the sea of azov is that internal sea just off of crimea. and you see there's a lot of red around it. if he can control the sea of azov, that would be -- putin would be able to consider that a win for this war and a win for his country. richard engel in kyiv for us. as always, thank you. be safe. let me bring in former nato ambassador under president obama, ivo doddler. i want to quote you directly in your most recent column. you write this. you say, "though a nato response would risk even further escalation, not responding would risk the future credibility of nato and its capacity to deter." this gets at the question of what does the west say publicly? how many public lines are drawn versus private lines, number one? and two, how important is it do you think that there is some public deterrence here, if you will? >> so, i think it's very important that we make clear that there are certain actions that russia might be contemplating that would change fundamentally our perspective on this war. and, indeed, president biden has said that as well

we control the entrance to the sea of ​​azov, in principle, unconditionally, but nevertheless , againust be strengthened, and therefore the question is raised. and berdyansk, so that this introductory space is the sea of ​​\u200b\ u200bazov. well, for the next 300 years, it remained an exclusively peaceful sea. and it met the national interests of the russian federation like this, probably. this question should be posed. as for demilitarization, it is, in general, for everything. that time went well enough natural way, that is, for this period of warfare . e, armed forces of ukraine e. well, they simply lost some types of the armed forces and military branches. now as naval, and the positions of the same air defense troops, which unite the armed forces of ukraine and the air force and air defense forces. they are so weakened that in their current form they are no longer able to solve problems. uh, the ukrainians will have to restore their large operational strategic tasks. well in for many decades, so they have tanks left, if we proceed from the fact that they had 2,600 tanks at the b

and so it's been boiling on the sea of azov and the black sea for a very long time. krainian flag. i picked that up in to december is trying to help the ukrainian navy develop the navy after it was taken away from them with sebastopol. there was a mosquito flea idea, challenged the russians in the sea of azov. those ships were fired upon and those soldiers were arrested and sent moscow to prison. so, they have dominated in the sea of azov, and that's why they were able to conduct an amphibious landing in mariupol and are pounding the town and conducting war crimes. i think kherson has fallen. it's another port city. odessa is next. i've been to decodessa. the ukrainians sank their flagship to keep it out of russian hands. there's an amphibious plan coming. they have plenty of forces. they have six reply ships and escorts to make that happen. we saw yesterday people sandbagging the city to prepare for that onslaught. >> you mentioned you believe odessa might be next. we know kherson has been taken.. we know kherson has been taken. is ukraine prepared to respond to a na

ukraine says that it has essentially lost access now to the sea of azov, and that's where potentially more help and aid could have been on the way but now has to find other routes. we are simply looking at russian forces that are expanding their line of attacks well beyond just one part of ukraine with a special emphasis now being on western ukraine. if fast -- fast developments overnight. welcome, everybody, i'm neil cavuto, and this is "cavuto live." let us get the latest from lviv, mike toe -- mike tobin. >> reporter: the ukrainians have been able to bog down any progress the russians have been able to make, particularly with the town of mariupol. the fighting, as you know there, has been severe, and the civilians have paid a very, very heavy price. we're know now getting some images that indicate russians are, indeed, getting into the city of mariupol. if you lack at the images -- look at the images, it looks like an apocalypse. there. the russian army has been bombarded, has been bombarding that coastal town since the start of the invasion. 80% of the housing is destroyed. two da

they're closely monitoring this military development in the sea of azov. 's where the ukrainian navy said its forces destroyed a russian ship that was stationed at the port. there is no independent confirmation of this. video posted on social media appears to show a huge fire with explosions at the port, this happening about 45 miles southwest of the city of mariupol. however, to the north, the situation is getting worse. tens of thousands are essentially stuck after russian forces bombed a row bridge. they're cut off from the capitol city of kyiv that is 100 miles to the south. people are becoming desperate with little food or water and zero electricity. with the nonstop russian shelling and bombardment, there's an untold number of innocent people that are being killed right now. >> why is he bombing peaceful homes? why are there so many victims and blood? body parts everywhere. sleepless night. parents are crying. there's no children anymore. why does he hate ukraine so much? >> now, out of the 10 million people here in ukraine that have been forced from

so much of the russian navy and the firepower with the russian navy right now is in the sea of azov, h mariupol. analysts are watching for two things that might trigger an attack or suggest an attack on odesa might be imminent. the first is some of the russian warships start to move from the sea of azov back towards the black sea where odesa is, and the other is if troops in kherson, another coastal city between the two, start to move west along the coast. the either happens, the attack on this strategic and historic city might be sooner. >> in terms of the spirit of the people, you know, are they confident about being able to repel this attack? >> reporter: you heard that senior naval officer there who had strong words, but that defiance extend to the civilian population. the estimate that we have heard is about half of this city has left and that means half of this city is here to fight. they're fighting in all ways. we saw a civilian training facility this morning where people who have never picked up guns are learning how to shoot not just kind of to defend their own homes but pos

meantime, heavy fighting continues around mariupol as russian troops try to capture the port on the sea of azov. the kremlin says the next round of talks will take place in istanbul tomorrow. as the invasion stretches on, descendants of survivors of previous conflicts say they fear the war could leave lasting scars on ukrainians living through it. coming up, a group of hollow cost survivors that are being evacuated from kyiv, after "today in the bay" at 7:00 a.m. >>> two shootings in san jose are under investigation. both happened on saturday. >> the first is a homicide, followed by an officer-involved shooting. "today in the bay's" marianne favro has the details. >> reporter: san jose police say as they were responding to a homicide on 4th street around 2:45 sunday morning, they got another call, that a man with a gun was fighting with someone inside la victoria restaurant. >> one of the subjects pointed a gun. one of the arriving officers fired his handgun, struck the suspect at least one time. >> reporter: this student lives next door and heard the gunfire. >> i heard a couple of gunshots an

from the sea of azov.s being launched off the coast, john. >> and new drone video shows the devastating effects. u.s. defense officials now say there is clear evidence russia is intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure in ukraine, and committing war crimes. cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us now. what more can you tell us about that? >> the u.s. picking its words very carefully, very deliberately, saying that they do see now clear evidence, deliberate and intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure, shelters, hospitals, where civilians are all across ukraine by russian forces. and the reason they're being so careful with this is they are trying to assemble the international case before any -- future international court where war crimes charges potentially could be brought. they need to assemble all the evidence they can at this point. the pentagon press secretary john kirby explained a little bit more about this. >> clearly there are civilian casualties and clearly they are mount

in the mariupol region, 5 km from the coastline to the sea of ​​​​azov, a ukrainian mi-8 helicopter waswn, heading for an emergency location, who abandoned their subordinate commanders of the azov battalion. one ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at the chernobaevka checkpoint. according to the ministry of defense, in total, during the special operation, about 200 ukrainian aircraft and helicopters, more than 300 drones, 172 installations of multiple launch rocket systems and more than 1,700 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed. responsibility is planned by specific representatives of the armed forces of ukraine and national battalions. this will also affect those who today struck at the center of donetsk ilya ushenin reports from the scene. the first shot of cannon artillery in donetsk was heard at about 11:00 in the morning by themselves the sounds of explosions. nobody is surprised here. but today the shells flew clearly into the residential sector, artyom street, central street in the city , was one of the first to arrive under fire. it turns out that i didn’t feel

russian television showing the arrival of a landing ship in a port on the sea of azov with fighting vehicles unloaded and readied for battle today russia's plans took a turn. the ship was in flames ukrainian forces claim they destroyed it this morning and damaged two other russian vessels. russia's new focus on the east may be out of duress ukrainian forces are making advances around kyiv, pushing back russian troops from the capital, but russia's air bombardment hasn't stopped. victoria, 66 and retired, was in her apartment when a russian missile exploded outside her window shards of glass cutting her all over we filmed where the missile landed, in the center victoria's housing complex, damaging a nearby school and grocery there were no military targets here victoria says she has panic attacks when she thinks about that day. her wish the evildoers must be punished, she says >> richard joining us now. we are a month into this invasion. you have been covering it from the very start. does it seem like we are closer to a conclusion or this will keep going indefinitely >> reporter: i think we sh

aviation in five kilometers from the coastline to the sea of ​​azov, a ukrainian mi-8 helicopter was ing for an emergency evacuation, who abandoned their subordinate commanders of the azov battalion. in addition, one ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was destroyed near the chernobaev settlement. in russia, there was also a rush demand for anti-theft systems, they began to be bought not only because of the constant increase in prices and because of fears that cars can now be stolen much more often for parsing for spare parts, because due to violation supply chain care of some major auto parts brands have been found to be in short supply. evgeny golovanov figured out how to protect his car in the current situation. everything, it was unpleasantly unexpected yulia grechinskaya. for two weeks now, the pedestrian was against her will, her car was stolen. in broad daylight, the car, it turns out, left on the 13th directly from the house from under the windows of my house, let’s say, in the memory of my beloved, they always left only a few photos, including the carmaker behind the wheel. he

donetsk or will it be mental that there is no crimea now, what if it completely loses access to the sea of ​​​​azovstill say zelensky, i defeated everyone. and then he quietly quietly says. i won the election, and then he asked a question. and how will i to feed what i have left, when the economy is destroyed, he will say, foreigners will give us money foreigners will not give money they themselves have hunger and insane prices, well, they will not have any energy of ukraine because no gas will go through them. they will not be a transit. they are like idiots addressing the chinese. they are trying to be rude, forgetting that they previously threw the chinese for 3 billion. and the chinese do not forgive such things, and they try to point them out through their lips. here zelensky will say that i am your savior, but he will have handed out gangs of 300,000 machine guns, which will talk, but eat us than save and at home he promised to stop us all. and with what money will you install them, and where will you get building materials for heating? what will we be, but where will the bread come from? and

even on the coast on the sea of azov, where the russian navy predominates, it's taking hits.y by the ukrainian navy. then there's poor russian tactics. russian commanders on the ground have largely failed to take full advantage of all the tools at their disposal. things like armoured vehicles, artillery, rocket launchers, helicopters and warplanes, all of which when combined with the infantry can have a massive effect, but which the russians have apparently failed to co—ordinate. and finally, there's poor russian logistics and communications. russian soldiers have not always maintained their vehicles properly, meaning that many of them are breaking down. and when it comes to radios, a lot of them don't work, forcing them to use mobile phones which can easily be intercepted by the ukrainians. many of the russian soldiers thought they were just going on exercise, like this one in belarus. that didn't give their ncos, the sergeants and corporals, enough time to prepare for battle. in the russian army, the sergeants and the corporals are renowned for their inefficiency, their cor

one of the things the telegraph's report covers is the importance of access to the sea of azov whichterritory and the crimean peninsula. i think we have all been watching these scenes and it is almost impossible to find the words as to how horrific it is. except to say that one of the really tragic things about these stories is that we have seen this technique of absolutely destroying civilian residential areas, civilian life. we have seen it before in syria. from the russian—backed forces when we were looking at aleppo, which is as old and ancient city as anything in ukraine and we did very, very little to stop its destruction. so for those of us who followed things like humanitarian corridors being offered and then those corridors being bombed, the promise of escape route suddenly being delayed, these atrocities, the targeting of hospitals and maternity hospitals, that stuff we have seen before in recent years. and it is horrific, isn't it, to see it happening again? it certainly is. lucy, as kate mentioned, something like humanitarian corridors, people are trapped in mariupol with

but we're looking at, you know, if you're launching something from the black sea or the sea of a azov, that is outside of ukrainian air space. a no fly zone would have to have the right rules of engagement, so any aircraft flying over these areas would also have been covered by that. none of the proposals i've seen so far would have covered that possibility. >> so, kim, russia's campaign seems to be getting worse and worse, especially talking about the impact on civilian lives. yet, we're hearing from some ukrainian officials as well as a u.s. official that there is some optimism around the talks. we know there was a fourth talk today put on hold. but i do want to read the comment from the ukrainian presidential adviser who says he thinks they will achieve concrete results in the next few days. i wonder why the optimism. what do you think? >> well, the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy, said in an interview yesterday that he is now cooling to the idea of joining nato. he says nato doesn't want them. if you talk to nato officials, they'll tell you privately they cannot take on b

it is known that the russian armed forces shot down a ukrainian mi-8 helicopter on the sea of ​​​​azov just flying to mariupol to evacuate the commanders of the national battalion. azov, it is because of their criminal orders that civilians experienced a real nightmare on it those who could not leave live in basements, or rather survive from mariupol report by our correspondent dmitry zaitsev under the cover of russian armored vehicles, we drive into the liberated part of mariupol, it is almost the center, metallurgov avenue, the city landscape terrifying destroyed large-caliber car shells literally scorched residential buildings, very scary, very scary. this is horror. which, 300 meters from this house , is already transferring the joint forces of the russian troops and the republican people's militia to knock out the scattered remnants of the armed radicals. the main position of the nationalists in mariupol is called azov steel. there is a banker there. there are shelters that, in principle, well, it will be very difficult for us to get. and i didn’t leave either, probably now they a

mariupol is a key port on the sea of azov, and this is something that russia would have to take to establishction between crimea and russia and they decided to do it by relentlessly pounding the town, but it's crucial for them to keep the land bridge but the ukrainians have not given up in mariupol. >> sandra: i believe we are going to go to the pentagon. john kirby is giving a briefing. >> thanks, john. two things, can you defend the discussion about the russian troops that have been sort of leaving the area surrounding kyiv and moving towards belarus. can you give us a better sense of what the department is seeing, is it dozens, hundreds, and is there actual movement in belarus with attempts to get supplies, etc., to them, and then my second question is, there has been a lot of discussion about putin's advisors not giving him accurate information, particularly about the state of the battle. does the pentagon believe those reports and do you have anything that you could point to that you -- that actually suggest that that is actually happening? >> yeah, is on the withdrawal, we -- we have s

of odesa. if russia controls this area right here, what they will effectively do is control the entire black sea coast of ukraine. between this area, this area, and the sea of azov, they are making it a landlocked country. . >> you talk about some of the weapons we have seen, perhaps used but that are certainly on the move here. >> right. one of the areas in which these weapons show up is in the kharkiv region. of course in the northeastern part of ukraine. this area is ukraine's second largest city. and you note that right now we have russian forces north, northwest and northeast of kharkiv. well, this is the area where we have actually seen the tos-1 flamethrower. it is a thermobaric bomb, that will suck out the air of the target they're going after. if you are going after a particular placement of troops, the bomb hits, takes the air out of the khroeed area they're in. that is one of the biggest problems that ukrainian forces have is bombs like that. >> and what happens to those troops? . >> they die, unfortunately. it is very hard to survive something like that. gas masks really don't protect you. it is one of the worst forms of combat weapon that we've seen

pres kyiv says it has lost access to the sea of azov for the first time if russia gains full control ariupol, it would gain control of the coast karen. >>> russia's military launched a series of attacks on ukraine using long-range missiles. the fuel depot was targeted a day after the missiles which were capable of hitting kilomet. russian forces continue to attack residential areas in kyiv with shelling in the shopping district on sunday, kyiv authorities now estimate that more than 220 people have died in the capital since the invasion began the casualty figures are not officially verified. british intelligence estimates the bulk of russian forces are stalled 50 kilometers from the city center. the foreign minister said the only deterrent are for the actions in ukraine are the military power calling for an energy ban. russia's president will continue unless stopped >> we don't have any other option putin underestimates us. the world underestimated us. i saw that american intelligence gave us 96 hours and after this, kyiv would fail. i can say kyiv will not fail and we will not surren

defense official says mariupol is being fired on from the sea of azov.try peskov said russian president putin hasn't achieved his goal to demill tar rise ukraine and he refused to resign that moscow could use chemical weapons. >>> in the coming hours president biden will travel to brussels where he will meet with allies. while he's in europe he will unveil new sanctions targeting hundreds of russians serving in the lower house of parliament. his announcement will set off what is expected to be a slew of new steps to punish russia. here's more from america's national security adviser jake sullivan. >> for the past few months the west has been united. the president is traveling to europe to ensure we stay united, to cement our collective resolve, to send a powerful message that we are prepared and committed to this for as long as it takes. >> for more on this, we wanted to pri in cnn's natasha bertrand. good to see you. more sanctions will be announced at this extraordinary meeting, but the big question of course is whether members will go so far as to app

you do already have pre-placed russian naval force in the sea of azov and black sea. >> carley: so many moving pieces to the story, thanks for covering it, we appreciate it. >> todd: bret baier giving a close look at what comes next for kyiv as that massive convoy closes in. listen. >> bret: that convoy is just on the outskirts of this and making its way this way, 15 miles from the city, the issue for the russians, there are only two main ways to get into the city center, one is here and one is here. they both come to a choke point. we're told the ukrainians are using anti-tank missiles, javelins and taking out exhibit that comes in from this obolon district to the north. that is what this convoy has ran into, attack by ukrainian defense forces. if it is 40 miles long as suggested, if you look at images, you can see the line of vehicles and armored personnel carriers goes for miles and miles russian will have a lot of people to throw at the city of kyiv. >> todd: -- did three tours as member of special operations. seth, thank you for being here. we got a pretty good state of play as to

forces say the russians have managed to — "temporarily" they say — cut off the ukrainians from the sea of azove images we've got from mariupol and you can see it's really been hollowed out by weeks of russian bombardement. this building used to be a shopping centre. around 300,000 people are trapped, with no electricity, gas or running water. 0fficials there say more than 80% of residential buildings are either damaged or destroyed. it's thought fighting has now reached the centre and that the city is now close to falling to the russians. but some people have been able to get out of mariupol. this recent satellite image shows a long queue heading out of the city. families packed into cars not knowing if they'll ever return. president volodymyr zelensky said last night more than 9,000 people were able to escape mariupol yesterday through one of seven humanitarian corridors set up across the country. this morning the evacuation route is opening in the luhansk region. let's just listen to what he had to say about those peace talks as well that are still ongoing. translation: we have always insist

0vernight, ukraine's armed forces say the russians have managed to cut off the ukrainians from the sea of azovn the south—east. in his nightly address, president zelensky called for meaningful peace and security talks with moscow without delay. translation: we have always insisted on negotiations, - we have always offered dialogue, offered solutions for peace, notjust for 23 days of invasion. i want everyone to hear me now, especially in moscow — it's time to meet, time to talk, it is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for ukraine. but here the foreign secretary, liz truss, has warned that russia is using peace talks with ukraine as a smoke screen while it prepares to carry out what she called more appalling atrocities and war crimes. meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis grows ever worse. many of those fleeing fighting in the east head to the western city of lviv, still considered relatively safe. the un says nearly 6.5 million people are now displaced within ukraine. 3.2 million more have already left the country altogether. in a central square in lviv, they have placed these pus

it is on the coast of the sea of azov. a little further west, the town of kherson, there's a key bridge across the dnieper river, further west is the city of odesa, we saw russian warships had their, we fear major beatty -- battle in that city that has not materialized yet. neil: when they talk about a city that has fallen to the russians is it based on what the russians are telling us? how do we keep score? >> reporter: as it relates to kherson, the mayor posted the city had fallen and people were in distress. and they were having difficulty burying their dead. it comes from a local official. who controls the city can change pretty quickly. looks like what the russians want to do in kherson is get their equipment over the bridge. >> be safe. the white house is digesting this, this attack included a nuclear power plant, that under control, fires have been put out, oil prices shooting up, enormous pressure even with oil prices shooting up connie administration, any russian oil anywhere in the united states, democrats are on

attacks escalated over the weekend in cities including the capital of kyiv and mariupol on the sea of azovled to president zelenskyy to issue his strongest appeal yet for a cease-fire. >> translator: i'm ready for negotiations with him. if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third world war. >> all right. joining me now is ukrainian lawmaker live in kyiv this morning. i know there were attacks over the weekend, including a shopping center hit. why don't you just tell me what the situation is like where you are this morning. >> it wasn't just the weekend. it was every day, every night. we had attacks inside of kyiv last night. the reality is these were completely civilian, residential parts of town, residential homes being hit. russia doesn't really care what it shoots. you don't know what is going to happen in the next moment. the city is getting prepared for a battle, what the russians will throw at us. . >> you are preparing for it to be a battlefield. that is the environment where president zelenskyy is calling for negotiations with russia directly with vladimir putin. w

sea with the ultimate goal, the belief among u.s. officials is their goal is to take an entire land bridge along the coast of the black sea and the sea of azov. there are preparations for a potential amphibious assault of odesa. >> i want to ask you about two things, war crimes, vice president kamala harris announced that today while touring in poland. also, the migs, what is the latest between poland and the u.s. between the soviet-era fighter jets? >> vice president kamala harris spoke about that in poland this morning, talking about the need for some sort of investigation. here's what she had to say. >> absolutely there should be an investigation. and we should all be watching. i have no question the eyes of the world are on this war and what russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities. i have no doubt. >> she stopped short of saying the united states would be involved in some sort of investigation, but that's the indication that we are getting, that the united states is looking into this and potentially gathering information for some sort of future investigation into what's going on there, whether in fact the russian

the city under siege on the sea of azov completely surrounded with hundreds of thousands perhaps trapped inside. joining me here in lviv is cnn's phil black. you have been watching the city, the plight of that city very closely. . >> one strike in kyiv. but it has been bombed every 10 minutes or so. from the air, russian forces and naval forces as well. overnight we had this ultimate mate up from russia to hand over the city. the short weapon goes, put down your weapons, we will start sending aid in. it was rejected quickly. mariupol said we don't need to wait for your 4:00 a.m. deadline. here's your answer, a colorful expletive. it means russia still has the same decision to make. does it move on foot, try ig to take this street to street in a costly difficult way, or does it continue the siege? and i think we know what seems more likely at the moment. they are applying tremendous pressure and suffering onto the people there. we got another distressing example of that over the weekend. another large shelter where a big group of people were staying, hit and destroyed. this was an art sch

and today, a small victory for ukraine on the sea of azov.ip. russia still has plenty more ships, but the fact that ukrainians are still fighting back one month on shows russia has grossly underestimated them. frank gardner, bbc news. live now to our moscow correspondent, caroline davies. from president putin's point of view, this war is not going as he had planned or hoped. is he likely to change strategy do you think? fin is he likely to change strategy do ou think? , .,. , you think? on the surface, there is no suggestion _ you think? on the surface, there is no suggestion that _ you think? on the surface, there is no suggestion that the _ you think? on the surface, there is no suggestion that the authoritiesl no suggestion that the authorities are apologetic or have changed their view on this at all, and that is in the face of unprecedented sanctions, of runs on their foreign currency reserves, of international companies leaving russia like mcdonald's. and while the rest of the world cuts off russia, the kremlin is cutting off anyone that

the most tragic situation is currently now in the city of mariupol, on the sea of azov.purpose, to walk out from the meeting with the decision to arrange a humanitarian corridor in and from mariupol. from mariupol, for civilians who want to flee this area of fear and struggle and humanitarian corridor to bring in mariupol humanitarian aid. unfortunately, minister lavrov was not in a position to commit himself to it, but he will correspond with respective authorities on this issue. we also raised the issue of a ceasefire, a 2a—hour ceasefire, to resolve the most pressing humanitarian issues. we did not make progress on this, since it seems that there are other decision—makers for this matter in russia. we agreed to continue efforts to seek a solution for the humanitarian issues on the ground. i will be ready to meet again in this format if there are prospects for a substantial discussion and for seeking solutions. i believe that when two foreign ministers meet, they have, by definition, a mandate to negotiate issues of peace, security, the mandate entrusted to them by the

the russians are firing from the ships of the sea of azov. a-launched missiles in a campaign with targets to the western border. that means the border with poland. and reinforcements would be on the way with russia. belarus could soon join the russian war effort and is already taking steps to do so. president biden leaves for brussels shortly to bolster the western alliance. he also is expected to announce new sanctions on russian lawmakers as soon as thursday. we want to again our reporting this hour with cnn's frederick pleitgen who is on the ground in the capital of kyiv. fred, i understand a new round of attacks on civilian areas. >> reporter: yeah. you're absolutely right, john. it's a battle around the ukrainian capital of kyiv. we are hearing what we believe to be outgoing fire once again in the ukrainian capital. we were woken by what seemed to be machine gunfire and some other automatic fire which may have been the ukrainians flying

ukrainians say the strikes were launched from ships in the sea of sea of azov.this is the third airstrike in the western part of ukraine in three days. arthel, back to you. arthel: mike, are you getting the sense that not only ukrainian forces, but those civilians who are out so bravely fighting alongside them, are you getting the sense that they're able to, you know, readjust as quickly as these russian forces seem to now be moving towards kyiv especially? >> reporter: well, as they are moving in to kyiv, you definitely see people entrenching in their positions. there was a great eagerness on the part of the ukrainians to defend particularly the capital city of kyiv there. and what we have seen with all of these besieged city -- mariupol, car keefe and -- kharkiv and others -- is that they are holding the line. and that, of course, is causing the russians to respond with greater force. they back up and respond with the longer range weapons which, of course, is more discriminate. so as the fight intensifies, you see more casualties and more civilian casualties,

ukrainians are temporarily cut off from the sea of azov as russia circles o december can saw. odesa is. russian rockets woman -- bombed an art school in mariupol the weekend, huge explosions rock a shopping mall in kyiv overnight. president biden will travel to brussels this week for an emergency nato meeting on thursday. meanwhile, no details on president biden's friday call with xi jinping, no detail and no transcripts on the two hour phone call. congressman mike turner joined me yesterday. you are the ranking member on the intelligence committee for the house of representatives. have you been briefed on pride president biden's call with china? >> no, and i think it's an outwith rage. i think such a long call would be happening about this conflict without the intelligence committee, foreign affairs committee or even the american public know what happened in that phone call. maria: all that all morning long. meanwhile, stocks coming off of the best week since november 2020. futures this morning are pulling back, down 102 on the dow industrials, the s&p lower by 5.75 and the n

mariupol is on the sea of azov right here. this is a body of water that is very important to the russians. they want to make this a lake. there is a reason for it, not just because they like this lake. what they want is they want to control mariupol, which is right here, because that provides a land bridge between crimea, which they annexed, and the donbas region, which is this area right here. and this area controlled by the separatists, this area controlled by the russians, this area now with russian troops in it, all of this is key to their plan to cut off ukraine from the sea. so that's the eastern part of that plan. the western part is over here. where the city of odesa is, that is another part of the plan, but for mariupol, that's a key to making sure that they -- from their standpoint pacify this region and make it really completely russian. that's what their goal is at this point. >> nato is as you know discussing now sending advanced air defense systems to ukraine. no-fly zone really off the table, even those jets from

it's on the sea of azov, and it kind of makes it difficult for the russians to move in and out of the that's significant because it is one of the areas they're using as a staging area to get the land bridge we've talked about before. so anything that stymies or hinders the russian efforts in the south is good news for ukraine because it prevents or is working to preventing the creation of that land bridge or any potential moves into areas to the west such as odesa. it's a very important effort by the ukrainians and certainly spectacular to watch to say the least. >> certainly spectacular to watch. this video remarkable. let me ask you for your take on the inability of the chairman of the joint chiefs, the secretary of defense, to be able to get their russian counterparts, on the phone. they haven't spoken one to one since weeks before the invasion. >> yes, it sounds like the north koreans that often don't pick up the line, the military connection we have with them on the demilitarized zone in korea. in this case silence is not golden, victor. it's one of these aspects of the relations

russian ships in the sea of azov now joining the relentless bombardment of this key city. the deputy mayor estimating 90% of the city's infrastructure is now destroyed. >> it does not receive any humanitarian aid. cities without food, electricity, water, energy supplies. cities under continuous bombing. a lot of death, a lot of crying, a lot of awful war crimes. >> reporter: the ukrainian military says this explosion at a mariupol industrial compound was caused by a russian attack as new satellite images show the city is crumbling while russian artillery units dig in around it. >> translator: hardworking, honest city of mariupol, which is being destroyed by the occupiers and being reduced to ashes, but it will survive. >> reporter: in the capital, kyiv, loud explosions were heard after yet another curfew was imposed, this time until wednesday morning. the ukrainian interior ministry saying that air defenses destroyed a russian missile. russia now claims ukraine was hiding weapons in that kyiv shopping center that russia had previously bombed. ukraine denies the allegation,

naval strike missile and also the surface-to-surface missiles that sunk the russian ship at the sea of azovregion in donbas, and they don't have the troops to task in the eastern region. and, again, he's having a very difficult time of sustaining. eric: so what happened? apparently he's calling in russian mercenaries from the middle east and africa, about a thousand plus of those. what does it mean to you, captain, if putin now has to try and resort to mercenaries? >> well, it shows that his active forces have not been properly trained or taken care of. if he needs to resort to mercenaries, particularly the chechnyan mrs. theirs. if you look -- mercenaries. if you look at the agreement that was brokered long ago from the i caucasus, they're very dangerous, they're going to look at the urban warfare fighting while the russian forces are focused on siege as well as logistics support. so it's a very, much more violent, hutch more focused into the -- much more focused into the urban lawyers. russia's doing its part as we heard from the if member of parliament with regard to the air campaign aga

already moved through, not yet in odesa, but if they do press there, it cuts off access to the sea of azovnue to exist if economically, they need to have access to the sea. granted, they do have a lot of over-land connections, but a lot of their trade goes through the ports in o december -- odesa and mariupol. so economically and then there is the tactical value. you make mariupol, you remove any ukrainian presence in the sea of azov which connects to the caspian sea, and that's where russia last year started bringing more naval forces to boost up their black sea fleet. but odesa is the target. you connect the land bridge and once you get there, you need not go any further to control the -- griff: and worried about another russia amphibious landing here. >> there's been a lot of speculation. about a week ago dod sources were reporting that there was a massing of naval forces off of crimea looking like an anticipation of a landing. that never occurred. now, amphibious landings highly complex and with some of greatest risk. the hand aring that was done over in mariupol early on in the war wa

ultimately, they expect to take over -- the russians expect to take over that entire coastline, on the sea of azov, and on the black sea. so that no further evacuations will be able to be effective, by the ukrainians. and further, and more significantly, the west will not be able to resupply the ukrainian forces with food, ammunition, anti aircraft weapons, and anti tank weapons, once that whole coastline get seized and controlled by the russians, all assistance to the forces in the east, the ukrainian forces in the east, i'm afraid, we'll have ended, dara? >> colonel, also, we do expect the cease-fire to possibly be extended to, maybe other towns going up along the water there? >> that's a very good points. you may be right, and it may also extend to other cities, even those in the north. it is important to recognize that, the initial objective of seizing cities was hoped by the russians to be taken without a shot. remember when colin powell said, if you break it you gotta fix it. and he's absolutely right about that, an occupying force has two problems with the city, and he built up area that is

defense officials around seven ships are in the sea of azov. the city of kyiv, intense fighting continues as russian forces attempt to circumstance italian capitol city, but it's proving to much more difficult as ukrainian forces are on the offense taking back parts of kyiv. the mayor of kyiv says the entire world needs to act now in order to end the war. >> how much more you wand to see and support and not isolate russia? every cent that is going to the russian bucket is going to be used to kill people today. in the past weeks, our men, women and children. >> as russian forces become stalled, attention now turns to what countries and other military forces could the kremlin bring in to help those efforts here in ukraine. many people especially in the western part of ukrainian looking to the north to see whether or not belarus gets involved now. martha? >> martha: jeff paul in lviv. with that, let's bring in jack keane, chairman of the institute for the study of war. a lot to discuss with regard to what's going on on the ground in ukraine, genera

accusations that russian war ships have also been firing from the sea of azov which mariupol overlooks. and all of this is kind of -- these are dumb munitions, not precision-guided. these are tanks and cannons and warships just blasting a modern-day city. that's one of the tragedies of this conflict is that it is the cities and towns of ukraine that are the battlefields here. and who feels the impact of that most? the civilians who are caught in the middle. and nobody -- nobody can give you an accurate number of how many civilians are still caught in their basements in that grinding siege of mariupol, about 3 1/2 hours from where i'm standing now. >> our hearts are with all of those people. i want to bring in fred pleitgen. he is in kyiv. fred, ukrainians have so far kept russian forces from encircling that city. what's the latest? >> there's been a massive battle going on around kyiv today. especially in the northern parts of kyiv. what we've been seeing throughout the entire day is this whole city engulfed in black smoke throughout wide parts of the outskirts but especially to the no

mariupol always vulnerable, close to separatist areas on the sea of azov, but also, too, troubling signs of what a russian presence in the streets of ukraine cities look like in kherson, the first, it's fair to say, major city to fall. that seemed to have occurred last night. today i spoke to a resident who talked about a lack of medicine, how, not only russian troops looting but also locals frankly, too, finding the only way to lay their hands on food, such with the humanitarian catastrophe. this resident said befallen their town. just literally in two or three days. videos posted too, accompanied of trip wire mines laid in certain parts of that city as well. utterly shocking, frankly, to see how that whole populated area has fallen so fast in about 72 hours since we first saw images of russian troops circulating around it. and now, of course, the focus, i think, beginning to shift through the town also under attack as you head west toward this port city of odesa. i was talking to the mayor today saying how he said to me how they were deeply fearful of street-to-street fighting in the e

this strategy, be getting a crescent of the most strategic areas of ukraine as they pertain to the black sea and of course the sea of azov. i still think he wants to go to odesa, he wants to try and get around and approach it from the north and then maybe come in with an amphibious landing. i don't think it's off his mind but makes sense. >> john: the more he is mired back he may have to pair back when he ultimately wants to do. horrific attacks in the south, the drama theater where people were taking shelter, they said they didn't do it, but they did, and also hostages at a hospital. and talk to me about the developments in mariupol. >> i'm still worried about mariupol, say that up front. if you pressed me what would be the next city to fall, i would worry it was here. russians have been steadfast in the south, their equipment and troops are better down here. but the ukrainians have determined resistance. you see the shelling that killed so many people in the theater, they don't feel the political pressure an american might in an american campaign somewhere. putin can sit back, thinks playbook, shoot>> ari: -- shoot art

corridor, a piece of territory that stretches from the russian federation border in the south on the sea of azov, all the way to the crimean peninsula which russia annexed in 2014. up until now, the crimean peninsula has sat separate from the rest of the russian federation. if mariupol is fallen, it means that russia now has that land corridor between those two pieces of territory and it means russia will have achieved one of the key military goals in launching this invasion. kate? >> important context of why there is so much focus on this city of mariupol. phil, thank you. >>> so president biden is back at the white house this morning and the white house is still doing clean-up after these nine unscripted words by biden about president putin. >> for god's sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> mr. president, were you calling for regime change? >> no. >> that's what he says now but this comes after president biden labeled putin a butcher. cnn's jeremy diamond is live at the white house for us. jeremy, where do things stand with this right now? >> reporter: kate, those nine unscripted words fr

defense officials said seven ships are in the sea of azov. they described mariupol as nothing left. >> the people in mariupol, they don't have a chance to be heard. they're in need of help. they drink water that is not the water that you would use for technical purposes. there's no one you can ask for help. >> intense shelling and gun fire continue in kyiv where black smoke can be seen rising from outside the city. ukrainian forces are not only defending key regions but in some cases are now taking an offensive posture where they retook a suburb. the devastation of the hard hit spot of kyiv are so widespread, it's difficult. >> the moments when we arrived to the area, we had five fires. if we're talking about numbers of requests for firefighters to respond, it's the largest one since the start of the war. >> now, with russian forces stalled, the attention turns to what will moscow do next. some now speculating that vladimir putin will bring in outside forces to help in his invasion of ukraine. if you talk to people in lviv, they look to belaru

precious little left of it to take over, it will mean that they're able to join up their russian forces that are basically kept apart by mariupol between the east and the west side on the azov sea is a remarkable effort being made in maricopa. and also, of course, it's also critical there. this is why ukrainians may enforce their defense of it. they have a lot of troops in the east. there is a deep cushion if mariupol fell, they could be cut off from the rest of the country, trapping some of their most seasoned, best equipped forces in the wrong part effectively of ukraine. wolf? >> that entire city of mariupol is being leveled right now. sam kiley in kyiv for us. stay safe over there. we'll get back to you. in this the fourth week of the war, the casualty count is clearly rising for russian and ukrainian forces, even if the exact numbers aren't clear. cnn's ivan watson is getting a close-up look at a grave ward and a makeshift morgue that underscores the lives being lost. >> reporter: this military cemetery brings home the stark reality ukraine has been living with for years. all of these crosses, they mark the graves of ukrainian servicemen who have died fighting against russ

lone protester waving a ukrainian flag stretching from the separatist donbass region across the sea of azov and the black sea russian control of the crimean region which shut ukraine off from vital shipping lanes and build a land base to strike into odessa and north towards the capital. i have seven children, i'm alone. we need food, clothes, batteries and everything you need for everyday life. this as resumed peace negotiations between both sides ended for the day with little sense of optimism. ukraine's president, urging a face to face with his russian counterpart. sit down with me to negotiate. i don't bite. what are you afraid of? any words are more important than shots. vladimir putin, saying the ukraine operation is going as planned. our officers. our soldiers are fighting in ukraine for russia for a peaceful life in donbas for the fication of ukraine. this is a european official tells fox. russia's federal security service has drafted plans. to conduct public executions in ukrainian cities once they've been captured. in northern ukraine, the mayor of any hoda, site of europe's larges

>> reporter: yeah, i mean, mariupol in the sea of azov possibly less strategic to russian goals than the black sea coast where i'm standing in the port city of odesa. a real sense of edginess on the streets, blocked off by barricades, locals sharing pictures of how the last time they saw barricades in front of stunning opera house here was 1941, when soviets were pbracin for a nazi attack. pause for a moment to think about that imagery. it comes in a day of intense russian moves across the black sea coast here. the town of kherson, we were here four days ago watching an intense battle for a bridge on its eastern outskirts, that has russian troops on its streets. for some time now we have been wondering when we were there if the russian military would try to go into the population centers. not of a massive strategic use if they have a broader goal of decapitating the government. the answer came today, videos showing troops on the streets, significant shelling a ing appa in that town and concerns of reports of males being arrested, moving around, increased pressure, 30 minutes drive fro

and extending the boundaries of that territory and linking that with this land corridor along the sea of azov really the kind of core primary war objectives and perhaps now we will see them concentrating on those objectives while pausing elsewhere. find concentrating on those ob'ectives while pausing elsewhere._ while pausing elsewhere. and in terms of those _ while pausing elsewhere. and in terms of those more _ while pausing elsewhere. and in terms of those more limited - terms of those more limited objectives, if that is what they are, how close do you think the russian military are to realising those objectives?— russian military are to realising those objectives? russian military are to realising those ob'ectives? a, ,., ., , ., those objectives? mariupol remains a roblem for those objectives? mariupol remains a problem for them _ those objectives? mariupol remains a problem for them in _ those objectives? mariupol remains a problem for them in the _ those objectives? mariupol remains a problem for them in the south. - problem for them in the south. without the port of mariupol, that land

department calls atrocities, in particular they point to examples in mariupol, that city on the sea of azove that has been hit so hard. they point to that maternity ward that was bombed by russian forces. they talk about the theater that was being used as a shelter by more than a thousand people that was also struck by a russian attack when it was clearly labeled children, in big letters, on the outside. now the state department is saying that there is a growing number of atrocities, they are basing this on their own intelligence, as well as credible reports. worth noting, poppy, that president putin himself has not named in this statement, it is just the russian forces so far that the u.s. is now accusing of carrying out war crimes. but back to your original question, the state department is saying that these crimes could be prosecuted, in u.s. courts, could be prosecuted in ukrainian courts, and in other countries. of course, in the international criminal court as well, which as you noted the u.s. is not a party to, but they have themselves started their own investigation into war crimes