good evening, i m erin burnett. out front tonight, the horror. ukraine s ministry of defense releasing these jarring and grotesque images. this is before and after. the soldier here is ukrainian. the image on the left is him taken during the siege of the azostal steel plant. that is when they were hunkered down not getting the full food and water that they needed. but there he was fighting. and on the right four months later, that is him now, starved, deformed. it is not even possible to imagine what happened to that man. and yet that picture is the reality. it is how russia is treating human beings. and you can t look the other way when you see that. it comes as putin has taken the war to a whole new level today running a sham election in parts of ukraine that are kind of under russian control. i ll show you the ballot. it reads just one question. the wording varies depending on the region. are you in favor of seceding from ukraine and joining the russian federation? and dow
just poisonings. i spoke with the dea administrator in april, and she said that fentanyl is the most deadly and addictive drug that is widespread in the united states right now. you can learn more at songforcharlie.org. thank you so much, kate, for doing this report. join us tomorrow night 8:00 p.m. eastern for the remarkable stories of champions for change, only here on cnn. thanks very much for watching. erin burnett outfront starts right now. unthinkable, before and after pictures of a ukrainian commander just released from russian custody. the united states tonight warns putin, don t dare use your nukes. and trump s secret fight to block the jury investigating january 6th.