nick paten walsh, cnn, outside kharkiv, ukraine. >> the head of the world food program is calling onn leader to, quote, have a heart and reopen ukrainian ports allowing the export of much needed food to countries around the world. david beasley speaking to cnn at the world economic forum is calling for action as a global food crisis grows more dire amid the war in ukraine. he says 325 million people worldwide are now facing starvation. as cnn's claire sebastian following developments. she joins us now live from london. good morning to you, claire. so russia says it will only reopen those ukrainian ports if some sanctions are lifted, and that isn't going to happen. so what could be the consequences of this? >> a multi-year food crisis, rosemary, that's how the ukrainian minister put it talking in davos this week. not only the current grain stocks not being exported but the next harvest currently being planted. the world food program has pointed out this is already leading to instability in some countries. food related riots as we've seen in the likes of peru, indonesia, sri lanka, tha

cnn's nick paten walsh has our report. >> reporter: this is the last road in here.rare focus here and may soon encircle the pocket of two cities on a river we're driving into. ukrainian forces we saw here mobile, tense, at times edgy. and this is why. across the river here the besieged sit aof siverskyi donets. it looks like we might be witnessing another attempt over there, that smoke near one of the remaining bridges into the city. our police escorts shout drone, often used to direct artillery attacks. we are on high ground, exposed and scatter. it is a tale of two desperations here, that which makes people stay and that which makes them finally flee. he's the latter. some who stay are increasingly angry of what's left of the ukrainian state here. a young woman was killed here a day earlier by a shell. and locals told us not to film saying cameras attracted shelling. russia's bloody persistence and unbridled firepower is bringing the kind of victory in the ruins they seem to cherish. this cinema was a bomb shelter, local officials said. it's unclear if when their

cnn's nick paten walsh has our report. >> reporter: putin would choke the light and life out of here. we are driving into the smoke of an incendiary munitions attack we're told here against this civilian village. home, fields, even the air itself torched. vira says she saw it falling from the sky and her neighbor hit. >> reporter: the incendiary munition which burns hot through everything in its path came after normal heavy shelling, which makes you question like so much here why russia needed to heap fire on top of heavy explosive. it hit just ten minutes ago, this man says, pointing away. some left bewildered, others in the first moments of shock. va vallen teen tina is very matter of fact as she describes what happened to victor in her neighbor's house. she shows us the courtyard where a dad man lies, a large hole in his chest and ear torn off. she points to the body just behind the tree and then says who he is. victor had rushed to check on their neighbor's home. russia occupied here for weeks, and as it retreats these tiny corners of green are where it -- up the road toward russi