cnn's alex marquardt is in kyiv. scott

to alex marquardt, warning signs near the donbas region where you are, and what could and might happene used to precipitate what might happen in russia. >> reporter: that's right, michael, obviously, russia could invade ukraine, given the buildup that they've done in the north, in belarus, and the east, and the their own territory on the water. and there is a sense of what is happening in eastern ukraine. overnight, we saw satellite imagery of more helicopters, tankses, troops on that side. but just on the other side of the ukrainian border about 16 kilometers away, from one of the breakaway enclaves that had been out of control of the government for years, but backed by russia. but really in the past 24 hours, michael, we have seen what a lot are warning about in terms of spike in disinformation. false flag operations. we have these two breakaway subjects, donetsk and luhansk. russia is claiming, we have no way of verifying this, but they are reporting about 10,000 citizens of the donbas region as its known have crossed in russia. and they're willing to accept them. but the leaders of

let's get to alex marquardt who is in ukraine with the latest on this. alex? have been keeping a very close eye on anything on the cyber front because it would be expected that russia would do something in terms of a cyber attack alongside a potential military attack. for now what we know is that there was a cyberattack on at least two different entities. one is the ministry of defense's website and the other is one of the largest commercial banks called private bank. for now, it appears that this was is known as a ddos attack or a denial of service attack. that means when you go to these websites that they don't work. but it does not appear to be that -- anything bigger than that. let's get some perspective from sean lingis. we don't have fingerprints yet. we don't know who is responsible for this. this is a piece of the putin playbook. what comes to mind and what would you be looking for? >> well, john, it's a well-worn tactic to disrupt access to websites at a time of tension and potential conflict. this has happened before in georgia, the country of georgi

alex marquardt, thank you so much.eople there slept over night and the blast left a gaping hole on the side of the residential building, you can see right there forcing everyone inside evacuating. no deaths have been reported. cnn's clarissa ward was there filing this report. >> reporter: we are here in a residential neighborhood, quite near to one of kyiv's airport and you can see behind me, i am just going to step out of the way so my camera man can show you here the damage that has been done. some kind of a projectile hitting the apartment. there are still balanambulance workers on the scene. they're trying to take some scaffolding to try to prevent the floors from collapsing. nol one was actually killed in this strike. we are hearing from ukrainian authorities that six people were wounded. it is hard to imagine how anyone survived that. six people are wounded and they are being treated in various hospitals. there is a little bit of al he or she going on about how this happened. ukrainian authorities saying this was

cnn senior national security correspondent alex marquardt is in kyiv this morning. alex, those high level discussions ongoing now between russia and ukraine. what are we hearing from there and are there hopes from ukrainian officials that they make some progress there? >> reporter: well, jim, these talks have been under way for just about four hours now. they are happening just across the border to the north of me in belarus. that is notable because president zelenskyy declined to go to the capital of minsk because belarus has been hosting those russian forces for the past few weeks. there are now concerns belarusian forces could join in this invasion of ukraine. these are high level talks. these are not the two presidents zelenskyy and putin who are talking to each other but just below that level. sent an aide to president putin and delegation has an aide to president zelenskyy as well as the defense minister and ukraine went into these talks with the demand of an immediate cease-fire and the immediate withdrawal of russian troops. the kremlin has declined to say wh

let's begin with alex marquardt. what are you expecting? >> reporter: we are expecting to have president zelensky here on this day of national immunity. this is after president zelensky said today was supposed to be the day of the russian invasion and instead he decreed a day of international celebration. mariupol is a strategic location. we have danyesk down the coast where russia has been backing separatists in their fight against the ukrainians and then we have crimea which is not too far away which they occupied and annexed back in 2014. michael, it is really in crimea where we see the confusion over what russian intentions are. the russians putting out video this morning that claims they are pulling back their troops, they are pulling back their weaponry after exercises have taken place in crimea. they loaded up trains with troops, trains, artillery. those are all going back to the mainland in russia. they're crossing the kurtz bridge which they annexed with crimea. at the same time, michael, we are seeing a consistent buildup. we have

alex marquardt is in kyiv. alex, what is the situation there now?, fredricka, night has fallen and generally there's concern at night because the bombing seems to pick up. throughout the course of today, we have heard those regular booms and explosions in the distance outside of the city. some have been closer than others, but that has been relatively consistent. i think there's some hope tonight that because of these talks between ukrainian and russian delegations tomorrow that it may be a calmer night. that remains to be seen. you can probably see that much of the city is dark. many of the churches, the beautiful churches in the city are lit up at night and and city now keeping their lights off for security reasons. we're using fewer lights for security reasons as well. but the fighting does continue to rage in ukraine's second biggest city kharkiv, to the east of here, which is just across the border from russia. they have seen fierce fighting in the streets. ukrainian forces, russian troops have made their way into the city there as well. reside

. >> if jim sciutto is still with us in lviv, we're joined by alex marquardt who's in a key port city in southeastern ukraine as well as kaitlin collins at the white house. clarissa, you heard these booms behind you as biden was speaking earlier today. what's happening right now? >> we heard those booms. we have heard more since. actually while you were just playing our piece on air, we heard another series of explosions coming from that direction some ways in the distance. but we are hearing now from the harkiv civil military administration. they had a series of announcements and some guidelines for people. they're appealing for volunteers for drivers. they have said that that's not for military drivers, but they need drivers to help make sure that supplies are still able to get around and that services are still functioning. they say that there's been a gas supply interruption due to damage on a pipeline somewhere in the area. they also said that 400 people came out today, jake. i thought this was so interesting. 400 people came out to donate blood. they're trying to build up a larg

alex marquardt, thank you so much. be safe. >>> as we just saw with our arwa damon earlier, people are pouring into neighboring poland and romania by the tens of thousands. but still there are many ukrainians who must commit themselves to staying and fighting, like former president petro poroshenko, who i spoke with earlier today. >> now it's a decisive moment for my nation, and every single person make a decision for themselves. the millions of ukrainians not only staying here but they are fighting against russian aggression with a very high risk to be killed. and i think that this is normal when all ukrainian are protecting our country, all ukrainian are demonstrating putin's miscalculation about blitzkrieg, all ukrainians demonstrating that they are fighting against the aggressor, putin himself, that ukraine will meet russian troops with flowers, the only flowers for russian soldiers is the molotov cocktail, which we're preparing for protection for our cities against russian tanks. so this is the very nature of the

alex marquardt is in ukraine. what more are we learning about this call between presidents biden and zelensky of ukraine? >> president biden spoke with ukrainian president zelensky for just under an hour from the presidential retreat at camp david as they talked about the threat of that possible russian invasion into ukraine. the white house released a statement read out of that phone call saying that president biden made clear that the united states would respond swiftly and decisively, together with its allies and partners to any further russian aggression against ukraine. they added the two leaders agreed on the importance of continuing to pursue diplomacy and deterrence in response to russia's military build up on ukraine's borders. now this phone call with zelensky follows president biden's phone call yesterday with russian president vladimir putin. and officials have told us that there were no major breakthroughs in that call. but that the president made clear to putin that there would be swift and severe co

alex marquardt, cnn, eastern ukraine, near the line of contact. >> alex marquardt on the ground momentsced that it will halt the certification of the much anticipated but controversial nord stream 2 pipeline that connects russia to germany through the baltic sea and that would have supplied germany with an additional 50% of its current annual consumption of natural gas. it is a lot. that pipeline represented a $15 million value to a russian-state owned company and billions of dollars invested by five european firms. joining me now to discuss this is germany's ambassador to the u.s., emily haber. emily, thank you so much for being with us. can you tell us, ambassador, how significant a sacrifice this move is for germany? >> the decision to halt the certification process has been taken yesterday. it has been taken in the face of a major encroachment of international law, of beginning invasion, of the recognition of two breakaway regions in ukraine. and by all accounts the influx of russian troops into these regions. all of that amounts to a major infringement of international law and of b

. >>> alex marquardt joining me now in kyiv. alex, that's incredibly powerful.s former president saying everything is on the line and everyone must rise above their fears and they are ready for whatever may come to protect their country, their freedom, their interests, their way of life, their culture, everything. >> yeah, that's right, frederica. we heard a lot of bravado and a lot of patriotic statements in the lead-up to this russian invasion. ukrainians telling me that they're ready to take up arms and that is what we are starting to see. there has been a general mobilization of ukrainians, ukrainians, if they want, can go get a weapon from the ukrainian military and start fighting. so in addition to the ukrainian military, which has gotten a lot stronger over the past few years, we're seeing all kinds of ukrainians take a weapon, take an ak-47, and take the fight to the russians, we are seeing significant ukrainian resistance to this russian aggression and that is perhaps why russia has not made as much progress as had been predicted before this invasion st

our correspondents covering it, alex marquardt in kyiv. tasha bertrand in brussel. >> let's start the hour with alex in kyiv. alex, the battle for control of the capital is raging right now. there was some skepticism over we would wake up to find out president zelenskyy had been captured or worse. what are you seeing or hearing now? >> reporter: we went into knowing that president zelenskyy said it would be a very difficult night. and the fate is being decided right now. you see residents across the city taking shelter. what is clear now, this violence, this fighting, has made its way from the outskirts into the city itself. you just heard that report from clarissa ward, she went to that apartment building that was struck by a rocket. she noted that is very much in a central location, not on the outskirts of the city. we also heard some of the closest fighting yet to the center overnight. just around three miles, four kilometers from where i'm standing now, just to the west. significant explosions in the late night, around 3:00, 4:00 a.m. w

alex marquardt, cnn, kyiv. >> and joining us now, cnn military analyst wesley clark, nato's supreme allied commander and now a senior fellow at ucla berkeley center. so a town on ukraine's southern coast has fallen today, possibly a small naval base there, how significant a rugssian victory s this? >> really significant, in some cases, some troops you pulled out of small towns to prevent destruction, so that's not significant. the big battles are in kyiv and kharkiv and what we have to understand is the ukrainian resistance is phenomenal, brilliant. you got really great morale, spirit, training, these ukrainians want to fight russia, push them back and are determined to do so but thus far haven't met the main body of the russian force. that long convoy was part of the main body we saw just a moment ago. the main body slogan in part because at the top level, i think vladimir putin didn't want to put all its main forces in there. i think he could believe he wanted to intimidate and scare them to death putting the forward detachments in, well that didn't work. also, the ground is not cooperat

cnn's alex marquardt was in kyiv when it last rattled nerves across the city. >> there are fears that the russians could carry out a large scale bombing campaign here in the ukrainian capital. and just about 7 minutes ago in southwest kyiv we could see from our vantage point and hear a large explosion. i'm going to get out of the way so you can see what i'm seeing right now. again, this is in the southwest part of the capital. we heard a large blast, and then since then for the past 7, 8 minutes there has been this pulsing glow in the distance. you have to imagine that it is some kind of fire. it is a very eerie scene. this city is right now completely quiet. it has been quiet for quite some time, and every so often that silence is pierced by some sounds of fighting or war, whether it's gunfire or thuds in the distance. this was an explosion that was relatively close by. we don't know what the target is, but that is the general direction, general location of kyiv's second airport. it is a location that we've been looking at earlier today because there was a missile or a rocket that hi

cnn's alex marquardt is in kyiv. what are you experiencing and seeing?reporter: it is very volatile. it is still very tense, fredricka. we continue to regularly hear those blasts from here in the center of the city. they are outside of the city, some closer than others. it's difficult to tell from this vantage point often where they are coming from, or whether it is ukranian outgoing fire or whether it is russian incoming fire. we continue to hear gunfire as well as those air raid sirens that go off fairly regularly. this is still very much a city on edge. the streets are empty. people are either inside their homes or in bomb shelters when those sirens go off. fred, what is becoming increasingly clear that the ukranian military is really standing its ground in keeping the russian forces at bay from this city. i remember the most dire warnings were that this city could fall in 24 to 48 hours. here we are on the fourth day of this invasion and that has not happened. there was some fighting on the west edge of kyiv in a place called boucha. you can see a co

alex marquardt, cnn, kyiv. >>> tonight, a new refugee crisis. the u.n. reports nearly 400,000 people in ukraine have fled since the invasion and many are heading to neighboring poland. cnn's arwa damon spoke to several of them as they waited to cross the border. >> reporter: little hands clutched bigger ones that would give anything just to keep them safe. sleepy, tiny, cold faces and tired arms. the hum of voices you would expect from the number of people that are here. it doesn't exist. it's as if the shock and disbelief has brought with it an awed silence. it's mostly women and children here who have had to say goodbye to husbands, brothers, fathers. men aged 18 to 60 are not permitted to leave. how are you able to say goodbye to your father? >> i think that it was the most awful thing to say. she was crying. >> reporter: and then there is the sheer hell of getting here. walking for hours, waiting in some cases for days, out in the bitter cold. hungry, thirsty. we meet this family who fled afghanistan last may, getting asylum in ukraine. his 7-year-ol

fred pleitgen is following the movement of russian troops near the border and alex marquardt is live from kyiv. let's start with alex in the capital of ukraine. fighting has intensified across the country, but last night not far from where you were the skies were lighting up and there were indications that russian p paratroopers were landing not far from where you were now. >> we are still in the middle of a curfew that will extend until tomorrow morning. that is not just because kyiv officials want their citizens to stay inside, stay protected, but also because there are concerns about russian sabotage teams that are operating in the city. we have continued to hear sporadic blasts throughout the morning and into the early afternoon, about three or four of them over the last few hours and in the past few minutes we heard another one to the northeast of the city. it's often very hard to tell where these blasts are happening, where rockets mighting landing. but as you noted, this is coming after a very tense night. we had been warned of possible wide skail aerial assault by russia. that

alex marquardt is in kyiv while jasmine wright is in washington for us. alex, let's go to you first. bring us up to date on what's been going on there in a very active morning. >> reporter: it really is, michael. a flurry of developments and activity in the past few moments. just before we came on the air, we heard those air ride sirens that you also heard in lviv. but right here as the sun's coming up in kyiv as well. now, we have heard those throughout the evening, but it had been quite some time. those air raid sirens ending just moments ago, and again moments ago, we also heard some gunfire, loud gunfire coming from that direction. that is the east where, as you also mentioned, we have heard about fighting in the suburbs of kyiv. we have a very solid sense now that this fighting is really encircling the city, that the russian troops are proceeding in their goal to make their way all the way around this city. but, michael, possibly the most significant fighting that we saw overnight was in the western part of the city within the city limits. for the fir

alex marquardt, what are you seeing there on the ground? >> reporter: we made our way down to the southern coast. this would essentially be a third front for russia. they have been carrying out military exercises in the black sea. they have built up their forces in ukraine, in crimea, which annexed back in 2014. we've seen new satellite imagery that shows as the russians claim they're pulling back their forces, they have actually increased the air potential that they could use in a potential military invasion of ukraine. we've seen imagery that shows that some 60 helicopters have moved on to the crimean peninsula. they are being stationed in an air base that hasn't been used since 2003 and we've seen satellite imagery that shows that strike fighters, jets off the sea of azov that could take part in a potential military inv invasion. where we are right now, if president putin wanted to connect with crimea having seized it eight years, they would come right through here with relative ease. this is a key strategic point. back there behind me,

cnn's alex marquardt has more on that. . >> reporter: pam, the ukrainians are defying expectations in this fight, so far, keeping the russians at bay from the major cities with the success that is frankly surprising everyone. in and out only are the russians coming at this city, capitol, kyiv, from many sides but also targeting the second biggest city in this country, kharkiv and we've just seen and verified new video showing the stiff resistance from the ukrainians the russians are running into. >> a russian unit moves cautiously through the outskirts of kharkiv, their goal to seize a nearby military air field and property, they're progress makes them a target for ukrainian defenders hiding nearby. suddenly, an ambush. the russians fall back, their soldiers trying to shelter behind their hum-v type vehicles. their chaotic retreat seen here from another angle, one more example of the stiff resistance the russians are encountering from mobile ukrainian units who know the lay of the land. but the russians can't escape, they r

alex marquardt is on the ground and arlette saenz at the white house. arlette, start with you.t do we know about mr. biden's call with is zelensky? is the president on the same page in terms how this crisis is escalating? >> reporter: jim, president biden tried to make clear in the phone call the u.s. has solidarity with ukraine as this threat of a russian invasion looms. the president spoke with zelensky just under an hour from the presidential retreat at camp david and the white house released a readout of that discussion saying that president biden made clear that the united states would respond swiftly and decisively together with allies and partners to any further russian aggression against ukraine. the two leaders agreed on the importance of corporating to pursue diplomacy and deterrence in response to russia's military build upon the border. this follows president biden secure call yesterday with russian president vladimir putin and saying no major break it through on that conversation added the president made clear to putin swift and severe costs if he moves forward wit

alex marquardt is back with me. last hour you said from the north, south, east, and west that troops are making their way, russian troops to kyiv. have you been hearing any other kind of activity? >> reporter: yeah, we have, fred. we have indications now that the sun has set that this is probably not going to be a quiet night. just in the past few moments we have heard air raid sirens going off in the capital, the loud, very familiar thuds and low rumbles of explosions in the distance coming from the north and from the east, we believe. we've also heard gunfire coming from those directions directly behind me as well. this was essentially right on cue as the sun had set after what had been a relatively quiet day. we are now hearing ominous sounds from the kremlin and from the russian ministry of defense. they had claimed that they had paused operations because kyiv had given indications they planned to negotiate. they said kyiv reing inned on that. ukraine denies that. the ministry of defense says they'll resume this

cnn's alex marquardt is in kyiv. i spoke with him a short time ago. >> reporter: just before we came on the air, we heard those air-raid sirens that you also heard in lviv. but right here, as the sun is coming up in kyiv, as well. now, we have heard those throughout the evening. but it had been quite some time. those air sirens -- air-raid sirens ending just moments ago. and then again, moments ago, we also heard some -- uh -- gunfire. loud gunfire coming from that direction. that is the east, where you -- as you also mentioned, we have heard about fighting in the suburbs of kyiv. we have a very solid sense, now, that this fighting is really encircling the city. that the russian troops are proceeding in their goal to make their way all the way around this city. but, michael, possibly the most significant fighting that we saw overnight was in the western part of the city, within the city limits. for the first time, we heard explosions within the city limits just about five kilometers or just over three miles away. we

. >> in a moment, we'll hear from cnn correspondent alex marquardt reporting from ukraine. but we begin with the latest from the white house and cnn's alex saenz. >> reporter: president biden spent a total of 50 minutes on the phone with president zelensky on sunday as officials continue to warn that a russian invasion of ukraine could happen at any moment. the president held this call while spending the weekend at the presidential retreat at camp david. and the white house said that president biden made clear that the u.s. would act swiftly if russia were to invade ukraine. a white house statement, a readout of that conversation between biden and zelensky said president biden made clear that the united states would respond swiftly and decisively together with its allies and partners to any further russian aggression against ukraine. the two leaders agreed on the importance of continuing to pursue diplomacy and deterrents in response to russia's military buildup on ukraine's borders. now this conversation with zelensky occurred just one day after president biden spoke with r

let's get the latest from cnn's alex marquardt live in kyiv. what is the latest there, alex?r way for just shy of two hours. they're happening right on the border in belarus but on the border with belarus and ukraine. president zelenskyy declining to meet in the capital minsk because belarus has not just been hosting russian forces but there are indications that belarus may be joining these russian forces. president zelenskyy saying he does not have much hopes for these talks. but they are going into these conversations with the russians demanding immediate withdrawal of forces and immediate cease-fire. the russians not saying what their main goal is. brianna, it is clear that russia is not where i wants to be right now. remember, there were predictions the russians could take the capital city in 24 to 48 hours. we have strong evidence of this stiff resistance that the ukrainians are putting up. first to the east of here, and the second biggest city kharkiv near the russian border. we have seen fierce fighting in the streets. ukrainian forces literally pushing back russian tr

let's go right to our alex marquardt there in ukraine for us. what are you hearing there, alex?part of a speech to the nation that zelensky just posted on social media. so we're just getting this in, but that is the headline out of these comments that he made to the ukrainian population that he has been informed, he did not say that he believes, but he said they have been informed that wednesday, february 16th, so two days from now, will be the day of the attack. he has not said where he got that information. and we should note, ana, that there has been speculation, of course, that an attack could come this week. the u.s. has said that there's a significant possibility that an attack by russia on ukraine could come before the end of the olympics. that is on february 20th, next sunday. but we should note that wherever this information is coming from, and it's highly likely that it is from western and nato intelligence services, to zelensky, they have been very skeptical of some of these predictions. we heard over the weekend president zelensky saying that they have other informat

nic robertson in moscow, alex marquardt in kyiv, ukraine. alex, the ukrainian president said everyone needs to remain calm and everyone outside of this country was panicking ukrainians. >> reporter: that's right, fredricka. what we're hearing from the ukrainian government after that dire assessment from the white house is a strong message of reassurance and of defiance, essentially, please stay calm but if the worse comes to the worst we are ready and we will fight. that is a similar message we've heard in the past few weeks from ukrainian leaders as the u.s. and other nato countries have made increasingly pessimistic predictions. that is the same message we are now hearing from president zelensky on down as the u.s. has issued its most dire warning yet. now, president zelensky in that clip you played, he was down south in the southern part of the country observing ukrainian military exercises that not at all coincidentally are taking place at exactly the same time as russian military exercises are taking place in belarus. president zelensky

alex marquardt is in kyiv. alex, still nightfall there. what is the situation? are you hearing any activity like nights before? >> well, fredricka, this is a city that remains very much on edge. we are still in a curfew that goes until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. that's not just because of the danger to the citizens of this city but that's also because as the mayor has said, that if you are out and about you may be believed to be russian saboteurs. last night the mayor said that large groups of saboteurs were -- there were fights with them and that they were destroyed. it has been a relatively quiet evening in the past few moments i have heard some thuds. really far in the distance. we have heard that throughout the course of the day. different distances. some closer. some farther away. it's difficult to tell what those are. but there is evidence, fred, that russian forces are still trying to encircle this city and there have been skirmishes or movements from all sides of this city. some of the worst violence is actually taking place east of here in downtown kha

we want to get an update now on the situation in ukraine on the ground with cnn's alex marquardt. he joins us live. alex, what is playing out in that region right now. well, good morning, boris, amara, we are really reaching a crescendo, to borrow a word from the pentagon. we're seeing new highs and spikes in a number of areas, the russian buildup, first of all on three different fronts overnight, satellite imagery showing more helicopters, troops, tanks on the eastern beard from ukraine. we're seeing the violations increase. the violations of the cease-fire not too far from here. reaching highs that we have not seen in almost four years. in the first half of today, there were almost 40 cease-fire violations. a ukrainian service member was killed when they were hit by shrapnel. and we're seeing this disinformation campaign by russia and its supporters, really ratchet up into a higher gear. the two leaders of these two breakaway enclaves here in eastern ukraine, calling on their citizens to evacuate and head to russia because of what they say is an imminent ukrainian offensive again

cnn's alex marquardt is in kyiv. scott mclean is at the polish border. nick paton walsh is in ukraine. kaitlan collins is at the white house and oren liebermann is at the white house. we'll begin with alex. russian forces are trying to encircle kyiv. alex, what is the very latest now? >> reporter: don, this was a night that president zelenskyy predicted would be very difficult. as you noted, he says the fate of ukraine is being decided right now. over the course of the evening we have seen all kinds of gunfire and explosions coming from all different directions. just in the past few moments, as you and i were on the air, we did hear significant, heavy, sustained gunfire coming from the south of the city. i can see it going up into the air. you saw red tracer rounds. this was some kind of heavy machine gun. don, we have also tonight seen the closest explosions yet to the city center, within the city limits. that is coming from the western part of the city, near, we understand, a military base. for now, it does appear that the russians are targeting ukrain

. >> i want to begin with cnn's senior international correspondent alex marquardt who is live in kyivalex, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy acknowledging that he is russia's target number one, but vows to fight. you heard the former president, poroshenko, saying, you know, he is proud for all ukrainians to be there and continue to fight. what are you hearing now that the curfew is in place? is it silent or are people in position or is there any sign of russians nearby? >> reporter: well, fred, this curfew is now an hour in and it's not just an overnight curfew, they're trying to keep ukrainians off the streets. it is going for 48 hours until at least monday evening. that is a recognition of how significant the danger and threat are to this city from russian forces. in just the past few moments, we have heard back-to-back thuds, explosions coming from the eastern part of the city, which is directly behind me and just moments ago, gunfire from over there, towards the north. so we are continuing to hear the sounds of this fighting. there was a lull throughout the course of the day

but let's begin with cnn's alex marquardt. he's in the capital of kyiv. president zelenskyy minces no words. he says kyiv could fall under russia's control by tonight. what are you seeing and hearing tonight on the ground in kyiv? >> reporter: a very honest assessment from president zelenskyy there, wolf. and from all the evidence that we have seen and that we are hearing, he is right. there is growing evidence that the russians are really coming at this capital city of 3 million ukrainians from all angles. just moments ago, we heard what we believe to be the closest explosions to the city center yet. that is coming from the west, which is directly in front of me. we know that over the course of the past 24 hours, the fiercest fighting in kyiv has been to the north and northeast of the city. our own matthew chance was up at an airfield yesterday that was taken by the russians. we know that russians are marching on the city from the east, and we've just gotten word that there is some fierce fighting also taking place about 30 kilometers or 20 miles to the

alex marquardt, cnn, eastern ukraine. >> alex thank you very, very much.ews. joining us, the former u.s. ambassador to nato, retired lieutenant general douglas lou. moments ago ukraine president zelenskyy announced the russian leadership approved a military incursion into ukraine. he says a trigger can happen, in his words, we're quoting zelenskyy, any minute. what will you be watching for as ukraine faces this looming invasion? >> of course, we know that president putin has amassed the military capability to generate many -- a variety of options. he can launch from the separatist regions in luhansk and donetsk and take those two provinces. that would be the most incremental move. he can also move directly on kyiv, either on the ground or with air assault or precision fires. or he could go all the way down south along the waterways and try to create a land bridge between the russian main land and the russian illegally annexed formerly ukrainian peninsula of crimea. he's got options north, center and south. >> the latest satellite images, general, they show

. >> than you arlette seanez and alex marquardt, thank you. >>> now, in paris today, the police are clashing with the demonstrators blocking traffic today, and the protest is inspired by the protests happening in canada. and this morning in windsor, canada, the police began to clear a way for protesters who have blocking the way with the u.s., and the freedom convoy has been suffocating the supply chains across the border, and lucy kavanaugh is there on the border. what are you seeing there? >> we have been seeing the cars and trucks disrupting this critical trade route between canada and ta u.s. cleared off. and the ambassador is behind me, and they are now camped out here for the sixth is day, and there was a court order served by a canadian judge which gave more ability for the way to be cleared for the demonstrators around and the crowd is here despite the freezing temperatures, and seeing people strolling back and forth between the cutoff point there, and the police line that way, and shouts of freedom, and the folks are honking the air horns, and kind of festive here. kids are here, an

mariupol is not too far from that separatist region, our alex marquardt is there. where we are now, 15 miles from one of the two separatist enclaves president putin recognized as independent. we have been away for a few days. we got back this morning. we have come back to a much more tense city. the first thing we want to show you are the lines. it has gathered outside a pharmacy. you can see people going in one at a time. a long line at an atm. all along this street. atms all along the street. you have these long lines. people trying to get money out. we've been told by various people that they have had to go to different atms all across the city to try to find cash. a lot of people are confused. others say they want to leave. they're not sure if they can leave. we drove in this morning, what struck me was just the steady stream of people flowing out of mariupol. this is a city around half a million people. over two weeks of driving around ukraine, not seeing much of a military presence. that has changed today. the biggest number of ukrainian military vehicles we

let's go tour senior national security correspondent alex marquardt. ow? >> reporter: well, wolf, this is a key port city. a key city on the sea of azof. when president putin announced this war and he doesn't call it a war, he called it a special operation. he said this was about the donbas and about defending the donbas against a ukrainian offensive. that is where we are now and now we're seeing russian and pro-russian forces quickly moving in on either side of this key city. just about 15 miles that way to the east where we have heard this increase in shelling over the course of the past 24 hours. you have those pro-russian breakaway republics that president putin has now recognized, where president putin said he's soon going to be sending peace keepers, the leader of the breakaway enclaves calling on russian forces to move in and we have indications that they are moving into those areas. the question now, when will they cross into land that is still held by ukraine, because president putin in his recognition of those areas said that it was just -- no

alex marquardt is live in ukraine. what's the scene there? >> john, you are still seeing this significant difference in tone between the united states and ukraine. you have the u.s. still saying an invasion could come any day now, it could come this week. ukrainian officials are saying that everything is under control and we don't necessarily believe that it could happen in the coming days. over the weekend, president zelensky saying we have other information when he was responded to this new u.s. intelligence. the two presidents did talk over the weekend. we understand that president zelensky made several big asks and key requests of president biden. notably that he come and visit kyiv in the coming days. we're told by u.s. officials that is extremely unlikely. but president zelensky also asked for more military and financial aid which he said would help calm the panic or help ease any panic. this has been a major focus for president zelensky to avoid chaos. and whether it's through his own doing or just the people's attitudes themselves, it

cnn's senior national security correspondent alex marquardt is in ukraine.kraine's government has consistently downplayed the threat. a short time ago, i understand it set in motion a demand for russia to explain its military activities. can you walk us through this? >> yeah, ana, this is a diplomatic maneuver demand by ukraine telling russia, what are you up to? it's part of the vienna document in which signatories, including russia and ukraine have to explain unusual military activity. everyone agrees this is highly unusual military activity from russia. if they had to explain it, if they answer this, which they likely won't, they'll say we're simply carrying out exercises. these are massive exercises, historic exercises. 30,000 russian troops have been sent to belarus for these ten days of military drills. that's the biggest deployment of russian forces to belarus since the cold war. that border sits just north of kyiv, which, according to our latest reporting, is on the list of targets for russia, if they do choose to invade. ukraine will soon see milita

arlette saenz is at the white house with us, alex marquardt is in ukraine. what are we hearing about this call? >> reporter: president biden spoke with ukrainian president zelensky for just under an hour this morning while the president is spending the weekend at camp david and as that threat of a russian invasion of ukraine continues to loom. the white house says that the president reiterated the solidarity the united states has towards ukraine and that they also said that the president made clear that the united states would respond swiftly and decisively together with its allies and partners to any further russian aggression against ukraine. the two leaders agreed on the importance of continuing to pursue diplomacy and deterrents in response to russia's military buildup on ukraine's borders. now, this call with zelensky comes just one day after president biden had a secure call with russian president vladimir putin. officials said that there were no major breakthroughs that changed the dynamics of the situation during that phone call, but they stressed th

we'll go now to maripol, ukraine, where alex marquardt is on the ground.uations in the donbas region, which is where you are. this is after more shelling yesterday, including at an elementary school. take us through what we know and why all of this matters. >> yeah, abby. a number of worrying developments here in eastern, crane. the authorities in donetsk, a breakaway enclave backed by russia, out of kyiv's control reported there was an explosion near their government building. it appears to have been a russian-made car. we don't know too much more than that. frg we're hearing out of eastern ukraine in the russian-backed areas, we're taking not just with a grain of salt but with a bag of salt. we did hear from two leaders of those two breakaway enclaves today calling on their citizens to leave and evacuate to russia. they claimed there was a ukrainian offensive planned. that ukrainian troops and weaponry have shown up along the border and so they are telling their citizens to flee. of course, we don't have any sense that ukraine has any intention of doing

cnn's alex marquardt saw firsthand this morning in mariupol, ukraine. >> reporter: a lot of fear herecan. a number of their banks are closed. a number of the atms have run out of money. we were told by a mother who showed up that she had gone to a bunch of different ones and her kids were waiting in the car so she could then try to get out of town. there is some concern among people they will not be able to leave. as we came in earlier this morning, we saw a steady flow of cars heading out on the main road. also on the main road, gas stations with very long lines of people waiting for gas. notably, we are seeing a lot more military vehicles, ukrainian military vehicles than we have seen over the past few weeks just a short time ago, a truck with a tank on its bed going rumbling by. >> close to panic. alex marquardt, thanks so much. >>> the impact of russia's attack on ukraine being felt around the world. global markets plunged and here in the u.s., is dow is now down close to 700 points. world leaders planning to launch massive sanctions against russia. matt egan joins me. we're expec

let's get to alex marquardt. he joins us live from kyiv. what is the latest?lear that two of the biggest prizes for vladimir putin's army would be the two biggest cities in this country. as you noted, we have just heard some bombing around this city but also there has been heavy shelling in the second biggest city of kharkiv. now that is in the northeastern part of the country. that is tucked up against the russian border, just 20 miles from that border. earlier today we saw significant shelling in the northeastern part of that city. we've seen video. we verified this video. this happened in the saltivka neighborhood near a supermarket. we also saw video of a rocket booster that landed in the street. people gathering around it. city officials saying that one person was killed and more than 30 were wounded. now you heard earlier from our colleague fred pleitgen who has done reporting on the other side of the border in russia watching those movements. he saw earlier today at least three multiple rocket 'lalaunch moving toward the border which is right across fro

. >>> next to ukraine and cnn's alex marquardt in a city that could be in the path of a russian invasion. alex, we touched on this at the very top. tell us more about what ukrainian officials have been saying about these latest concerns. >> well, john, i want to pick up where mj left off there. that urgency is not yet being echoed by ukrainian officials. we are not seeing that level of alarm that we are seeing out of washington, d.c. and -- and that does just keep with what we have seen in terms of differences between kyiv and washington over the course of the past few weeks, as this crisis has grown. that's not to say that ukraine is not taking this seriously. they seem the same intel jennings as the united states and -- and nato. they are very aware of the potential harm that russia could do but they have also been making a concerted effort not to spook or panic their population. um, as you noted, john, we are hearing from a ukrainian official who is close to the zelensky government who says this is a very serious situation, and it is uncertain. we are also hearing, john, from the mayo

it is crucially central to this, and we'll talk about what's at stake with our alex marquardt who was there. and a trump supporter who pushes a big lie, and is also under investigation by the fbi. none of that is stopping her from running to be the one to oversee all voting in the state. >>> and tennis champion novak djokovic saying he's prepared to give up the gagame entirely if he's's forced to get vaccinated. >>> erin burnett "outfront" brought to you by sleep number, save 60% on this sleep number smart bed for limited time at sleep number stos. so you both sleep st right. and it senses yo movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effolessly comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. and now, during the ultimate sleep number event, save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 24 months on all smart beds. only for a limited time - common percy! - yeah let's go! on a trip. book with priceline. you save mor

>> alex marquardt, thank you for the update.nn international diplomatic editor nick h robertson is in moscow. how does the kremlin view this meeting? >> reporter: they are seeing this perhaps through the prism of president putin and some of his sort of, i think you can only describe it as most undiplomatic language that he used to describe ukraine and president zelensky late yesterday evening. this is language that you wouldn't expect to normally hear in this sort of forum, but it is the sort of language that president putin has used in the past. he was talking about the minsk talks, alex was just explaining there, and saying that he expected ukraine and the president there, despite whatever they think, you know, whether they like it or not, he said, essentially, you know, get on with it, darling. this was sort of overtones of gross sexual innuendo there from president putin, although the kremlin denies that. but it -- what it does is gives a very clear impression of the way that president putin views zelensky and ukraine at the

you have designs on this area from both sides, jake. >> alex marquardt in mariupol, thanks.missiles, that they'd come down across this country, and they did. now you have those ground troops that have been coming in through the day and in the fog of war. we're learning where they are fighting and what they are doing in the south with that heavy fighting, in the north near chernobyl, around so many points of this country. much of the world uniting to condemn russia's predawn attack on ukraine, including here in lviv. russian missiles are being fired across the border at targets in ukraine. on the right, russian tanks, part of the arsenal unleashed. armored vehicles, attack helicopters, jets, russian airborne troops. artillery. it's a full-scale invasion. it is well under way. it is happening now. it has already killed dozens of civilians and military personnel. meantime, russian president putin has called on ukrainian forces to lay down their arms, to avoid widespread bloodshed. there's no indication of any such thing occurring. nic robertson is in moscow for us today. and ni

let's discuss the speech with retired general mark kimmitt, susan glasser, and alex marquardt. alex, let's start with you. despite president biden's warning that putin has made up his mind, you are there. do you think most ukrainians agree with that idea where you are? >> reporter: i do, boris. you know, we've been here for quite some time, and spoken with a number of people. what we hear on the ground is remarkably in line with what president zelensky said there. that very forceful exchange with our colleague christiane amanpour. he had the line that was quite funny, that they have a vaccine, perhaps not as strong as a covid vaccine, but they have been vaccinated by this eight years of fighting against russia-backed forces. that's what we hear from over and over again from ukrainians all over the country, that they are not panicking, there's not chaos in the streets, because they are used to russia being on their borders. now, in fairness, they are not used to seeing a russian force of this size, but at the same time we have heard the importance of keeping the population calm f

alex marquardt, stand by. flag for us if you see any more or hear any more gunfire. want to go to jill dougherty in moscow. i've been really anxious to talk with you, jill. russia's disinformation campaign continues. they won't report casualties that they sustained in this fight. they don't want to acknowledge that the ukrainians are putting up more of a resistance than previously anticipated. we shouldn't even say we now know, but we've known for a long time not to trust anything they say, but they've been proven liars in recent days, say there's no invasion, no plan for an invasion, and so on. how much of the russian people, i guess, inside russia, obviously. how much do they know about what's going on? what is the messaging going on the ground there? are you getting a sense that people are starting to come to the reality that things aren't going well? unlike what their government is saying right now. >> reporter: well, you know, i think in the west we've had this image that writings propaganda, russian use of information war is very powerful, they can influence a

cnn's alex marquardt has more on that. >> the ukrainians are defying expectations in this fight, so far keeping the russians at bay in the major cities which is success that is surprising everyone. not only are russians coming at this city, the capital of kyiv from all different sides, and they are targeting kharkiv, and we have seen the kind of stiff resistance from the ukrainians that the russians are now moving into. a russian units moves carefully on the outskirts of kharkiv. their slow progress makes them a target from ukrainians standing by. the russians fall back and their soldiers trying to shelter behind their humvee-type of vehicles. one more example of stiff resistance the russians are encountering. but the russians can't escape and run into further trouble, apparently surrounded. at least one of their trucks is disabled. a resident telling a reuters' journalist, one was killed in the fight. >> translator: after we killed this one, the others ran away. we will win. they won't take kharkiv. they have run back to where they came from. >> celebrating a small victory in a conflic