it's morning in ukraine, as the country enters day five of russia's invasion. last, we heard that ukraine's capital, kyiv, as well as the country's second largest city, kharkiv, russian forces have been encroaching on the

ukrainian capital and targeting critical infrastructure. including, an oil depot outside of kyiv and aghast by blown in kharkiv. ukraine has been putting up a far tougher fight than many anticipated. we according to the ukrainian ambassador to the u.s. on a staggering 4000 3000 russian troops have died so far. by comparison, ukraine's health minister says, 350 ukrainians have been killed. 16 of them, children. nbc news is unable to verify any of those numbers which will certainly go up as the conflict evolves. ukraine has agreed to attend talks later today with the russians on the border of ukraine in belarus. but vladimir putin, increasingly isolating from the world as many condemn that the war has escalated the situation by announcing that this country 's new killer forces are now on high alert. this comes as he's facing with tons of people at home. thousands protesting the war. and the russian ruble, today,

plunging after crippling the sanctions trading down as much as 30% early monday morning. joined now by nbc news, correspondent, erica mclaughlin in lviv ukraine. roland stone, jack crosby in ukraine. and nbc news correspondent we, ellison barber, on the border yet ukraine. and nbc's foreign correspondent, i raf sanchez, in moscow. erin, we'll start with you first. as you are now in navy, even tell us what you're seeing and what the conditions are there. >> hey, richard, we just got an update from the ukrainian military that kyiv remains in ukrainian control. the overnight hours have repelled repeated russian assault. we have a statement from the land forces up the armed forces of ukraine, saying, all attempts by the russian occupation forces to achieve their goal failed. convoys of occupied equipment were destroyed. the enemy suffered significant

personal losses. russian troops are demoralized and exhausted. we have shown that we know how to protect our home from uninvited guest. the violence has already taken a tremendous toll, killing 350 to civilians. including 14 children. on sunday, we heard from president zelenskyy sing that he has agreed to talks today taking place in belarus with the russian delegation. although, he says he's not hopeful for a cease fire. but we are going to try everything to stop the bloodshed. richard? >> and with that number, we just brought up before. the 4300. something that we have not confirmed here at nbc. is that the sense of those you've talked to on the ground both in kyiv and now in lviv? that they are moving ahead and being successful on the ukrainian forces side? >> well, i've been speaking to an official, a city official in kyiv, and they said that they have been successful in

repealing russian attacks. he said that, quote, we know what to do. we know how to defend our city. and it is an all out effort with a city of, really, 3.3 million people trained on these russian forces as they are coming in. we see running gun battles. but also, ordinary civilians making bombed cocktails. they're arming themselves. they passed up 20,000 weapons, it least, in the city of kyiv alone. this is an all-out. fight when i was traveling from kyiv to lviv on the roadways, we saw, on the villages, along the way, checkpoints. civilians getting ready for war. preparing their weapons. including heavy weapons. building sandbags. this is a country full of 44 million people. and they are all willing to fight for their countries. richard? >> erin, thank you so much for that reporting. appreciate. that i will now go to rolling stone court -- correspondent in kharkiv ukraine. jack, if you have been

reporting there from kharkiv throughout the recent days we are now in day five. and in the arc of what you've been seeing what might be different today as we begin a new work week there? of course, nobody working >> so, i think the key thing to work forward in the upcoming week is whether or not russian forwards outside of the city escalate their attempts to taking control of the city so far. today, as far as i can, tell it seems as though things are relatively quiet, we have a quiet night of shielding last night. as we've had in the couple of days as most people need to get some sleep. yesterday morning, though we did wake up to reports of a russian -- war ukraine, does at this moment, i believe still retain full control of the city. and it does appear that we have seen another major incursion into the city limits today as

we did yesterday. so, i think these are encouraging signs. but it's going to be really important to watch for russian troops and to see if they sort of renew those attempts to take control of the city. richard? >> as you've been speaking with different folks, any sense that they are hearing of these headlines that have been coming out over the weekend the progress of more help coming from fellow european countries? as well as more money and more arms? just a change in sentiment from those who did not necessarily have full support at the beginning of this military incursion? >> you know, i think that the people in the eastern ukraine want a number of things. overwhelmingly, their desire for peace and stability. but i have heard consistently that they want more help from the west. they want more help. some things that don't appear to be on the table we. -- it's nevertheless something

that we hear consistently from people who are being shield and who are being bombed. but i think those should be able to know that they are coming. specifically from soldiers who i've spoken to they said that the weapons that they have received this far have been incredibly helpful. and we've seen the results of that when it comes to looking into the results between fighting between the ukrainian armed forces. >> yes, on this monday we're talking about dozens of countries now doing hundreds of millions of dollars more than they did on friday. jack, thank you for that. i want to now get to nbc news, barbara. alison. we were talking the last hour. and one of the major the medics is almost days waiting in line to get through the refugee camp. days. you are saying 80 hours. >> yes. at some point, that is where we

have seen those 80-hour lines. last night, for this checkpoint, we were told it was about 12 miles long. you see, just kind of regular normal cars, one of them drove through, if you look, back you could see some were about to come this way here. previously, at this border they were allowing large buses tour buses, coming through and bringing people trying to get out of ukraine. at some point, the reasons that were still unclear to us and told by polish officials on the border that in ukraine, the ukrainian checkpoint they have been trying to stop allowing this was to come through here. this checkpoint is already not allowing pedestrian foot trafficking solely vehicle traffic. but we saw so many people coming through on those big buses they would walk to some point on the ukrainian side or be dropped off get on the bus, and make their way here. now, only private vehicles are being allowed through this area. one other thing we just saw, here we saw a large tractor

trailer coming from the polish side of the border. about 56 minutes ago, they went through the checkpoint just over here. actually, i think you could see one still parked there. five men, ukrainian men, who live and work in poland were loading here into the back of the tractor trailer. they did not want to speak to us on camera. because they were loading gear to go over to ukraine and fight. so, we are seeing mostly refugees, cars, people coming through this area. but you are also having some instances, like that story of people trying to get across so that they could pick up arms and join this fight. richard? >> hey, what ellison barber is the process, i know you are talking about buses yesterday. now only cars today. but when you get to the checkpoint after that long wait 12 miles 80 hours, whatever might be, what do they go through? >> so, there are multiple checkpoints. you can even see, really, the

ukrainian initial checkpoint for the down that way. you can see a kind of go up overhead. but, so we have said that to cross into the polish government is not requiring any usual mandatory documents. but they say, people are coming with the mandatory documents are trying to process them and get them through quicker. they are separating people. we haven't seen the separation at this location. but this is what the polish government assess. they said they are separating people at the border into two groups to those who have the mandatory documents. they're processing people that we. in theory, the deputy director for minister of internal affairs in this country had said that if you had mandatory documents, it should take 90 seconds to get through. there is absolutely no way that's happening. we had spoken to so many people here in the last two and a half days. and everyone that we've talked to they talk about waiting days for people to come across. 12 hours, is i think the quickest i've heard anyone say that they made it to this

point. most people talk about it being 35, 36 more hours. richard? >> cold morning there at the border. thank you so much, alison, ellison barber, in poland. let's bring in this bbc news correspondent raf sanchez from moscow. and raf, one of the things that is going to be top of our mind here is for vladimir putin. because he's really feeling the hurt, potentially, one of the headlines out of the atlantic because of the economic sanctions that you are reporting on all weekend, this is where he would hit putin where it hurts. is he hurting? >> richard. vladimir putin is a former kgb agent. he is inscrutable at the best of times. these are clearly not the best of times. russian analysts here in moscow who have followed him for decades say, they have never seen him like this. that he is erratic, in, away

that he wasn't. before that he is prepared to take risk in a way that he wasn't previously. and they're having a very hard time predicting where his head is at right now. we saw it yesterday, he put his new color forces on high alert. that was the headline that reverberated all across the world. does that mean he's likely to use a new killer weapon? no. i think that that's very unlikely. this appears to be a form of pretty extreme saber rivaling from a russian leader who's invasion of ukraine is not going the way he wanted to. who's, economy this morning, is enough financial vice. u.s. defense officials spoke to my colleague and said that they believe that this is posturing. but they are watching it very closely. we don't know in detail what putin's orders mean for russia's new killer posture. we don't know how many additional war heads might be

on alert. the united states does its comments on one american new color forces are doing. so we don't know how the united states has responded. but it is more difficult than ever to get inside the mind of vladimir putin right now. richard? >> any sense here, rough, of what his day today has been? or will be this week? given the developments over saturday and sunday. >> so, we are hearing from him in frequently, at times of his choosing, it's not likely he's appearing at the podium and addressing the russian people. he is putting out these pre-recorded messages. we haven't heard from him live in a long time. we have seen these pictures, these videos, with memes all around the world, a putin sitting in these very long tables. speaking with leaders. 15 2030 feet away from him, that has caused some laughs.

it is a sign, i think of somebody who is really cut off. who is sense of the danger of covid. but also senses the danger of the world around him. it seems to be very heightened. and we do not know, at this point who is advising him, who is giving him inputs. and we do not know what's version of reality vladimir putin is. getting he has a strong sense of what he thinks the war in ukraine is going. this is not a man who uses the -- this is not a man who really communicates digitally or on the phone. i think that that is a hangover from his days in the spy services. so it is very difficult for ordinary russians to understand where their leader is taken them. it is not keeping them up to date on what the endgame looks like in his mind for ukraine. richard? >> are we expecting more protests on this monday or

throughout this weekend? this is got to be one of the big next on the side. or even more for vladimir putin. of course, that is used to command and control. >> yes it is definitely possible we're going to see more protests. with them striking the protests have been more organic, they've been leaderless. it's not like these have been put together by prominent putin credits or the leader like that, this is an ordinary russian going out onto the street and the code words on social media he's going for. walk people say i'm going for a walk in saint petersburg, and what they mean is a great personal risk, they are going to go out to the streets and what -- for taking part on these unauthorized anti war protests. if you're lucky, you won't be charged with a crime. if you're unlikely, you could be charged with terrorism for taking part in one of these protests for going out and speaking your mind. so, it is definitely not

something that we are used to seeing with vladimir putin's, russia. these people understand the risk that they are running. and it is a sign of strength of feeling that they are going out doing it anyway. >> there are certainly more than taking what >> richard? what >> a walk. but they are doing it. they're certainly doing it. ralph sanchez, thank you for us and moscow. up next, i'm in ukraine, the u.s. and european allies are standing in more equipment. but will it get there in time. stay with us. (vo) verizon is going ultra! t will it get there in stay with us mindy! with up to 10x faster speeds, she can download a movie in minutes or a song in seconds. (mindy) yep! (vo) verizon is going ultra so you can do more.

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ukraine has brought with it some seismic changes. for the first time in history, the european union will finance the purchase and delivery of arms to support ukraine. poland has agreed to act as a distribution hub for all of these materials. it comes a day after germany announced that -- send 1000 anti tank weapons in five hunted stinger to ukraine.

-- also if no, the u.s. authorized $350 million in immediate military aid, including javelin, anti-armor missiles. stinger missiles and small arms and ammunition. more than two dozen nations now are individually sending humanitarian and or military aid to ukraine. and in a setback from russia, turkey now pledging to implement a pact potentially blocking russian warships from passing through its waterways into the black sea. the west is not sending forces into ukraine, but on saturday, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy issued an appeal for foreign volunteers to assist on a newly formed international legion. christopher miller of buzzfeed reports that a group of american and british special forces are preparing to do just that. a group of ten veterans are staging in poland, preparing to cross into ukraine and take up zelenskyy's offer to join the defense of ukraine.

and the world. joined now by colonel jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst. colonel jack, this is enough for a one hour program, but i want to start with this, we just got a satellite picture over the weekend. today seeing more forces, russian forces, now closing in to kyiv and the areas that at the moment have been unable to take and or hold. what do you make of this satellite image that we have recently received? >> there's a lot of analysis that the russians thought it would be a lot easier than it turned out to be. they were right. there is no doubt about the fact that armored vehicles are going to make an extremely difficult for ukrainians to defend the approaches to the city. however, our vehicles are not all of that useful in the city. as the russians themselves know in their defensive stalingrad during the second world war. now the russians initially

wanted to roll their armoured vehicles from the north to the south, from the sort of to the north. and link up and caught the country and have. thus isolating the ukrainian army in the east. would have been extremely difficult for ukraine to defend. and the cons of military assistant that you were just talking about, coming from nato would have been difficult to get to the ukrainians for them to use. but the russians have also decided that they want to take kyiv. and that is extremely difficult to do. because the armored vehicles are not useful inside of the city, but they need them to get the outskirts of the city to the south. so that they can link up and isolate the ukrainian army. the longer that it takes them to get the russians, to get their vehicles, to link up south of kyiv, the easier there's going to be for ukrainians to defend themselves. because it means that the aid that you are talking about,

that equipment, surface to air defenses, anti tank missiles, the easier it is going to be for nato to get those two ukrainian forces richard. >> a lot of putin. i know your eyebrows raised over the weekend when he said that he is going to move his nuclear deterrence to high alert. is he basically pushing his last chance piece that he has got, based on all of the news that is coming from all of these countries that we have reported on over the weekend. is he just trying to make a move to say, i still have some control, or is this a threat that he's going to implement. >> it's unlikely that he is going to be implemented. i mean he has got his forces on alert, there's no doubt about that. but that may very well have been an attempt to dissuade the west from taking his banks off of the swift system, making it impossible for him to buy or sell any goods, to receive payment, or to give payments

for anything. and you saw the result. robles dropped almost 30% overnight. it is going to be extremely difficult for the russian people to secure any thing. and that is likely to foment unrest amongst civilians inside russia. and so the announcement that he has put the nuclear forces on alert, more than likely was just an attempt to get and is still an attempt, to get the to withdraw the restrictions on russian banks richard. >> putting on your military tactical had here colonel, we are looking at some numbers, and if they are correct, again not confirmed by nbc news, but according to the ukrainian ambassador to the un, 4300 russian troops have been killed so far. and we are hearing on the opposite side for ukraine, from the health minister, they're saying 350 ukrainians have been killed.

it appears that, by these numbers, that the russian forces are on their heels. to add to that, some illogical news potentially militarily so far? but will he do next to try to regain the upper hand in this conflict? >> first of all, those numbers cannot be verified. and it is just as likely that the numbers are reversed in any case. 4000 russian troops killed is an extremely high number for a very short period of time, against a force that is only -- the entire ukrainian army is as big as the russian force that is invading it. those numbers are unverified and probably on verifiable. but there is no doubt about the fact that ukrainian forces are putting up stiff resistance and making it extremely difficult for russia to take over. i think that putin is going to continue, likely to continue on this path, to achieve his

principal objective. and that is to take kyiv and install a puppet government in kyiv. even if he does that however, he then has the problem of trying to find a guerrilla war inside of the rest of ukraine. this is not going exactly the way that putin had promised. was promised. and it is likely to be long and drawn out. we've said many times earlier, and it is a cliché but it is worth remembering, this looks more like a marathon than it does a sprint richard. >> all right, colonel jack jacobs, thank you so much, have a very good morning, appreciated as always. we are going to be right back with more nbc's continuing coverage of the russian invasion of ukraine. continuing coverage of the russia

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their assault across ukraine, the country's president, volodymyr zelenskyy, has remained in the capital. showing the fines to vladimir putin that he gets praise for most people. the junta reports that he shows he could do more than just play a president on television. >> [interpreter] staring directly into the camera, exhausted, in a t-shirt, this is how we started to see ukrainian president multiple day at all hours since the invasion started. taking to social media, updating his country and the world rallying his fellow citizens to fight. >> last night was harsh, he said. >> they are fighting against everyone and everything alive. >> in another post, last thursday, walking through the capital, good morning, he says, there are a lot of fixed out

there. but i am here. the one standup comedian came to power in 2019 in a democratic election. just a month after the finale of his hit show, servant of the people, where he played an unlikely president on tv. three years later, the 44-year-old father of two, has emerged as a convincing wartime leader. when the u.s. offered to evacuate him from the country, he reportedly told them, i need ammunition, not a ride. with >> me now is david rothkopf, from the usa today and the daily beast and host of the deep state radio podcast. thank you for joining us david. appreciate your time. vladimir zelenskyy suddenly has come out as the hero, if you will, of the world for those who want to. what is this about zelenskyy now that we're in the fight that he needs to do. it because he certainly has everybody's attention through social media. also through the way that he has been taking care of armed forces in his own country

against the russian forces. >> well, i think that this points that he needs to continue doing what he's been doing. you know, i think as recently as a week ago, you've got a lot of stories saying how will he perform. this guy is not terribly experienced but from the very beginning of the conflict face of this he has done a great job. you know putin gave this one hour long rambling speech with the title demented on not-so-true history of russia and his ambitions for a new empire. and zelenskyy speech that followed that to the russian people, really resonated. and since then, what ukraine has performed pretty well against the russian army, there is this other war. so other people are calling it the tiktok. or the war for social media. and zelenskyy is really good at

that. short statements. short videos. things that mobilize people. and the tiktok, or ukraine's winning hands down. >> one of the things that has brought up occasionally about zelenskyy, is that when he was running for president, he was the candidate who was not far to the left for four to the right, and one of the points that may be brought about. david, he was someone that was going to be talking to russia a little bit more than those who would want him to do on the. left that has been forgotten though it appears to, be right now. >> russia has surrounded the country with 190,000 troops. invaded. and russia stated goal is to depose the government piece. in all likelihood, their plan was to kill zelenskyy. so, i don't think talking to russia is really what's called for at this point.

he has kept his options open. he wants to talk to the russians today in belarus. but the reality is why he is striking a nerve is that he's human. he is ukrainian. he is showing courage. he is being the person he wants the people to be. in other words, he's a leader. and that just leaps out at you. a lot of people who want to be leaders, right now, in the worst circumstances is leading. >> and, as a writer, as a comedian, he is used to creating narratives. and it would appear that he's controlling the narrative right now. and how does that input to the coming days of what vladimir putin might do? given that he cannot control the narrative on what is happening. and people are believing in with such for the country of ukraine. >> well, i think this tiktok or

may not sound very serious. but if russia gets into the kind of protracted fight against the insurgency that the progress was talking about, if russia gets into a battle with 150,000 troops against 45 million ukrainians the real issue is going to be who's motivated? who is mobilizing? who has moment them with them? in that case, winning the social media war, winning the communications war, that is going to really make a big difference. putin is terrible at. that because he lives in a closed society. and he doesn't allow dissent. zelenskyy is great of a. that is what he's trying to. do so, i think that putin picked the wrong country. and he's picked the wrong president to pick on. >> the white house press secretary, said this sunday, that the president is certainly going to bring up what he is

doing with ukraine. and the important of ukraine. what do you think the president needs to say? and what might he say about the way the world structure is changing? you know, just 20 years ago, as you know so, well we had the 20 ideas of the axis of evil. and now we have to redefine, potentially, the way the world order is that leaves out those two words very loosely. but the way things are today across the country, when it comes across the world and to international security. >> i think biden just needs to keep saying what he has been saying. when he came into office, he said facing a world with a battle between democracy and autocracy. i don't know if he expected that he was going to have that phrase turn into a real life war. a major war in europe so quickly. but he prepared everybody for. it and this administration, the

president with the vice president and the national security council under jake sullivan, they have engaged with the allies, stood up to putin, done just about everything right. in every bid and form a policy. but they have played this right. and right now, you have the and learn tick alliance, drug or than it's ever been, more committed to taking the side of a country like ukraine than it's ever been. and one of the things that putin didn't count on was the u.s. would be able to lead that. and biden has done it. biden and his team have been leaders in a way that they haven't seen the u.s. lead in a long, long time. i think when you want to do is communicate exactly that. and let people know that he is going to maintain his result. and we are going to continue the fight for democracy in ukraine. >> david, thank you so much. david rothkpf thank you so much for your time this evening on the early morning.

much more of our continuing coverage, right after this break. in coverage, right after this up t, break. she can download a movie in minutes or a song in seconds. (mindy) yep! (vo) okay now let's work offsite. public wi-fi? no thanks. 5g ultra wideband is faster and safer. and so powerful that it's not just for phones. hello 5g home and business internet. it's time to go ultra with verizon, america's most reliable 5g network, so you can do more! men put their skin through a lot. day-in, day-out that's why dove men body wash has skin-strengthening nutrients and moisturizers that help rebuild your skin. dove men+care. smoother, healthier skin with every shower.

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off russia's attack, they are not doing it alone. countries around the world are rallying behind ukraine by providing the weapons necessary for them to defend their homeland. as well as putting financial pressure on russia and more importantly, president vladimir putin. as the wall street journal reports, new sanctions from the united states, europe in canada,

against russia's central bank, directly target the war that president putin has built up in recent years to help insulate russia's economy from outside pressures. this comes as united nations will hold no merge in succession tomorrow for all 193 nations to condemn the russian invasion. in the protests against russia's actions are also coming from dissidents within its own borders who are making their voices heard and defiance of the [inaudible] government. with me now, is chuck politician, deployment, who served as this country's minister of defense. he has been a member of the european parliament since 2019. he representative of the part of his resident -- from the czech republic's view they may have joined in this union, if you will, of support over the weekend to help ukraine. what is going to be put forward by the czech republic to assist ukraine? we >> good morning from prague.

you know, i think one must understand that here in the central of eastern europe we have build enough enormous amount of sympathy in recent life with the ukraine because they are fighting not just for their freedom, they are fighting for us. putin, russia has to be stopped otherwise it may also continue. it may and continue through their voting state so russians must be stopped and ukrainians must be supported. just yesterday, we had a rally in prague and 80,000 people came to show their support. so, i think it's under the situation that we must isolate russia. so far, i have concluded that it's an extreme amount of

solidarity and [inaudible] in both the >> most united states -- [inaudible] probably for you personally representative, as you were also a dissident in the czech republic during the time when there was a communist regime. and you were jailed. there must be something personal for you as you see what's happening to ukraine right now? >> sure. all of us in the czech republic, in poland, and slovakia, in the baltic states, we all remember what it means to be subordinated to the russian imperial interest. and so that is for sure our countries that are pushing for more active european union. just look at germany. five, six, seven days, they

were very careful. and since then, in the matter of a couple of days, they've changed their stance more than in the last 30 years. supporting the very tough sanctions including the swift disconnecting. disconnecting the russian banks from swift. freezing their assets. banning airspace for all russian planes. and even agreeing on the eu level to deliver arms to support the residents and president zelenskyy's forces. that is a miracle if, you know germany. >> it was day for representative before we started to hear about the headlines coming out of germany and the other european countries that were your neighbors to ukraine.

what is it that changed, and why the timing? why didn't this happen in day one of the conflict? >> look, nobody expected the intensity of the russian war making. maybe the people who expect that there are going to take part in the donbas, because the de facto situation in the last seven years. but the forces going after kyiv are going to attack florida. we're going to the whole country. this is an unprecedented act of aggression in fact in the middle of europe. and it really, the feelings of many people in europe, that it must not be tolerated.

and we must stop. because if we do know that. he may continue. >> one of the issues that has kept europe safe and quiet for the most part, has been nuclear deterrence. we've heard that word being brought up by vladimir putin over the weekend. >> is mutually assured destruction, does that no longer work. >> i think it works. i think it will work. yesterday, putin's proclamation, just showed us how much she is surprised by the level of intensity and unity among the western countries. so he did not expect that ukrainians would be fighting. he did not expect we would stay behind them. and i think that in fact my feeling is, the west made the

mistake after the annexation of crimea. because putin has destroyed this budapest memorandum from 1994, when the ukrainians gave up weapons in exchange for their sovereignty, integrity of their borders. >> and once putin has breached that, the west should send a clear signal to putin, that we are no more committed by our commitments from 1997. he understands. >> thank you so much representative alexander of andra, member of the european parliament, thank you for getting up early to talk to us today. we will be right back. we she can download a movie in minutes or a song in seconds. (mindy) yep! (vo) verizon is going ultra so you can do more.

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on kyiv and the rest of ukraine, i want to take a few minutes to show you how the world has been

processing the events of the past few days. here's nbc's kate knabb. but >> at the chapel in the center of lviv, one lone man saying a prayer, lighting a candle with his son. as ukrainians prayed today, millions of strangers were also praying for them. from chicago's saint nicolas ukrainian catholic church, to silver spring maryland saying andrews ukrainian orthodox cathedral. new york's archbishop, timothy dolan, attending mass with a ukrainian congregation. the governor of ohio, a home to a large number of ukrainians, declaring today a statewide day of prayer for ukraine. >> ukrainians are strong. >> in new york city, a crowd gathered to show their support for ukrainian civilians, call in a nightmare. >> we all need to stand together. >> in the nation's capital, more solidarity. a scene repeated in chicago and boston.

and at the vatican today, pope francis saw the sea of ukrainian flags below his window and greeted them in ukrainian. >> even saturday night live paused to pay tribute, opening the show with the ukrainian course of new york. >> thank you for that. thank you for joining us at this hour. picking up our live breaking coverage after this break, please stick around. ng coverage after this break, please stick around.

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new york here with msnbc continuing live coverage of the invasion of ukraine. we are going to begin with the very latest as russia's assault enters its fifth day. the commander of ukraine's armed forces are saying that russian efforts to occupied the capital kyiv, have filled. all of this is happening while the ukrainian government has said there have been explosions in the capital city. and, the eastern city as well as kharkiv. but with russians, about 20 miles or so from the city center, the mayor is telling the associated press that there are no plans to evacuate civilians if, in fact, russian military take the city. >> we can't do that because