and the secretary is pleased to be able to go in person and be there to meet with other defense ministers, whoever is going to be there. we know that there's a lot to talk about. there's an awful lot going on inside the alliance. the alliance is more relevant than ever and more united than ever and more viable than it's ever been, and there's going to be a lot of material to go through, both in terms of what we are seeing happen in ukraine and the affect that needs to have on the alliance going forward, including the application of the response force, what that looks like, when and who and when. all that, we expect, will be discussed. in the back there. >> reporter: in the increase,

the missile defense forces, what steps have been taken since then? what change after and before the new direction? >> what has changed, we increased isr coverage in the yellow sea, and the ballistic defense readiness, and i think you understand why we would not detail every bit of that effort. >> reporter: okay. >> back there. >> reporter: on the response on what you briefed on wednesday, the russians told the norwegians, we have seen russian jets fly over british territory from the baltic sea, and are they worried about any other attempted provocations or interference? >> we always take that force

protection at a premium here, and it's a factor and it's an exercise. here's the deal. we announced it. we have been talking about that prep for it for quite sometime. it's a defensive exercise. i stood up here the other day and walked through all the capabilities that we are going to be training to and what those marines and sailors are up to. we'll continue to be as transparent about the exercise as possible. there's no reason for anybody to view this as some kind of threat, and therefore there would be no reason for anybody, including the russians, to threaten it. and protection is always a paramount concern, and we don't anticipate at this time that there would be a specific threat to the exercise. >> reporter: a few minutes ago you mentioned you don't talk about specifics of the security

assistance, and obviously a lot of that assistance is being publicized, javelins and also stingers, and could you go on about what they disclose about that? >> we have been very consistent since before putin decided to launch a war in ukraine that we with help ukraine with the ability to defend itself but we would not get into a shopping list. i have not done that and i will not start today. i think you can understand why we don't believe it's helpful for the ukrainians to have us publicize and put out there in great detail what we are putting in their hands. if they want to speak to what they have and what they are using it's their right. but we are not going to do that op-ed for them. we want to observe ukrainian

operational security. paul shankman from u.s. news. >> reporter: john, one question to follow-up on belarus. the ukrainian government or officials in ukraine warned about an impending invasion by belarusian forces as soon as this afternoon, and you said there was no indication of real or imagined attacks on their territory, but do you have any response from those ukrainian officials? >> i can only tell you what we are seeing. we're not tracking any imminent involvement by belarusian forces -- >> that's the pentagon spokesperson john kirby right

now, and he's saying there is no reason to believe belarusian forces have plans to invade ukraine. good could be with you. i am katy tur. it's day 16 of russia's war on ukraine. here's what we know right now precipitation united nations council met a moment ago in yet another emergency meeting. this was called by russia to claim without evidence that the united states created labs within ukraine. u.s. ambassador to the u.n. greenfield said russia is lying. >> last month secretary blinken laid out with tragic accuracy what russia was about to do. he specifically warned that russia would manufacture a pretext for attack and even

cautioned that russia would fabricate biological weapons to justify attacks against the ukrainian people. today the people around the world are watching russia do what we warned russia would do. and russia has a program in violation of international law. it's russia that has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons. we have serious concerns that russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the ukrainian people. the intent behind these lies seem clear, and it is deeply troubling. >> so today president biden announced the u.s. will join its european allies and will sign an executive order banning certain imports from russia and it will amount to a roughly $1 billion

hit. but vladimir putin still remains defiant telling russians he will overcome the sanctions, and he opened the diplomatic door a crack saying there have been positive shifts in talks with ukraine and it's unclear exactly what he meant. russia is targeting cities in the south and the west, including a shoe factory that was bombed. you can see cleanup crews going through the rubble, as was an apartment building and a preschool. to the west, just 70 miles from the polish border russia fired more missiles. these photos captured a large fire in that city. and the big prize is still kyiv. satellite shows a convoy fanning out along the outskirts of the city. the pentagon just addressed this and we will have more on that in a moment. there are also fire fights on the edges of kyiv, and cameras

captured the moment ukrainian forces faced off with russians who were approaching on foot. meanwhile, ukraine claims that vladimir putin plans to order a terrorists attack on chernobyl. while the u.s. cannot confirm that claim they have warned about a possible operation there by the russians. right now staff at chernobyl are under deteriorating and exhausting conditions according to the international atonic energy agency. russian forces have held control of that facility since the early days of this war. joining me now is nbc news foreign correspondent from lviv, ukraine. we have seen a few missile attacks on the western side of ukraine. we had not seen those before. most of the focus was on the eastern edges. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that is right, katy. the first attacks on the west inside since the beginning of the war started which is right

in the center of the country, and the residents of nepro were shocked. it hit a shoe factory that is still smoldering, and they killed a civilian, and further out west it hit an airport that has a military facility and we think that's why it was targeted. as those attacks happened, air raids went off here in lviv at 4:00 in the morning and just before noon. it's a city on edge. people are always frightened that the perceived fighting is coming. we spoke to a young lady today called lily. she has been ferrying refugees on the east that have come here to lviv, and she's driving them

in her van into poland and the reason she is driving them is because men are not allowed to leave the border, and a lot of women have stepped in to get refugees across the border and bring medical supplies back. she said on her way back she saw van after van being driven by women taking refugees across the border. let's listen what she had to say earlier today. >> if the war zone will come here, i will definitely take my kids and go abroad. not to bother the army, you know, not to make my family -- my husband and dad worry about me, you know? i don't want to bother them. >> reporter: if it does come west you are out of here? >> yes, for sure. >> reporter: and your husband? >> he will stay here. >> reporter: and fight. >> yeah, and my dad also. my dad can cross the border, he's old enough, but he don't want.

>> reporter: i think that's the incredible thing, katy. her father is 63 years old, and if you are above 60 you are allowed to leave the country but he said he will stay and fight if the russians come west. as the fighting and as the bombing has gotten worst, it seems only to stiffen the resolve of the people here in lviv and across the country as they are looking at a possible russian incursion across the country. people are tense and don't know what the future is going to hold and the air-raid sirens shakes them up, and they are holding tight. >> the bravery is remarkable across the country. i want to show you images from the u.n. security council, and no evidence of the biological weapons in ukraine, and we said they are lying, and the ukrainian ambassador held up images of what he said was the hospital in mariupol that russia bombed, and he claims the

hospital is still standing and russia did not target it. we have images of the hospital in rubble and images of the aftermath. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right. they were saying the hospital was overrun by ukrainian radicals and this is all propaganda by ukraine, but the images coming out of the hospital, the eyewitness reports that we heard contradict all the claims the russians are claiming. mariupol is a city under siege. according to the people there, 400,000 people are being held hostage there, and the foreign minister said it's a humanitarian disaster in mariupol, and as many as 1,500 civilians have been killed in that city. there were meant to be eight humanitarian trucks to go in there and give aid to those that don't have water, electricity and power, and those trucks could not get in because it's been encircled so what the

russians are saying doesn't seem to ring true, because by all accounts it's hell on earth. >> the story doesn't stand up either, and they are saying they bombed it because the radicals were in there, and now they are saying it's still standing. consistency is key if you want to get a lie in there. joining me is a journalist working out of ukraine since january and before that covered the taliban takeover from afghanistan. and from kyiv, a journalist, and he covered war in the middle east and investigated corruption in ukraine. thank you for coming back. i want to start with you, igor. let's talk about what is happening in kyiv. we're told it's essentially a fortress right now, and that russian convoy is on the move and what is it like there tonight? >> well, the russian convoy has

dispersed and alleviated some of the traffic jam, and we are not sure if they are planning for a invasion or encircling the city, and if they attack right now could lead to more losses. people are out on the street when the curfew is not on. people are going about their business. obviously stocks and pharmacies are limited but people are still defiant and we have all of the utilities and the internet, which is much better than some of the outlying suburbs as well as cities in the west and south. right now kyivians are from what i can see holding strong and their attitude has not changed since we last spoke. >> we are looking at images at a firefight on the outskirts of kyiv, and we have seen a ton of images coming out of erpin.

how full is the city now? you talk about unaccepted losses, and it seems like there's still quite a few people? >> what i meant was the russians can't really strike without taking unacceptable losses by themselves. as for kyiv, it's quieter, and according to the mayor about half of the population have evacuated, and for those others coming in from all these places are not enough to make up the difference. i was covering the refugees for the last couple of days and i have heard gruesome stories, and a woman said when she was crossing -- they had to cross a stream and a helicopter began striking them. >> terrifying. you are in dnipro, and that city

was targeted in the last 24 hours. what you have experienced? >> until a few days ago i spent days in kharkiv, and that is around the front lines of the campaign of the russians. it's really a horrifying sight there. the historical downtown of kharkiv is now gutted buildings and hardly anybody in the streets, and people spent days and nights sheltering in the subways, and civilians have been killed there in the last two weeks. it's the second largest city in ukraine, the streets were bustling with crowds and there were shops and night clubs, and fancy restaurants, and a shopping mall was destroyed just two days ago. all that was alive just a month ago and now it's different on

the streets of kharkiv. >> we have seen images of civilians trying to stop tanks and civilians taking up arms. what can you tell us about tear territorial defense? >> well, the ncos are career military personnel. they are part of the military effort to try and stop the russian advances. with spent some time with the military in kharkiv. they have been armed with western-provide the weapons, and there's anti-missiles and javelin missiles, and they are going out every night and hunting russian tanks and vehicles on the outskirts of kharkiv, and little by little trying to push the russian positions further away so less

and less of the city is not within range of the artillery, and launchers. >> what can you tell us about the morale right now? >> well, the mayor of kharkiv i spoke with, and i spoke with civilians and everybody we spoke to said the same thing, we will not surrender. people said they believe in victory. maybe outside ukraine, a lot of people started thinking that russia will try in the end, just given the size of russian's military and resources, but most ukrainians believe that the country will not be overrun, and they will be able to resist at a terrible cost, but the victory will be there. >> so glad to talk to you again. glad you managed to stay safe. we appreciate it. >> thank you. let's bring in courtney kube who was at the briefing at the

pentagon. what were the headlines? >> we have been watching this very slow stalled progress of the russians up in the north around kyiv. my big takeaway today and frankly in the last 24 hours of the military campaign in ukraine is that there actually has started to be a slow amount of progress of the russian military around kyiv. why that is significant, it's not because they are so much closer they will be able to isolate the city quickly, and in fact a u.s. official said he thinks it will be one on two weeks before the city is isolated and then weeks more before there's any chance the russians could take over the city. but the reason this slow progress towards kyiv is significant is it shows that despite the fact the russians have been stalled and bogged down, there has not been any indication that they are looking to turn away from the capital city. in fact, it appears that vladimir putin decided to double down and to open up a new front on kyiv and continue the effort

to isolate and take that city, katy. >> what would that mean for the people inside kyiv? >> the most likely outcome here is if russia is able to isolate it we will see urban combat and what that means is generally a lot of civilian infrastructure attacked, a lot of civilian casualties. if the ukrainians mount this resistance that we have been seeing in other parts of the country, it's a street to street battle in kyiv. it's a large and sprawling city so it could go on for sometime. what is remarkable here, we are on day 16 of the military campaign in ukraine, and the russians, what they believed they could do is isolate that city in a matter of 48 hours and maybe 72 hours and take the entire city in a couple weeks. under the russian military plan here, they expected to have kyiv, to own that city right now

when in fact they have not fully isolated it. if you take that into consideration, their entire military campaign to take the eastern half of the country is going much slower than we expected. there's also some progress in the south. if you look at a map of ukraine right now and where the russians control territory, they really own much of the coastline along the northern black sea and the sea of asaub. despite the fact the russian plan, their campaign, is moving slower they are making progress in some areas, katy. >> i want to ask if you can shed light on this. senator mitt romney was saying we should be handing over those jets to ukraine. he said the policy right now of the u.s. is that we seem to be afraid of vladimir putin when vladimir putin should be afraid of us. i wonder if you can give us any more insight on why -- i know we talked about this a lot, about

why we are not handing over those jets. i know it's the pentagon's position that they don't believe ukraine needs them but ukrainians keep asking for them? >> that's right. the pentagon is looking at this purely from a military perspective. what that means is they look at risks versus reward here. right now ukraine has somewhere in the area of 65 fix the wings jet ready to go and are operable, and they fly about five of those on a daily basis, and they have dozens sitting and not flying and the reason is because of the contested airspace we talked about since this campaign began. that means the ukrainians and russian military both have surface to air missiles and anti-air capabilities on the ground that are all over ukraine, so they have the -- both sides have the ability to shoot down the opposing sides'

aircraft, so they are not flying a lot. the russians are flying 150 to 200 sortees per day, and most of them are not flying into ukrainian airspace, and those that do fly in drop a bomb and then go back on to the russian side and the russian border. the reason the military calculous -- the u.s. military calculous is that ukraine doesn't need them is they have dozens of aircraft they are not using on a daily basis. this is not a air war right now. the things -- the weapons in the air are largely cruise missiles, they are largely artillery, more so than any short-ranged air. the risk of bringing these in outweighs the operational need right now from a u.s. military perspective right now. >> courtney, thank you very much. coming up, what happens if

vladimir putin is found guilty of committing war crimes? we will also look at the convoy heading towards kyiv and what the movement signals. we got a little bit of that from courtney kube. and then a former top spy joins me. zapped in seconds. the face of clean. the face of whoa! some are of intensity, others joy. all are of... various: ahhh... listerine. feel the whoa! ♪ ♪ ♪a little bit of chicken fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪ ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪ ♪and the radio up well i've seen the sunrise...♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's

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each of our nations is going to take steps to deny most favored status to russia. putin is an aggressor, the aggressor, and putin must pay the price. >> president biden made it even harder for russia to do business with the u.s. today, and he is banning key russian goods like caviar, vodka and diamonds. meanwhile, vice president kamala harris is on her way home and

has information vladimir putin has broken international law. >> let me be clear, any targeting of civilian sz a war crime. period. >> joining me now is heidi from washington, and josh letterman who has been covering the situation from warsaw, poland. >> revoking the status means that russia is now opened up to stiff tariffs on all of its goods from basically most of its major trading partners in the west. katy, this is part of a strategy here. the first-line strategy by pe a choke off russia economically, and we saw that with the oligarchs and the targeting of russian banks and this is the

latest initiative and i am told by experts eventually this will have a big impact. i was just speaking with representative mccall, and he said there's a point when you have to bring out the big guns where europe will ban the oil, and on the military side of this, we just heard from president biden who spoke to the house democrats that said, again, that providing ukrainians with any kind of offensive weapons, trains, tanks, things of that nature would amount to world war iii, and this is after a phone call with president zelenskyy again, and the president not budging on that. and representative mccall said the u.s. cut a deal with turkey to provide some of those

weapons. you are seeing the efforts to get ukrainians the materials they need and the weapons they are asking for, but maybe through other means. that's what we saw with this deal that we are trying to get more information about. unfortunately, katy, he told me all things considered, he just got back from the border and he expect things to get much, much worse. he believes all the talk of chemical weapons, russia may already have the chemical weapons at its disposal that it would use potentially, and that was a chilling statement coming from the top republican on foreign affairs. >> yes. and today a woman was asked about war crimes and whether she thinks putin has committed them? >> reporter: the vice president said any targeting of civilians

is clearly a war crime, period. she did not go as far to explicitly connect the dots that russia has committed war crimes because that's not a position the united states has taken, and they want to get all the evidence prepared before they make that significant allegation. but the mission that the vice president was on here in poland as well as in romania was clear and simple. it was to firmly reassure nato that the u.s. is going to stand up and defend all countries in the alliance. i remember watching joe biden as vice president deliver that in this very city when i travelled with him in 2014 in the middle of the last invasion putin launched in ukraine, and harris also said this, take a look.

>> an attack against one is an attack against all. we will defend every inch of nato territory. >> reporter: the other aspect of the vice president's trip here was focused on the humanitarian crisis, katy, something i know you have been tracking closely, both poland and romania, accepting huge numbers of refugees, about a million and a half here in poland and we are asking u.s. officials over and over again just how many more refugees can these countries take before the system starts to crack, and they do not have a firm answer and acknowledge that it's possible these countries are being pushed up to the brink on their ability to accept and care for these refugees, and that's why the u.s. will attempt to provide more assistance. >> the latest u.n. count is 2.5

million, and there's no word on whether the united states will simplify the process, and i have heard stories of family members that went over to get young children or minors out of ukraine only to be told they can't bring them to the united states, and those family members are left in a tough spot not want to go leave those minors and to come back home to their own families, and that's a question open to the state department. up next, the giant russian convoy is on the move, but the pentagon just warned it might not mean an invasion of kyiv is imminent. we will look at the battlefield with a retired army general. in just two weeks they have gone from setting broken bones and delivering babies to treating war wounds.

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-denied. -can you imagine? i want a new nickname. can you guys start calling me snake? no, bryan. -denied. -how about we all get quotes to see if we can save with america's number one motorcycle insurer? approved. cool! hey, if bryan's not gonna be snake, can i be snake? -all: no. russian troops are closer to ukraine's capital now just ten miles from the city's center. on the outskirts of kyiv fighting has broken out between russian and ukrainian forces. we want to warn some of the images we are about to show are graphic. here's alex crawford in kyiv. >> their lives stuffed into puts, and in the back seats they are taking terrible hits. laid out on the already

blood-soaked stretchers. it's the nearest hospital now entirely turned over to dealing with the war wounded. these are not army medics, but the towns doctors and nurses who two weeks ago were dealing with bone breaks. they are now trying to save the lives of soldiers and civilians torn apart by bullets. >> it's world war iii. it could be stopped here or it could move, so please help us to stop this war. >> they are shellshocked and shaking, and so far the politicians' peace talks have gotten nowhere. hospitals are protected locations under international law, but nobody here trust that

to be observed. yet there's an astonishing resilience and perhaps the realization they have no option. it's not difficult for us to fight, he tells us. we are defending our land and will continue to protect it. then he delivers a rousing call just not to ukrainian men and women but to the rest of the world. everybody has to stand together, he says. glory to ukraine. our army will win. this is on the northwest edge of the capital. we found multiple vehicles and homes which have been hit, apparently indiscriminately. there seems to be no shortage of lucky escapes. he was on duty as an emergency worker. there are thousands of lives abruptly halted by this war. pets abandoned in the rush to keep out of the way of the

rockets and bombs, and families who up and left everything just to try and survive. there's a constant sound of artillery and shelling going on and you can see some of the devastation the attacks have had, and the russians are only a few kilometers down the road and this is the constant backdrop. so those who can't or won't leave live in a shadowy underground world below the booming war sounds. half of the capital's population has fled the city according to the mayor. >> smells good. smells good. >> we're just waiting for victory, for everything to be good again, she says, and trying not to cry. these are the bravest of women tending to some of the communities most vulnerable and most frightened. we have already learned how to tell the difference between outside shooting and the

enemies, natalia tells us. we can identify everything and we are just trying to keep everything calm. they are living under siege here with sons and partners fighting and homes bombed. for sure this is a crime and putin has to be punished, she tells us. [ phone ringing ] >> hi, dad. >> a soldier had to pass through russian troops to escape. >> i saw a lot of vehicles, civilian vehicles destroyed on the road. dead bodies still inside, on the side of the road, and people are marking their vehicles if they have children, and a bunch of those vehicles were also destroyed with children markings.

>> they are engaged in the fight of their lives to keep russian troops from advancing. alex crawford, sky news on the edge of the capital, kyiv. >> cars marked with children still being targeted. that was alex crawford reporting. senior defense officials believe russia conducted nearly 810 cumulative missile launches since the beginning of its invasion, and we are seeing something unusual, russia is conducting air strikes on military airfields in western ukraine where they had not been striking, unusual because it had not happened yet. and joining me is retired army colonel mike lyons, and in desert storm he was awarded a bronze star. thank you so much. major, let's talk about what we are seeing. i think a lot of people are

taken back by the ability of the russian forces to achieve their goal quickly at the outset of this, the assumption was they would overwhelm ukraine very quickly and be able to take over cities very quickly. that was vladimir putin's assumption as well. why has it been so difficult for them? >> katy, first of all they have not really combined their efforts. they don't own the airspace. that's very important right now, the fact that is still contested two weeks into this means all the difference in the world. you are seeing their military equipment they have tried to upgrade for the past 15 to 20 years is not working. they can't seem to get it to work. they decided to travel in convoys along roads and they have become easy targets. number three, from a strategic perspective, their forces are spread too thin and they can't control any specific axis, and i

think kyiv has used the force down to the south in the black sea there because they had crimea, and they have taken some of the towns, and they have not taken odesa which is a signal to me they will likely avoid it. at the end of the day, the russian military has performed poorly and humiliated putin because what their power is based on is the perception of power, and their military is very weak and the ukrainian military gets stronger. >> let's talk about what might happen in the end here. we have seen so many soldiers in ukraine saying they are not going to give up, and we see civilians taking up arms saying they are not going to give up, and even those not taking up arms are protesting in the face of these russian tanks. you can bomb out parts of the country but it doesn't seem like vladimir putin will be able to

hold it given the shear dislike, hate you could say, so vladimir putin can't win this war under those terms. what does he do? if you were, you know, assessing it from a military standpoint, what would your assessment be? >> from a military standpoint, it's a regional conflict and in the borders of ukraine, and you don't have aircraft flying into russia and attacking assets in russia, and they can do that because they are at war in russia, and if we fire at a russian aircraft and it goes back into russia and gets destroyed over russia, now what do we have? the border of ukraine is important here. that's the red line frankly, when people talk about red lines and chemicals and the like, as long as it stands within ukraine right now, and our efforts did

not help and did not stop him from going into ukraine, and i saw some of the pictures you just showed. javelins on the backs of the ukraine soldiers. that's amazing. that was in military warehouses a month ago, and the fact that it got into the hands of the ukrainian soldiers, it tells me they are getting to the right spots. it's going to be ugly if they decide to get into the city. it's going to be like eating a porcupine. if he escalates, that's a problem. if he violates the ukrainian border and goes into poland, that's a problem. >> i retitled you a moment ago. i hope you will forgive me for that. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. up next, why vladimir putin is recruiting foreign fighters to fight in ukraine. and what is behind the criminal

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the kremlin announced russia is ready to deploy 16,000 volunteers from the middle east. and putin said they're ready and welcoming more. the decision to enlist foreign fighters would offset what's believed to be heavy russian military casualties in ukraine. announcement following kremlin admission that young draftees have been sent to ukraine. even after vladimir putin personally reassured people that they wouldn't be involved in the special military operation. joining me now -- former senior intelligence officer at the cia responsible for over seeing all of the cia operations. in europe and asia. a non-resident senior fellow atlantic counsel. bringing in foreign fighters,

what's that signal to you? >> it signals two things. first of all it's desperation. these are not fighters who will have any kind of effect on the battlefield. and they're short of their own troops. they're desperate and enlisting really in a rag tag group. who are going to turn into a meat grinder. they won't have any kind of a serious effect. and incredible display of isolation. putin is isolate. if he has to turn to syria, for assistance, it shows he's desperate and isolated. i don't think it will have a big ek. it tells a story. the story is he's losing. >> was what about the false flag warning united states is getting. saying chemical weapons produced in ukraine. the west isyi helping. the u.s. intelligence community warned this innt the lead up to

the invasion here's what they might do to justify it. does that signal this is something that could potentially be working on? >> this is something that of course is a alarming. two things, right now we signal thatna because there's these -- this kind of ludicrous statements russians are making that somehow there's bio weapons being made and ukraine. there could be a chance that they're signaling a future chemical attack. that's a concern really u.s. intelligence is going to be looking i to see if there's any chemical loaded. and moved to the front. it's a worrisome sign. we're not there yet. you have to really hit the panic button. as vladimir putin is in a corner it's not inconceivable to use chemical weapons. and the capitol changing. about more direct u.s. involvement. >> i think the million dollar

question is what's putin do next? he can't win the war. is he in it for the long haul. and the consequence of taking the cities and not being able to take the hearts an a minds of te people. is he in it for an insurgency or a way to get out of this? and still save face within his own country. can he maintain power and get out of this? >> these are all great questions. i think it's clear he's all in. what we'll see is the old russian tactic of destroying population centers and cities. to try to decimate the population and cause -- i think that it's going to be an awful scene of human carnage. there's no way oute for him no. what's interesting is as we especially intelligence community will look a cracks in the regime. for example thepe reports today that putin fired several senior

members. internal service. with some responsibility for outside of f russia too. individuals were responsible for ukraine. as the foundation of putin support is the security elite. the fact that some senior members were the intelligence community will be laser focussed on this. these are things that we're really looking for to see if really foundations of the power structure are cracking. >> once again, i'm finding myself in a situation where i want to talk to you for another ten minutes. i have run out of time. thank you so much for being with us. next time i'll send you a better shirt than that to wear.thus >> thanks. the parent company of facebook and instagram made a temporary change to the hate speech policy. users in ukraine and ukraine alone are permitted to call for violence against russian invaders. the change also allows calls for death tols russian president vladimir putin. and belarus president. credible threats against russian

civilians are still off limits. again this is only within ukraine. russia investigative committee reports directly to vladimir putin opened a criminal investigation into to designate the country as a quote extremist organization. russia has restricted access to facebook and instagram. joining me now, jake ward. i was looking a a tweet saying this is not a broader policy. it's not fwoing to apply to anybody who wants to say this in america. or anyone in the uk or japan. anywhere else in the world. this is only about ukraine. and the people who are currently fighting against russians who have invaded their country. >> that's right. essentially pointing out if they were to in fact remove what would be otherwise considered perfectly legitimate speech on the part of any population being invaded by another country.

they would be removing ukrainians calling for military reaction to invaders. that would be unacceptable and we made the change. this is a very big deal though, first of allth it's certainly points up the incredible power of facebook at a moment like this. andt interesting to see facebo and instagram being restricted in russia. russia is as of november 2019 had institutedf a sovereign internet law. thatgn allows the russian government to disconnect from the global internet. which would allow it to cut things off in a time of emergency. what this is is that actually coming to bear. it turns out now the russian government can restrict information. such that if you only watch russian tv, and if you only listen to official sources on their internal internet in russia, you would essentially have no connection to independent western reporting on ukraine. you can have a totally misguided sense of what's going on in

ukraine. russia obviously very angry that meta has made the decision. they are and that's why they're restricting them as of last week and this week. >> can you very quickly tell me instagram is popular in russia. >> it is. it's enormously popular. a source of information and as a source of income. smallce businesses use it for sales and marketing. restricting it there is not only going to cut people off from western sources of information. on the crisis in ukraine. it's going to cut people off from money. we're seeing the increasing digital isolation of russia and population. as this crisis deepens. >> thank you so much. coming up in the next hour, more on russia military advances. as they step up their air assault across ukraine. i'm staying here. don't go anywhere. nywhere. chickn fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪ ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪

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