world headquarters and new york. i'm chris jansing. we begin with breaking news of russia's invasion of ukraine. and if you're just joining us, we're getting word and, just literally, the past couple of minutes, from the ukrainian president. here's exactly what we're learning from our reuters report. first, president zelenskyy says last night was brutal. with the shelling of civilian infrastructure. second, he says occupying forces are attacking civilians, where there is no military infrastructure. and then he says, occupying forces are attacking everything, including ambulances. and as for new russian suggestion of possible negotiation, he says it will happen in his country. such as belarus, that is hostile to ukraine. now to reports that russia has seized control of the southern city of -- a, small but strategic position city on the river. satellite images taken yesterday show russian forces heading into the city, where a

hydroelectric power plant and a dam or located. the city's mayor says russian troops have seized the sticky executive committee and they have removed all ukrainian flags from buildings. then in kharkiv, ukrainian state officials shared video of fire and smoke rising from an oil pipeline. officials claimed it was balloon up by russian forces. they have now issued a warning, asking people to stay in shelters. do not go into the streets, says the warning. after russian military vehicles brought into the central part of that city. and on the outskirts of the capital of kyiv, and oil storage depot has been on fire for hours. ukrainian officials claim the facility was struck by missiles. nbc news has not been able to independently verify those videos. and then, in kyiv itself, officials say they are fending off the russian offensive. the city remains calm and under ukraine's control, in spite of heavy, overnight fighting. many residents spent the night sheltering in subway systems. and then, you have tesla and the spacex executive, eli musk,

who says his satellites are now providing internet access in ukraine. musk says he made the service available after requests via tweet from ukraine's vice prime minister. so, at this hour, developing storylines, both overseas and here at home. we of course have correspondents in brussels, poland, moscow and at the white house. but less brigade in ukraine with nbc's tom jonas and the decisions ukrainians are fully facing. flee their homes or stay and fight? >> and ukraine right now, everyone is in the middle of a battle. even families, fighting to escape the war. >> you can actually see there pushing that gates open, trying to get past anyway they can. and you notice, there's no man fighting each year. because anybody, regardless if your father or whomever you are, if you're the age to fight the war, your sting back here and you're taking the russians had on. >> in the cities under siege, where if ukrainians aren't just the ones wearing uniforms.

volunteer fighters, civilians, armed with assault rifles, patrolling central kyiv, ready to defend their country and protect their families. this video shows a ukrainian throwing a homemade molotov cocktail at a russian fuel truck. this video posted on facebook, but not shot by nbc news, shows a ukrainian man leading kneeling for a russian tank. in an attempt to stop it in its path. other civilians seen handing out weapons. the former president of ukraine, calling on anyone who can to join the fight. >> i don't have a weapon in my hand, yet. but i have it with me. and i do it with a great pleasure to protect ukraine. >> former heavyweight champion and current kyiv mayor, the tally klitschko, and his brother, also a former price fighter, vladimir, stepping up well. please, get into action, no. don't wait. act now.

stop this war. >> enlisting in ukraine's reserve army earlier this month. back in the u.s., peter dunk, a father of six, desperate to get his family out of ukraine. a pastor, his church back home, working to drive families, caught in the chaos away from danger. dunk says through a translator, he'll do anything to keep his kids and everyone safe. >> i'll go into battle. i'll go into that mess to help people. >> as families flee, so many others city to fight, showing russia, ukraine's greatest weapons is its people. on that border, the desperation in the eyes of those families is unlike anything i've ever seen before. can some cases, husbands are walking with their families to the borders for days and hours. dropping those families off, and then heading back to fight. and now, russia's realizing that it is at war with an entire country. ukraine's military, telling its citizens, if you have weapons, use them. if you see street signs, take them down to confuse the

invaders. and if you see russian troops and a force, said it on fire. reporting from western ukraine, tom llamas, nbc news. >> thank you, tom. i want to go to nbc news foreign correspondent ralph sanchez who is in moscow for. it's rough, we saw that spent kremlin spokesperson says russia is ready to. talk that moscow is waiting for the ukrainians. what more can you tell us? >> yes, chris, dimitri tesco, not in my putin's longtime spokesman, says a russian delegation has a arrived in belarus for peace talks. and they are waiting for the ukrainians. but just in the last couple of minutes, presidents ellen ski of ukraine has been addressing his people. and he has said he is open to negotiations, but not in belarus. and this is why that is a sticking point. belarus has traditionally been a neutral venue, were russians and ukrainians have met to talk things out. we talked about the minsk one and two agreements. those were thrashed out in

belarus. baylor's today, he's no longer a neutral venue. it is a staging ground for the russian military. as it drives south towards kyiv. president zelenskyy said rockets had been fired from belarus into ukraine. and he's saying he will not go into what he effectively considers enemy territory, to negotiate with the russians there. that he will meet them anywhere else. he suggested poland. he suggested turkey. he suggested other venues. now, it is not clear, chris, if the russians are offering these talks in good faith or not. because president putin has made clear that he is looking to sweep that ukrainian government out of power. he has decried president zelenskyy's administration as a bunch of drug addicts and new nazis. he has called for the ukrainian military to rise up and to overthrow them. so, we don't know, even if these two sides could get to a negotiating table, if there

really is a negotiation to be had here or not. and of course, this talk about talks is happening as you said, as the russian military is advancing on all fronts. as it as attacking major ukrainian cities. so, it is very unclear if president putin wants to talk. and if he could even accept a negotiated end to the fighting, given how much he has staked on this push into ukraine. and given how he has made clear that he considers the current ukrainian government to be a mortal enemy. chris? >> raf sanchez, thank you. i want to bring in former ambassador michael mcfaul. also an nbc news international affairs analyst. so much happening. we're just getting that information in the last couple of minutes. but as raf just said, you've got explosions lighting up the sky. you have tanks rolling. and then the kremlin says, we're going to belarus, which

ukraine believes is emily territory. you believe there is anything behind us that could be serious? behind us that could be serious? -- which he made very clear. at the beginning of this war. one was to destroy the ukrainian military. and to, was to do what he called the nazification. and that to me is a good work for regime change. wiping out the democratically elected, peaceful government of ukraine. and everything he's doing on the ground suggests that he is still focused on achieving those two objectives. if he serious about peace negotiations he might stop attacking ukrainian cities. but he's not doing that yet. >> there's been a surprise that ukrainian forces, for example, have been able to continue to hold some of the areas. particularly the capital.

that they have been able to. president zelenskyy is saying they're going to fight, as long as it takes, to secure their country. what are you going to be looking for in the next 24 hours or so, michael? >> first thing i want to see is, i am just overwhelmed by the bravery of president zelenskyy. i just cannot believe what he is doing. how defined he has been. you know, i have the honor of hosting him here at stanford, where i teach, six months ago. and he was a very charismatic guy. he was very engaging. but he didn't seem like a war leader to meet. remember, his background he, was an entertainment for most of his life, until he became president. i just find what he's doing incredibly courageous. and i know, because i'm in touch with many, many ukrainians, on an hourly basis, that they are inspired by what he's doing. that doesn't mean well he will survive in kyiv. i can't predict that. it appears that president putin,

i'm not going to call him mr. putin, mr. putin is now throwing everything he has to try to take power in kyiv. and maybe he will do that. but i want to be clear, just because he does that for a day and install some puppet person -- and even if he has some falsified election, there's no way that the ukrainian people will ever accept subjugation under russia again. and this was so mysterious to me. because i don't understand what putin's endgame is here. even if he sees kyiv a path to one of his people, and then what? that person will never survive without the russian military remaining in and occupying kyiv the rest of the country. so, i think no matter what, this will fill. if not militarily, eventually will fill in the long run. >> well let's talk about that. because military power is military power, right? and we know that vladimir putin has a lot of it. however, and it's hard to

quantify these things, but to your point, i've also spoken to people who have friends, who are relatives in ukraine. who are standing strongly behind president zelenskyy. he puts out the video, right to, make sure that people see, i'm still in country, here. here's what we're going to do. we're going to fight for our country. then you have, when i think are these extraordinary reports. even now, days in, michael. you have people who are lining up to get weapons. to go out and fight. people who have never fired anything before, except maybe in a video game. they've got ak-47s. they've got rocket propelled grenades. they are sitting around putting together most of cocktails. on the other hand, into russia, you have people who are protesting. you know they're going to be arrested. who are saying to western cameras, this is not what i signed up for. we should not be doing this. the bravery of the people on both sides. does it have any impact?

>> of course it has impact. we just don't know when it will be truly impactful, in terms of time. right? so, within ukraine, there will be resistance to russians in that country. that will last for weeks, months and years. there is no doubt in my mind about that. there's no way that putin can control this country going forward. and maybe it will be acts of civic resistance. maybe it will be men with guns. it can be a mix of those things. you can't stop things with civic resistance, right? peaceful acts of resistance. that it will go on forever. and it will be -- i think is beginning of the end for the putin regime. he will never recover from this illogical, heinous, horrific war. and i know it's hurry north heinous and horrific. the ukrainians knew. but as you just said, there's also a lot of russians that agree with that analysis. i'm also in touch with a lot of russians everyday. and you saw them, they're

getting arrested. people are signing letters. they don't understand, why are we attacking these people that are just like us? there's lots of russians that have a lot to family members in ukraine, and vice versa. by the way, when vladimir putin is bombing kyiv, there's tens of thousands of ethnic russians that live in kyiv. and chris, i just watched probably four, five, dozen videos that are being posted of various russians that have been captured in ukraine. and on these videos, they ask him, why are you here? water orders? where are you seeking to achieve? and these young boys, they can answer the question. they don't know why they are there. they're surprised that the ukrainians haven't been greeting them as liberators, because the propaganda in putin's russia says that there are these nazis running ukraine, right? and that they're coming in to liberate the ukrainians. and then they get there and they are shocked by that. it's just very hard for me to

find any russians that actually support this war. now, maybe, you know, those that just watch tv in the countryside and they just love putin no matter what. there is a diagram of demographic like that. but in moscow -- i would say, young people in particular, they're the ones getting arrested -- they don't support this. i think it's a big problem for putin moving forward. >> is there any chance that you see that the people closest to him, and that sort of a misnomer, right? who was influencing putin, ever? that any chance that people turn on him? who matter to him? >> i don't think so, to be honest. the people around him are completely -- they were appointed by him. they were enriched by him. i think that's an important thing for people to understand. there's lots of talk about sanctions, punishing the other guards so that they will pressure putin.

i think something that a lot of people don't understand is that most of those all look arcs were given their riches by putin. it's not like it's gates and zuckerberg, people with millions of dollars that they've made on their own and they're going and saying hey, we don't want to lose our money. it's the other way around. so, i doubted. having said that, people hide their preferences until there's a moment of break. and their ac division. no doubt about it. they're just afraid to see that. and if things go badly overtime, that will then create more fissures within those elites. >> do you think at least, at this point, we've seen both u.s. and its allies stepping up the sanctions, day by day, that they're going to have an impact. >> i putin was support the sanctions. today was a big day. in terms of coordination, and i want to say, the europeans are doing extraordinary work. there was a lot of doubt about

the weak links and are they going to come along with us. and some ways, europeans are ahead of us on the sanctions. we're with them, but they're slightly ahead. particularly, germany has radically change their positions. both in terms of sanctions. nord stream 2 and they're giving military assistance to ukraine. i applaud that. at the same time, i do think sanctions will change putin's calculus while he's waging this work. at least not in the short run. for months years, maybe, but not in the short. right ambassador, stay with, us i want to talk more about this. but i also want to go back to you nbc's josh -- and that was home to the swift banking system. josh, a member of the year is panda and -- some of the most potentially crippling economic sanctions on russia. tell us about those, who are these penalties expected to hit? and what is the impact expected

to be josh? >> well chris, there have been growing calls for weeks now to ban russia from swift. this critical messaging system that is used by banks all across the world just securely message about how to transfer money. this really limits russia's ability to conduct financial transactions on the world stage. but as you heard from ambassador mcfaul, there is been a lot -- of not only from the u.s., but from germans and italians in particular. given the risk, back covering russia off from the system could have consequences for the russian citizens as well as other countries. but for the u.s., the eu, the uk, canada coming to this consensus about the middle ground is pretty strong. they're going to start by cutting off the biggest things that have already been sanctioned. their access to swift. walmart kicking off russia entirely.

meaning they will be able to reserve some cut outs for energy. this is particular because so many european countries are reliant on german -- natural gas. but these countries also saying that they are getting russia's ability to use is central bank reserves to offset the hit that this currency is taking. prop up the rubble, and under the protection of these sanctions. swift is saying that they are compelled to apply to the legal obligations if they are going to go forward with these steps. this might sound a little wonky, chris, something that you'll be able to be talking about on cbc, rather than msnbc. but if you look back on with these other nations have done in these three successive waves of penalties over the last week or so. cutting the -- cutting down the nord stream 2

its pipeline sanctioning. putin, himself, very rare for a head of state to be sanctioned by the u.s.. an unprecedented application of economic sanctions on another country. but as mcfaul pointed out, no signs that this is altering wet putin wants. chris? >> thank you for that josh. nobody thought, and the president talked about this, sanctions were not gonna be the answer to this very complicated question. it's one tool in the up arsenault. but i want to see what you think about these kind of conversations. let's take going after putin directly. which a lot of people, symbolically at least, look like it was something strong. nobody knows where all of his money is parked. many of the properties that are believed to be his from the monaco to the south of france, are not in his name. it's not like the deeds as vladimir putin. so people don't have to worry

necessarily about the day-to-day. but when you look at the sanctions big picture, and talk about symbolic gestures, versus real impact, where do you think we are right? now and other places still to go? >> well, i think the biden administration and their allies have come a long way. in a few short days. and initially, when they announced things earlier this week, i thought it was too incremental. but compared to the beginning of the week till now, it's a major package and it will go down in history as one of the most comprehensive set of sanctions ever. there is more to go. i want to hear more about what they are going to do with the central bank, right? they alluded to that but they have not explained it. that is a big move. in terms of things that will punish the russian economy. in all applications, by the way, for all russians. these are not targeted sanctions anymore.

i think they should take all of russia out of swift. not just the bank that they have. but i applied what they have done. but i want to say, again, this is not a silver bullet. the russian economy is a giant economy. they make a lot of money off of oil and gas. we are not gonna stop that. that is the global economy. they will sell that oil and gas on the global market. and we are not even trying to sanction that. we're not trying to put any duties or anything like that. we are not even touching that. that means that vladimir putin will have lots of resources to go to for a long time. and with respect to him, and his personal well, i think some boss likely it is really important. very important symbolically. but realistically, most of his money is in russia. i think there is this misconception that he is, he wants to be the richest man in

the world. no, that is not what motivates vladimir putin. he wants to recreate the slavic nation. and to subjugate ukraine. he does not care about personnel. and the other thing to remember, he is a dictator that controls every asset inside of russia. so it is not in his name, just like you said. but think about, what does it mean to be wealthy? he can use any yacht he wants. he can use any castle he wants inside the country. so many is not even important to him. he is like azar. and he is as he is. that's why, again, symbolically i support it. but i do not think we should under or overestimate what kind of impact it is going to have on him conducting the war from day-to-day. >> professor michael mcfaul, thank you for stepping up with us and for your insights. we appreciate it. some new comments from donald trump that are already drying some outrage at cpac last night,

again, he called vladimir putin smart! and what he had to say about your biden? we will show you in just a moment. as our coverage of the ukraine continues. erage of the ukraine that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. continues.

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coverage of the ukraine invasion. new comments from president biden responding to russia's advance. overnight, joined canada and european allies are ramping up punishment against vladimir putin's assault. what are we hearing from the presidents, julia? >> that is right chris. in a new interview, president biden says vladimir putin miscalculated on his invasion of ukraine. he said it is producing the opposite effect intended. take a look to what he said. >> the one thing i think putin thought he could do it was split nato.

creates a great aperture for him to walk through. and that has not happened. as you notice. it's complete unity. it's the exact act opposite of what he intended. >> now, as of this hour, the announcement that the u.s. and his allies will be removing russian banks from the swift system, effectively calling him off from the system, making him a pariah in the market. now, president biden, there have been calls for weeks from victims move. but he really wanted to stay in lockstep with allies. not moving ahead or behind them. to make this decision. that also includes restricting the russian bank from circumventing -- as well as a task force to find and freeze assets from russia people. not just an sanctions, but

implementing them as well. chris? >> julia, thank you so much. meanwhile the former president, donald trump, engaged in cpac last night. slamming the biden administration. he did condemn the attack on ukraine, but defended his relationship with vladimir putin while he was in office. nbc -- 's in orlando looking at cpac. what is -- >> there is a memo on -- after russia invaded ukraine over the last few days. it was earlier this week where president trump referred to those russians entering ukraine as peacekeepers. and calling putin savvy. but of course, we have all been witness to, and undeniable -- . as to what the former president would say, he did call ukrainian president zelenskyy brave. but when it came to nato and

the united states responses, i just wanna let you hear from the former president himself. >> yesterday, reporters asked me if i thought president putin was smart. i said, of course he is smart! putin said they are going to sanction me. they've been sanctioning me for the last 25 years. even i could take over a whole country they would sanction me? the problem is not that putin is smart, the real problem is that our leaders are dumb. >> repeatedly, chris, former president trump used the word weakness to describe the biden administration and nato's response. and said that, if he were still in office, this incursion would not have happened. of course, as a former president who had a warm relationship with -- with glamour putin, he often covered up for the 2016 election meddling that russia engaged in. but also, he held up nearly

$400 million in military aid back in 2019. that is where this president, here, as well as former secretary mike pompeo who came back and pushed against the invasion yesterday at cpac, there is a republican party who is met with the reality that vladimir putin, despite this country, and despite the global messaging, has >> juan hill, thank you for that. invaded ukraine. >> thank you for that. it is of course among the tragedy and misery of war. the -- tragedy and misery of war. th >> in search of shelters for themselves in search of shelterr themselves

>> breaking news this hour, the overnight hours here in the u.s. -- fighting is entering its fourth day and we have a big development a short time ago. russian military vehicles have

entered kharkiv, this country's second largest city. u.s. officials say most of the russian forces amassed around ukraine are now fighting inside the country. in response, nato allies are doubling down on measures intended to punish russia. focusing in part on the country's financial institutions. and a symbol of the resistance here in the u.s.. governors of texas, utah and ohio have banned retailers from selling russian products, specifically vodka. liquor stores in new hampshire, kansas and michigan, you see here, also taking russian vodka off their shelves. and instead, provoking ukrainian spirits. overseas, germany is preparing to close its airspace to russian planes. joining the united kingdom, romania and the baltic states, have all also taken that steps. it comes as un officials say more than 150,000 ukrainian refugees have already flooded that country. nbc's ellison barber joins us at a checkpoint where thousands

of refugees have been fleeing. ellison, we can see some of the activity behind you. tell us what you've been seeing on the ground there? >> hey, chris. for the last ten hours or so, when we arrived here last night, coming back again this morning, we have watched as fans filled with ukrainians, mostly women and children, have crossed the border to try and get to safety. remember, men who are considered fighting age, between the ages of 18 and 60, they are being told not to leave the country. so, we are seeing their families, children coming without their fathers, without their brothers. this line of cars right here, a lot of these cars have been here for days. waiting to pick people up who are making up across the border. and speaking with one woman who said she's been here the last two days, in her car, this by the way, just a little bit of the cars. there's a police checkpoint further down the road. and more cars, more people

waiting in that direction. a lot of the people you see standing over here, some of them are people who have crossed the border themselves. but a lot of them are polish people waiting to pick people up. people they know. or even strangers. that woman who i met and speaking to not long ago, she said that she'd been here for two days. she was waiting to pick up a family. three children. an eight-year-old, a 12-year-old and a one here all. their father is someone she knew, because he previously had done some business in poland and had written rented a house from her to stay. she said, he called her recently and said, can you help me? can my family stay with you? so, she's here waiting to pick up that man's children and his wife, because he has to go back and fight. she hopes they'll be here any day now. that she's been waiting two days, because it has taken them so long to get through the check by. listen to a little more from what we heard from that woman. i'm >> proud of the president of ukraine.

this is very, very good. >> what do you want people at home to know about what's happening here? and what these people are going through? >> that pain is that we cannot help, because if we start it, it will be big war in the world. sure of that. for me, putin, is worse than hitler. for me, really. this is not good, man. >> we were it's going to get worse? >> strong emotion, really. >> that is something that has struck me today. we've heard from multiple people, we have spoken to here in poland. they believe that they could be next. and not only are they here helping, because they say these are our neighbors we want to help. but they also say, they really believe that they could be in a similar situation, to. this brought right here, you can see some people getting on,

putting some things in seats. these are the kinds of busses we have seen come to then pick up people and take them to other locations. one group we met, they had come with a bus from lithuania. and they were going to take more refugees back over there. the polish government, they see -- you see another one coming here right now, chris. you can see how packed these buses are. they'll come through this crossing. you can only cross through here by vehicle. and they'll take people through. usually, further past a checkpoint. or they'll unload them here, put them on another bus or in another car so they can go elsewhere. the government says since that russian invasion on thursday, 100,000 ukrainians have fled into this country alone. the un has said if things continue to escalate it's possible. . we could see some 4 million refugees fleeing. >> ellison, how much have you

seen from outside organizations? . another words not just the poor the polish government? . >> i cannot imagine the level of fear, and certain, confuse uncertainty. >> it's amazing because all these different groups you see in all these people down here i -- was talking to people in the yellow vests. they said you're with a local government, they said no we're not. everyone you see out here, they're volunteers. some of them are people who have just fit driven from some of the bigger cities. warsaw -- and they have extra seats in the car. so, they're just here literally holding signs that they've written on a piece of printer paper. seeing the city where they could drive someone to and how many seats they have in their car. so, it's actually not even an overly organized effort. at least, at this border crossing. it is just random groups of people who have decided, we can't do much. but they feel they can do this. so, they're coming to help. once person i spoke to who is polish he said if we could fight, we could. but we can't, so we're going to come here and we have two, three seats in our car. and will offer people.

right chris? >> what an extraordinary story. thank you so much for that, ellison. joining me now -- >> michelle, i understand, correct me if i'm wrong. you've just arrived in lviv. you travel from kyiv. tell us about your journey? what it was like? what you saw? what you heard? and what you're seeing now? >> yes, i'm standing in kyiv, outside lviv here. it's sunday morning i. been in the town for about four hours. we arrived here about 4:30 in the morning. there's no accommodation. we managed to find a school that's taking in refugees. we all slept on the floor of a school gym. i managed to get out of kyiv the. it was extremely difficult to get out at this point. there are no cars, trains. i manage to get with a -- they agreed to take me with their doberman in the backseat, the dog. so, we all got of kyiv. it was a 13, 14 hour drive. it was pretty chaotic because

roads were shut. bridges have been blown. the queen minute theory also close certain passages. we literally also had to go through the middle of two different forces. so, there was a road we followed. we drove past life fire from ukrainian mortar shelling. that was literally ten minutes from the side of the road. so, there's a lot of activity, lots of people driving west. lot of people heading to lviv, poland, romanian or and other boulders. lviv it's calm. i've only slept a couple hours. so, i don't have a true sense of the scene. but it's much calmer than kyiv which has been under severe bombardment. i was in kyiv for eight days. the city was descending in more of a war zone. last night, i had reports of severe bombardment. there was an explosion at an oil storage facility there on the outskirts of the city. which was spewing out toxic

fumes. it's a huge concern, obviously. very scary for my friends that remain in kyiv right now. one of the things we've talked about is how ordinary people have been taking up arms. we've seen that even over the last day or so, still people to -- waiting in line. wanting to get an ak-47, wanting to five people who are never fought before. who are not trained. before you left, describe the scene and the will of the people who decided to stay. >> the shift in kyiv since i arrived, where it is a cosmopolitan european capital. people were mocking me when i asked them if they were afraid. but they are in good spirits. those are the same people now, quote, telling me that they killed russians. all, people young, people mechanics, online standup comics. they're taking up the presidents call to take up their arms and defend their

capital, defend their country against vladimir putin's aggression. ukraine is a well armed nation. i saw lines of people going the gun stores already sold out. in the last couple of months, unsurprisingly of course. they also had a shooting at school. so that's something that they've already been able to do. but a young woman with her business, she's 26, she said i don't know how to shoot. i learned quickly. but i'm prepared to defend my country. the reports i have it that the russian army, and vladimir putin are very shocked at the determination of ukrainians defending the capitol, defending their homes, defending the country. so russia's having the fight of their lives right. now >> yeah, determination is being led by president zelenskyy, which a lot of people are surprised by giving his background. he was offered an opportunity to evacuate the country and he said, i need ammunition not a

ride. he made that video showing i am still here and i'm still part of this! leading the charge. what are you hearing on the ground from folks, and how are they viewing their presidents? and his role in fueling this belief that they are willing to put their lives at risk to defend their own country. >> they are rallying to the flag, and to the president. he is really in the moment here. he has not fled to lviv. so russians have been pulling out information that he has fled but other allies also said to ukraine that there is a government exile in ukraine. but he is not leaving the capital. because he believes there is a symbol, and not making the capital fall into russian hands. the young ukrainians are now on social media. they are sharing positive messages. they are sharing the presidents speeches from online. they are very powerful, stoic,

determined. and his rhetoric is quite soaring. and it's quite -- in his time. and they are rallying team. so he's -- in the week that i've been here, they are trying to remain calm when russian aggression was undeniable. now that it is the fight of our lives, and ukrainians are defending their country and standing with the president. all the thoughts i have is that the -- on the outskirts of he, if the outskirts of kharkiv. the fighting is fierce. whether it's the army, or the civilian militia, they are actually doing harm. and as i drove out here, through the middle of rural ukraine, we got stopped along the way by civilian militia. they are carrying our ak-47s. they have the yellow armband. they're showing that they are a civilian guard. but they are a little bit

ragtag. they're wearing -- they are wearing speakers. they're wearing with they can get. they're carrying weapons. they're in various stages. but they're standing together, and they're prepared to fight to defend our country. >> missions ellen ski, you take care of there. and thank you so much for that report. we appreciate it. taking the fight to russian forces, up next, the assessment of the military and it's his sins. and russia is not making the progress that expected. is not making the progress that expected

>> at this hour, new attacks from russia in kyiv and across ukraine. we told you this at the top of the hour. this reuters report, president zelenskyy is describing last night as brutal with, the shelling a civilian infrastructure. zelenskyy also says occupying forces are attacking civilians were there is no military infrastructure. and those forces are attacking everything, including ambulances. it comes as ukrainian officials say russian forces rolled into the city of kharkiv. a gas pipeline blown up. joining me now, retired u.s. army colonel jack jacobs. medal recipient and msnbc military analyst. we've covered a lot of wars together, jack. and i want to ask you about what you see as the situation on the ground right now. do we even have good intelligence? do you imagine, about what is being held by russia and what is being held by ukraine? >> well, we have a lot of overhead capabilities from satellites, and so on. but we have a pretty good idea

of exactly where the russians are and where the ukrainian army is. they are bogged down in the cities. there's an argument that they'll be smarter if they bypassed the cities, except you can't do that in a country like ukraine. it's got 40 million people. they're concentrated in the cities. and if you bypass them, you wind up leaving your flank and your expose. so, they're gonna have to fight their way through the cities, chris. >> and how much resistance can these civilian fighters provide, jack? we've been talking about this. it makes your heart stop when you see young kids, who are saying earlier, they're experiencing shooting and video games. you see women my age patrolling the streets with ak-47s. we just heard from the reporter from australia, there are not in combat gear. they're in tennis shoes and jackets. but there are a lot of them.

and their at least mental capacity, their determination, seems to be strong. how does that fit into the overall picture, jeff? >> well, determination and patriotism is hard to be. except that the entire ukrainian army is only as big as the invasion force from russia. and we try to equip them. they're well equipped. but they're not nearly as well equipped as the russians are. mueller told coattails at the end of the day are not going to be able to stand up to russian tanks. they have anti tank weapons, but not sufficient numbers. at the end of the day, is going to be a long slog, that is going to be very difficult. it's heartbreaking to watch what's happening to the ukrainian army and the people and of the country. and in the end, putin's really serious about taking the country over. he will persevere and he will sadly, chris. >> so, militarily, what are you looking for in his next moves?

>> seizure of the cities. you'll notice that if you draw a line from kyiv in the north down to crimea in the south, it's more or less a direct north south line. i think his objective is to bifurcate a country. forces from the north, go down south and the cup with the forces that are coming up from crimea. cut the country into. isolating the ukrainian army, that will then be sitting between that line and the east. and defeat them piecemeal. ultimately, the idea of course, is as he says, to take over the country. he's going to install a puppet government. the real bad news of course, in addition to what's happening to the people in the country, is that you're going to have an enormous number -- we've already discussed, of refugees streaming into romania and poland. 2 million, 4 million. it's going to be family spit up. it's good to be extremely difficult for the ukrainian

people, chris. >> the paid of war. and it's going to be fast. colonel jack jacobs, always a pleasure to talk to you. thank you, jack. it's not necessarily what you might expect from saturday night life. but that shows not to what's going on in ukraine is both emotional and dramatic, and really worth seeing. that's next. really worth seeing. that's next.

>> as the battle from kyiv intensifies, here in the u.s., americans are gauging the economic impact of war. we'll have the latest on how, what's happening overseas can be seen in every region of this country. coming up. but first, we want to show you an emotional moment at the start of saturday night life. instead of the usual opening, viewers saw a performance from that ukrainian chorus of new york. issue of solidarity with the people of ukraine. let's listen for a minute to the anthem prayer for ukraine. ♪ ♪ ♪

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