cbs' christina ruffini is i cbs' christina ruffini is in poland near the border with ukraine. >> reporteru.s. secretary of state went to ukraine today, at least technically. in a show of solidarity, he met with ukrainian foreign minister kuleba at the ukrainian border and walked across the boundary as a show of reporting. secretary blinken went to a significant center where 3,000 refugees are staying. he said the whole world is inspired by what ukrainians are doing and united against russia. russian attacks on ukraine have sent shock waves through europe and nowhere have people felt it more than here in poland where more than 700,000 refugees have fled. he spent several hours with refugees at that border crossing today. little kids, mothers with babies, even the family dogs were all waiting outside in the cold to load on toed about to take them to the next stops. now, adriana, some of the families we spoke to had a destination in mind, but many were looking for any place to get out of the cold. >> diaz: christina ruffini in poland, thank you. the u.s. and international allies today also f

here's cbs' christina ruffini. >> reporter: when brothers alex and oliver langenkamp evacuated ukraineverything. >> running around trying to find stuff, packing your bag. >> reporter: they also couldn't bring their parents. diplomats at the u.s. embassy in kyiv. after getting the boys safely to ther grandparents in california, they relocated to poland to continue their work. >> i, like, i really miss them. >> reporter: so the eight had of-and nine-year-old decided to put up a lemonade stand, raising money for world central kitchen, an organization that feeds ukraine refugee .tz sentence was overwhelming. >> and we got over $2,000. >> reporter: was that a surprise. >> yes. >> yes! >> reporter: miguel abed is now serbing those meals in poland. he stumbled across the boys' fund-raiser in coronodo, hours before flying to volunteer here. they sent miguel off with cards for their parents, which he hand delivered to their dad, dan. >> special. >> oh, my goodness. >> message from your kids. >> this is amazing! >> reporter: it's the first mail they've got fren their boys. >> they really miss yo

offer frees-term hous shos d al 0,000 gene: christina ruffini, thank you. earlier today we sat down with republican senator mitt romney. he serves on the foreign relations committee, and we asked him about the war in ukraine. with the president speaking there on capitol hill tonight, are you worried that vladimir putin could try to upstage him and launch a deadly attack on ukraine's capital of kyiv? >> well, there's no way of predicting what kind of illogical things vladimir putin will do. his invasion of ukraine doesn't make a lot of sense. i think long term, you have to see that this is a very bad decision on his part. so i don't rule anything out. but i think it's more likely that we're going to be focused on our country and what president biden has to say about how we're going to rethink the commitments and the priorities we have in our country. >> o'donnell: is there anything that the u.s. can do to stop vladimir putin? >> well, vladimir putin has put himself on a course where the people who will stop him are the people of ukraine. we want to help them

christina ruffini is in poland which has already taken in more than a million refugees. >> reporter:e, getting out is just the beginning. they don't know exactly where they're going or where to wait for the next leg of their journey. that's where a para trooper on vacation in poland jumped in to help. the train statio in shemish is full of unexpected departures. missed connections and delays. in a crowded corner armed with a cardboard sign and google translate, sebastian conor is carrying out his self-appointed mission, finding rooms for refugees in transit. >> the only way i could think to help these people was get hotels and put them in a place where they could get a hot shower and a bed. >> reporter: this is how you're spending your vacation? >> now it is, yeah. >> reporter: conor was on leave in poem visiting thef taking a flight to ireland, he grabbed this train to the ukrainian border and started booking every hotel room he could find. >> i saw the human tragedy. i saw this unfolding and i was like, i can't do nothing. doesn't make any sense. >> reporter: these four women and 6

here's cbs' christina ruffini. >> reporter: when brothers axel and oliver langenkamp evacuated ukraineing. >> we were running around, trying to find stuff, packing your bag. >> reporter: they also couldn't bring their parents-- diplomats at the u.s. embassy in kyiv. after getting the boys safely to their grandparents in california, they relocated to poland to continue their work. >> i, like, i really miss them. >> reporter: so the eight- and nine-year-old decided to put up a lemonade stand, raising money for world central kitchen, an organization that feeds ukraine refugees. the response was overwhelming. >> and we got over $2,000. >> reporter: was that a surprise? >> yeah. >> yes! >> reporter: miguel abed is now serving those meals in poland. he stumbled across the boys' fundraiser in coronodo, hours before flying here to volunteer. >> it was an incredible coincidence. >> reporter: they sent miguel off with cards for their parents, which he hand-delivered to their dad, dan. >> special -- >> oh, my goodness. >> -- message from your kids. >> this is amazing! >> reporter: it's the first

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christina ruffini is in poland with more. >> reporter: as ukrainian men stay behind to defend their country, ukrainian women are fighting their own battles. navigating dangerous, rubble, and chaos. >> translator: it was scary, we got scared. before that we did not think we would leave. >> reporter: panicked crowds and freezing temperatures, hauling children, luggage, even the family dog. >> reporter: thousands of refugees have fled into surrounding countries, more than 100,000 to slovakia, almost 170,000 to hungary, and more than 800,000 to poland. >> i want to stop war and get back my normal life. i want to live in peace. >> reporter: 29-year-old christina came to this crossing with a mission, to pick up and deliver this car to the front. paid for with donations and filled with supplies. >> we have night vision. it's really hard to get now. >> reporter: since military age men can't leave ukraine, women are acting as couriers. >> the country fighting against enemy united like helping each other. >> the only thing that helps is to work and believe. >> reporter: believe that this will end, th

let's now go to cbs' christina ruffini who was there. >> reporter: as ukrainian men stay behind to defendry, ukrainian women are fighting their own battle. navigating danger, rubble and chaos. >> it was scary. we got scared. before that we did not think we would leave. >> reporter: panicked crowds and freezing temperatures, hauling children, luggage, even the family dog. thousands of refugees have fled into surrounding countries. more than 100,000 to slovakia, almost 170,000 to hungary and more than 800,000 to poland. >> i want them to stop the war and get back my normal life. i want to live in peace. >> reporter: the year old krustyna came to this border crossing with a mission, to pick up and deliver to car to the front, paid for with donations and filled with supplies. >> we have night vision, it is really hard to get now. >> reporter: since military-aged men can't leave ukraine, women are acting as couriers. >> this whole country, are fighting against enemy, united, like helping each other. >> reporter: the only thing that husbands say is to work and to believe. believe, that this wil

. >> reporter: christina ruffini. >> that is the "overnight news" for this thursday.. for everyone else, check back later for cbs mornings. and follow us online any time at cbsnews.com. reportg from the nation's capital, isle errol barnett. ♪ ♪ >>> this is cbs news flash. i'm tom hanson in new york. joe biden is set to meet with nato leaders for a high-stakes emncmmbrusas thaineers its ukrainian forces have managed to regain more territory east of kyiv, but the mayor of kyiv is reporting more than 260 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the invasion. >>> miami beach will impose a ht curfew w through mondnday after two shootings in recent days that injured five people. city officials are considering a curfew next weekend, as well. >>> and nyc mayor eric adams is expected to announce exemptions for athletes and performers for the city's vaccine mandate, but it will apply to all other workers in the city. download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connect to tv for more news. i'm tom hanson, cbs news, new york. >>> it's thursday, march 24th, 2022. this

. >> christina ruffini, thank you. >>> well, earlier today, we sat down with republican senator mitt romney. he serves on the foreign relations committee, and we asked him about the war in ukraine. with the president speaking there on capitol hill tonight, are you worried that vladimir putin could try to upstage him and launch a deadly attack on ukraine's capital of kyiv? >> well, there's no way of predicting what kind of illogical things vladimir putin will do. his invasion of ukraine doesn't make a lot of sense. i think, long-term, you have to see that this is a very bad decision on his part. so i don't rule anything out. but i think it's more likely that we're going to be focused on our country and what president biden has to say about how we're going to rethink the commitments and the priorities we have in our country. >> is there anything that the u.s. can do to stop vladimir putin? >> well, vladimir putin has put himself on a course where the people who will stop him are the people of ukraine. we want to help them with additional elements, with food and supplies. that is gettin

. >> reporter: this is christina ruffini.isinformation, this is the front line. in prague, writers and producers for radio-free europe radio liberty are battling kremlin propaganda. >> our role is to provide surrogate journalism in countries where freedom of the press is under assault. >> reporter: jamie fry is the president of r.f.e., which operates in 27 countries, including russia.[speaking foreign language] >> these are countries where the message is decided every day in a government office about what people should see, what they should hear, what they should be told. >> reporter: what is it like covering this conflict as a russian? >> ah, there is no easy way to talk about it. >> reporter: this woman is an anchor for r.f.e.'s russian network.[speaking foreign language] >> i don't want to push anyone, and i think that people should come to conclusions themselves. they need to have the options, and that's the biggest problem with media in russia. there are no other options. >> reporter: those other options disappeared earl