hello, in a warm welcome to our viewers in the united states. and right around the world. in london. we are following the breaking news coverage of the war in ukraine. and just ahead on cnn "newsroom." horrific and war crimes. two sentences putin is doing. >> the center of the hell that we see. >> we have no idea what to do. where to go. and when we will be able to return to our homes.

i want to be with ukraine. with my family. >> we want peace. peace for the people of ukraine. it is tuesday march 15. 10:00 a.m. in ukraine. russia is widening its assault striking military. as well as civilian targets in multiple cities. ukraine said the private home and an apartment building in two kyiv neighborhoods were hit today. at least one person was wounded and taken to the hospital. when the ten story apartment block caught fire. emergency crews were able to quickly put out the fire at the private home. and no one there was hurt. also in kyiv, video shows man walking through a park as an explosion goes off behind him. a bus and several vehicles were damaged. one person was

at least one person was killed. an apparent missile strike killing a number of people. they blame ukrainian fighters for the attack. russian forces are encircling. four major cities. you can see that including kharkiv. that's the second largest in the east. adviser to ukraine's president said the russians are, quote, wiping out mariupol in the south. officials claim more than 2500 people have been killed there. in southern ukraine the port city of mariupol is in shambles. you can see in that video. it shows plumes of thick, black smoke rising from an industrial area. you can see a supermarket gutted by fire and more smoke from an apartment complex. meanwhile, ukrainian president vladimir zelenskyy said the russian military will be

ultimately held responsible for war crimes. he posted these comments directed at russian soldiers. have a listen. >> translator: i know that you want to survive. we hear your conversations in the intercept. we hear what you think about the senseless war, about the disgrace and about your state. your conversations with each other. your calls home to your families. we hear it all. we draw conclusions. we know who you are. therefore, i offer you a choice. on behalf of the ukrainian people, i give you a chance, a chance to survive. if you surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated, as people, decently. in a way you are not treated in your own army and in a way your army does not treat ours. choose. >> president zelenskyy there addressing russian troops. cnn's scott mclean is live. as we've laid out there. there's been no let up in r

russia's attack on ukraine. loud explosions heard in central kyiv, what can you tell us about those? >> reporter: isa, yeah, it seems like if the russians can't make progress with the russians on the ground, they're content to lob explosives into the city. it seems like the explosions are getting closer and closer to the city center. two this morning before 6:00, which is about four hours ago. the first hit a house, a private house, two stories. there was a crater left in the backyard, another one in a suburb really close to the city center, about a mile or so just north. hit an apartment block. fire broke out on the bottom five floors. amazingly only one person was injured there and it seems to be really part of a pattern, isa. yesterday the kyiv mayor was surveying the damage. this one had destroyed a bus from a park, leaving a huge

crater behind. yesterday another huge apartment complex. one person was killed there and it sparked a rescue effort from firefighters. senior u.s. defense official gave a background briefing from journalists where he said all the information that they have shows that the russian advance has stalled nearly everywhere in ukraine, so in kyiv particularly it's still about 10 miles outside of the city when we're talking about that northeastern front and that infamous military convoy that was coming down towards the city. it's largely dispersed and it didn't make any progress it seems over the weekend. as i mentioned, it seems like for the moment the strategy is just to lob explosives into the city center. one other thing that that u.s. official points out is that they don't believe that the russians have made any meaningful progress in recent days and getting any closer to taking the city of mikolaiv. it's strategic.

if the russians were to control that city, they could go west and open a new front on odesa or go north and start attacking kyiv from the south which we have not seen zblet yeah. and in the meantime we are expecting another round of talks between russia and ukraine. what happened yesterday first of all, scott? >> reporter: yeah. so going into these talks, isa, it was actually quite remarkable. given all the destruction and the tough talk on the ground, there was actually cause for optimism. both sides said that they expressed some level of optimism that progress could be made in these talks. the ukrainians even saying that the russians seemed to be more understanding of their position. the russian side saying they were confident that in the coming days some kind of an agreement might be signed. what that is, well, neither side is prepared to get into the details. the president described these talks as difficult. one of the negotiators yesterday also said that they were quite hard blaming it on the different

political systems in each country so where things stand right now is that they met via video link. they're now meeting on a daily basis. instead of breaking off those talks as we have in the past, they're pausing them so that each side can go back, clarify a few items and then come back today, we understand, and continue that. so that has to be seen as a good side. we're not seeing two sides firing ultimatums, it seems like they're talking, perhaps having a meaningful discussion. any progress on this cannot come soon enough considering the humanitarian situation in many parts of the country, isa. >> indeed. it's very promising. we shall see what comes out of these talks. the humanitarian crisis is very dire indeed. scott mclean, thank you very much. the ukrainian refugee crisis is growing by the day. more than 2.8 million people have fled ukraine since the

start of the russian invasion. many have crossed into neighboring poland. show you this map really highlights the other nations where ukraine is including, as you can see there, romania. as cnn's miguel marcus reports, ukrainians are going to great lengths to make them feel welcome. >> reporter: they arrived by the hundreds. ukrainian citizens one day, refugees the next. >> this is stressful, yes. because we have no idea what to do, where to go and when we will be able to return to our homes. >> reporter: she is from kharkiv, ukraine's second biggest city, which has been devastated by russian artillery and rockets. >> translator: when i was packing my clothes, she said, i thought it would all be over in three days. for many just arriving on romanian soil emotional. one woman cries as a volunteer hands her a bottle of water.

>> the romanian people are mobilized and helping. >> reporter: romanians stepping up trying to make ukrainians feel a little bit at home. dennis closed his restaurant in kostanza. he now serves meals free to refugees. >> we closed the restaurant and come here to watch it. >> and for all those getting out, a few going back in. alexander palominka is returning to mikolaiv. russians have hammered the city. you are willing to die for ukraine? >> translator: we all die, he says. then asked, i'm afraid to die but i'm not a coward. this woman, her daughter, dog

and two cats, they left because of what they heard was happening in places already controlled by the russians. >> translator: i heard about the violence, she says, and killings of peaceful people without any reason. she added, i had to leave. i was too stressed about it happening to me and my daughter. miguel marquez, cnn, romania. while many of the refugees fleeing ukraine are children, our miguel marquez met with some kids displaced, orphaned and being cared for by their teachers in romania. >> reporter: these kids along with a few teachers fled ukraine's southern odesa region last week. our trip took all morning and all night, he says. i don't know how to explain it. was it a long trip? he turned 11 the day we visited. i wanted a smartphone for my

birthday, he says, but i'm afraid to ask the teachers. angelina, staz's big sister, says their mother is still in ukraine unable to travel. i'm thinking about my family, she says. my mother can't walk. she was injured in a vehicle accident. they all know a war is happening back home. they don't totally understand it. there is a war in ukraine, he says, so the director of our school decided to bring us here. >> joining me now from ukrainian/romanian border is the ceo of the jewish orphanage in odesa. thank you for taking the time to speak to us. give us a sense of the children in your care, how many you've been able to evacuate from odesa. >> so we have -- good morning. and we have a community and a children. we've been able to take out so

far 260 children from odesa. 180 of which are children who are from our children's home's orphanages and we're trying to do our best to give them some kind of normalcy during this very, very trying period. >> and were there children you simply could not move? >> we were extremely lucky. we were able to take over -- take out all the children in our care. we took them to -- at the beginning to western ukraine and from there we took them to romania so we had double the amount of kids on buses who were scheduled. so we've been able to take everyone out, everybody in our care. >> that decision, rabbi, to move the children from their homes and from -- surely wasn't an easy one. at what point did you decide, look, we need to get out now?

>> so when a bomb landed half a mile, it was a huge explosion, it was supposed to land near the airport and the girls were so traumatized, we decided we had to leave. there was no question. and we're now trying to give them the psychological help they need. everyone has been through trauma, seeing people at the borders and the crying and the waiting and the cold. it's something you can't describe. it's something you have to see and feel in order to understand how desperate and the pain people are going through. refugees. everyone's left their home with a little bag of all their worldly possessions. it's just a terrible thing to see and getting the children through the trauma. >> it is a trauma and it's not just what they're seeing and hearing, but also the journey themselves being up ended. their lives up ended so quickly. talk to us about the physical and emotional toll it's taking

on the children. >> so besides first of all the journey was horrific. we went through places where the sirens were going off, we saw smoke on either side of the road. we know it had been bombed earlier. there was an airport one of the places we went. the journey itself was very, very harrowing. and then on a bus with the teachers, counselors and they can see how worried they are. they understand the danger. the children, they pick up very, very quickly. and there's one child that hasn't spoken since he came to romania. he hasn't spoken just because he's so traumatized by what he's been through. that's just on a bus. just imagine all the other refugees and children. >> that is truly saddening and shocking to hear what you're

saying, rabbi. i mean, how do you explain what is happening to young children? we heard from our correspondent from some children in an orphanage who knew there was a war but didn't quite comprehend it. how do you explain that to the children in your care? >> there's nothing to explain here. it's a wicked and senseless killing of innocent people. a bomb doesn't choose where it's going to land. we can hardly explain why it's bombing their home which they felt was the safest place or we felt was the safest place. we're going to go back to ukraine when everything is over and i as the son of a holocaust survivor said i never thought i would be running the same way as my father was running. i never thought i would be in the same position. >> it is truly shocking, especially like you said it's

completely senseless. it's unprovoked and the justification that de denazification i'm sure sends shivers down your spine. >> indeed. we never felt anti-semitism in odesa and now we're running away and i don't know what denazification is. we never felt any bad feelings from the ukrainian people. now in romania, what they're doing in romania, the people to take care, it's unbelievable the care which we are being shown by other people. >> of course, you know odesa had a thriving jewish community. that is incredible to see you are out safely, the children are out safely as well. like you said, rabbi, now is not to try to explain it but give them the care and the love that clearly they need.

rabbi, please stay in touch. thank you very much for taking time to speak to us. >> thanks for having us. thank you. still ahead right here on the show, russian state tv broadcast was disrupted by an antiwar protest. what we're learning about the woman who pulled it off and why she said she did it. that is next. ed. wait, what? adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of bacteria detergent alone, can't..

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nothing will stop vladimir putin. the only strategic solution is for putin no longer to be in power. only russians can do that. only russians can effect political change in their own country. >> putin critic who survived two murder attempts. we saw this stunning act of protests on state-run tv. with cameras rolling, no war. stop the war. do not believe propaganda. they tell you lies here. the broadcast quickly cut away. the woman was apparently an employee of the channel and the

lawyer sent us another video which she reportedly taped. >> translator: it's happening now in ukraine is a crime and russia is the aggressor country and the responsibility for this aggression lies on the conscience of only one person. this man is vladimir putin. my father is ukrainian, my mother is russian and they have never been anything. this mnecklace is a symbol. they cannot arrest us all. >> and yet russian police appear to be trying. one monitoring group says nearly 15,000 people have been detained amid the crackdown on anti-war protests. the kremlin tends to snuff out the attempts, businesses are facing more pressure to leave russia. dozens of corporations have suspended operation and some countries are expanding their

withdrawal. citigroup announced plans to widen the departure. they were already planning to sell the consumer bank in russia. now it will include other lines in the business in the exit plan. the bank will stop taking on new clients in russia. korean air is suspending passenger and cargo services in two russian cities until the end of april. the airline plans to reroute flights to avoid russian air space. and now the cost of being locked out of global capital markets putting russia's economy in a darker place. it could default within days. for more i'm joined by nina dos santos. let's start off with maria. what a brave and bold act. do we know where she is? have we heard from her? >> it seems as though she's under arrest. she is an editor at that state-run channel, channel 1. as you saw there, her protest. the first time we've really seen this since the invasion of

ukraine, somebody standing behind the television camera during the main evening news broadcast with that sign. she had obviously taken great care to prepare including the message that is illegal now talking about a war in ukraine as per the last couple of weeks since russia changed the law and cracked down on freedom of speech. this is an extraordinarily courageous act by a journalist which could cost her 15 years of her life. >> for russians, the pressure is piling on. markets -- stock markets still haven't opened and there's a fear of course the country could default. put in perspective the status of the economy right now and how much that putting pressure perhaps on putin or is it? >> and the ruble has devalued into double digits. >> of course. >> russia has a big interest payment worth $170 million due on wednesday morning and it's supposed to repay this particular type of debt back in

dollars. it can't pay it back in another currency but russia now says that it will repay investors from unfriendly countries, quote, unquote, unfriendly that have sanctioned russia in rubles and different currencies. now russia has a total of $121 billion worth of debt that's due in various different countries, but this particular payment it has to make in u.s. dollars f. it doesn't make in dollars and it makes it in rubles, it will be deemed to be in default of its debt. interest rates could spike and this could push the russian economy further into the doll drums. one of the reasons they say they can't pay this back in dollars is because they've lost access to the dollar market. $315 billion worth of currency reserve have been frozen as a result. so, again, this is all about sort of strangling of the pursestrings for russia but it

also isolates the country economically and, again, start to bite ordinary russians. >> we've heard from the russians saying we've survived worse economic isolations, we can survive this. we hear that from the people on the streets something entirely different. >> this is the first time they could default since the bolsheviks. >> nina, appreciate it very much. still to come, as u.s. and chinese officials meet to discuss the war in ukraine, the u.s. warns it won't stand by if china gives assistance to russia's invasion. we're live for you in beijing. that's next. we have communicated very clearly to beijing that we won't stand by if -- we will not allow any country to compensate russia for its losses.

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom" i'm isa soares. let's give you an update on the breaking developments out of ukraine where in just the last few hours new strikes are being reported in two residential parts of kyiv. a private home was struck by shelling in a 10-story apartment building was hit in another strike injuring one person. this comes as russia ramps up its air attacks and a senior u.s. official says almost all russian offenses on the ground have remained stalled. on monday one killed, six others wounded after shelling hit a residential building. the city's mayor and his brother

visited the scene. >> that's what russians war against civilians looked like. destroyed buildings. destroyed infrastructure. city bus just got hit by the rocket. lives are getting lost. there's the war that russia started. >> as russia inches closer to the capitol, ukrainian forces are fighting back. video shows ukrainian military conducting artillery strike on a russian military position in a forest outside kyiv. ukrainian ambassador said despite russia's relentless assault ukrainians remain defiant as well as determined. >> even this horrible terror does not result in ukraine's surrender. yes, women and children are fleeing. we're trying to get them out of harm's way. yes, we are trying to negotiate to get people out of mariupol

where they encircle for ten days, but we are not ready to surrender. that's why they are resorting to this terror. if anything ukrainians are showing the strength to fight for our land. we're showing the strength to fight for democracy. it's larger than ukraine. >> meanwhile, u.s. officials said china may be open to sending military as well as economic assistance to russia to continue the invasion of ukraine. the news came as part of a diplomatic cable sent to european allallies. the same day the u.s. met with their chinese counterpart. steven jiang joins me from beijing. steven, the u.s. says there will be consequences if beijing assists moscow? do you know more about what was said? like we mentioned, it was a

seven-hour conversation here. >> reporter: from the chinese readouts, it seems both sides were talking over each other rather than talking with each other. for their part, of course, the chinese have been pushi ing bac on the claim to give assistance for help. now obviously this kind of request from russia would put china in an awkward position. if they provide help, it will lead to more tensions between china and the u.s. and if they don't and putin gets replaced, that outcome will be considered worse for china. that's why the real calculation fatesing the leadership is whether or not the u.s. or e.u. dares to impose the kind of sanctions against russia on china which has a much bigger and deeper economic and trade relationship with the west. but all of these talks from washington not incidental.

they're designed to put china on the spot. the u.s. is growing increasingly frustrated with beijing. calling for peace talks and their huge economic leverage over moscow and the close personal relationship, there's no indication china is attempting to stop this bloody war. the most active part china seems to be doing is parenting a lot of the kremlin's talking points and disinformation campaign that's why at this stage many analysts say it doesn't seem to be china is serious about playing the role of a peace maker. >> stephen jiang for us in beijing. thank you very much. the leaders of nato may meet in brussels as soon as next week in what would be an extraordinary summit. that is according to a diplomatic source. several u.s. officials tell cnn president biden is preparing to possibly travel to europe next

week. for more on this, natasha bertrand is in brussels. what can we expect? what is nato prepared to do here given that putin is edging ever so closer to nato territory with that airstrike near poland? >> reporter: that's exactly right, isa. that's why they're meeting. because the war is getting closer to poland, to nato territory. this will be an extraordinary meeting of nato leaders. but because of the situation on the ground getting closer to nato territory in poland, they feel they have to meet to reassess the situation. we are told the nato meeting this week, traveling to brussels tomorrow to meet with his counterparts is going to focus on reinforcing that eastern flanked nato posture including putting more troops there as part of the rapid activation and response force that was

activated earlier this month as well as giving them more surface-to-air missiles that they could use in the event, of course, that a russian missile whether accidentally or on purpose entered the air space. a lot of conversations about shoring up the eastern flank nato countries. remarkably we have the leaders of three nato countries who will be traveling to kyiv today. the leaders of the czech republic, poland and slovenia. they're going to meet with president zelenskyy. very strong message that they do support zelenskyy. there are considerations that need to be had about the potential that this could draw in the wider nato alliance, isa. >> very strong signal from those leaders, poland, czech republic and slovenia as they meet zelenskyy in kyiv. what about the pressure, economic pressure and sanction pressure on russia.

i've heard that france is adding more sanctions to russia. >> reporter: that's right. so the european finance ministers actually met this morning and approved a new round of sanctions against russia. it will target more than 600 russian oligarchs, lobbyists, people influential over the kremlin according to the french finance minister and it will revoke most favored status from russia, imposing new trade restrictions between the e.u. and russia. it will ban the export of luxury goods. and it will also restrict the import of certain materials in the steel sector from russia into the european union. finally, importantly, it will also ban new investments by the european union in russia's energy sector. obviously a very strong move there because they recognize that the energy sector inside russia is among the most

lucrative sectors that russia actually has. by targeting oil and gas, by targeting energy, they believe they could make a real dent here in russia's economy. >> natasha bertrand with what has been a very busy morning in brussels. appreciate it. nearly 3 million people have fled ukraine. this family may be far from home but they're not far from home. their heart-wrenching story. that's up next. it works in n minutes. nexium 2 24 hour and prilosec otc can take one to four dadays to fully work. pepcid. strong r relief for fans of fast.

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the british people have already opened their hearts in so many ways. i'm hopeful many will be open to opening their homes. >> about 25,000 potential hosts have registered for the government here. hosts will get almost $500 a month and says refugees will have access to benefits, health

care as well as employment. well, the biden administration is considering expediting the resettlement of ukrainian refugees with u.s. ties including families already living there. this comes as advocates and lawmakers pressure the white house to do more for the people fleeing ukraine. for those fortunate to escape the war, the journey to safety is grueling as well as harrowing. cnn's rosa soares spoke to a mother and her sons who fled from kyiv to florida. >> reporter: when she fled the capitol with her sons, 11-year-old nikita and 14-year-old max, she packed what she could, including this candle. >> you can't imagine how many times i kissed this candle. >> reporter: and she came here to orlando, florida, to stay with a woman who 20 years ago hosted her during a student exchange program. >> she really has been like a

daughter. >> a daughter who loved life with her boys in her kyiv home. but in the early morning of february 24th bombs started going off and julia called her host mom. >> while talking to her i saw the explosion from my bedroom window and that's when i was really scared. >> reporter: julia said she had to hang up. >> it's very emotional. i can't fathom what she went through. somebody i love. >> julia and the boys rushed to the one room in the house with no windows. >> they were shocked. nikita started crying. >> reporter: hours later more signs of war. >> saw this helicopter which was throwing fire rockets from both sides. >> reporter: what did you think? >> my house will be bombed like

next second. >> reporter: what were you thinking? >> that she wouldn't make it out. >> reporter: that she would die? >> possibly. >> reporter: as yulia drove away she agonized over leaving her third son martin behind. >> my son is left there, i can't take him with me. >> martin died of cancer in 2019. he was 4 years old. how does a mother fleeing war take her baby's grave with her? >> it was breaking my heart that he stayed and you don't know. maybe a bomb will fall down on the cemetery. >> reporter: after four days of traffic jams, a stop at a shelter guarded by awe ien kran military and eating at outdoor mass feeding kitchens, they ended up at a refugee camp in slovakia. >> i was absolutely shocked.

>> reporter: what shocked you? >> couple hundreds of people in one room. everybody's speaking, kids are crying. >> reporter: after escaping their new reality at home, they fled to orlando and last week yulia enrolled her sons in school. the images of war still fresh in their minds. >> i heard explosions and i heard shooting. i was super scared and the first like three hours of driving i was listening to every sound and begging to not hear those explosions. >> reporter: what is russia doing to your country? >> genocide. that's what it is. they are just burning our cities, our people, destroying us. >> reporter: yulia fears for the life of her 72-year-old father

who's in mariupol, a city where civilian buildings including the maternity hospital where yulia was born have come under shelling. thousands have died. >> i haven't heard from my dad for 12 days. i don't know if he's alive. >> reporter: despite the fog of war, this mother says in a way she managed to bring little martin with her. >> i can light the candle and, you know, pretend he is with us. so no matter where we end up, we'll have a candle to light. >> reporter: rosa flores, cnn, orlando, florida. >> so much heart break. if you would like to help people in ukraine, please go to cnn.com/impact. at last check cnn viewers like you have helped raise nearly $5 million to help in ukraine and neighboring countries. go to cnn.com/impact if you can

help. and this just in to cnn. ukrainian authorities say at least two people were killed in the shelling of an apartment building in western kyiv. 46 others had to be rescued. a separate strike with minor damage to another building in the same district. this is in kyiv earlier. this marks at least the fourth residential in kyiv hit by shelling today alone. still ahead right here on the show, thousands of people from around the world are putting their lives on the line to help ukraine battle russia. the stories of some of those racing towards the front lines next.

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well, as russia's invasion of ukraine neared its fourth week, it's no longer just ukrainians taking up arms. now thousands of volunteers have taken up the fight. our jim sciutto has that story. >> reporter: one of the bloodiest wars in europe since world war ii. drawing thousands of foreigners to follow the fight.

kavi says he is a veteran. >> he threatened the whole world with fire. canada's right in between the u.s. and russia. that's where all these missiles that he's threatening with are going to be flying over. that's what brings me here. >> reporter: kavi is far from alone. >> there is more than 20,000 military serving all over ukraine. >> reporter: roman, we don't show his face, vets the backgrounds of all foreign volunteers. >> many of them have very good experience. nowadays there are less experienced soldiers. many volunteer. military experience in peace time. >> reporter: resumes range from combat experience to no military

training at all. ryan, 25-year-old from minnesota served 2 years with the marines in okinawa. >> i want to help these people. >> reporter: oscar from sweden has no military training. >> we're here. hopefully it will be over before we need to fire a bullet. that's the best for everyone. if that's what it comes to, we'll be there. >> reporter: david, 33 from canada says he can help fix tires to keep ukrainian military vehicles on the ground. >> if it's black, round, maybe of rubber, i can fix it. one of the most important parts of the gears of war are to keep things moving. >> some of them don't need this training. some do.

some are being told by the military, some remain in this military unit. they can't go to the war. >> reporter: one additional concern, the risks of deploying and arming thousands of foreign fighters around the country. >> they might be dangerous because such people are always dangerous, but we try to check them. we try to check everybody over. we try to check their past. >> reporter: one definite and urgent need for the ukrainian military are volunteers with combat experience. >> you enrolled after 9/11 imagining supposing the war would be there. did you ever imagine yourself witnessing a war in ukraine,

europe? >> no, this is totally different. this doesn't compare to a slow, simmering insurgency. this doesn't compare to isis. the sheer amount of missiles being launched across the country, the ability of the russians to reach out across hundreds and hundreds of kilometers and kill from that distance. >> reporter: maddy is a travel nurse from missouri here to help and willing to put her life on the line to do it as she's done before in iraq. >> yeah, we're seeing a little bit but i just have a heart for these people. i just really want to help them. i don't see my life more valuable than their life. >> reporter: ukrainian officials make clear this is not a calling for adventurers or weekend warriors, it is service against a massive and ruthless invading army. thousands have already answered the call. jim sciutto, cnn, lviv, ukraine. in times of war you do see

the worst of humanity. as that just outlined you see the best. under the looming threat of a russian attack there is music in odesa. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> beautiful music in a city that's often called the pearl of the black sea. they played the national anthem in front of the statehouse. the mayor says people here are afraid but they want to protect their land and their home. and that does it here for this hour. thank you very much for your company. i'm isa soares in london. our breaking news coverage continues on "early start" with christine romans and laura jarrett. i shall see you tomorrow. good-bye. with mucinex nightshift you've got powerful relief

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this is cnn breaking news. all right. it is tuesday, march 15th. 5 a.m. exactly here in new york. thanks for getting an "early start" with us. i'm christine romans. >> i'm laura jarrett. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. we begin here with more fierce fighting across ukraine as russian forces move even closer to the capitol. new this morning, more explosions in kyiv. four residential buildings near the kyiv city center were hit by shelling. those buildings caught fire. at least two people were hurt. in western kyiv two people were killed in a 16 sto