Russia intensifies strikes around Kyiv as it warns US against arming Ukraine

The Russian assault across Ukraine raged Saturday as explosions were heard in Kyiv and fighting intensified around the capital. Hours later, Russia warned the United States that it would fire on weapon shipments to Ukraine, raising the risk of direct confrontation between Moscow and a NATO country.

A number of major cities are under pressure as Russian strikes hit civilian structures. Smoke rose east of the river in Dnipro early on Saturday where CNN journalists felt at least two explosions and saw the cloudy remnants of what looked like anti-aircraft fire.

A large swath of Makariv, a village 30 miles west of Kyiv, has sustained significant damage from apparent Russian airstrikes.

CNN geolocated and verified the authenticity of photos, posted to social media Saturday, which show major damage to apartment complexes, schools and a medical facility. One of the more stark images from Makariv shows a large hole in the northern wall of an apartment building from a military strike. Many of the buildings in the photos have sustained damage on their northern facades, evidence that points to military strikes that hit them as being Russian.

In Chernihiv, some 100 kilometers north of Kyiv, local landmark Hotel Ukraine was hit overnight. "I am here now. There is no hotel anymore," Vyacheslav Chaus, head of Chernihiv region administration, said Saturday.

The northern city, which is close to the Belarus border, has been surrounded by Russian forces for more than a week and video from the city showed the collapsed floors of the hotel as well as widespread damage from missiles and airstrikes.

Chaus said civilians were dying from the strikes, which brought down the city's electricity network. "Many people are being injured. The enemy shells civilian infrastructure, where there is no military," he said, saying the city has "no electricity, almost no water, gas, and heat."

The Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly claimed that Russian forces are not targeting civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Saturday address the whole country was now a front line. "A few small towns just don't exist anymore. And this is a tragedy. They are just gone. And people are also gone."

Zelensky said negotiations to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine "must begin with a ceasefire," adding that Ukraine has lost about 1,300 troops as of Saturday. CNN has been unable to independently verify these numbers.

Later Saturday, Zelensky said that he was grateful for international support but urged allies to provide more aid.

"I keep reiterating to our allies and friends abroad; they have to keep doing more for our country, for Ukrainians and Ukraine. Because it is not only for Ukraine, but it is for all of Europe," he said. "The evil which purposefully targets peaceful cities and ambulance vans and explodes hospitals will not stop with just one country if they have the strength to keep going."

The US and NATO say they're taking steps to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian troops, and they have continued to provide Ukraine with security assistance, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. But the US and NATO have also tried to avoid being drawn into an outright conflict with Russia. US President Joe Biden emphasized that point on Friday, that the US will not send ground troops into Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO. 

"We will not fight the third world war in Ukraine," Biden said after reiterating the US' full support to its NATO allies and promising that the US will defend "every inch" of NATO territory.

"I want to be clear though, we are going to make sure that Ukraine has the weapons to defend themselves from an invading Russian force. And we will send money and food aid to save Ukrainians' lives," he added.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Saturday warned the US against transferring weapons to Ukraine, saying convoys with foreign weapons would be considered "legitimate targets."

"We warned the United States that pumping Ukraine with weapons from a number of countries orchestrated by them is not just a dangerous move, but these are actions that turn the corresponding convoys into legitimate targets," Ryabkov said Saturday on the Russian state-run Channel One, according to state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.

Determined resistance

In Ukraine, Russia has faced defiance from the public in the past two weeks. On Saturday, several hundred people swarmed the city hall in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol following the detention of its mayor, Ivan Fedorov, by armed men the day before.

Shortly after Fedorov's detention, the Russian-backed Luhansk regional prosecutor claimed Fedorov had committed terrorism offenses, allegations that Zelensky called a "crime against democracy" on Saturday.

The Zaporozhye regional administration said Saturday a new mayor had been installed. Galina Danilchenko, a former member of the Melitopol city council, was introduced as the acting mayor on local TV, according to a statement from the regional administration posted on Telegram. In her televised statement, Danilchenko said that her "main task is to take all necessary steps to get the city back to normal."

She claimed there were people still in Melitopol who would try to destabilize "the situation and provoke a reaction of bad behavior."

"I ask you to keep your wits about you and not to give in to these provocations," she said. "I appeal to the deputies, elected by the people, on all levels. Since you were elected by the people, it is your duty to care about the well-being of your citizens."

In Kyiv, Russia's advance has faced stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces. On Saturday, the UK's Ministry of Defence's latest intelligence assessment said the bulk of Russian ground forces were about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the center of the Ukrainian capital.

Maxar satellite imagery taken on Thursday showed that the 40-mile Russian column northwest of Kyiv had largely dispersed and regrouped. But the intelligence assessment warned, "this is likely to support a Russian attempt to encircle the city. It could also be an attempt by Russia to reduce its vulnerability to Ukrainian counter attacks, which have taken a significant toll on Russian forces."

The north and northeastern cities of Chernihiv and Sumy, the eastern city of Kharkiv, and Mariupol in the south, remain encircled by Russian forces, the ministry added.

A senior Ukrainian official in the southern region of Kherson, now in Russian control, has said that the "occupiers" are pressing the regional council to agree to a referendum on the area's "independence" from Ukraine. There's been no word from the Russian side about any referendum plans.

Similar referendums were held after Russian-backed separatists took control in 2014 of parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. People's Republics were later declared in both regions.

Ukraine's state-operated nuclear energy company said Saturday that Russian officials had arrived at Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhya, demanding to take control of the facility. 

Zaporizhzhya has been occupied by Russian forces for more than a week now, with Energoatom previously claiming its employees had been forced to work at "gunpoint." Chernobyl nuclear power plant is also under the control of Russian forces.

Despite the onslaught, Zelensky claimed on Saturday that Ukrainian forces are inflicting the "biggest blow to Russia's army in decades," saying that 31 Russian tactical battalion groups had lost capability, and more than 360 Russian tanks have been lost.

Zelensky added that groups of Russian troops were surrendering to Ukrainian forces, but that Russia is now recruiting fighters, reservists, conscripts, and mercenaries to "outnumber" Ukrainian forces.

Russia's losses include Major General Andriy Kolesnikov, the third Russian general to have been killed by Ukrainian forces, a Western defense official confirmed on Friday. He was commander of the Eastern Military District, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense's website, and the Western official noted for context that three Russian general staff officers were killed during the whole Syrian conflict. 

Deteriorating conditions

As Russia sustains losses, its bombardment of the country continues to degrade living conditions in several areas. Officials are now racing to send aid and evacuate citizens from encircled cities.

Ukrainian officials announced a fresh attempt to secure at least 13 evacuation corridors from different cities, despite reporting that only a few civilians could leave the previous day.

Addressing the besieged city of Mariupol, Zelensky said Saturday that Ukrainian forces would guarantee a ceasefire along an evacuation corridor so supplies could enter, and civilians can leave.

With relatively clear skies over Mariupol, new satellite imagery taken Saturday morning from Maxar showed the extent of the damage there, including some caused by military strikes reported earlier in the week.

In Mariupol's western neighborhood of Zhovteneyvi, a large -- still smoldering -- crater was seen near the Okko gas station. Smoke appeared to be rising from an apartment complex across the street. The roofs of warehouses down the street also appeared to have large holes from military strikes.

Within the apartment complex, several buildings seemed to have sustained significant damage. A debris field was seen surrounding some of the buildings with a large smoke plume.

Just northwest of the gas station, an additional satellite image showed impact craters dotting a snow-covered field. Vehicle tread marks were also seen. Just more than a mile south, in an industrial area in the Primorskyi neighborhood, a large fire was seen raging.

There was some good news amid the destruction. A pregnant woman, whose rescue from the Mariupol maternity hospital this week was captured in a viral AP photo, gave birth to a baby girl, her family told CNN.

Mariana Vishegirskaya was among a number of women at the Mariupol maternity hospital who survived the shelling.

Her aunt Tatiana Liubchenko said the baby was named Veronica but she was worried about the situation in the city. "We got the information that the water and food of the people there are running out and we are very worried, because the green corridor is not opened and the Russians do not allow, the food does not come. And it's so cold there right now so they can't get warm," Liubchenko said.

The fighting has displaced around 2 million Ukrainians in the country, the UN said Friday, and 2.5 million people have fled its borders.

Tim Montgomerie versus Daniel Kawczynski

They say it's a foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss how the alliance can maintain peace and stability at a time of increasing tension with Moscow. On the agenda will be not shiny Russian involvement in Ukraine but also the buildup of missiles and troops along Europe's eastern border ahead of today's session NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg suggested if both sides to tone down their rhetoric it might take some of the heat out of the situation let's hear what he had to say.

Tim Montgomerie versus Daniel Kawczynski

Are the welcome and need toning down over the rhetoric because I think a word so matters and the. Less aggressive rhetoric and come be a first step towards also better dialogue. At the same time what's. Don't words matters about of course the deeds umap there's even more. So therefore that the important thing is what you see you look on actions we see from the Russian aside. Jens Stoltenberg and we're joined now by the conservative MP Daniel Kaczynski who sits on the foreign affairs committee welcome to the daily politics custom although Tim Montgomery there is evidently concern amongst the Baltic states understandably because of where they are geographically about the Russian threat. Is any talk of a new Cold War exaggeration.


I don't think so if you look at some of Russia's tactics that they're deploying in the region how they used. Undercut the troops to invade Easton you cry and how they are involved in. Stabilizing democracies around around the world their interference confirmed by intelligence agencies in America in the U. S. election involved in the wikileaks. And prophecy over Hillary Clinton's emails. On a whole range of fronts. Russia is reverting to the behavior that comes not true it's about admit Putin Vladimir Putin was trained as a KGB agents and I'm afraid you can't always teach an old dog new tricks he still behaving as he did in the past yes and how do you deal with a pout that behaves in that way there is no evidence to back up that Vladimir Putin is moving towards some sort of cool deal relationship with Europe for example what I think he instilled in both the clip that you played from UN Stoltenberg is extremely important.

I had met him we met at the foreign affairs select committee met with him at the European Parliament recently. And I asked him how are you going to a secretary general of NATO how you how are you going to lower tensions with Russia. And he talked to us about his experience when he was prime minister of Norway a NATO country which borders Russia he had in that position as prime minister of fat no way very pragmatic in a very effective policy Ove dealing with Russia on a bilateral basis and I very much hope that he will use that experience to try to lower tensions with Russia so he himself has said it's vitally important that despite the differences we have with them. We want to ease some of the tension that's building up is it more than just differences on a bilateral with Norway is one thing but actually dealings with Russia on a whole range of issues when it's on maneuvers abroad it's moving missiles closer to Europe's eastern border it's watching cyber attacks seeking to influence elections in the U. S. an inference.

Makes it more difficult what I wince this summer to the Polish Russian border and that is already becoming the most highly militarized part of Europe right if the **** for tat deployment of missiles continues at the pace it has been of that area of Europe will become akin to the north and south Korean border a no man's land and it's going to be it will just take a Spock to cause some sort of confrontation between these 2 sides yes be strong and tough with them yes spend more on defense. But we need to engage with them. Try to build up some sort of mutual trust and respect otherwise we are heading toward some sort of confrontation painting rushers the baking on all the time and talking about the Cold War went that escalate tensions would a different tone really in your mind change the balance of relations I think I'm done you officially I think represents Shrewsbury in parliament but he has more of a record I'm afraid for representing Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in Moscow in Russia has always been a spokesman an apologist for for these regimes and his recipe of appeasement that he would like us to Pacific has actually been the recipe that Barack Obama sausage with if you remember he withdrew the missile defense shield that America promise for the Czech Republic and Poland his sector of state Hillary Clinton and reset relations with Russia the whole message to Russia was exactly as Daniel has recommended we sort of accommodate ourselves to Putin's aggressiveness. Since then what Putin sold out was as a green light he saw weakness.

And he invaded Ukraine invaded Crimea he blanket bombs Aleppo and I'm afraid the kind of recipe. But Daniel always wants us to recommend to follow in the west to be kinder and more indulgent to dictatorships. Is exactly the sort of thing that inflames aggression and. It endangers peace rather than the reverse you're an apologist for dictator well this is this is what miss the likes of Mister mom command of those in the other neocons I'm I I was called the E. last weekend by a right wing think tank in America a Trojan horse for the Kremlin if if we did if members of parliament to tough Thailand to into this very popular narrative which is peddled by Mister Montgomery and others witches these regimes are bad they have to be ostracized they have to be kept away they are going to a cause problems if anybody dares challenge that very popular and fashionable concept as to whether or not it is in our country's national strategic interest completely ostracize these countries and not to have dialogue with them know one thing can challenge criminals generalizing that I'm usually on it somehow you shouldn't do we represent in the midst of your critique is his view that the federal.

His views are highly dangerous all they got it and we need to engage them in all your views holidays the sense is what he's your alternative solution to dealing with Russia is it containment. Well I think what we certainly have to be doing now is the alternative to not to the kind of militarization on the borders that Dino describes is allowing Russia to bring in that people in the green berets and hidden the century Russian troops to destabilize countries like Estonia if we do not make it absolutely clear to Russia that will be enormous consequences for them destabilizing other parts of the world what we will get from Putin is more of the kind of indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations that we've seen in Aleppo Aleppo wasn't the first time of course the Putin bomb civilian populations. Before he came to power as Russian president in Chechnya that is how he behaved he is a very nasty piece of work and when we have an apologist light down youthful him then we are and that we were inviting further aggression eyes you have dialed you do not have indulgent can I say that I will take any lectures from Mister Montgomery on this is. I'm the only British member of parliament to have been born in Poland. To have come from Poland I spent my childhood listening.

To my grandfather about the. Catastrophic destruction of Poland during the second World War war sold being razed to the ground. And that button left a huge indelible imprint on my mind and all I want to do he calls me an apologist or I'm interested in. Is making sure.

That those frontline states that we are lying to countries like Poland on not destroyed and devastated in another World War and what is as I've said to you what is happening on the Kaliningrad oblast with the Polish border is frightening and anybody who doesn't understand the concerns of that trajectory of conflict it is wrong and majesty lastly a lot of people actually if you talk to people on the ground whether it since Roseville anywhere else they expect politicians to go the extra mile to engage and to go do whatever they can get rid of Israel has yet 11 says that on occasions he that that has worked.

That's understandable when hot with a hatchet attempts at dialogue and they have been rejected in many people's minds by Vladimir Putin himself that he is only worried about his sphere of influence and that he feels under threat from the E. U. and that that is why he annexed Crimea that is why he got himself involved in managing cousin in eastern Ukraine there is no evidence to show that part of it which is interested in anything else then increasing his fear of influence hence getting involved in Syria while I'm on the basis of getting rid of Islamic state that is the absolutely pivotal question and we are currently on the foreign affairs select committee doing a report on Anglo Russian relations.

And may I just say to you and we've been doing this for the last year the report will be published etcetera but but what the evidence that he would let you respond to on the critical evidence is this all policy seems to amount to a confrontation and sanctions and the sanctions aren't working interestingly Russian trade with America China Brazil and India is at record levels so once we are imposing sanctions on Russia by the way British companies have lost ten billion pounds a year as a result of the sanctions our international competitors the Americans the Chinese the Brazilians are continuing to trade sanctions will only work if implemented by all the countries in the world not just by western Europe is a you going to be out of step with your views now when we look at president Donald Trump who of course highs and signale.