for information about how you can help all the humanitarian efforts in ukraine, go to cnn.com/impact and help impact your world. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." i will be back once again tomorrow for a special-saturday edition of the situation room from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. eastern. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. out front next. breaking news. new images this hour of the utter devastation in mariupol. this, as hundreds remain missing after a bombing of a theater in that same city. plus, biden warns china not to help russia but will the chinese president who calls vladimir putin his quote best friend listen? and he was a professional tennis player now trading his racket for weapons. why he says he is willing to die to defend ukraine. let's go out front. and good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, utter

devastation in ukraine. tragic new images tonight from the southern city of mariupol and these are new drone images. this is a shopping mall completely gutted. a month ago, right, people were shopping there. completely gutted. looks like the entire complex, which is massive, has been burned completely through. this city has seen some of the worst damage from the russian attacks, thus far. we are also seeing these new images from an apartment building that russia hit in mariupol. look at that. look at that picture. people were living there a month ago. it's -- it's unbelievable. completely destroyed by vladimir putin's attack. and tonight, a new satellite image showing a massive line of cars filled with people who are still trying to flee mariupol. i want to make two points here. one, they say more than 300,000 people are still in that city. we don't know the real numbers. but it's a lot, a lot of humanity still in that city that hasn't had any supplies since the 24th of february in terms of

food. and also, we still don't know who is missing in that bombing in mariupol under the theater that was marked children. 130 people have been rescued but a ukrainian official say more than 1,000 had been taking shelter there when it was struck. so, 130 rescued. we have no idea about the other more than 800. and in the ukrainian capital of kyiv today, a downed russian cruise missile destroying nearby vehicles, wrecking several buildings, total devastation on the ground there. one missile landing near a kindergarten. these are the disturbing images that we are getting tonight and they are coming as putin is demanding full-throated support for his war at home. today, telling moscow's school teachers and state-funded university students that they had to attend a rally against ukraine. one elementary school teacher telling cnn that her friend was fired to refuse -- for refusing to attend. putin telling the crowd this lie. >> translator: to free the

people from suffering and this genocide is our main initiating reason and goal for russia starting a special operation in donbas and ukraine. >> i mean, that is just -- i mean, that -- to free the people? anyone there see those bombed-out apartment buildings? i mean, there is 800 people missing underground in mariupol and that is just the tip of this horrific iceberg. and by the way, it's unclear whether putin's comments there were even spoken live or prerecorded. the kremlin won't confirm. but this staged rally coming as russian state television admitted -- and this is important because they did it for the first time -- that a russian commander actually was killed in ukraine. it is the first time they have admitted a death. western officials say at least three russian generals have been killed in addition. and no confirmation from the kremlin on that. today, the u.s. secretary of defense, lloyd austin, telling cnn things are not going according to putin's plan. >> i think, you know, they -- they have not progressed as far -- as quickly as they would have liked to. they -- i think they envisioned

that they would move rapidly and very quickly seize the capital city. they have not been able to do that. they've struggled with the logistics, so we have seen a number of missteps along the way. >> yet, despite these blows to the russian military, putin's rain of destruction and death across ukraine continues. fred pleitgen is on the ground in lviv tonight where missiles hit a military aircraft repair site this morning. fred, what is the latest tonight? >> reporter: hi there. of course, yeah, you have been in this city and you know that in this ukraine war that the russians started, that this was always seen as a place that was fairly safe where a lot of people fled to from other parts of the country as well but of course, one of the things we found out in the early morn mortgage hours this morning is no place is safe here in ukraine. air sirens went off and then missiles landed at an airplane factory not far from where we are right now. apparently, six cruise missiles

that were launched by russian planes over the black sea that then flew here. two of them were intercepted but four did land. nevertheless, the ukrainian military says it believes that it's halted russia's offensive especially around kyiv but also putting up a massive fight in other places, as well, like for instance, kharkiv. have a look at this. another blow to vladimir putin's military. ukrainian forces claiming they ambushed this convoy of russian airborne troops while cnn cannot independently verify the information, russian state tv for the first time acknowledged that a senior airborne commander and several soldiers have been killed. while still outgunned, the ukrainians feel they might slowly be turning the tide. the armed forces of ukraine continue to deliver devastating blows at groups of enemy troops who are trying to consolidate and hold the capture defensive lines a ukrainian army spokesman says. the ukrainians say they are launching counterattacks against

russian troops. this video allegedly showing an anti-tank guided missile taking out a russian armored vehicle. they also claim they have already killed more than 14,000 russian troops, and shot down more than 110 combat choppers. cnn can't confirm those numbers, but the russians haven't updated their casualty figures in more than two weeks. instead, claiming what they call their, quote, military special operation is going as planned. russia's defense ministry released this video of helicopter gun ships allegedly attacking a ukrainian airfield. still, vladimir putin clearly feels the need to rally his nation. making a rare appearance at a massive rally at moscow's main stadium where a strange technical glitch cut off his speech but not before he praised russian troops. >> translator: the best proof is the way our boys are fight inning this operation. shoulder to shoulder, supporting each other, and if need be, protecting each other like

brothers. shielding one another with their bodies on the battlefield. we haven't had this unity for a long time. >> reporter: but the russians appear to be so angry at u.s. and allied weapon shipments to ukraine, they've vowed to target any deliveries entering ukrainian territory. and they are hitting strategic targets, as well. firing several cruise missiles at an airplane repair plant near lviv. while a russian cruise missile dropped on a residential building in the capital kyiv after being shot down by ukrainian air defenses. former world heavyweight boxing champ and brother of kyiv's mayor pleading for more help. >> this is genocide of the ukrainian population. you have to act now. stop observing and stop doing business with russia. do it now. >> reporter: the biden administration has said more aid and weapons are on the way as ukrainian forces continue to put

up a fierce fight, preventing russia's troops from further significant gains. and they really are putting up a fierce fight and continue to put up a fierce fight. one of the things, erin, is that we are now coming to the end of week three of this war and one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that so far, the russians have not been able to take a single large population center here in this country, despite the fact that they have had these brutal tactics that have been going on. so far, very little in the way of territorial gains, especially this week. but we do see of course is the fact that civilians are continuing to be massively affected by this war. erin. >> absolutely. fred, thank you very much. and i want to go now to retired army major general james spider marks and andre, a russian investigative journalist and editor of a watchdog of the russian secret service activities. he is also senior fellow at the center for european policy analysis, and i am really glad to have you back. so, general marks, let me start with you. the commander for u.s. central

command today, general frank mackenzie, told reporters quote russian soldiers don't appear from where i sit to be particularly motivated. and we keep hearing that, general, but of course they are purposely bombing and shelling civilians with artillery outside cities, right? and they know that they are doing that, right? they're not clueless as to what they are doing. help people understand what's really going on here. >> well, the fact that general mackenzie indicated that is -- it is a spot-on observation and there's nothing worse for a military unit than lousy leadership, and clearly what we see with the russians is -- um -- absent leadership. it's not taking place. ukrainians on -- on the other hand, are stepping up. they are better equipped and they are actually applying combat power in a synchronized way. the russians simply are not. and the devastation that is occurring inside -- inside the cities will continue as long as the russians have artillery, which they have plenty of. and rockets and both artillery and rockets can be area weapons.

they are not very well guided. you just shoot them in a certain direction, and you can achieve this level of devastation but they also have missiles. they have precise smart weapon systems. what they don't have, they don't have good intelligence on the ground to mark those targets. so clearly, what the russians have done is their operation is stalled and now they are just going to step back and start to pummel these -- these populated areas, which is the terror tactics that we have been talking about. >> so, andre, in russia today putin had that -- that rally, right? and he ordered teachers to attend. so anyone -- you know, people who worked for the government in any capacity, right, you have to go. and a 26-year-old teacher you spoke to cnn and said -- i am not going to use her name but said i refuse to go because this goes against my moral principles and i told them that it is not part of my work contract to attend such events. however, i also have a friend from another school who refused to go and was fired. andre, when you hear this, is this significant? does it match with what you are hearing? and i guess, also, does it extend more broadly in russia

right now? >> well, we hear some signals, some signs that while russians now they are -- casualties where people killed and even in small towns and the central russia i know personally from my friends and colleagues that they are -- that people know now that there are dead soldiers. they know that. in three weeks of this war. but i would not make it really big. schools are extremely important politically for russia. it's where you have your polling stations and it's where they -- putin united russia actually got all this ratings and that's provided by the teachers. so they are extremely loyal. and now, because some of them they -- they show they do not want to participate in this,

that is very surprising for the authorities. but unfortunately, they are talking about small numbers. >> small numbers. i mean i guess you got to start somewhere but i think your context is so important. so, general, when we look at these new satellite images that we are getting, one of the things we are getting is what russia's doing. so, what we are looking at here are construction of earthen bombs. okay, basically ditches and walls around its military equipment northwest of kyiv. you look at these and see something significant. what is it? >> the russians are transitioning based on this imagery, they are transitioning to a defensive posture which means their offensive has been stalled. they are transitioning to defense so they can resupply, reorganize, they can evacuate casualties. they can bring in some additional equipment. that means to the ukrainians this is your opportunity to move. take the offensive now because transitioning from the offensive to the defensive takes time and

it alters your perspective of the soldier that's been engaged. so the ukrainians are aware of this and really need to kind of step up the pace of their operations. they can take the fight to the russians now, which would be phenomenal. they are doing very well but they could start to push back. >> so, andre, russian state tv announced the death of this senior commander today and it was notable because we hadn't seen it before. first of all, getting no casualty numbers out of them whatsoever and now, today, they do this announcement. why did they do this one and not the prior deaths that we've -- that we know about even, you know, among generals? >> first of all, i wanted to stress that this announcement was made on a regional television, not in moscow. and in the city where this regiment was based and now we have a military commander of this regiment killed. well, they actually had no choice but to admit that something happened. so i would say we have some cracks in the system because to be honest, the russian military was not ready for such a long

war. >> right. and they perhaps weren't thinking they were going to have casualties, and now there is a huge number of casualties. we don't know exactly how many. thank you, both, so very much. and next, briefly saw it. the man who helped arnold schwarzenegger make his video to the russian people. >> i urge the russian people, the russian soldiers in ukraine to understand the propaganda and the disinformation. plus, 109 empty strollers. each one, representing the death of a child in the war in ukraine. and panic buying in russia. fighting over packs of sugar. kremlin responding saying it's because the people involved, quote, cannot cope with their emotions. new dove shower collection is i infused with hyaluronic and peptide serums to make your skin feel smoother and more raradiant. new dove body love. face care ingredients now in the shower.

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the video where schwarzenegger also called putin out by name. >> i urge the russian people and the russian soldiers in ukraine to understand the propaganda and the disinformation that you are being told. i ask you to help me spread the truth. let your fellow russians know the human catastrophe that is happening in ukraine. and to president putin, i say you started this war. you're leading this war. you can stop this war. >> and he is not alone. the u.s. state department and ukrainian hackers also part of the effort to break through russia's digital iron curtain of sorts to tell the truth about the invasion. out front now, retired lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. of course, you know him and he is a friend of the former governor, who worked with him on the video message. also, now the former director for european affairs for the united states' national security council. and, colonel, i really, so much appreciate your being with me tonight.

i -- you know, when this first came out yesterday and i watched it several times in a row, it is an incredibly powerful message from arnold schwarzenegger. um, i know that it took six days from writing it to publishing it according to "the washington post." tell me how it came about. >> well, arnold was looking for a way to be helpful in this matter. and i -- this is my area of expertise so i figured i could offer some assistance and helping move this to fruition. but mainly, he just knew that he had an opportunity to speak to the ukrainian -- to the russian people, that he has a strong, long relationship with. that he's one of the few voices that probably would resonate with a large portion of the russian public and the -- the individuals that he's worked with in the past, including very well-known body builders, are individuals that the russian people would recognize. so, he is trying to communicate to -- to the russian public.

he was trying to communicate to the russian soldiers that are a part of this offensive in ukraine. explaining to them what they're risking, that the soldiers know what they're risking. they are on the battlefields watching thousands of their colleagues and -- and friends die. but that, they are throwing their lives away for putin's war. and then, to the russian public, he was trying to communicate the fact that this is not -- um -- this is not the war they think they were fighting. this is not a righteous war. this is not a war like world war ii where they were defending themselves. this is a war of aggression. >> so i want to play a little bit more of the message that -- that you helped him craft where he spoke about his own father who fought in the nazi army during world war ii. here's arnold schwarzenegger. >> when my father arrived in leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government and when he left, he was broken, physically and mentally. i don't want you to be broken like my father.

this is not the war to defend russia. ukraine fathers fought. this is an illegal war. >> colonel, have you heard anything about how many people in russia have seen this video? i mean, i gave that telegram approximation but what have you heard? >> well, i think the fact is that it's -- it's permeated social media and it has gone viral. certainly, has gotten millions of views in the west. but these are folks in russia that also have access to, you know, western accounts and -- and media, especially in the big cities. it's not getting through to the small towns and villages, at least not at the numbers that are going to be impactful. but it's getting through and you can tell the fact that it's troublesome for the russians because their censorship organizations are trying to knock it down. they are trying to pull it from the various sites. and it's still -- it's still resonating. still kind of penetrating. and most importantly, as much of an effect it's having in russia,

at this point still building, it's only been out for about 24 hours or so, little longer than that. it's also being listened to and heard by the russian soldiers operating inside of ukraine. this is a completely different kind of war. a very, very networked information war where folks still have access to their -- to their smartphones. they're watching things in real-time. we are seeing things in real-time here that are, you know, that are happening thousands of miles away. and this is a war that's being played out to kind of effect a domestic population in russia. to -- for putin, his goal is to shape the external information environment and same thing for president zelenskyy. he -- he's trying to bolster his own population, as well as communicate with foreign leaders. >> i think it is such a great point that you make because, you know, one of the things, i know, you know, we were all surprised -- um -- you know, in ukraine that they didn't ever shut down the internet. i mean, obviously in mariupol,

they have major problems communicating but as you point out, many of these soldiers would have the ability to see it. on its traditional social media sites where they wouldn't have they were over the border in russia. so, you know, when you talk about his -- why people in russia would listen to arnold schwarzenegger, it's not just because he is a celebrity. it's because of who he is, and he laid out his bond with his hero, the russian body builder in that video. and he's been to russia repeatedly over the decades. he met with the president at one point. he has been there to promote movies. he attended a concert to celebrate gorbachev's 80th birthday that wasn't in russia but it was obviously gorbachev. here is an old clip of him talking about that experience, colonel. >> it was a tremendous amount of excitement in moscow. not only amongst the press but amongst the youth. it was wild, as a matter of fact, to arrive there and to have hundreds of kids try to

talk to us and communicate with us and autographs. and i had no idea that we had this kind of popularity there. >> well now, he does and he is trying to do something good with it. colonel, who else -- who else could do something that would matter to the russian public were they to see it? >> so i -- i -- something else needs to be said about arnold. he is a world-renowned figure not just in russia. but this video is actually resonating in china and chinese social media landscape which is interesting because of course the chinese have the ability to knock it down but they are letting it play so it's kind of a -- a -- a tepid, you know, tacet type of criticism of russia -- of russian of sorts. and i would like to see some other figures. i mean, there are notable superstars out there that have, you know, have done really well at the box office recently that could speak up. um, you know, there are people that have ties, family ties to that part of the world that

would be interesting to hear them come out and just the way the commercial space industry has -- has weighed in by withdrawing their resources and closing up shop there. it'd be good to have hollywood put some skin in the game, and come out and do the same thing, especially in this moment where the russians are pivoting to a defensive operation that's still going to be bloody and protracted. they have gone too far way past where they should be with regards to secure supply lines. this would be the time to make sure these messages are getting through to the soldiers, as well as to the russian public that is going to start hearing more about casualties. >> colonel, thank you so much for -- for all of that insight and those -- those points. i really appreciate your sharing it. thank you. >> thank you. and next, a stark and devastating monument in lviv tonight. strollers in the town square. each representing the death of a child from the war. and he calls putin his best friend, so will xi jinping do something? will he listen to biden when it comes to not helping russia?

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children that ukraine says have been killed since the russian invasion. another 1.5 million children have been forced to flee the country. many of them to poland, which is where ed lavandera is now. city right by the busiest border crossing between poland and ukraine and, ed, i know you spoke to a group of women who just crossed over after fleeing the heavy fighting that we have seen in kharkiv. what did they tell you? >> reporter: well, erin, you know one of the things that is starting to kind of materialize here on the border between ukraine and poland is that there are so many people who are coming from the areas of eastern ukraine that are seeing some of the most violent russian bombardment and attacks in the entire country. and the one thing that stands out from these families that we're talking to is that they had been hoping that they could wait it out. they want today ed to stay home. they were trying to wait and be as patient as possible but it

has become abundantly clear it is no longer safe to do that so i am really struck by the number of families we talked to, this one woman in particular said she had been traveling for two days to make her way with her child to get to this border point in poland and that really speaks to, number one, the number of people trying to make that trek and that journey. and also, simply just how treacherous it is because russian forces have been targeting civilians so there is a great deal of concern. this is a little bit of our conversation with her just a few moments ago. >> translator: right now, it's very scary. they are shelling relentlessly day and night. fighter jets are in our skies. they are dropping bombs on us. when we were leaving kharkiv, half the city was obliterated. cars were destroyed, turned over with broken windows. all riddled from the shelling. what we are leaving behind wasn't kharkiv anymore.

such a beautiful city and country but in the end, nothing came of this. >> one of the last straws for that woman was that her neighbor was killed in shrapnel from a missile attack that was next to their apartment building. so, that is the kind of stress, the kind of pressure, the kind of horror these families are seeing. and it has now become abundantly clear to many of them that those hopes of having -- being able to wait this out are not coming to fruition and that's why they are leaving in bigger numbers now. >> ed lavandera, thank you so much live from that border crossing tonight. and there will be consequences if china gives military or financial support to russia. that's what president biden says. now, importantly, he had a conversation today with the chinese president xi jinping. two hours via video. yes, translation. so, you know, it wasn't that -- that full two-hour talk time but that is a lot of time and it's really important that they are talking. the question now is whether xi will stand up -- stand up against putin's aggression and stop helping him.

a man that he calls his best friend. david culver is out front in shanghai. >> reporter: a friendship on full display. china's xi jinping hosting his northern neighbor and fellow autocrat, vladimir putin, in 2018. the pair happily sampling together a traditional chinese pancake. a few months later, they made a russian version of the dish, complete with caviar and vodka. they have visited with china's iconic pandas together and have taken in an ice hockey game. the cozy china-russia relationship resulting in 38 face-to-face meetings since xi took power in 2013. state media says the pair has communicated more than 100 times, including phone calls and letters. >> putin is also my best and dearest friend. >> translator: for me, he is a good partner and a good friend that i can count on. >> reporter: both men nearing 70 but showing no desire to step aside. xi and putin have worked to eradicate collective leadership

in their countries, consolidating power and changing laws so that they might rule for life. they have aligned their countries closer to one another, conducting joint military exercises and sharing a common adversary -- the u.s. >> what putin and xi jinping have in common here is actually the desire to undercut u.s.' credibility to drive a wedge between washington and its allies. >> reporter: but russia's messy invasion of ukraine has president joe biden turning to china, hoping xi may be able to help end russia's war. according to chinese state media cctv, xi told biden in a virtual meeting friday that china and the u.s. have a responsibility to work for peace. saying, the world is neither peaceful, nor tranquil. the ukraine crisis is something we don't want to see. u.s. officials say moscow has asked beijing for help and the u.s. worries that any economic or military support china sends to russia has the potential to change the balance on the battlefield, and could take the

sting out of the western sanctions currently crippling russia's economy. the white house said friday's discussion included the two leaders agreeing to maintain open lines of communication. china may see this as an opportunity to burnish its credentials as a major global player capable of step inning and solving the geopolitical crisis. >> so neither leaning towards russia, nor leaning towards ukraine, and instead try to present itself as a neutral-third party. >> american officials have warned china will pay a price if it does circumvent sanctions to do business with russia or helps putin militarily. >> china has to make a decision for themselves about where they want to stand, and how they want the history books to look at them and view their actions. >> reporter: and, erin, it is interesting to compare the readouts from both sides. the u.s. side stressing this was mostly a conversation about ukraine with biden warning xi at the consequences should china help russia. but interesting to look at state media here because in china,

they are playing up that xi pressed biden on taiwan, which china considers part of its sovereignty. xi warning biden that if the taiwan issue is not handled properly, erin, he says it won't be good for u.s.-china relations. >> all right. thank you very much. david culver, fantastic report there from china tonight. out front next. russians beginning to feel the sting of sanctions but are other countries about to suffer, too? as ukrainian workers abandon their firms to fight. >> guess where -- where all the farmers are. they got guns in their hand defending their land. >> and from the tennis court to the battlefield. former ukrainian tennis star tells us why he went back into his country to take up arms and defend his homeland. [zoom call] ...pivot... work bye. vacation hi! book with priceline. 'cause when you save more, you can “no way!” more.

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russia admitting that its citizens have resorted to panic buying at grocery stores. putin's top spokesperson forced to address the issue after video surfaced of elderly russians fighting to get their hands on packs of sugar. it's what you are seeing here. we can't independently confirm when this video was filmed but it is significant because putin's spokesperson dmitry

peskov acknowledged it and dismissed the images as people who cannot cope with their emotions. it comes as moscow stock exchange has been closed for three weeks. and most western companies have completely stopped doing business in the country. all of this is a result of with withering sanctions which took effect in the shortest timeframe we have seen sanctions happen in world history. out front now, the former finance ministry of ukraine and, natalie, i really appreciate your time and perspective so when you look at russia and ukraine and, obviously, given your experience, you know both economies so incredibly well. how much more could russia withstand the terrible toll that these sanctions are already having on their economy? >> i don't actually believe that the sanctions are enough yet, and i think that there is a great deal of fear and there's certainly a press on the ruble itself as you mentioned. but outside of that, they are only beginning to feel what i think has to happen in terms of the isolation of the russian economy. >> so -- so, what else would you do?

>> well, i would urge that we sanction all the state banks, not just a select few. we sanction all the state energy companies, state commodity companies, state logistics companies. and the reason to do that is to isolate out this economy, and put sufficient pressure on the economy, on the elites, on the average citizens to cause putin to stop the war. >> so, it's interesting. and it's important you point that out because obviously hear about the economy that could shrink by 30% in months but yet it's significant as you point out there is more that could be done that would be very significant. now, the consequences, of course, are -- are -- are painful in russia but beyond that, also, painful, right, around the world and the world food program is warning that other countries are going to really feel this from the war because of ukraine. and ukraine not having a planting season. they are a huge food supplier. here is the head of the world food program. >> you have planting season starting again in ukraine in

about a month. well, guess where -- where all the farmers are. they got guns in their hand, defending their land. they can't be planting their land. >> so, i mean, this was the clear thing. ukraine was clear there wasn't going to be a planting season. you are talking about, you know, an incredible provider of all sorts of agricultural commodities that feed through the entire world. how bad will this be, natalie? >> this is extremely important and ukrainians right now as you said are taking up arms. but the government is also asking them to please plant when they can. so, there are parts of the country where spring planting is supposed to begin. in terms of how much territory will be planted, how much fuel would be available because much of the diesel and petroleum is imported from russia and belarus, it won't be. or the extent to which they will -- farmers will be able to come back a second time and apply fertilizers and the types of things necessary to get yields up, i think we are looking at probably one-third, maximum two-thirds of the plantings happening on time and in the ability to export frankly

speaking regardless of planting is completely cut off because all the ports are out of commission. >> well i mean, at least if they could plant some for their own use, right, so you don't have this crisis get worse and worse. one final, quick question for you. one thing that i -- i noticed when the war began was that in ukraine, everybody lined up at atms. you know, politely and they waited. and they got out the ukrainian currency. and in russia when the war began, we saw these lines and they were getting out dollars. they'd have, like, apps to be like dollars here. they didn't want rubles. they wanted dollars. why do you think that is, natalie, that ukrainians immediately went -- their country is under attack and they go and get out -- they have so much confidence in their currency? >> there are two reasons really. one is that russians i think know very well that there are sanctions being applied to the central bank of russia. and that deevaluation, that 40%, 50% that's already occurred makes them panic and want dollars. they know that there is not going to be enough dollars to

supply what their needs are. on the other hand, in ukraine, people have confidence because the entire global community, the western world is coming to their support with financial aid. and imf world bank is going into the central bank of -- of ukraine reserves. the challenge for ukrainians isn't the currency. the challenge is being attacks and electronic ceasing of the banking system. >> right. right. of course. and luckily, that of course is not happened at least yet. natalie, thank you very much. and next, he says he is ready to die for his country. i am going to speak to a retired ukrainian tennis star who came back to the country ready to fight russia. and potassium iodide may have meant nothing to many in europe weeks ago. now, many want it, few can get it. we'll tell you why. lavender baths always calmed him. so we turned bath timeme into a business. ♪ and building it with my son has been my dream job.

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if you have sudden vision loss. most common side-effects are headache and eye redness. ♪ ♪ it's 5:00 a.m., and i feel like i can do anything. we've got apples and cabbage. 7,000 dahlias, vegetables, and brisket for dinner. this is my happy place. we've been coming here, since 1868. my grandmother used to say, don't call me, don't bother me. i'm going out to mow. there's a lot of cushy desk jobs out there, but i make the earth take the shape that i want it to take. there are millions of ways to make the most of your land. learn how to make the most of yours at deere.com no one wants to die but it's our land. those are the words of a retired professional tennis player from ukraine as he trades his racket

for weapons. alex dolgopolov who played in wimbledon from the u.s. open is in ukraine and vowing to remain through the war to defend his country and help any way that he can. alex, i really appreciate your time. i know when the fighting started, um, you were in turkey and you decided that you wanted to come back in. you wanted to come back to ukraine, and you -- getting -- i know you spent a few days even trying to get weapons training, so you would be even more prepared when you came back into the country. why did you make this decision? tell me about it. >> because it's my home. i was born here, and i see the country very united. i've seen many sports people, singers and stay here and helping out. so, why shouldn't i be here? i mean, i'm a man so -- so i think i can -- i can help. i can send a message. i can gather money.

i can bring everything to our army, what i can. and i can be useful, as well. so, i don't think that all the people should leave, you know, their homes because then the city is empty and the army needs -- needs to see the people behind them. >> i remember talking to one man who was in the reserves. he had fought in the donbas but he was in the reserves and he had been called up and -- and i met him on the day he was called up. and he said of course he is afraid. no one who knows what they're doing wouldn't be afraid. and i know you must have those fears, too. but -- but you've chosen to come back, despite, you know, the fear that no doubt you feel. and -- because of how much you believe in your country. but it's a pretty incredible thing that you are willing to lose your life if it comes to that, alex. >> well, it's war. what can i say?

you have to be ready to -- to die and kill, so i had to take that decision sitting in turkey. and for sure, i had some doubts. but why am i worse than any person who is staying here? and there is many famous people staying here. there is many normal people staying here. old people. children. i mean, they for sure will need help, and i think if everyone thinks that i'll help from outside of the country, then that's a problem for the country. so i'm here. i'm gonna help with what i can. if i need to fight, i'll fight. >> so, alex, you know, you played tennis obviously at the -- at the top level in the world, right? u.s. open wimbledon and every other major tournament. you always ended your matches, you know, as you do with a handshake and you played against russians. and, you know, you obviously i'm sure like -- like everyone have friends who are russian.

um, could you ever imagine that you'd be in a situation like this where you would be fighting against them? >> no, i never thought it would go this deep but now it's gone to another level. and since i think the second day of the -- of this war, they started really targeting civilians. so, it -- it became a business of every ukrainian. you can't just watch how -- how they shoot your people. i mean, once it's not a fight against armies, then it becomes a fight against, you know, the whole nation and that's what russia doesn't understand. they can never win because if i need to call my -- get my connections going to get into territorial defense, then you must understand that almost every man here is ready to take a weapon and fight. and how do you fight such motivated people?

yeah, they bomb us. that's the problem. they bomb, bomb, bomb and civilians die. but they took one -- one city, one big city because they are not really motivated. they're on our land and most of them are saying we don't understand what we're fighting for. and we do understand what we're fighting for, so that's like that. >> all right. well, alex, i am grateful for your time and for sharing your story and your resolve with us. thank you. >> thank you. thank you for having me. and out front next. a pill that can protect the body against some nuclear exposure. suddenly, there is a huge spike in demand around the world. who said only this is good? and this is bad? i'm m doing it my way. memeet plenity. an fda -cleared clinicalally proven weight management aid for adults with a bmi of 25-4040 whwhen combined with diet and exercise. plenenity is not a drug - it's made from naturally derived building blocks and helps you feel fuller and eat less.

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finally tonight, panic buying over nuclear fears. potassium iodide pills have been selling out as russia continues controlling nuclear facility, including chernobyl which has been operated by the same staff without any break for weeks. the pills are used to protect against thyroid cancer from nuclear exposure. one of the world's leading suppliers is completely sold out. here is what the vp of sales told us. >> we have not seen any uptick prior to russian's action -- russia's actions. but now, we have purchase orders from many countries around --

arnold ukraine. on the 23rd, we saw [ inaudible ] since 2011. >> it's incredible and tonight, he says there is simply no more supply to be had. thanks for joining us. "ac 360" starts now. good evening from lviv, ukraine. we have got new video just in from the aftermath of what could turn out to have been an especially deadly russian air strike on a military base in mykolaiv. the bombs hit several barracks of the base. rescuers use shovels and bare hands to try to free survivors from the rubble. many others, apparently have not. another survivor who was sleeping in the barracks opposite the buildings that were hit said -- and these are his words, i quote -- of the approximately 200 who were there, i would guess about 90% did not survive. again, we cannot independently confirm that. meantime, here in lv