the ukrainian capital kiev. according to the times, dozens of people, mostly russian wives and children of diplomats have been boarding buses for a 15-hour ride back to moscow. a bipartisan delegation of seven senators met with ukraine s president, zelensky, as troops stand ready to potentially invade along the border. zelensky telling the senators, quote, it is important for ukraine that you are with us today. joining us now is national security analyst david tsesange also the correspondent for the new york times and part of the team behind this new report. david, the russians, of course, are out denying that this is true. we just wanted to put that to you, as i know you and your colleague have this lengthy story about the state of play. sure. thanks, kasie. welcome. so the russian statement said that their embassy is still operating, which is true.
developing overnight. reports that vladimir putin is making a move in ukraine. that much we know. but why he is doing it, that s the question. and the major concern in western capitals this morning. it appears the russian leader is emptying out his embassy in the ukrainian capital kiev. dozens of people, mostly the children and wives of russian diplomats have been boarding buses for a 15-hour ride back to moscow. the times also reports diplomats of two other russian consulates in ukraine have been told to prepare to leave. the times report is being done so overtly, so out in the open, it seems designed to show the world it is happening. u.s. intelligence officials are now trying to determine whether the thinning of the embassies is propaganda, or maybe a precursor to some kind of invasion. meanwhile seven u.s. senators met with ukraine s president zelensky. the bipartisan delegation reaffirming america s commitment to ukraine as tens of thousands of russian troops stand ready to inva
a live look at the white house as the sun has yet to come up in washington. at the top of mind in that building is the possible invasion of ukraine by russia. the new york times reporting the week before diplomatic meeting began over the build up of russian troops on the ukraine border, americans and ukrainian officials watching from afar. 50 people reported boarding buses that took them back to moscow. as the times point out how to interpret the evacuation part of the mystery by defining ing next play by president putin. ukrainian and the u.s. say it
this morning, realize that your country is under attack, pack a bag, try to get to the border. get in a taxi and then walk on foot across. people having to wait 12 hours. i just spoke to one woman who said that it took her i think 10 or so hours to get across the border on foot, and she said that she s skipped she cut in the line. she said there would simply be no other way that she could have made it across the border in these freezing temperatures. she said the men were being separated out. she said that some men were trying to make it through anyways, and it was just a really miserable situation. i think we have some pictures, i don t know if you can put those up from the other side of the border where it s just a torrent of people trying to push their way to the front to get over here to poland, and then from there the government is trying to figure out what to do with them. they re boarding buses. they re going to reception centers, if they don t have somewhere to go. others are
joins me now. here live in lviv. i know you were covering the border. it was chaotic there for so long. what is the latest on conditions? it seems to be easier to get out of the country. at land borders at medika into poland, the line where you saw people standing in frigid temperatures, there is maybe 150 people waiting in that line. obviously it s going much, much quicker. in cars, you might wait for several hours, but it s a lot easier to sit in a car for several hours than it is to stand outside. that seems to be taking some pressure off of the train station here is. like in lviv, for instance, many people are boarding buses. i ve also kept in touch with some of the stranded men i ve met at the stations the last couple of days, and most have managed to get out. fairly easy from land crossings, knowing they wouldn t be able to get on the trains. at the stations things are much less chaotic than they ve been. it s not exactly a well oiled machine. people are still waiting for train