working on these negotiations but it is a nonstarter to have it in belarus. i was in minsk in 2015. we followed the talks, went into the night with the german chancellor angela merkel, the french president francois hollande, it resulted in the 2015 minsk agreement which was never implemented and ukrainian officials say, to use their expression, we had a gun to our head. russian forces had annexed crimea, they were in the donbas, we had to accept that agreement. to go back to minsk now at a time when belarus is giving open passage to russian tanks and russian troops to invade ukraine, this morning president zelensky had one of his videos addressing the people of belarus saying, be belarus, don t be russia. that was geared for us. let s turn to the humanitarian situation, the refugees, 150,000 people have
mobbing the trains, trying to escape, and at border crossings, tens of thousands arrive, queues stretching into the distance. russia has not achieved the quick victory it wanted, and kyiv has not fallen. but president putin paid tribute to his troops will stop translation: you are always honouring your military duty to protect your native country and our citizens, to ensure the national interests of russia. and in truth, despite losses on the southern front, the russian forces have gained ground, with more troops and armour waiting in reserve. angus crawford, bbc news. things are moving apace because angus referred to the talks that had been rejected by ukraine s president earlier in the day when they were supposed to be in minsk, and as we have been reporting in the last 20
united nations are saying only a few moments ago that vladimir putin ordered his order on nuclearforces shows that russian leaders are escalating the conflict in manner thatis escalating the conflict in manner that is unacceptable. he has just said that in a cbs interview so we will get you that clip in a short while. that is a significant move coming out of moscow and instant reaction to it. i want to just recap some of today s latest developments because officials say the country s at second city kharkiv remains and you can control despite heavy street fighting and gritting vehicles driving through. president zelensky has accused russia of targeting civilian areas including ambulances in a brutal campaign. earlier president zelensky ruled out holding talks in the belarusian capital minsk saying attacks had been launched from ukraine s a
he would not do them in the belarusian capital minsk. that s why they re taking place on the border. it is not clear who is going to be representing both sides. we know that it s certainly not going to be the presidents. president zelenskyy saying his top officials, including top military leader and his prime minister are very much staying in kyiv during these talks. he also says president zelenskyy that is, that he s not holding out much hope, but, of course, he is willing to sit down or have his officials sit down and speak with the russians but it s clear that the ukrainians, at least for these talks tomorrow are in listening mode. all right. alex marquardt, thank you so much. be safe. with us now to discuss the latest in ukraine is retired air force colonel cedric leighton, a cnn military analyst. colonel, good to see you. good to be with you. let s begin with how it appears the ukrainian forces are holding up. ukrainian officials say that
from the belarusian capital minsk. she s a young athlete thrust into a political row she never sought. when krystsina tsimanouskaya publicly criticised her coaches at the olympics, they tried to force her back to belarus. she refused. speaking to the bbc from tokyo, she said she was now scared for herself and for her family. translation: i can t go back to belarus now, of course. i it s definitely not safe for me. i have no idea when i can go back, it may be five or ten years. and came another reminder of danger for dissidents. in kyiv, a young belarusian activist was found hanging in a park. his friends don t believe it was suicide. vitaly shishov fled to ukraine last year to avoid arrest. he d been helping flood of other opposition supporters, who followed. the opposition leader, sviatlana tsikhanouskaya, is