owever you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. hello and welcome to our viewers around the world and in the united states this hour. i'm haula gorani live in lviv ukraine. and we begin with breaking news right here in ukraine. within the last few hours our cnn teams here in lviv heard multiple explosions in the city's outskirts, about 55 kilometers northwest of our position here. ukrainian officials tell us russian forces fired eight missiles toward a military base outic outside the city. it comes as ukraine's president

says that all of ukraine is now a front line as russian troops intensify their attacks and strikes hammer civilian areas as well as military targets. now, take a look at this video specifically at the upper left corner in this surveillance footage from saturday. you can see two explosions hitting very close to an apartment building in the city of mykolaiv near the black sea. also on saturday we learned that seven civilians were killed while trying to flee a village near kyiv, and the u.n. says at least so far 579 civilians including 42 children have been killed since this russian invasion started but cautions that the actual number is likely higher. new developments in the south eastern city. cnn has now learned that a new mayor has been installed in the city which is currently under russian control. this would bow a pro-russian

mayor because we previously reported that the city's elected mayor who had defied the russians was abducted by armed men. and in other developments, efforts to evacuate civilians from some of the hardest hit cities continued on saturday. the government says close to 13,000 people were evacuated, and all the u.n. says more than 2.5 m 2.5 million refugees have now fled the fighting in ukraine. this as ukraine's president urged citizens to keep up the fight as russia's invasion continues. >> translator: we have to stand firm and keep on fighting every night, and every day we should be fighting for ways to destroy, to harm the enemy in all directions. and also on the diplomatic front, having tactics and confidence. we will achieve and we will reach what is ours so that all the occupiers and all the collaborators will know that ukraine will not forget, never,

nothing. ukraine will not forget. ukraine will find them and we'll call them to responsibility, each and every one of them. >> reporter: well, on saturday the united states pledged another $200 million in immediate military aid for ukraine. the announcement came the same day that moskow warned any foreign weapon shipment into the country would be a considered a legitimate target for russian forces. for more let's bring in selma abdelaziz joining us here about those attacks intensifying all throughout the country. what are you learning? salma, can you hear me? all right, we're having some audio issues there. there she is. go ahead.

talk to us about whoez overnight strikes we heard from our pos position. all right, we're going to move on from salma, we're going to reconnect with her and we'll get to her as soon as we can re-establish contact. i want to bring in a journalist where she covers international affairs, corruption and money laundering and also author of the book "why europe needs a mag nitsky law should the u.n. follow the u.s.." you've been following russian press inside the contre. what is russian opinion on this war inside the country?

>> thank you for having me. in fact, it's very difficult to answer this question because there is like two types of i'd say russian people, russians. there are some people and they think, unfortunately, the biggest part is that they don't even know the war that you and me are seeing now from the west, from our tvs and newspapers, et cetera, they're seeing vladimir putin came to ukraine to liberate denaziify and make this ukraine free from nazis, et cetera. and they really believe in this. they never saw kids dying, hospital bombing, all these refugees. nothing exists for those people in russia. and there are very few russian people who are following independent media for all this period, and they saw exactly the same type of covering as all

normal western people were having, you know, in all these democratic country. so now it's very difficult to manage -- you can imagine someone calling you and asking you this question will you support vladimir putin in this action, you don't know who is calling why he's calling, so you'll never give your true opinion. it's like in soviet times my parents were describing these and my grandparents were describing these situations quite similar to me. so, yes, i'm afraid there's some people that don't know, and there's some people that don't care, that will support putin in every step he takes. >> but, i mean, presumably they're -- they're experiencing the economic impact of these sanctions. they're seeing people line up at

atms, at cash machines. they have the internet. i mean how much of it is getting through, though, in russia from what you're hearing? >> they don't have internet at all starting from, like, last week. and anyway they were all the time exposed another type of information. okay, there is people near the cash machine, but they will always say it is americans, europeans who made them suffer not vladimir putin and not because of his steps in ukraine, not because of the war. it's because all western world is hating russians and russia, which is not true, of course. so they still have something to seat. that's why you don't see so much people on the street. and russia are not ukrainians, you know. we have this very different point from ukrainians.

they were all the time on the square until the power has changed. they were not happy. russians will never do this. they will come with some, you know, banners saying we want putin away, once you are arrested you cannot do anything. now it's very dangerous and russia will not -- >> we saw thousands of arrests there. we even saw an arrest of a woman holding up a blank piece of paper. that goes to show you how little tolerance there is for any kind of dissent right now. and how about the well-traveled affluent, i mean we call them oligarchs, but that whole class of russians who's benefitted from this putin leadership over the last few years? they're seeing their lives severely impacted. can that have an impact, do you think, on putin's calculations at all? because he seems absolutely unwilling to -- to deviate from

this path that he's set to attack this -- this country. >> that's correct. it's estimated that private assets abroad range from 800 billion to $1 trillion and with the biggest part of this was likely linked to vladimir putin. it's empossible for people to come in front of vladimir putin and ask him to stop. no one can do this, no one in russia at least. and as we saw recently no one in europe neither. emmanuel macron, the french president tried it many times, and each time it's fail. he's done his best. so there is no one person in the world who can stop putin today. i mean, you in america, you had passed this house resolution which is called 806 which --

which focuses on initiative saying that recent constitution election in russia were not legitimate, were illegal. this can be a very nice tool for russian authorities to react. if you pass this law and pass this resolution and you were saying any attempt to remain into power after 2024 will be illegal and putin will not be recognized as nicolas maduro and alexander lukashenko in belarus, that maybe will be helpful to us. >> all right, elena, thank you so much for joining us on cnn. we appreciate it. let's go back to cnn's salma abdelaziz. and overnight a little before

6:00 a.m. we heard a series of explosions not far from our position here. tell us more about what happened because here we are, we are basically close to the polish border. >> reporter: absolutely. and this is, again, part of this intensification, this widening of the russian attack, the russian invasion on this country that had so far really focused on the east. ware now seeing strikes on the west. the latest as you said just after 6:00 a.m. near the polish border, a base, essentially, a really big base that's been used for training ukrainian soldiers in the past. american troops have been there in past years as well to help with their ukrainian allies. so this is a very important and strategic military position for the ukrainian military. now, we don't know details on where the strike hit, what is the infrastructure damage, what are the casualties, but the ukrainian authorities are looking into that. but, again, it begins to beg that question, hala, of what is the military objective here for president vladimir putin? you are seeing now a very wide

ranging offensive that stretches all across the country, almost taking you to the polish border, and of course for families here in lviv who came because this is the safe haven, who fled places where there was bombardment, who believed that here they could have relative safety, that begins to add more fears, more doubts, many of them waking up to the sounds of air-raid sirens last night spending yet another sleepless night in bomb shelters, calming their children down and of course continuing fears for the capital kyiv there. the noose of those russian troops appears to be tightening, russian forces just about 15 miles from the city limits of kyiv. western intelligence saying that russian troops are preparing to besiege that city. now, that's not simple. it's not going to happen overnight. there are of course ukrainian resistance, but it does, of course, add to more concerns,

more fears for the capital. >> all right, thanks very much. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy's refusal to back down to russia has inspired his fellow countrymen and women as well as many people around the world. he's repeatedly made calls for the west to do more to back ukraine and has used the power of social media to unite his country and to send his message around the world in ukraine's fight against russian aggression. >> translator: we are all united in one dream, to live peacefully in our land. and we have the right -- the right that everyone has to fight for a peaceful sky and for their own land. the world has always loved those who fight against evil, and now resistance of the entire ukrainian people has inspired people across the world, millions of people who only 17 days ago maybe didn't even feel that they had anything in common with us, but it's obvious now

peace, freedom, love for our children -- children for the sake of whom we are fighting so that they can have a future. >> well, president volodymyr zelenskyy there on how the ukrainian people are united in one dream to live peacefully. and certainly his approval and the support for the ukrainian leader has increased dramatically as people look to him for inspiration during this very difficult time. will it be diplomacy or economic sanctions that end the conflict? the leaders of france and germany spoke to the one man who knows vladimir putin. what came out of their conversation? we'll tell you next. plus a group of women in lviv are helping troops on the front lines from behind the scenes cnn talks to those women ahead. emerge tremfyant®. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. some patients even felt less fatigued.

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you're looking at the russian embatessy in lisbon, portugal. protesters lit it up in blue and yellow, the color of ukraine's flag. portugal is one of the countries giving special status to ukrainians coming to the country meaning they won't need a visa

to enter. the government has other services available to refugees as well. a different type of demonstration in florence, italy, thousands packed into one of the city's biggest squares to show their support for ukraine. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy actually addressed the crowd not in person but on a big jumbo tron. he told supporters what happens in ukraine will eventually effect all of europe. >> translator: in interviews i am always asked how europe can help ukraine, but i would like to formulate this question differently, and that is how europe can help itself because this war is not only against our people but against the values that unite us, against our way of life. >> well, during a 75-minute phone call on saturday the leaders of germany and france urged the russian president vladimir putin to declare a cease-fire in ukraine. the french president, emmanuel

macron, and the german chancellor olaf scholz appealed to vladimir putin. the source added mr. putin still seemed determined to achieve his objectives in ukraine, but the fact he's still talking means a diplomatic solution is not out of the question. i guess that's the best we can hope for now. melissa bell joins us live now from paris with the details. so obviously disappointing outcome, a disappointing assessment of the call. >> we know what the source was willing to say. so as you mentioned the idea that in the end he seemed determined, it had been just a couple of days since olaf scholz

and emmanuel macron spoke to president putin. the idea is that some dialogue is better than none, so there was little tangible progress, but the did some sense of his state of mind. determined was how it was described, one adjective used but also the source said this time the rhetoric had changed a little bit. there was no talk of denazification which had been such a theme of vladimir putin's when he spoke of ukraine. and the source suggested there seemed to be some progress in that, and again as you mentioned the very idea he should continue talking. but there was also at the end of the phone call a sense that sufficiently little had been achieved. that the source said europeans were already looking ahead to next week where they're going to be getting together their delegations in brussels, hala, to look at what further sanctions can be deployed. the united states we know are seeing a bill go through congress, a bill introduced to try and place secondary

sanctions on any american company that might help russians transact their gold reserves, those $130 billion worth of gold reserves that the central bank holds. that's the next target from the point of view of the united states. from the point of view of europeans, we don't know exactly what they have planned. there have been several rounds of sanctions as you know targeting the financial sector, targeting individual oligarchs and those close to vladimir putin, targeting also now trade since now that russia has been removed from its preferred nation status by both europeans in the united states that still has to go through congress and the u.s., by the way, but joe biden has announced that's his intention, it means the government can now target trade. the european union announcing it was going to stop as of yesterday the ecport of luxury goods, the import of steel. crippling the russian economy. the idea is that as this war continues to progress, as those -- as the russian forces

continue to advance, so too will the west continue with sanctions that continue to raftchet up th press pressure, hala. >> melissa bell in paris, thanks so umuch. cnn's anderson cooper spoke to the women preparing care packages and supplies for the soldiers and their families in need. >> reporter: in a volunteer center in lviv, moms whose husbands and children have taken up arms gather supplies for those fighting further east. >> translator: we understand we need to hold strong, like a fist, like this and we have very strong faith. we believe that we will win and this will hold us together. >> reporter: irena works for a group called angel on your shoulder which has recruited more than 100 women to pack boxes around the clock. >> nonstop, nonstop.

>> reporter: everything is donated, medicine and toiletries, all kinds of prepackaged food. looking for things easy to add water to for troops and families. nothing stays here for long. the work is hard, the war is harder. angela's husband left for the front yesterday. >> my husband left yesterday. >> reporter: he's a doctor, a veteran of the soviet war in afghanistan. does it help to work here, to stay busy? >> translator: we are doing what we can. we keep on praying. people ask how you are not crying, but you know crying doesn't help. each person does what they can. >> reporter: angela is in the reserves as well, but for now he's taking care of her family and volunteering. thank you for your strengthen. you give me and everybody strength.

>> translator: thank you very much. >> reporter: in another building more mothers, more volunteers making camouflage netting to hind tanks and artillery. >> translator: let me teach you. do you see? just like this. >> reporter: elina's son is already in the fight. what made you want to come here? >> translator: we need to protect our country. it is difficult to speak. my son is in the army since 2015. i didn't want to let him go, and he said who will go if not me? how will i be able to say to people that i hid and sheltered? so he left, and it was extremely difficult for me. >> reporter: many in this room have had to flee their homes in kharkiv and kyiv. they wonder when the bombs will fall here. if you could talk to mothers in russia, what would you tell

them? >> translator: i would tell them to take their sons back. we are all so sorry for them. they are also humans. human life was created by god. how can it be taken away just like that? they will be judged and face punishment for this. you cannot do this. let them take their kids. >> reporter: this war has many fronts, and for mothers there aren't many ways to fight. anderson cooper, cnn, lviv, ukraine. >> well, if you would like to help people in ukraine moo may be in need of shelter, food or water go to cnn.com/impact. there you can find several organizations that we've vetted and several ways you can help if you'd like to contribute. when we come back, a single letter not even found in the russian alphabet has become a potent symbol of the war in ukraine. what it is and what it means to pro-war russians next.

plus, how chinese state media is pushing a pro-kremlin narrative amid russia's invasion of ukraine. with tremfya®.... ...most people saw 90% clearer skskin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 y years. serious allelergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your r risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®... ...with tremfya®. ask your doctor about tremfya® today.

welcome back. i'm hala gorani live from lviv, ukraine. the russian invasion of this country is coming closer to the city where i'm standing right now. this morning russian air strikes hit a large military base near the city center lviv about 55 kilometers northwest or so. they were close enough that cnn crews on the ground could hear the explosions. we're also hearing that an airport in the western ukrainian city had its infrastructure i

should say almost completely destroyed by a russian air strike according to the city's mayor. now, according to preliminary information there are no casualties in that attack. ukraine says russia fired eight missiles on a base that includes a training center for peacekeeping missions near lviv. so far no word on casualties on that attack. but you can see on the map just how close that training center is to the polish border. meanwhile russia's defense ministry has released this video reportedly showing paratroopers taking over an airfield in ukraine. now, russia did not say which airfield it reportedly captured or when, and cnn could not independently confirm if the video accurately shows what's happening on the dwround. this is being released on the russian side. the humanitarian situation, meanwhile, is rapidly deteriorating inside this of country. it's gotten so bad even the russian military is

acknowledging it. the defense ministry in moskow is describing had the humanitarian situation in some cities as reaching, quote, catastrophic proportions, but they went onto blame ukraine for its own problems, not their own unprovoked war and attacks on major cities. and as russia tries to shift the blame, remember just weeks ago they said they weren't even going to invade at all. now, we've heard from the politicians and other leaders about dealing with russian president vladimir putin, but what do the russian people think? our former cnn moskow bureau chief jill dougherty tells cnn what she's hearing. >> if you take let's say the voters for vladimir putin, which would be, you know, middle-aged people who are not necessarily on the internet, big putin supporters, they are watching russian state television. and what they are getting is a diametrically different vision of what's happening in ukraine. they are not seeing the death

and destruction in the main part of ukraine, in kyiv and some of the other cities. they're seeing, you know, the war in the donbas region in which russians have been under attack and, you know, of course the kremlin is saying it's genocide, which is not correct. but in any case they're seeing a very distorted picture of really what is happening overall in ukraine. so what they think is that russia is defending russia, that ukraine is being used as a tool by nato and the united states to attack russia. so those people are onboard with putin at least at this point. then you have younger people, people who are more open to the west, who are on the internet all the time. and they have a different view. in fact, of course we've seen these protests against the war, and people sometimes quite brutally arrested or at least detained. so it depends on who they are, but i think the factor that will

have an effect will be these sanctions because, you know, ideological support for the president is one thing, but when the rubber hits the road or as they say the refrigerator issues come out and people are dealing with an economy that's tanking, products they can't buy, massive inflation, they may very well decide this is not worth it. now, my question is who will they blame? will it be putin, or will it be the west? and we don't really know that yet. >> all right, jill dougherty there. now, a new pro-war symbol has emerged in russia and it's a symbol of division between those that believe russia is right in invading ukraine and really most everyone else who sees it as pure aggression. phil black shows us. >> reporter: it's impossible not to notice. many of the russian vehicles invading ukraine carry a

distinctive mark. trucks, tanks, fighting, engineering and logistical vehicles, they are advancing through ukraine with the letter "z" painted conspicuously in white. the people being invaded for noticed. here in the eastern ukrainian town an angry crowd swarms after and attacks a single vehicle. it's only obvious connection to the war, the letter "z." >> it's almost certainly some kind of tactical grouping. there's a million different theories what "z" means, but i think it's just a mark because the easy thing to mark is like a square or triangle. >> reporter: in a war where wanny be conquers are not flying their national flag that has taken on significance. he was standing next to a ukrainian athlete. the sports governing body

described it as shocking behavior, but how do you describe this? terminally ill children and their carers formed a giant "z" outside a hospice in the russian cit city. >> it's dangerous when small little symbols become proxies for being a loyal citizen in an authoritarian regime in a time of war because those who don't wear it, those who don't show the "z" could be targeted by the state. >> reporter: and in this highly produced propaganda video russian men wearing that letter declare their support for the invasion, chanting "for russia, for the president, for russia, for putin." an aerial shot shows a giant "z" made from the orange and black of the st. george's ribbon, a traditional symbol of the russian glory usually associated

victory over nazi germany. by accident or design a character that doesn't feature in russia's alphabet has become an iconic symbol of putin's invasion and a propaganda campaign to win support among his people. phil black, cnn, london. in china government officials have attempted to stake out a seemingly neutral position on the war in ukraine in public remarks and at international meetings, but much of china's domestic media coverage of russia emphasis invasion tells a much more one-sided story. david culver is in shanghai. >> reporter: china's national broadcaster, cctv, looking increasingly like russian state television these days. its anchors parroting the kremlin, calling the invasion of ukraine a special military operation. its stories highlighting moskow's grievances against kyiv

and its western allies along with russia's military preg on the battlefield. they rarely mention the fierce resistance and suffering in war torn ukraine. publicly beijing stresses its impartiality in the conflict, even indicating its willingness to be a mediator. cnn combing through chinese tv and digital news report in the first eight days of the russian atrack along with thousands of social media posts froe outlets. our findings, china has largely adopted russia's talking points, actively helping the kremlin disseminate its version of the bloody war to millions here and beyond. the chinese foreign ministry has yet to respond to our request for comment, but remember russian president vladimir putin's last foreign visit before he launched the invasion was here to china. following the 38th meeting between putin and chinese president xi jinping in 2013 and just hours before the opening ceremony of the winter olympics the two governments declared a

partnership with no limits. china and russia's increasingly close ties had included coordinating their message on the global stage. such coordination it now appears has drawn beijing into playing an important role in the kremlin's disinformation campaign. on february 26th after two nights of russian bombardment zelenskyy shared a video of himself on the streets of kyiv. russian officials quickly alleged that zelenskyy had fled the country and the video was prerecorded. less than 15 minutes later cctv flashed a news alert claiming zelenskyy has left kyiv initially without any attribution. more than 160 chinese outlets reposted the alert. with the hashtag zelenskyy left kyiv later got more than 10 million views on chinese social media weibo, and yet it was not true. and perhaps most damning an internal memo surfaced online two days before the russian

invasion even started. the memo directed staff not to publish anything negative about r russia or pro-west. cnn research has found china's major state media outlets appear to be following that play book. of the most retweeted more than 46% contained pro-russia comments compared to less than 5% with pro-ukraine statements. roughly 35% of the posts included attacks on the u.s. and its allies. with reports by russia state media outlets being banned in western nations and moskow enacting its own great firewall to censor chinese state media is spreading misinformation on-air around the clock.

>> i'm hala gorani in lviv ukraine. thank you for watching. paula newton continues our coverage aftfter a break. a fan. it works in minutes. nexium 24 hour and prilosec otc can takeke one to four days to fully work. pepcid. strong relief for fans of fast.

foster children from cities in ukraine under russian bombardment have been moved to relative safety in lviv, but those caring for them fear how long the safety will last. as russian forces, as we've been telling you, advance closer to the city. michael holmes has their story. >> reporter: in a government run children shelter in lviv in western ukraine, kids being kids. no parents looking after them, though. they're foster children from troubled homes among several hundred evacuated here from places where russian shells are falling. they're safe for now but already scarred by this war. >> translator: we could tell those kids we're very worried when they had arrived. when they heard the first siren

here during the day some had a panic attack. they were looking at me with their scared eyes shaking from anxiety. >> reporter: several humanitarian organizations are helping shelters like this take care of the children and the many more who will come in the days and weeks ahead. the russian military not in this part of the country yet. >> translator: we are ready. we only hope that the situation doesn't get worse here because then we will have to move somewhere with all those kids, too, and it is scary. they're just kids. >> reporter: now compared to other parts of the country the city of lviv has remained free of the shelling and missal whmissals but they're preparing what could come. even the historic statues are being wrapped to protect them from war.

john is a ukrainian american living here working with an ngo, the ukrainian education platform, providing humanitarian assistance for people headed to the borders but also helping those who have left their homes but don't want to leave their country, the internally displaced. >> i think the city is preparing for the worst and are ready. i mean, we see thousands of people coming into lviv today, of families that are looking for a place to stay. and i think one of the objectives for the families, for the children is to provide the necessary accommodations so they don't have to become refugees and go abroad. >> reporter: lviv, a city so far spared the physical impact of war but ready for when that war might arrive. michael holmes, cnn, lviv, western ukraine. >> so it started off as a quick tour, but now members of kyiv

city are stranded abroad helplessly watching ukraine fight the russian invasion from afar. as cnn's jim bitterman reports many of the dancers say they just want to go home. >> reporter: the 34 dancers of the kyiv city ballet troupe practiced and trained for weeks before coming to france on tour, but no rehearsals could have prepared them for the news they saw the day after they uharrive in paris. their country was invaded and they found themselves with no direction home. in the days that followed they nearly completed their scheduled tour, but stranded abroad now they face an uncertain future. the director says all of his troupe some as young as 18 years old want to go back because of families and friends who are now under fire at home. but he knows how dangerous that would be. >> the most good thing they can do is dance to provide

ukraine -- to show show y ukrainian heart, show ukrainian culture from the stage, to show audience and share our cullker. and we call ourselves the warriors on the stage. >> reporter: but if they are warriors, they are warriors practically without uniforms. the dancers came here expecting only a brief tour with only the costumes for the "nutcracker" performance and no scenic backdrops or stage props. for now they're continuing to play around france but borrowing everything right down to ballet shoes. two of the ballet company's star performers have toured abroad before, but this is different. neither can stand being apart from their families knowing that they are increasingly under the russian boot. >> at this moment i understand that i am safe here, but, still,

i want to return home. >> reporter: olga says there are times when she steps off stage and breaks into tears. >> all my family is in ukraine. what am i without my family? nothing. sometimes i feel like i am -- shame because i'm here. i want to help them. >> reporter: but as the mayor of paris said in the ballet's fund-raiser creativity is its own form of resistance. the french are helping the dance company stay, lending them what they need, trying to arrange performances and giving them a dance home at one of the most prestigious theaters in paris. the dancers from kyiv closed out the program not dancing but singing the words to the ukrainian national anthem, the kind of culture identity and patriotism vladimir putin wants to crush. but in their own small way, a

thousand miles from home, the dancers are helping to keep it alive. jim bitterman, cnn, paris. coming up on "cnn newsroom," it was one year ago when eight people were senselessly killed at atlanta area spas. after the break we hear from family members on how the tragedy has affected them.

it's been almost a year since a gunman went on a rampage at three spas in and around atlanta, georgia, killing eight people. six of the victims were asian women. cnn's naddia romero was at the memorial for the victims and looks back at the tragedy one year ago. >> reporter: what an emotional ceremony it was at blackburn park in atlanta to remember the victims and the families of the victims who lost their lives almost a year ago at three metro atlanta spas, asian spas is where it happened, and six out of the eight victims were asians. and that's where we saw rallies sparking here in atlanta and all across the country to stop asian hate. everyone wn who came out here today was given a flower to lay

down at this statue and to take a moment to remember those victims. and we heard from the son of one victim. he's still grieving, he says, for the loss of his mother and the impact it had on the entire community. take a listen. >> my mom was more than her ethnicity. she was more than her job, and she was more than the way she was killed. some have said this pain will go away and i will smile again, but, unfortunately, to be honest, that day has yet to come. life after this tragedy has been about grieving, healing and reflection, but this past year has not been easy. our family not only grieves on march 16 but every day because of the continued trauma that we see on our television and the increasing violence against aapi communities and hate. >> reporter: the shooter robert aaron long already sentenced and

faces additional charges including enhanced hate crime charges in fulton county. he has his next court hearing scheduled for next month. nadia romero, cnn, atlanta. >> i'm paula newton at cnn center in atlanta. we'll have more of our breaking news coverage in just a moment.

hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. i want to get straight to our breaking news. within the last few hours, cnn teams on the ground in lviv

heard multiple explosions in the city's outskirts. ukrainian officials tell us russian forces fired eight missiles near the city, several strikes hitting the international peacekeeping and security center. the military base is located outside lviv, very close to the polish border. right now, officials say they're looking into any casualties. we're also learning that air strikes have almost completely destroyed the infrastructure at an airport in a different part of western ukraine. it comes as russian troops are intense fig attacks across the country. video from a village outside kyiv shows the town virtually obliterated by russian strikes. on saturday, we also learned that seven civilians were killed while trying to flee a different village near the capital. in all, at least 5,079 childrens, including 42 children have been killed since the invasion started, but cautioned the actual number is likely much higher. new developments in the southeastern city of