cnn's melissa bell has more. >> reporter: it's been a long road. liberty may lie ahead, but at least safety has been reached for now. ukrainian children and their mothers who made it just across the border to poland. their first night of peace spent in a school gym. so much of what is here provided by volunteers. >> translator: in the beginning the aid was spontaneously. this volunteering has accelerated, we are starting to fade here. >> but still more refugees arrive at the border town. about 1,000 per train and several trains a day. carrying what little they can of their former lives, pinning their hopes of survival on the kindness of strangers. mainly women and children who have left their fighting age men behind. >> it's difficult, and really i don't know what i feel because i have little baby, i love my family. i had plans and now i don't have plans. >> reporter: of the more than 3 million who fled ukraine, about 2 million have come to poland, a figure that means that the country's population has risen by 5%. >> we react very quick, but we can

melissa bell, thank you so much.eally appreciate it. >>> pro-russia social media accounts are trying to convince the public to question what ukraine and western governments and western news media are saying about the war. cnn's danielle dale has a fact check. >> reporter: pro-russia social media accounts are using false claims about so-called crisis actors to try to get people to doubt the credibility of important, accurate media reporting on what's going on in ukraine. let's look at two examples. >> russian forces quickly overtaking that area. we understand their still in control. >> reporter: this video has gone viral, getting well over a million views on twitter alone. it shows what seems to be a reporter talking about people being killed and injured in ukraine, in front of a bunch of people lying on the ground in what look like body bags. and then you see one of the people in the bags conspicuously move around, obviously not dead. this video is being used as supposed evidenced that the media televised a phony rep

cnn's melissa bell is in poland with the latest. >> reporter: it's been a long road.rder to poland. their first night of peace spent in a school gym. so much of what is here provided by volunteers. >> in the beginning, the aid flowed spontaneously from different sources but i must admit, these were not from the government. i do not hide that we are disappointed here because this volunteering has accelerated. we are starting to fade here. >> reporter: but still, more refugees arrive at the border town, about a thousand per train and several trains a day. carrying what little they can of their former lives. pinning their hopes of survival on the kindness of strangers. mainly women and children who left their fighting aged men behind. >> it's difficult and really, i don't know what i feel because i held it, i love my female, i had p plans and now i don't have plans. >> reporter: of the more than 3 million who fled ukraine, 2 million have come to poland. a figure that means that the country's population has risen by 5%. >> we react very quick but we can do this three or f

melissa bell is reporting on the refugee crisis in poland. and jasmine wright is at the white house with details on president biden's european trip. we do want to begin with cnn correspondent phil black in lviv. >> phil, this attack coming shortly before president biden's speech and the target was roughly only 250 miles away from where biden was speaking. >> yeah, that's right, boris. there are some here who think it was a message cand not a too subtle message from president biden. what this attack shows that there is nowhere in this country that is safe from russia's firepower. these were the first to take place within the crowded city limits of lviv itself. people here are a little nervous, i think, a little shaken we by this. a little quieter here, noticeably so, compared to what we have seen, in a city that has otherwise been functioning quite normally over the course of this war, with the exception of the huge intake of refugees who have fought shelter from fighting further east. this fire at the fuel depot was pretty huge. they had to f

cnn's melissa bell is in rzeszow for us right now. the united states, melissa. set the scene for us, what do we anticipate? >> reporter: well, it is hugely symbolic for a start. we're talking here, wolf, about the eastern edge of nato, we're just 60 miles from the yukrainin border. this visit and the fact that air force one just touched down here carries with it huge symbolism. the american president coming to europe to really gather together allies and remind them the importance of unity. the fact that he this come this close to the border is in itself important. just inside and around this airport here at rzeszow he'll be meeting with usaid in the shape of ambassador samantha powers and also with other humanitarian groups. one of the big questions you mentioned a moment go is that extra money announced for humanitarian help. partly, of course, to the more than 2.2 million refugees that have crossed this polish border and to the many millions of people in desperate need of humanitarian aid inside ukraine. so many of the besieged citie

melissa bell skrjoins us from t poland and ukraine melissa, it is extraordinary what is happening.>> reporter: it has, jim. not just because the size and number and scale of refugees coming across the border to stations here at the ukrainian border, but it is also the speed with which that's happening in the space of three weeks. you are talking about more than 2 million people crossing the border into poland and seeing the population grow by 5%. of course, what did that mean? it meant the eu and governments did not have a chance to get organized. ordinary people came outdo what they could. down the corridor, jim, people are kept and made to wait until an accommodation can be made because women and children get priority. there are several rooms where they can sleep for the night or two until better accommodation can be found. some people, the lucky, arrive are met and know people have to be housed by strangers. it is society that is doing its bit and to an extraordinary level. the unhcr are helping people and showing solidarity. there is a speed of which this happens and how this i

cnn's melissa bell is live in poland and she joins us now. so, melissa, tell us more about biden's visit and sort of how people reacted to that. >> reporter: it was, an important visit. we're talking about the american president coming all the way to nato's eastern flank. so not just warsaw, from where he made what had already been billed by his officials as a major speech, he'd come all the way to the border. so within 60 miles of ukraine. so lthere was a symbolic value o their visit and the speech itself referencing poland's history, europe's history, and referencing pope john paul ii's historic 1979 "be not afraid" speech. and i think for poland, it was an important moment because of that important message of solidarity that he brought and for the so many millions of refugees now on the roads, of course, as well. the fact that he spoke to them. the fact that he took time to hear their stories. have a listen to what one woman told us yesterday. she had just got off the train herself and talked a little bit about her journey and the way so ma

melissa bell, cnn, poland. >> we have another example of the brutality in this war.his video of a theater in mariupol has recently emerged the building being used as a shelter on march 16th when it was struck by a russian bomb. you can see debris on the floor and holes in the walls as people scrambling to leave. local officials estimate some 300 people were killed. without an official an official count isn't possible. mr. macron plans to demand russia pause its siege so civilians can leave the city. moskow's situation is much different. cnn's christian amanpour asked him what the strategic goal in attacking cities like mariupol. >> the goal is to clear up mariupol from regiments for there in a heavily covered environment, and by the way they're simply not letting people out from this, from the town, and this is a problem because now we're receiving lots of refugees coming from there. and they simply tell us they're eyewitnesses. they simply tell us that they were used like a shield. they were used under heavy bombardment, and then those nations they were -- they were

melissa bell doing excellent reporting for us. thank you very much. victor, the whole situation is so heartbreaking. it's painful to try to appreciate what's going on. >> ten million people displaced because of this war. heartbreaking, indead. >>> new video in from one of the deadliest attacks of russia's invasion. the city council of mariupol believe 600 people may have been killed in theater. this was being used as a bomb shelter. you can see how many people were packed in here. women, children. officials say at least 600 people have made it out alive. phil black is live. let's start with what more can you tell us about the video we have watched. >> reporter: officials are giving us a more accurate idea of what happened in the theater on the day it was struck. that was an march 16th. it's taken time to piece it together. there's no real government services in the city anymore. they believe there were some 900 people in total, of which 600 survives. 300 were killed. those who died were mostly on the upper floor and mostly to one side of the theater.

melissa bell joins us from paris with a closer look at the sanctions. take us through what they are and what was left out. >> reporter: well, this is, of course, the very latest round of sanctions, the latest attempt to really bring that pressure on vladimir putin, on the kremlin to try and see what can be done to try and change the course of events as they've been unfolding over the course of the last two weeks. you really sense that sense of urgency of global leaders. you've seen sanctions target the banking sector, that freeze of course on the assets of the russian central bank, all of which have led of course to that collapse in the ruble with ordinary russians essentially seeing their wealth pause over the course of the last couple of weeks. and of course that in itself brings a huge amount of prexer. and then those are those targeted sanctions by instance into the european union that will target the oligarchs, those who have assets here in the european union. those announced last night target luxury goods and a look at crypto currency and how to p

melissa bell joins us live now from paris with the details.ously disappointing outcome, a disappointing assessment of the call. >> we know what the source was willing to say. so as you mentioned the idea that in the end he seemed determined, it had been just a couple of days since olaf scholz and emmanuel macron spoke to president putin. the idea is that some dialogue is better than none, so there was little tangible progress, but the did some sense of his state of mind. determined was how it was described, one adjective used but also the source said this time the rhetoric had changed a little bit. there was no talk of denazification which had been such a theme of vladimir putin's when he spoke of ukraine. and the source suggested there seemed to be some progress in that, and again as you mentioned the very idea he should continue talking. but there was also at the end of the phone call a sense that sufficiently little had been achieved. that the source said europeans were already looking ahead to next week where they're going to be getting to

cnn's melissa bell shows us how the exodus from ukraine has changed one small border town in poland. >> reporter: it's been a long road. liberty may lie ahead, but at least safety's been reached for now. ukrainian children and their mothers who have made it just across the border to poland. their first night of peace, spent in a school gym. so much of what is here, provided by volunteers. >> translator: in the beginning, spontaneously from many different sources but i must admit these are not from the government. i do not hide that we are disappointed here because this volunteering has accelerated. we are starting to fade here. >> reporter: but still, more refugees arrive at the border town. about a thousand per train, and several trains a day. carrying what little they can of their former lives. pinning their hopes of survival on the kindness of strangers. mainly women and children, who have left their fighting-age men behind. >> it's difficult. and really, i don't know what i feels because i have little baby. i love my family. i had plans and now i don't have plans. >> reporter: of

cnn's melissa bell is at the polish/ukrainian border. tand what you are seeing there, the sk scope of this humanitarian crisis. >> reporter: well, i think the best thing, abby, is to have a look at what's been put in place here. this is one of the main crossing points into poland. the first few days there were some 80,000 crossing the border every single day. now that number has dropped slightly and yet it is still women and children that continue to arrive in urgent need of shelter with no food with often just the clothes on their backs and not much else. so in this disused supermarket some 4,000 to 5,000 temporary cots have been laid out with a bit of bedding on them. the women and children stay there for a couple of nights before being moved on to warsaw, to the polish capital, where their paperwork is processed. the eye deep the european union is trying to coordinate more and more of these refugees getting across to other european countries. amnesty international warning that has not been happening fast enough which means that a lot o

cnn's melissa bell joining me now. ukraine has more than 44 million citizens, 2 million have already fled, at least. what has the crisis response been like where you are? >> reporter: well, essentially, it's been organized by the civilian population, by the local mayor, really it happened so quickly and it was such a large amount of people coming over the brorder. through that door, as the refugees arrive up that staircase and, again, 90% of him women and children, they can go in there and find out what help is available, get taken to local shelters before being moved on. but there's a bewildering array of people helping out. there are soup kitchens set up. there are people standing with signs offering to take people to other parts of germany and this is one of the things that the women arriving here have been warned against. be careful of people who might be wanting to profit from the chaos of the situation. it is chaotic in order not to help you, but harm you. for the people arriving, it's a great deal of uncertainty

cnn's melissa bell is monitoring the refugee crisis in poland. ins me now live near the border with ukraine. what are you seeing and hearing, melissa? >> reporter: hala, more refugees continuing to arrive today as you just heard a moment ago from that woman speaking. no one wants to leave their home. and that's what we've been seeing here at this train station in przemysl over the course of the last few days, more and more people arriving with all that uncertainty of what's happening for those that they left behind and all the uncertainty of what that means for them going forward. and what we're talking about, hala, here is women and children. so extremely vulnerable people trying their best to help their children to be reassured. and just inside the train station behind me is volunteers with stuffed toys there to greet the children to make the children feel a little comfort pd p this morning a couple of trains expected, one from odesa and about midday from kyiv. all of those trains then stop in lviv where you are before coming on here to przemysl

cnn's melissa bell joins us live from poland, along the border with ukraine. >> reporter: i'm at theorder crossing where people arrive on foot, make their way on foot, they end up here. as you were saying, 90% of women and children, that's what we've been seeing here. the more than 2 million ukrainian refugees who have now crossed the polish border. a particular demographic competition. there are men over fighting age. and otherwise, we are talking about women, many of them fleeing with small children, with several children. and with their pets, or whatever it is that they can carry. from here, they're taken by bus to przemysl, and then they find ways of finding shelter for them in the immediate term before moving them further on. now, the u.n. says the vast majority of those 2 million refugees are actually still in poland. you can imagine the burden on a country welcoming refugees as quickly as it has. so many speaking to us tell us they do not want to go farther into the european union, although more european countries are taking them to give them aid. they want to stay close, clos

melissa bell, cnn, medyka, poland. >>> a shift in strategy for russia as its advances stall.is the focus of its war on ukraine. get help managing your money for the life -- and years -- ahead. with fidelity income planning, we'll look at what you've saved, what you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings and create cash flow that lasts. along the way, we'll give you ways to be tax efficient. and you can start, stop or adjust your plan at any time without the unnecessary fees. we'll help you go from saving... to living. ♪ play all day ♪ for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectabl

melissa bell, cnn, paris. >> well, that's the very latest from me.the hour. but for now, back to paula newton in atlanta. >> thanks, hala, as you were just saying from a ban on russian energy imports to new restrictions over trade, they are major economic repercussions coming for russia. we will assess the global impact next. >>> plus, gasoline prices still climbing in the united states even after reaching record highs. but help may, soon, be on the way. details, next. xfinity mobile runs on america's most reliable 5g network, but for up to half the price of verizon, so you have more money for more stuff. this phone? fewer groceries. this phone? more groceries! this phone? fewer concert tickets. this phone? more concert tickets. and not just for my shows. switch to xfinity mobile for half the price of verizon. new and existing customers get amazing value with our everyday pricing. switch today. >>> u.s. financial markets ended the week in the red. marking another ugly time on wall street. now, the dow has now notched its fifth-straight week of losses

we see melissa bell there on the poland border.l see more people, if these bombs keep going further and further -- >> we got to wrap here. we got to go to capitol hill. don for us in lviv. let's go to capitol hill. judge ketanji brown jackson is delivering her opening remark. she's be introduced by retired judge thomas griffith and lisa fairfax. professor from the university of pennsylvania. >> i come here as someone who understands that there are few greater responsibilities under the constitution than serving as a justice on the united states supreme court. it takes a jurist of high character, keen intellect, deep legal knowledge and broad experience to ensure that the judiciary plays its unique role under the constitution. to uphold the rule of law impartially and not to be, in the words of justice stephen breyer, partisans in robe. i have the high honor to introduce judge ketanji brown jackson, a jurist with all of those qualifications. when president biden introduced her three weeks ago, the american people caught their first

melissa bell, cnn, paris. >>> all right. jeffrey lewis is the director of the east asian nonproliferation program at the middlebury institute of international studies, and he joins me now from monterey, california. thanks so much for doing so. what did you make of putin, his announcement of putting his nuclear forces on alert, but by doing it on television, it was like staged for maximum, almost theatrical effect. do you read anything into that? >> oh, yes. it is not normal to put your nuclear forces on alert on television. it's not normal to do it by giving a little speech. these are things that are supposed to be written down, and so i look at this fundamentally as a performance, and it's a way of changing the subject. if vladimir putin had not made this announcement, we would have been talking about how the russian military was performing dreadfully. we would be talking about the civilian toll that was happening. we'd be talking about the sanctions. in short, we'd be talking about how badly things were going for him. by d

for more on these developments, let's bring in melissa bell in paris.ing, french sources saying that putin seems determined to achieve his objective, but today you have ukrainian president zelenskyy saying that putin has adopted a fundamentally different approach instead of issuing ultimatums. he was happy to have a signal shift from russia that he views as positive. what do we make of this? >> we've seen those encouraging signals coming from zelenskyy that negotiators from the russian and ukrainian side have been able to speak to one another. earlier this morning, president zelenskyy also spoke to the french president. he had a conversation with the german chancellor ahead of their phone call with the russian president and urged them when they spoke to vladimir putin, to press for that cease-fire. that is what the two leaders did. a source says that president macron and chancellor scholz both pressed vladimir putin on that point emphasizing the growing cost of the war to russia and urging him, therefore, to change his calculation. now, when i asked the

melissa bell, cnn, poland. >>> still to come, seeking safety in western ukraine.ds displaced by the war are now here in lviv. we'll hear the heartbreaking story of one family next. plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. vazalore 325 liquid-filled aspirin capsule is clinically shown in a 7 day study to cause fewer ulcers than immediate release aspirin. vazalore. the first liquid-filled aspirin capsules...amazing! nina's got a lot of ideas for the future. and since anyone can create a free plan at fidelity, nina has a plan based on what matters most to her. and she can simply focus on right now. that's the planning effect. from fidelity. ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card. if i go to sleep right now, i can get more.... four hours. that's not good. what is time? time. time is just a construct. construct. construction. there is a crack. oh god are you kidding me?! oh god... hi, aren't you tired of this? -yes! good days start with good nights. seems like a good time to find out about both. why are

. >> melissa bell, pointing out each person has a story. life they best le behind and an uncertain they are trying to reckon with. melissa bell, thank you so much for your reporting. >>> it is one of the most chilling and heartbreaking pictures seen around the world. a ukrainian man's wife and children killed after russian soldiers in a kyiv suburb in a well-traveled corridors. he recognized their faces in this graphic image posted on social media. cnn's erin burnett spoke with him in a powerful interview. erin? >> reporter: john, brianna, yes, they were killed on a bridge, a bridge they were trying to cross to escape the horrible violence in irpin and kyiv. the graphic image of their death, the world is now seeing. it was taken by a "new york times" photographer there. it's difficult. it's horrible to look at it. but it is important to show this image. because sergei saw it on twitter. that is how he found out his wife and children were killed by russian fire, because he saw that image on twitter. and he wants the world to know what happen

melissa bell, cnn. >> well, countries dealing with the massive flow of refugees are having to figure out what to do with them once they arrive. romania has already taken in nearly half a million displaced ukrainians, and more are coming every day. cnn's miguel marquez is in one romanian city that is having to really scale up its services. >> reporter: who are all these people? friends, fellow citizens, and colleagues, she says. family, too. all from donbas in eastern ukraine. refugees after the war there in 2014. refugees again. some people cross the border on foot, she says. two borders. not everyone is lucky as this 86-year-old who had arrived. she survived world war ii. now, she is in an apartment in central romania with her daughter and lots of friends and her cat. my childhood was spent during the war, she says. now, in my old age, there is war again and for what? in the name of all people, god, please stop the war. the medieval city of brasov, not far from dracula's castle, is preparing a thousand beds for ukrainian refugees. those beds in a hotel, in its historic center, a bus

melissa bell joins us live from paris with the details. hough much was achieved. still, any reason to hope here? >> reporter: well, the french president said that there will be more phone calls. they will seek to continue reaching out to vladimir putin, although they haven't if fixed time for when that next phone call will take place. there was one on thursday between the same three leaders, another one on saturday. very little progress in terms of what might happen. again, olaf schultz and emmanuel macron emphasized to vladimir putin that a cease-fire was needed. a cease-fire was needed in order that negotiations could begin. explained one source within the elysee palace on the question of security, the question of ukrainian sovereignty, and the security demands being made, both by russia and by ukraine these last few days. so there is some hope from within the elysee palace that dialogue is important to continue. and what one source said was that, look, as long as vladimir putin is engaging in these phone calls, there is at least some sug

melissa bell joins us from paris with a closer look at the sanctions. lissa, take us through what's in them, how it was missed and how those will affect not just putin but the west. >> reporter: well, the big missing part and the great frustration from europeans where they could after all round of sanctions imposed by the united states, by the united kingdom, how they could do now, equipped with the russian economy to take on the russian exports. the clearly, the europe people union focused on them for the time being. what they point out from the round of sanctions appointed by the european union that industry should take a hit and it is a huge one. the european energy commissioner pointed out earlier this week in 2019 it brought in refined oil imports worth $26 billion euros to russian coffers. that is a size of how much money continues to pour into russia as a result of these european imports. clearly, it's going to take some sometime for europe to wean itself of those energy imports. what we heard in versailles where the 27 european leaders met on thu

melissa bell joining me now. you hearing from the refugees there? >> reporter: well, john, what we realized here at one of the main train stations they come through on their way out of kyiv, odesa, lviv over the last few days is there's a tragic symmetry. by definition, those who didn't want to flee in the early days of the conflict who are now being forced to do so, and if you look around this train station, it will give you an idea. it's a bit quieter than normally because, of course, we're waiting for another train to arrive. there are moments when it gets action-packed but it's kind of like this at the very least day and night. children with their mothers. the single bag they're able to carry apart from their child, often a pet and huge logistical operation. what we're seeing in terms of the new arrivals and the people who are talking to us today is that these are people who've tried to stay, they didn't want to leave, and the names that come out of their mouths, kharkiv, irpin, mariupol or the ones that have

melissa bell is at the polish border where refugees, mostly women and children, are still arriving. are you seeing? >> well, john, this is the station where so many of the refugees that have moved on to warsaw and that president biden has just been speaking to come through. and i'll give you an idea of what this platform looks like. day and night, people arrive, day and night care, aid and given. basic necessities, toothbrushes, diapers, whatever a fleeing woman and children could need. this is one of the big crossings into poland, john. the other is just down the road and that is where people arrive, either by car or on foot. again, carrying precious little, but the stories of what they've left behind. >> reporter: for a month now, they've arrived day and night at this crossing. mothers and their children carrying little. burdened only by the images of what they've fled. this woman spent more than two weeks getting here traveling by day and sheltering in basements at night. in fear of the sound of constant shelling. but she says worst of all, the sound of planes at night dropping bo

cnn's melissa bell is live in medica in poland, a key stopping point for well over 2 million people atorter: that's right. what we've seen, john, is a change in the places they've been coming, also the nature of their journeys. initially we saw people rushing across the border as quickly as they can. now more than three weeks into this crossing, we're seeing people coming from kharkiv, the cities hardest hit. down this lane, john is where the refugees fleeing come. so those over a certain age. fighting age men have had to stay behind. women and children and just on the other side is where the cars head out. that's where the much-needed aid to some of those very same cities is headed. from all over the world boxes of donations, food, medicine and clothing now piled high and being sorted by volunteers in a disused warehouse in a polish town not far from the border of ukraine. >> at the beginning i was surprised so many people wanted to help. now i think i'm used to it, how wonderful people are. >> reporter: donations that ukraine desperately needs, loaded into vans to be taken to the bor

cnn's melissa bell is in paris this morning. lissa, take us through the sanctions. >> reporter: thank you, this is the latest round of european sanctions. they were announced yesterday. they come into force today. what happens, very similar to what the united states has announced. of course, so many of these sanctions have been coordinated these last few weeks that's why leaders in united kingdom and united states believe they're likely to be effective. the latest one announced that the european union like the united states and other g7 members will be removing the preferred nations status of russia. they are also looking at -- they've also banned cryptocurrencies to try and prevent those being used to get around the previous rounds of sanctions. and also, revoking any rights that russia had within the world trade organization. essentially what this allows, it means that europe cannot target specific industries and trade. for instance, announcing it is banning the exports from the european youth of luxury goods. banning the impor

cnn's melissa bell has details. >> reporter: this is the sound that valerie, like many in ukraine, wokereaming. i couldn't believe my ears, but the sound was so persistent, i couldn't fall asleep any further. >> reporter: he'd arrived in kyiv just hours before after a marathon journey by road from his home in france, determined to see his ailing parents before war broke out. many routes by air already cut off. the russian invasion beat him to. an office worker back in france, within a day of the invasion, valery had joined the ukrainian armed forces. cnn is holding his surname as he fears online attacks from russians. >> nobody could realize that our neighbor, the brotherly people would attack us. nobody could believe that. what can i do when the aircraft -- when the russian aircraft are throwing bombs on the capital? i just couldn't stay inside, indoors, in four walls doing nothing. so i came, and i joined. >> reporter: since the russian invasion, ukraine has seen an outpouring of popular defiance with tens of thousands of citizens receiving weapons from the government to join in the c

. >> cnn's melissa bell is in poland where a majority of ukrainians have migrated.ion earlier and now you're outside. what are you seeing and can you kind of explain this concern with human trafficking? >> reporter: yes, of course. what you're talking about, kristin, is 2 million ukrainian refugees, more than 2 million who have crossed the polish border so far at train stations like this one, and they are 90% women and children. what's happened is the fighting-aged men have stayed behind. there were a couple of elderly ladies crying just now, thanking the aid workers help them off the train. you will find elderly people. but otherwise young women, mainly traveling alone, carrying one or several children, an extremely vul nerable population. they get a leaflet when they arrive telling them not to jump in anyone's car, because with all these numbers, clearly there are concerns of whose hands they might end up in, people aiming to harm them rather than help them. so outside the station you have police men who are regularly checking the identities of people offering hel

. >> cnn's melissa bell joins us now from poland. ow that country has taken the vast majority of refugees from ukraine. we heard a lot of empathy from president biden, how it impacted him. do wave good gauge of what the impact was of president biden's visit on those refugees that saw him? >> reporter: well, i think, first of all, to have been seen and heard will matter a great deal. and as the president was just saying there, these are people who have lost everything. and over the course of the last month, as we've been watching them come across the border, their stories of what they have left behind, their homes, their husbands, their brothers, their sisters, as you said, still fighting. all the uncertainty of what will happen to their loved ones back home. have a listen to what one woman told us yesterday as she got off the train about her husband that she left behind. she was all alone. >> yeah, it is -- we are really scared. and so we understand the situation that we have to be on the separate side. yeah, but in general, it is rea

cnn correspondent melissa bell joins us live from poland along the border with ukraine.e heard from scott mclean who talked to ukrainians who don't want to leave because they don't want to become refugees. you are where they have decided to leave and decided to become refugees. >> that's right. many of them doing so totally reluctantly and with a heavy heart. this is a place where the refugees arrive on foot, as you see, a huge camp has been set up. ngos providing basic necessities, food, water, and if a reminder were needed of the nature of the population fleeing, because those fighting age men are staying behind to fight, it is 90% women and children. that's why you'll see people giving out soft toys wearing costumes to try and make the children feel more comfortable. what happens as the refugees walk up this way? they're greeted by ngos, offered food, water, the children stuffed toys, and then they'll be taken on buses and provided with shelter or taken further on into poland. it's important to remember that the vast majority of the more than 2 million ukrainian refug

melissa bell, cnn, medyka, poland. >>> romania is also housing a growing number of refugees. more than half a million have fled there, so far. now, officials are preparing for another wave to come in. miguel marquez has the details from bucharest. >> reporter: two things happening with refugees in romania right now. one, the number of ukrainian refugees coming over the border is starting to tick up ever so slightly. it had been on the decrease for the last two weeks. and now, it's starting to increase again. it's not clear if this is the beginning of another big wave of refugees coming across the border here. the other thing is that it is settling in to many that we speak to that this is not going to be weeks or months, this is going to be months and years. so they are looking at other options from -- to move on from romania, essentially. applying for visas in other places. many we speak to would love to go to the u.s. but right now, they are saying that when they inquire, it is just not possible to even apply for a visa to the u.s., so it's welcomed news that the president h

cnn's melissa bell is at the border of ukraine and poland. what are you seeing there?e so many refugees have been pouring into poland. it's quiet are now because that train has gone back to lviv. but what we heard earlier on, wheat saw earlier was a large line of refugees who wer actually heading back. of course, we've seen this massive influx over the course of the last few days. the ones we spoke to and that have headed back were saying we've been watching what's unfolding in our country. we've been seeing those strikes on lviv itself over the course of the last few hours and we simply can't stay here. i'm speaking here not about fighting aged men but about women and children. of course, they represent such a huge proportion of those many millions of refugees pouring across the border because the men have stayed behind to fight. that gives you an idea of this scale of what is going on here in poland. more than 2 million people that have crossed this border in desperate need of shelter, of food, leaving everything they had behind, carrying often only their small child

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cnn's melissa bell is live at the poland/ukraine border. melissa, what are you seeing there?nue to come across the border. women and children making their way on foot. it is the land crossing where they can walk through. it's also where the cars and trucks make their way into ukraine. now these land routes have become even more important, abby, because as ukraine has become isolated, cut off to the north and the south, it is these roads, these arteries from european countries like poland that allow all that humanitarian aid that the country is now so dependent on to survive. so it isn't just refugees coming out that have impacted poland. with 2.5 million now that have crossed the border, it is also the importance of these routes to getting that much-needed aid in as well. it is also these land routes that see the weapons shipments coming from europe and the united states getting into ukraine. you were mentioning a moment ago the difficulty of stopping russia without provoking it. one of the dangers as well at this border where essentially nato meets ukraine is what would happ

cnn's melissa bell is live in poland where 1.9 million refugees have arrived just the last three weeks. melissa, what are you seeing there now? >> reporter: bianna, more extraordinary scenes today where the infrastructure, the organizations now been put in place by ngos, by local government officials, ordinary citizens as well. i just watched a couple unpack groceries from the food in their car to bring inside the refugees by the hundreds, they said we just really felt we had to help. so again, extraordinary acts of solidarity, of kindness and again, a better organization than there had been so far in trying to get the refugees that arrive here in train stations like this one on to buses that then take them to schools where they're being kept, ordinary people's homes as well and on to other european cities. that has been because of the sheer size, the scale of this crisis. it is looking set to be europe's largest refugee crisis since world war ii. already nearly two million arrived here in poland. there's been a meeting earlier today between the polish transport minister and his german

cnn's melissa bell is just across the border in poland where many of these refugees have made their wayees from ukraine. are there early plans on how that might work? >> reporter: we do have an idea, pamela, of how the scheme would work. it is that humanitarian parole that was used for the afghan refugees fleeing after the u.s. withdrawal in august of last year. so we have an idea of the way the scheme will work. we understand what's going to happen is people are given priority. first of all, those with family in the united states would be given priority. then those communities considered most vulnerable, so lgbtq, journalists, dissidents, those fleeing who have the greatest concern for their safety. but i'd like to give you an idea of what's happening here at medical crossing. day and night, pamela, they continue to arrive here, the women and children, and it is women and children who arrive day and night. 90% of these refugees are women and children since the fighting age men have stayed behind. they're given a hot drink and further down this line will be taken to somewhere where they

let's get to melissa bell. she's in poland with more. what are you seeing?'ve just come in to this local school on the ukrainian border. this is a school gymnasium that's been transformed into a shelter for ukrainian refugees arriving from the train station. it's the closest school to that train station. basically what happens is, as the refugees come off the train, they are brought to places like this where these cots, really, have been brought. essentially this has been provided by volunteers that have brought what bedding they could. mattresses, pillows to try and help these signs mean that the cot is free. so as you arrive in the gymnasium, just grab yourself a cot. the idea is that people stay a day, maybe two days before heading off then further into europe. either towards krakow or warsaw or germany and france. but that's been pretty slow and essentially poland has borne the brunt of this. look at the countries that have taken in ukrainian refugees, nearly 2 million here. the closest other country is romania with 500,000. it gives you an idea of the s

cnn's melissa bell is there for us and joins us live from poland. what are you seeing today?an towns, even as, of course, those russian strikes start to hit further and further west. and i think that passing of the 2 million bar, the 2 million ukrainians who have now crossed into poland, of course, an important moment. but it is important to remember even as we look at that scale, john. even as we look at that figure what is happening individually to all those people who have been coming off the trains. have a listen to what one woman told us as she stepped off the train from lviv. >> we react very quick, but we can do this for three, four weeks, not for long time. so w wait for reaction. our government as well as eu countries. >> apologies. that was the mayor of the town speaking to you from where so many of these polish refugees,s the ukrainian refugees have been arriving. this is a town that's shown extraordinary solidarity. but it's just been overwhelmed in terms of the amount of people that have been arriving here. another reminder of how poland is being affected, not ju

melissa bell on the ukrainian-poland border. for information on how to help in ukraine, go to cnn.com/impact and help impact your world. meanwhile, ukrainian forces now are fighting to take back key territory from the invading russian troops. let's get the latest from brian todd and retired army major general spider marks. brian, set scene for us. >> day 27 of this war, day 28 if you're in ukraine. the indications we're getting from pentagon officials today is ukrainian forces are going more on the offensive now. what we're told by ukrainian and u.s. officials, ukrainians claiming to have captured the city of makeriv. what does all this do for the battle of the capital city? >> when you look at this map, let me take a couple of liberties here. when you look at this map, you see they have this exposed flank. the ukrainians have come in and secured the city of makariv. that's good news. what it means for the russians, they have this exposed flank. they have to worry about ukrainian units in this location that could potentially pro

melissa bell is joining us live from paris. what more do we know about the sanctions?> well, these are the sanctions that kick in today. they were announced yesterday by the european union. this time targeting cryptocurrency. trying to make it impossible for russians to get around the sanctions using cryptocurrency, banning also the export of luxury goods from the european union. these are in addition to the other rounds of sanctions that have already been announced by the european union and the united states and the united kingdom that targeted the financial sector, the banking institutions, the assets of the russian central bank and so far have seen the savings of ordinary russians halved in recent weeks given the collapse of the ruble. what we're seeing is a determined effort by the european union, the united states to keep piling on that pressure. the next round of sanctions is likely to focus on trade with that preferred nations status being stripped from russia by g7 countries. it will have to go through congress and the united states, it's been announced by joe

. >>> cnn's melissa bell is in poland where president biden stopped this morning. melissa, president biden is going to get an up-close view of how really dire this refugee crisis is, as you have been reporting. what is he likely to see? >> well, that meeting is going on at that airfield just behind me. he's meeting with those humanitarian groups to talk about the dire humanitarian situation. just across the border, just 60 miles from here, it's not very far for those millions of ukrainians who desperately need humanitarian aid inside. but it's on this side of the border here in poland we've been seeing some really harrowing scenes over the course of the last few weeks. women and children, since that's what we're talking about arriving, with terrible stories of what they've had to flee. and he's going to meet some of them tomorrow in warsaw. have a listen to what one woman told us yesterday at a crossing not very far from here. she arrived with her daughter and two grandchildren after a difficult journey from the besieged town of irpin. she described their journey th

melissa bell joins us live. melissa, what did you find?r: it is a ukrainian child entering the union every single second according to officials. that is causing huge logistical problems in europe. for a month now they have arrived day and not at medyka crossing. mothers and children carrying little. burdened only by the images of what they fled. she spent two weeks get to go medyka, traveling by day and sheltering in basements at night, in fear of the sound of constant shelling. but she said, worst of all, the sound of planes at night dropping bombs. they dropped them on the bakeries, so we don't have anything to eat. on the water facilities, so we don't have anything to drink. >> the most scared was -- >> reporter: for daria, it was the sounds of the planes at night that scared her the most on her three-day adjourn good from kharkiv. it forced her and her son from their first underground shelter. as a mom, she says i was scared. my son handled it better. it's harder for the mother. larissa and her daughter escaped irpin more than a week a

cnn's melissa bell is live in poland with more. melissa, tell us what you have been seeing? of solidarity that's been quite remarkable. this town at the foothills of the car pait yan mountains, a tourist destination ordinary times has a population of 60,000. what the mayor is telling us is in the early days of the war, it was 55,000 refugees that were arriving every day here. that means that essentially this town's population was doubling in the early days of the war, and what's remarkable is neuromore than three weeks into it, that solidarity that the local population has had is undimmed. what has been happening, though, is that people are getting tired. >> it's been a long road. liberty may lie ahead, but at least safety has been reached for now. ukrainian children and their mothers who made it just across the border to poland, their first night of peace spent in a school gym. so much of what is here provided by volunteers. >> translator: in the beginning, the aid fled spontaneously from many different sources. i must admit these were not from the government. i do not hide

. >> melissa bell reporting in poland, thank you very much. >>> organizations around the world have traveled countries to help with humanitarian efforts. one of the groups there right over the border in poland helping a lot with this crisis as the american jewish committee. they've also launched an emergency fund to provide relief to ukranian refugees. i'm happy to have the director of the american jewish committee. thank you very much. melissa was just reporting from warsaw. that's where you join us from this morning. 2 million-plus refugees now in poland. can you describe the situation where you are and the most need at this moment? >> good morning, poppy, thank you for having me. the situation is we're having a steady flow of refugees, people crossing the border. the ajc team visited two border crossings last week and the refugee reception centers. basically what you see is human faces. there is nothing spectacular about that. you see faces of people who need basic help, and the first thing they get is a warm meal, and you can get approached by somebody asking if you could get them a lift

cnn's melissa bell is joining us live from the polish-ukrainian border. melissa, what?here you are? what are you hearing from some of these refugees? >> well, all of the trauma, wolf that they carry with them from the kind of scenes you've just been watching and the kind of scenes that it's hard to get access to, but the refugees crossing this border are fleeing. this is what they have often in their phones and it's certainly what they're carrying with them as they come across and think, as you see here, women, their children, a couple of bags and that's what they arrive with. they head to the end of this road here. a bus picks them up and on to a very uncertain future and not a great amount of coordination and nearly one month into this conflict. what we're seeing is that those scenes that you've just seen in kyiv and have been repeated in places like irpin and sumy, as you see those moments of heavy fighting and the people fleeing have arrived and deeply traumatized. the people arriving here in medyka where there's more organization than there was to receive them as t