earlier today he joined us from kherson, near the crimean border.nd more indications over the past 24 hours that this is getting more serious. we've had calls for evacuations, we've had notices that embassies are starting to pare down their people. what are you hearing on the ground? >> well, i think what i'm hearing on the ground is exactly that, hari. the united states embassy is going to be sending a lot of its stafout. it will keep some staff. i think the sense that i have is, some western embassy staff may move to the west of-- the west of ukraine, not that far from the polish border. but i'm down here in kherson, this is t too far from the border with russian-occupied crimea, and what's really interesting among ordinary folks heres, not a sense of panic, and there's no sign of anyone really fully being prepared for the kind of invasion that the americans say they think is coming. >> sreenivasan: what kinds of planning-- what kind of preparation are they doing, where you are? >> yeah, what i found out today, a number of us journalists went to s

these tanks moving toward the city of kherson in the south. the troubling image in a kyiv suburb. posted online, an armored vehicle swerving and rolling over the car with a driver inside. remarkably, that driver was rescue rescued. tonight that call for all men age 18 to 60 to stay and fight become and fight for ukraine. they are not being allowed to leave the country. ukraine's defiant president posting a video with top officials telling the world, we are here. and europe said never again buck here we are. tonight that news coming in, president biden and allies frezing vladimir putin's assets and those of his foreign minister as well. the u.n. chief saying they've shattered peace be we have to do more. in kyiv they're bracing for a perilous night ahead. ian pannell on the ground in kyiv again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, as the battle for ukraine intensifies russian troops now entering the capital. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: moments ago ukrainian president zelensky addressing his people in a defiant video from kyiv, saying russia will try to storm the capital to

kherson has a bridge to its east that is vital if you're trig to get across.t seems the russians got across but ukrainian forces pushed them back. we saw bodies still lying in the one bridge as they went about their business back and forth by necessity, still driving around. russian forces in hidden positions on the other side of the river. the explosions we're hearing backed up by a couple of jets, we have heard, too, do seem to be a renewed push. the damage done to the evidence on the other side, 10 discarded armored vehicles, multiple craters. an air strike took out one building. we saw two bodies. unclear who they represented. a vital court reporter door from the crimean peninsula up to the capital kyiv. . >> we know you will keep your eye on it for us. thank you very much. >> this is where nick is in kherson. this is not far from crimea. this river bi sbisects the nati. jim, i can see you're out. i understand you have new reporting. >> reporter: yeah. well, listen, you can hear it behind me. i'll just turn around if that helps you. again, these air raid s

a key bridge on the outskirts of kherson, the route up into main ukraine from the russian-held peninsula014. there has been quite significant destruction here over the past 48 hours. that building clearly took a direct hit from some of the air strikes we have been hearing and the town is terrified. they turn their lights off last night, we saw hotels plunging themselves into darkness, children asking what is happening, low-flying aircraft coming in in the distant boom of air strikes, small arms fire as well. i was told of dead bodies brought out from here. we have seen two, one man unfortunately left just in the middle of the road there. but the damage is pretty significant here and we have been walking up towards this petrol station. you see the sort of bizarre local landmarks that are the focus of fighting. it is clear the army made a significant stand here and took quite a lot of damage to their vehicles, possibly military as well, things seem to been left off where the ukrainian forces last positioned were. they are a little bit further away from here. we don't give specifics when we

as we arrived in the town of kherson just before dusk on thursday, the fighting had crossed over to ourwere in these sleepy streets. but the night brought no rest. jets flying low, terrifying locals. air strikes. here a mother's bedtime duty is to switch out the lights, not to calm her kids but to protect them from the kremlin's jets overhead. the boys are noisy, but the girls quiet. it's safer here than on the street, says lena. ruslan jumps in. they'll kill us all, he says. moscow's games scar here. i did hear blasts, but i was not afraid. i heard a tank, he says. but by dawn, it was a case of the russians are coming, but also maybe not. ukrainian forces had reclaimed the bridge but not without a cost. i asked viktor if the russians would move back. >> yes, russians no fall away. russians about 3,000 meters. >> reporter: locals picked through the wreckage for ammunition. it's strange to see civilians picking up leftover armor from vehicles here. it just shows you how many people are involved now on a local level in this war effort. he's doing it again. they're stopping everywhere to p

nick paton walsh in kherson right now, and we have yaroslav in kyiv as well. i want to begin with nick, i understand you're hearing shelling where you are. tell us what you see. >> reporter: yeah, jim, this is the bridge that has been fought over for the last 24, 48 hours. the russians on this side, we're on the ukrainian side here. before we came on the air, we heard the sounds of what sound like an attack helicopter and significant explosions on this side, a lot of heavy gunfire. i can only presume that is a russian helicopter that has come in to attack the ukrainian forces that have dug in on this side. that would explain those explosions. it has gone quiet now, that may be ominous, i don't know. we were hearing just before that quite a lot of shelling whizzing over our heads. what the russian forces would now have to do, if they have successfully stopped the ukrainians on this side is begin to move over that bridge. we haven't seen that yet, but we don't know what the outcome of those significant explosions were over there. but this is a place that ukraini

we want to take you to nick paton walsh in kherson.g on the ground there? >> reporter: to give you the context of where we are, we have been hearing shelling coming from the russian side, whistling over our heads and landing about five to ten shells landing over in that direction. you can see some of the smoke still emerging there. you can also see the bridge, that both sides are fighting over. it goes over the dnieper river. the russians are on that side of it and the ukrainians are here. now, when we visited the scene of the intense fighting yesterday, called by president zelenskyy the worst of the most serious in ukraine yesterday, it had calmed, and ukrainians had clearly pushed the russians back on to the other side. and we have been hearing all the way through the day, heavy explosions, most likely from this direction, multiple rocket landings, as we came down here close to sunset, shells began to whiz over our heads and impact on this side. we think we saw smoke emerging from an impact which would have landed in a residential ar

the other two, kharkiv in the northeast and kherson in the south. earlier this afternoon kharkiv was hit with a shelling. a blood donation center came under fire. three donors were wounded and another died in the assault according to the associated press. after the shelling staff moved their operations to the basement so they could continue their 24-hour operation. according to senior u.s. defense officials, the russians are growing increasingly frustrated by their lack of progress around kyiv and kharkiv. surprised by the strength of the ukrainian resistance. at the same time ukraine's president is vowing to keep fighting. in a new address moments ago he told the world, "ukrainians are in their homeland and will never give it to anyone, never betray." he's also asking for support after yet another offer to help him evacuate kyiv. zelenskyy told the u.s., "i need ammunition, not a ride." and in a major shift germany announced it would send lethal aid to ukraine. germany is also now considering a targeted approach to removing russia from the s.w.i.f.

nick paton walsh there in kherson where fighting is going on. we will check back in with you a bit later. thank you, nick. let's go to kevin liptak in washington. kevin, we're hearing the reports of course that the russians are coming up on the capital, kyiv. what are you hearing there from the white house about that? >> this is something that american officials are monitoring very closely this evening. earlier tonight, a u.s. lawmakers did receive a briefing from a top administration official about the latest on the ground there. and one of the pieces of information that they were told was that russian forces entering from belarus were about 20 miles outside of kyiv. and now that briefing took place about 6 1/2 hours ago. so those numbers may have changed since then, but that was a startling piece of information to the senators and congressmen who heard it. they also were told that these forces have the goal of encircling the city, that they were under attack from the north, south and east of kyiv. and so all of this is sort of a stark illustra

but i'm standing in this town of kherson.ly concerned as to whether or not the russians are going past them on to bigger strategic goals or have an interest of moving in in the dark right now. here's what we saw over the last couple of days. for a moment, this was a bridge too far for vladimir putin. as we arrived in kherson just before dusk on thursday, the fighting had crossed over to our side of the river. meaning russian tanks were in these sleepy streets. but the night brought no rest. jets flying low, terrifying locals. air strikes. here a mother's bedtime duty is to switch out the lights. not to calm her kids but to protect them from the kremlin's jets overhead. the boys are noisy, but the girls quiet. it's safer here than on the street. ruslan jumps in. they'll kill us all, he says. moscow's game, scar here. i did hear blasts, but i was not afraid. i heard a tank, he says. but by dawn, it was a case of the russians are coming, but also maybe not. ukrainian forces had reclaimed the bridge but not without a cost. i aske

they appeared to have got to the other side of the bridge here near this town where i'm standing, khersonen we got here, we heard the gunfire and the violence, it seemed, on this side of the river. essentially about 8 kilometers east in this town city. the question we're asking ourselves now, obviously, is the ambitions to cross the bridge and moving on. president zelenskyy seemed to think their goal from taking this part of territory and hydroelectric power station. we also learned they have fallen in the hands. and a further area to the east, as well, they may be trying to move eastward toward essentially the separatist areas on the outer seacoast. that's unclear. what we don't know whether kherson is potentially a target for the advancing forces or essentially moving on through. it's eerie here, frankly, shut down a lot of lights. it's very quiet. as of now, unclear if that's what we're going to see next or if it's essentially a route for the russian forces heading west to where we were this morning out in odessa. >> nick, thank you very much. you see how dark it is. we'll be seeing th

they show two babies who were born in a hospital bomb shelter in kherson. minister wrote he is proud of the country's doctors, adding the ministry is doing the possible and impossible to ensure hospitals get what they need. a beautiful moment in a horrible situation. >> absolutely. being born in a bomb shelter, pulling that off somehow. and you see all the people there. you've seen so many pictures from the bomb shelters and basements, people hiding trying to survive this thing. >> you see the one photo of the mother holding the baby, there's a smile on her face. >> we'll be back at 6:00. nbc bay area news continues then. >>> breaking news tonight, russia bears down on key ukrainian cities moscow threatening even more aggressive attacks as the death toll grows can outgunned ukrainian forces slow their advance? >>> just in, a dramatic announcement as u.s. and allies we move russian banks from a critical system, s.w.i.f.t. and hundreds of millions of dollars of new military set set to flow but is it enough >>> plus, as more than 100,000 ukrainians flee to saf

paratroopers and artillery focused on kharkiv which is seeing heavy fighting and crimea focused on kherson as the rug military tries to take over the eastern half of the country, the ukrainian military is fighting back, making russia's fight more difficult than some experts anticipated. lester >> courtney kube this evening, stories of desperation from some of the tens of thousands of people who have already fled the fighting in ukraine, a number that could reach into the millions. kelly cobiella met some of them across the border in poland. >> a car packed with a lifetime of memories. a mother pushing her baby while pulling her belongings the heartbreak and hard reality of war tonight, the u.n. says 100,000 ukrainians have fled their homes, a supermarket, a shelter. several thousand walking and waiting for hours at border crossings here in poland >> it's very chaotic it was -- [ inaudible >> kathy gould lived in ukraine for 29 years her life now packed into two suitcases. vula says she fears for her children walking six miles with her young twins and 10-year-old son to get here. >> you fee

it talks of inflation and -- fox news medical contributor kherson -- dr. marc siegel.hat millions of americans -- he tweeted this. he said when you've been essay but you can get being covid-19 can be frustrating. can also be a source of shame. many people assume you must've been careless to get sick. our safety measures reduce risk. to that point, you said all along that people should not be ashamed of this respiratory disease. there's so much that we can do to control it and avoid a. even the surgeon general can't avoid it. so how much are masks working and how much should they be a part of what we do now? >> they shouldn't be part of mandates that i think that the surgeon general story shows, and i know them well, he's got a good heart and is a good position come it spreads what you are vaccinated or not. his four-year-old daughter got it because she can't be vaccinated and he's using all the precautions of vessels brought like wildfire. that the message of its that things have changed out and no matter what strategies use use, you may get a mild case. is 44 years ol

kherson sits at the bottom this. nick paton walsh is there. some of the images are graphic and you might find them disturbing. >> reporter: for a moment this was a bridge too far for vladimir putin. as we arrived on the town on thursday, the fighting had crossed over to our side of the river meaning the tanks were on the streets. the night brought no rest. jets flying low. terrifying locals. air strikes. here, a merry's bedtime duty is to switch out the lights. not to calm her kids, but to protect them from the kremlin's jets overhead. the boys are noisy. but the girls quiet. it is safer here than on the street, she says. he says, they'll kill us all. moscow's games scar here. i did hear blasts but i was not afraid. i hear a tank, he says. by dawn, it was a case of the russians are coming but also maybe not. ukrainian forces had reclaimed the bridge but not without a cost i asked victor if the russians would move back. >> no fall away. the russians about 3,000 meters. >> reporter: locals pick through the wreckage for ammunition. >> strange to

the count of kherson.ems the russians have freedom of movement within the populated areas there. the mayor has called the men of the city to the defense of it. he called them out on sunday. that was a false alarm. but they're now seeing what they say is 100-plus strong convoy on the outskirts of that town. deep concerns there as well because of the violence we saw inflicted on civilian areas there with heavy weaponry and now over here, odesa on high alert, barricades across the streets here. utter silence in this third largest city of ukraine. it's a strategic port. you can't really run the country without controlling this economic lever to it. and i think what we're seeing, the russian movement stall up north, they have moved up from crimea and appear to be having more motion. unclear if that's permanent progress. anderson? >> nick paton walsh, we'll continue to check in with you throughout the hours ahead. worldwide condemnation from russia and support for ukraine is growing. that is next. (gong rings) -

. >> general, we did get word, to your point, that down here in kherson, we did get word the ukrainians bridge. that is one sign of resistance. up here in kyiv, that may be the area of greatest concern because there is word that there is fighting, there are russian troops or forces in the obolon district which is not that far from the city center. we talked to one member of parliament who said she has a kalishkanov. realistically how can they hold out? >> i know your previous guest from the ukrainian parliament, here with an ak-47 is a formidable force. look, a city of 3.5 million people can absorb a lot of russian troops. this is going to be a terrible fight. fighting in the city we know from iraq is terrible. we know from history it's terrible, but it's important that we give ukranians all tools they need as fast as possible. we should be having convoys going from poland into ukraine carrying anti-tank weapons but especially the number one need they have is for stinger or for some sort of shoulder-fired air defense system that can knock down helicopters. they can move the special forc

a lot of those people from crimea, they were resettled in kherson, which is right outside on ukrainiant is the main territory of the russian attack from crimea. so you're talking about a double set of refugees. they're already refugees from crimea. now, they have to be display somewhere else. >> i'm glad you brought that point up, because i think people forget that this is not the first time ukraine has suffered at the hands of russia, when you think about just in the last 12 years or so. i've personally been struck by the global outpouring of support for the ukrainian people in past conflicts, we've barely seen countries willing to accept refugees. i mean, he just talked about the 1.4 million at a state inside ukraine, when russia invaded crimea and occupied it. why do you think people moved this time? >> i think putin has frankly pushed it way too far. even people who are making excuses for putin for, years now saying that this is nato's fault that this is some other countries fault just to see the horror of a full-on invasion of an entire country. and not only that, but he did it du

and the video of a drone attack that they claim hit a column of military vehicles north of kherson. according to the u.n., the latest toll for civilian deaths in ukraine stands at 102 with 304 people injured. the agency acknowledging that true figure could be arably higher. the u.n. also say 422,000 ukrainians have fled the country with more than half of them seeking refuge in poland. protests against the war intensifying around the world most significantly inside russia where police have detained 6,000 dem stons demonstrators. >> london, elsewhere showing blue and yellow in support. many european countries closed their airspace to russian flames. i want to bring in chief national security correspondent jim sciutto in lviv this morning. jim, these talks under way right now north of the ukrainian border in belarus between a russian and ukrainian delegation. what do you know about what's going on? >> reporter: well, first, just now the kremlin is refusing to comment on the talks. the kremlin spokesperson, peskov, saying let the talks proceed. but we do have a public position from the

drone attack that the ukrainians claim hit a column of russian military vehicles north of the city of kherson. >> yeah! >> and also destroyed in this conflict the largest aircraft in the world. the antonov 225 maria was blown up in a russian attack at an airport near the capital city. the latest toll for death stands at 102, with 304 injured. the agency saying the true figure could be considerably higher. the u.n. says 424,000 ukrainians have fled the country, with half of them seeking refuge in poland. >>> protests against the russian invasion intensifying around the world, most specifically inside russia where police detained 6,000 demonstrators. the world by and large standing with ukraine. landmarks in new york, paris, london, elsewhere showing blue and yellow in support. many european countries closed their airspace. the european union has closed its airspace to russian planes. >> later this morning, president biden will hold a call with u.s. allies to discuss the response to russia's invasion moving forward. let's go to kyiv where a lawmaker told us russia is unleashing hell. yaroslav i

cnn's nick paton walsh in the port city of kherson in southern ukraine. >> reporter: a key place on thet the south of ukraine heading up towards the capital of kyiv. now there's always been a thought that the isolated peninsula was totally inconvenient for the russians to supply with goods, utilities, et cetera and they may have wanted as part of this maneuver to push out from crimea and possibly connect it to territories in the east and whatever wider scheme they have. that seems to be certainly occurring. this morning, we saw images of troops moving out from crimea essentially towards this city where i'm standing. we've been down to the key bridge that connects this city with, across the river, where we do know the russians have made significant gains, essentially up to the bridge. we think the fighting may have gone to our side of the river at this point but it is hard to tell, frankly, given the use of heavy weapons and hard to tell what's landing where. so as i say, it certainly is a tense situation and held by the ukrainian government. we did not see a particularly big military pr

quite what their next moves are for kherson is unclear.re are suggestions that some russians may have gone west and others to the east too. but this a key extrstrategic ci north. >> be safe. on the russian side of the border, you're looking at mobile artillery. h howitzers. fred, you've been watching russian rockets fired into ukraine, russian artillery rolling past on the road to ukraine. we should note, putin does want have any issue with these images of his unprovoked war being broadcast to the world. >> reporter: i certainly think that he didn't. certainly something that we saw the entire day. i can tell you just before we went to air, we heard a massive salvo of what seemed to be russian artillery rockets fired towards the area of ukraine. it's quite interesting because the outgoing fire seemed to come from a position several kilometers further towards ukraine than what we saw earlier today. we saw them fire earlier today from sort of around where i am right now. now it seems to be a little forward deployed rockets. so what we can ded

broken out from crimea, and they're making rapid progress into ukraine, across the river past to kherson mykolaiv and melitopol to the east. so there are areas where you see substantial russian advances at this point. nick: and, as you said, under this worst-case scenario, this is only day one. the vast majority of the troops that russia has amassed at the border remain poised to fight. what are you looking for in the next 12, 24, 36 hours? michael: and there's nothing more confusing than war, unfortunately. and, right now, the picture is murky. there's always competing reports, conflicting early reports. i think, from my point of view, i will be looking to see the kind of fighting that takes place in and around kyiv to the north, to what extent the russian force made progress there, and what happens with the current russian advances to the soh and along kharkiv to the east. there may be aussian breakthrough, or the front line may stabilize outside of sumy. nick: michael kofman, i know you will be watching. and we will be watching as well. thank you very much. michael: thanks for having

kherson area.n the other side wanted to take out that bridge to slow the advance. and the brigade engineer, it volunteered to take out the bridge to blow it up. he went down there and realized that he could not get out of the way before the explosion would happen but still volunteered to go ahead and do it. he did it, took out the bridge and died. considered a hero. it did slow the advance of that russian armored column, allowed a ukrainian brigade to shore up and continue to fight for several hours we're told. as you look at the big picture of history this tan in the soviet union back in the day. all of this was the ussr. and then in 1990, estonia, lot via and lithuania declared their independence in the years that followed, all 12 other countries here eventually broke away from the ussr. now, some of them joined nato and ukraine wanted to but was not allowed to. wanted to and aspired to. that's one of the reasons why we are where we are today. as you look at ukraine here on the west. lviv is a ci

defense official says russian troops in the south are advancing past kherson, and splitting off, andeading. in kakhovka, russian forces are battling for a dam and power plant. on the sea of azov, thousands of russian troops are coming ashore, and russia continues its assaults toward kyiv, and in the east, on kharkiv-- ( explosion ) --where journalists took cover in drainage pipes, and military vehicles were left smoldering. ( gunfire ) for many ukrainians, it's all gotten too mh. soldiers had to fire warning shots at kyiv's train station. thousands are trying to flee. families who make it to romania's border have to split up-- ukraine blocked 18- to 60- year-old men from leaving. juliana is from western ukraine. >> we don't believe putin, and we have our daughter. so, we are afraid. >> schifrin: alona, from kyiv. >> there are lots of fights, so that's awful. there is nothing good there, just blood, ruins, and all the worst that war can bring with it. >> schifrin: war has also brought russia economic punishment. today, white house press secretary jen psaki announced the u.s. is sanctioning

here's the interesting thing, this little town of kherson here, we know that troops have moved up fromhe crimea and moved into this town. why this town? because it's the last city, it's the port city on the dnieper river, and this is the economic lifeline of the center part of ukraine. so if the russians hold this and they grab kharkiv and then interesting last night one of e initial attackwa a little town here dnipro here. draw the line from kharkiv to dnipro you have this geographic boundary that isolates eastern ukraine from the west of ukraine. this may tip us off as to the initial intent of mr. putin to separate eastern ukraine from the rest of ukraine. >> you say that's the initial intent right now. he says he has no intention of occupying the country. are his goals limited to the east? >> they have to be, george. you remember back in the soviet invasion, 1969, czechoslovakia took 250,000 troops to occupy and pacify that country. here, there are estimates of something like 600,000 troops would be required to occupy and to stay in a country the size of texas, so he doesn't have th

we speak right now they have not taken any large cities and there has been very serious action in khersonion is absolutely not like ukraine is losing. i am hearing already this from some media that they are already writing us off. that is too early.- off. that is too early. looking ahead at _ off. that is too early. looking ahead at what _ off. that is too early. looking ahead at what will _ off. that is too early. looking ahead at what will happen i off. that is too early. looking ahead at what will happen in l off. that is too early. looking i ahead at what will happen in the next few days and weeks, how important do you think it is that the international community continues to help in terms of sending military hardware ukraine? we still have some reserves of hardware but it is important because thatis hardware but it is important because that is what deters russia and make them lose right now. we already shot hundreds of their armoured vehicles around ukraine, over80 tanks, several planes and hundreds of helicopters and so on. they are not that invulnerable as some people may think. th

we know there are clashes going on there, also in kherson.that base just outside kyiv. you can see them there. they captured the airstrip and the reason they did not, people think, is because they were looking at the possibility of it very quickly getting a large amount of troops into that air base and launching a lightning strike on the capital kyiv, perhaps seizing it and making this war much shorter. that has not happened, there was a ukrainian fightback yesterday afternoon and evening and russia does not now control that airstrip. we have heard contesting reports about exactly who is in charge but it is not entirely controlled by the russians so they have not been able to use it in that way. in the last hour there have been new pictures coming in about devastation. there are reports that an aircraft or a missile has struck this building in kyiv, dramatic pictures from this morning of the air defence system in kyiv. it is unclear exactly what it was that came down on this building, whether it was a plain, cruise missile, even some suggesti