anderson, thank you. i'm jake tapper. more than six weeks into this bloody russian invasion, the u.s. state department says, quote, we can no longer be surprised by the kremlin's repugnant disregard for human lives, unquote. volodymyr zelenskyy calling russian military strikes silling civilians, quote, an evil that has no limits. he put out a new message this evening. the world responded to yet another russians targeting civilians, in this instance trying to escape the hell of this war. they were at a jam packed train station in kramatorsk. the images we are about to show you are graphic and disturbing. but we cannot look away from this reality.

>> those horrifying screams, the haunting scramble for cover after russia fired what is believed to have been a short-range ballistic missile directly on this crowd of women, children, men, and the elderly. at least 50 were killed, including five children, at least 98 wounded, including 16 children. ukrainian military authorities say the missile contained cluster munitions, more commonly called a cluster bomb. it's a cruel device designed for propelling secondary submunitions to kill as many people as possible. written on the missile were the words, quote, for the children. cnn cannot confirm what was meant by that. was it some kind of revenge message on behalf of russian children, or was it directed at ukrainian children? ukraine's president volodymyr

zelenskyy says once again tonight, russia must be held accountable. >> translator: we expect a firm global response to this war crime. like the massacre in bucha, like many other russian war crimes, the missile strike on kramatorsk must be like the tribunal, which is bound to happen. >> despite moscow falsely suggesting again that it was not behind the attack, blaming ukraine insanely, it has been obvious for weeks now that putin's army is directly targeting civilian populations. we have seen the mass graves in bucha, those slaughtered in the streets, some with their hands tied behind their backs. we've seen the blown up hospitals across ukraine, incl including maternity wards and children's hospitals. we saw them triek the theater that had the word "children" written on them, clearly visible

from the air. it could not be any clearer who is at fault or whether these strikes are accidental or not. what's mystifying is the cruelty and what is confusing and confounding, how to put an end to this nightmare. cnn's phil black takes us through this latest atrocity. >> reporter: for many who fear what is coming in eastern ukraine, kramatorsk station has been a gateway to safety. crowds of people packed its platforms in recent days, desperate to increase its distance from a region russia says it will soon conquer with overwhelming force. witnesses say thousands came again friday morning. they sought safety. they couldn't escape the war. these are the moments after a ballistic missile exploded at the station. after debris and shrapnel tore through the crowd. so many dead bodies, a person

cries. only children, just children. when the screaming eventually stopped, the broken bodies of the innocent remain. we have to hide much of this scene. most of those lying bleeding and still are women and children. survivors fled. we managed to contact some by phone while they sheltered together in a public building, still scared and shaken. this woman says she looked up when she thought she heard a plane, then it exploded, and everyone went down. this man says he heard the blast and threw his body over his daughter. the remains of the missile that terrified and hurt so many crashed down near the nation. hasn't painted russian words mark its side, declaring the weapons' avenging purpose. it says "for the children."

the author and their intent are unknown. the result is yet another moment of horror in a war with endless capacity for taking and destroying innocent lives. so, once again, world leaders are accusing russia of committing an atrocity in ukraine. and once again russia is denying all the responsibility. the u.s. assessment is this was a short-range ballistic missile fired from a russian position inside ukraine. the ukrainian military says that missile was packed with cluster munitions, small bomblets, which spread and explode over a wide area, and which are banned in more than 100 countries. jake? >> phil black in lviv for us. thank you so much. here with me tonight is our chief international investigative correspondent. given what we know from u.s. intelligence and the evidence on the ground, there really seems to be no doubt that this was a russian missile and that russia

deliberately targeted this train station packed with civilians. >> well, it says that putin at the very least wants to project a sense of impunity, that in the midst of all this conversation, all these calls for prosecution and war crimes investigation, for him to go ahead and use cluster munitions, a banned munition, that are designed to cause the maximum amount of damage in a train station containing fleeing families not only in the middle of the renewed offensive in the east of the country so close to russia's border. but while civilians are seeking to evacuate, it goes back to what we're seeing again and again, this pattern of subjugation through terization. you can't flee this. the world can't save you for this. what's important for your audience to know is that while they're outside, feeling there may be momentum on this conflict, on the ground here, we are at an impasse. >> yeah, we are indeed. and u.n. official says there's

credible evidence russia has used cluster bombs indiscriminately at least two dozen times in ukraine. as you know, these are designed to be cruel devices, to kill as many people as possible. in 2008, more than 100 countries signed onto an international treaty to ban their use. russia did not sign that treaty. we should note, neither did the united states, and the united states has also used cluster bombs in the past including in iraq, including in vietnam. could that, along with our non-recognition of the international criminal court, the united states', could that have any effect on whether russia will face any punishment for what they're doing here, what are clearly war crimes? >> absolutely. i mean, of the three main actors, ukraine is not a signatory either but it's accepted the jurisdiction of the court. russia is not a signatory. nor is the u.s. unfortunately it gives putin what he craves, which is the ability to project western hypocrisy. once again the u.s. speaks in a

fashion that doesn't act and hold itself to the same standard. this has always been going back to the first speech he famously gave during the iraq war, america asks of others to act in ways it does not ask of itself. >> even though i could say, look, the united states does prosecute its soldiers for committing war crimes, as you noted, president trump pardoned a number of them. and you say that really had an effect. >> well, it would also be probably because suicide for a u.s. politician to say, we will cooperate. we will hand over u.s. service people to the icc. it's almost impossible to imagine, right? and that's what you're asking when you sign up to the icc. and it comes back, again, to the ways putin plays off this idea of america's constant exceptionalism for itself. i'm not saying this is true. but what american is saying, only american courts can act on american service people but we want putin to be held to

account. legally it means whatever happens politically in russia, whoever takes over from putin, has no legal obligation to hand him over to prosecution. and that's incredibly difficult to enforce. >> we're also learning today that russia is shutting down the offices of human rights organizations like human rights watch and amnesty international in its country. what consequences does that have? >> well, for me it speaks to how much putin is gathered much about the disinformation he's continued to sow internally in russia. amnesty and human rights has been in russia for about 30 years. he's been slowly closing that space not only for disendt but for the ability to hear any alternative opinions, any alternative reality for the people inside russia. 44th or 45th day inside this conflict it's difficult for the most ardent putin loyalists to not get a sense of we were told this is going to be quick. we were told this is going to be a very different way. >> and we were going to be

welcomed. >> yes. roses in the streets of kyiv. that has not happened. why? this is part of a western conspiracy. these are foreign actors. putin went so far as to designate a 25-year-old rapper as a foreign agent for sioux speaking out against the fact that the reality is not what putin has led the russian people to expect. >> not the actions of a smart -- i mean a strong or confident leader. great to have you. the world has come to know this graphic photo of a ukrainian mayor and her husband and her son lying in a shallow pit after being shot in the head with their hands tied behind their backs. a funeral was held for the family. a friend remembers them as heroes. take a look. >> they stayed up to them in order to help others and support

others. and they're great representatives of our nation. >> i want to turn now to a member of the ukrainian parliament, anastasiya row deana joins us know. you're a public official too. what goes through your mind when you see mayors, middle aged women not in the military, just trying to govern, being massacred like this? >> first and foremost, it shows us the scale of war crimes russia is committing on ukrainian territory. and frankly i cannot think of any type of a war crime that hasn't been yet committed by russia on ukrainian territory. but even more importantly, this shows us why ukraine has to win this war. our only chance to ensure peace and security and freedom in our land is to actually win this war. otherwise, russia will have concentration camps all over the territory of ukraine.

and there will be no future for us in the country. >> speaking of war crimes, tell us your reaction to what happened to the train station in kramatorsk earlier today. >> i can't -- i don't -- i even don't have words to describe that. this is undescribable, unbelievable. and more importantly, this is unforgivable. but what is most terrifying about that, that this is just one of the examples of what russia is doing and what we are receiving from our intelligence that russian troops are preparing to advance once again in donesque and luhansk region unless ukraine receives all the heavy weaponry we need to have the proper counteroffensive activities and to stop that. >> to be frank, these are -- these seem very much like the tactics of a terrorist

organization, targeting people trying to flee. >> absolutely. this is why we insist that russia is not just waging an unprovoked war on ukrainian territory. what they are doing is genocide. and, again, most horrifying is kramatorsk is just one example. we can continue naming examples. this is bucha. this is mariupol, for example. we are right now receiving reports that russians started using chemical oils in mariupol to hide the scope of their atrocities in mariupol and to hide the number of civilians they massacred there. that is genocide, and we call upon the world to recognize it as such. >> you said the attack on the kramatorsk train station is a clear sign that russia has no commitment to the peace talks, to any diplomacy. do you believe your government continuing with these talks is

futile? is diplomacy still possible at all? >> well, first and foremost, we are a peaceful country, and we are looking for the solution. at the same time, we have no illusion as to possibility of workable compromises with russia. we have seen since 2014 that russia is not ready for peace talks. ready is not ready for compromises. the only option for us to actually be able to, again, ensure security and peace on our land is to receive military sp superiority. and this is why we are asking all the civilized world to help ukraine by the heavy weaponry that will allow us to keep russian soldiers out of our land. again, because nothing else works with russia. we've been there. we've tried. in 2014 we were told not to escalate and to make some compromises. where did that bring us?

to 2022 with russia waging full-scale war on our territory. therefore now our only option is to win. and for that, we need proper military support. and this is not just generalized but this is heavy weaponry like artillery and air defense systems that will help us not only stop russian troops from advancing but also to be able to help occupy cities in, for example, kharkiv region, where people are also suffering their worst. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate your time. the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster was one of russia's first conquests. putin's forces took over the chernobyl power plant on day one of their invasion. but ukrainian forces have

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welcome back. we're live in lviv. the chernobyl nuclear power plant is normally about a nine-hour drive from where i'm standing, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster was captured by russians at the start of their invasion in february, with the kremlin pulling troops out of the region now. cnn's fred pleitgen and his team have obtained exclusive tv access from the site. he joins us live from kyiv. fred, tell us what you saw. >> reporter: hi there, jake. i think there were two things that stood out to us. on the one hand, in the aftermath we saw of the russian occupation there was the way the russians treated the ukrainian -- not just the staff but also the security forces that were onhand there seem to be absolutely outrageous.

but also their own soldiers were subjected to extremely high levels of radiation and they dug themselves in in some of the most contaminated areas in the entire world. it certainly seemed like something that was really, really a bad sight to see. here's what we witnessed. simply getting to the chernobyl exclusion zone is a treacherous journey. many streets and bridges destroyed, we had to go off road, crossing rivers on pontoon bridges. finally, we reached the confinement dome of the power plant that blew up in 1986, the worst nuclear accident ever. russian troops invaded this area on the very first day of their war against ukraine and took chernobyl without much of a fight. now that the russians have left, ukraine's interior minister took us to chernobyl. and what we found was troubling. the russians imprisoned the security staff inside the

plant's own bomb shelter, the interior minister told us. no natural light, no fresh air, no communications. so, the russians kept 169 ukrainians prisoner here the entire time they held this place. and then when the russians left, they looted and ransacked the place. among the prisoners, police officers, national guard members, and soldiers. ukraine's interior minister tells me the russians have now taken them to russia, and they don't know how they're doing. when i arrived here, i was shocked, he says, but only once again realized that there are no good russians and nothing good comes of russian. it is always a story associated with victims, with blood, and with violence. what we see here is a vivid example of outrageous behavior at a nuclear facility. while the plant's technical staff was allowed to keep working, the ukrainians say russian troops were lax with nuclear safety.

and as with enter the area russian troops stayed in worked in, suddenly the dosing meter's alarm goes off. increased radiation level. they went to the red forest and brought the radiation here on their shoes, this national guardsman said. everywhere else is normal. only this floor is radioactive. i asked, everything is okay but here is not normal. yes, he says, the radiation is increased here because they lived here and they went everywhere. on their shoes and clothes, i asked? yes, and now they took the radiation with them. let's get out of here, i say. the so-called red forest is one of the most contaminated areas in the world, especially the soil. the ukrainian government released this drone footage, apparently showing that the russians dug combat positions there. the operator of ukraine's nuclear plants says those russian soldiers could have been exposed to significant amounts of radiation. we went to the edge of the red forest zone and found a russian military food ration on the

ground. when we hold the dosing meter dose, the radiation skyrockets to around 50 times above natural levels. ukraine says russia's conduct in this war is a threat to nuclear safety in europe. the chernobyl nuclear power plant hasn't been in operation for years, but of course this confinement needs to be monitored 24/7. and also there's spent nuclear fuel in this compound as well. and it's not only in chernobyl. russian troops also fired rockets at europe's largest nuclear power plant near zaporizhzhia in southern ukraine and are now occupying it. ukraine's energy minister tells me the international community must step in. >> i think it's dramatically impact, and that is really the act of nuclear terrorism, what they are doing. >> chernobyl is close to the belarusian border. the russian army used this road as one of its main routes to attack ukraine's capital. the interior minister says his country needs more weapons to

defend the border. today the border between totalitarianism and democracy passes behind our backs, he says. the border between freedom and oppression. we are ready to fight for it. and the ukrainians fear they may have to fight here again soon, as russian president vladimir putin replenishes his forces, continuing to put this nation and nuclear safety in europe at risk. >> and jake, when i kept talking to the energy minister, he told he believes it is absolutely crazy that the russian military told its soldiers to dig combat positions in that red forest. he said, look, if you're there a couple of minutes, that's all right. but if you have troops dug in there for several days, that's life threatening. he said those people may not have long to live. and what's more threatening is the russians still hold the largest nuclear power plant in europe. >> thank you.

fred pleitgen in kyiv for that story. really eye opening. ukrainians successfully beating back russia in some parts of the country, but the fiercest fighting is yet to come. it's going to be in the eastern donbas region. is ukraine going to be equipped enough to win battles against the russians there? a top military analyst's take next. or years. i strip before take-off. breathe right strips open youour nose for relief you can feel right away, helping you take in air more easily, whererever you are. the sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because the sleep number 360 smart bed is really smart. it senses your movement, and tomatically adjusts to help keep you both comfortable all nigh it's ao temperature balancing, so you stay cool. it's so smart, it knows actly how long, how well and when you slept. sleep number takes care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. don't miss our weekend special save $1000 on the most popular smart bed. and free premium delivery when you add a base. ends monday to learn more go to sleepnumber.com

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we continue live from ukraine. the u.s. and nato are ramping up their combat support of ukraine in terms of military supplies. the u.s. announced today that it is facilitating ukraine acquiring a key soviet-era missile defense system, the s-300 coming from slovakia. the deal was made possible after the u.s. said it would send slovakia, ukraine's western neighbor and a nato member state, a patriot missile system in order to back fill what they were transferring to ukraine. how much of a difference would that make? could something like that prevent the kind of tragedy we saw at the kramatorsk train station earlier today? general, thanks so much for joining us. so, this is what we know about the s-300 air defense system. it has a range of 46 miles, an altitude of 82,000 feet. in addition the u.s. is sending a range of other weapons,

including more than 12,000 antiarmor systems and 15 million rounds of ammunition. could this have an impact? >> well, jake, first of all, we've got to recognize that the slovakian contribution is significant, but the ukrainians have had the s-300 for quite a few years. six months ago, they had about 300 launchers, so they already have a significant capability there. but what's more important is that since nato was not able to agree on a no fly zone from the air, this gives them a better chance to establish a no fly capability from the ground. this may give them, the ukrainians, capability to truly cover the entire area, particularly in the east so that russian aircraft aren't a significant contribution to this upcoming fight. >> and i would think that that would be a lot of diplomacy

going on there if you see the slovakians giving one system and the americans providing another system to the slovakians. that's not something that can be hammered out in one phone call. that takes a lot of work. >> no, i think all these equipment contributions have been discussed since the beginning of the war. let's be very candid. this contribution coming from nato has been overwhelming. and in many ways, it's what's giving the ukrainians the capability to have such an impact on the battlefield. along the brave ukrainian soldiers, this equipment that's come from nato and the united states has really held back the russian advance, both in the first phase and the blitzkrieg towards kyiv. in the second phase where they've been unable to take the northern part of the country, and let's hope it does the same thing in this third phase, where the russians are going to concentrate in the east. >> so, right now, let's show

this video of joint live fire exercises being jointly conducted by the u.s. and poland just a few miles from where i am. nato is essentially sending a very clear message to putin with this public show of force, inviting the media in to film it. do you think putin will heed this warning? >> well, the warning is to stay out of europe, stay out of nato territory, i think the ukrainians have already done that job for him. his forces have been significantly depleted. they haven't performed well onto battlefield. they may perform better in this next phase of their operation. but if this is a force, a russian force, that is unable to conquer ukraine in a short period of time, he must clearly understand that if he goes against the entire might of nato, that's probably a bridge too far for him and his military at this point. >> secretary lloyd austin, pentagon secretary, admitted publicly the u.s. is giving

ukraine intelligence, specifically on the donbas region. it's not really a surprise, but that seems rather critical. how crucial is it? >> well, it's always critical. in particular we've got to recognize that the greater -- the greatest killer on the battlefield thus far for the russians has been their use of visales and artillery. those are fairly easy to see from the intelligence platforms we have in the air. the ukrainians also have counter battery radars. but if they want to hold back a russian artillery assault, which is really the center piece of how the russians fight, that intelligence is going to be giving some pinpoint accuracy on where those artillery missile batteries are. and that could be significant in this upcoming fight, where we should expect even more artillery and missiles fired than we've seen up to this point in the war.

>> retired brigadier general, thank you so much for your insoigts this evening. good to see you. more on the war in ukraine ahead. but first we have a cnn exclues evidence. text messages from a member of donald trump's family seeming to push ideas of how the then president could overturn the results of the 2020 election. a top member of the trump white house will join us to weigh in. that's next. with skyrizi 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after jujust 2 doses. skyryrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight thehem. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tubercululosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. as the world watches the tragedy in ukraine, oil and gas ceos see an opportunity to get richer. hiking gas prices here at home

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it's bad for tribes and all californians. join us. protect the promise. we're live in ukraine, and there remains much more to cover tonight on this war in which freedom and democracy are at stake. but we turn now to a cnn exclusive. donald trump jr. texting strategies to subvert the will of the american voters before the results of the election of 2020 were even known. cnn has reviewed a text message from the then-president's son to the then white house chief of staff which states, quote, we have multiple paths. we can control them all. those multiple paths would all be tried in some form or fashion leading up to the event of january 6th.

the text was sent on november 5th. that was when it still looked as though donald trump could win legitimately. in a statement, trump jr.'s lawyer says, quote, given the date, this message likely originated from someone else and was forwarded. among the strategies posited, exerted pressure on legislators, allah the call to the georgia secretary of state. trump jr. texts, quote, republicans control, wisconsin, michigan, north carolina, et cetera. we get trump electors. the text also calls for objecting to the vote certification quote. we either have a vote we control and we win or it gets kicked to congress 6 january 2021. as you may recall, 147 congressional republicans objected to the certification and counting the votes from arizona and/or pennsylvania, even after the capitol had been so brutally attacked. as the text message reads,

quote, we have operational control, total leverage, unquote. there are even more plans laid out in the text, which were attempted. let's discuss some of them with my next guest, who was the white house communications director when that text was sent. alissa farrah griffin, thanks so much for joining us. so, when you were at the white house, did you know of this type of plans in the works? >> well, jake, first off, thanks for having me, and i really, really appreciate your reporting from ukraine. it's invaluable. i certainly wasn't aware, but i can tell you this. those final days even before the election was called but once the arizona call was made and it looked like donald trump was not going to win the election was a very scary time in the trump white house. there was a level of desperation among those closest to the former president to hang on to power in any way possible. you would hear rumors of different ideas. i shared before, i was supposed to do a television interview the day after the election. the results had not been called.

and i was told to stand down because, quote, there was a plan in place. things were underway. and the folks in rosalynn were kind of working out strategies of what to do. and i think this text is extraordinarily revealing. it shows that they were going to use every lever of the federal government as well as legislators that were friendly to them to try to cling to power. >> so, trump jr.'s text makes specific references to filing lawsuits and advocating recount. those are legal venues. and they filed. and they lost more than 60 lawsuits. and there were numerous recounts. and none of them found any evidence of widespread voter fraud. nothing changed in terms of who won those states. but how could there be a need for lawsuits and recounts at that point, november 5th, when the votes were still being counted? there wasn't even evidence of any fraud or evidence that

donald trump had definitively lost any of these states. >> well, that's kind of the fascinating thing about the big lie itself. the trump campaign and those senior advisers in the trump white house had access to internal polling that projected him losing. you know, polling, it's not -- it's a science, but it's not always completely accurate. but the results of the election at that time, november 5th, were not far off from what we had been projecting, with the exception of georgia. but this just goes to show that before it was even the democratic process was underway or was even complete, they were thinking of what they could do to try to hold on to power. and here's what's important about this. two things. this reveals just how deep the january 6th committee is going. they are getting access to information from those closest to the former president, including his son, including his former chief of staff. that's important work that they're doing. but more importantly, this isn't behind us. 2022 is around the corner, 2024

is around the corner. donald trump is likely running for president. and he is already working to stack secretaries of state offices, state houses, as well as install loyalists in the house of representatives and the senate for precise lick something like this again, if he runs and he loses, to be able to have those levers in place to have operational control and stay in power. >> in march of this year, a federal judge called this all a, quote, coup in search of a legal theory. given that this text was sent before the so-called eastman memo, which detailed the way vice president pence was supposed to overturn the election, although obviously there was no constitutional way to do this, what other way is there to describe this other than a coup? >> i think it's exactly that. i mean, this is literally talking. this is sharing an idea of how to overthrow the democratic process, essentially to overthrow the rightful government of the joe biden

presidency. it cannot be dismissed as, you know, donald trump jr.'s lawyers are saying it may have been a forwarded idea of someone else. but he shared it, which means he thinks it's a tacit endorsement that he thinks it is something that should be shared far and wide. it's terrifying. it is absolutely wrong. and i expect that there's going to be more information like this that comes out of the committee. >> alissa farah griffin, always appreciate your time. we return to the invasion of ukraine coming up. i'm going to take tyou to a shelter for roughly 7 million ukrainians who cannot go home. they had to flee. internally displaced persons, they're called. the horror stories they are hearing from loved ones and friends left behind. that's next. chase freedom unlimited.

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back now from lviv, president zelenskyy says at least five children were killed today in russia's attack on the train station in kramatorsk. those five children are among at least 35 others murdered by the russians, as they sought the more than 7 million people the organization for migration says have been forced to flee their homes, but remain here in ukraine. we visited a university turned shelter that is currently housing more than 700 people from all over ukraine. each one with a unique story and view of the tragedy. beneath the punching bags in this university gym in western ukraine, those civilians able to flee their homes in the east and south, and dodged the russian

military's barrage are catching their breath. no one wants it but it beats the alternative. the stories reveal why they fled. >> translator: we live very close to irpin. the stories were very loud. the kids were very scared and we decided to go. >> reporter: she once worked as a nanny and her 13-year-old daughter margarita fled kyiv on february 28th with nothing but their documents and their dogs. >> we had to decide either bag or dog and we decided to take the dogs. >> reporter: the dogs, too, are a mother and daughter. the mattresses on this gym floor, their home, since march 1st. the fate of so many close to her, friends and classmates, unknown. >> i have a lot of friends including some who cannot be reached at this moment. we try to track they will down

on facebook but you see they don't come online and it's scary. >> reporter: she has been able to connect with her husband back east who now works for the local defense forces. is he fighting? >> yes. in territorial defense. >> and how is he doing? >> translator: it's better not to say. >> they come from luhansk, from mariupol, from kyiv, they come from bucha, to here, to this university, to this beat-up old gymnasium just for a safe place away from putin's bombs and bullets. >> translator: putin -- >> reporter: she has called this mattress her home for one month as of today, tries to brighten her small part of the gymnasium floor. >> translator: these are not even my things. it is hard to bear it. to wear someone else's clothes.

that's why i like flowers torsion make it beautiful. >> reporter: she was once an administrator for a chain of sushi restaurants. she fled in part because she needed to come somewhere where she could he still by vital medications for her aging mother which she sends back through the still functioning post office. she lived once about six mime from boucha. >> it is hard to speak without crying because a lot of friends and colleagues live in and near buch dlaflt it is all impossible to imagine because it is so close. >> reporter: she recently spoke to one of her friends, alexei. >> translator: the russians threw a grenell aid at the door and raped the girls. i'm afraid to ask for more detail about it. i will know more when i meat her on the day of victory. >> reporter: her friend is 18 and may have suffered a similar

terror. no one want to talk about it. are you going to try to leave ukraine? >> translator: yes. >> reporter: this 18-year-old did not want to us share his name or show his face. his parents live in a part of the donbas region since taken over by russians. he does not have the proper paperwork to return and communications have been shut down. he is here with his phone and a few belongings. all by himself. >> translator: may parents are not allowed to leave the russians. >> reporter: his father is a local fire chief. >> he was forced to sign a contract with the russians. he was given a choice. to lose all his property or to sign a contract to work with them. >> reporter: he was in kharkiv when the shooting started. he spent ten days hiding in the subway and then he fled. he wants to leave ukraine but he turned 18 seven months ago and he is not allowed to leave. >> men have to stay.

>> it must be so tough to be on your own. you're just a kid. >> yes. it's true. but i would like not to hear all the sirens, and to try to live in peace. >> reporter: just 18 on his own with nothing. unable the talk to his family whom he may never see again. it is difficult to imagine but in ukraine, during putin's war, this is what is considered relatively lucky. we'll be right back. in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it.

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thanks for watching cnn live from lviv. please join me sunday live from ukraine beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern. i'll be joined by national security adviser jake sullivan. i'll have a joint interview with

justin trudeau, plus ursula vonner did leyen and i'll be back monday nights at 9:00 p.m. eastern. >> you're a great man doing great work. all of this creating a really huge humanitarian crisis. what else are you hearing from ukrainians who have been internally displaced? >> they're very frustrated. not just obviously with putin, they're frustrated with the west. one of the women in the piece did i, one of the internal refugees, yulia, she said sanctions aren't doing anything. we're dying. they're killing kids. i mean, these people are very aware politically of was going on and they just think that not enough is being done to stop