breaking news on msnbc, ukraine officials say russian forces shelled a mosque where dozens of people were taking shelter. plus new intelligence says russian ground troops are trying to surround the capital of kyiv making progress overnight. we will get a firsthand account from the ground. president zelenskyy say russian captured a mayor and he's demanding release and the eu is fast-tracking ukraine's membership. today the refugee crisis in eastern europe intensifying. >> no way out, any way out,

russian troops do not allow even for humanitarian help. plus a new nuclear threat. putin is ordering preparations for some kind of attack at chernobyl. we'll speak live with a nuclear expert about how that threat could play into the bigger picture. and new ripple effects from worldwide financial pressure on russia, one of the world's top soccer teams targeted every its oligarch owner. premier league fans are stunned. will any of the ripples actually reach putin? good morning, thanks for joining us bye i'm steven romo. it is saturday, march 12th. we have a team of correspondents and analysts following the latest developments. breaking just moments ago, the ukrainian foreign ministry says russia shelled a mosque in mariupol, more than 80 people were sheltered in the building. no word on casualties yet. breaking in the last few minutes a french government source says

vladimir putin is speaking to french president macron and the german chancellor, meanwhile russian forces are closing in on kyiv. soldiers a mere 15 miles outside of the capital city according to british intelligence. russia targeting airfields in the western part of the country for the first time. and this video from the central city of neprov showing firefighters surrounding burning buildings there, ukraine accusing russia of increasing attacks on civilians in the area, hitting a kindergarten and apartment building and a factory. in the southeastern city of mariupol russian forces have cut the city off from food and water. the shelling is so intense, crews had to abandon their digging of mass graves so "the dead aren't even being buried." all of this is escalating the refugee crisis in eastern europe. poland's two largest cities warn

they can no longer accommodate the number of ukrainians fleeing the war. today ukraine is hoping to open new corridors to try to safely get people out of the areas under siege. leading off our coverage, ali arouzi in ukraine and ellison barber in poland. ali, have the russian troops made ground overnight? >> reporter: we're at lviv train station, where waves are displaced people have been coming down the stairs and others getting into these queues to get into buses, cars to get to safer parts of the country or get out of the country. as far as kyiv last night, militariate shourt of the capital were shelled by missiles and russian troops amassed 10 to 15 miles outside the capital. >> all right, a bit of trouble

there with ali's shot. we'll try to get back to him. ellison, the u.n. says poland welcomed 1.5 million refugees. now there's word some of the cities are reaching a breaking point with all the people that have moved in. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: hey, steven, yeah, we spent 12 days reporting from six different border crossings along the polish/ukrainian border and wanted to follow the journey so many refugees are taking into the larger cities in poland and that's why we're here in krakoff. both leaders of the largest cities in poland, krakoff and warsaw are warning they are struggling to keep up with the massive influx of refugees now flocking to their city, and this city alone, there are said to be over 100,000 ukrainian refugees, the mayor warned in a press conference yesterday that the city is in his words reaching the limits of its efficiency.

what that means is they are struggling to find accommodations for refugees needing a place to stay either for a night or a week or until the fighting ends, on top of that, they're also now trying to balance providing care, like medical care for example to refugees who need it in the city on top of their normal population, for any city to get an extra 100,000 people almost overnight is mind-boggling and what we're seeing here as well as warsaw is that it's very difficult for leaders, volunteer groups to keep up with the demand. we were speaking to the leader of a nongovernmental organization in krakoff, they turned a practice theater into a refugee shelter, a place where refugees can come to get legal assistance and answer basic questions if they're struggling to navigate the new country where they don't speak the language. he told us largely in the city, the main efforts are being led

by volunteer groups, ngos like his. he says there's not enough of an organized approach from the top-down, the polish federal government to help beyond the border and that what they're trying to do right now, all of the volunteer efforts, while incredibly important and incredibly noble, they're simply not sustainable and he's worried about what it might look like in a week, two, three weeks. he said he hopes in the united states that americans will talk to their elected officials about whether or not there's any sort of possibility to offer relocation to refugees here that might want to go beyond poland. the other flipside of that, steven, is that so many people here, ukrainian refugees we have spoken to really want to go home. they're hoping they can go back to ukraine soon and because of that, many of them don't want to go past the cities here in poland. steven? >> such a crisis out there, we are just two weeks in, definitely going to continue watching that. thanks.

ali is back. you were showing us the situation where you are in kyiv. continue now, what is it looking like out there? >> yes, we are here in lviv where all the displaced people are getting off trains and trying to get on buses and cars and get out of here. to update you on kyiv it seems the russian troops amassed about 10 to 15 miles outside of the capital city by all accounts the bulk of the russian troops that are in this country are now on the outskirts of kyiv, and of course, the fear is that they are going to try and launch a much more robust, a much fuller attack on the capital city and try and encircle it as they have done in other cities across ukraine, but it's not clear whether they have the capability to do that, not least of all because they are facing fierce resistance from kyiv where the president is which is

essentially a fortress city. the battle for kyiv will be a pivotal moment in this war in this country and just to update you on other things going on here in mariupol the residents of that city have come out protesting because they claim their mayor was kidnapped yesterday. ukrainian officials have posted video allegedly showing russian forces, showing him away, blindfolded, president zelenskyy said this is a new stage of terror by the russians, and the besieged city of mariupol, which is being shelled constantly, a mosque there has also been hit. there were 80 people keeping refuge in that mosque, we don't know what sort of condition they're in, but that city has been described as hell on earth, no humanitarian aid has been able to get in there, nobody's been able to get out. there's no water, electricity or

food in that city. the scenes have been described as apocalyptic. >> just an awful situation growing more awful. ali arouzi reporting from lviv and ellison barber in poland, thank you both. for more we're joined by the youngest ever member of the ukrainian parliament and colonel john spencer, chair of urban warfare studies modern war institute. how are you and your family holding up and what can you tell us about the latest on the ground? >> the reality is turning kyiv into a fortress is under way. we had russians of number and as far as the battles that are raging right now, they're raging out of kyiv with russians trying to cut our supply lines to the west and south of the city. we are beating them back in the

junctures but they are coming back time and time when it and we and all the world is looking at a 40 kilometer column outside of kyiv which looks poised for an attack and we've been turning our streets and our beautiful town into a battleground that will destroy that column no matter how large it will be. >> yes, desperate situation, mariupol has been cut off, seems that's the goal for kyiv. colonel, the russian troops struggled to make it all the way to surround kyiv. ukrainians putting up quite the defense. do you think russian force also eventually occupy the city or could surround it and choke it off be another route they'll take? >> based on my study of urban warfare, they don't what it takes to surround and isolate the city. they're trying to ensure the critical supplies the defenders need is being cut off and to be honest, they don't have what it takes to take kyiv. they're going to attempt a penetration and that's why they're massing the armor, which is what you need but they're

being picked apart at the outskirts which is great. they're at the gates. the gates need to stay closed and just like he just talked about, turning that city into a fortress to make it a meat grinder. urban warfare is hell on earth especially for the attackers. >> ukraine putting up quite a defense. mr. yurash what do you guys into ed to continue the distance, short of a no-fly zone, that's been ruled out by the white house. what do you guys need most? >> as far as the air is concerned we already said we can make that no-fly zone ourselves. we just ask for the means to do so, both the russian anti air and planes. the reality is that we've been shooting their planes down every single day in every single way and because of that priority in the air, they are causing hell

on earth in different cities, and hitting my hometowns in the western ukraine, hitting all over the country so we do ask for anti-air. as far as the general ask, all is welcome, nothing is enough because we are fighting the second biggest army in the world. >> a follow-up to you, we've seen several photos of you in the streets armed patrolling the streets. how is that situation unfolding? did you ever think you'd be in this position? >> the war on the russians has been going on the last eight years so the idea was not unthinkable. it seems still unreal and that's why it's where we believed that's going to happen. as we see in this world of ours, all is possible and history has not ended. as far as myself and taking up

the gun, everybody is a soldier now and preparing and getting the skills they need to do their part and defend our city in every way they can. >> all right, colonel, we were going to ask you this question for you, in the "new york times" tomed afriedman warns that putin has no good way out of his assault on ukraine writing "given the resistance of ukrainians everywhere to the russian occupation, for putin to "win" militarily, his army will need to subdue every major city in ukraine, in short, it can only be done by putin, and his generals perpetrating war crimes not seen in europe since hitler." what do you think about that assessment and is there a good way for putin to end this? >> yes, so i don't know if i agree with that. there's only one objective here, that's kyiv. there's one goal to penetrate kyiv, take zelenskyy out, whether to kill him, force him to flee or force him into exile. putin doesn't need to clear the

cities. he needs to penetrate kyiv which he's going to be stopped and then raise the russian flag. he has forces in the cities that keeps forces way from kyiv. god forbid he takes kyiv he'll face the biggest urban insurgency in modern history. he doesn't need to clear kyiv or clear all the cities around there. he needs that armored column to penetrate into the center of it. that's what you have to stop. >> mr. yurash, simply, do you think you will win this war? >> my ancestors have answered that question, my great grandfather survived leningrad in europe. my grandmother survived. if we survived stalin, we'll survive putin. >> you said this is your generation's turn, something many generations before your family have done the same. we appreciate you taking the

time to speak with us, both you gentlemen. thank you. meanwhile, it's one of the world's most prestigious soccer teams, chelsea, but now it can't sell tickets to its masses because of this man, club owner and friend of vladimir putin, one of the more recent targets of the west's sanctions. will these economic punishments change the reality on the ground in ukraine? later in the hour, putin's end game, does he have his sights on countries beyond ukraine? why some eastern european nations are concerned about what comes next. but first, as we head to break, one sliver of hope, the pregnant ukrainian seen escaping the ruins of the mariupol maternity ward bombed by russia has given birth to a baby girl. her husband yuri holding their new daughter and staring into her eyes. we'll be back.

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welcome back. the white house cranking up the economic pressure on russian

president vladimir putin, with his country's invasion of ukraine now in its third week. the latest move an executive order banning russian imports, which will affect things like seafood, certain diamonds and vodka and in his white house address yesterday president biden repeatedly called out putin by name saying he is the aggressor and may pay the price, must pay the price. the president called on congress to revoke russia's preferred trading status which speaker nancy pelosi says the house will do next week. lauren eagan is live in washington. we've seen sanctions now, the trade crackdown. what could be next? >> reporter: that's right. what this move does is that it eliminates normal trade relationships with russia, which really opens up the door for the white house to start slapping russian imports with tariffs. now russia's not one of the u.s.'s biggest trading partners. prices aren't going to go up necessarily here in the u.s. and that this also won't have a huge

impact on its own on the russian economy but what the white house has been emphasizing is that this decision was not done by the u.s. on its own. this decision was made in partnership with its european allies, who are much bigger trade partners with russia. all of these countries taken together and it will have an impact on the russian economy, the white house has been arguing. each of the countries are going to have to pass this in the legislative bodies. there is bipartisan support for this here so we expect that to pass easily. the president gave a speech about his decision at the white house yesterday. he explained what he thought the impact would be of this move. listen to what he had to say. >> revoking pntr for russia will make it harder for russia to do business with the united states and doing it in unison with other nations to make up half of the global economy will be

another crushing blow to the aggression, the economy is already suffering badly from our sanctions. >> this is the latest effort from both the white house as well as its european allies to hit russia with economic sanctions to turn it into a pariah state, think something like north korea to completely isolate it on the global stage. the president's also said that if putin continues to escalate the situation which is what we've been seeing over the past two weeks, that will be met with more and more economic reaction from this white house, and that's what we expect will come in the next few days ahead. >> and these sanctions have rolled out quickly with lots of bipartisan support. laura eagan reporting from washington, thank you. let's walk through some of the strategy going on. president biden says the u.s. will not put troops in ukraine to fight russia, said that many times or make any military move that could be seen as an escalation by the kremlin.

he's relying on the targeted financial moves but their effects usually are a lot slower than say a military response. julia freelander, director of the atlantic council's economic state initiative writes "financial mechanisms are often designed to deliver more specific political results than they achieve. you cannot stop tanks or oil tankers with tanks. accelerating political change through sanctions is possible such as the apartheid in south africa, but these were slow motion squeezes over decades." joining me live is the woman who wrote those words, julia freelander. you went on to write the sanctions are different, they've been swift and they're aimed at changing a war that's already happening on the ground. do you see this financial leverage actually paying off? >> thank you for having me. it's the great gamble. this is the first time in

sanctions history we used sanctions so rapidly and aggressively to stop an aggression that already started. the first order of business is to try to bankrupt russia, try to make holding back an insurgency even harder. the second order might be to prevent further incursions elsewhere in europe, something we continue to be worried about and third is to use punishment as a deterrent to show others globally this is what happens to you when you invade your neighbor. but again, i think the biden administration and its partners are doing this to try to sap all the financial resources from russia and they've done a lot as my predecessor in this segment just noted, freezing all of the bank reserves. this is something we did to venezuela and iran over the course of months and years, to russia, we've done it in days. >> clearly a punishment that's having an effect. something raised it's happening on everyday russians instead of

putin and his inner circle. what do you think about that aspect of it? >> i think that we've done what we can at the beginning to shield the effect from most russian citizens and the restrictions put in place were designed for that effect. the real sit when you're driving a country toward default and currency crisis, it will affect everyday russians. we will see bank runs, shortages of products, you'll see everyday lives and the lifestyle the people used to leave, employment sinking. these are the natural by-products of pressure campaigns and sanctions, it's an unfortunate reality. >> we also wanted to ask about the effects on the oligarchs themselves. we've seen the pressure that's been placed on them. most recently russian oligarch roman abramovich who owns the chelsea football club in the uk. he's been suspended from that, breaking this morning, one of the many aspects we've seen come

out of the sanctions placed on putin's inner circle and now placed on putin himself. do you think the oligarchs will be able to put or have the incentive to put pressure on putin that may change things on the ground? >> it might be able to. we think putin has a lot of control over these people but it's important to remember that oligarchs aren't just your everyday tax people evading the law. they are instruments of the russian state. the assets that they own and hold in the western jurisdiction, we estimate that could be as much as $1 trillion worth could be recouped to help pursue these foreign escapades we try to stop in other arena. so it's very hard to do this stuff. money laundering is an art and it took us a while to realize these individuals and their activities in the west were actually not just a problem for law enforcement but actually a national security threat to ourselves.

so i think it's an important thing to pursue. it may not happen over days. you see the seizing of yachts, that's the easy part, the visible part. the hard part is what comes over the coming years which is to root these individuals and their assets out of our financial systems and for our justice systems and our regulators and our intelligence agencies, everybody who is involved in this to see it as a priority. if we do that in conjunction with our western partners i think we'll get it. >> one last question for you before we let you go. looking into the future a little bit, russia a major player in the global economy. how does this affect the world not just russia, the sanctions? >> thank you. it's a very good question and i think that economists are trying to game this out right now. it's a little choose your own adventure not to phrase it lightly here but isolating the 11th largest economy in the world, a g20 member from the

global economy is unprecedented and we don't really know what the outcomes will be. we're watching of course commodities markets, what happens to global oil, what happens to global grain, what happens to trace minerals and what could be trace effects or secondary tertiary effects on regional economies, on economies in the global south that are already in debt crisis. these kind of triggers, these exogenous effects on the economy tend to have unknown effects or that you couldn't know when you made the policy yourself. what my former colleagues in the treasury department and u.s. government are doing right now is trying to trace that out and nip it in the bud. >> a lot left to be seen. julia friedlander, thank you for your expertise this morning. gas prices hitting another record high just before spring break so how much more about your family to spend this year and is it a taste of things to come for the summer? more on this coming up.

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welcome back. since the start of the invasion of ukraine russian forces have taken control of two major nuclear plants including the largest in europe. now it appears vladimir putin could use the sites to attack ukrainians as it fights to control major cities. joining me now is tariq ralph, former head of the verification and security policy at the international atomic energy agency. the ukrainian government said friday putin has "ordered the preparation of a terrorist attack on the chernobyl nuclear power plant." earlier the russian deputy minister said electricity lines to the plant were repaired by belarus. the head of your former agency says there's no way to confirm the power restoration. should this be a top concern for u.s. and nato allies right now? >> yes, the safety of nuclear

power plants is always a concern and this is the first time in nuclear history we have armed hostilities taking place in the vicinity and at nuclear power plants. the official information provided to the international atomic energy agency is from the ukrainian government nuclear regulator and so that is the official source of information and i was just checking their website, they have not reported any incidence of a terrorist attack or preparations for that for now. >> that is certainly good news to hear. new video from last week's attack on the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, russian forces firing those heavy weapons toward the plant's massive reactors which of course house dangerous nuclear material. how concerned should we be for situations like, this the ongoing fighting in and around these reactors? >> this is really very concerning for the international community also for ukraine, fire was directed at operating the

nuclear power plant. fortunately, if one can say that, the fire hit an administrative training building and not any of the six reactors, although later, the ukrainian regulator reported that reactor number six had suffered some external damage that they were repairing, but for the time being, we do not see the iaea and nuclear regulator of ukraine is not reporting a radiological incident and two of the six reactors are operating at full power. >> something many nations are keeping a close eye on. russia's demands could end the revival of 20915 iran nuclear deal. how should the u.s. and europe proceed after those demands? >> >> there are two interconnected points. russia has the contract to supply nuclear fuel to the

bushir nuclear reactor in iran that generates electricity. there are several hundred kilograms of enriched uranium that need to be removed from the territory of iran and it's expected this would go to russia but russia not able to take it because of u.s. sanctions, the material to go to any of the european union countries or even to china for downblending. >> it's not just nuclear power. russia has more than 6,000 nuclear warheads i believe. what is the concern that we should be looking at in regards to that? are you and your former agency concerned of that aspect? >> well, the international atomic energy agency only has mandates for the peaceful use of nuclear energy but we in the international community need to be concerned because russia along with the united states if

you remember president biden renewed the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty in february this year, and this limits russia and the u.s. to 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads. but both russia and the u.s. have more than that and the concern is russia may have up to 2,000 short-range nuclear weapons that would be a concern for european countries, and like the u.s., russia also maintains strategic nuclear forces are ready to launch and this is concerning if nato, u.s. and russian forces come into close proximity in ukraine, then we have dangers of an accidental or preemptive launch. >> very concerning on all fronts. tariq rauf, thank you for your expertise. coming up next here this morning, as ukrainians flee their country in numbers not seen since world war ii, some are arriving in tijuana, mexico,

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and go all outdoorsy at wayfair. ♪ wayfair you got just what i need ♪ now a look at other big stories we're tracking today. a judge in texas temporarily blocked the state from investigating gender affirming care as a form of child abuse for transgender kids. the judge said without a new state law or rule that order from governor greg abbott violates the separation of

powers. dozens of companies came out against the order calling it discrimination. the trial for the challenge to the order is set for july. despite promises from a florida state lawmakers there will be no statewide requirement for safety inspections of older condo buildings in the state. just nine months after the deadly collapse in surfside, democrats and republicans could not agree on safety reform. the failed bill would have also required condo boards to do studies how much money they need for any repairs. the military academy of west point, new york, says it's investigating an incident involving cadets in a florida community. thursday night six students overdosed on fentanyl. according to official, one person has been arrested in connection with the incident. authorities say four people overdosed from taking cocaine that was laced with the drug. the other two overdosed from exposure to the drug when they were giving the other victims cpr. the united nations says more

than 2.5 million ukrainian refugees have fled their homes since russian attacks began there more than two weeks ago. some of the refugees had made their journey to here in the u.s. and looking to enter the country at the southern border. some are being denied entry due to covid restrictions. guad vinegas is in tee with a know, mexico, to explain. >> reporter: they carry ukrainian passports but no visas to enter the u.s. >> i don't have any other place to go. >> reporter: sophia and her three children left three days after the bombings began driving across romania before flying here to the u.s./mexico border. >> i have family and friends in usa and they're ready to support me. >> reporter: sophia was denied entry twice and she's not alone. >> we're going to welcome ukrainian refugees with open arms. >> reporter: the u.s. border is still officially closed to

asylum seekers due to a 2020 covid policy. >> right now there's nothing we can do. >> reporter: any exceptions made on a case by case basis. >> trying to ask the guys on border patrol to help us. >> reporter: alex's family fled after their home was shelled. today they are turned away. >> right now we have a trickle, turning into a stream that's going to turn into a flood. >> reporter: on her third attempt, a lawyer spotted sophia and helped her enter the u.s. where her case will be reviewed. others hoping they'll be next as the war back home rages on and more families join the line. guad vinegas, nbc news, tijuana, mexico. still ahead this morning as russian troops get closer to nato territory there's concern president vladimir putin could have his sights on other countries beyond ukraine. take a look at what his next moves could be, after the break.

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welcome back. as russia intensifies its attacks on ukraine, neighboring countries are concerned about what plans russian president vladimir putin could have for that region in the future. a new u.s. intelligence assessment concluding russia will press to dominate not only ukraine but "other countries in near." secretary blinken said the u.s. will defend every inch of nato territory. several countries are not nato members. moldova, and south of ukraine and georgia are not members of nato. for more on this we're joined by a senior fellow director of the german marshal fund's warsaw office. putin made clear his ambition beyond ukraine. this was meant to a quick war. russia is seeing a lot of problems in ukraine. do you think this will deter putin from further action in other countries?

>> yes, we can certainly hope so. it's very true that putin hoped for a quick victory in ukraine and the ukrainian people are feisty and taking military up and fight and they are ready and they are really now up to stopping russian war in its track. we do have to remember that russia has still quite a few reserves that they can deploy. as you have shown the map to our viewers, the two places of particular concern are moldova and georgia. perhaps moldova the most because it's very close to where putin is building this land bridge between russia along the black sea. so we should be looking at those places. >> so if there were potential

further expansion, michael, where do you think putin may end up looking next. >> so moldova is the most vulnerable place because it doesn't have a large military. there's already 10,000 russian troops in a breakaway part of moldova and it's an easy connection to the fight we are seeing right now by mariupol and odesa. but you have to remember russia has a very large military all along the eastern border of the alliance. the nation of colleagues coming on and actually sitting less than 100 miles from the border with kaliningrad, a little piece of russia, and they have more tanks here than germany, belgium and netherlands pushed together. but you really have to remember

that even though the war in ukraine is tremendous, russia has a tremendous reserve, military reserves so it's a very dangerous adversary for me. >> michael, it's not just a military risk for other countries. are there other means putin can use to sort of dominate that region? >> i think that we are very resilient and strong. i'm not worried about domination. but i'm worried about putin in nato countries and in other neighborhoods. the other area we mentioned cybersecurity and cyberattacks, it also has to be known there are retaliatory measures that they can take. what i'm worried about mostly

right now is russia using chemical and biological weapons inside ukraine. that would be a dramatic escalation with huge civilian deaths and something we are working on and the most focused on right now. for a long time you're right nato has increased its military posture, in fact, many more resources to the area. it's not nearly what we thought. >> michael baranowski, thank you for that. we will check in with you for days to come. and just as families get ready to travel in the spring, what you need to know before hitting the road or boarding a plane. that's straight ahead. at's stra.

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gas prices are hitting new highs due to russian sanctions and it could have a big impact on families and spring breakers just as they get ready to travel for the first time in years without covid restrictions. nbc transportation correspondent tom costello spoke with experts on how travelers should book and prepare for those trips. >> for families leaving for spring break, compare for the squeeze. post-pandemic the crowds are back, pushing prices higher.

just as the russian invasion has sent gas prices to record levels. a year ago a 500-mile road trip would cost about $70 in gas. this year it's averaging about $108 and much more in california. >> can you give me a loan? >> it was over $50. >> reporter: rental cars averaging $80 more each day than last year. hotels up 30% in a year. meanwhile, domestic airfares are back to where they were before the pandemic. $300 an average, but with the cost of jet fuel also surging, summer airline tickets could get more expensive so book now. flying on june 1, new york to phoenix, is averaging $270 now. kansas city to las vegas, $244. but european travel bookings have dropped as the war in ukraine rages. >> they are still interested in traveling. that demand hasn't disappeared, it simply shifted back and getting closer in destination. >> reporter: flying to london is averaging $558 june 1, madrid

$713, paris, $828. wherever you go expect to pay more for entertainment and eating out. >> i think more people may opt for more of a stakation or more of a regional trip. >> and that's it for us. thank you for watching "msnbc reports." i'm steven romeo. "velshi" starts right now. good morning, i'm ali velshi. it is saturday, march 12th, day 17 of the russia's invasion of ukraine. it's 8:00 a.m. eastern and 2:00 p.m. here in hungary on the border with ukraine, where i am today. according to the united nations, nearly 2.8 million refugees fled ukraine since the start of the

invasion. more than 235,000 coming here into hungary. i'm at a train station into which they're coming. you're hearing the announcement of a fact the train has just come in headed to ukraine but we're going to have a train coming in from ukraine in about a half hour. in the last few hours alone, ukraine said 14 humanitarian corridors are open within the country. previous corridors and humanitarian cease-fires quickly collapsed due to ongoing russian attacks. also in the last few hours, russia's deputy foreign minister told stay-run media that russian views convoys of foreign arms in ukraine as possible, quote, legitimate targets despite ongoing logistical and operational setbacks and fierce ukrainian resistance. russia continues to get closer to and circling the capital kyiv. russia continues to attack civilians across the country as well. it's begun strikes in civilian areas and cities far from the front lines of the main fighting including in dnipro, l i