yesterday s anniversary. translator: if we all do our homework, which will be inevitable, i am certain there will be victory. i don t think, i want it this year. in parts of ukraine today, there has been no let-up in the fighting. a russian military spokesman said up to 60 ukrainian soldiers were killed fighting on the eastern front. cnn s melissa bill is in kyiv, priscilla alvarez at the white house. are there any signs of the major russian offensive that ukraine has been warning about? reporter: there has been this intensification, fredricka, but very much confined to the east of the country. all along that line and at several lines along it, and according both to ukrainian sources and to russian state media, what we have been seeing is an increase in the violence along that front line, and specifically along areas around bakhmut. what we ve been hearing this evening, now that all the ceremonies for the first year anniversary have passed, is that the result of the
viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. i m bianca a oig. . i m max foster. just ahead russian forces trying and so far failing to make real head way in the opening stages of a new offensive. we re not only up against ukraine, but also against nato and especially the united states. to control the narrative early on. what folks are really concerned about is what happens later, what happens down the road, what happens three years from now. several buildings have collapsed. several people have been confirmed killed. hundreds injured. some of them in critical condition. live from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster and bianca nobilo. it is tuesday, february 21, 9:00 a.m. in london, 12 noon in moscow where vladimir putin is set to deliver a speech to the nation s top political and military leaders on the state of what he calls russia s special military operation in ukraine. mr. putin is expected to lay out his vision for wha
the lead starts right now. president biden s surprise trip to ukraine, how did the white house pull it off? plus the new promise the president is making while some republicans chastise him for growing. russian families on the run from the brutal war and ending up at the u.s. southern border. what one family went through to escape. and the murder of a bishop found dead in his california home. new details just coming in in this case. welcome to the lead. i am john berman in for jake tapper. moments ago president biden arrived back in poland after his unannounced trip to ukraine and stood side by side with president zelenskyy where biden declared putin is failing as the war nears its one year mark. biden said his trip was important to reaffirm unwavering u.s. support. one year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of kyiv. america stands with you, and the world stands with you. as part of the trip, biden announced another half million-dollars in assistance for ukrain
russia. then they learned some of their russian friends were entering the u.s. they crossed the border from mexico to the united states. it happened so one family and then to another family, and we started to pray. reporter: in late november, with guidance from the u.s. nonprofit organization, they arrived to mexico. this is the video of our apartment. reporter: across the border from south texas. there, michael says up to 700 russians were waiting for their own chance to enter the u.s. legally. all the people that were there, they were against the war. that was the reason why they left russia. this is the day when we crossed the border. reporter: in january, after 40 days of waiting there, they say u.s. immigration authorities allowed them to enter the u.s. legally, under something called humanitarian parole, which allows them to seek asylum while in the u.s. their first weeks in america, they were hosted bypass tors like this family in austin, texas, where nellie celebrat
reporter: michael and nellie loved life in russia, with their two boys, mark and phillip. life was good. reporter: but their world turned upside down last september when vladimir putin declared the first draft since world war ii 2, drafting men michael s age. they re protecting their territories, they re protecting their homes. reporter: michael thought about his own family. i was afraid for my boys, i was afraid for my family. was that your biggest fear? yeah, one of my biggest fears, of course. reporter: at the time, fear spread quickly in russia. wives and mothers wailed at their loved ones were forced to go to war and thousands of russians fled to neighboring countries to avoid the draft. the backup at the russian border seemed endless. turns out, many of them were headed to america.