propaganda, plain and simple. >> and that was sara sidner reporting there. and we saw the evacuation taking place yesterday for the city of mariupol itself, more than 300 people were evacuated, according to president zelenskyy speaking overnight. let's get more on all of this, daniel treeseman, a professor and author and joining me now from california. and daniel, a very good morning to you. let me start, really, with what we've just heard from sara sidner and inside that mariupol steel complex. as we've been looking in the last 24 to 48 hours, it's been completely battered and decimated by russian military. how do you see this playing out? >> reporter: well, the russians clearly would like to take the azovstal steel plant before may 9th. it seems that putin would like to announce victory on may 9ette and the last remaining part of mariupol that the russians haven't taken yet is this steel plant. so, they look as though they're trying really hard to make that happen, so putin on may ninth can say that the russians now have completed the takeover of the land

sara sidner in kyiv, nic robertson in vienna and melissa bell in paris. first to sara sidner. >> translator: brave boys are defending this fortress, but it's really hard. >> reporter: a grueling bloody battle as russian forces try to extinguish the last pocket of ukrainian fighters holed up in maricopa's sprawling steel plant. video from russian straightists show tanks moving in, a barrage of explosions from the air. according to a senior defense official, a couple thousand u.s. forces are still in the devastated city. russia's defense minister claims putin's forces have reliably blocked the ukrainian fighter, cornered in the plant. the ukrainian foreign minister says the plant still holds, despite the relentless russian attacks. outfront spoke to one of the ukrainian commanders inside the plant on monday. at the time he spoke about their fight. >> translator: we will be fighting as long as it is needed, despite extremely difficult conditions. >> reporter: according to the mayor of mariupol, there are still hundreds of civilians inside that plant, includi

cnn's sara sidner is in kyiv. tell us what more we know, sara, about the incident here, what led up to it and what is going to follow. >> reporter: yeah, we should mention that it is very rare that you're getting surveillance video that shows this much because often russian troops when they were rolling into kyiv, would shoot out the surveillance cameras or the power outages would keep them out. but what you are seeing on this video is a callous disregard for human life, two russian soldiers shooting two men as they walk away hitting them in the back. the soldiers show up and begin breaking in. inside of a guard shack two ukrainian men prepare to meet them. we track down the men's identities, one is the owner of the business, whose family did not want him named, and the other was hired to guard it. >> translator: my father's name is leonid alexi pylats. >> reporter: his daughter yulia wanted the world to know his name and what the russians did to him. both civilians, both unarmed, we know this because the video sh

sara sidner, cnn. >> two stops on the run after the latest deadly attack in israel. security forces amassing. we'll have that and more when we come back. in a mine. but then s something amazing happened. hello? carvana worked with my shift manager and got everything sorted out so i didn't miss out on the car. super helpful. i was over the moon, even though i was underground. we'll drive you happy at carvana. ♪ life can be a lot to handle. ♪ this magic moment ♪ but heinz knows there's plenty of magic in all that chaos. ♪ so different and so new ♪ ♪ was like any other... ♪ ["only wanna be with you" by hootie & the blowfish] discover is accepted at 99% of places in the u.s. ["only wanna be with you" by hootie & the blowfish] the unknown is not empty. it's a storm that crashes, and consumes, replacing thought with worry. but one thing can calm uncertainty. an answer. uncovered through exploration, teamwork, and innovation. an answer that leads to even more answers. mayo clinic. you know where to go. ready to turn your dreams into plans and your actions into

sara sidner is live in odesa. sara, you are covering on that strike there on civilian targets, what more can you tell us? >> reporter: they are sifrcivil targets. civilians here are watching and worrying about what may be next. we had been through the mall that was hit by a missile last week. there have been at least more than a dozen missile strikes that have come this way of this port city. one of the reasons why this city is so important is ait had a hue port here. it also supplies military weapons to ukraine. you also have the economic importance of this place. this is where people use to come here for things like going to the resorts and visiting and economic boom was over as people were fleeing this place once s missiles started to strike here. there is a great deal of concerns about beaches. there are mines that people can no longer go and enjoy themselves in the city. people are trying to fight back in their own way. if they are not apart of the military, they're trying to go about their normal lives. busi

propaganda plain and simple. >> sara sidner reporting there. as you can imagine, the number of ukrainians fleeing the fighting is rising by the day. the u.n. says more than 5.6 million people have left ukraine since the war began, that is almost 8 million others internally displaced within ukraine, many of them of course as you can imagine in dire need. and move ukraine is a group working to build homes and provide other aid. i worked with its project director last hour and asked him what the greatest need was right now. >> what we're seeing is from our donors that there is a marked decrease in the amount of food supplies. >> why is that? >> because of the cost of food, the logistics are still there, but the cost of the food is going through the roof. and therefore a lot of donors are finding themselves looking for other suppliers. for example going through turkey, the canadian/ukrainian foundation that has been supplying us with food packets have been going through turkey now to supply us with those food boxes for the idps. >> what i heard, i

russian forces come barding the key port city of odessa with hypersonic missiles, sara sidner is following the story from kyiv tonight. hello, sara, what are you lerping about the attacks on odessa? >> there are three hypersonic missiles that hit odessa, didn't hit anything to do with anything that was a military installation, these were all soft targets, two of them hotels one of them a large shopping mall. the destruction really terrible there as the city tries to clean up from that and tries to stay safe. this has been a place that has gone from being bombarded to having a lull, and people coming out trying to do regular folk stuff, and then having to go back into their homes as more missiles have fallen. these hypersonic missiles, traveling five times faster than the speed of sound, they are extremely dangerous, and people have been trying to figure out just when this is all going to stop. but right now this is part of putin's plan, it appears, to try to push further in to ukraine, this is a very important city, it's strategically important, economically, for ukraine, because it is a p

cnn's sara sidner is in kyiv, so sara, first, what do you know about the excavations today out of azovstal. >> reporter: there have been a lot of different satellite pictures that have slowly come out, and what you're seeing is just absolute destruction, parts caved in. you also talked about that theater, there's also on the edge of town, a satellite image that appears to be of mass graves, rows and rows of graves there. very devastated. you can see how devastated the city is all the way from space essentially. it is a terrible scene. so you're getting some idea of just what the destruction looks like. we should also talk about what is happening at the steel -- in and around the steel plant which really is the last ukrainian hold there in mariupol. the fighting has been absolutely fierce. there have been bloody battles, according to the commander. we're seeing some of those pictures coming out. they are being hit by the sky, the air and the sea. there is just absolute deep, deep, deep, fighting and on top of that, of course you've got civilians. now, we know that at least 50 people have be

cnn's sara sidner reports it's being investigated as a possible war crime, and a warning, what are you about to see is graphic, it is difficult to watch. >> reporter: this is a stark example of a potential war crime perpetrated by russian forces. an example the world has not yet seen. russian soldiers shooting two civilians in the back. cnn obtained the surveillance video taken from this vehicle dealership. the video is from the beginning of the war, as russians tried and failed to shell their way to the capital. the fight along this road was clearly fierce. but what happened outside this business was not a battle between soldiers or even soldiers and armed civilians. it was a cowardly, cold blooded killing of unarmed men by russian forces. the soldiers show up and begin breaking in. inside of a guard shack, two ukrainian men prepare to meet them. we tracked down the men's identities. one is the owner of the business, whose family did not want him named. the other was hired to guard it. >> translator: my father's name is leonid. >> reporter: his daughter wanted the world to know what t

sara sidner is laif in kyiv with that story. >> reporter: he helped battle back the german advance in world war ii when ukraine was part of the soviet uniton. his proudest moments helping liberate moariupol. we liberated them in 1933. we went with three warships and wrecked 11 german ships. 77 years after victory day, he has mixed feelings about russia. it pains him to say it, but the country he once fought for has turned into the enemy. leveling the very same city he fought so hard to save from hitler's onslaught. for all of us who went through the war at the time, it hurts. i want to take up arms now and go to defend the same places and by country he says. his wife cannot contain herself as she listens to him and lashes out at the man she sees as responsible for the new war, vladimir putin. there shouldn't be anything like him on earth, she says. he kills, destroys our cities and villages. he destroys our defenseless people. on the anniversary of victory day, there are no celebrations here. only memories. it's no long er a holiday. it's very difficult, he says. there aren't many of

let's get you right now to sara sidner on the ground in kyiv. sara, thanks for being with us. such a dramatic situation in mariupol. what is the status of that ceasefire and what can you tell us? >> reporter: look, we now know there are dozens of people who have been set free. this is a really important moment because, as you know, for weeks you have had people there they needed food, they needed wa water, and they were dealing with devastation as that part of the country here in ukraine has been bombarded for weeks. weep should also mention there are also other issues going on. of course you did have people, many people, killed in the area and now we are seeing evidence of mass graves. take a look at this. no tears, no remembrances, no final good-byes. just dust to dust. the burial is over. >> we bury 50 people a day, he says. today we've done two lots of 18 bodies and then another 10. 46 in total. >> reporter: grave diggers can barely keep up the pace at this cemetery on the outskirts of mariupol. once marked with only a number a sign the bodies have yet to be identified by

sara sidner talks to two women who survived the terrifying ordeal. the a warning here, some of the details are very disturbing. >> reporter: in this pine forest, the remnants of a nasty battle. caught in the crossfire, a quiet farming village in ukraine. here, russian soldiers are accused of doing more than destroying homes. two women say they raped them, too. >> translator: what that son of a bitch did to me was horrible. he forced me to -- i can't talk about it. i'm ashamed and scared. >> reporter: she shows us where russian soldiers fired a shot in her home in march. she said she heard them say their names. >> danya started to pull me by the hood. i told him it's painful. he said, come with me. >> reporter: she says they dragged her down the street to her neighbor's small farmhouse. there, a grandmother, her daughter, her daughter's husband, and her grandson were all inside sleeping when the soldiers arrived. what happened when the soldiers showed up at your house? >> translator: i hear them banging at the door, so hard that everything around was

sara sidner, cnn. >>> now to a cnn exclusive. the chairman of the house select committee investigating the january 6th insurrection at the u.s. capitol is giving us some insight now into testimony from the former president's daughter, ivanka trump. house democrat bennie thompson tells cnn the testimony was not against donald trump himself, but it was useful in confirming other key testimony about what was going on inside the white house on that day. and thompson said this, quote, there were questions asked about what was -- what she was doing at the time that the insurrection was occurring at the capitol and she told us. they asked certain questions about her awareness of what her father was doing, she told us, so, in that respect, we've been able to fill in a lot of gaps. now, in addition to ivanka trump, her brother donald trump jr. is also expected to testify and work is under way to schedule his appearance. >>> a warrant has been issued for an alabama corrections officer after she and an inmate went missing from a detension c

sara sidner, thank you very much. let's discuss the humanitarian crisis in ukraine with leticia with the international committee of the red cross. she serves as the group's permanent observer to the united nations. she is joining us now from the u.n. thanks, very much, for joining us. thanks for all that you and the icrc are doing. the united nations just announced, as you well know, another convoy is now on the way to try to rescue ukrainian si civilians, men, women and children trapped at the azovstal steel plant in mariupol. what's the latest on this operation? i know the international committee for the red cross is going to be involved, right? >> yes, absolutely. the icrc has been working hard to obtain the parties and the u.n., in coordination with the u.n., this authorization to carry out those safe passage operations. this is the third one in a few days that is happening, and we will communicate as soon as the people reach safety in zaporizhzhia but for the moment the operation is ongoing. it's the third in a f

sara sidner, cnn, odesa. >>> the u.s. state department official has been allowed to visit detained american pro basketball player brittney griner in russia. gr griner, who has been held since february was described as, quote, doing as well as expected under these exceedingly challenging circumstances. >>> meantime, former u.s. marine trevor reed, who was recently released from a russian jail after almost three years in detention is speaking out about the brutal conditions he faced there. he sat down exclusively with cnn's jake tapper. >> any prison is brutal. russian prisons are notoriously awful and tough. did you have a strategy for surviving? >> i did. i tried to -- to kind of compartmentalize and focus not on being in prison. kind of, you know, distract myself, think about future plans, what university i was going to go to, what plans i was going to have as my family. all of those things. and just tried to distract myself from reality, which, you know, was not something that you want to think about. >> did you have co

jake. >> sara sidner in odesa, ukraine, for us. thank you so much. >> get this, researchers say today better vaccination rates could have prevented half of all covid deaths in the u.s. that's 319,000 lives that could have been saved, but what about now? is the u.s. doing enough now to get people vaccinated? i'm going to talk to dr. anthony fauci next. ♪ life can be a lot to handle. ♪ this magic moment♪ but heinz knows there's plenty magic in all that chaos. ♪ so different and so new ♪ ♪ was le any other... ♪ [♪] did you know many anti-fungal products are not intended for the nails? try kerasal. unlike others, it's formulated with clinically-proven ingredients that penetrate fungus-damaged nails to start improving nail appearance in just two days. try kerasal. hitting the road? not all 5g networks are created equal. t-mobile covers more interstate highway miles with 5g than verizon. t-mobile has more 5g bars in more places than anyone. another reason t-mobile is the leader in 5g. ♪ limu emu ♪ and doug. ♪ harp p

sara sidner, cnn, kyiv. >>> it's all so awful. ten days after a supreme court leak stunned the nation, all nine justices meet for the first time. we have those details. >>> and it just gets more miraculous. new details about what happened inside the plane before a passenger with no experience was forced to take control and land it. >>> plus if this is a preview of the coming fire season in california, it is not good. homes swallowed by flames and people nearby forced to leave asap. we have the latest. stay with us. you're in the cnn news room. don't go away. we'll drive e you happy at carvana. ♪ ♪ aleve x. itrevolutionary rollerball design delivers fast, porful, long-lasting pain relief. alevit, and see what's possible. the unknown is not empty. it's a storm that crashes, and consumes, replacing thought with worry. but one thing can calm uncertainty. an answer. uncovered through exploration, teamwork, and innovation. an answer that leads to even more answers. mayo clinic. you know where to go. okay season 6! aw... this'll take

sara sidner, cnn, kyiv. >> asking for cigarettes and then shooting them in the back. >>> just ahead, a baby formula shortage has parents scrambling and shelves bare in some places. we'll show you the states hardest hit. >>> and what the high stakes january 6 hearings could reveal about the assault on the u.s. capitol. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. tastes great in our iced coffees too. which makes waking up at 5 a.m. to mk the cows a little easier. (moo) mabel sa for you, it's more like 5:15. man: mom, really? ever get a sign the unerse is trying to tell you something? the clues are all around us! not that one. that's the one. at university of phoenix, you could earn your master's degree in less than a year for under $11k. learn more at phoenix.edu. welcome to your world. your why. what drives you? what do you want to leave behind? what do you want to give back? what do you want to be remembered for? that's your why. it's your purpose, and we will work with you every step of the way to achieve it. at pnc private bank, we'll help you take care of the how. so tell

we begin this hour in kyiv with cnn's sara sidner. what's the latest? >> look, what ukrainians here are hearing come out of the mouth of vladimir putin frankly they're disgusted by it. they listened to the words coming out of his mouth, the words they say are lies. and they do intend to win this war. we are able also to talk to two world war ii veterans who say look, there aren't many of us left. both of them fought as soviet soldiers as soviet union was -- ukraine was part of the soviet union at the time. and one of them is watching what is happening in mariupol with absolute horror. because, he says, he was there in 1943 helping to liberate mariupol alongside soviet soldiers against the german nazis. and now he cannot believe that the group that he once worked with is now bombing the very same place. >> for all of us who went through the war at the time, it hurts. i want to take up arms now and go to defend the same places and my country, he says. it's an atrocity. it's vandalism, he says. probably the leadership is stupid. only idiots would do this.

wolf. >> sara sidner reporting from kyiv. the ukrainian capital. thank you very much. >> despite moscow's stepped up aggression right now, ukrainian forces are in many places holding their own and even retaking ground from russian troops. cnn international security editor nick paton walsh is on the ground for us tonight in ukraine. >> racing under the treeline, changing their path every time with russian troops often just meters away, this is the fight for ukraine's most important river bank. and this is the place where moscow's brutal advance has been stopped. they were held by russian troops for week, but now the russians shell where they once hid and probe the outskirts daily. vladimir and his men have been alert since 4:00 a.m., fearing a russian attack and more of the cluster bombs they say tore down this tree. they're about two kilometers away in that direction, he says. occasionally they get russians called diversionary groups which are scouting groups, but so far, they have been successful fighting them. >> fresh flowers laid at the monumen

at least one ukrainian soldier was killed, and as sara sidner reports for us now, ukraine's president is accusing russia of blocking all international organizations from providing food, water, and other supplies to civilians trapped in mariupol, doing that is a form of torture by starvation, he says. >> a ukrainian soldier in shocked silence, his arm shredded and burned. his vehicle hit by a shoulder fired grenade launcher, officials say. another victim in the bloody battle for mariupol. the video a terrible reminder for those who have relatives still fighting there. olga has a husband in the ukrainian army in mariupol. anna's brother is there as well. it's so painful for me. people can't just be silent. they don't have days there. they're counting the minutes. anna says she fears for her brother, who she says is deteriorating physically as he fights the russians inside the plant. he's very skinny, he's exhausted. his eyes have black bags, she says. he's in horrible condition, but that's just physically, mentally, he's unbelievably strong. they are all so motivated to tear the russian

jake. >> sara sidner in kyiv, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> coming up, a look at the woman picked to run the biden administration's disinformation board. republicans are calling her the mary poppins of disinformation. stay with us. m on ringcentral. oh hi caesar. we werere just talking about y. yeah, yoyou should probably get out of here. ♪ ringcentral ♪ only two things are forever: love and liberty mutual customizing your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. if anyone objects to this marriage... (emu squawks) kevin, no! not today. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ see him? he's not checkin' the stats. he's finding some investment ideas with merrill. eyes on the ball baby. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? check out this vrbo. oh man. ♪ come on. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hybrid work is here. it's there. it's everywhere. but for someone to be able to work from here, there has to be someone here making sure everything is

jake. >> sara sidner reporting live from kyiv. thank you. >> earlier this week, we reported on the fate of a small village just north of kyiv, which was heavily damaged in the battle for the capital. matt rivers spoke to ukrainian soldiers who not only survived the bloody firefight but helped turn the tide in ukraine's favor. here is part two of that report. >> outgoing fire from a frozen fox hole. not far from the flaming pieces of an exploding armored vehicle. as the quiet still of the nighttime bunker is shattered by what the soldier says was a direct hit right nearby. this is what happened in the tiny town of moshun, just northwest of ukraine's capital city. it was here as much as anywhere else that the battle of kyiv was won. by early march, russian forces had flooded south, ukraine's seat of power in its sights. they had arrived just west of moshun, occupying that entire area. the irpin river, the only thing between them and the town where ukraine would make its stand. >> is it strange to just walk through this area now, you

cnn's sara sidner spoke to the relatives of some of those soldiers. >> reporter: a ukrainian soldier in shocked silence, his arm shredded and burned, his vehicle hit by a shoulder fired grenade launcher officials say, another victim in the bloody battle for mariupol. the video a terrible reminder to those who have relatives still fighting there, olga has a husband in the ukrainian army in mariupol. anna's brother is there as well. it's so painful for me. people can't just be silent about the horrors happening there. they don't have days there. they are counting the minutes. anna says she fears for her brother who she says is deteriorating physically as he fights the russians inside the plant. he's very skinny. he's exhausted. his eyes have black bags, she says. he's in horrible condition, but that's just physically. mentally he's unbelievably strong, they are all so motivated to tear the russians apart. russia is attacking from the ground and the sky. the devastation immasheasurable the human suffering, incal incalculable. 21-year-old nicole was able to escape mariupol. pictures of h

now as sara sidner reports for us, prosecutors are changing their rape investigation protocols to insure that victims are properly protected and that perpetrators can be charged with war crimes. >> in this pine forest, the remnants of a nasty battle caught in the cross fire, a quiet farming village in ukraine. here, russian soldiers are accused of doing more than destroying homes. two women say they raped them too. >> translator: what that son of a bitch did to me was horrible. he forced me to -- i can't talk about it. i'm ashamed and scared. >> she shows us where russian soldiers fired a shot in her home in march. she says she heard them say their names, one was oleg, the other donia. >> he started to pull me by the hood. i told him it's painful. he said come with me. >> see says they dragged her down the street to her neighbor's small farmhouse. there, a grandmother, her daughter, her daughter's husband, and her grandson were all inside sleeping when the soldiers arrived. what happened when the soldiers showed up at your house? >> translator: i hear them banging on the door so hard tha

cnn's sara sidner is in and joins us live. sara. >> reporter: john, odesa was once a place where russians and ukrainians were very friendly. now there is a lot of hatred and fear growing. the remains of freshly bombed buildings, a hotel, and homes reduced to dust. the result of the latest russian missile attack in the odesa region, that has experienced strike after strike on places people live, work, and visit. this is russia's attempt to terrorize a target it desperately wants to possess. tell me what the strategic importance is of odesa. this is the sea gate of our country, he says. this is a city of legend. it is home to ukraine's largest black seaport, used both commercially and militarily. russia has already attacked its oil refinery. if putin's forces were to take the odesa region, ukraine's entire black sea coast would be controlled by russia. the mayor of odesa bristles at the idea. ukraine today is a maritime power, it will be a completely different state without access to the sea, without transport logistics, he says

our sara sidner joins me from kyiv. how big of a step is this to reopening the official embassy? >> reporter: it is a step. you will recall that the u.s. announced to close its embassy here in kyiv february 14th, ten days before the russians invaded ukraine. we were there when the top u.s. diplomat came back to the embassy, the acting ambassador there and the team returned to kyiv today. they were here to commemorate victory day, the day the western allies defeated nazi germany but the arrival does indicate they are another step closer to fully opening the u.s. embassy. right now it is not the case. >> this is not an official opening of the embassy. so no this isn't sort of the official permanent reopening. but we of course will continue to work towards that and hope to officially open the embassy soon. >> reporter: that was a promise that was given by u.s. officials to ukrainian officials but as this press conference was about to get underway there was a raid siren that went off and that delayed everything. there is still a war going on but not seeing it in kyiv and the embassy

sara sidner joins me now from kyiv. united nations listed the official death toll less than 3,000 but that sounds far short than the reality. >> reporter: i think it is. if anything tells you how short it is when you look at the vi owe that we have obtained. cnn got video of just outside of mariupol and it shows rows and rows and rows of grave sites. freshly dug grave sites and the people said they don't expect to stop burying people. many unidentified. no tears. no remembrances. no final good-byes. just dust to dust. burial is over. >> translator: we bury 50 people a day. today we have done two lots of 18 bodies and another 10. 46 in total. >> reporter: grave diggers can barely keep up the pace at the cemetery. once marked with a sign the bodies have yet to be identified by family. >> translator: people come and find the loved ones and bring crosses and a board. >> reporter: cnn is not present in the region but footage obtained and satellite images show dozens of fresh graves. 600 in total. images show graves have been

sa sara sidner, cnn, bucha district, ukraine. >>> every day the war requests on, goes on, more lives are destroyed. more than 8 million people are displaced within ukraine, monday tamong them is this woman who got out of the steel plant with her husband. she didn't think she would survive. >> translator: i'll be honest with you. i did not hope that we would go out. here, when clothes are taken to the dry cleaners, full name and employee id are written. i wrote down my brood type. mother's phone number and father's phone number, because i didn't think we would get out. they blew everything up. we could not even report about ourselves. there was no signal. we did not know when the evacuation was being carried out, at what time. we did not have any information at all. >> many ukrainians near the front lines have to struggle to get their most basic needs met, including food. the nonprofit, world central kitchen is on the ground in ukraine working to help. earlier, cnn spoke with the regional leader. you can see him delivering groceries to families. and listen as he describes his work and

as cnn sra -- sara sidner reports. >> reporter: they were waiting for him to return from the grocery store. on the way home that's when i heard an explosion. i felt immediately something bad had happened. i tried to call my wife. she did not answer. when he got there, chaos. police and ems had arrived. he and a bystander ran in to try to find his family. we began to clear away the rubble and this is how we were able the find the bodies of my family. all murdered. first, they found his mother-in-law. then his wife's body but his 3-month-old daughter was missing. i was constantly shouting. there's still a child up there. did you find the child or not. eventually they found her. her little body lifeless. he returned to find her blood soaked baby stroller the next day. it's hard to live with there. my family was my whole life. i lived for their sake. when my baby came along, i understood the meaning of life, he says. 19-year-old alexi still can't believe he is alive. the explosion sent slabs of scorching hot concrete into his body. i realized that a rocket hit my place and i started the

sara sidner is working this part of the story for us on the ground in ukraine. >> reporter: inside this refrigerated train car a gruesome sight. the bodies of russian soemdiers packed and stacked for storage. look. this is looted. every russian soldier who was storied here as committed a crime against ukraine, he says. storing the bodies of the enemy aligns with the wars of rule by the geneva convention he says. after the end of the act i phase of conflict they exchange the bodies of dead miltd but they have to try to identify the dead men first. this is where the ministry of digital transformation comes in. we have identified about 300 cases he says. they do it by using a myriad of techniques but the most effective is facial recognition technology. the technology scrubs all the social networks. really fast. once they have a match they go one step further. we send messages to the friends and relatives. often gruesome photos of dead soldiers. why do you send them to the families in russia? two goals. there's a real war going on to show them they're as strong as they are shown on the tv.

thank you so much, sara sidner in odesa. >>> russia's war on ukraine is prompting an historic shift in the security map. finland's leaders are expected to formally announce that they want to join nato. saturday vladimir putin warned that it would be a mistake, but finland says it is aimed at bolstering its own security, not inflaming tensions with moscow. >> our president called to inform that finland is now proceeding towards nato membership. our parliament will discuss this item on monday and it is very likely that there is a strong majority in our parliament also supporting the nato membership. we have 1300 kilometer border with russia and we want to maintain it peacefully. it is important that we communicate with our neighbor. >> and foreign ministers from the g7 have announced that they will never recognize borders changed by this war in ukraine. >>> fred pleitgen is in berlin with the latest on those talks but first let's go to nic robertson in 4helsinki. you are outside the presidential palace, a seismic announcement that we're expecting soon there. >> reporter: yeah, this is go

sara sidner joins us live from kyiv with this story. tell us what you're learning and what they are going through. >> reporter: about an hour from kyiv in a village, we met mothers and wives and children who talked about the fact that as the russian invasion happened in their particular village, suddenly men started to go missing. in one case the mother and children were there watching their husbands and father being taken away. it's been now about two months and they have seen no trace of him. every single day, they wait for the moment her husband and son return home. i called them and they said, hold on, wait a minute. that's all. >> what do you think happened to your husband and son? >> i don't know. i have no idea. my husband and son won't hurt a fly. they are very kind. days before russian soldiers had had occupied the town. when she returned home, neighbors told her her husband and son had been taken by russian soldiers. >> where did they hide my boys? i can't find my place in life? where are they? >> how am i supposed to live now

>> sara sidner in kyiv, ukraine. as the alarms go off. thank you so much. appreciate it. >>> with us now is former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor. bill -- mr. ambassador thanks for joining us. u.s. director of national intelligence just warned congress as the war drags on it is likely to become, quote, more unpredictable and escalatory. do you agree? >> i do, jake. it's hard to say what's going through putin's mind. no one really knows. he's got no good options. he demonstrated that that famous speech a couple of days ago, on victory day, where he did announce doubling down. he didn't announce standing down with some victories, he didn't have any victory. he was worried about doubling down and calling up the reserves. but because that would expose the lie that he's not really fighting. so he doesn't have good options. and so, no one really knows what he does. >> dni also warned there are increasing chances in her view that putin could impose marshal law in russia. putin's spokesperson denies that. how stable are things in russia or how unstable? >>

sara sidner is here with me in kyiv. all of these developments come as the prosecutor general in kyiv announced the first trial, war trial for war crimes with a russian soldier, 21-year-old who is in custody. and this is -- this is what's happening tonight. this is a big development. >> yeah, they are working around the clock to try and figure out what happened in these cases, and then try to identify the soldiers and those who were killed. sometimes they don't know the answer to any of that. we have now video that shows a potential war crime happening in real time. you're seeing it happen on cctv video. the reason this is so unusual, is because most of the cctv video was shot out by the russian soldiers as they tried to make their way into kyiv. this one, there was a generator that kicked in, and they just didn't see it, and it showed a shocking and disturbing situation, where two men are shot in the back by russian soldiers. >> reporter: this is a stark example of a potential war crime, perpetrated by russian forces. a

cnn's sara sidner live for us with this truly heart breaking story. sara? >> reporter: it was hard to listen to, but as you might imagine, it was awful for him to go through. and he is still trying to process all this. we should mention that across this country, the russians have really been so much indiscriminate shelling, they have been indiscriminate strikes, we're in a village, a place of 12,000 people, it is a quiet place where people just scrape out a living and yet their homes, regular people's homes, bombed to complete destruction here. and that's happening all over the place. in this instance, it was an apartment complex in odesa. and lives have been changed there forever. the moment a russian missile slammed into an apartment building on easter weekend in odesa. uri's family was inside, waiting for him to return from the grocery store. on the way home, that's when i heard an explosion. i felt immediately something bad had happened. i tried to call my wife. she did not answer. when he got there, chaos. police and ems had arrived. he and a bystander

sidner reports for us, the owner now says the only way he'll allow russians back to his hotel is if they're the ones cleaning it up. >> translator: the hotel means in italian, big shell. most of the guests came here because it's 30 meters from the beach. we're right on the beautiful black sea. let's go. i'll shoal you what happens after the missile strike. his security cameras caught the missile strike as it happened. this is the first time it's been seen by the public. this is at full speed. then, we slowed it down. you can see the missile low and straight from the direction of the black sea where russia has been launching its attacks on odesa. so there was a direct attack from a missile right into your hotel, and no one was hurt or died? thank god, no one was injured here because normally in this place, there were always children and parents. his once pristine seaside hotel used to be a favorite of russian tourists and politicians. they spent good money here in the years before the war. he doesn't want to admit it, but he himself was once a member of the pro-russian party here. th

cnn's sara sidner live from kyiv tell us about these two you met and what they're so worried about they never thought they would have to. >> victory day used to be a day of celebration for these two gentlemen. both of them served during world war ii, and they served with the soviets. now they're sitting here, watching the former soviet union wage war on their people. this man helped battle back the german advance in world war ii when ukraine was part of the soviet union. his proud he was moments, helping liberate mariupol by sea we. we liberated mariupol from the germans in 1953. we wrecked 11 different german ships, he says. 77 years after victory day, he has mixed feelings about russia. it pains him to say it, but the country he once fought for has turned into the enemy. leveling the very same city he fought so hard to save from hitler's onslaught. for all of us who went through the war at the time, it hurts. i want to take up arms now and go to defend the same places and my country, he says. his wife cannot contain herself as she listens to him and lashes out at the man she sees as r

cnn's sara sidner is in kyiv for us, live, she has more on this horrifying incident. and it is all on tape, sara. there they are, walking with their backs turned to these russian soldiers. >> the video we obtained shows absolute disdain for human life. russian soldiers shown shooting two unarmed civilians in the back. this is a stark example of a potential war crime, perpetrated by russian forces. an example the world has not yet seen, russian soldiers shooting two civilians in the back. cnn obtained the surveillance video taken from this vehicle dealership that sits along the main highway to kyiv. the video is from the beginning, as russians tried and failed to shell their way to the capital. the fight along this road was clearly fierce. but what happened outside this business was not a battle between soldiers or even soldiers and armed civilians. it was a cowardly, cold-blooded killing of unarmed men by russian forces. the soldiers show up, and begin breaking in, inside of a guard shack two ukrainian men prepare to meet them. we track down the men's identities, one

. >> sara sidner reporting live for us from odesa, ukraine. thank you so much. >> turning now to moscow and a public rebuke of vladimir putin's war on ukraine from within russia. as matthew chance reports, the mood in russia has seemingly begun to shift as prominent figures warn the whole world is actually against them. >> defenderoffs ukraine turned prisoners of war. latest images released by the russian military of ukrainian forces surrendering after their defiant stand. some limping with wounds or exhaustion. as one of the conflict's most grueling battles at the azovstal steel works in mariupol finally draws to a close. nearly 1,000 ukrainians have surrendered so far, russia's defense ministry spokesman announces triumphantly, before detailing russia's latest rocket attacks and what he says are u.s. supplied weapons on the battlefield. as ever, no hint of any problems or setbacks in what russia still refuses to even call a war. shocking then that kremlin controlled television would allow russia's special military operation to be ripped apar

at least one ukrainian soldier was killed, and as sara sidner reports for us now, ukraine's president is accusing russia of blocking all international organizations from providing food, water, and other supplies to civilians trapped in mariupol, doing that is a form of torture by starvation, he says. >> a ukrainian soldier in shocked silence, his arm shredded and burned. his vehicle hit by a shoulder fired grenade launcher, officials say. another victim in the bloody battle for mariupol. the video a terrible reminder for those who have relatives still fighting there. olga has a husband in the ukrainian army in mariupol. anna's brother is there as well. it's so painful for me. people can't just be silent. they don't have days there.

. >> reporter: and with me in kyiv is our senior national correspondent sara sidner, and you know, as we see this sort of back and forth and escalation in donbas, the russians sort of building bridges over a key river that they could be using to advance, and there's been a lot of concern on the ukrainian side about that. what more do you know? >> i think what's happening now is there's great concern about this, what that's going to mean for the troops as they are fighting constantly. there are more shellings happening in places that were quiet for a bit, and there's a lot of concern that they are going to push further and further in and gain more and more territory, but to be clear, of course the ukrainians saying we are going to win this. it is a matter of time. we are going to continue to fight against the russians as hard and as bravery as we can. and look what we've already managed to do. so there's sort of a dual thing, yes, there's concern, but they truly feel that they will win this. it is just a matter of how and when. >> i know there had been so much anticipation and concern

first, i want to go to kyiv, where sara sidner is "outfront." what is the latest on the ground and what are you learning about what's happening inside that plant, which i think it's safe to say, these next hours and days, we are going to see the fate of the people there. >> reporter: that's right. it's truly terrifying for them. they have been cowering in fear for months. there are, according to the mayor of mariupol, about 100 people, including 30 children who are still inside the cavernous part of that plant, underneath the ground, hearing strikes over and over again, wondering if they're going to die. and now, news from a commander, a ukrainian commander who is there, says that there are now battles inside that plant, that the russian soldiers have breached it. as he said, the enemy is inside the plant. and there are battles being waged as we speak. >> translator: our brave boys are defending this fortress, but it's really hard. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: a grueling, bloody battle as russian forces try to extinguish the last pocket of ukrainian

senior national correspondent sara sidner joins us live from kyiv. today, the mayor of mariupol said contact has been lost with the ukrainian forces fighting from inside the azovstal steel plant. tell us what we know. >> look, russia continues to bombard the place. we are hearing from a ukrainian commander that indeed, the soldiers, ukrainian soldiers inside of that plant say the russian soldiers have made it inside the plant and there are bloody battles that are occurring. this is as you

i want to begin with cnn's senior correspondent sara sidner joining us from ukraine. as we look at what's happening, there is so much focus on mariupol because it has been a weeks long effort to get people out to safety. where do we stand on the possibility of evacuations today? >> reporter: yeah, erica and jj jim, all eyes are on mariupol. it is because of the intense fighting that continues there, bloody battles acording to commanders there are unfolding on an hourly basis there as ukrainian forces try to repel russian forces, who, by the way, had said just a day ago that they were going to have a cease-fire to allow those hundreds of people who were stuck under that maze of dark, dang bunkers underneath the steel plant, allow them safe passage. that clearly has not happened. and the commander talking about more lies being told by russia and putting these civilians in danger who have been there for weeks on end, and the worst kinds of conditions with little food, little water. dang conditions underneath there that are dark. we're hearing also from those who have sur

all right, thank you very much, sara sidner. these images, you see across ukraine. sometimes they destroyed their own bridges to try to prevent the russian advance and you see that. you see the entire countryside littered with tanks and artillery. all right, thank you so much to sara. well, the house is expected to vote on a new $40 billion ukraine aid package today, and president biden warned that the existing aid to the country will run out in, he says, approximately ten days. and every day, of course, matters in this war. cnn congressional correspondent jessica dean joins me now, and jessica, this aid obviously is very significant. it's going to include more than just military supplies and weapons. so, what is that more? what else is in it? >> reporter: right, so, let's take a look at what congress wants to authorize president biden to send to ukraine right now. as you mentioned, it's tens of billions of dollars in aid, the largest chunk being $20.4 billion in military assistance, which you noted. but there's also economic aid for the government of ukraine. there