donbas region. and i am paula newton here in atlanta. following russian president vladimir putin's tough first meeting with a western leader since this invasion began. the u.s. says russia continues to deploy weapons and material into eastern ukraine as it looks to resupply, reinforce, and rearm troops in the donbas. and for days, we have seen this russian military convoy via satellite images but now here it is, on the ground, not far from ukraine's border. notably, pointing northwest towards the eastern donbas region. and there are new images of ukrainian troops preparing for a fight in eastern ukraine. on monday, local officials say they destroyed a russian weapons depot in luhansk. moscow-backed leaders in that area denied that claim, saying

the strike destroyed homes as well as a fertilizer warehouse. meantime, ukrainian officials say they are still defending the besieged port city of mariupol despite recent reports russian forces have been gaining ground and on monday, came unconfirmed reports of a chemical attack in that city. cnn cannot verify that claim, but ukraine's president says they are taking that report and that threat seriously. >> translator: today, we heard a statement from the occupiers confirming they are preparing for a new stage in their terror against us and our defenders. one of the spokespeople of the invaders said they are considering using chemical weapons against the defenders of mariupol. we take it very seriously. >> zelenskyy also accused russian forces of planting tens, if not hundreds of thousands of mines, and ordinance in northern ukraine, a move he calls a war crime. that's after the russian military's retreat from the kyiv region. as the russians ramp up their efforts in areas here in red,

they continue to leave behind evidence where bitter battles were near their capital and a warning, our next report includes graphic images. cnn's fred pleitgen. shows us the devastation. >> reporter: finding corpses has become eerily normal here. a house destroyed by artillery strike, a body burned beyond recognition. a mangled car wreck, two bodies burned beyond recognition. a house that was occupied by russian troops, an elderly lady dead in the bedroom. these bodies, evidence of a brutal russian occupation, and then a fierce fight by the underdog ukrainians to drive them out. a fight 81-year-old kateryna witnessed up close in her village.

there were explosions. explosions from all sides. it was scary, she tells me, i am in my house. i cross myself and lie down and then i hear how it thundered and all the windows in the house were broken. the ukrainians tell us the russian troops didn't even bother collecting most of their own dead. more than a week after vladimir putin's army was pushed out of here, they showed us the body of what they say was a russian soldier still laying in the woods. and that's not all they've left behind. this de-mining unit says they found hundreds of tons of unexploded ordinance in just a matter of days, including cluster munitions like this bomblet even though the russians deny using them. these weapons are extremely dangerous for civilians who might accidentally touch them, the commander says. there are about 50 such elements in one bomb, he says. this is a high-explosive fragmentation bomb to kill people, designed just to kill

people. they blow up the cluster bomblet on the spot, and then move the heavier bombs to a different location for a massive controlled explosion. the body collecting, the mine sweeping, and the clearing up of wreckage are just starting in this area. and yet, this pile of demolished vehicles, both military and civilian, already towers in the kyiv suburb of irpin. if you had to picture russia's attempt to try and take the ukrainian capital kyiv, it would probably look a lot like this. destruction on a massive scale and absolutely nothing to show for it. russia's military was humiliated by the ukrainians and caused a lot of harm in the process. and they have devastated scores of families. at irpin's cemetery, the newly widowed weep at funerals for the fallen. ala, her husband igor, fought

alongside their 21-year-old son in irpin and died in his arms on the battlefield. wife of dimitro killed by a russian mortar shell. and tatiana, her husband alexander promised her he'd come back in a few hours but was killed defending this neighborhood. i'm very proud of him, tatiana says, he is a hero. we have many people in ukraine who have not fled and are defending their homes. sasha died just 200 meters from our house where we lived. laying the dead to rest. another sad task they've become all too efficient at performing in this area. close by, the next funeral is already underway. fred pleitgen, cnn, irpin, ukraine. there will be a lot more funerals to come. well joining me now from yonkers, new york. retired u.s. army major mike lions, currently senior fellow with the truman national

security project. major, thank you for beings with us. there's long been this fear russians would use chemical weapons in this conflict. i want you to listen to what a ukrainian member of parliament told cnn on monday. >> last i know, hour ago, by information from azov, official channel telegram, russian troop used chemical weapon in mariupol. from they dropped unknown substance from drone. >> we should stress cnn cannot confirm that but according to ukrainian fighters in mariupol, the victims there were suffering from something essentially problems with their nervous system controlling the movements of various body parts, inability to walk, that kind of thing. um, i guess question is what type of kchemical weapon would cause those symptoms? and even though it appears they may have jumped the gun on that claim, the general who is now overall field commander for this war, would you suspect it is only a matter of time before chemical weapons are deploy snd.

>> well, i would' like to think not and the thing about chemical weapons are they don't work to russia's advantage actually. um, this is a -- a nonpersistent agent if they use something, it would hurt the soldiers that were there at that point. but they don't want to go back into an area, for example, if they use a persistent chemical weapon so i just don't think it makes any sense for them to do this at this point. this new general officer they have, the -- dvornikov, you know, he's this reputation of being a butcher or so but i don't think it matters. there is no such thing as humane russian general officer. this is an army that leaves its dead on the battlefield. i think he was put in that place to consolidate russian forces and make sure they start fighting in a way they haven't proven they have been fighting yet. so again, chemical weapons are -- are a very slippery slope for russia to use knowing full well that they will have a challenge to go into those areas if they decide to use them, they could potentially hurt their own soldiers.

>> well, the debate among the u.s. and the allies now on sending heavy and more lethal weapons and tanks, artillery, apcs, that seems to be settled. the question now comes down to logistics, right? can they be delivered where and when they are needed the most? >> right. so you see this russian general goes after the train station there. and it's not necessarily kill civilians. i'm sure from his perspective, that's what he doesn't care to do but to take out the rail heads because if we are going to take tanks and apcs and bring them from poland and romainia ad other borders that are 4 or 500 miles away, they only get there on rail heads, they only get there in a manner that would make a difference. so i think you are going to see russian general officers decide to go after the trains and the arteries that exist that allow those logistics to pass because if we don't have enough trucks to move those vehicles and that's the only way to do it. so i think that's where the tactics have changed. they are finally getting smart and again, we watch this aefrl and we wait for russia to start doing things we expect them to do. they haven't been doing that but by attacking the train station like they did, they're sending a

signal they are going to cut off logistical supplies that is going to come on railheads from the -- the west. >> just to follow up on that, is it really necessary, though, to have a missile strike on a crowded train platform? with civilians, mums and dads and kids? couldn't there be another part of the rail infrastructure that could be hit that would have the same effect from a military point of view, without killing, i think at this point,.60 peopl wounding more than 100? >> maybe they felt that was a choke point that they had to take it out. and if it's the u.s. -- if we decide to take a target like that, it's 2:00 in the morning. we minimize casualties. russia goes to war like it's world war ii from their perspective. they look at five square miles. they destroy everything in there. doesn't matter if there are civilians in there or not. again, we are projecting our value sets on these people that just don't share our values with regard to human life. they don't do it for their own soldiers on the battlefield.

>> good point. um, we are now getting a close-up look at some of the material the russians are sending into eastern ukraine. into this donbas region, this convoy. eight-mile long convoy of heavy artillery it looks like. now, there is this unity of command structure so instead of attacking on seven different fronts, this russian offensive will be much more coordinated, a hot more effective. what will ukrainian forces need to do to sustain an effective resistance? >> yeah, that's right. i think that's right. vladimir putin wants this general officer to fight, you know, unity of command and coordinate fires between maneuver. they also lead with artillery but now bring tanks and infantry behind them. i think the ukraine forces are going to need to get down in defensive positions. use the javelins and use what tanks and what they've even taken from the russian military and -- and pick and choose the places they want to defend. bring the russian offense into different kill zones, and choke points and it's going to be a good, you know, a world war ii type operation that's been

predicted. i kind of see that happening. question is whether russia can synchronize the fires and maneuvers that we expected them to do 40 days ago. they just haven't done yet. but the unity of command is going to try to bring that. if they can -- if they can capitalize on the airspace, as well as what they have on the ground with much shorter supply lines that are going to exist back to russia, i am afraid russia could be successful but i'm -- i wouldn't bet against the ukraine military. >> major mike lions, thank you so much, sir, we appreciate your time. >> thanks. well, as russia shifts its focus to the east, villages once occupied by russian troops are now finally seeing some relief. cnn's clarissa ward reports that freedom comes at a tragically high price. >> reporter: ukrainian soldiers returning from the front. jubilant after a humiliating defeat for russian forces in the north. in the neighboring villages, exhausted residents are emerging

from their homes after five weeks of russian occupation and the horrors that came with it. on day four of the war, this peaceful community became a frontline. and nowhere was off limits. russian forces transformed the local school into their base. the principal shows us the carnage that was left behind. he is saying that they were using this as a toilet as well. the main entrance is now spattered with blood. the scene of heavy fighting. russian soldiers took cover in classrooms and treated their wounded with whatever they could find. so, you can see, they were eating here. these are some russian military rations. walking the ravaged hallways,

she says she is still in a state of shock. what wasn't destroyed was looted. we are for education. education is the future. our students, she says. it's such a shame that our occupiers didn't understand this. why steal everything? this is a school. in several classrooms, there are signs that some of the russian soldiers felt ashamed of their actions. a message on a chalkboard. so, it says, forgive us, we didn't want this war. but forgiveness will be hard to come by here. the local cemetery. valentina takes us to the graves of six men, who authorities say were executed by russian forces on the day they arrived. it's so hard to get over this, she says. they murdered them. valentina says the russians held onto the bodies for nine days before dumping them at the end

of the village with instructions to bury them quickly. we dug very fast so they wouldn't shoot us, she says. but there was shooting over there and heavy shelling. among the dead, her neighbors, brothers igor and oleg. outside the family home, we meet their mother olga. for days, she thought her sons were in hiding. until a neighbor called her with the devastating news. the agony and the grief are still very raw. they were very good boys, she says. how i want to see them again. do you have any idea why the russians would kill your sons? who knows?

there was a bridge that was blown up, and somebody shot at a russian drone she says. the russians were searching the village, and rounded them up on the street. six boys. i don't know anything else. a few streets away, kateryna is also looking for answers. her daughter victoria, a school teacher, was taken by russian soldiers on march 25th. they said they found information on her phone about their forces, she says, they told me she was in a warm house, that she was working with them, and she would be home soon. but victoria never came home. we hoped that she would get in touch, kateryna says. with somebody somewhere. in this small community of 2,000, it seems no street has been spared. the invaders marked their

newly-seized territory with crude graffiti and battle markings. another z on their fridge. the brave residents, like tamara, carried out quiet acts of resistance. we kept it. we kept it, she says. showing us a ukrainian flag given to her husband for his military service. we hid it. a bold risk in anticipation of this moment when russian troops would be forced to retreat and the villages would finally be free. >> thanks to cnn's chief international correspondent there, clarissa ward, reporting from northern ukraine. we will take a short break. when we come back, austria's chancellor has met with the russian president in moscow. not a friendly visit it seems but it may have been a reality check for vladimir putin.

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president vladimir putin is expected to meet his belarusian counterpart, alexander lukashenko, in eastern russia. now, mr. lukashenko has been an ally of mr. putin's throughout russia's war on ukraine. russian media reports the leaders will discuss the conflict, and in fact possibly hold a press conference after those talks. meantime, austria's chancellor is now speaking out about his meeting with vladimir putin on monday, which he calls very direct, open, and tough. he says he addressed the alleged war crimes in bucha and other places with the russian president but says mr. putin blames the ukrainians for those crimes. mr. nehammer also said the russian leader is preparing the next part of the offensive in ukraine with, quote,

determination. >> translator: i made it absolutely clear to him that his attitude, his view of the war, is not shared in the slightest. he sees it as a kind of self-defense operation of the russian federation. he calls it a special military operation. but i call it war. >> joining us from washington is josh reuben, he is "the washington post" columnist and cnn political analyst. josh, good to have you weigh in here. you know, we had the chancellor's description of his meeting with putin. it was not comforting. putin was as defiant as ever. but also, of course, denying even responsibility for the massacre in bucha. accusing, in fact, the ukrainians of being responsible for what happened there. it's, of course, chilling. but more to the point, it seems obvious now, right, that there is no path to diplomacy here? >> well, not at this moment to be sure. don't get me wrong. i think there is some value in

having somebody in europe who can go see putin, and at least speak to the man face to face. and, you know, war and diplomacy have to continue, both, at the same time. uh, but there is this crazy idea here in washington that somehow by telling putin to his face what's going on in bucha, that he -- maybe, he didn't know about it or maybe he is not getting the best information. and if he just knew about it, then maybe he would think twice. well, i think we can tell from putin's reaction here that that's nonsense because putin, of course, knows what's going on in bucha and it's almost certain that he is the one who ordered it. and he's been committing these war crimes for 20 years. it's part of the way that he wages war. >> at this point, putin and lukashenko from belarus are meeting. at this point, i have actually been surprised that belarus has not been more involved in this campaign. what significance does this meeting take on? and what kind of involvement could they have in the future? >> well for one, putin is trying to show the world that he is not

completely bereft of allies and, yeah, lukashenko is not exactly the greatest ally to prove that you are not diplomatically isolated, being that he is one of the most diplomatically isolated leaders in the world but it's better than nothing. but i think this is really also a check-in because it's true that even though belarus has been the staging ground for attacks, they haven't committed troops. they are facing their own domestic pressures. now, they are facing a food crisis. now, they are facing an economic crisis. and this is all because of putin's war and lukashenko has a lot to be angry with putin about. and one would think that putin would want to make lukashenko happy seeing as that he is one of the only allies left. on the other hand, putin being putin, you can imagine a scenario where he goes to lukashenko ask says, hey, we are going to need your army after all and if you don't like it, lump it. so i think we have to watch for signs putin may be trying to push lukashenko into deeper involvement which could spell doom not just for ukraine but also the people of belarus. >> yeah, it's a very good point you make, that they don't --

belarus doesn't have the economic buffer that -- that russia does. and for that reason, their people will really suffer through this. um, you know, those economic sanctions. you know, it was -- many people said it was like declaring war -- economic war on russia and, yet, i have always said they are the long game. they are not going to change what is happening on the ground right now, especially for ukrainians. given this, have you heard, do you see any recognition on the part of the biden administration, that short of boots on the ground that there is more that can be done? and i guess i am not just talking about, you know, in terms of arming ukraine with perhaps even long-range defense -- missile defense opportunities there. i mean, more than that. covertly or otherwise. >> well, i totally agree with you that sanctions were never and are never going to force putin to back down. they're punishment, they're not deterrence and since we heard conflicting messages about that from the biden administration, it's understandable why everyone's confused.

first, they said it was deterrence, then they said it's punishment. it's only punishment and that's not to say they are not good for punishment. we should punish putin and his cohorts as much as possible. also, the point is to drain the russian coffers but without german and european acquiescence to really cutting off russian gas and coal, that's never going to happen. so yeah, we have to look for other things. i do see recognition, frankly, in the biden administration that the situation on the ground has changed and all of the sudden, a lot of their fumbling around trying to figure out why not to send this weapon or that weapon to the ukrainian forces and the bureaucratic hurdles have somehow been surpassed. so a lot of weapons are going in now. one thing is about the offensive weapons that you mentioned, which is, you know, giving them the ability to actually take back land. the other thing is the anti-ship weapons and the air defense weapons. we see that coming from the brits but not from the americans yet, which is a problem. and the last thing that you mentioned, the covert piece is really important because we have had intelligence sharing but not

intelligence sharing that the ukrainians wanted. not -- not enough. and i think that's the biggest change is that in the last week, the biden administration turned up the volume on the intelligence sharing by a lot. >> and as you have pointed out as well, josh, this is a bit of a calm before a storm that it could be in the coming hours or days. josh, thanks so much, really appreciate it. this just in to cnn. japan is unveiling additional sanctions against russia. japan's foreign ministry says it is freezing the assets of nearly 400 russian citizens, and that includes president vladimir putin's two adult daughters. now, the new sanctions, also, target the wife and daughter of russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov. a white house official says there was, in fact, a candid exchange of views about india's neutral stance on mr. putin's war. now, in a virtual meeting between president joe biden and prime minister narendra modi -- you see it went on there -- but mr. biden did not specifically ask the indian lead ter to take

side, nor apparently did he receive any firm commitment from mr. modi to back off energy purchases from russia. cnn is following this story for us from new delhi and good to have you there to see the indian perspective on all of this. now, india, we've said it before, is a buyer of russia's energy but significantly, also, of military hardware. is there any indication that modi -- that mr. modi is considering any change in his stand in russia when it comes to those purchases? >> good to be with you, paula. but let me just put that into perspective. when you talk about fuel imports, oil imports from russia. it's less than 1% according to india. and when it comes to military hardware purchases, it's over 50% that india depends on russia for its military equipment. so there is a huge difference really in the imports of military purchases, versus that of oil. but to sum up the meeting between narendra modi and u.s. president biden on monday, i

think that the u.s. senior white house official put it very eloquently. he said there was no concrete ask and there was no concrete answer. and that, i think, will be the status quo for months to come because india does rely on russia, like you said, on military equipment. it does have an add versary rig at its border and that's one reason it has been very neutral when it comes to its stand. however, there has been a lot of pressure from the west when it comes to india because of the discounts reportedly by russia when it comes to oil imports for india. u.s. and europe have been asking india to stop oil imports but india has been very firm on its stand and that was something reiterated by the foreign minister yesterday while at the press briefing along with his u.s. counterparts and india's defense minister. here's what he had to say. >> if you are looking at energy

purchases from russia, i would suggest that your attention should be focused on europe which probably -- we do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security. but i suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what europe does in an afternoon. >> total purchases for the month would be less than what europe does in an afternoon. that sums it up when it comes to india's stand on importing fuel, like i said, just less than 1% from russia. america has understood that there is a line they really can't cross with india when it comes to the relations with russia. something that blinken also mentioned in the press conference, that they understand the deep relations that russia and india share. they can only ask for india to go ahead and condemn the aggression of russia in ukraine but can't do more than that. paula. >> yeah. and that comment was definitely quite blunt to put that into

perspective in terms of where india might go in the future on all of this. thanks so much. appreciate it. still ahead for us this hour. cleaning up after the train station attack in eastern ukraine. people forced to find another way out before the russian onslaught gets worse. for me, being in nature and putting my hands in the ground, it's almost a spiritl experience. i wanted to use our garden as a way to share food and love with my friends anfamily.

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welcome back, everybody. 35 minutes past the hour. i am john vause live in lviv. now, ukraine is expecting moscow's full-scale offensive in the donbas region to begin anytime soon. the british defense ministry reporting continued artillery shelling by russian forces as ukrainian troops repelling a number of russian assaults. new video shows a large column of russian military vehicles moving towards donbas. ukrainian and western officials say russian forces pulled from

northern ukraine, are now resupplying, and heading east. and the devastated port city of mariupol is clearly in the russian crosshairs, in an effort to link separatist-held areas with crimea. and getting civilians out of the cities in the east is proving to be difficult and deadly. cnn's ben wedeman has our report. >> reporter: the air-raid siren rings out over a scene of carnage past. in kramatorsk rail way station, a ripped shoe, a discarded hat, a cane left behind. they came to this station with only what they could carry. hoping to reach safer ground but nearly 60 never left. lives cut short by a missile. on it, someone scrawled in russian, "for the children." 4,000 people were here waiting for a train west when the strike happened. the massacre, accelerating the exodus.

most of the residents of kramatorsk have left the city, having been urged to do so by local authorities. as this part of the country, the entirety of eastern ukraine, braces for what could be a massive russian offensive. at the city's bus station, nikolai, a volunteer, has been helping with the evacuation. for him, news of the pullback of russian forces around the capital, kyiv, was bittersweet. >> when i heard about kyiv, that they leave kyiv, i was happy. you know? but then, i realized couple seconds later that they moving to donbas. all their forces. i am little bit -- i can't say that i am scary but i am worrying about -- about my people, about people who are mothers, about grandparents. >> reporter: some are heading west. others, north where trains still run. oxana and a friend and their children are bound for lviv in the far west.

there is a lot of bombing here, says oxana, i'm afraid for the children. the children, thankfully, still children. a handful of adult relatives stay behind. far more aware of the danger ahead. ben wedeman, cnn, eastern ukraine. and i will have a lot more live from lviv at the top of the hour. but for now, let's go back to paula newton at cnn's world headquarters in atlanta. thanks, john. the u.s. believes vladimir putin may escalate his attempts to interfere with american elections in response to w washington's support for ukraine. sources say that could mean direct attacks on the election infrastructure. so far, russia has mainly used influence campaigns to create doubt about election legitimacy. now, intelligence officials believe mr. putin might be willing to go further. one official says these assessments aren't based on

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a big jump in covid cases is prompting philadelphia to reinstate its indoor mask mandate starting next monday. now, it is the first major u.s. city to bring back the requirement. the public health commissioner says monday's cases were more than 50% higher than just ten days ago. meantime, the centers for disease control is expected to decide in the next few days whether to extend mask mandates for public transportation. new infections are up in 26 states, compared to last week. the u.s. state department is now ordering nonemergency personnel to leave the consulate in shanghai due to surging covid cases and china's tough

restrictions. the city of 25 million has begun easing its covid lockdown. dividing shanghai into three categories. and that would be based on recent infections in each. but frustrations there are certainly growing with residents complaining of food and medicine shortages because of the strict control measures. cnn's anna coren is with us now from hong kong, and has been following all of this for us for days. and you and i had discussed it, right, anna, the fact that perhaps they might ease up a bit. will this make a pronounced difference, though, in terms of the residents that are still going through so much? >> yeah, look, paula, for those who have been covid free in neighborhoods that have been covid free for the last 14 days, i mean, they would be celebrating. they are finally allowed outside their homes, out into their compounds. perhaps, even out into their neighborhoods. i mean, look at this video of this woman practically dancing in the street, celebrating her

newfound freedom after being cooped up in her home for the -- for the last two weeks. um, that is the case, paula, for seven and a half thousand neighborhoods because officials have divided the city into three categories. so if you have been covid free, the neighborhood, covid free for 14 days, you are allowed to -- to leave. this -- this partial, um, lifting of -- of restrictions. for 2,400 neighborhoods that have been covid free for the past seven days, those residents are allowed to leave their homes just to go to the grocery store. remember, there's been a severe shortage of food and medicine. and once they return from the grocery store, they are confined to their homes. they are not allowed to leave their homes. so only visits to the grocery stores until they are covid free for 14 days. and then of course, you have 7,600 neighborhoods, paula, who have recorded, you know, cases.

as we are seeing, 23,000 cases in shanghai today. a slight drop from yesterday. but they have recorded cases in the last seven days. that means they are not going anywhere. they are stuck in their homes. and i spoke to a local resident from shanghai in one of the hardest-hit suburbs in shanghai. and she does not see an end in sight whatsoever. she says i feel like a caged animal. i think the catch is, as well, paula which we really need to point out to -- to viewers. even though there might be thousands of people who -- who might be able to go outside, might be able to go to the grocery store. if there is one positive case in that neighborhood, it goes into snap lockdown again for another 14 days until they're clear for 14 days. so i mean, we can anticipate that this cycle is just going to continue and continue and continue until they eliminate covid in shanghai. 25 million people. >> incredible, anna, and you have been warning us that there is no sign that china is ready

to move along at all from its zero-covid policy. anna coren for us live. appreciate it. to france now where the two remaining presidential kand dates kicked off the final leg of their campaigns by attacking each other's economic plans. president emmanuel macron on monday told potential voters, his rival, marine le pen that he has heard the concerns of the rising cost of living and he slammed the far right le pen has a demagogue who is lying to voters. le pen didn't mince words, either. she blamed the centrist president for inflation, and its dark clouds looming over france. le pen repeated her attacks, painting mr. macron as a member of the elite, detached from the struggles of everyday life. people in the country of georgia are rallying behind ukraine, worried that they could be russia's next target. why one father says the war in ukraine made him leave russia with his family and return to

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the russian invasion is putting ukrainian women and children at greater risk of sexual violence and human trafficking. the head of the united nations gender equity unit u.n. women is calling for thorough investigations into these reports as well as a gender-sensitive humanitarian response, which includes services to help with the trauma. >> we are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence. these allegations must be independently investigated to ensure justice and accountability. the combination of mass displacement with the large presence of conscripts and mercenaries and the brutality

displayed against ukrainian civilians has raised all red flags. >> and that mass displacement she speaks of is growing larger by the day. according to the u.n., more than 4.5 million refugees have now fled ukraine. now, the nation of georgia, meantime, has a lot in common with ukraine. it too was ruled by the soviet union for decades. it has fought fought a war with russian and russian backed separatists and it too has sought to join nato. >> reporter: gia was born in georgia. he just didn't think he'd be back here quite yet. his family moved to russia 30 years ago, fleeing the georgian civil war. it was in moscow they built a life, where he met his wife anya, and where his kids were born. he's told them the truth about the horrors of the current war in ukraine and says he worried

what would happen if one of their teachers in russia echoed putin's propaganda that this war is just. >> he knows what's really going, and he will say, no, you are not right. and it could be trouble for him. >> you are worried that your son would have problems? >> yes. >> so the family left for georgia just a few days after the war began though anya isn't completely convinced that they will be safe here either. "if no one stops putin," she says, "he can easily go both to georgia and to the west." and she is not alone in her fears. georgians have a long, brutal history with russia. russian troops invaded in 2008, and thousands of troops remain in two breakaway provinces of georgia. in 1989 in the capital of tbilisi, nearly two dozen protesters were killed and hundreds were injured by soviet troops as they advocated for independence. people gathered over the weekend outside the parliament building

in tbilisi to mark the anniversary of that massacre. georgian flags this year joined by those from ukraine for what's now called national unity day. it's a big day each year in georgia, but this year it's made even more important given what we're seeing russian troops do in ukraine. decades of russian aggression here have left deep scars, and many now see parallels between putin's invasion of ukraine and what they fear could happen in georgia. >> russia posed deadly -- for georgian independence, for our territorial integrity. >> do you think there's a chance that russia could invade georgia again? >> yes. this threat is always. every country across europe, not only georgia, it's understood. >> reporter: back in their apartment, gia and his family wholeheartedly agree. they told us they don't want their children and grandchildren to grow up in what they call north korea 2.0. and for that, grandmother galina says people must understand a

crucial point. she says the whole world must understand that ukraine is now really not fighting just for itself. it's fighting for everyone, and the whole world must unite and stop putin because he won't stop with ukraine. matt rivers, cnn, tbilisi, georgia. >> thanks for joining us. i'm paula newton at cnn center in atlanta. we will be back with john vause live from lviv, ukraine, right after the break. kitchen? sorted. hot t tub, why not? and of course, puppy-friendly. we don't like to say perfect, but it's pretty perfect. bookining.com, booking.yeah. new projects means new project managers. you need to o hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed mah your job criteria. visit indeed.c/hire and get started today.

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