backlash, and inside russia, there are some signs of cracking even though there s no great freedoms for people who express how they feel. we did see thousands of protesters in dozens of russian cities, though. that is a different level of participation than what we think of as protests in the west because each of these individuals you see know they re risking their own safety and being whisked away to jail immediately just by doing that one act. russian forces arresting 4,600 anti-war protesters on sunday. 13,000 people since the beginning of the invasion. that s according to a human rights count. the kremlin is also stifle dissent by as ambassador mcfall and others spoke about last week, blocking access to facebook and twitter. they ve also rushed out a new law that effectively, according to experts would appear to criminalize any independent reporting on russian invasions. some russian elites are speaking out against this invasion, that includes some celebrities and athletes.
now on the beat with ari melber. how are you? good to see you, thank you so much. welcome to the beat. we re tracking a lolt of different developments here in ukraine. russia s offensive has escalated further. it s in its 12th day. ukrainian president zelenskyy defiant releasing another new video here from kyiv. he says he is not hiding, and he won t hide for as long as it takes to win this war. the leader of that country also says all of that as we see overhead shots like this over the weekend, russia pummelling ukrainian cities, intensifying shelling, hitting multiple civilian areas, bombardments picking up pace in the region of kyiv. late today the pentagon says russian forces will likely launch more attacks on urban centers. the u.s. s view is that the russian army may become frustrated by what has thus far been according to some a slow pace of progress. almost 100% of russia s prestaged forces are now already inside the borders of ukraine, putin s forces also appearing to ta
back today and saw 12 days, 12 days that the ukrainians have held off this enormous russian military. this has been an astounding feat that the ukrainian military has pulled off. ukrainian air force has done an amazing job, and it s all led, ari, but the guy you ve been showing on there. that is president zelenskyy. president zelenskyy has led his nation, led his military, led his people, led the international community in the condemnation and the standing up and the strong resistance that all ukrainians and the west are providing to putin s invasion. evelyn. i agree. i mean, it s been astounding to watch. now, the bad news is that vladimir putin, he fights dirty, and we ve seen him do this in chechnya in the 90s, and we saw him do it in syria. what do i mean by this? he encircles cities and then
courtesy of sky news go ahead, please. this is unbelievable. we are seeing that all over ukraine. those are accounts of irpin, we also know there are tens of thousands of children in the basements of mariupol, which is southeast, which has been under siege by russian troops from day one of war. my native city of kharkiv, thousands of people are hiding in basements, and they don t know how to escape. it is a bit easier in kharkiv because even after a week of under siege, after being bombarded from air for the whole week, they didn t get into the city of kharkiv because the army s holding the ground. they re protecting the city. they actually manage ed in this incredible situation to push the russian troops further from the city of kharkiv. which has given me great hope. if they get into the city, we have seen what they are doing. they are now robbing the people. they are entering the houses of people, which they take control
something in exchange, but right now we need to focus on the threat at hand. vladimir putin is not going to stop, and we either have to beat him at the home game, the home front, which is to squeeze off his money, to put pressure on his people, to get his inner circle, those security guys to convince him to stop or to swap him out as a leader, who knows what, but that s the home game. and then the away game is, you know, helping ukraine defend itself. so those are the only two ways that we bring this to an end, in russia or on the battlefield. that s a very clear way to put it. you mentioned the home game. we re going to get into that, actually, right after the break as we go inside russia with someone who knows putin s mind-set quite well. i want to thank evelyn farkas for kicking us off, and ambassador taylor has agreed to come back to discuss another substantive part of the foreign policy so i ll see you later in the hour sir. putin arresting thousands of people inside russia fo