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this is cnn breaking news. i am johns vauss live in lviv, ukraine. we begin with new signs russia is shifting its focus in ukraine to the donbas region in the east without letting up on the capital kyiv. authorities report heavy shelling as russian military equipment heads in their direction. one official says everything is involved, aircraft, artillery, heavy weapons, and mortars. here is more now from the ukrainian president. >> translator: the situation in the southern direction and in the donbas remains extremely difficult. russian troops are accumulating

the potential for strikes, powerful blows. >> to the north, ukraine's second biggest city, kharkiv, continues to be a major target. the region's military governor says russian forces have launched dozens of strikes in the past day, hitting residential areas. ukrainian soldiers claim they have liberated a village to the east of kharkiv. images from the scene show burned-out russian tanks, as well as destroyed homes and cars. and russian troops have left the chernobyl nuclear power plant north of the capital. the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster has been under russian control since the first week of the invasion in late february. the pentagon says a small number of russian troops are beginning to reposition around kyiv, but it is not a retreat. in fact, u.s. defense officials report russian -- have surged over the past 24 hours, targeting the capital and three other areas but ukrainian forces are fighting back, reclaiming the city irpin west of kyiv. and from there, cnn's fred

pleitgen filed this report. >> reporter: there is no safe way to get into irpin. the only feasible route is on the back of a police special forces pickup truck on dirt paths. but even here, the earth is scorched after russian troops shelled the trail. ukrainian forces are taking us into this area on back roads because they say taking the main roads is simply much too dangerous. they want to show us the damage done when russian forces tried to enter kyiv. ukrainian authorities say this is still one of the most dangerous places in this war-torn country and we immediately see why. we are driving right towards an area engulfed in smoke from artillery shelling. this is where russian forces tried to push into ukraine's capital but were stopped and beaten back by the underdog ukrainians. the battles here are fierce. authorities say 50% of the city has been destroyed.

to us, that number seems like an understatement. move quickly because this place can get shelled anytime. ukraine's national police now patrol irpin again but their forces frequently come under fire, the chief tells me. just yesterday, our officers who were searching for dead bodies -- they were shot at with mortars, he says, they had to lay under the bridge and wait for it to stop. but the grim task of finding and taking out the many dead continues. more than two dozen on this day alone. some have been laying in the streets for weeks, and can only now be removed. when russian forces invaded ukraine, they quickly advanced on the capital kyiv, all the way to irpin. here, the ukrainians stood and fought back. vladimir putin's army controlled large parts of irpin and the battle laid waste to much of

this formerly wealthiy suburb ad this was the epicenter where we find burned-out russian trucks and armored vehicles. so this is the area where some of the heaviest fighting took place in irpin and as you can see, that there was a russian armored vehicle, which was completely annihilated. we do have to be very careful around here because there still could be unexploded munitions laying around. we meet volodymyr, a local resident who says he stayed and took up arms when the russians invaded. always, there was not a single day when i left town, he says, even during the heaviest fighting. it must have been difficult, i ask, just so you understand he says, once there were 348 impacts in one area in one single hour. and the battle here is not over. suddenly, irpin's mayor shows up with a group of special forces saying they are looking for russians possibly still hiding here.

i ask him how it's going. we're working, he says. there is information that there are two russian soldiers dressed in civilian clothes. with our group, we are going to clean them up. ukrainian forces say they will continue the fight and further push russian forces away from their capital. the deputy interior minister saying they need the u.s.'s support to succeed. what do you need from the united states? >> everything. military support, first of all. >> weapons to help the ukrainians expel the invading army they hope and finally bring this suburb out of the reach of vladimir putin's canons. fred pleitgen, cnn, irpin, ukraine. daniel davis is a retired u.s. army lieutenant colonel. 21 years of active service. he is now a senior fellow and military expert for defense priorities, a washington based think tank. daniel, thank you for being with us. i want you to listen to general secretary of nato and his assessment of russian troop movement inside ukraine.

here he is. >> according to our intelligence, russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning. russia is trying to regroup, resupply, and reinforce. russia maintains pressure on kyiv and other cities. >> pentagon also says this is not a retreat, but rather a repositioning and a new strategy with russian forces now focusing on the donbas region. is that how you see this now playing out? is this the new strategy? >> yeah, and you know it's very interesting because that's the same thing that russia's saying. they are saying almost the same thing that the pentagon is saying. they're not attempting to say it's anything different. they -- they are still keeping forces around kyiv, around sumy, and around kharkiv because their intent is to hold the ukrainian troops in position so they can't be repositioned to go to the

donbas. meanwhile, they are taking some of the troops that they have up in the north and repositioning them down into the donbas because that is very clearly now -- i have been seeing this develop for about three weeks and now i think all sides are recognizing the center of -- of tension, the center of all the fighting is in the donbas because really i think it's come down to whoever wins this battle is probably gonna win the tactical fight, and is going to be in the best position to get the -- the terms to their liking in the negotiated settlement that is certainly going to follow. >> so if this is now essentially a war of -- of donbas, that is the war these two sides have been fighting for about eight years so what does that mean in terms of timeline? does it just drag this conflict out for months or even longer? >> well, it's -- it's important to understand what the russian' objective is. it's not the territorial capture of the area. it's the destruction of a large formation of ukrainian armed forces. that's what their -- their objective has been for a long time. that's why they haven't really attacked any cities, other than kherson and mariupol because

those directly tied to the -- the attempt to -- to surround about 40,000-member battle force of the ukrainians opposite the don bass. right now, russia is trying to blank the ukrainians on the north and on the south. if they penetrate either one of those, it's possible for them to capture the entire battle force and that would be a devastating and possibly lethal blow to the ukrainians. so, everything depends on ukraine holding that line. >> russian forces appear to have abandoned the chernobyl nuclear power plant as well. does that fit in with the focus on donbas? or may be the result of troops just being sickened by radiation? >> i mean, i wouldn't have any way to know whether that was the case. but i do know that militarily, it has -- it has no power or -- it has no importance to them. so, you know, it's not like they are needing to hold that for anything else and i think they are -- the ukrainians would have to go through several other

lines of russians to get there. what they need, though, is to focus on what is going on in the donbas because i think they recognize that everything depends on that and i think you are going to see them throwing the kitchen sink on this. looks like so is president zelenskyy. >> well, 35 countries, including the united states and uk have agreed to send armored vehicles, long-range artillery to ukraine, and much more lethal weapons. it's a real uptick in what they have been sending, compared to what they have sent in the past. it is still short of what the ukrai ukrainian president has asked for but how crucial will it be and how soon does it need to arrive to hold that line that you have been talking at? >> you know, it's really -- it's going to have to come really fast. and i will just tell you, when you get kinds of equipment that enlists the exact same kind of equipment they have been using, you also have to have a train-up period on that and it's not as simple as just getting some vehicles and sending them down there. they also have to physically get them there and cross a large area of open plains, which of course russian drones and aircraft will be watching for to try to interdict along the way.

so, it's useful if they can get it down there, it can certainly help and they desperately need, especially artillery, but the question is going to be can it get there fast enough? >> colonel, as always thank you so much for being with us. retired u.s. army lieutenant colonel daniel davis. thank you, sir. >> thanks, john. ukrainian soldiers who so far successfully defended capital kyiv say it is their stronger morale and spirit which gives them the advantage over russians. but still, life in kyiv is becoming increasingly difficult with those who remain facing acute shortages of essential supplies. we get more now from cnn's christiane amanpour. >> reporter: the first thing you notice approaching the front northeast of kyiv are the lines of villagers waiting for humanitarian handouts. they receive a bag of bread and basics to get them through these difficult days. the first week of the war, a shell hit us near the greenhouse, we barely survived says this woman. we had help from strangers

around us, they gave us bread and canned food. we wouldn't have managed, otherwise. no one here knows when this war will end, or whether russia still has designs on kyiv. the frontline is about a mile away. for now, an uneasy calm prevails ever since the ukrainian defenders stopped the russian advance here. it was february 28th, they say, day four of the war. they want to show us how they did it, but first we have to clamber over the bridge they downed to see the armored column they managed to take out. the riverbank is littered with with their skeletons, and this was a turkey shoot russian armored vehicles and tanks have come off the road to avoid the anti-tank mines. only to find themselves unable to cross the bridge and unable to reverse in time. ukrainian forces tell us none of the soldiers inside survived. a little further up the road, two tanks have been virtually smelted, blasted almost to smith

recents. this 40-year-old, a veteran fighter proudly tells us this was his handy work. we all here have one role, to keep the enemy off our land, he says. first thing they did after seeing the village, they started to shell houses just like that. they didn't see us. they didn't know we were here, so they just started to work on houses and so i took the tank in my sights and i fired a rocket and good-bye to him. the destroyed vehicles are stamped with an o. the ukrainian officers here tell us this identifies them as russian units that entered from belarus to the north. oleg is the officer who commanded this operation. as for now, looking at previous fighting we've had, i can tell you that we are trained better he tells me. we have stronger morale and spirit because we are at home. they are afraid but they go because they're made to. he's been battle hardened ever since the first russian invasion in 2014. he says his side has enough weapons, ammunition, and

determination to win. i can tell you, i'm almost sure the russians are regrouping and not retreating, he says. besides, we are preparing ourselves to go forward, we're not preparing just to defend here. u.s. and british intelligence say putin seems to have, quote, massively misjudged this situation and clearly overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory. this old lady tells us i have seen one war, and here we go again. i wish putin would go away. the people of this land remain stalwart and the soldiers remain dug in. hoping they can continue to withstand whatever putin has in store for them next. christiane amanpour, cnn, east of kyiv. >> we will take a short break here on cnn. when we come back, vladimir putin warning he will shut off gas supplies to europe today

unless he is paid in rubles. but some of the eu's biggest economies saying insisting they will not give in to blackmail. also ahead, the young ukrainian babies born far from home. refugees of war before their lives even begin. more on that when we come back.

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welcome back, everybody. there is a glimmer of hope for those in the hard-hit city of mariupol. in the coming hours being russian troops are expected to re-open a humanitarian corridor to the north in the city of zaporizhzhia. russian president vladimir putin ordered the corridor to be opened after personal request from the french president and the german chancellor. more than 4 million ukrainians have been made refugees by this war. since the beginning of the

crisis, many of them have fled to poland or romania. most are women and children. many are women about to have children. making a hard and difficult journey even tougher. cnn's kyung lah has their story. >> reporter: born just hours ago in poland, baby adelina is already a survivor of the war in ukraine. is it -- is it hard to be happy? it is, she says, adelina is christina's first child. you feel guilty? why? because i left, she says, left her home in western ukraine. the war had begun. the bombing neared their city. she escaped by bus, then walked on foot across the border. paramedics rushed her to the hospital. she delivered adelina a month early, separated from her

family. my mother, sister, grandparents still in ukraine. he is killing our people, she says of vladimir putin. how could anyone be so cruel? >> i am terrified. i'm terrified that something like this can happen, that you can lead your everyday life. and all the sudden, because of decisions that you have no influence upon, there is a war and you have to flee. it's -- it's unbelievable. it's terrifying. >> reporter: the doctor is a psychiatrist in warsaw. the hospital focused on treating women has seen 80 ukrainian patients this month, delivered 11 babies, and treated cancer patients like 58-year-old tatiana. i ran with my granddaughter in my arms, she says. missiles had already blown out the windows in their building. as they fled, something exploded next to their car. her city is now occupied by russians. she is grateful for her doctors

at the hospital and the free healthcare in poland that is treating her cervical cancer. christina is one of the doctors. we are not using her last name because she, herself, is also a refugee from ukraine. a mother of a 5-year-old ask the wife of a ukrainian military man. your husband. my husband has been in the military since 2014. at the moment, he's in lviv. you had to leave your husband behind? yes, she says. now in warsaw, i can't sit and do nothing she says. i have this opportunity here to help women who fled the country. with each breath, baby adelina offers her mother a respite from the war. what will you tell your daughter about her birth? the truth, she says, we will tell her everything as it was. she should know the truth. all the ukrainian patients you've seen in this story that healthcare is being covered by the government of poland, including all the care once they

leave the hospital and they are not the only ones. the ministry of health here in p poland says 197 ukrainian children have been born in poland since this war began. kyung lah, cnn, warsaw, poland. so if you would like to help the people of ukraine who have lost so much, they are in need of shelter, food, basic supplies, please go to cnn.com/impact. there, you will find ways to help. ways that will ensure your generosity, your assistance will go to the people who need it the most. we will take a short break. when we come back, the u.s. president making an historic announcement about the strategic oil reserves. his challenge to oil companies in a moment.

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skyrocketing on global markets so on thursday, u.s. president joe biden announced a record release from the strategic oil reserve, up to 180 million barrels over six months. a move he hopes will help lower record-high gasoline prices across the u.s. kaitlan collins has more now from the white house. >> reporter: well, as russia's war in ukraine is continuing, president biden is taking drastic steps to try to reduce gas prices here at home where they have been skyrocketing, of course, ever since that invasion began several weeks ago. and president biden announcing today he will be tapping into the reserves, the emergency reserves, of oil that the united states has to try to help lower gas prices now that they are over average $4 a gallon. and so, president biden's plan for the next six months is to release a million barrels of gas per day from the strategic reserves. that is ultimately going to add up to about 180 million barrels of oil. ask while industry experts say they don't think this is going to really have anything but a modest impact, the white house is hoping this will be a bridge

for the next six months as they are also calling on oil manufacturers here at home to ramp up production. even asking congress to impose fees on those who have these wells on their leases that they are not utilizing to the fullest capacity. >> this is a wartime bridge to increase oil supply until production ramps up later this year. and it is, by far, the largest release of our -- of our national reserve in our history. it'll provide historicm amount f supply for an historic amount of time, a six-months bridge to the fall. >> reporter: of course, all this really comes at a time that it is a big political hit for the president. you have seen republicans talk about it time and time again. the midterms are coming up and president biden saying today he does empathize with people who are paying more at the pump. but of course, talking about the importance he believes in puting these sanctions on russian oil. banning these imports of russian oil from the united states. all as they try to contain this effort. though what we know so far is of course gas prices have gone up and right now, experts still

expect them to continue to do so. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. >> now it seems, the russian president is playing the natural gas card, threatening to shut off supplies to europe. putin has imposed new rules effective today that require so-called unfriendly states to pay for russian gas in rubles. the eu's economic commissioner slammed the move as blackmail. germany, france, the uk, all refusing to honor this new because existing contracts stipulate payment in euros or dollars. here is the german chancellor. >> translator: we have looked at the contracts for the gas supplies and other supplies and in these, it says that the payments will be in euros, sometimes tin dollars but usualy euros and i made it clear in the conversation the russian president this will remain the case. >> the eu relies on russia for about 40% of its natural gas. if moscow suddenly shuts down the pipelines, it will be a huge

economic shock. with us now from stanford university is katherine stoner, she is director of the center of democracy development and the rule of law. and, katherine, welcome back. it's good to see you. we heard from vladimir putin on thursday speaking about why he believes russia has been targeted with international sanctions. listen to this. >> translator: these are sanctions to punish us for our right to be free, independent. for our right to be russia. for not wanting to dance to their tune and sacrifice our national interest and traditional values. >> on the surface, that sounds like someone who is living in alternative reality so how can putin rationalize this conflict and sanctions down to what seems to be an irrational statement? i guess the other possibility is he just doesn't believe it himself. >> yeah. so i wouldn't say he's -- he's irrational. he's emotional, that's for sure. i think he just has a very

different perspective on the world and on human nature than -- than we may have. and this i think plays into his understanding or expectations of how people re -- react in certain circumstances and so he assumed i think that the ukrainian people would have little to no independent agency or decision-making capacity, and that they are instead manipulated by this corrupt cabal of elites that has, in turn, manipulated and maybe even paid for by the west. um, and so, he was expecting that russian troops would be welcomed by ukrainian citizens as -- as liberators. um, with bouquets of flowers and instead they were met of course with molotov cocktails. um, and so, i think there he has misjudged the situation, misunderstood the situation. but that's partly resulted as the way he as i said sees -- the sees the world and also perhaps that intelligence. um, and, you know, in an

authoritarian system that can happen. people are afraid to tell the truth. >> how -- so -- sorry to talk over you. there is a bit of a delay here but how does this all fit in with his threat now to turn off gas supplies to europe unless contracts are paid in rubles? it seems unlikely any countries will give into that demand. it just seems a nonstarter. >> right. he is trying to -- to essentially make other countries pay in rubles to support the -- the ruble. because -- because of the financial sanctions that have been put on russia. so, right, it's in the contracts as we heard from the -- the piece that you just showed there. oil and dgas contracts are usually signed months and months, even years ahead of time at a certain price. and so in this case, they are supposed to be paid for in euros or -- or dollars. so i think this is going to be a very, very difficult thing to enforce because it hurts russia, of course, if they don't deliver the oil or gas they are supposed to then they don't get paid at

all. not in rubles, and not in dollars and so it's a dangerous game and i think there is very little credibility to the threat of actually shutting off those -- those resources. >> we heard from the u.s. president, he spoke publicly for the first time about what may or may not be happening with vladimir putin inside the kremlin. listen to this. here is joe biden. >> he seems to be -- i'm not saying this with a certainty -- he seems to be self-isolating and there's some indication that he has -- um -- fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers. um, but i -- i don't want to put too much stock in that at this time because we don't have that much hard evidence. >> this comes after u.s. and british officials claim that putin had been lied to by his advisers about the extent of the military losses in ukraine and that he doesn't actually have, you know, a fair assessment of

what's been happening on the battlefield. so if putin is not getting a clear picture of what is happening, how -- how do you negotiate a peace deal? he doesn't actually have a proper assessment of the state of play. >> right. so i think he probably was unaware of the shortcomings of the military. but if the intelligence as the president said there we're getting is accurate, then there is, in fact, tension with the ministry of defense and the minister of defense, sergei shoigu, who is one of his sort of trusted inside advisers. but it seems he is currently if there is that tension, things are not going as planned and obviously he may have noticed things didn't -- that the war is not over in three or four days. and so, as i was saying before, you know, this is -- ask as secretary blinken said, this is a risk ask a personalistic autocracy, which is that it's dangerous and difficult for advisers to -- to give the autocrat bad news. but, you know, putin's not stupid. the war was supposed to be short and successful. he was told that. and he knows it hasn't been short. and he likely knows the toll of

the military is pretty great, much bigger than they had anticipated. um, on a peace deal, i think the russians appear to be sort of presenting progress as mixed at this point but they are continuing discussions. so, you know, um, i think that is an indication also that -- that things are not quite as easy as they had anticipated they would be and that they may be willing to back off on what the original plan was and go for plan b instead. >> katherine stoner at stanford university, thank you so much. good to see you again. thank you. >> thank you. so even while ukraine's military is having success against russian forces, the ukrainian president made a surprise announcement late thursday. two of his top generals have been stripped of their ranks and removed. no specific reason was given but president zelenskyy made clear he regarded both of them as traitors. >> translator: and today, another decision was made regarding anti-heroes.

now, i do not have time to deal with all the traitors but gradually they will all be punished. >> zelenskyy suggested the two fired generals had violated the military's oath of allegiance to ukraine, and said random generals do not belong here. a lot more from lviv at the top of the hour but first let's bring in michael holmes in atlanta. michael. >> good to see you there, john. thanks so much. we will check in with you a bit later. we will take a quick break. when we come back, a one-time russian oligarch has denounced his home country and given up his citizenship. we will have details on that and the consequences he thinks other oligarchs should face. that's when we come back.

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welcome back. the ukrainian president has been on a diplomatic blitz since the start of the russian invasion. on thursday, speaking to belgium lawmakers, asking for help with weapons, sanctions, and eu membership. volodymyr zelenskyy calling the

humanitarian situation in mariupol a catastrophe and reiterating his request for a no-fly zone over ukraine. >> translator: why are we waiting to set up a no-fly zone? we have the impression that the europeans do not have enough courage to put in place while the ukraine has already given thousands of lives to defend the security of europe. the defenders of mariupol and other cities of ukraine are fighting for the safety of all cities in europe. >> from japan to the u.s., and from israel to australia, mr. zelenskyy has addressed 17 parliaments across the world since russia invaded ukraine in february. the european parliament's president is traveling to ukraine, becoming the first leader of an eu institution to do so since the start of the russian invasion. on thursday, she posted a photo

of herself saying on my way to kyiv. an eu official says no details of the trip are being shared before the visit due to security concerns. earlier this week, she said it is important for the european parliament to support ukraine's aspiration to join the eu. a former-russian oligarch says he is giving up his russian citizenship after the invasion of ukraine. cnn's hadas gold spoke to the billionaire, who wants other oligarchs to face more sanctions. >> reporter: when russia invaded ukraine, this one-time russian oligarch had had enough. billion billionaire leonid nevzlin publicly denounced his russian citizenship in a facebook post. he said the decision was a longtime coming.

he left russia for israel nearly 20 years ago after what he says was a politically motivated series of charges against him and the oil company he co-founded. the israeli supreme court declined the kremlin's request to extradite him and the european court of justice ruled he did not receive a fair trial. he is calling now for harsher sanctions against his one-time compatriots, the russian oligarchs, and criticizing the israeli government for what he says is a lackluster response to the war. >> what do you think it would take for the russian elite, for the oligarchs to stop supporting vladimir putin? [ speaking foreign language ]

>> reporter: we have been hearing here in israel that there might be a new wave of russian oligarchs, russian elite who will try to leave russia and come to israel. do you think they should be allowed in? [ speaking foreign language ]

>> reporter: prime minister naftali bennett has tried to mediate and not directly criticize putin. and while israel has condemned russia's invasion and is sending humanitarian aid to ukraine, it has not imposed economic sanctions against russia. although it pledges it won't become a route to bypass other country's sanctions. he says he is a proud israeli citizen and jew but says israel needs to do more to support ukraine. and have a more generous refugee policy to all, whether jewish or not. so you do seem a little bit ashamed of the israeli government, how they are handling everything from the politics to the refugees? what do you hope will change then in the next few days, weeks? [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: you said you hope, one day, to be able to reclaim your russian citizenship. what will it take for you to get there? does putin need to be gone ?

until then, one less citizenship in hand, he says he will continue to work trying to democratize russia from the outside. hadas gold, cnn, israel. the eu and china getting ready for a virtual summit in beijing, likely to catch some flack. we are live in hong kong with kristie lu stout when we come back. allergies don't have to be scary. spspraying flonase daily stos your body from overerreacting to allergens al season long. psst! psst! flonasase all goo. cal: we've saved our money, and now we get to spend it our way. val: but we worry if we have enough to last. for retirement planning, investment advice, andore, look for a cfp® profeional. cfp® professionals c help you craft a complete financial plan

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welcome back. as the war in ukraine turns russia into an international pariah, moscow -- two kcountrie who have been soft in their

condemnation. the russian foreign minister in india right now, where he is set to meet with his indian counterpart in just however an hour. india and china have not outright condemned the invasion, but they are under strong international pressure to do so. now, wchina could face more of that pressure when its summit with the united nations gets under way. kristie lu stout has more from hong kong. how do you see this summit unfolding? >> reporter: michael, this will be a very tense meeting amid an already rocky relationship. we're going to see the virtual simil summit between the eu and china. in the eyes of officials, the focus will be on ukraine, and namely china's relationship with russia after the invasion. in the days leading up to today's high level virtual summit, we heard from a high

level eu official who accused china of giving political support to russia and its assault on ukraine. i want to bring up this statement for you. this coming from the head of the european parliament's delegation for relations with china. he said this, quote, the veil is threadbare and it fools no one. he adds, the way in which china handles this conflict will have bearing on the future overall eu/china relationship, unquote. now, a breakthrough is not widely expected to come out of this summit, not only because of the tension relationship between china and the eu, but because of the relationship between china and russia and how both sides have been doubling down on their pre-war relationship. this was made very clear in that meeting that took place earlier this week between sergey lavrov, russia's foreign minister, and his chinese counterpart. during those meetings, wang made no indication that china was going to join any western condemnation of russia and its

actions in ukraine. in fact, almost just the opposite. after day one of that meeting, we heard this from china's ministry of foreign affairs. a spokesperson said, as follows, quote, there is no ceiling for china/russia cooperation. no ceiling for us to strive for peace, no ceiling for us to safeguard security and no kreelging for us to oppose hegemony. if china declaring their relationship as having no ceiling, this comes just months after, of course, that summit between vladimir putin, xi jinping, declaring their relationship had no limits, before the invasion. back to you. >>kristie, thank you so much. now, there is new fallout, by the way, from the will smith slap at the oscars. you'll remember that. the award show's producer says los angeles police officers were prepared to arrest smith right then and there, but comedian chris rock was adamant he did not want to press charges.

take a listen to the abc news interview. >> they were saying, you know, this is battery, was the word they used in that moment. they said, we will go get him, we are prepared, we're prepared to get him right now, you can press charges, we can arrest him. they were laying out the options. as they were talking, chris w was -- he was being very di dismissive. he was like, no, i'm fine. he was like, no, no, no. >> now, a source telling cnn that smith apologized to the academy leadership during a 30-minute zoom call. the academy telling smith his actions, though, would have consequences. the actor has maintained a low profile on social media since the slap heard around the world, except for a public statement admitting that he was, quote, out of line. i'm michael holmes at the cnn center in atlanta. we'll go back to john voss in

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this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm john vause live in lviv, ukraine. russian forces are stepping up their offense in the east. much of the area has been under the control of russian-backed separatists, making it difficult to receive accurate information, but governors in the region report fierce attacks from artillery and mortars. to the north, the region is a key target for russians. authorities there report a major fire after a gas pipeline was