REIDOUT" WITH JOY REID WHICH
STARTS NOW.
>>> GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.
WE BEGIN "THE REIDOUT" TONIGHT,
FIVE FULL WEEKS INTO PUTIN'S
HORRIFIC WAR IN UKRAINE THAT'S
TARGETING CIVILIANS, KILLING 148
CHILDREN SO FAR ACCORDING TO
UKRAINE'S DEFENSE MINISTRY.
WE JUST LEARNED THAT ONE PERSON
DIED AND FOUR WERE INJURED WHEN
RUSSIAN MILITANTS SHOT AT A
COLUMN OF VOLUNTEERS NEAR
CHERNIHIV WHO WERE TRYING TO
HELP CIVILIANS EVACUATION.
THIS WAR IS NOT GOING WELL FOR
PUTIN.
HIS SOLDIERS ARE SABOTAGING
THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT ACCORDING TO
THE UK SPY'S CHIEF.
AND A U.S. OFFICIAL TOLD NBC
THAT WE HAVE INFORMATION THAT
INDICATES THAT SOME RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT SENIOR OFFICIALS
LIKELY DISAGREED WITH PUTIN'S
DECISION TO INVADE UKRAINE.
THEIR DISILLUSIONMENT IS
PROBABLY AMPLIFIED BY THE MILITARY'S UNDERPERFORMANCE.
MILITARY'S UNDERPERFORMANCE.RY'S
>> PUTIN SIGNED A DECREE TODAY,
DRAFTING MORE THAN 134,000
CONCRYPTS INTO THE RUSSIAN ARMY.
THEY ARE BEING TOLD THEY'RE NOT
BEING SENT TO UKRAINE, BUT PUTIN
ALSO DENIED THAT CONSCRIPTS HAD
BEEN SENT IN EARLIER IN THE WAR,
AND THAT TURNED OUT TO BE A LIE.
IN FACT, THE USE OF CONSCRIPTS
MAY BE WHY THE INVASION WENT SO
POORLY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THEY ARE YOUNGER, LESS MOTIVATED
AND POORLY TRAINED.
THE UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT
ANNOUNCED THEY'RE GAINING
TERRITORY, LIBERATING TWO
VILLAGES IN CHERNIHIV, AND THAT
RUSSIAN EQUIPMENT IS BEING MOVED
AWAY FROM KYIV, AND THAT UKRAINE
IS RECAPTURING VILLAGES THERE.
YESTERDAY, RICHARD ENGEL VISITED
AN ABANDONED RUSSIAN CAMP ON THE
OUTSKIRTS OF KHARKIV.
>> Reporter: THIS WAS A RUSSIAN
CAMP.
YOU CAN SEE THEY HAD ALL OF
THEIR WEAPONS HERE, DUGOUT
POSITIONS, AND THEY WERE BOMBED.
THERE'S STILL SOME BODIES IN
THIS AREA, AND THEY LEFT A LOT
OF THEIR EQUIPMENT BEHIND OF
WHAT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A
DEVASTATING ATTACK ON THEIR
POSITION.
THERE'S NOTHING LEFT.
>> WHILE THE AREA MIGHT BE BACK
IN UKRAINIAN CONTROL, WHAT
CIVILIANS HAVE GONE THROUGH IS
HARROWING.
>> Reporter: THIS 88-YEAR-OLD
WOMAN WAS SITTING BY HERSELF,
DISORIENTED AND FRIGHTENED.
"I'M SO AFRAID, MY WHOLE BODY IS
SHAKING.
AT NIGHT, I COVER IN A BLANK ET
AND I SHAKE."
MOSTLY, SHE WANTED COMFORT.
SHE SAYS SHE LIVED THROUGH WORLD
WAR II AND DOESN'T HAVE THE
STRENGTH TO GO THROUGH IT ALL
AGAIN.
>> AND IT CERTAINLY IS FAR FROM
OVER.
KHARKIV IS UNDER CONSTANT
ATTACK, WITH UKRAINE SAYING
RUSSIA FIRED 47 STRIKES LAST
NIGHT ALONE.
AND THAT RUSSIA IS REFUSING TO
ALLOW HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS
THERE.
HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS DID OPEN
UP TODAY IN MARIUPOL, WHICH HAS
BEEN RELENTLESSLY BESIEGED BY
THE RUSSIAN.
PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY SAID TODAY
THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS HAVE DIED
THERE.
NBC NEWS IS UNABLE TO VERIFY
THAT NUMBER.
JUST UNDER 1500 PEOPLE WERE ABLE
TO EVACUATE THE REGION TODAY
THROUGH THREE CORRIDORS.
THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS SEIZED 14
TONS OF HUMANITARIAN AID,
INCLUDING FOOD AND MEDICINE.
THIS IS PART OF RUSSIA'S FOCUS
ON THE EASTERN PART OF THE
COUNTRY, WHERE UKRAINIAN
OFFICIALS SAY RUSSIA IS
CONSIDERING SENDING THEIR OWN
OFFICIALS TO PRESIDE OVER
OCCUPIED TERRITORY.
RUSSIA CLAIMED TO TAKE OVER
ANOTHER TERRITORY IN DONETSK
TODAY OF THE UKRAINIAN
GOVERNMENT -- WHERE THE HEAD OF THE UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT SAYS
THE UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT SAYS
THEY'RE USING WHITE PHOSPHOROUS
MUNITIONS.
THAT IS NOT BANNED BY
INTERNATIONAL LAW, BUT IF IT IS
USED TO TARGET CIVILIANS, IT CAN
REPRESENT A VIOLATION OF THE
LAWS OF WAR.
THE KREMLIN SAYS THEY HAVEN'T
VIOLATED ANY INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION.
TO THE CAPITAL KYIV, WHILE
RUSSIA STRUGGLES TO ADVANCE ON
THE GROUND, THEY'VE STILL BEEN
STRIKING KYIV.
AND THE NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL
SAID TODAY RUSSIAN FORCES ARE
NOT WITHDRAWING, THEY ARE JUST
REGROUPING.
HERE'S WHAT JOE BIDEN HAD TO SAY
ON THAT TODAY.
>> IT'S AN OPEN QUESTION WHETHER
HE'S ACTUALLY PULLING BACK AND
GOING TO SAY I'M JUST GOING TO
FOCUS ON DONBAS AND I'M NOT
WORRIED ABOUT THE REST OF THE
COUNTRY.
I'M A SKEPTIC.
IT APPEARS SO FAR THAT HE'S NOT
TOLD -- PULLED ALL OF THE TROOPS
OUT FROM KYIV AND MOVING SOUTH,
THERE'S NO EVIDENCE HE'S DONE
THAT.
>> JOINING ME NOW IS ALI VELSHI.
IT'S SO HARD TO SORT OF
UNDERSTAND WHAT THE NARRATIVE IS
HERE, BECAUSE THE NARRATIVES ALL
APPEAR TO BE SORT OF ALL AT THE
SAME TIME.
RUSSIA IS FAILING IN ITS
MILITARY OBJECTIVE, BE YOU
THEY'RE KILLING AND SLAUGHTERING
A LOT OF PEOPLE AND DESTROYING
LOTS OF TERRITORY.
THEY'RE EITHER PULLING BACK, OR
THEY'RE JUST STALLING IN ORDER
TO GO IN HARDER.
IS IT POSSIBLE FROM WHERE YOU
ARE TO GET A SENSE OF WHICH OF
THESE THINGS IS TRUE OR ALL OF
THEM TRUE?
>> Reporter: YEAH.
OR IS IT CONFUSION OR DELIBERATE
DISINFORMATION?
IT'S VERY, VERY HARD TO TELL.
WHAT YOU WERE HEARING AND
SHOWING, WHAT YOU JUST
DESCRIBED, IS THE SORT OF
CONFLICTING TYPES OF
INTELLIGENCE THAT WE'RE GETTING.
BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SUGGESTING
THAT SOME OF THESE CONSCRIPTS,
THESE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS ARE SORT
OF PROTESTING.
THEY'RE SABOTAGING THEMSELVES.
THE IDEA THAT THEY WERE PULLING
AWAY FROM KYIV AND NEIGHBORING
AREAS IN ORDER TO BUILD TRUST
DURING THOSE NEGOTIATIONS, WE
HAVE EVIDENCE THAT THAT DIDN'T
HAPPEN.
THERE WAS SHELLING CONTINUING TO
OCCUR IN THOSE PLACES.
THIS IDEA THAT THEY WANT TO
FOCUS BACK ON THE DONBAS AND THE
EASTERN REGION OF THE COUNTRY
AND THAT THE FOCUS ON KYIV AND
OTHER PLACES WAS JUST MEANT TO
BE A DISTRACTION.
IT BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL
WHAT THE TRUTH ACTUALLY IS HERE.
AS YOU SAID, WE CAN'T CONFIRM
ALL OF THOSE THINGS, BUT YOU CAN
SEE RICHARD ENGEL'S ACTUAL
REPORTING.
WE HAVE SEEN REPORTING FROM OUR
COLLEAGUES AT SKY NEWS THAT
SHOWS THE ACTUAL DESTRUCTION OF
RESIDENT'S APARTMENT BUILDINGS
AND THINGS LIKE THAT, AND IT
PLAYS OUT EVEN HERE IN LVIV,
WHICH SEEMS LIKE A VERY PEACEFUL
PLACE DURING THE DAY.
RIGHT NOW, WE'RE UNDER CURFEW,
SO NOBODY CAN MOVE AROUND.
BUT EVEN PEOPLE HERE WHO CAME
HERE FOR SAFETY HAVE BEEN SAYING
THINGS LIKE THERE'S NO SAFE
PLACE IN UKRAINE.
SO AT THIS POINT, IT BECOMES
VERY, VERY UNCLEAR AS TO WHAT IS
ACTUALLY GOING ON.
THE IMPORTANT THING, AND IT'S A
MESSAGE COMING FROM THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT, BUT IT SEEMS TO BEAR
OUT ON THE GROUND HERE, IS THAT
THE MORALEE OF THE UKRAINIAN
SOLDIERS WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
THE WEAPONRY AND TRAINING
THEY'RE GETTING FROM THE WEST,
IS SEEMING TO HOLD THEM
TOGETHER.
THEY HAVE WARNED SEVERAL TIMES
THEY'RE RUNNING OUT OF STUFF.
YESTERDAY, THAT CONVERSATION
WITH PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY AND
PRESIDENT BUSH
[ SIC ]
LASTED FOR AN HOUR.
BUT THAT MONEY IS -- THEY ARE
STRUGGLING TO RUN THEIR COUNTRY
AND CONDUCT THIS DEFENSE AGAINST
RUSSIA.
SO IT'S UNCLEAR.
I THINK THE ONLY THING WE'RE
CLEAR ON IS ONE WAY OR THE OTHER
THIS IS NOT GOING THE WAY THE
RUSSIANS THOUGHT, BECAUSE WE HAD
REPORTS OF 72 HOURS OR 96 HOURS
BEFORE THEY TAKE THE WHOLE
PLACE.
NOT SURE IT'S CLEAR WHETHER
VLADAMIR PUTIN UNDERSTOOD THAT
NOT TO BE TRUE OR HE'S BEEN
DUPED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE.
BUT SOMETHING IS NOT WORKING FOR
THE RUSSIANS.
>> YEAH, MOTHER RUSSIA HAS BEEN
FOOLED BEFORE BY THE SAME SORT
OF SCENARIO.
IT'S ALMOST AS IF THEY THOUGHT
AFGHANISTAN, YOU KNOW, THE
CAPITAL OF AFGHANISTAN FELL
QUICKLY, WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT.
NOW THEY'VE BUILT THEMSELVES