It is a day of stalled diplomacy and more deadly fighting in Ukraine.
Talks in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine produced no results while
outrage over the Russian bombing of a maternity hospital in southeastern
Ukraine grows.
Separately, Russia is proposing humanitarian corridors for civilians
to leave major cities, including Kiev, but those promises have lately
been followed by air and artillery strikes.
Meantime, Ukrainian officials estimate that in just two weeks of
war $100 billion of damage has been inflicted on the nation. On the
economic front in Russia. More companies suspended operations with
the country and European Union leaders agreed to phase out purchases
of Russian oil, coal and gas.
This as China, which has quietly supported Russia said that it would
abide by sanctions against Russia that prohibits sales of airplane
parts. But again tonight we begin with the human toll Nick Schifrin
reports from Ukraine and warning some of the images in this story
may be disturbing.
All that's left of Mariupol is the shell of a city. Nine days of
bombardment have left universities, homes reduced to debris and dust.
There's a campaign designed to break people's spirit. And today they
are terrified of how it could get. Even worse. There are some rescues.
Others remain trapped.
Life in the city now all but extinguished. I don't have a home anymore.
That's why I'm moving. Why else would I be walking
outdoors?
Pacific charge going cameraman asked. Where was this home
over
doesn't exist anymore. It was hit by a mortar
Alexander Ivanov heads off with nowhere to go
and there is little dignity for the dead. An old cemetery becomes
a mass grave morgues are already full.
1200. People have been killed in this city in nine days
for exhausted grave diggers. The work is endless. This is a city
that increasingly belongs to the dead. The only thing I want is for
this to be finished. I don't know who's guilty. Who is right? Who
started this?
Damn them! All Those people who started this what do I feel? I have
to live on the 400,000. People still living in Mariupol remained
trapped without food, Water, electricity.
For the fifth straight day Busses arrived empty to evacuate people
through a humanitarian corridor and for the fifth straight day they
left empty because of Russian shelling
following the highest level diplomatic meetings since the invasion,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the offensive in Mariupol
will continue until Ukraine surrendered, which Keith says it has
no intention of doing. Everybody has them.
And the vicious them to go to help as soon as possible. Petro coating
is the acting president of the state nuclear Authority and arugula
atom. He says The Russian troops who took over the Zaporizhia nuclear
plant last week are using it as a shield
will will sell.
On them while zero on territory of nuclear power plant so they're
protected. Plant workers took photos of the aftermath of a fight
and of a Russian military vehicle parked outside. During the attack,
Zaporizhia officials pleaded with the Russians to stop.
Today. The staff is taking orders from a Russian military commander
who knows nothing about nuclear power. They actually terrorized them
all our stuff The occupiers say you can leave whenever you want.
But results replacement? Of course, nobody
Will live because personal understands their responsibility. Russian
troops also control the Chernobyl nuclear zone, the site of the world's
worst nuclear disaster.
Today. It's disconnected from the electricity grid. Cotton says it
must be restored within three weeks. After that the temperature will
rise because there is no color.
And finally, it will go to very high levels. And after that, they're
already ation actually release of Friday activity. Good good happens.
And so you're calling for a corridor humanitarian corridor to allow
workers industry novel right zero cases
when they actually agreed to give this corridor
And after personnel came just just for maintenance. They just trying
to kill this person, also, a senior U. S defense official said today
Russian troops near Kiev after days of not moving or advancing toward
the city.
Russia continues to control territory in the north, North, east and
south surrounds five cities and his increasing its assault on the
ports city of Nikolaev. Kiev says the only way to stop Russia as
a no fly zone in Poland. The US continues to block a fighter jet
transferred to Ukraine today. Vice President Kamala Harris and Polish
President Andre Duda tried to show unity and Harris joined growing
calls for an investigation into Russian war crimes We have been witnessing
for weeks and certainly just in the last 24 hours.
Atrocities of unimaginable proportion.
The bombardment has led to an exodus, especially from the capital
Kiev, once a thriving metropolis capital deserted, the mayor said
today, nearly two million half the city has fled.
Investment
aid for the displaced has arrived from all over the world through
this hub in Lviv, trucks full of donations and an army of volunteers
forming assembly lines since three hours after the first missile
struck.
Every donation they receive every box they transfer they believe
contributes to victory.
This used to be an art center, and this stage is full of people who
in their time play many parts here. We have different types of food
like 39 year old Yuri Popovich, who gave me a tour think I would
be able to take a gun and should
So I thought that
I will find a place or some service where I can be helpful with my
experience with my skills and things like that for me. I decided
that this is going to be my fight because I can do this.
Popovich grew up wanting to become a Greek Catholic priest. That's
him on the left in seminary in Italy. Back in Ukraine, he worked
in tourism publishing and started a software development company.
This is all the medicine today he works 16 hours a day here in the
basement of fully stocked pharmacy created in two weeks. What we
do need a lot more time medicines. We get a lot of requests.
To supply our military's with different type of medicine. This looks
like an auditorium. Yes, it is upstairs, a room full of donated clothes.
Who's financing all of this?
No. One
This is completely done by volunteers and with volunteers.
And downstairs food destined to besiege Ukrainians around the country.
These are for soldiers who are actually fighting in each handmade
pack created for frontline troops. Children's letter This one specifically
represents
Ukrainian army go ahead to win
Glory to Ukraine and son is smiling. So there is hope Children still
hopeful but expressing sentiments of war.
When I think about all the
Lives
all the scars on people's lives of people. Sources. It's really break
heartbreaking. We want peace in our country.
We don't want our Children to
Make war droppings. You want them to play soccer. We want them to
run around on the grass.
Yeah.
Sorry. I get very upset when I speak about this, because why
What did you do?
What? How did you deserve?
Like so many Ukrainians asking, what did they do to deserve this?
In Mariupol today, a resident put it this way. There is no way to
get any humanitarian aid into the city, and there is no way to get
any residents out of the city. So Linskey said today that Russian
troops shelled the very building where residents in Mariupol was
supposed to gather in order to evacuate and the fear is that those
conditions could be repeated around the country soon.
Julie tonight the mayor of Sharon achieve near the Belarus border,
one that they had so many fatalities that city to was running out
of burial space.
So distressing. So, Nick, you showed how the humanitarian corridor
there in Mariupol had failed. What do you know what is known about
ceasefires and other cities around the country.
Tonight. Zielinski said that Russians had held fire long enough in
seven cities over the last couple days so that 100,000 people could
evacuate from those cities in the last 48 hours Now, that is much
higher than it was just a couple days ago. But just again to give
some perspective, there are hundreds of thousands of people trapped
in Mariupol alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people.
Trapped in other cities by Russian forces, and these people are trapped
in dire conditions. They don't even have the basics in which they
can live. Zelinsky told Vice News last night. That dialogue with
Putin directly is the only way to end the war. But senior US officials
I talked to don't see an off ramp right now to this war, French President
Emmanuel Macron said today.
That he does not see any diplomatic solution to the war. So the fear
is duty that soon there will be more days like today.
Just incredibly discouraging. Nick Schifrin reporting for us from