. >> cnn's scott mcclain has a closer look now at the devastation in mariupol and what comes next for the civilians as well as the soldiers still trapped there. >> reporter: from a distance smoke rises above mariupol's sprawling steel plant, but only from above is the true scale of the damage apparent. new satellite images show nearly every building on the sprawling industrial site has been damaged. some roofs have caved, some entire buildings are a pile of rubble. what cannot be seen from above is the damage from days of russian bombing in the network of tunnels and bunkers below the surface. >> translator: all last night barrel artillery worked on the tower of the plant which caused new obstructions and blockages. as of now the special rescue operation is being carried out by the regiment. we get civilians out of the rubble with ropes. it's the elderly, women and children. we thoep that this process will continue and we'll be able to evacuate all the civilians. >> reporter: the ukrainian assov regiment deputy commander now says about 20 women and children rescued under that rubble h

scott mcclain. scott, since the first time this war began in february, what do we know? >> reporter: anderson, yeah. as you mentioned earlier, this is an area where ukrainians have been making progress in taking towns and villages around kharkiv. in those areas they're only a few miles from the actual border. they're telling civilians not to come back to those areas, a, because they're heavily mined and because they're within russian artillery range. russians are finding out they're well within ukrainian military range. one civilian was killed in this very tiny village 6 miles inside the border due north of the city of kharkiv. other villages in that area have been evacuated because houses have been damaged or destroyed. obviously there have been other explosions inside russian territory in recent weeks and really since the war began. ukrainians not exactly jumping up and down to take responsibility for them with one notable exception which is about two weeks ago or so that they didn't explicitly say they were responsible but a presidential adviser said, quote, karma is

scott mcclain is joining us, what are you learning about the fighting that a steel plant in mariupol? >> reporter: it is not looking good for any kind of evacuation efforts out of that steel plant. anna, you mentioned those images, which are absolutely terrifying to look at where you see that plant getting smothered in smoke, suffocated in smoke, it seems. so i am distracted only because the air raid sirens are going off here. they went off yesterday for an hour. obviously, we had missile strikes. the city is on high alert. the city of mariupol obviously a much more dire situation than here. the mayor there says that there are still 30 children trapped underground. they are very much in need of some kind of negotiation. some kind of evacuation effort to actually get them out. also, the mayor says that they have not only been hitting it from the air and land. they have been hitting the ship from the deck of that ship, ana. the russians say they have the plant surrounded on all sides. but they are not storming it specifically because they've gotten orders from president putin to not do

cnn scott mcclain is in lviv, great developments on evacuations from azovstal. you just got an update. what do you know? >> reporter: this is an update na the governor says the mission is under way. he doesn't want to say any more than that, though, until he has good news to report. part of the reason is because ukrainian officials don't want to do anything to jeopardize the success of the operation but it's a little touch and go considering the u.n. and the red cross helping to organize this are dealing with russia, which he says continue to sort of change the rules and the conditions as to how exactly they will allow this evacuation to take place. so nothing is guaranteed at this stage. as you mentioned, the u.s. special envoy for ukraine says an evacuation convoy is en route to the plan to get people out of that bleep hell they have been living through. you mentioned president zelenskyy says 350 were evacuated yesterday. that's not from the plant. it's from the city. the plant is more complicated. yesterday russia offered an olive branch saying they would be

i want to get the latest on those right now with cnn scott mcclain joins us from lviv. we just learned about the evacuations from the steel plant could not happen today, what more do you know? >> it's pretty difficult to evacuate anyone from the steel plant when you have constant bombing, constant shelling, constant fire from the ground level as well. that's what's being described by troops on the ground, from inside that steel plant, anderson, that the assault on it is absolutely constant. it's not ending. and so it's not looking good for today. we know that 100 people were able to get out toward ukrainian territory. yesterday, the russians say that 21 people from the plant itself actually chose to go in the opposite direction, and go toward russian-held territory. it is not clear at this stage what has been agreed to, what the russians and the ukrainians have hammered out in terms of the detail, but ukrainian officials at least have said precious little, sort of going into this radio silence mode as they call it, because they don't want to do anything to jeopardize th

scott mcclain is in lviv for us tonight. scott, there were missile attacks across several regions of ukraine today targeting power and train infrastructure including where you are in lviv. i know you saw some of the damage firsthand. give us the latest. >> reporter: hey, wolf. yeah, the explosions happened about an hour after the air raid sirens had gone off in the city. it was just before dark and i heard three powerful explosions. the sound was really unmistakable. shortly after, you could see smoke rising in several different directions. also, the power went out, which is not surprising when you consider what was hit, which was three electrical power substations. we went out to one of them about four miles east of the city center and there were flames still raging when we got there. firefighters were on scene working to put out the flames. it was right next to some train tracks in the area. there's no indication that the tracks themselves though were damaged. this was similar to another strike about a week ago east of her

scott mcclain has more. there's fears of a high casualty count after russians accuse d dropping a bomb on a school. the russians were fighting with unarmed civilians when they dropped that bomb on the school in the village which is about seven miles west of the front lines. 90 people were thought to have been taking shelter there at the time the officials says that 30 people had been pulled out of the rubble . heavy fighting had been taking place the the strike will bring back memories of the bombing of a theater in mariupol where hundreds of women and children were taking shelter. some 300 people or more were thought to have been killed there. it has been taking russian shelling for weeks now. they got out 49 people, including eight children by train to western ukraine but clearly, not every one had left. >> so sad. as we learn more about the attack on that school, we're getting rare bit of good news. a top ukrainian official says all women, children and elderly into mariupol. they spent weeks trapped in bu

more from scott mcclain. >> reporter: governor of belgorod region says first time a russian civilian has been killed on russian soil inside the border due north of kharkiv. other villages on the russian side had been evacuated because the russians say some homes were destroyed or damaged in previous rounds of shelling, and there have been explosions, although the ukrainians with notable exception have not jumped up and down to claim responsibility for them. presidential adviser said after series of explosions on russian territory said karma is a cruel thing but didn't take responsible for the strikes specifically. the steel plant, hundreds of wounded soldiers there, desperate to get out, calling on government to broker a deal. now the ukrainian deputy prime minister is going through her options. there is no military option to get them out. they will not surrender to the russians, which she respects, trying to find another option. nothing is perfect but doesn't need perfect, just workable. says the ukrainians have proposed exchanging russian soldiers for just the wounded soldiers insi

cnn's scott mcclain is in lviv for us. tell us about the developments in the northeast and the south. >> yeah. the ukrainians said in some parts of the country along the front line in the eastern donbas, they're outnumbered when it comes to troops 10-1. a different story, obviously, in the har kyiv region. they said in the city itself it's been relatively quiet over the last few days. the real fighting is happening in the towns and villages outside of the city. in some places, in fact, between the city and the russian border, the ukrainians said they have troops within a few miles of the border and that's where the russians have moved troops, they say, inside the russian border in anticipation of the ukrainians actually reaching the border. we've seen some evidence. we've seen some video from earlier this month that shows the russians in some of these areas had hasty withdrawals. . in one case, they have taken out a bridge leaving vehicles partially submerged in a river. it's dangerous, as well. we saw evidence last week t

scott mcclain is live for us in lviv. was the

scott mcclain, cnn, lviv, ukraine. >>> russia's war has upended life for so many people right across this country. more than 13 million have had to flee their homes in search of safety. alex fled his home in irpin with his 1-month-old son. he later gained some fame for a clip of him singing the beatles song "yesterday" to his babies. these days he's singing something a bit more patriotic, have a listen. ♪ >> alex joins me now. first of all, your son is beautiful. i wonder if we'll see that video of you singing with him. how are you doing? how is your son doing? >> thank you, isa. he grows. he's now almost 3 months old. and most of his life he lived in a war. but we are more or less okay, safe. this is the place where we are. we, of course, hear cruise missiles, air raid sirens. other than that we are safe, thank you. >> wonderful to hear that you are safe that he is well. as you are from the suburb of irpin, from what i understand, it's the area that's free of russian troops. are you wanting to return, planning to return, or still too dangerous for civilians at this point? >> we de

. >>> we'll get straight to ukraine where cnn scott mcclain is live for us tonight. hello to you. ukraine claims they are taking back critical territory near the northeast city of kharkiv. what's happening there? >> reporter: hey, don. this is according the local military officials that the city of kharkiv has been quiet the last few days. the real action is taking place in the cities the outside of it. they are managing to take back some of those villages. in fact, in some places they are just a few miles from the russian border. the russians, according to ukrainians have amassed a huge number of troops on the russian side . they are urging civilians to not come back to the retaken areas. they are heavily mined and they are well within russian artillery range as well. >> a russian is reported dead. what more do we know about that? >> we're talking about a village, very small village about six miles or so inside the border with russia due north of kharkiv. this is according to the governor who says that one civilian was killed due to ukrainian shelling. nearby villages had been e

and now as cnn's scott mcclain reports from lviv, united nations say another evacuation convoy is on the way to azovstal. [ motions ] >> reporter: this is the last bastion of ukrainian resistance in mariupol. the azovstal steel plant, under what a city official calls non-stop shelling and assault by russian forces. inside, an untold number of civilians are still trapped as the battle rages. the commander of ukrainian troops in the plant saying thursday, fierce combat is ongoing. after he says russian forces breached the compound's barrier. the commander begging for transport of the bodies of soldiers who died in weeks of violence at the complex. he pleads for more evacuation of civilians trapped inside. the united nations says it's hard to know exactly how many remain, but they are trying to send help. >> the convoy is proceeding to get to azovstal by tomorrow morning. hopefully, to receive those civilians remaining in that bleak hell that they have inhabited for so many weeks and months and taken back to safety. >> reporter: on thursday, putin promised for safe passage for civilians

scott mcclain has more from lviv. what are the reassurances that that is indeed the case. >> reporter: so we have been waiting all day for some kind of a statement, some kind of a confirmation that these civilians had gotten out. and now we finally have it. so this is coming from the ukraine depu p

. >> scott mcclain reporting for us from ukraine. >>> the kremlin spokesman dismissed reports that the russian army has broken into the steel plant into mariupol. cnn's matthew chance is live in moscow, where we should note the kremlin has imposed strict laws regarding how russia's presence in ukraine is allowed to be described. mat matthew, what exactly is he saying today? >> reporter: yeah, they're also making it clear through laws that have been passed in this country that if you spread what the kremlin regards as fake news, that can be criminal and can result in prosecution. what the kremlin is saying is that it is fake news. that the russians had broken through into the azovstal steel factory and tried to storm it. the kremlin spokesman saying earlier today that the order had been given by vladamir putin, the commander in chief of the russian armed forces, not to storm the azovstal factory because of the people inside. and that order, the kremlin spokesman said, still stands. and so a categorical denial on the part of the kremlin, that that kind of military action has taken place.

scott mcclain live for us in lviv. thank you. joining our conversation a former cia bureau chief. you can do it better than most in the sense the fighting largely in the east and the south when you get these attacks everywhere, scattered everywhere in the country, particularly a power substation, along a railway, in the lviv area, does that tell you about expanding or putin reminding he can hit anywhere if he so chooses? >> i think there is probably two things at work here. someone age mack propaganda piece and the other is a legitimate attempt on the part of the russians to disrupt the arms flows of the west have been managing to get into ukraine, thus providing the ukrainians a better shot at slowing down and stopping the russian army so that's one part of it. the messaging propaganda is a lot is being made and discussed the upcoming victory day celebrations in may in moscow and in russia. and it's always nice to have great pictures of big explosions, lots of smoke that can be used for russian consumption internally to show folks that, yeah, the war is going well. if you hear ot

scott mcclain is live for us in lviv. was the u.s. involved in targeting the ship beyond that or simply intel here being shared? >> reporter: so those same sources that you mentioned said that it is not clear whether the u.s. knew that the ukrainians were planning to bomb the ship, but either way the americans were not involved with the decision making there. the pentagon is pushing back on this, and they put out a very carefully worded statement, the spokesman john kirpby saying tht we didn't provide ukraine with specific targeting information for the moskva. the russians of course have been accusing the americans of engaging in a proxy war and this event raises all kinds of legitimate questions about where the u.s. draws the line in terms of intelligence sharing and helping ukraine more broadly. those sources say that the u.s. will not share intelligence on any locations or any potential targets within russia, on russian territory, nor will they share the location of any senior military officials as well. now, the other big event he

scott mcclain has more from lviv. what are the reassurances that that is indeed the case. >> reporter: so we have been waiting all day for some kind of a statement, some kind of a confirmation that these civilians had gotten out. and now we finally have it. so this is coming from the ukraine deputy prime minister who has been heavily involved with the negotiations and the efforts to get people out from underneath of the steel plant. she said that all women, children and elderly people have been taken out from the plant successfully. the order of the president has been done, she said. so this part of the mission, at least, is complete. we also got word from one of the soldiers inside of the plant that that evacuation mission went off without a hitch. without any kind of incident. what we still don't know is whether or not there were any civilian men left behind. that is a possibility. but can hwe don't know. and we don't know how many were trapped under there. the latest estimate there was around 100 civilians, perhaps

. >>> now to scott mcclain in lviv. >> reporter: first, the belarus troops it was a defense minister said who said they're moving west toward the polish border and northwest toward the lithuanian border. they are going to be moving south toward the border with ukraine in response to what they say is a build up of ukrainian troops in that area. there's no indication that belarus troops would cross the border. i want to talk about her son, as well. an area occupied by the russians for the last two months and the kremlin appointed leaders there said they want to join russia. they don't want to bother with the referendum. they want to go straight to handing out passports and handing out citizenships. the kremlin seems to be on board with this. they said that it should be up to the people to decide. they're not exactly calling for a referendum either. those leaders say they're not interested in declaring an independent republic. they want to go to joining russia. i want to show you new pictures. these are graphic. they come to us from the fighting force inside of the steel plant in mariup

we have a report coming up during the lead from scott mcclain who said there are more ukrainians right now working on the railway system than there are ukrainian fighters. i mean, your assessment of having to focus on the trains to keep elements getting to these cities. is that the right strategy now for ukrainians? >> well, it's really interesting. you know, when you look at the ratio of all the different people that are needed to fight a modern war, victor, it really becomes a key thing that enablers, key enablers like logistics, intelligence, communication, that all of those function. when you look at, for example, in the u.s. military, the ratio of people that are fighting, that are working in the background as opposed to front line fighters, you will find that it's somewhere around 3 to 1, 4 to 1 in some cases. it's not unreasonable for the ukrainians to have more people working on the railroads throughout the country than it is ukrainians fighting on the front line. in some ways, it's better for them to be doing this because they can move logistical supplies in a way that allows

cnn international correspondent scott mcclain is with us from lviv. good news we've heard now the evacuations have resumed. but what more can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, so the news that we're getting is from the government of the donetsk people's republic, the breakaway region of korean e that declared its own -- ukraine that declared its own independence. the government says that 152 people including 32 children were evacuated today between 8:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the afternoon which is about an hour ago. and taken out of the city. that number includes 32 children now at a russian checkpoint in the village east of the city. what is not clear, though, and this is important obviously, is whether that number includes people from the actual steel plant or if it includes only people from the wider city. it is easy to get those two numbers confused because of how they've gone about evacuating these people yesterday. we know that they were supposed to, the plan for today was to get the remaining people out of the steel plant, 50 were able to le