i want to bring in our live team coverage of alex marquardt who is in kyiv in the region of kyiv. alex, what's the latest that's going on in kyiv today? >> anderson, all the worst fears in the early days of the invasion that russia would end up targeting civilians are coming true. the fears of people who left kyiv and other cities in the early days, those fears have come to reality as russia steps up their attacks, not just on kyiv but on cities all across the country. and we are starting to really feel the efforts of russia to cut this city off, to encircle it, to strangle it. we're seeing heavier and heavier fighting coming from the north and from the west. those russian forces pushing forward. we see more and more ukrainian residents coming out of those areas, some 2,000 have left the neighborhood of irpin, according to the police. that is, of course, where we saw shelling by russian forces that left at least eight people dead. four people at a checkpoint. we have seen those tanks that you were referencing in residential areas, in irpin. very close to residential buildings. and

alex marquardt, cnn in the kyiv region. >>> israel also pitching in to try to mediate between russia ukraine. israeli prime minister naftali bennett speaking simply with the leaders of both countries on wednesday after ukraine's president asked him last week to help with negotiations. israel has good ties with both moscow and kyiv, but it voted at the u.n. general assembly on wednesday to condemn russia for invading. all right. cnn hadas gold joins me live from newsroom. and hadas, tell us more about these goals and if any progress was made. >> michael, it was actually the second round of such calls with both ukrainian and russian leaders in less than a week. as you noted last friday, the ukrainian president asked the israeli prime minister to potentially host talks, to be the mediator of both sides in jerusalem. that's because ukrainians no longer peel as belarus where these negotiations often take place is a fair place because belarus is such a close ally of russia. we know that yesterday the first call was with volodymyr zelenskyy. this actually game after zelenskyy put out a stat

switch today. >>> i'm alex marquardt.verage of russia's intensifying war in ukraine. we are live in the city of lviv. people of mariupol said russians right now are bombing a humanitarian corridor meant to help civilians escape and get aid into that city. this is the same city where the children's and maternity hospital was bombed just yesterday. now, also this morning, we are seeing the highest level talks yet between russia and ukraine. those ended just moments ago but without any progress on the humanitarian corridors or a cease-fire. the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, has continued to peldz lies and conspiracy theories about the war and invasion that his country launched just two weeks ago. bianna golodryga is standing by with what the west may do in response. >> reporter: thank you. images show absolute devastation with russian forces with millions of civilians fleeing in desperation. we see it every day now. with the white house warning russia could use chemical or biological weapons in ukraine, the u.s. a

we have live coverage across ukraine beginning with alex marquardt near kyiv. lex, first of all, what do we know about this dire situation in mariupol. >> reporter: as you mentioned, 300,000 people according to ukraine's foreign minister are being held hostage. this is a critical city to watch. it is one that the russian forces would certainly like to take. but the forces in mariupol, the ukrainian forces are holding on. they have been able to keep the russian forces at bay. but it's clear that the people in mariupol are suffering. they are without water, they are without power as you mentioned that child dying of dehydration. at this point according to the pentagon, it does not appear that russian forces are anywhere inside the city, that they are, however, on both sides. and this is one of the cities that we've been talking about all day because the russians had said that there would be a cease-fire around five ukrainian cities, including this one, to allow people to get out through evacuation corridors. but according to local authorities, the humanitarian aid

in russia as well as back home in the u.s., let's begin with national security correspondent alex marquardthe is in the capital, kyiv. you've been visiting the site of some of these russian strikes. the russians say they're not hitting civilian targets. you see something very different. tell us what you saw. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, jim. we heard just today from the kremlin spokesman, dmitri peskov, saying it would be out of the question to target civilian infrastructure or residences. we saw the exact opposite. it was clear that the target for the russians yesterday was this tv tower, a very tall tower about three miles outside the center of kyiv. it was hit with a direct missile strike. the building next to it suffered a fair bit of damage there, lots of debris and glass. but all around -- well, that is a civilian infrastructure target. it's not military. and then across the street where we spend most of the day, you had an auto parts store, a gym, all of their windows blown out, people picking up the debris. we met a woman named katarina who was cleaning out her shop along with h

cnn's senior national security correspondent alex marquardt is in kyiv for us right now. want to check in with them. alex, earlier today, vladimir putin delivered a speech filled with, you know, that -- filled with information that was just disconnected from reality, just wasn't true. he said the special military operation, as he calls it, is going according to plan. talk about more about the type of targets the russians have taken in recent days and the damage that you have seen today. >> reporter: well, anderson, i think the thing that sticks out most from the russian comments in general is just this repeated, you know, bald-faced lie that they are not going after civilian targets. this repeated insistence that they're not trying to hit civilian infrastructure or civilian residential areas. we've just seen them stepping it up across the board, across the country, and the death toll of civilians climbing every single day. the u.n. says that more than 200 civilians across ukraine have been killed but the ukrainian emergency services says that it is more than ten times that

alex marquardt with me here in lviv. so these two missile strikes, notable. far west, further west than russia has been striking of late. airfields, that makes me think they're going after supply lines for the ukrainian military. >> yeah, i mean, unlike dnipro where they're clearly engaging in more indiscriminate attacks, these would be beginning on russia's target list and the vast majority of the strikes we've seen from the russians have been in the eastern part of the country as the pentagon put it the other day, a straight line down from the capital of kyiv to port city of odesa. you get woken up this morning to news about the strikes to the north and to the south of us, that does show a remarkable departure from what we've seen so far from the russians. it is not just going to be concerning for western ukraine, but of course, the european countries and nato countries to the west of us. so the airfield in lutsk, miles from the border at poland, was hit by four strikes. there were two people killed. and then to the south of us, jim, in an airfield there wa

i'm here with alex marquardt in lviv, ukraine. breaking news, major cities in ukraine, lutsk and dnipro, air strikes. three air stakes hit a

let's get to kyiv and alex marquardt. alex, more strong words, more strong actions, more just strong images from president zelenskyy. he was back in his office yesterday for the first time, speaking to the house of commons, delivering more appeals for more help. saying thank you, but i need more. >> yeah, john. this was classic zelenskyy who we've now heard from on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day to show his people that he still very much in the fight, to show the world that he is still very much in the might. defiant, praising the ukrainian people for their valiant fight but making clear this fight is far from over and they need much more. he ticked through every single day of this fight, now almost two weeks long, just to ill straight how difficult it has been and how the russians have been stepping up their attacks. we've heard harsher and harsher language, more pointed, more frustrated, language towards the allies that have been support k him. understandably as this war nears the two-week mark and the dea

cnn's alex marquardt reports from a small village west of kyiv devastated by a small aircraft on friday>> the small country road is now lying in rubble, collapsed homes and a deep crater where a russian missile struck. the attack, caught on a village security camera hit the home of igor megiav in a small village about 15 miles from kyiv where he was with his family. now they're gone, killed in an instant, five family members and a friend, including his 12-year-old daughter who was disabled in an accident with a drunk driver, his wife just 46 years old and his son in law, the father of his grandchildren. today, mozharev, black-eye and face bruised picked through the debris trying to find belongings and documents. there was a brief moment of happiness when he found one of his missing cats, but the reality of how his life is forever changed has not yet sunk in. >> reporter: there is simply no explanation for all of this destruction, for the death that happened here. there is no military target around for miles. this isn't a strategic village or town that needs taking. so as the kremlin con

alex marquardt, cnn, kyiv. >> alex, thank you very much. >>> wnba super star brittney griner detainedarrest is unknown. one u.s. lawmaker saying it's going to be difficult to get her out. to be a thriver with metastatic breast cancer means asking for what we want. and need. and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. women are living longer than ever before with kisqali when taken with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fe

cnn's alex marquardt has the details. we want to warn you the report has graphic content. >> reporter: the fighting getting closer to home on monday in kharkiv. this is video from one of five residential neighborhoods in ukraine's second largest city. two people can be seen running and crawling as a hail of rockets rains down. across the city to the east more video shows a chaotic scene after still smoking missile falls and is lodged in the street. further north buildings come under fire from rocket strikes exploding over the apartment complex. from those apartments a man says the russian world, you say, already right on my doorstep. two bodies lie motionless on the floor. u.s. officials say the russians have hit citizen targets. they say they will avoid civilian areas. people in kharkiv seeing things very differently. alex marquardt, cnn, kyiv. >>> ukraine's crisis will feature prominently in president biden's state of the union address later on tuesday. he's expected to highlight his efforts to rally a global consensus

cnn's alex marquardt with the latest on the plight of the ukrainian capital, alex. >> reporter: yeah, john. we are now of course a week into this war. we are getting nonstop reports of attacks and russian strikes from all across the country. this country is surrounded on three sides. all eyes on the capital as russian forces seem to encircle it and topple the government here. the blast that you are referencing we believe to be the biggest one on wednesday evening near the central rail station that so many people have been using to flee the country and get to safety, what scott mclean was just talking about, heading west towards him in lviv. the blast damaged a platform at the railway station. but it also, very importantly, hit a major gas heating pipeline. it's not clear what the target was. the interior ministry here believes it was a russian cruise missile intercepted by their anti-aircraft system. but it does raise concern about what the russians may be doing in terms of their targeting in and around kyiv, whether they might be going after heating, the electricity grid, of course.

alex marquardt live from kyiv. thank you. >>> we are getting new images from the heavy shelling and rocket fire in ukraine. we heard alex just talking about that. russian forces are locked in a battle to take this ukrainian city of chernayev and cnn's coverage will l continue straig ahead. ever get a sign the universe is trying to tell you something? the clues are all around us! not that one. that's the one. at university of phoenix, you could earn your master's degree in less than a year for under $11k. learn more at phoenix.edu. getting the incredible iphone 13 without t-mobile, makes as much sense - as playing hide-in-seek... - ready or not, here i come. ...in the desert. really guys? t-mobile has more 5g bars in more places. and now, when you switch, you can get iphone 13 on us at t-mobile. (man 1 vo) i'm living with cll and thanks to imbruvica (man 2 vo) i'm living longer. (vo) imbruvica is a prescription medicine for adults with cll or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. imbruvica is not chemotherapy- it's the #1 p

>> i want to go to alex marquardt.e in that area outside of kyiv earlier today that was hit by a strike. talk about what you saw. >> well, anderson, this is one of those examples of a civilian target that cannot be mistaken for anything but a civilian target. this is the small village about 15 miles south of kyiv. it's a village where people general ly commute into this city. there is no major military presence nearby that would justify any kind of russian strike against it if the russians continue to claim they're not going after civilians. we walked along a small country road and on both sides there were large piles of rubble after a russian air strike on friday and on the left hand side of the road where one of the bombs had been dropped was a large crater and there we met a man named igor and he was being helped by friends and neighbors to go through the rubble to try to salvage anything they could from his home. he lost five family members. his daughter who was 12 years old in a wheelchair at the time. his wife, h

i'm here with alex marquardt in lviv, ukraine. breaking news, major cities in ukraine, lutsk and dnipro, air strikes. three air stakes hit a kindergarten, apartment building and shoe factory. cnn is live on the ground there. the uk ministry of defense said russian forces continue to make limited progress in advancing towards kyiv and could be preparing for a fresh attack against the ukrainian capital here in the coming days. a senior u.s. defense official said some troops are now within nine miles of the capital city center with other units approaching from all directions. these new images from the outskirts of the city show the 30-mile-long convoy largely dispersed and redeployed. some repositions in the forests and tree-lined areas. in cher nave, there is heavy damage. it is encircled by russian troops, says the mayor. emergency services releasing a heart-stopping video showing the de-fusing of a bomb. you can hear explosions going off in the background. >> reporter: just extraordinary courage there. ukraine's foreign minister h

cnn's alex marquardt with the details. a warning, alex's report does contain graphic content. >> reporter: the fighting in kharkiv getting a little bit closer to home on monday. this is video from one of five residential neighborhoods in ukraine's second-largest city. people can be seen here running, and then falling as a hail of rockets rains down. across the city, to the east, more video shows a chaotic design after a still-smoking missile falls and is lodged in the street. further north, buildings come under fire from rocket strikes, exploding over the apartment complex. from those apartments, a man says, the russian world you say, it's already right on my doorstep. two bodies lie motionless on the floor. u.s. officials say the russians have hit civilian targets in monday's attacks in kharkiv have all the hallmarks of russian weaponry. russia, meanwhile, has insisted throughout its invasion that it will avoid civilian areas. the people of kharkiv probably seeing things very differently. alex marquardt cnn, kyiv. >> now,

correspondent alex marquardt is live from kyiv, from the kyiv region. so alex, the third round of talks between russia and delegations just wrapped up. there was apparently some small progress we are told made on the issue of humanitarian corridors but i fell like we heard that the last time as well. what do you know? >> anderson, this was the third round of talks, as you noted. the russians are saying that there will be more. it is always good when discussions are happening but now after three rounds of talks, it doesn't look like much progress was made. the ukrainians saying that there was some small progress in terms of the understanding of how these corridors should work. but at the same time, the returns are walking away from the talks. we just got comments calling the ukrainians difficult partners and saying they're expectations were not met. keep in mind, both sides are coming into these talks from very different standpoints. the russians want major expectations to be met by the ukrainians like agreeing not to join the e.u. or nato or recognizing

this is alex marquardt back in lviv, ukraine., massachusetts, where we are joined by elizabeth whelan, the sister of paul whelan, a u.s. citizen who is currently imprisoned in russia. he's been held there since 2018. the biden administration should not forget about him, she says, and trevor reed when discussing sanctions against russia because of this war in ukraine. whelan is a former marine and police officer. he was arrested in moscow in 2018 where he was planning to attend a friend's wedding. and now he is being held on espionage charges, which he of course denies. his family says he's been held in harsh conditions and has been denied the medical treatment that he so critically needs. paul whelan's sister elizabeth joins me now. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> elizabeth, what do you know about paul's health at this point? as we just noted, he wasn't been getting the treatment you say he needs? >> well, paul's health is actually stable at this time. he had a very severe illness this

alex marquardt, cnn, washington. >> i spoke with cnn military analyst and retired u.s. air force colonel cedric leighton. i asked him if he thinks russia is truly de-escalating or simply repositioning its troops. here's part of our conversation. >> hala, i believe it is at the very most a repositioning of the russian forces. i don't think they're really de-escalating, and i don't think that they are withdrawing. and it looks as if the russians are not being true to their word in this case. >> so why say it? >> because i think it gives them the idea that -- a little diplomatic leverage for them, and it makes it look as if they are doing something that is related to perhaps a peaceful resolution of this crisis. but, in es sence, it gives them cover, hala. it gives them cover to do other things, and it also serves to dec deceive, and that, i think, is really the difficult part of it. but it does work not only with their military doctrine but also their diplomatic doctrine as well. >> but it doesn't -- they're not being very convincing. i mean from the moment they said it p

cnn's sam kylie in kyiv and in dnipro ivan watton and contours of the day first from cnn's alex marquardt. >> reporter: across ukraine -- tonight the sounds and scenes of war. these air raid sirebles in the western sanctuary city of lviv while snow covers debris after russian air strikes destroyed these residential buildings on the other side of the country in sumy and in the capital kyiv, an overnight attack on a shopping center, which local officials say killed eight. the besieged port city of mariupol emerging as a critical fight in this war. a ukraine officer tells cnn bombs are falling there every ten minutes. russian forces bombed an art school being used to shelter around 400 people. according to the city council, with a number of casualties still unknown. satellite images show the aftermath of the bombing of that theater where over 1,000 civilians were reportedly sheltering with the russian word for "children" written clearly on the ground. tonight ukraine rejecting a russian ultimatum to surrender this crucial city which stands in the way of connecting western russia to crimea. t

i'm brianna keilar with alex marquardt live from ukraine. john berman is off today. we begin with vladimir putin sinking to a new low on ukraine. launching an airstrike on a maternity and children's hospital in mariupol. a place where lives are supposed to begin, not end. a massive crater left behind in the hont's courtyard. the facility in ruins, gutted from inside. pregnant women dazed and bloodied, helped through the rubble. some on stretchers. officials tell us 3 of the 17 people injured have died. one of them a child, a little girl. russia agreed to a 12-hour pause to allow for evacuations. president zelenskyy calling this proof of a genocide of ukrainians. >> reporter: and about half a mile away a university and the mariupol city council administrative building were also left in shambles by an apparent russian missile strike. we want to warn you the images we're about to show you are particularly disturbing. there are so many bodies in the city. residents are having to dig mass graves for them. no individual funerals for the dead. officials say at least 1300 ci

cnn international correspondent -- national security correspondent alex marquardt is live from the kyiv region. alex, a u.s. defense official says that russia is making a renewed advance toward kyiv. this time, however, from the east. we know there's that stalled russian column in the north but this advance is from the east. what more are you learning about possible movements? >> reporter: well, of course, anderson, this is concerning because it is one more direction that the russians are coming at kyiv from .. they have not made much progress in recent days. they've definitely instilled a lot of fear, so what we understand from the pentagon, from that senior defense official, is that they're about 40 miles away, about 60 kilometers to the east. that's not as close as some of the forces that are to the north. that long column, that 40-mile column we've talked about for days or their forces to the west. that is primarily where we have seen a lot of the russians pushing from, from the north, from the west. we've seen their tanks in residential areas. we've seen them targeting those evacua

. >>> let's go to cnn's alex marquardt now. he's outside the capital of kyiv. there were reports of shelling. you're in a village that has been decemimated from what we'r seeing. walk us through that and what we're seeing. >> reporter: in the past moments, boris, we've heard shelling coming from the same distance you've been talking about. it's some of the most intense shelling i even heard so far. it really goes to show in this village however part of this country is being affected, not just the cities, not just the towns. this is a tiny village. i want to show you some of the destruction it has seen in the past few days. this is markhalivka. it was hit by a russian air strike on friday. six people were killed here. this is the crater from one of the strikes. this is the home of a 54-year-old man named igor who we have just met. look at the size of that impact crater. now, igor lost five of his family members including his wife, his 12-year-old daughter who was in a wheelchair, and his mother-in-law. he has spent the past two days digging through this rubble t

cnn's alex marquardt reports. >> reporter: a key government building in central kharkiv swiftly destroyed in a russian strike. videos show extensive damage from missile and rocket attacks in the center of ukraine's second biggest city, suggesting that russia's invasion is becoming less focused on attacking military targets, the violence becoming less restrained. emergency responders in kharkiv removed a dead body from a building that was shelled. amid reports of attacks on civilians, the ukrainian president has accused russia of committing war crimes. >> translator: they are fighting against everyone. they are fighting against all living beings, against kindergartens, residential buildings, against ambulances. they use rocket artillery, missiles and city districts where there are not and never were any military facilities. >> reporter: russia is ramping up its offensive across ukraine. this map shows troop movements, attacking ukraine from three sides. the southern city of mariupol now nearly surrounded and under attack. and u.s. officials say another wave of russian troops is likely on t

i'm brianna keilar in washington with alex marquardt in lviv, ukraine. vladimir putin's attacks on ukraine are becoming more horrifying by the hour. a russian air strike as you can see in this picture. this was on a maternity and children's hospital in mariupol, which has killed three people, including a child, a little girl we learned. this enormous crater in the hospital's courtyard caused by a bomb strike, by an air strike. the facility decimated from one end to the other. pregnant women dazed and bloodied, evacuated through the rubble. some of them even on stretchers, unable to move themselves. the attack coming despite russia agreeing to a 12-hour pause in hostilities to allow for evacuations. president zelenskyy calling this proof of a genocide of ukrainians. and there is no end in sight to the kremlin's carnage here. moments ago, a meeting in turkey between the foreign ministers of russia and ukraine ended with no agreement on humanitarian corridors or a cease-fire. moments ago, vice president kamala harris speaking in warsaw, poland, addressing t

alex marquardt, cnn, kyiv. >> chelsea fc is one of the most successful soccer clubs in the world.ussian oligarch owner of the club has been stripped of its duties. we'll have details after the break. stay with us. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we h planned carefully for our retirement. but quickly realized we needed a wayo supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned we could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without find

alex marquardt is in lviv. we watched this convoy for days, really. almost amazed and the various retired generals we talk to say, boy, that was bad planning, but now we're seeing it finally disperse. >> so much fascination with this convoy because it was so big, because it was so long, because of the kind of weaponry in there. lots of questions as to why it wasn't hit harder earlier on, and i think what we're seeing now again, the former officials and experts we t ss we talked t is a good sign for the ukrainians, they managed to disperse this convoy. you see some of the weaponry, some of the vehicles taking cover in the tree line. the ukrainian forces with this stiff resistance has managed to -- has managed to inflict some real damage on that convoy. however, we do know that the focus still very much is on kyiv for these russian forces that are not only coming in from the north, where that convoy is, from the west, but now also from the east, and, jim, i spoke earlier today with the brother of the mayor of kyiv, vladimir klitschko, he says they are e

cnn's alex marquardt has our story. >> reporter: across ukraine, the sounds and scenes of war. these air raid sirens in the western sanctuary city of lviv while snow covers the debris after russian air strikes destroyed these residential buildings on the other side of the country in sumy and in the capital kyiv, an overnight attack on a shopping center which local officials say killed eight. the besieged port city of mariupol is emerging as a critical fight in this war. a ukrainian officer tells cnn that bombs are falling there every ten minutes. russian forces bombed an art school being used to shelter around 400 people according to the city council, with the number of casualties still unknown. satellite images show the aftermath of the bombing of that theater where over 1,000 civilians were reportedly sheltering with the russian word for "children" written clearly on the ground. ukraine rejecting a russian ultimatum to surrender this crucial city, which stands in the way of connecting western russia to the crimean peninsula. the mounting death toll across ukraine, particularl

to christiane amanpour in kyiv and kaitlan collins at the white house, but first a record from alex marquardt. >> reporter: ukraine is taking back territory, troops here walking through the town of sloboda near the northern city of chernihiv where russia said they would deescalate the fight but it wages on, as well as near the capitol kyiv. a senior defense official says russia increased the amount of aircraft munitions near kyiv, president joe biden saying he's in and out sceptical of russia's claim of withdrawing from kyiv. >> i'm a little sceptical. it's an open question whether he is pulling back and saying i'll just focus on the donbas and not the rest of the country. i'm a skeptic, so far, that he has not pulled out all the troops around kyiv and moving south, there's no evidence that he has done that. >> reporter: even as the ukrainian see some gains in the north, russia has not let up its deadly decimation of the southern city of mariupol, both sides agreeing on a corridor to allow escape on buses. and ukrainian emergency services now say 20 people at least killed in a russian strike

alex marquardt, thank you for that powerful reporting. >>> a senior u.s. official telling cnn russia fired 600 missiles since invading ukraine. live at the pentagon with more, so what are you learning? >> reporter: pamela, that number has steadily climbed since a week and a half ago topping more than 6 00 including different kinds of missiles like ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. for the massive combined arms force surrounding ukraine on the north in belarus and crimea and the east there in russia, more than 95% of that force has be committed to the fight inside ukraine. a senior defense official tells us. there isn't that much left. that's why there is a massive force of russians moving through the country in a number of different directions. even with that force, that senior defense official says the russians haven't made much progress over the course of the last 24, 48 hours or so and things are basically right now, this could change but in a bit of a stalled position. the russians are still trying to encircle major cities like kyiv, kharkiv, mar

cnn's alex marquardt spoke with workers at the hotline in kyiv in this exclusive report. >> reporter:s of russians -- parents, wives, siblings -- desperately search fog answers. calling to find information, anything on russian soldiers they've lost contact with who are fighting in ukraine, who may be wounded, captured, or even killed. >> reporter: this russian wife, like many others, has turned to an unlikely source for help, the ukrainians. in a ukrainian government building, christina, her alias, is in charge of a hotline called "come back from ukraine alive" which ukraine's interior ministry says has gotten over 6,000 calls. christina asks that we don't show her face. your country is being invaded but you also feel the need to help these russian families. why? >> reporter: the russian relatives who have called this hotline say they haven't heard from their soldiers since the invasion. the hotline, which russian families have found on social media or through word of mouth, gave cnn exclusive recordings of a number of the calls. >> what are some of the calls that stick out to you, th

>> alex marquardt in kyiv for us. , thank you. >>> while the biden administration has pushed back against establishing a no fly zone over ukraine to avoid any direct conflict with russia, this morning a group of 27 u.s. foreign policy experts are urging a limited no fly zone in an open letter to the administration. joining us now is cnn military analyst and head of geopolitical strategy at academy securities retired major general james "spider" marks. let's talk about the big picture here because as we understand it, according to the pentagon, all of the capabilities, mostly the ground troops, that putin had ameassed on the outside are now on the inside of ukraine. they're in the fight. so what does the russian position look like right now? >> well, clearly what we see is a stalled operation. again, russia came in a whole point of different directions of advance. and they stalled down. instead of, in lieu of, applying mass, one of the principles of war we talk about, mass on the primary objective, the center of gravity

i want to bring in alex marquardt, cnn senior national security correspondent joining me in lviv as well. alex, talk about what russia has done, they've launch multiple missile strikes on a number of targets and shifting their focus to the west. what is behind that? >> yeah, anderson, it remains to be seen whether this is a fundamental shift in their strategy, whether this is an enlargement of their tactics, whether they're now really going after all of the country. and until now we have seen very little russian action here in the western part of the country. early this morning, air sirens went off in this city, this hotel telling people to go down to the air raid shelter, even though we know now there were no explosions anywhere nearby, there were no strikes in or around lviv and that speaks to how jumpy everyone is, how nervous everybody is because there has not been much russian aggression here in the western part of the country. the airfields that were targeted north and south of lviv were near relatively near borders of nato countries and that is also raising some concerns in those

alex marquardt is near the capital city of kyiv. fred pleitgen is in moscow. alex, first to you. you're in the outskirts of kyiv this morning. pentagon press secretary john kirby talked about that russian convoy stalled miles outside the city. i want to play some of that for our viewers. >> that convoy that we talked about also has been stalled and slowed and quite frankly a big reason for that has been the ukrainian resistance. they were able to hit some of those lead vehicles and get it to stop. >> what's the latest that you've been hearing and seeing? >> well, the pentagon is saying that that not only is it stalled, but that it hasn't really moved, obviously, in the past few days. since the weekend. it's stuck about 15 miles outside of kyiv. and on top of the efforts that the ukrainians and special forces in particular have made against those vehicles, there was also a bridge that was blown up that has caused them to stop that has prevented their advance. there are a number of factors that have gone into the fact this convoy is at a standstill. think about how many days we've

>> alex marquardt, what's the latest in kyiv and in the north? >> well, just as the south continues to see significant russian aggression, we are also seeing it from the north. russia had assembled its troops on all sides. the north has been pummeled in recent days, particularly today we are getting lots of news, lots of new pictures out of the town of chernihiv near the border with belarus. we understand that there was significant attack on residential areas that left at least nine people dead, including two civilians. there was also a strike on an oil depot that resulted in a huge fire. huge plume of black smoke. that depot had a capacity of some 660,000 gallons. closer to kyiv, anderson, there's an area just northwest of here, about 30 miles from the city center, which is a suburb. we have seen significant shelling, again, on residential areas. again, we have to remind our viewers that the kremlin continues to deny that they aren't targeting residential areas, but clearly, they are being hit, and clearly civilians are being killed. the foreign

. >>> and cnn's alex marquardt is outside of the capital city of kyiv. ex, you are in an area that has been destroyed. what are you seeing around you and what do you know about what the russians are doing as they approach kyiv? >> reporter: well, abby, it is extraordinary to see this level of destruction anywhere, let alone in a tiny village like this one. we are not near any military targets for miles, this is a village that has no real strategic value and yet it was the subject of a fierce russian air strike on friday afternoon, just take a look at this. houses all around this area were hit in that russian air strike. what you're looking at here is the remnants of the house of a man named igor who we spoke with earlier. there is a huge crater here in the ground. he lost five of his family members as well as a friend. his wife and his wife's friend and his mother-in-law were in a car when the strike happened. they were killed. his daughter was in the house in her wheelchair and she was also killed. we spoke with him earlier today, he said obviously that

alex marquardt, cnn, kyiv. >> it really is worth noting how little information is getting from insideir putin want people to know what's going on there? it has to be because he thinks it won't help his efforts. the truth, he thinks, will hurt him. >> i think there's a number of questions that this raises. one is, do they have the capability to let families know? are they just not expecting this kind of casualty for this to take so long. do they care? they should care. if you look at the way the u.s. military operates in a situation like this, berman, they are trying to keep families, at least somewhat informed so that they don't worry. but losing complete contact with a loved one who is serving, and i suspect this may be the case as we listen, there are some dead russian soldiers and their families haven't been alerted. that is the kind of thing where you lose a lot of support on the home front. and it really is, i think, a good thing for the russian military to keep those family members in touch or they're actually going to be facing a problem on the whole other front. >> look, it's

first, cnn's alex marquardt has more on all the breaking news on this war. >> reporter: tonight president vladimir putin's war leading to staggering losses of his own men. according to nato military officials, up to 15,000 russian soldiers have been killed in the four weeks since russia invaded ukraine. the shocking number coming as the battle for kyiv is raging. ukraine now claiming it is not just defending off the russian advance but pushing russian fosss back. in the suburb of irpin which has seen some of the fiercest fighting who said his own house was destroyed says 80% of the area has now been retaken and national police are going back to work there. in the town of mack receive west of kyiv, it says it has been fully retaken. this video was taken by the kyiv regional police. kyiv firefighters have had to work tirelessly to douse the flames from the russian strikes including on countless civilian homes. this man using his own garden hose. >> it was many, many bombs. >> today the mayor of kyiv, vitali klitschko said 264 civilians from kyiv have been attacked. >> it is a bombing attack

but first, cnn's alex marquardt has more breaking news on the war. >> reporter: the booms of russiansiles landing near ukraine's second largest city, kharkiv, which has born the brunt of so much of the russian onslaught. but few places have felt the wrath of russia like the port city of mariupol, now facing an attack coming not just from land, but from the water as well. russian ships in the see of azov now joining the bombardment. the deputy mayor estimates 90% of the city's infrastructure is now destroyed. >> the city does not receive any humanitarian aid, city without food, electricity, water, energy supply. city is under continuous bombing. a lot of death, a lot of crying, a lot of awful war crimes. >> reporter: the ukrainian military says this explosion at a mariupol industrial compound was caused by a russian attack. as new satellite images show, the city is crumbling, while russian artillery units dig in around it. >> hard-working honesty of mariupol, which is being destroyed by the occupiers and being reduced to ashes. but it will survive. >> reporter: in the capital kyiv, lo

alex marquardt, cnn, kyiv. >> i will have much more from ukraine later this hour, but first, let's bringa short break but when we come back, we will explain why russia's energy sector has not been targeted by the u.s. and allies, even though sanctions would likely be devastating for moscow. why have over two millllion people welcomed bath fitter into their homes? it just fits. bath fitter.r. call now or visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultatitio. to be a ththriver with metastatic breast cancer means asking for what we want. and need. and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. when taken with an aromase inhibitor or fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cance kisqali is a pill at's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or wors

and earlier today, cnn's alex marquardt visited what was left of a town near kyiv after a deadly strike there. >> reporter: this is a village that has no real strategic value and yet it was the subject of a fierce russian air strike on friday afternoon. just take a look at this. houses all around this area were hit in the russian air strike. what you're looking at here is the remnants of the house of a man who we spoke with earlier. there's a huge crater here in the ground. he lost five of his family members, as well as a friend. his wife and his wife's friend and his mother-in-law were in a car when the strike happened. they were killed. his daughter was in the house in her wheelchair. she was also killed. we spoke with him earlier today. he said obviously he is just empty. he seemed disoriented. he's horrified by what's going on and he doesn't know what he is going to do now. the russians have said they're only going after military infrastructure. that is clearly not the case. this home has nothing to do with the military. there is nothing within miles that has anything to do with the

alex marquardt, thank you for that report. >>> this morning, ukraine is denying reports the southern city of kherson has fallen. despite russia claims to have taken control of the city. cnn international security editor nick paton walsh is in odesa, ukraine, with more. you've been in and around kherson, you've seen really back and forth here, russians come in ukrainians push them out, we have seen that a number of times. what is our best sense this morning of the state of kherson? >> reporter: i think it represents exactly what is going to go down in cities around ukraine over the next weeks or so. certainly the russians are inside the city center. they're parked in the middle of freedom square. there is a video of a local man waving two ukrainian flags at them in defiance. we have seen pictures of them near the railway station, carrying shopping carts away of goods from kherson's streets. we have spoken to residents who confirm a video we saw of men being led away, seemingly detained, deeply chilling scenes for those locals who had thought or hoped that the bridge on the outskirts o

we find alex marquardt up near the capital. what's the latest there? >> john, we do continue to hear blasts and explosions around the ukrainian capital. the ukrainian ministry of defense saying today that now just over a week into the russian invasion that the top priority for russia's forces rem remains taking the capital, encircling the capital and moving in and breaking through ukrainian resistance. now the ministry of defense striking a bit of an optimistic tone saying they've managed to keep the russian forces at bay. they are now around 40 miles or 60 kilometers to the west of kyiv. that's the bulk of the russian forces they say. they also believe that the russian operational reserves have been depleted and the russians will be calling up more forces to come in. john, of course, we've been keeping a close eye on that convoy that is north of kyiv. 40 miles long. still we know the ukrainians have managed to inflict some damage there. we know the russians have been suffering from logistical issues that they have been having trouble getting food and

we're beginning with alex marquardt, he's near the capital kyiv.et's talk, if we can, first, about this city sumy, not far to the east of kyiv, just devastating barrages overnight, i believe the latest death toll is 21. what do we know about the latest and are people able to leave now? >> well, jim, it goes without saying there is a lot of skepticism when russia talks about cease-fires and humanitarian corridors. russia said that as of this morning they would be implementing a cease-fire for five ukrainian cities to allow these humanitarian corridors to function. we should note that most of the corridors that they are proposing lead not to elsewhere in ukraine, but into belarus, and into russia, which is not where ukrainians want to go. you can understand they don't want to go to places where these russian troops have launched the invasion of their country. when it comes to sumy, however, that is the one corridor that the ukrainians have agreed to, it is a corridor that is about 100 miles from the city of sumy, which our viewers should know is righ

alex marquardt right there. what's the latest?> well, john, we just heard from president volodymyr zelenskyy who made an impassioned plea for a no-fly zone. he says this is critical. ukrainian forces are still contesting the skies over ukraine. of course, russia has significant air superiority in terms of their capabilities, but they are not dominating the skies. they do not own the skies. that is, for now. zelenskyy saying that a no-fly zone is needed right now. this is not something that nato, the u.s. and the rest of nato have shown a willingness to offer to zelenskyy in the same way they do not plan to send forces onto the ground. president zelenskyy asking rhetorically how many people should be blown up? president zelenskyy also saying that if russia is not stopped in ukraine, that this war will not stop here. that it will go on to eastern europe. that he thinks it will continue with his march westwards. as you were saying, the russians making significant advances on the southern flank of ukraine. they appear to have taken th

alex ma alex marquardt reports. >> reporter: russian has launched a new phase of this war on ukrainetion and communication. this is a moment a russian missile struck kyiv's tv tower. today we walked through the rubble of buildings below it. shown around by those who joined the territorial defense forces just last week when russia launched their invasion. the 38-year-old is normally a hot air ball on pilot whose wife and daughter have fled the country for safety. the russian rockets on tuesday landed all around him. >> translator: there is two followed by two more. i saw them personally where they were coming from. i was standing next to the wall over there. >> reporter: as russia ramps up bombardment of military and civilian targets in ukraine, it warns that ukraine communication facilities would be hit, to, quote, suppression information attacks against russia. russia can't help but see that it is losing the narrative. the information war with the world rallying to ukraine's side and rejecting russia and diplomacy, sports, business and on and on. in the lead-up to this russian invas

let's begin this morning with cnn's senior national security correspondent alex marquardt. kherson is the first major city in ukraine to fall under russian control. we're hearing from people on the ground there, severe lack of food and medicine. what is the latest that officials there are saying, because they're saying the russians have atitempted to tak over government control. >> right. they're saying that armed fighters have taken over thee e aadministration building, that's according to the mayor and another senior official from kherson and the mayor saying that citizens should follow the orders of these fighters who are there. this is all reminiscent of crimea in 2014 when the so-called little green men took over that and annexed the peninsula. so what we're seeing is, you know this city just north of the crimean peninsula now appears to be under russian control. the ministry of defense in the uk says that the situation still is quite unclear. but the mayor is saying that there are no ukrainian forces that are in that city. now, the citizens who we have heard from as y

alex marquardt has the latest on the military developments. >> reporter: the booms of russian missiles landing near ukraine's second largest city, kharkiv, which has borne the brunt of so much of the russian onslaught. but few places have felt the wrath of russia like the port city of mariupol, now facing an attack coming not just from land but from the water as well. russian ships in the sea of azov now joining the relentless bombardment of this key city. the deputy mayor estimating 90% of the city's infrastructure is now destroyed. >> it does not receive any humanitarian aid. cities without food, electricity, water, energy supplies. cities under continuous bombing. a lot of death, a lot of crying, a lot of awful war crimes. >> reporter: the ukrainian military says this explosion at a mariupol industrial compound was caused by a russian attack as new satellite images show the city is crumbling while russian artillery units dig in around it. >> translator: hardworking, honest city of mariupol, which is being destroyed by the occupiers and being reduced to ashes, but it will survive. >>

with alex marquardt in lviv, ukraine. john berman is off this morning.ng news. vladimir putin expanded his attack on ukraine. russian forces bombarding three key cities. look at where they are. this is significant. dnipro in the center of the country, ivano-frankivsk in the west, you see how much they're widening their offensive here. lutsk is 60 miles from the polish border, which as we were discussing is a nato country. in dnipro, ukraine says three air strikes hit an apartment building and shoe factory and damaged a nearby kindergarten. those are unmistakable civilian targets. russia has offered no explanation, or apology, and according to the uk's ministry of defense, russian forces are also making limited progress advancing towards the capital city of kyiv. they could actually be preparing for a fresh attack, though, against the capital here in the coming days. a senior u.s. defense official said some troops are within nine miles of the center of kyiv, with others approaching from several directions. and we have been taking a look at some new maxar