sidelines and observe. >> and another performer working to defend the ukraine -- >> the last time this dancer danced, it was the night before the invasion began. >> do you think you will dance again? >> 100%. >> when adverse, and we wish these talented here is the very best and hope to see them back onstage as soon as possible. and on that note, i wish you a good night. a good night thanks for staying up late with me, i'll see you after tomorrow. tomorrow it's midnight on the east coast, 9 pm on the west coast, and 7 pm in kyiv.

i'm mehdi hassan, the rachel maddow hosted by ali velshi in hungary, it's coming up in just a few minutes, with former ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch who was -- has her thoughts on the u.s. response to this conflict, and how president zelenskyy has risen to the moment to become a hero for the cause of democracy. that's ahead, but first the latest from ukraine where russian forces are increasingly striking civilian targets. as the invasion of ukraine enters its 15th day in the southern port of mario poll. a russian airstrike destroyed a children's hospital, a maternity ward, killing at least 18 people. the attacks have left people lacking their basic needs like food, water and, heat well relentless russian shelling has prevented civilians from safe

russian corridors. because morgues are overthrowing. local authorities have sent text messages to resident sane if somebody dies in your family, just put the body outside, cover it, tie up the hands, and the legs, and leave it outside. the foreign ministers of ukraine and russia are expected to be in turkey on thursday. turkish president erdogan said the meeting could crack the door open to a permanent freeze prior, kamala harris is in poland, where she will meet polish president duda. comes off a decision by the pentagon, to deny pullen's proposal to provide them with mig-29 fighter jets, by an airbase in germany. president zelenskyy responded. >> boris johnson, versus prime minister, as a number of other world leaders, say if they do that, if they close this guy. that can exacerbate and make

the situation even worse, if they allow polling to allow them on native land, that will make it worse. >> it doesn't make it worse? for whom? the first one is rhetorical, and we don't need a rhetorical question and answer, we have to have concrete things. so it would be worse for whom, our families? for them? no. who knows, nobody knows but we know exactly that now is very bad. and in the future it will be too late. believe me, if it's prolonged this way, yes, you will see they will close this guy. but we will lose millions of people. >> let's get right to msnbc's ali velshi, he is in a train station in zahony, hungary,

where refugees have been arriving. ali, it's been a horrific day in ukraine, what is the latest where you are, is anyone feeling -- or an end to the conflict is near at all. >> you know, not really, i think it's getting worse, a couple of things are happening, one is it's getting substantially colder and now. there's been a cold front moving across this entire region. while we see trickles of people coming through here, getting on trains, and going to budapest. on the other side of the border, they're piled up. you and i talked about last night, hours an hours waiting in the cold, that's a humanitarian catastrophe in the making. and meeting, people mothers of children who have left their husbands, fathers sometimes their sons behind, and they're coming here to try to figure out a new life. so it's not getting better, and they're not getting -- i eating people, and last year as many people from the far east of ukraine and the donbas region, then i started meeting people from kyiv, and i'm still meeting people that are now coming from kyiv, and points

west. but they're trying to do is get out as quickly as possible. as you, know kyiv is going to be surrounded by russian forces. there are people going into the city now, because that's the only place they may be able to stay safe. so the decision to leave ukraine is running short, now and what you're seeing is an increase in the number of people who are trying to get out, to places like this. since we talked last night, more than 10,000 more people have coming to hungary, if you do the math on this, probably 100,000 more have gone into poland. this is a remarkable movement of humanity, and it's getting more tragic by the day. >> it is indeed. ali, you mentioned the different types of people even speaking to over the course of the last few days. i wonder if the people you're speaking to right now, they're leaving because they've been displaced, their homes in towns destroyed, or because they're in fear that their homes in towns are destroyed, and they're getting out in front of it? >> it's a little bit about, with more and more i'm seeing people who are fearful of bombs or shells have landed nearby. the men in their family have

been called up for the territorial defense, and i've sort of recommended at that point, look, you get out, i've got to fight, i might die of staying here. but let's not have everybody die. so these people, it's devastating, you meet these mothers with their children. it's devastating, because they are leaving, they are facing uncertainty, you have the obligation of taking care the loved one in, their kids, maybe their parents. they know they've left people behind that they may die. that sound you played from zelenskyy's point, because there's a belief that eventually the world will do something, but that something may come a little too late for normal ukrainians to dozens, who have no idea whether face in this translation. >> it is an absolute tragedy. ali, we look forward to your interview with marie yovanovitch, in just a few minutes. cal perry has been reporting from lviv, ukraine, first, take a listen to some of the people he was met who have made the

decision to leave ukraine for now. >> it begins with the obvious, bags and suitcases, bags, in grocery bags. and pets, so many paths, the city of lviv is becoming a story of a people carry. a city of 700,000 has now become a city of close to 1 million. but in the small theater, now a makeshift shelter. two families share with us but they brought with them. >> it wasn't safe to say there. >> with only three bristle pack, and the russian army closing in, camilla took only the essentials. maybe some food and bread, cookie and some waterfront children. that's all. essential to every parent, cell phones. cell phones are everywhere, to distract, to communicate, to speak the loved ones left

behind on the front lines. >> it's a message that is honey, i love you yuck. and i know we will be together soon. >> newly minted reporter, nine year old eve, house me interview her six-year-old brother may run, for them fleeing men securing their stuff animals. matt v. quickly arrived on the scene, and presents frank. he's had it since he was born, it's his bed bunny every night. little and mud then announces her presence. her sister really is a sad news, she was getting dressed to slowly, so she didn't have time to pack her toys, we're told. dad brought a pack about was, vital paperwork, enclose his wife, his children, his sister, and his mother. as many clothes as can stick in a bag, seems to be the

overwhelming and consistent bring of every parent across. every parent can relate to, this room for a child's drawing. the heaviest things, the emotional baggage comes from the matter what is physically carried. he tells us sphere, our stress, and uncertainty that he carries, but he finishes with hope. i hope that he says, one day, they will all be able to return home. >> carl joins us now from lviv. cal, one of the messages you are hearing from those people who do and of staying. are they doing it by choice, that they want to stay? or just circumstance, they just can't be with anyone else. >> yes, so i think that's who's remaining in the cities. i think a lot of people left an anticipation of the russian forces are coming now. as you said, ali, a lot of people are being physically displaced. the saddest thing about it is that in places like mariupol, and places that are still under siege, it's the infirm, it's the elderly, it's people who can't leave and are stuck in

these basements. these are the people who are being left behind, or just can't get out, these the people who are dying right now. >> and cal, i know in the past you've covered the russian military interventions in syria. you look at what happened in variable with an attack on the children's hospital, the maternity ward, we are now contribute heading into soon phase of the conflict, where russian brutality and conflict just goes to new levels. >> it certainly looks that way. we can remind our viewers that syria was going to fall. the opposition was coming from assad, and he flew to russia and moscow, you met with putin, and then aleppo got bombed until it was rubble, and they bombed aleppo, the people who didn't leave died in syria. we should comparison shop suffering, mothers fear and fathers here, kids here are the same as syria, as they are in yemen, as there are in conflicts and africa. the war in syria started as a

civil war, you can compare the two. but the russian bombardment of these cities, if something out of their playbook, they did this in grozny, and they shelled people as a tried to leave in those humanitarian corridors. as we were trying to see happen here in the first two years of the war. >> absolutely tragic, as i just said to ali, were talking every night you and i. with ali as well, i just want to say i appreciate the reporting from newcastle, stay safe. thank you. joining us now is retired army colonel, and msnbc military analyst jack jacobs, distinguished fellow at the quincy institute for responsible state craft. thank you both for joining me, general jacobs, they attack on a maternity ward, on a hospital, a reporter from the kyiv independent, they said -- are being clearly delivered against civilian population and infrastructure. again, i was just talking to cal about syria.

what does that tell us about russian military strategy right now? are we heading into a syrian phase of the conference, if we can cause that crudely? >> it certainly seems like that, don't forget that russia expected to march right in and take over, and that's not quite what happened. as a result of that, and because the russians are not particularly consistent i conducting operations of any kind, they have a tendency to be terribly brutal, they've reverted to their plan b is to encircle the city's. and lay siege to them. and then kill anybody could possibly tries to leave. that's exactly what's happening now. don't forget their forces, that were coming down from belarus, were stymied in their move to get into the ukraine. and so their plan didn't work, initially. the result is, far more brutality than anybody ever expected, and it's not over yet. in the meantime, you can expect

forces, russian forces, to go around the cities and try to link up with forces down in the south, to seal off the ukrainian army that is in the east, and make it even more difficult to resupply, and to evacuate civilians who were trying to flee. we originally thought two to 4 million refugees, if they get out, they will be far far more, mehdi. >> yes indeed, colonel, i just want to mention the point that kelly mentioned a moment ago. in syria, brute force worked, i think a lot of people look at the brave ukrainian resistance, look at the russian incompetence, and say, wow, this is looking much better for the ukrainians, much worse for the russians. but they can always get more violent, which is what they did in syria, and it worked. >> they've committed their military reserve, initial days when they weren't seen success, they committed the reserves, and then reconstituted the reserve so they have even wore forces, either in ukraine or ready to go into ukraine.

and the only thing that is going to happen is, for the russians, frustrated in their ability to accomplish their mission. unable to do so because they are not particularly skilled, have poor general ship, they have conscripts who are not performing well, their mid level management and kernels, the regimental commanders are doing very very poorly. their default situation is to become more brutal, and there will be a lot more brutality coming. >> and joe, let me bring in to this conversation, you tweeted today that between sure no bill and the other nuclear power plant that was taken by power gunpoint, and putin's implied -- nuclear dangers in one place at one time, he treated. can you expound on that? are we taking the nuclear threat seriously enough, here? >> mehdi, imagine the suffering you're seeing with radioactive

clouds drifting over the cities, drifting over the refugees trying to flee. that's what worries us about what is happening at the chernobyl nuclear site, and i the zaporizhzhia nuclear site, the actual functioning power reactor that russia seized. this is never happened before, we've never had armies or anyone attacked operating nuclear power plants, sees nuclear power plants, cut off from the outside world, force the workers that work a gun point. this is fraught with difficulties. it's hard enough operating these nuclear power facilities in these times, technicians are highly trained and highly skilled but to do it under these conditions, just to give you an example of the director general of the iaea, has several pillars of safe and secure reactor operations. the russians are violating all seven of those codes, none of them are in operation, now the physical integrity of the plant,

consistent supply of logistics and supply to the plant. the ability of the staff to move freely and without dress, oh yes, and electricity being a constant supply to the plant, those are the conditions that these plants are in. so, far everything is holding, but the iaea director is very concerned, he's ordering immediate cease fire around the facilities. so it's georgia and joe, we are hearing a lot more calls for a no-fly zone. we heard it from president zelenskyy there through sky news, a group of american diplomats and generals, rhoden open letter saying it is time for a limited no-fly zone. they don't think that that will escalate into a nuclear conflict. what is your view on this? how easy is it to set up a no fly zone without risking a nuclear war? >> i would defer to the current no-fly zone, and you don't just drop a shield over the city, you have to enforce it you have combat going in and shooting

down russian combat jets, before even get to that there is the portion of the enemy air defenses stems. he would be bombing russian anti aircraft sites, he would be bombing them in russia, possibly belarus. you would be killing hundreds of russians. now maybe you think that won't trigger an all out war, between nato and russia, but i do, my sympathies are with ukrainians. i wish we could do this, but the risks of generating a war that could potentially lead to nuclear use are just too great. it could make the existing conflict look like -- >> god help us all. thank you for your analysis tonight, i appreciate it. so we are monitoring all developments in ukraine tonight and the rachel maddow show is right after the short break.

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of ukraine began two weeks, ago but russia first invaded ukraine eight years ago. in 2014 russian faded not just crimea, but also the donbas region of eastern ukraine. and while russia took full control of crimea, in the donbas in -- ukrainian and russian militaries i had been fighting essentially a trench for ever since. it has been brutal. thousands of ukrainian soldiers and civilians have died over the last eight years, and so when -- he became the new united states ambassador to ukraine in 2016, one of the very first stops when she arrived in kyiv was the wall of remembrance. a memorial wall honoring ukrainian soldiers killed by russia in the donbas. she also visited the front lines of the conflict in donbas, that is her on the left with u.s. senators -- mccain and graham visiting ukrainian troops on new year's eve in 2016.

she would visit the frontlines ten times as ambassador. she said it was to, quote, show the american flag and hear what was going on, sometimes literally as we heard the impact of artillery. when marie ivanovich arrived in ukraine in 2016, she was a veteran foreign services officer. in the previous decade she had been the ambassador to kyrgyzstan and armenia. she had experience in ukraine, by the, way being the deputy chief of mission in kyiv. that's her on the right performing election monitoring in ukraine's 2002 parliamentary elections. when she returned to ukraine in 2016, in addition to showing american support for ukraine in its war with russia, the other major pillar of marie yovanovitch's job as ambassador was to promote anti-corruption efforts. just a couple of years earlier, ukrainians had kicked out there fantastically corrupt pro-russian president and what was called the revolution of dignity.

it was ambassador yovanovitch's job, and the policy of the united states government, to push the new ukrainian government to fulfill its promises to end corruption and to practice good governance. of course, a lot of powerful people in ukraine were not interested in reform. marie ivanovich expected to make enemies in ukraine for carrying out her work. what she did not expect was for those animals to have help from washington and, in particular, for the from the president of the united states. because, of course, marie ivanovich would go on to be ousted from her post by president donald trump. and when he was impeached for trying to extort the ukrainian government for his own personal, gain the former ambassador would become a central witness in that impeachment. one thing that comes through in marie ivanovich's book, we're counting all this, called lessons from the, edge is her absolute disbelief at the path that her life was taking as all this unfolded. we now know that president

trump was involved in a multi-pronged effort to pressure the iranian government to manufacture dirt on joe biden and that he ultimately withheld vital money and weapons and a coveted white house meeting from ukraine as part of that pressure campaign. we now know that ambassador yovanovitch was perceived as the impediment to their plans, because she was a stalwart opponent of the corrupt figures in ukraine who were helping trump and his allies manufacture this dirt on biden. we now know all that. but at the time it seemed literally unbelievable. at one point, ukraine's deputy foreign minister came to ambassador yovanovitch's residents to warn her that a corrupt prosecutor that she butted heads with was working with giuliani to spread lies about them. yovanovitch could not believe that her job would be in real danger. she said, quote, i knew that this ukrainian prosecutor was going to try to make life

uncomfortable for me in ukraine. i understood that he had joined forces with giuliani and that they both wanted me fired. but i salute on the mansion that they could be successful. the notion that an unscrupulous and disgruntled for an official, or even a president's personal dirt digger, would actually mean if you like the u.s. government to act against the sitting u. s. ambassador was inconceivable to me, and quote. the very next month, yovanovitch was suddenly recalled to washington in the middle of the night and summarily dismissed as ambassador. that happened just three days after the election of a new ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy. he was about to get sucked right into the middle of donald trump's extortion scheme. and marie ivanovich, the veteran ambassador, who was such a staunch ally of ukraine and its fight against russia and corruption would not be there to back him up. a few months later, yovanovitch was called to testify at donald trump's impeachment hearings.

how could our system feel like, this how is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government which country's interests are's served when the very corrupt behavior we are criticizing is allowed to prevail? such conduct undermines the united states, exposes our friends and why didn't the playing field for autocrats like president putin. our leadership depends on the power of our example and the consistency of our purpose. both have now been open to question. >> such conduct exposes our friends and why didn't the playing field for autocrats like president putin, and quote. well, now that we are, here two weeks into putin's brutal, all out war on ukraine, it is hard not to wonder just how much that shameful chapter led us to

where we are today. how clearly can we trace the line from donald trump's undermining of ukraine to the current catastrophe? joining me now is the former united states ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch. her new, book lessons from the, edge comes out next week, and we have never needed her insights more, more now than ever. thank you so much for joining us, ambassador. i have to tell you, it is very noisy here because they have just announce -- we are at the train station -- they have just announced a special trained to budapest, which will be leading here probably within the next half an hour or so. you can see people loading up. these are people who came in from all parts of ukraine. they are escaping, it is mostly women and children, as we have described, and that train that you are looking at now is going to be heading to budapest. they will try to find a new life, i and i have met people who know where they are going and others who do not. i apologize to our audience for the noise, but this is an active train station. ambassador, i want to get to those questions about your experience under the trump administration and the ukraine scheme for which he was

impeached. but first i want to talk to you about what is happening right now in this country of ukraine that you love so much. you were ambassador for several years. ambassador until 2019, when you -- you seem to be as surprised as most people that this invasion actually happened. tell me what you thought was going to happen and what the last two weeks have looked like to you? >> well, as we all know, the u.s. government was sharing intelligence with the world. so, as we could see the troops gathering around ukraine, it became clearer and clearer to me and i think too many people that there was going to be an invasion. i had hoped that it would be a -limited invasion. by the peers that that is not the case. and it is hard to believe, i, think certainly for me and i think for probably many people in our audience, that it has only been two weeks. it feels like it is a sharp break before the invasion and today. it is tragic, as you see in

putin's brutal invasion of ukraine. >> you know a lot of people in ukraine. what are you hearing from? then what are they telling you? >> well, it's across the board and it is disbelief and anguish and its cries for help. but i am also hearing the residents resilient nature of ukrainian people. what you are seeing online and in living rooms every day. the ukrainian people do not give up. i've been in touch with some in the ukrainian government, someone who is quite high up, and he's working seven floors down in a bunker. he says there is no light, there is no air, there our only government people and security people. he talks about the difference between life and their life on the surface he says we are motivated and are going to

fight for ukraine. on the surface, as he calls it, you can see all of the people in ukraine, ordinary citizens, like you and myself, who are setting about for the country for this brutal invasion. maxlength=32> what do you think vladimir putin's end goal is here. at first it was to extend the umbrella of protection to russians speakers in ukraine, we knew that wasn't true, then it was to replace the government with one that was, once again, friendlier to russia than to the west. but now this just looks like a campaign of destruction. >> it does. it looks like a campaign of vengeance, because it was not the cakewalk that he was anticipating. i do think that putin has had an obsession with ukraine for many years, he's made that clear in his writings, and in his actions. he invaded georgia in 2008, he invaded ukraine in 2014, as you recounted. and he got away with both of those actions. i think he thought he was going

to get away with it again, that ukraine would not be able to put up the kind of resistance that we are seeing, both on the part of the military, as well as the government and the citizens of ukraine. i think he badly underestimated, the reaction of the international community, that we would be united in the face of what can only be called depravity. >> is there a world in which the ukrainian people win this fight? we've been speaking to members of parliament who are saying they've got the driving them to do it, but they can not do it with more assistance from the globe, do you think there's any chance of ukraine prevailing? >> here's what i know. russia is not going to prevail. russia may, overtime, if it really doubles down, they may win the war, but they are never going to win the peace. because the ukrainian people

will resist, as you are seeing them do every day, right now. they will resist through a guerrilla movement, they will resist through acts of civil disobedience. they will make the price so high for a russian occupation, that it will not be sustainable. russia's miscalculation integrating media crane, is a tragedy for the ukrainian people. but it's also a tragedy for the russian people, whose future is now been mortgage by the blood and treasure that the russians expended in ukraine. >> i want to ask you about this no-fly zone, whether it's the full one with the ukrainian president is looking for, or a narrower one as i spoke to ambassador john herbst about. when you think the likelihood of something like that happening is, and what do you think the u.s. administration

should be doing? >> i think it's a very important question to ask. i think we need to ask ourselves, as the international community, how do we help the ukraine, how do we support ukraine, how do we save ukraine without expanding the war in ways that nobody wants to see? you know, on the one hand, i think that nobody wants to push putin over the edge, but on the other hand, what does it say about us and our found values. if we don't provide greater military assistance. we have the means to stop, and at least mitigate the worst carnage. and you know, as your previous guest said, will we at some later point have to intervene at a time that is perhaps more difficult. i think this question of risk is very important one. we need to mitigate the risk, but it's also true that not taking greater action comes with a risk as well.

because putin is a bully, and he only understands strength. >> ambassador, i want to ask you, if we just take a quick break, we've got a lot more of that we want to discuss, with you if you don't mind sticking around, our guest is the former ambassador to the ukraine, maria yovanovitch, we'll have more from the ambassador when we return.

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look at the train here that has been loaded up with people who are on their way to budapest. the train is supposed to leave at 10:05 eastern, in about 25 minutes. we are watching people come out and fill that train up. i'm joined once again by the former ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch, ambassador, thanks for waiting, colonel alexander vindman was on the show earlier this week. he said there's essentially a direct line between what happened on that july 2019 phone call between donald trump and president volodymyr zelenskyy, and what we're seeing now. he believed donald trump weakened zelenskyy by withholding a white house meeting, and military aid, at the exact time when he needed the most. two and a half years later, how damaging was that whole incident, in which you also became involved to the standing and potential success of president zelenskyy in ukraine right now?

>> well, there is no question that that whole series of events really damaged the trust between two countries. so lewinsky had been, a non-politician, he'd been a politician. this is one of his first experiences in international relations, he said that after that he didn't trust anyone. it was quite damaging, and more than that i think in the transcripts were released, others like president putin could see the contempt with which president trump was dealing with president zelenskyy. i think that in itself was very damaging. more broadly, the whole world could see that the president of the united states was ready to trade corn asheville security interests, for his own personal political gain. hugely, hugely damaging, because you have everybody who is sovezelenskyy, president z h% thei, terth ordinary people had to follow the laws, and we're often the victims of corrupt effo shake them down, and so forth could see the contempt with which president trump was dealing with president zelenskyy. i think that in itself was very damaging. more broadly, the whole world could see that the president of the united states was ready to trade our national security interests, for his own personal political gain. hugely, hugely damaging, because you have everybody who is so inclined wanting to jump

on to the gravy train. so, yeah, i would say it was a very damaging incident. but fast forward to today. zelenskyy, president zelenskyy has made the transition from comedian to president of a developing democracy, to a war hero, a man who is inspiring not only his own country, but the world. >> let me ask you about that, because you say, and you write so eloquently in your book, about how your efforts were there to help ukraine evolve, and come out of this sort of corruption it had been involved in. it definitely was a country that faced a lot of corruption. you are there to kind of backstop, and help those anti-corruption people in ukraine. let me just see what's going on here, it seems like this train is on its way to leaving. and that's what happened, donald trump and his people sort of came in the way of that sort of thing. tell me what would have happened if they hadn't.

would zelenskyy would have been in a stronger position, i'm gonna ask you for a moment to wait. this is a train that is leaving zahony station on the border, the passengers are coming from ukraine, they are now heading to budapest. this train will actually stop in budapest, on thursday night you saw i was in the budapest station. they will from there be greeted by more relief workers, who will provide them with transportation, and accommodation in budapest, or to the airport, or to the embassies where they can get their visas and move on to points west. some will stay in budapest, some will go on, we just spoke to a woman who is heading to prague. she is here with their friend, and their little children. that's the last train we'll probably see for a couple of hours. ambassador, sorry for the interim option, tell me about

this effort you are part of -- european union, and ultimately nato. >> well, that was u.s. policy. it was also ukrainian policy, following the revolution of dignity in 2014, and with that term means, it's kind of an obscure term for americans. what it means is, rule of law. ukrainians were tired of having one set of rules for the oligarchs and leaders of the country, where they can do everything they wanted, and ordinary people had to follow the laws, and w're often the victims of corrupt efforts to shake them down, and so forth. people were sick of it. and they mounted the street demonstrations, because they wanted to join the eu, when the previous pro russian president had turned his back on that, and it turned into the revolution of dignity. so there was a -- came in. and there is a very clear policy on the part of the

ukrainian government, and pro reform activists, and politicians, they wanted to turn the country around, get a hold of corruption, move forward on their democratic efforts, and create the rule of law in ukraine. we wanted to support that. we thought that would be terrific for ukraine, a country after all, 44 million people in the heart of europe. and, we thought it would be good for us as well, to have a strong democratic country as a partner, in that part of europe. so, we all were working quite hard to support the efforts of the ukrainians in that direction. i think zelenskyy, first in his first pro reform government was working in that direction. to say that reforms in any country, whether it's the u. s.,

ukraine, or a third country, it goes in fits and starts, it's never a straight line. so the ukrainians have made progress since 2014, they have made progress since zelenskyy came to power. but it's not a straight line, i think the ukrainian people are still hoping for more progress, in that area. but right now, the entire country, the entire political spectrum is united behind president zelenskyy to fight the common foe, which is russia. >> yeah, it's important to remember that no country is a monolith, and ukraine has its own politics inside of it. but right now they are united around this. a final comment from you, a final thought from you. you knew of volodymyr zelenskyy when he first became president. most americans haven't heard the name. he's a young man, 44 years old right now, as recently as a month ago there were western leaders sane this guy is not up to the challenge of going against the master manipulator, vladimir putin. wet has volodymyr zelenskyy done that is impressed you in

the past several weeks? >> well, i've been very impressed by how he has used his communication skills, as an actor and comedian, and his executive skills, as the head of a large media empire, and now the president of a large country in the heart of europe. he has combine those two talents to communicate with his people in a time of great stress in peril. unite the ukrainian people behind him, and inspire the world. the man has met the moment, he is a true ukrainian hero right now. >> ambassador, thank you for your time tonight, we really appreciate it. former ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch, she's the author of a new memoir, lessons from the edge. we really appreciate you being with us this evening. we'll continue with more ahead, stay with us. we got the house! you did!

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ukraine. we've seen two trains now leave for budapest. the reason they are not very full is because there are border procedures on the other side, they really can't just flow in here, there's a very his name is andrea. he is -- >> and how old are they? >> almost seven. >> both of? them >> yes. >> where you're coming from? >> we are from ukraine. >> where is that? >> near kyiv. >> and who have you brought, and who have you left behind?

>> i'm with my friend. my husband, my father, my sister. this day. yes. >> are your kids scared? do they know what's happening? >> they know. i think, they don't understand all of this. they are scared. we can't get over the shock. this very scary.

i can't sleep at night. >> the final stop for those two women and their 27 year old children will be in prague in the czech republic. it will first go to budapest, and they will go to prague. we will have more from hungry when we come back. hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein.

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hungary, on the border with ukraine. we've seen two trains now leave for budapest. the reason they are not very

full is because there are border procedures on the other side, they really can't just flow in here, there's a very long line up on the other side. the town on the other side of this border is called chop, and a number of these border crossings have lineups of people both in cars and on foot waiting to get in. we were told, yesterday, that the lineups are stretching from what we're sort of six hours early in the week, to 12 hours and, those may increase. so there are a lot more people are willing to come through, but they trickle through as they get stopped on the border. we'll continue to cover the story for you, and all these people are trying to make their way from danger into a better life somewhere else and your. that does it for us tonight, we're gonna see you again tomorrow. maxlength=32> tonight, the grimmest phase yet in russia's war in ukraine. a children and maternity hospital bombs. pregnant women pulled out, and fears that children can still be trapped beneath the rubble. and if that wasn't enough, the u.s. is now warning that russia

can use chemical or biological weapons, next, and more companies cutting ties with moscow, but who is still staying, as the 11th hour gets underway on this wednesday night. >> good evening, i'm stephanie ruhle, day 15 of the invasion in ukraine, and russia appears to have begun a more brutal and devastating phase of its assault. today, airstrikes on the southern city of mariupol, destroyed a children's and maternity hospital. the horror of the bombing captured in this image of an injured pregnant women carried out on a stretcher. >> vladimir putin says russians should be proud of what their soldiers are doing in ukraine. but where is the honor? bombing a children's and maternity hospital. no patients were reported killed in this attack, but pregnant women were among those