hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes coming to you live from lviv in ukraine. and fears of the russian invasion leading to a potential nuclear accident appear to have been averted, at least for now. ukrainian officials say they have put out a fire at a nuclear power plant that they was caused by an assault by russian forces. the nuclear power plant in

southeastern ukraine is the largest in europe, one of the biggest in the world. officials stress that radiation levels have not been elevated, which is good news. ukraine's president, though, offering this condemnation of russia for the attack. >> translator: we contacted our partners, i talked to schulz, i talked to duda, i talked to president biden. we have contacted president rafael grassy, also prime minister johnson, and we warned everyone that no other country other than russia has ever fired on nuclear power units. this is the first time in our history, in the history of mankind the terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror. >> i spoke earlier with mariana boudrin associated with harvard university's project on managing the atom. here is what she had to say

about the possible dangers. >> what is critical for a safe operation of a nuclear reactor is the functioning of a cooling system of a reactor core. so if you can imagine, it's a sort of big pool in to which the fuel rod's inserted. and it has to have a constant supply of cold water to keep that core and that nuclear fuel at a certain temperature. and of course that system relies on a supply of water. that supply of water depends on the functioning of the pumps that pump that water to the core and the pumps rely on electricity. there are backup electricity systems should the main power grid go out. that's standard for every nuclear power plant. those are diesel generators that and then there is also batteries for redundancy. but in a full-scale invasion in

the middle of a war, it's not inconceivable that all these systems could be compromised, and then we really have to worry that could be a serious accident. >> russian forces meanwhile advancing throughout the country in the south, mariupol being attacked from all sides with civilians cut off from access to food, water, and power. shelling also increasing in northern cities. and a new video shows a horrifying aftermath of a russian strike. this is north of kyiv. officials say an apartment building in the city of chernihiv was hit leaving 30 people dead, 18 wounded. we're warning you the footage you're about to see is graphic.

>> now local officials tell us there are no military facilities near that apartment complex. now we've got correspondents around the world covering every aspect of this story, including sara sidner on the polish border with ukraine covering the refugee crisis. nick paton walsh in odesa as russia advances in the south. and we begin with this report from cnn's jim sciutto here in lviv. >> reporter: russian forces on the march, closing in on cities in southern ukraine. the mayor of kherson says his city is now under russian control. ukrainian forces have left,

although a senior u.s. defense official says there is still fighting there. russian forces have also surrounded the city of mariupol. the deputy mayor tells cnn it has lost water and power. >> we have continued shelling for 26 hours, 26 hours. they are destroying our city. >> reporter: in the north the u.s. says russian forces are making slower, but still devastating progress. the russian military flattened a residential area near kyiv, and houses in the a town. it also destroyed an oil depot near chernihiv north of the capital. in kharkiv in the northeast, russian barrages struck at least three schools. the u.s. says russian forces are staging just outside the city now. the ukrainian military is still fighting. they claim to have hit the miles-long convoy that had stalled approaching kyiv from the north. >> you need to understand we're a nation of ants. everybody know what to do. that is why putin could not win.

we will win. >> reporter: ukraine also claims its forces have destroyed 20 russian military vehicles near the hostomel air base. as the fighting rage, ukrainian and russian negotiators met for a second round of talks today in belarus. as ukrainian negotiated ukraine's needs are not yet achieved, president zelenskyy appealed for direct talks with putin. >> i think i have to talk with putin. the world has to talk with putin, because there are no other ways to stop this war. that's why i have to. >> reporter: zelenskyy continued with this message for putin. "i don't bite. sit down with me and talk. what are you afraid of?" putin, however, says his invasion will go on. >> the special military operation in ukraine is going according to plan in strict accordance with the schedule. all tasks are being successfully carried out. >> the goal was to maximize the

impact on putin and russia. >> reporter: today the biden administration announced new sanctions on russian oligarchs and their families, part of an effort to keep up the economic pressure on russia. direct u.s. military intervention remains off the table, but that has not stopped zelenskyy from asking for the u.s. and nato to impose a no-fly zone. >> translator: if you can't provide a no-fly zone right now, then tell us when. if you can't give ukrainians a date when, how long do you need? how many people should be blown up? >> reporter: jim sciutto, cnn, lviv, ukraine. now john spencer is a retired u.s. army major and chair of urban warfare studies at the madison policy forum. he joins me now from colorado springs in colorado. and thanks for doing so, sir. before i get to your area of expertise, i wanted to ask you, how disturbing is it that a nuclear power plant would be the site of russian incoming fire, munitions going into a power plant like that?

>> that's a global disaster waiting to happen. it is very scary, especially firing anywhere near any type of weapon, that's just ridiculous. >> you are an expert on urban warfare. that is the big fear in terms of what could be coming. if the russians assault kyiv with heavy weapons, then a no-holds barred entry, what would that look like in a kinetic sense? >> it would look like hell on earth, to be honest. we're just seeing the very start of this, the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas with the hope that there are some defenders in there. not following international law ensuring there -- making sure there are no civilians in whatever you're striking. it's russian doctrine, unfortunately. and we're going see this intensify. just think about the battle of grozny. the russians started on day one firing 3,000 artillery rounds a day. when they really faced resistance, it ended up being around 30,000 rounds a day.

>> wow. 30,000 a day. i actually covered the retaking of mosul from isis in iraq. that sort of starkly illustrated how fighting in a city can be incredibly damaging to infrastructure, obviously, and far more likely to result in high civilian casualties. i think in mosul some estimates were 10,000 civilians died. just describe how bad it can get and why. >> yeah, so i think this will be ten times what the battle of mosul was. just because of the resistance you're fading. in the battle of mosul was 5,000, maybe 10,000 untrained terrorist, and it still took 100,000 forces backed by the most powerful and law of arm conflict abiding air power in the world, and it still took them nine months in destroying most of the city. this could get in the tens of thousands of civilian casualties and destroy every building there if the ukrainians put up the

resistance. but for me more instantly, and what i hope, i stand with ukrainian, they could make russia pay a huge, huge price. >> right. yeah, and to that very point, the ukrainians are the defenders. and i know you've written extensively about many of the advantages of being in that position. what are the main advantages? what would ukrainian forces be doing to prepare or should be doing to prepare? >> the defense is always the strongest form of war, has always been. in the urban defense, ten times that. they can prepare every street. they can block every street. put guns in every window hidden, and just make it impossible for the russians to come in without fear. the russians fear urban combat. and that's why they're going to bomb it, unfortunately a lot. because all soldiers don't want urban warfare. so inside of kyiv, if i was there, building the barriers, ensuring that they have

protection, digging so they can go underground when the bombing starts, or picking out which building they're going to be in, picking out which building they're going to shoot from. i mean, the resistance is amazing, but it's so powerful. i don't believe the stories. i've studied this for over a decade. and i can give you all kind of historical examples. the ukrainians fight, kyiv can hold. >> yeah. that's incredible analysis. i do want to ask you this before we go. there is a lot of talk about russia's thermobaric weapons. classic munitions as well, which they've already used. briefly, what are these thermobaric weapons, potential applications in a city, urban environment? >> thermobaric, some people call them a vacuum bomb, just what a thermobaric does when it hits the ground, it sucks all the oxygen out of the room, out of the lungs and fills it with fire. the thermobarics are advanced

technologies meant to destroy things like tanks and dig vehicles in the open. they're not meant for urban terrain. if that was fired into urban terrain, and it was in the first battle of grozny, it just melts concrete, melts metal, and it is a cruel and unusual weapon to use in urban terrain. >> a just horrific to contemplate. yet this sort of warfare could be on the horizon. it's great to have you in to get your expertise on this. john spencer, major, thank you so much. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> now russia says it has agreed to a humanitarian corridor in ukraine during the latest round of talks. refugees currently flooding to ukraine's neighboring countries. but the corridor would be used by civilians and for aid to come in the other direction. the u.n. says more than a million refugees have fled

ukraine in just a week. cnn's sara sidner talks to some of the families who have escaped into poland. >> reporter: a ukrainian family's mad rush to safety, parents' desperate attempt to shield their two children from the terror only war can bring. the family lives just outside of kyiv. the explosions rattled their bones. "we fell to the ground. we were shielding our children with our bodies. we got so scared. this is beyond words. we ran. we just ran." but the adults will shed no tears here. they have made a pact. smile and pretend everything is okay, even when they had to take the children to a shelter as bombs exploded. how you still smiling? >> why am i still smiling? because it helps us stay alive. my youngest daughter was crying all night long. and she asked me, why are you laughing, mom? why are you joking? and i told her, it keeps us alive and keeps us mentally

strong. >> reporter: we saw that strength on display by hundreds of mothers traveling alone with their children across the border into poland, their husbands left behind to fight. but not everyone at the medika border krorsing is leaving we have witnessed men going the other way to fight. >> i'm ukrainian going to fight against russian. >> reporter: but for a million other ukrainians, fleeing is the best option to save themselves and their children. for this family, the husband, though, remains with them, even though ukrainian's government has demanded men of his age must stay put. he has been allowed out. his duty is to his family, he says. he is the only breadwinner because his wife's duty is to the children who struggle with disabilities. at the train station, their youngest smiles and clutches her most prized possessions. her old fuzzy tiger and a new keepsake, a handful of gravel

from her homeland. sara sidner, cnn, poland. >> heartbreaking, isn't it? well, coming up here on the program, being a child in a war zone, that's terrifying enough, of course. but for kids who are already fighting a different battle with cancer, the russian invasion has made their struggle even tougher. we go inside a hospital working to keep those kids safe and healthy, coming up. also -- >> i ask them, children, come here, please. be safe. come to me. but they didn't want. >> as russia closes in, mothers cope with their children, leaving to fight rather than fall under the heavy hand of moscow. we'll have that and much more when we come back. which saved investors over $1.5 billion last year. that's decision tech. only from fidelity.

(music) who said you have to starve yourself to lose weight? who said you can't do dinner? who said only this is good? and this is bad? i'm doing it my way. meet plenity. an fda -cleared clinically proven weight management aid for adults with a bmi of 25-40 when combined with diet and exercise. plenity is not a drug - it's made from naturally derived building blocks and helps you feel fuller and eat less. it is a prescription only treatment and is not for pregnant women or people allergic to its ingredients. talk to your doctor or visit myplenity.com to learn more. growing up in a little red house,

on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged: kindness, honesty and hard work. over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, and then go. go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew. viking. exploring the world in comfort. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis.

tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to the possibility of lower a1c with rybelsus®. you may pay as little as $10 for up to a 3-month prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. (johnny cash) ♪ i've traveled every road in this here land! ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ crossed the desert's bare, man. ♪ ♪ i've breathed the mountain air, man. ♪ ♪ of travel i've had my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ ♪ i've been to: pittsburgh, parkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪

now this was the same wednesday in ukraine as hundreds of angry ukrainians protested the arrival of russian troops there. some trying to smack a russian armored vehicle as it drove past the crowd. others taking to the streets,

waving ukrainian flags. so far here in lviv, russia's invasion has brought dozens of air raid sirens. but mercifully, no bombs so far. still, the situation is perilous here and all across the nation. the w.h.o. says it is seriously concerned about a massive humanitarian catastrophe in ukraine. >> let's not forget that ukraine has three super important emergencies. number one, it's covid-19. people need life-saving oxygen. number two, outbreaks. and the third is the military conflict. >> all right. some of the conflict's youngest victims struggling to get to hospitals as the violence intensifies. our anderson cooper visited a specialized children's ward here in lviv that is fighting to help sick kids despite the constant threat of danger. >> reporter: the fighting hasn't

come to lviv, but the war's littlest victims have. this children's hospital is full with kids being treated for cancer. more than 100 have arrived here in the past few days from ukrainian cities already under attack. how did they get here? >> different ways. they tried to get any bus or train. and mostly at night they arrive and we try to get them from the trains. you know, it's perilous in the railway stations. people push them because it's panic. >> reporter: dr. roman kizyma has barely leapt in three days. what do you need here? >> first of all we need the information to be spread that there is kind of problem. so we need to stop the violence and get the treatment for kids. and the second thing is strategical planning. we will face shortages of the drugs and technologies in very short future. >> reporter: he is trying to get as many kids as possible into hospitals in poland to save their lives.

>> a lot of them will die in the nearest future because of this shortages of drugs and treatment breaks. and not only for cancer, but a lot of other things. and we know that, and we are desperate. >> reporter: the rooms here are crowded, and conditions are less than ideal. >> we have the constant air alarm. like we had four of them last night i guess. >> air raid sirens? >> yes. and then we have to have all these kids grabbed and taken into shelter. >> reporter: so every time there is a air raid siren, even if it's a false alarm? >> yeah, yeah. it is a mess. it look like -- like i've never seen that, in the movies. a lot of bald kids and mothers crying. >> what game are you playing? how do you play? >> reporter: 8-year-old alexei has brain cancer. he had been making good progress in kyiv until the war stopped his treatment. he got here four days ago with his mother lita. how you doing?

>> it is difficult because we've gone through such a long way of treatment. we have been getting treatment for a year now. and when we had such a little step left to make to the finishing line, to the happy end. this dream abruptly stops. >> reporter: tomorrow she'll take alexei by bus to a hospital in poland. she has left her other children behind in kyiv. >> translator: my youngest is 3 and my oldest is 16. they have to stay there, and my heart is breaking. i'm i am grateful we can go and continue the treatment and help my child who really needs it right now. but on the other side, i am so worried as i'm leaving my two other kids behind. >> reporter: that is an impossible decision to have to make. >> yes. but we have made it so far in the treatment. and have i strong belief that our treatment will be successful. >> reporter: in another room, we met bogdan. is this your truck? at 2, he survived a heart

attack, a stroke and stomach cancer. now 8, the cancer has come back. his mother natalia is with him around the clock. >> translator: we have only gone through one course of chemotherapy. now we are doing more blood tests. so far the results are not good. we are preparing for the second course of the therapy. you know, it is very difficult now. and when the sirens go off, the doctors come and disconnect him from the treatment. >> reporter: what is it like to be a mother trying to protect a child during this war? >> it is so difficult. i cannot just put it into words. do you understand it is impossible to put it into words? because every mother wants their baby to be healthy. >> reporter: how do you explain what is happening to an 8-year-old? >> translator: i am trying not to involve him too much in the situation, not to traumatize

him. when we are running, he asks if we can take a break as he wants to walk a bit. he wants to walk around his room a bit as he is constantly bed ridden getting the treatment. at first when we were going down to the bunker, he was getting very scared. what is going on? everyone is running to hide. >> reporter: it's scary to see the other people who are scared. you're very brave. there is no shortage of bravery in this place. these kids, these moms, they've been fighting for years. >> please help us. it is very difficult for us

here. help us to save our country. there is every day in the news we hear about invasion. but our big city kyiv, capital of ukraine and the rest of our land is bombarded. people are running away from there, and we do not know what awaits for us. we just cannot know. we hope that the whole world will help us to stop the aggressor. >> reporter: anderson cooper, cnn, lviv. >> now andre kirkov is a renowned ukrainian writer. he joins me now from the west of the country. andre, firstly, give us a sense of day-to-day life, yours and those around you. >> well, i'm in the place west of refugees. we are also in the place where there are lots of refugees. a brother to our friend gave us yesterday her plflat with a ful

fridge and she moved with her daughter. i think many ukrainians in western ukraine are doing the same. a lot of people arrested in cars. a citizen was taking photos of military objects here in the region. >> right. what are people thinking about the enemy? powerful and frightening or young, uncommitted and beatable? what do people think about the russians? >> i mean, the spirit is very high because of the resistance of the ukrainian army. and of course the support of europe and united states also influenced the morale of people. most of the people are optimistic, but very angry, very bitter, especially getting news about bombardment of nuclear station near zaporizhzhia, about the criminals brought from

crimea to organize fake demonstrations, pro-russian demonstrations and to announce people's republic. the use which are coming is making people very, very angry. >> yeah. many people of course thought putin would never actually do this, invade ukraine. you have spoken about the change you saw recently in vladimir putin, and how it made you think that it could really happen. what is it that you saw? >> well, first of all, the top russian officials, including putin, started using prison slang. i mean putin was always in love with prison slang. but minister of foreign affairs lavrov was usually diplomatic, and then stopped being diplomatic and started using underground world's lexic. it's obvious they are gearing up themselves for aggression. trying to get more hate for

ukraine and spread more hate to ukraine among russian population. >> your 2018 novel "gray beast," it's set in the donbass region, which of course has been at war since 2014 and is really central to what is happening now. how does it feel as an author having written about that and then finding your country in this situation a few years later? >> well, first of all, i want to say i didn't plan to write this novel, and i didn't want to write about the war until the war is over. but i met a lot of refugees from donetsk and kyiv. and one of them told me he is driving his car every month to the front line where there are seven families left, and he is bringing them medicine and everything they need, and they are paying him with reserves, vegetable, pickles, et cetera. and i understood that the gray zone, the strip of land between positions of separatist russians

and pro-russians and ukraine army is 4 30 kilometer long and there are thousands of people stranded there without infrastructure, electricity, shops, administration. and i wanted to give voice to these people. that's why i wrote "the gray beast." but i didn't expect this situation. >> yeah. it is a pleasure to speak with you, andrey, a famed author here in this country. ironically known for comedic work as well. this is not a laughing matter. it's been wonderful to speak with you. andree kurkov. thank you so much. ukrainians aren't giving up without a fight, but neither are the russians. how trip wire and booby traps are making life even more unbearable for ukrainians living in cities under siege. we'll be right back. with the newinvesting

schwab starter kit™. new investors can open an account t and get $50 to split across the topp five stocks in the s&p 500®. you can also unlock short t videos, stepep-by-step guides, and other easy-to-use tools designed for people jujust getting started. plus, investment professionals are on standby 24/7 if you ever have a question. it's the smarter way to start investing. ♪ thanks to realtor.com's home alerts we were able to see the newest homes on the market, super fast. so we could finally buy our first "big boi house." big boi house. big boi kitchen! big boi waterfl shower! g boi crawl space. big boi sold sn, big boi logo. realtor.com each their home. uff. we love stuff. and there's some really great stuff outhere. but i doubt that any of us will look back on our lives and think, "i wish i'd bought an even thinner tv, found a lighter light beer, or had an even smarter smartphone."

do you think any of us will look back on our lives and regret the things we didn't buy? or the places we didn't go? ♪ i'd go the whole wide world ♪ ♪ i'd go the whole wide world ♪

xfinity mobile runs on america's most reliable 5g network, but for up to half the price of verizon, so you have more money for more stuff. this phone? fewer groceries. this phone? more groceries! this phone? fewer concert tickets. this phone? more concert tickets. and not just for my shows. switch to xfinity mobile for half the price of verizon.

new and existing customers get amazing value with our everyday pricing. switch today. and welcome back to our viewers all around the world live from lviv in western ukraine. i'm michael holmes. now ukrainian emergency crews say they extinguished a fire at the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. flames break out a few hours ago after what locals called russian shelling of the plant, and authorities feared that it could cause a nuclear incident. the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy blaming russia for the dangerous situation.

>> translator: i appeal to all ukrainians, to all europeans, to all people who know the world chernobyl who know how much grief and casualties the explosion at the power plant brought. it was a global catastrophe. hundreds of thousands of people struggle with its consequences. tens of thousands of people were convicted. russia wants to repeat this and is already repeating it. >> meanwhile, smoke poured out of residential buildings in the town of hatne outside the capital kyiv. russia appears to be gaining more ground in the south and the east. it's fighting now in the second week. the ukrainian president pleading for more help from western nations. and in southern ukraine, port city after port city increased attacks from russian forces. more on russia's campaign to tighten its control. >> reporter: the town of kherson

refuses to give up it seems. looting crippling life here. this russian soldier's bid to get into a cell phone store the sign of the lawless world they brought with them where food and medicine is lacking. and what life is left made more unbearable by the laying of trip wire mines local officials said. this one posted online to worn others. on the other side of russian-held crimea, mariupol under siege, without water or electricity. the mayor saying the russian, quote, scum have found no other way to break us. the prize in the south is this, odesa. its opera house fortified, its coastline a harder task. where the tide could bring russians in with it, yet still

laps as if nothing has changed. an estonian ship sank thursday east of here, its crew rescued with ukrainian officials accusing russia of shelling it to act as cover for their landing ships. any hour now, when the landing force could hove irrevocably into view. odesa brims with locals ready, though. like so many here, these civilian defenders don't want their whereabouts filmed, but are happy to speak. genia is chief marketing officer for an i.t. company who has traveled europe and africa but joined up to fight on day one. >> unfortunately, i have lost two of my friends in kherson two days ago. >> i'm sorry. >> they also have been -- >> fighting in kherson? >> yeah, they were fighting. and they were in volunteer troop. so they have no military ground at all. both of them are programmers.

>> reporter: we're joined by lera, aged 19 and nani, who fled russians in crimea when she was 11. "we're ready to the end to defend our land," she said. "the occupiers came to my home before. my family is still there. only i could leave because i don't want to live in russia." across town, mothers knit camouflage netting while like nilia, daughters fight. hers staying behind to defend kyiv. >> we know the danger. we know it will come. but we didn't know when will it come. and i ask them, children, come here, please. be safe. come to me. but they didn't want. no, mom, please stay alive. stay safe. but we will defend. because everybody lost. everybody. sorry. sorry.

everybody wants to be independent, to be free. they decided to stay there, and i can't influence that decision. but i pray every, i pray every night to put them to stay alive. >> reporter: the defiant words of the soldiers of snake island who told a russian ship where to shove it echo here. >> martial law. russian ship [ bleep ]. it's the logo. it's the logo now in ukraine. >> they'll need more than high spirits in the days ahead. nick paton walsh, odesa, ukraine. i'm kim huber following our breaking news from cnn world headquarters here in atlanta. after the break, a former russian tycoon is trying to read

vladimir putin's state of mind as he invades ukraine. once russia's richest man, he now says this about the russian leader. >> i don't want to imagine what he's thinking about. i'm absolutely convinced, though, that he is the enemy of humankind. d aspirin capsule is clinically shown in a 7 day studydy to cauause fewer ulcers than immediate release aspirin. vazalore. the firsrst liquid-filled aspirin capsules...amazing!

as russia's assault on ukraine continues to escalate, america's top diplomat is planning to visit u.s. allies to talk about how to handle the ongoing crisis. antony blinken touched down in brussels a short time ago. in a few hours, he'll meet at nato headquarters with foreign ministers from the alliance. after that, he'll continue to meet with nato allies from poland to latvia about the state department calls russia's unjustified war against ukraine. the white house is piling on the pressure on russian president vladimir putin by going after his inner circle. on thursday, president joe biden slapped new sanctions on a group

of oligarchs close to the russian leader. they'll be cut off from the u.s. financial system while their assets and property will be frozen or blocked. britain later followed slapping sanctions on two oligarchs worth $19 billion combined. biden says earlier sanctions have already had an effect. >> the severe economic sanctions on putin and all those folks around him choking off access to technology as well as cutting off access to the global financial system has had a profound impact already. >> a former russian oil tycoon has concerns about putin's state of mind as the russian military's leader tries to push deeper into ukraine. mikhail cod kodorovsky was russia's wealthiest man before he trumcharges he says were tru

up. >> i've been fighting him for almost 20 years and ten of those years in prison. i don't want to imagine what he is thinking about. i'm absolutely convinced, though, he is the enemy of humankind. this is the man who took the decision he can kill people and bomb towns for some interest of his own. he is my personal enemy, and i think he is the enemy of any normal human being. >> what frame of mind do you think he is? >> translator: of course, we can see in the clinical features of paranoia. we can see a man who is afraid of his own entourage. but that's not the say he is not dangerous anymore. >> has vladimir putin bitten off politically a lot more than he can chew at this point? >> translator: i think putin thought he would be met with flowers in ukraine, and that he would convince people he was there to liberate them from the so-called nazis he keeps going on about.

putin is convinced people can't fight for freedom themselves. it must be some americans forcing them to do it. so today he shocked. >> do you think we'll see vladimir putin and members of his own entourage in the hague facing war crimes? >> to me, by invading ukraine, putin became criminal. >> do you think there is a sense this is the end of putin's time in office? >> i'm convinced that putin hasn't got much time left. maybe a year, maybe three. but what he has done in ukraine has significantly reduced his chances of remaining in power much longer. today we are no longer thinking in terms of his being around another decade, as we thought a week ago. >> so these sanctions, seizing yachts, bank account, potentially expensive houses here in london, is this going to be enough? >> at the moment, i don't want to even think about the effect that the sanctions will have on putin's inner circle. in a year or two from now. that is totally irrelevant at

the moment. what is important snow the next couple of days or even hours and stopping the war. we have to deprive putin's regime of any financial oxygen. i've never offered sanctions against russia, but now we have to stop the war. there is no price too high to pay to stop these wars. why are these sanctions only covering 70% of russian banks? any payments in favor of russia or in the interest of putin's regime must be stopped. to that, all russian bank account, all accounts that belong to oligarch, al of them who act as putin's wallet, it must be really painful for all until the war stops. >> do you think vladimir putin would press the nuclear button? do you think he would use nuclear weapons? >> now i see he can do anything. today we can chance to stop him. we must do it.

i think he can cross any lands if we will try to talk with him, we will look weak. you, we, ukrainians must stop putin now, 24 hours, 48 hours. it's that time it must be said. we stop putin now or we stop putin later in the world between our countries. >> what is your message to vladimir putin right now? >> there is only one. stop. >> i'm kim brunhuber in atlanta. michael holmes will be back after the break to tell us about evidence of possible russian war crimes in ukraine and to show what cnn is doing to help compile that proof. stay with us. she'll get some help from fidelity to envision a plan for the future.. fidelity's onene-on-one financial coaching

hehelps shannon measure her progress and know her next steps. plus, shannon's professionally managed ira has a strategy based on her comfort level with risk and reward -- which leaves shannon feeling so good she can enjoy more of what's right in front of her. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. (johnny cash) ♪ i've traveled every road in this here land! ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ crossed the desert's bare, man. ♪ ♪ i'vbreathed the mountain air, man. ♪ ♪ of travel've had my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere.♪ ♪ i've been to: pittsburghparkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪

at jp morgan, the only definition of wealth that matters is yours. it can be a smaller house, but a bigger nest egg. a goal to work toward, or the freedom to walk away. with 200 years of experience, personalized advice, and commission free trades on an award-winning app, we are working for you. planning. investing. advice. jp morgan wealth management.

are you a christian author with a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! held lee, everyone, i am michael homes in lviv, ukraine with the latest on the russian invasion of this country. ukrainian officials say a fire that broke out at europe's largest nuclear power plant has now been put out. they say the blaze at the plant

started after a heavy russian attack. there are no deaths or injuries reported at the moment. and one very important detail, radiation levels are still normal but the president of this country zelenskyy -- he accuses russia of purposely targeting the plant in southeastern ukraine. we now want to show you video that some viewers will find graphic, and it is the aftermath of a russian strike on an apartment building. this is in a town north of kyiv. it shows victims screaming for help after the building was hit on thursday. just down the street, a children's hospital and a school. officials say at least 33 people were killed, 18 others wounded. now, targeting civilian areas during armed conflict is a war crime, and there are growing calls from ukraine and the global community for an investigation by the international criminal court. cnn is using technical tools to

verify and map attacks that might be considered war crimes, including attacks on residential areas and schools. >>s shells started raining down on the civilians of kharkiv, ukraine's second largest city, we began building an evidence base to investigate potential war crimes. on monday, russian shelling hit a supermarket. next, it was a beer store. people running across the road as the missile lodges itself in the tarmac. with each new incident of civilian infrastructure in kharkiv being hit, we mapped them out across google earth on locations like this to show the spread and the scale of the destruction. this street was hit on tuesday. the build suggest gone, the man filming says. identifying this white building

and this red brick work, we geo located the videos to this scene in western kharkiv just meters from a hospital. py by wednesday, we found evidence a school had been hit. so, when we establish the location of the school, we realized just how many other schools were in that vicinity. so, whatever the target of this strike, it was going to hit a densely populated residential area. minutes later, more footage emerges, another school. and then, another. as more and more footage continues to roll in of the civilian destruction in kharkiv, we continue to locate and verify each one. and while the russian government continues to deny that they are targeting civilian infrastructure, this mapping of the evidence is suggesting otherwise. cnn london. events, of course, are happ happen fast and the story in ukraine, changing pretty much by the minute. you can stay up to date, though, live updates on cnn.com for you,

and of course, right here on cnn. and finally, a very touching human moment in the time of crisis . that is italian pianist playing john lennon's peace anthem "imagine" for ukrainian refugees arrive inning poland. he traveled from germany to bring cheer to those displaced by the invasion. later, joined by a ukrainian woman and together they performed queen's "we are the champions." more than half a million ukrainians have fled to poland, specifically a million overall. that is according to the u.n. live from lviv, ukraine, i am michael holmes. our breaking-news coverage continues after the break.

this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past...

and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. this is cnn breaking news. hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world, live from ukraine, i am michael holmes. our breaking news this hour, an outcry after a nuclear power plant in ukraine comes under attack by russian forces. the fire it caused has now been extinguished. and officials say radiation levels are normal. the nuclear power plant in southeastern ukraine, the largest in europe. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says russia needs to be stopped before it causes a nuclear disaster