that they can look at and go, hang on, maybe it is our leader leading us down this path rather than aggression from outside? >> this is a very big test for

that. four out of five russians, their primary source of news is state television. state television is pretending the war isn't happening. they're not calling it a war. they're saying this is a special military operation in donbas, ukraine, where there was previously a burning war going on for eight years. they are not being shown any destruction in cities like kyiv and kharkiv. they show them running in the center of kyiv like it's all peaceful. obviously there is a lot of unfiltered information on russian media, telegram. they have done a lot to try to stop it coming through. this will be the opportunity for them to demonstrate how much they learned from china and other countries and how capable they are of censoring the internet because this isn't syria. millions and millions and millions of russian people have relatives in ukraine. word of mouth is going to get

around. it is a question can russia plug that hole. we don't know because this is completely unprecedented. we're going to find out. >> all right. max, you have a busy day ahead there reporting for the financial times. appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. thanks so much. all right. cnn's nick payton walsh is in a city near the black sea in southern ukraine. he shows us what it's been like for people there living through this conflict. >> reporter: pitch battles are happening outside. many ukrainian towns at the moment. we visited one of them where it was extraordinary to see the determination, the heroism, but also to try and understand what on earth moscow's forces are trying to do fighting their way into densely populated areas. the bridge here hasn't been raised for as long as they can remember, but neither has the sleepy port town of mykolaiv

been invaded. the clack-clack is exchanges through para troopers we're told landed nearby. locals instructing to keep up with their -- collapsing and soldiers edgy. the fear here, russian saboteurs like these two suspects thrown to the ground by soldiers. then the sirens go off. and it is back in the basement for mothers and cats. -- kids. what russia would do to these towns in the name of subjugation and political gain. life persisting. hoping this is short lived and wondering if it may go on forever. behind it all, in empty streets,

the fear they may be overrun. and whether each huge blast will be the decisive strike that lets putin's troops enter. the shelling just went on and on. the next morning we saw where it hit. it's likely a missile tore off these ukrainian tanks, but nobody left. it was broken. how do you feel? >> good, very good. >> reporter: yeah? they tried to come into the town. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: he's saying the russian strikes came in last night, but they beat them. you can see what it looks like here. saying look around here. i'm asking how do you feel living here looking at all this. this is where you live, right? look at the windows blown out.

[ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: yeah. so the words of russian minister, he's saying that they're not going to hit civilian infrastructure here. he's repeating them back to me saying, look at this. they say they're not hitting civilian structures. look at this damage around here. putin's rockets may have shattered glass, but not dented the anger here. as they take stock, you have to ask yourself, why moscow ever thought these towns would gladly be occupied, and what russia's end goal is. tempers fray here. blood has been spilled, but despite russia's overwhelming firepower, they did not pass. now come sunday night, we heard from the mayor of that town on his telegram channel telling people to organize the circular defense of the town, and to get

molotov cocktails. a sense of facing another onslaught, but you can see in that report how serious they are about defending their homes. >> now, joining me here is maria termek, head of the crimea platform, department for the mission of the president of ukraine in crimea. again, we emphasize you are here in your personal capacity and we must make that clear. an interesting part of this, you are embarking on a project with others, a grassroots project to collect evidence of war crimes. tell me about that and how it's working. >> okay. hello, and thank you for having me here. actually when we say the ukrainian army has been gaining experience throughout these eight years, civil owe site either. and there's a bunch of ngos that have been collecting the evidence of and documenting the evidence of international crimes in the occupied territories. and now they united their

efforts, joined their efforts with ukrainian governmental structures in order to get the evidence, document the evidence of the war crimes taking place currently in various parts of ukraine due to the aggression. >> how are you doing it? >> it's like now we are trying to collect the facts and, of course, after that the facts are going to be analyzed. they are going to be analyzed in terms of the international humanitarian law, like geneva conventions and so on. and then the facts are going to be represented to the international courts. now it happens already actually. it is not something going to happen in the future. now it happens. now is only the question basically how is going to happen, and there is a great debate, i think, that's a good idea to establish a separate international tribunal on the crimes committed by putin's regime, not only in ukrainian, but also in georgia, in moldova and maybe in syria. >> so you're using, what, social media, eyewitness statements, things like that. are you hearing reports already?

>> yes, everything. we're just try to collect all the pictures, videos, testimonies, everything. but then, of course, that information will need to be checked and documented very properly. our experience shows the previous years, it is important to collect all the possible evidence and to store it in the safe place. >> last time we spoke, you were talking about you wanted to go back to kyiv. that is obviously impossible now. how are you doing? >> i'm just trying to be helpful here where i can because we're also coordinating with local activists to provide some humanitarian aid to help with the logistics because humanitarian aid is coming to ukrainian from various parts of europe and it needs to be properly transferred, et cetera. so, yes, we're just trying to do this small like tasks, jut st t be united with the rest of the

country. eventually all of the society, ukrainian society resists. >> i was talking to you before we started the interview. how is your family? you were telling me how they're doing. >> unfortunately my younger sister is in kyiv. she's pregnant and she is just all the time in the basement hiding from the shellings. i feel really bad about that, but i also feel that i can be more helpful here by coordinating some things and working with the information and supporting my colleagues than just, like, sitting in the basement in kyiv. >> i understand. maria, thank you so much for being with us again. and i hope we will speak again soon. do take care. >> thank you. >> my best to your family as well. >> thank you. >> all right. from beijing to istanbul, we're following the response to the response to russia's invasion from correspondents around the world. that's next.

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you know, a lot of people say, "when you're going somewhere, you don't want to look back." but i beg to differ. i can't lie and say it was easy. i look at everything in a different light. and i realize it started with me going back and getting my high school diploma. you're looking there at

anti-war protesters. this is in st. petersburg in russia. a monitor says russian authorities have now detained nearly 6,000 people for taking part in protests across the country since the invasion of ukraine began. under russian law, large demonstrations require a permit, and heavy fines or even jail time can be imposed on those without the proper paperwork. here's one protester's take on what's going on. >> translator: to start the war was a very bad decision for our people because many of them have relatives, friends, husbands, and they will die for nothing. >> now, russia just one of many countries around the world where demonstrators are gathering to protest the kremlin's invasion of ukraine. cnn's correspondents have been covering the global reaction since the invasion began. steven jiang is with us from beijing following backlash from

china's response to the crisis. jumanna caratachea is tracking the war. and jim bittermann in the european union. jim, a major shift for a lot of countries in europe coming to ukraine's aid. fill us in. >> reporter: absolutely, michael. in fact t as' a techtonic shift. germany says they are going to up their defense spending in general because of the invasion into ukraine. 100 billion euross to be committed over the next years to increase the german defense posture, something that the americans have been pleading for with the germans for decades, probably three or four decades along the line there, trying to get the germans to spend more on defense. in any case, we are seeing a lot of people stepping up. in fact, the european union last night in the form of a chief

diplomat, joseph burrell said they are going to be committing $500 million in lethal weaponry that is going to go directly to the ukraine, and clearly he said, not just ammunition and small arms and that sort of thing, but including fighter jets. the idea would be some of the countries of the european union, former soviet bloc countries, poland, have made 29 jets that ukrainian pilots could fly. if they can get those jets perhaps through poland to the ukraine, they could have -- strengthen their air defense capabilities against the russian air defenses. other things have been going on. you mentioned the protests on the diplomatic front. the french are going to go to the united nations today and ask for some kind of a cease-fire and humanitarian corridors to be opened up to get refugees out, and to get aid in. one thing that's happened, a small detail, but it's one of those things.

turkey has declared that this is a war, not just an invasion. and that allows them to exercise under a 1938 treaty, exercise a possibility of blocking russian warships from going through the basra straits and into the black sea ports, and also prevent amphibious landings in the south. and ever neutral switzerland is going to look at the possibility of joining some of those financial sanctions today at a federal council. michael? >> all right, jim, thanks for that wrap up. you mentioned turkey's position. let's go to turkey. jumanna caratachea is there in istanbul for us. give us more detail on a bit of a shift for turkey. >> reporter: you know, michael, turkey is one of those countries that's been in a very unique position here. this is a nato country that has maintained very close ties with

russia over the past few years, and it also has very close ties with ukraine as well, and has really tried to remain on the periphery here. it has tried to play peace maker. president erdogan said time and time again trying to host talks, broker a cease-fire. the official position remains this needs to be resolved through dialogue. adds jim mentioned there, we saw this shift in rhetoric on sunday when several turkish officials including the foreign minister coming out and saying, look, after consultations and deliberations, they have decided what is going on in ukraine is a war. this comes after they had really tried to carefully measure their words, describing it as an incursion, an invasion, an attack. and why this is significant, michael, is because ukraine has been pushing turkey to block the passage of russian naval vessels

through its main two waterways, the basras and the dardanel straits. now turkey is obliged to do so in certain circumstances under that 1936 montrezl agreement. one of the circumstances is a war. we have been speaking to analysts and experts who say this is not likely to change much on the ground. russia would have probably moved all its naval assets that it needed to move into position already, and there is also a get-out clause of sorts where it can move its vessels back to its bases. what this does is pull turkey into this difficult position where it had to, to an extent, choose a side while still trying to maintain that neutral stance, michael. >> all right. a good wrap up there from jumanna in istanbul. let's go now to steven jiang there in beijing. it's interesting, steven, china

really trying to strike an impossible balance here. they haven't praised the invasion, they haven't criticized it. tell us the situation there. >> reporter: michael, impossible is really the keyword here because on one hand china is obviously trying to maintain or strengthen their alliance with russia. with this partnership now being described as having no limits, according to both leaders after their recent meeting here, and then, of course, publicly they are still paying lip service to this long-held principle of national sovereignty and territorial integrity as the most sacred aspect of its foreign policy. remember, china still recognizes ukraine as a sovereign nation. that pledge seems to be increasingly hollow given their recent reaction. china is trying to minimum a's its exposure to the unprecedented severe sanctions against russia given the enormous trading volumes china has with the u.s. and e.u. dwarfed that with russia.

given how impossible it is to juggle, they have long pointed out china cannot avoid making a hard choice. china has indeed decided to side with russia despite its public pledge to be impartial in its attempt to play the role of peace maker. if you read the chinese remarks and statements from senior officials to their government spokes men, they really have adopted the russian talking points, highlighting nato expansion as the root cause and also addressing russia's legitimate concerns being a key demand of china and not to mention their firm opposition to all forms of sanctions, michael. >> all right. great summary there, steven jiang in beijing. jumanna caratachea in istanbul, jim bittermann in paris. thanks to you all. as we enter a fifth day of fighting, the humanitarian toll in ukraine becoming ever more apparent. coming up we'll take a look at the human cost of russia's invasion. that's after the break.

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the humanitarian crisis in ukraine continues to grow. let's give you some of the numbers, and they are staggering. according to ukrainian government figures, at least 352 people have now been killed. among those 14 children in this conflict, nearly 1700 wounded. more than 100 of those are children. leaders in the european union already considering how to best help refugees likely to be heading to e.u. states. >> we are witnessing what could become the largest humanitarian crisis on our european continent in many, many years.

the needs, humanitarian needs are growing as we speak, and it should be assistance to people affected by this war. >> now, in the coming hours, talks are expected to take place between russian and ukrainian delegations. unclear what, if anything, will come of these discussions. earlier i asked the former ukrainian prime minister what he hoped might come out of these talks. this is what he had to say. talks today between russia and ukraine, what are your hopes for anything substantive, and importantly something acceptable to ukrainians? >> you know, here is the thing, michael. first of all, let me thank you for the job you are doing. you and cnn are telling the truth to the world, and this is a very strong weapon against russian aggression. in terms of the talks, i believe that these talks are no more

than a smoke screen. putin is a liar. he is a killer, so i don't believe that putin wants to negotiate. he has a huge, huge opportunity and big window opportunity to solve this problem, to solve this crisis, not to waste this war with diplomatic solutions. he lied to the world. he lied to you. he lied to us. he lied to his people. i don't expect anything good out of the talks with the russian federation. i expect president zelenskyy should participate in the talk. we are showing our good will. we are showing we are ready to negotiate. once again, going back to russians, the only thing putin is ready to, he is ready to invade ukraine, conquer ukraine and change the geopolitical structure of the world, that is his intention and we are not allowed to make him succeed. >> what, then, about this --

putting these nuclear forces on alert, if you like, using them obviously in ukraine would hurt his own country. so presumably some of this is for shou sw. what does it mean about his state of mind that he would even put those weapons on alert? >> i don't know, michael, whether you saw all these kind of talks that putin had with his military commands and the so-called national security council that he holds a few days ago. but i strongly believe that putin is unhinged, so he is in a very, very, i would say specific psychological situation. on the one hand, this could be a saber rattling, and he is raising the stakes. the reply to the u.s. administration provided is the right one. not to increase the escalation, but on the other hand, this is a

completely belligerent state. he is a dictator, and we can expect everything out of this war criminal. i want to indicate that putin and his cronies, they are war criminals, and they have to be brought to justice and they will be behind the bars in international criminal court. the time will come. >> more than 368,000 people have fled this country, and those making the trek across the border are threatened by more than just bombs and bullets. the journey can be arduous. the freezing temperatures brutal. and the emotional toll equally hard. cnn's arwa daman is near the polish border as thousands pour across in hopes of reaching safety. >> reporter: little hands clinch bigger ones that would give anything just to keep them safe. sleepy, tiny, cold faces in tired arms. the hum of voices you would

expect from the number of people that are here, it doesn't exist. it's as if the shock and disbelief has brought with it an odd silence. it's mostly women and children here who have had to say good-bye to husbands, brothers, fathers, men aged 18 to 60 are not permitted to leave. how are you able to say good-bye to your father? >> i think that it was the most awful thing to say. >> she was crying. >> reporter: and then there is the sheer hell of getting here. walking for hours, waiting in some cases for days, out in the bitter cold, hungry, thirsty. we immediate the family. they fled afghanistan last may getting asylum in ukraine. his 7-year-old daughter barely

made it here. i'm arwa. >> it's similar. >> reporter: hi, arwa. >> hi. >> it's very, very cold, and my daughter, we call her, she not answer. finally tried to contact the ambulance. the doctor comes. after that there is a chance. >> reporter: she clutches one of the donated stuffed animals, replacing a similar one she left behind. but who is going to give her the rest of her life back? >> but i don't know the future. >> reporter: again. >> again. >> reporter: at least this time unlike in years past, europe is welcoming refugees. there is a massive inhumane backlog on the ukrainian side, but once finally here in poland, an army of volunteers.

at the train station, 7-year-old maxine faces his mother's legs. he's not used to the crowds. it's all scary and confusing. >> they waited for two whole days. >> reporter: your mother? it's tearing her apart, but her husband who is not ukrainian is out with her. how do you say good-bye to the love of your life, the father of your children? this woman is not the only one in tears. others as well, understandably, not wanting to talk. we can't take it. it makes us cry too much, they say. arwa daman, cnn, poland. meanwhile, every day people are doing what they can to help those people fleeing their hometowns. earlier i spoke to christina, an english teacher in western

ukraine. she asked that we only use her first name given the tensions here. i asked christina about some of the families she's been helping. must be terrible for these people. what do they tell you about why they are fleeing? how frightened are people about what's going on? >> most are frightened children. their youngest was one years old. he was so tired and sleep and he was all the time in mama's arms, of course. they tell him they lost their safety. they cannot stay in kyiv, closest cities because they are shooting and bombs and rockets and they can see everything outside their windows. and it's in danger to stay there. or they could go outside where it's garages and bomb shelters,

but still, they're hearing all the time again and again the shootings and shootings and shootings. so it's terrible. i have lots of friends from kyiv. and i saw the pictures where it's crashes. everything is crashes there. their homes, hospitals and children places. >> very difficult for ordinary ukrainians living through this. stick around. coming up on "cnn newsroom," long lines at atms. the value of the ruble plunging, and now a key russian interest rate soaring. a closer look at the immediate impacts of powerful sanctions put on moscow. that's when we come back.

welcome back, everyone. you are looking at long lines of russians waiting at atms after days of punishing sanctions levied on moscow by the west.

many russians are worried their bank cards will stop working, or that banks will limit cash withdrawals. >> translator: it's thursday. everyone has been running to atms to withdraw cash. some get lucky, some don't. >> the u.s., european union, uk and canada announced they will expel certain russian banks from s.w.i.f.t., an international payment system that connects financial institutions around the world. other sanctions include freezing the assets of some of russia's biggest banks. and the growing sanctions are now clearly having far-reaching effects as russia's central bank announced it will more than double its key interest rate from 9 1/2 to 20% a year. in a statement, the bank says external conditions for the russian economy have drastically changed and that the rate increase is needed to support

financial and price stability and protect the savings of citizens from depreciation. so, let's talk more about all of this with cnn's eleni giokos. she joins us now live from dubai. good to see you, eleni. tough sanctions hitting russia's ruble. the central bank responding by more than doubling its key interest rate. but the rest of the world is feeling some pain as well, of course. so where is all this going and what is the real impact in the end? >> reporter: absolutely. i mean, look, the central bank in russia doesn't have many tools in its arsenal to try and counter the 30% depreciation of the ruble against the u.s. dollar. and by hiking rates to 20%, it's sort of an incentive for people not to go to the atm and draw money. if you've got everyone trying to withdraw money at the same time, that means you're going to have a run on the banks. that means you're already seeing a liquidity crisis in russia. and that is going to have far-reaching ramifications. already you're seeing just the

turmoil that is occurring in russia because of the sanctions. and, yes, you're right, this is also impacting global markets. markets don't like uncertainty, specifically when you don't know what kind of risks are in store in the next few months. and then you've got the rise in the oil prices, which is also having a big impact. you can see europe markets opened up, we're seeing blood across the board. ftse is down over 1.6%. you have the dax taking a really big hit. you have markets across europe in the red right now. asia closed mixed. but dow futures are also showing negative starts to the day as well. it's that oil price that people are worried about. you have high oil price. that is going to mean more inflation for everyone around the world. that could -- the worth we've seen in terms of economic recovery post pandemic. brent crude just below $100. that's up 4.5%. he's are huge numbers. why? because russia is an important oil and gas supplier, not to the

u.s., but specifically to europe. the sanctions to get russia out of s.w.i.f.t., which is a very important way for russia to transact and sell goods on the international market, means that making payments for oil and gas is going to be difficult. it means that they won't be able to engage on international trade. the uk now imposing, rosemary, more sanctions against russia in tandem with the u.s. and the eu specifically, and they say that the measure will prevent russian central bank from deploying its foreign reserves in ways that undermine or impact sanctions imposed. so these are now in store for russia and this is going to have a detrimental economic impact for russians going forward. >> all right. watching this very closely. eleni giokos joining us live from dubai. many thanks. well, canada is protesting what it calls a violation of its air space by a russian flight. it's one of a growing number of countries that's off limits to russian planes because of moscow's invasion of ukraine.

european commission president ursula confirmed sunday the eu would be shutting down the bloc's air space, not only to russian carriers, but to the private jets of oligarchs as well. and ukrainian americans and their allies are finding solace in church attendance. one ukrainian catholic church in new york is seeing an increase in attendees from those wanting to pay respects and others trying to find peace through worship. cnn's paolo sandoval has our report. >> reporter: st. george ukrainian catholic church, church leader is estimating of the roughly 5,000 parishioners, about 80% of them are ukrainian immigrants. and we have seen for the last several days, many of them coming here and uniting in prayer. faith certainly playing a massive role for so many ukrainian americans, and we met several of them, including mayla who attended sunday service.

talking about the sense of unity she's seeing not just within the church, but the ukrainian american community in general. >> it did. and i think to see how packed the church was so early in the morning on an 8:00 a.m. on a sunday, it just made me feel connected to a community. i feel, you know, i'm ukrainian american, i was born here. to be connected to a community of immigrants and people who were born here, it just made me feel a lot better. and i do feel like coming to church is the best that we can do. it's all we can do right now. >> reporter: outside of the sunday services, we've seen people showing their support with the small memorial that is formed at the steps of this church. also in attendance during sunday service was new york cardinal timothy dolan, telling the congregation today that he is not only praying for the ukrainian community, but also praying with them as well. paolo sandoval, cnn, new york. and still to come, more punishment for russian sports teams, but are the new measures

enough? more on fifa's restrictions on the russian national football team when we return.

(ted koppel) 30 million americans have copd, half don't yet know it. every one of them is especially vulnerable to covid-19. if we can't find them, we can't help them. visit copdsos.org. russia's invasion of ukraine

is impacting the world of sports in global football fifa, facing countries refusing to play against russia in world cup qualifiers even after the decision was made to strip russia of its flag, national anthem, team name, and even fans in the stadium. cnn world sports don riddell explains. >> football's governing body is used to calling the shots. right now it is struggling to keep face with the ferocity following the backlash of invasion of ukraine on thursday. in a playoff against poland, fifa has decided they will play under the name football union of russia, and the match and others should be played on neutral territory without fans or the use of the russian flag or national anthem. but poland made it very clear they won't play under any circumstances. on social media, the president of their football association wrote, we are not interested in

participating in this game of appearances. our stance remains intact. polish national team will not play with russia no matter what the name of the team is. sweden and the czech republic could also face russia in that world cup playoff, and they have expressed similar views. so fifa must now decide, kick russia out of the tournament or give them a free pass to the world cup in november. this will be a difficult decision for fifa because they have become rather cozy with russia in recent years. despite russia's hostility with georgia in 2008 and ukraine in 2014, they were still allowed to host the world cup in 2018. and the fifa president accepted an order of friendship medal from president vladimir putin the next year. he has not said if he will give it back. fifa now finds itself in a similar position to the international olympic committee. when russia hosted the 2014 winter games in sochi, they were subsequently found to have been doping their athletes in a

state-sponsored program. russia now competed the games as the r.o.c., the russian olympic committee. there is no flag, and no anthem, but everybody knows it is still russia. and this month in beijing, the games were marred by another russian doping allegation. meanwhile, some football players are capturing the global sentiment, calling for the violence in ukraine to end and supporting those players whose family and friends are caught up in the chaos and uncertainty. on sunday, ben fikas from ukraine was moved to tears by the reception he was given when he came onto the field as a substitute. so, the ball is very much in fifa's court, what to do about one of the most influential players in world sport. and they really don't have long to decide. russia is supposed to be playing poland on march the 24th. back to you. >> our thanks to don riddell there. and thank you for watching the program. i'm michael holmes live in ukraine. i will be back with more of our

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>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. and welcome to our viewers joining us all around the world. i'm michael holmes here in lviv, ukraine, with your live coverage of the russian invasion of this country. and we begin with that. the ukrainian delegation arriving at the ukrainian/belarusian border for talks with russia, but as bitter fighting continues around the country, the russian military just announced an open and safe corridor for