phil black, cnn, ukraine. >> thank you, phil.ank you. so for joining us. as you know, ukraine now says the russian offensive on the eastern donbas region has officially begun. do you expect russia to learn from its mistakes around kyiv, the capital? take the upper hand in this new phase of this brutal war? >> yeah, you know, the russians are not stupid. they will learn from the mistakes they've made. they're in a very different situation now, wolf. and it is important that people understand this. they now have much shorter supply lines. they're not nearly as extended as they were. they're now in the open. they're now in positions that they're somewhat familiar with. because they've been assisting the breakaway regions of ukraine for some time now. so everything is different. that's why our support. ukrainians needs to be different as well. critical now, and i'm glad to see the white house in fact is doing this. critical now will be heavier weaponry. they can strike the russians at long distance. if the russians do break out into

phil black, thank you so much. appreciate it. >>> russian troops who occupied the nuclear power plant in chernobyl may have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation before they left. that's according to the ukraine energy company that says the activity remains unclear particularly in the so-called red forest area. david mackenzie explains from london. >> reporter: in the very early stages of russia's invasion of ukraine, you'll remember those images of russian tanks entering chernobyl, the site of the worst accident in nuclear history. and now in the recent hours, there's been questions raised about the state of russian soldiers that departed the chernobyl area, in recent days. within the last 24 hours, in fact. there is a statement from the state-owned nuclear agency in ukraine, saying that they believe that russian soldiers were built fortifications. and dug trenches in the red forest. now that is an area that saw the worst fallout from that nuclear accident in 1986. now, radiation levels have, of course, dr

phil black, cnn, kyiv. >> thanks to phil black for that report. let's dig deeper now with cnn military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric layton. good to have you on, appreciate your perspective. let's start where phil black left off, asking president zelenskyy about the russian effort in the eastern and southern part of ukraine. you pointed out early on in this conflict that russian forces would try to cut ukraine off from the black sea. russian officials admitted to as much late last week. do you think ukrainian forces can hold them off from taking the entire southern part of the country? >> yeah, good morning, boris. i think it is certainly possible that the ukrainians can do that, but they have to pivot to each area where the russians are coming in, in other words, if they are attacking in the southwestern part of the country, let's say, near odesa, they have to be ready to move toward that area. and they also have to be careful, though, that they don't get surrounded in the further east, for example, around the town of izyum, for ex

we'll begin this hour with phil black in lviv. so, phil, let's start on that counter offensive by ukrainian forces. what's the latest there? >> reporter: according to president zelenskyy from his own address he says the trend we've been talking about for a week now is clearly noticeable. that is russian forces pulling back from the north essentially as they said they were going to do. but he said in some cases it's because they had been pushed back ukrainian counter offenses, they'd been excelled from territory. in other cases simply abandoned territory they fought hard to win in the first place. you can see that, we can see that from satellite images particularly of territory to the north and northwest of the capital kyiv. these are positions that the russian forces did occupy from the earliest days of the conflict. and you can see these positions where they were digging in as part of their effort to encircle the capital. well, they have now just been abandoned. the point that zelenskyy makes and really all ukrainian officials ma

cnn's phil black has that story.ains some graphic images. >> reporter: the sign is a warning. "beware, mines." the forest serves as protection too, a natural screen concealing a vast secret. here among the trees, about an hour's drive north of kyiv, are the remains of a sprawling russian military camp. we're shown around by ukrainian special forces. this soldier says the positions were held by russian marines. we see a sprawling network of underground fighting positions, command posts, sleeping areas, and ammunition storage. while everywhere there is evidence of how the russians lived, and that evidence suggests their existence here was neither disciplined nor comfortable. it is so quiet here now. just some bird noise and a light breeze. but recently there were 6,000 russian soldiers bedded down through these woods in a camp that is so large, you can't see where it begins and where it ends. living here would have been hard. it was through the coldest of the winter days. four weeks stopped here, short of kyiv, after t

phil black, cnn, in the kyiv region. >> kidnapping people at bargaining chips.orrors of this war, this is not warfare the way americans or european allies or for that matter the ukrainian armed forces try to practice it. recent events show this was certainly the way russia has and does . that commitment to barbarism is one of the reasons cited by the nato allies for supporting ukraine. another, general milley put it a few militants ago, the larger threat russian aggression poses to the world war iii global order. it gives us a lot to talk about with our military analysts tonight, retired four star general wes lis clark and retired army lieutenant generally mark hertling. general clark, you heard phil black's regulator. talk about what the rules are for armies. i mean, obviously terrible things happen in war on all sides of conflict. people do terrible things. militaries that have a respect for law and order, for the rules of engagement do punish their own troops for misbehaving or breaking the law. what do you make of what you have seen of russia's actions on th

phil black in lviv, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> the flow of refugees continues across ukraine's borders. according to the u.n., more than 4.1 million refugees have fled ukraine since the fighting started. poland has by far received the most refugees with more than 2.5 million crossing from ukraine. and although they're relieved to have escaped the fighting, many just want the war to end so they can return home. >> translator: i want it all to end quickly and without losses, that all the russians go home. >> and that they leave us in peace so we can go back home. >> yes. >> translator: yes, we all want to go home. we don't want to leave. it's just the way the situation is. >> for the majority of refugees fleeing ukraine, poland is the first stop on their journey to safety and our salma abdelaziz is near the border with ukraine. salma, tell us about where you are and what you're seeing there. >> reporter: so i'm at a train station right up near the ukraine/poland border. and this train station has been the halfway p

first, cnn's phil black in ukraine. they reveal the true level of true brutality that the ukrainians are claiming on russian forces. >> reporter: for many who fear what is coming in eastern ukraine, kramatorsk has been a place for safety. desperate for the region russia says it will son-s soon conquer with force. witnesses say thousands came friday morning. they sought safety. they couldn't escape the war. these are the moments after a ballistic missile exploded at the station. after debris and shrapnel tore through the crowd. so many dead bodies, a person cries. only children, just children. when the screaming eventually stopped, the broken bodies of the innocent remained. we have to hide much of this scene. most of those lying bleeding and still are women and children. survivors fled. we managed to contact some by phone while they sheltered together in a public building. still scared and shaken. this woman says she looked up when she thought she heard a plane. and then it exploded and everyone went down. this man says

you just heard phil black lay it out. kharkiv attacks there. lu lu luhansk and donetsk set to be next. you see a lot of red, towns, places they've seized since the war began but also the striped areas. russia's held crimea for eight years. pro-russian separatists in this area. the donbas, plus russian forces as well. what makes this different in terms of ukraine to protect its territory has to push out russians, not just keep them away. >> absolutely, john. thank you for having me. let's review. russians have departed from the kyiv area. they're now moving down here as we've seen with some of the recent imagery that we've been able to get our hands on. what has been happening in particular is most of the fighting has been taking place in that area. in this particular region of ukraine. what this has become now, john, is this is the primary effort. all of this activity, the movement of forces in this direction, repositioning of forces to take advantage of some of this open terrain. this is much more open terrain. these are supporting activities

the way across, will do it from the east and potentially these forces can do it from the west. >> phil black you very much. >>> joined now by retired military general peter zwack, you heard phil talking about transistria, what is the possibility of a second front being opened up, is that at all likely? >> it is a -- it is a possibility. likely, i would hesitate to use that word. clearly, the russians would like to create some chaos back into the east -- to the west of ukraine, and also with moldova. there is a garrison of about 1,500, what the russians call peacekeepers, probably not elite troops, but they're there and we we've seen -- we saw the russian sin tral military district commander mention last week about, you know, aspirational thoughts about getting russians back toward trance nice trea, so, it's important, it's potentially dangerous. people need to pay attention. what happened could be, could be a false flag. the fact that it was just mentioned. also, this part goes all the way back, this whole southern coast, of the black sea, is what you would call -- the russians would call "n

our phil black is in lviv, ukraine. scott maclean is in estonia with the latest on the refugee situation. but, first, we begin with matt rivers in lviv with the latest wave of russian attacks in the country. >> reporter: air raid sirens once again ring out across kyiv saturday. a city that has endured so much damage and destruction from russian bombs, once again hit. early saturday, a russian missile slamming into a southeastern district of kyiv, killing at least one person and injuring several others. the latest attack coming as more ukrainians are returning home. state border guard officials saying on saturday that roughly 32,000 ukrainians crossed back into the country in the previous 24 hours, something that makes kyiv's mayor nervous. he says if you have the opportunity to stay a little longer in places where it is safer, do so. i understand there is no place like home, nevertheless the city of kyiv was and remains the target of the aggressor and i do not rule out that further shelling of the capital will continue.

phil black, cnn, kyiv. >> big thank you to phil black there. aaron david miller, a cnn global affairs analyst and former middle east negotiator at the state department with us now. mr. miller, so glad to have you with us. i want to hone in here on more of what we have heard from president zelenskyy. he actually told jake tapper when jake asked him whether he believed in the world's never again commitment to prevent genocide, this is what -- how he responded. >> after we see what is going on in ukraine. >> translator: really everybody is talking about this and yet as you can see, not everyone has got the guts. >> he is still today asking for weapons and asking for help. and on the surface for a lot of people watching this, i think putin's ability to push that nuclear button is a prime explanation as to why more isn't being done, however what do you believe is the reason that never again seems to be nothing more in many instances than words? >> a lot of reasons, christine. president zelenskyy is reflecting a cruel but basic political and historic

cnn's phil black is there for us. phil, ukrainians are claiming victory as russian forces are moving out of areas surrounding kyiv. the situation, though, as we saw, where ed was, remains very dangerous for civilians and soldiers alike. >> reporter: boris, there is some pride here from the ukrainians for forcing the russians to retreat and pull back from the north of the country, and particularly given the fact that there is no longer any imminent threat from russian ground forces to the capital of kyiv. but those feelings of pride are tempered by the sobering realization of what comes next, and that's the likelihood that these forces that are pulling back will join new targeted operations in the east and south of the country, largely in the donbas region, a large stretch of territory in the east by the russian border. the expectation is that russian forces are going to try to advancing there in east, from the north and the south, squeezing, and perhaps even cutting off the ukrainian forces that are defending there at

phil black, cnn, kyiv. >>> the u.n.kraine says it has document and verified more than 5,200 civilian casualties since the beginning of the invasion. that includes more than 2,300 civilian deaths and nearly 3,000 civilians injured. and the u.n. human rights office says it has documented the unlawful killing, including by summary execution, of some 50 civilians in the town of bucha. >>> now, in the early weeks of the war, cnn's jim sciutto had a chance to meet a bucha family at an evacuation center in lviv, in the west of the country. jana and her children had just fled the violence, having to leave her husband and mother behind. they're safe now, having made their way to the eu. jana spoke to jim again after reuniting with the rest of the family in spain. have a listen. >> first, it's so good to see you and your kids and you are safe and their smiles. i'm so happy you're in a safe place. how is everybody doing? >> translator: it's much better than it was before. >> oh, goodness, i'm sure. well, everybody looks -- they lo

cnn's phil black is joining me from kyiv. what do we know about that u.s. trip to kyiv? >> reporter: we have no further details, other than as you say it was announced perhaps in an unexpected way by president zelensky during a press conference here last night in kyiv. he dropped it as if it was no secret. he said. but of course these things do tend to be kept fairly closely guarded secret for security reasons until the visit is usually in a fairly advanced stanl. we wait to see what happens here today. but as you touched on here in ukraine, the weekend of the orthodox easter has seen no significant reduction in violence, in the south of the country, in the region of hay sawn, ukrainian -- they claim something of a success there attacking a command post in which they say that strike resulted in the death of two russian generals. we can't confirm that, as you mentioned in odessa, residential areas were struck by cruise missiles, killing at least eight people, including a 3 month old child. this is something the president spoke about very emotionally last night at his pres

phil black, appreciate it. thank you.he war from samantha powers. her previous work as ambassador to the u.n. and member of the national security council she's rallied the u.n. and other nations to focus on human rights and atrocities across the globe. ambassador power, russia's pulled forces out of northern ukraine, redirecting most of its combat power to it donbas. just overall how do you see the conflict right now? >> well, on the one hand we're starting actually to see you cranian civilians who have crossed into europe return to their homes, what's left of them in places like the capital city kyiv, even in places like bucha where some of the worst atrocities of the war have been carried out. and we and all the other donor governments of the world want to be there as people come home putting plastic sheeting up instead of windows that have been shattered, making sure they have enough food even as markets struckal to get back on their feet. so you have that dimension. i mean, russia lost the battle of kyiv, and that was

phil black, cnn, in the kyiv region. >> lively from lviv. i'll see you in 30 minutes time or so. rosemary church picks things up after a short break. you are watching cnn. -fixed. -that's my son. he always takes care of his mama. ooh, what's up with granny's casserole? (mom) it's for after your uncle joe's funeral. i hear there's a collection to help aunt adele. (mom) yeah. a funeral costs north of $9,000 these days. that's a hefty bill for family to pay if there's no life insurance check to help. wow. makes you think, doesn't it? (mom) which reminds me, i've been meaning to tell you, i got that 995 plan from colonial penn. -the life insurance on tv! -just $9.95 a month to help you pay my funeral expenses. what about your family, son? maybe i should get the 995 plan too. thing is, this has been a rough year for my business, ma. money's tight. still, for $9.95 a month... i don't have a good excuse, do i? i'm jonathan for colonial penn life insurance company. if you're age 50 to 85, just $9.95 a month buys whole life insurance with guaranteed acceptance. you cannot be turned down f

phil black, cnn, ukraine. >> phil, thank you so much. we'll a we'll be right back. ♪ lunchables! causes of aging by targeting all the cells in your body? try tru niagen. life as we know it cannot exist without nad. as we age, nad can decrease by as much as 50%. tru niagen is proven to increase nad, to support heart and muscle health, and energy production that starts in your cells. address one of the root causes of aging with tru niagen, researched by the world's top scientific institutions. ♪ we could walk forever ♪ ( ♪ ) ♪ walking on ♪ ♪ walking on the moon ♪ ♪ some ♪ ♪ may say ♪ ♪ i'm wishing my days away ♪ ♪ no way ♪ ♪ walking on the moon ♪ >>> before we go, here is a look at the unbelievable true story of the man who took on putin, and lived to expose the truth. the sup the film off airs 9:00 p.m. sunday on cnn. our live coverage from ukraine continues right after this . >> remarkably, vladimir putin faces a legitimate opponent, alexei navalny. >> i have to organize people. the kremlin hates navalny so much, that they refuse to say his name. >> come on poisoned? seriesly? se

phil black, cnn, lviv, ukraine. >> more from lviv top of the hour. back to michael.. >> and one other day with the old lady they eventually got out to care home as well. it's countless story after story of just horrible things happening to people, isn't it? yeah. >> never ends it seems. >> we'll be back with you john later. >>> meanwhile news of another high ranking russian military leader killed in ukraine. major general vladimir frolov, reportedly deputy commander of eighth army. claimed to have died in battle with what he called ukrainian nationalists. cnn could not confirm but would be among several top officers believed killed in russia's invasion of ukraine. douglas london is retired senior cia operations officer, adjunct associate professor with georgetown university, and author of "the recruiter: spying and the lost art of american intelligence." thanks for joining us. you wrote a piece in foreignaffairs.com related to intel world, raised what america could do covertly to undermine the kremlin. give us examples. >> cia would be continuing and expanding traini

phil black, cnn in ukraine's kyiv region. >>> i want to bring you an update about a town we told you about earlier this hour. ben wedeman took us to a shelter in the town of rabitz where a dozen or so people have been hiding in the basement of a bombed out theater. a short time ago the head of the mill military, stopping a bus. they have seen russian offensives in ukraine's donbas region. >>> still to come right here on the show, emotions are boiling high from shanghai. we'll have a live report after the break. you are watching "cnn newsroom." at xfinity, we live and work in the same neighborhood as you. we're always working to keep you connected to what you love. and now, we're working to bring you the next generation of wifi. it's ultra-fast. faster than a gig. supersonic wifi. only from xfinity. it can power hundreds of devices with three times the bandwidth. so your growing wifi needs will be met. supersonic wifi only from us... xfinity. >>> now the u.s. food & drug administration is deciding whether to wait to approve pfizer and moderna vaccine at the same time. they're similar

more details now from cnn phil black. >> reporter: ultimatum given and it was ignored. russia's military gave ukraine soldiers in mariupol until sunday afternoon local time to put down their weapons and leave the city peacefully. or be eliminated. ukrainian officials say no one is leaving. they are not putting down their weapons, they are not giving up the fight. that fight resembles a last stand. the it didn't mean mariupol is set to fall imminently. ukraine defenders have defied expectations. holding out against russian forces since the start of the march. while being surrounded and cut off and without resupply. the forces have been pushed back to a relatively patch of territory in the city. ukrainian officials say they're still engaging with russian forces in other parts of the city as well. ukrainian officials say that residential areas are also still suffering under russian bombard want. thought to be 100,000 civilians still trapped there. zelenskyy says russia's action and behavior in mariupol, possibility of more atrocities against civilians being uncovered there

phil black has more now. phil. >> reporter: don, this is more than just the indifference to civilian life. we have seen throughout this war, through russia's continuous bombardment of people's homes and other non-military targets, what we are hearing from bucha and other areas russia pulled back from, what the disturbing images show is that civilians were targeted, deliberately killed. some execution style. some tortured as well. there is little point closing the back doors of this van. it's stopping frequently, picking up those who didn't survive russia's brief occupation of bucha. each person is photographed. where possible, i.d. is checked. and where necessary, bindings are removed. their clothes, their belongings and in some cases their restraints all indicate these people were a threat to no one in the moments before they were killed. in normal times he is painter. now he collects bodies. this one was carrying potatoes, he says. you can see they are all civilians and snipers shot hem all in the head. this

and with us now to talk about this is cnn's phil black. phil, what can you tell us about this?> this was the biggest prisoner exchange so far, 86 in all. of them, 15 of those coming back to ukraine were women. according to the parliamentary commission for human rights, in this country, she says those women were ill treated. she describes the treatment as torture, saying they were stripped in front of men, stripped naked, made to adopt degrading, uncomfortable positions, their hair was shaved, they were interrogated, made to take part in propaganda videos and so forth. those are the details that we understand. but it points to these female soldiers certainly at the very least being significantly mistreated. >> can you speak more broadly about p.o.w. mistreatment we're seeing in this conflict? >> so there have been allegations from both sides, in this. it is not first time we heard about ukrainian soldiers returning with stories of being beaten and threatened and harassed quite physically by russian soldiers. but equally so ukraine has been accused of mistreating russian p.o.w.s.

cnn's phil black is there. phil, what's the latest?> reporter: well, john that address from zelenskyy to the united nations security council was indeed an extraordinary moment. the leader of a country under invasion, not just addressing the security council, accusing one of its permanent members of war crimes. more than that, comparing russia on as a terrorist organization. as you touched on, he backed up that comparison of a long, detailed, horrible grotesque list of crimes uncovered just in a few days since russia had withdrew from the territory occupied in the suburbs north of kyiv. for zelenskyy, this was ultimately yet another speech to the world calling for action and justice. but it was very likely his most powerful yet, take a look. >> translator: geography might be different of areas, but cruelty is the same, crimes are the same. and accountability must be inevitable. >> reporter: so there are sorry key themes of that speech. zelenskyy did not hesitate to make the council and indeed the world feel uncomfortable by pointing out

phil black, cnn, ukraine. >> can you imagine that, you're a ukrainian having to share your home withust really tough stories to listen to. >>> meanwhile, back here in the united states, governor ron desantis sticking it to disney but at what cost? the people of florida. could bernie sanders run again for president in 2024? this is vuity™, the first and only fda approved eye-drop that improves age-related blurry near vision. wait, what? it sounded like you just sd an eye drop that may help you see up close. it sounded like you just sd an eye drop i did. it'sn innovative way to... so, wait. i don't alwa have to wear reading glasses? yeah! vuity™ helps u see up close. so, i can see up close with just my eyes? uh-huh. with one drop in each eye, once daily. in focus? yep. [laughs] like, really? really. vuity™ is a prescription eye drop to help you see up close. ow! wait, what? wait. wait? wait, what? see for yourself. use vuity™ with caution in night driving and hazardous activities in poor light. also, if your vision is not clear, do not drive or use machinery. contact your doctor immedi

phil black, bucha, ukraine. >> for more information of how you can offer more help for ukraine, go tonn.com/impact and our audience has donated more than $7.5 million, and more help is desperately needed. we will be back. re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember apoving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. ♪ ♪ shhhhh.. i didn't know my genetic report could tell me i was prone to harmful blood clots. i travel a ton, so this info was kind of life changing. maybe even lifesaving. ♪do you know what the future holds?♪ ♪ (drum roll) ♪ ♪ (energetic music) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (camera shutters) the all-new lx 600. ready for any arena. ♪ ♪ >>> in the previous block we started to introduce you to olga who is part of animal rescue in kharkiv. olga, your team is on the ground there in eastern ukrai

. >> i want to go back to cnn's phil black who is in kyiv. phil, after a brief pause russian forces have stepped up attacks in the capital and the surrounding areas. what is your latest reporting there on the ground? >> reporter: paula, for the third day in a row an air strike has targeted the outskirts of kyiv. the latest hit the eastern side of the city impacting what officials describe as civilian infrastructure and interrupting possibly electricity and water supplies. the russian military says it will continue to target kyiv if it believes that ukraine is preparing military attacks on russian territory. in the east of the country an escalation in bombardment in key areas, notably in kharkiv where officials say shelling in the central and residential parts of the city injured 20 people and killed five more. in villages and towns in the luhansk region. these are areas that continue to be bombarded and shelled almost daily and that happened again over the last 24 hours or so. this is seen as a buildup to russia's planned new operations in the

the images in phil black's report are graphic. >> reporter: the operation to recover and investigate bucha's dead is now industrial in its scale. teams of people are working to empty the town's mass grave and many smaller ones. the victims of russia's occupation are being retrieved from the earth. there are so many bodies, rarely do those doing the digging know the to stories of how each person lived and died. here two men are being exhumed from the grounds of a small church. the priest, who oversaw their first burial, didn't know them. he says he thinks one was a scientist. the other a school bus driver. he thinks they were shot and killed in the street. among the now notorious images from bucha's road of death this man lying beneath his bike. his name was vladimir borochenka. svetlana is his widow. she says she told her husband, don't go. they're shooting. the tanks are already on the street. but he insisted on leaving the house. she says the 68-year-old grandfather was killed as soon as he reached the road. his bike is still there. and this building stands near bucha in village. a

we'll get the report from cnn phil black and a warning the it contains graphic details and images. >> reporter: in a happier time. before the russians came. it's likely this video shows her after the invasion in early march. just moments before her death. she is seen cycling through bucha. heading towards a large number of russian vehicles. as she approaches a corner she dismounts. one of the vehicles -- she moves around the corner. out of sight. and it fires again and again. at least five more times. then, a large muzzle flash from a second concealed vehicle. moments later, smoke rises from near that corner. a different video located by cnn to the same corner shows a dead woman on the ground next to a bike. other images of the body clearly show her hand and her nails. the woman who only recently taught her how to apply make up recognized them instantly. >> on her finger. it started to love herself. this woman was incredible. >> she didn't need to see the nails to know that was her mother's body. >> she doesn't know what she feels now. it's such a void. the war faded away. the war end

cnn's phil black has some of their stories. >> reporter: the two didn't know each other before the russiansvolodymyr was freed from the russian detention center. for weeks, sasha's family did not know he was still alive. seized and held by russian soldiers in early march. they heard nothing about his safety. volodymyr told them he knows his son dmytry was alive in the detention center. he heard dmytry's name everyday. there was comfort in that but not enough to soothe a mother. helena says i don't have haope anymore. they will kill them and no one will find them. dozens of people were abducted near kyiv. most held here in the russian site, the russian forces used as a command post. this is where they were kept? >> yes. >> reporter: the conditions those captured here were forced to endure. a small, dark cold room. people were packed together here and hands bound and eyes taped . >> reporter: he said people came and went. some spent weeks here. someone trying to keep track by scratching marks on the walls. all the people who came into this room had only one thing in common. they were civilian

want to get an update on what is happening inside of ukraine, for that, we have cnn correspondent phil blackng us live from lviv. phil, we're getting updates on gunfire and explosions in ukraine. what can you tell us about this? >> reporter: laura, we've got video which gives an insight into what life can be like in areas of ukraine that are under russian occupation, where russia is in control. this video is from the city, in the center of the country, towards the southern end. and it shows russian soldiers breaking up a protest against russia's occupation. and what the video shows pretty clearly is the use of live gunfire. and other, it seems, nonlethal crowd-control ammunition. some stewart of stun grenade, or flashbang that sort of thing, which is creating a lot of noise. and it's a very dramatic scene. what we understand, there was this relatively small protest taking place in the center of the city this morning. then the russian soldiers showed up, tried to arrest some people. and then started using that ordnance to disperse the crowds. people ended up in the hospital as a result with b

phil black in lviv, ukraine. thank you so much. >>> the ukraine bean soldiers who have so far successfully defended the capitol kyiv say it's their stronger morale and spirit that gives them the advantage. still, life for ukrainians are becoming increasingly difficult with basic essentials in short supply. we have more from christiane amanpour from a battered suburb in kyiv. >> reporter: the first thing you notice approaching the front northeast of kyiv are the lines of villagers, they receive a bag of bread and basics to get them through these difficult days. the first week of the war a shell hit us near the greenhouse. we barely survived, says this woman. we had help from strangers around us. they gave us bread and canned food. we wouldn't have managed otherwise. no one here knows when this war will end or whether russia still has designs on kyiv. the front line is about a mile a away. for now an uneasy calm is here. we have to clamber over the bridge they downed to see the armored column they managed to take o

cnn's phil black joins me now from the capital kyiv.two weeks now since russian forces retreated from the area, about people there still struggling to recover, even take the step of identifying bodies. >> that's right, jim. the killing of so many people behind russian lines created so much pain but also a massive logistical problem. there are so many bodies, and each needs to be recovered, accounted for, identified, examined, the cause of death established, and then ultimately returned to the right grieving family. there is a huge operation under way to ensure all of that happens as efficiently and respectfully as possible. but even still there are families left waiting, enduring painful uncertainty. take a look. morgues aren't supposed to be busy. or so over capacity they need a team of volunteers to move bodies around and large mobile refrigerators to accommodate them. this is one of seven sites in and around kyiv working to cope with the tide of death left behind by russia's retreating forces. there are still more bodies coming? >> c

phil black, cnn, ukraine. >>> want to bring you up to the speed of the u.s. that struck down the biden administration's mask mandate for riding a train. uber said masks for riders and drivers are no longer required. the ruling took airlines by surprise. then a flight attendant went through as you can see with a cabin so passengers could throw their mask away. >>> china's covid mandates are much stricter than the sumpt u. and their close contacts. she said it will happen, quote, without exceptions. they're already on full or partial lockdown under the country's strict zero covid strategy. cnn's steven jiang is following this from beijing. steven, the lockdown clearly conditions with conditions. clearly working as we've seen. what more can you tell us? >> well, isa, this seems to be a never ending nightmare for shanghai's 25 million residents, most of whom are still being sealed in their homes and lacking access to food and medical care. this latest warning from the vice this coverage. a growing number of senior citizens are being forcefully removed from their

phil black, cnn, hostomel, ukraine. >>> new images on social media seem to support ukraine's claim thatrussian warship moskva was hit by two anti-ship missiles. short video clip shows a huge plume of smoke billowing from the ship as it was to the port side. and large black hole also on the port side of the vessel just above the water line. all but one of the life rafts has deployed. you also notice the weather does not appear to be strormy, as clai claimed by the creme len when the ship went down. moscow hasn't released any information about casualties. >>> still to come on cnn. elsewhere in europe, french voters are days away from electing their president and the cost of listening may figure prominently in their decision. those details, ahead. customizing your car insurance, so you only y pay for what you need. (e(emu squawks) if anynyone objects to this marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace. (emu squawks) (the crowd gasps) no, kevin, no! not today. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ we're a different kind of dentistry. one who believes in doin

. >>> back to cnn's phil black in the ukrainian capitol, kyiv, phil, what can you tell us about the disturbing new information out of mariupol, russian forces announcing the city will be closed for entry and exit starting monday? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, paula. and on top of that as you touched on, an ultimatum, a very hard ultimatum that was given and it was ignored. russia's military said that the remaining soldiers in mariupol had until sunday, that is today, this afternoon, to put down their weapons and leave the city peacefully or they will be eliminated which is quite a brutal statement, really, but ukraine's officials say none of their soldiers are putting down their weapons none are leaving, giving up the fighting even though that fight increasingly resembles a last stand but doesn't mean the city is about to fall imminently because the defenders of the city consistently defied expectation, holding out until the first of march, cutting out without reply, continuing to defend against the invading russian force. they have been pushed back to a relatively small patch of territory

phil black in kyiv tonight, phil, what did the people who survived this massacre tell you?er: poppy, everyone who lived through russia's occupation has had a story of trauma, all seen death, all lost friends, family or at the very least, neighbors. the images that shocked the world out of bucha were bodies lying in the street as the russian forces withdrew but the reality is most of the people who died during russia occupation were buried during that time either in a large central site or small, shallow graves that people dug wherever they thought it was safe to do so. we saw an on going effort to recover and account for everyone died during that time, a warning, this report has some disturbing images. the operation to recover and investigate bucha's dead is now industrial in its scale, teams of people working to empty the towns mass grave and many smaller ones. the victims of russia's occupation are being retrieved from the earth. there are so many bodies, rarely do those doing the digging know the stories of how each person lived and died. here, two men being exhumed from

. >>> pivot now to lviv in western ukraine where we find cnn's phil black. phil, russian ground forces are moving out of the areas around kyiv, but the situation obviously remains very dangerous for soldiers and civilians alike as we saw in those images just a few moments ago. >> reporter: that's right. boris, laura, good morning. real pride in ukraine here at the fact that ukrainian forces have beaten back russia's attempts to first of all take the capital. when that failed, their attempts to encircle the capital. as you say, pictures we're seeing out of this newly relame claimed land, territory, shows there extensive damage and debris and remains of russian incinerated tanks and convoys and russian soldiers. evidence of the fierceness of the resistance and what life was like under that russian occupation while they did control that territory. you touched and one particular stretch of road we see around 20 bodies at least, apparently civilians. some with arms bound behind their back. a clear implication, these people were a threat to nobody at the moment the

in that interest, let's go to live to cnn's phil black in kyiv to see what's happening there tonight. phil, what can you tell us about what's happening on the ground there right now? >> reporter: laura, the ukrainian military says it's expecting, preparing for, perhaps already receiving russian retaliation and revenge. revenge for the ukraine claimed strike against the russian navy flagship of the black sea fleet. ukraine says it struck that vessel with two missiles, created a fire, sufnk the vuess. overnight in kyiv, there was a miss being strike on the outskirts which struck a military site which russia says was responsible for building and maintaining anti-air but also anti-ship missiles. its announcement suggested that that strike was in response to something it has been warning about through this week, which is an accusation that ukraine has been preparing attacks against russian targets on russian federation soil. the ukrainian military believes it won't be forgiven for targeting the ship. it says it knows hitting that ship was more than just hitting another russian military ass

that's where we find cnn's phil black. phil, russian forces have stepped up attacks in the capital and the surrounding areas just over the past couple of days. what is the latest there where you are? >> reporter: that's right, pamela. indeed, for three straight days now there have been missile strikes impacting the outskirts of the capital, kyiv. the latest was to the east of the city, hitting what officials call civilian infrastructure. they say it was damaged and that it could impact the supply of power and water to some areas. russian military has said it's going to continue to hit the capital kyiv for as long as it thinks or whenever it thinks ukraine is plotting to launch attacks on the soil of the russian federation. meanwhile, there have been strikes across all the other major battlefronts in the country. in the south around mykolaiv and kherson it has been in recent weeks a great cause of the violence has been counterattacks by ukrainian forces. but in recent days they say it's it russian forces that have been far m

we have our reporter in poland and phil black in ukraine. >> phil, let's start with you after the attack on the crowded train station. what are you hearing about what happened and what is next. >> reporter: well, christi, the scenes from the train station are so distressing. we should make the point again the images are so very graphic. as you touched on it, it's no surprise president zelenskyy and indeed other world leaders and human rights leaders are calling this an atrocity and a war crime. president zelenskyy is not talking about just war accountability but every suctional person involved in the children of command who gave the order to the button they pushed to launch the missile. what we're hearing is the missile involved was a short-range ballistic missile. this is according to ukraine officials. it was fired from within ukraine but from a russian position. it's the ukrainian military that believes that that missile was packed with little missiles that spread out through a wide area. it was devastating to those people outside the train station on friday. these are also weapons ba

cnn's phil black joins me now. phil, what do we know? >> reporter: we know, if true, this was a bold aing ta bit ukrainians. we know this facility has been destroyed. it is the russians who are saying the ukrainians did it. they flew in low, launching a strike, which has created this explosion, destroying the facility. it is, as you say, very similar to attacks that the russians have launched across ukraine in recent weeks targeting specific fuel depots in the hopes of ata the ukraine military. they have said no comment on this particular attack. but attack russian federation soil is not something we have seen so far that we are aware of in the war so far. president putin's spokesman said president putin has been informed of the destruction of this facility. >> that's interesting. i'm told 3.5 million gallons of fuel on fire is what you are seeing in some of those pictures. geographically, if you look at kharkiv, it is just over the border of kharkiv in the northeastern part of the country. you can see the fires there. a lot of oil, a lo

first we go to phil black in lviv, ukraine. so there were some incidents around the city? >> reporter: well, lester, we've had recent statements from both russians and ukrainians saying there were missile strikes carried out here by russian forces here in the west of the country. according to the russian statement, it was just one of a number of strikes that have been carried out in the last 24 hours or so right across the breadth of ukraine targeting a number of specific key pieces of ukrainian infrastructure. it is part of an ongoing campaign by russian forces using that clear superiority that it has with the long-range precision weapons to knock out things like fuel storage depots, repair stations and command posts. regardless of what happens on the ground, russia is still continuing to show and use that it has that capability in order to try to degrade ukraine's ability to fight back. >> phil, thank you. nic in brussels. we saw yesterday zelenskyy speaking at the u.n. security council really damning indictment. huge accusations against russia but also basically saying

phil black has the story. >> reporter: the sign is a warning, beware, mines.rive are the remains of a sprawling russian military camp. we're showed around by ukrainian special forces. this soldier says the positions were held by russian marines. command posts, sleeping areas and ammunition storage. while everywhere there is evidence how the russians lived and that evidence suggests their existence was neither disciplined nor clean. it is quiet here. recently there were 6,000 russian soldiers bedded down through these woods in a camp that is so large you can't see where it begins and where it ends. living here would have been hard through the coldest of the winter days. four weeks stopped here short of kyiv after they failed to take the capitol quickly. the silence is broken by efforts to deal with some unidentified ordnance. this camp is damning proof. poor preparation and desperately wrong numbers to conquer kyiv. what lessons do you take for the coming battle of donbas to the east? he says, we see the volume of forces that invaded this area and we understand

cnn's phil black has their story. >> reporter: andre says his life will be forever split in two, beforeussians came. he remembers the skies over his home in hostomel, near kyiv, suddenly swarming with dozens of attack helicopters. he says they fly in a low formation, like they were on parade. and soon after he say, russian ground forces approached his home. this is re says they hoopened fe from a distance. an explosive lound land lanned close by, fracturing his leg. shrapnel piercing much of of his boud but he was luck kri, he got to rusout before the russians w the outside. many were deliberately killed during the occupation. >> reporter: if i had not been wounded, i would have been shot too, he says. he also survived russia's occupation but at great cost. the city wiz shocked by the russian numbered, andf firepowe that rolled into a tiny village northeast of the capital. so many tanks passed, he says, so much ammunition, every house had 20 soldiers occupying it, inclulging the house where he, his neighbors, ask family were sheltering. they stayed in the basement. the russians stayed a

phil black. >> reporter: it's almost hard to comprehend, this was mariupol, not long ago, its peoplegirl in pink is kira, joyful, loved, 12 years old. this is after the russians came. orphaned, injured, alone in russian controlled hospital. russian media released this video showing kira in donetsk, capital of a russian separatist backed region in the east. telling some of they are story. why she fled mariupol. there was a lot of shooting she says, our building was hit. so was her father. yevgeny was a former captain of the national water polo team, shot from a distance and killed as russian forces fought way into mariupol on march 17. days later, kira, neighbors and father's girlfriend tried to flee on foot but someone stepped on mine and she was injured, russian soldiers took her to donetsk. russian military which killed your son has your granddaughter. grandfather tells me mother died when she was baby, watched her father die, misses remaining family, wants to return to him. aleksandr is scared he won't see her again. official invited her to travel to claim her. that's impossible b

>> phil black, thank you. i appreciate that. now i want to turn to the head of ukrainian railways which controls railroads across the country. thank you, alexander. appreciate you joining us. we have these images from earlier this week showing this railway station being used by civilians to evacuate, and now we see the disturbing images of blood and scattered luggage and bodies and all of it. why do you think the station was targeted? >> hi, don. indeed, the first time they target the station on purpose, apparently targeting civilians and targeting passenger railway infrastructure. before that -- a day before they shelled a bridge that was connecting the line of donbas to ukraine. and the reason is that they tried to stop the munition program. >> the remnant on the side it says "for the children." now, we don't know what the message means, but what do you think? >> i don't know either because ukraine lost five kids, and 16 more are injured. and that's why there's no reason in that message. >> the mayor there says that 8,000 peop

but i want to begin though with cnn's phil black, live for us in kyiv. phil, hello to you. first question, mariupol mayor says a third mass grave has been found around the city. we see the satellite images. and what is worse, civilians being forced to dig the graves in exchange for food. tell us more about what's happening there, please. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, don. so this is from the mayor who is an official who isn't in the city but throughout the war he has been -- he has been a strong source of information for what's going on within it as it has been under siege. he makes the point that this third new mass grave that's been detected on the outskirts of the city has been detected through assessment commercial satellite imagery as you touched on there. and what it shows is the trenches that have gotten bigger over time big are as they've been filled in over time. you're right, he makes the point that without necessarily attributing the information but he size that people on the ground were made to help with the mass burial, made to work in order to receive food