one-year mark. cnn is on the ground in kyiv and moscow. the bodies said to be piling up. also tonight, five former memphis police officers plead not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in the fatal beating of tieyre nichols. his mother at the hearing and said they could not look her in the eye. i ll speak to ben crump this hour. rick scott backing down from a controversial plan dropping social security and medicare provisions after bipartisan backlash including president biden s direct attack during the state of the union address. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is on assignment today. i m pamela brown and you re the situation room . and we begin this hour on the front lines in ukraine. a new round of russian shelling adding to the mounting toll of death and destruction after nearly a full year of war. cnn senior national security correspondent alex march alex marquardt is there. reporter: it is a critical
this is according to volodymyr zelenskyy the toughest fight in ukraine right now in the eastern city of bkakhmut called a meat grinder, convicts continue to be ce sent in wave after wave to their deaths. men he plucked out of prison and threw on the battle field with no training, no equipment, no organizational command, 98% killed were conflicts. we think they rely heavily on the convicts in the background fighting. reporter: the battle laying bare. the stark division on the russian side. with vagner openly blasting russia s official military leadership saying they manage soldiers from beauty salons and country clubs arguing if there were more of his private troops,