they believe that they can win. we believe that they can win. that is the assessment from defense secretary lloyd austin after visiting ukraine. he and the secretary of state are the two highest ranking u.s. officials to meet in person with ukraine s president since russia s invasion began. the secretary of state also pledging to send u.s. diplomats back into kyiv as part of their visit. joining me now is kyra rudic, a member of ukraine s parliament. good to see you again. so this was the highest level u.s. visit to kyiv since the invasion. seeing and hearing from both the defense secretary and the secretary of state, what does it mean to you? hello. thank you so much for having me. well, having these high-ranking officials in ukraine sends a
meanwhile, a cnn camera capturing more russian tanks heading towards the ukrainian border from russia on saturday night. u.s. and british officials say russia is advancing slower and taking heavier casualties than they might have expected. let s bring in kyra rudic now in kyiv, a ukrainian mp and the leader of the golos political party. it s good to have you with us. first of all, just give us a personal perperspective. what is day-to-day life like there at the moment? hello, good morning. well, the day-to-day life is, first of all, you have to watch out for the sirens. and every time you hear the siren, you go to the bomb shelter. it s usually two or three times during the day and four, five times at night. during the night, we usually expect russian soldiers. and every evening goal is to stand up till the morning.
that you can t even imagine. this is the best mood to go out and fight russians. i can t imagine. our thoughts are with you there as things unfold there in kyiv. so hard to listen to that. appreciate your bravery. i thank you for taking the time, kyra rudic, appreciate it, thank you. imagine having to tell your children that. let s turn to russia where anti-war protesters are popping up across the country. more than 2,700 people have been arrested, we re told, up to this point. but their support for ukraine doesn t seem to be waning. cnn s nic robertson shows us why. reporter: for a third day now, protests, anti-war protests, going on in the heart of moscow. that s the ukrainian embassy. the police are lined up on the streets. over here, people have been leaving their floral tributes sorry police officers just
while we are out, right on cue, the arteries of the city also diverted. kyiv held strong. optimism has grown with the russian s in ability to take any real control here, but anybody knows it s far too soon for any confidence. cnn, kyiv. now, kyra rudic is a member of the russian parliament and she has been speaking with us throughout the assault. every single night after the war was declared was a tough one, and every night we are prepared for a fight because you never know with russians what is going to happen next. this is why it s so important that we are armed and that we
i think there is going to be a final showdown with the way the city is fortified all over. i mean, you know, russian forces are trying to make a move from the northwest and the northeast right now, and they re spreading out their forces to try to surround the city. so i think in that i think people are fighting back. people are willing to fight back. and i think there is some hope for the city. let s hope indeed. stay safe over there. as i tell all of our cnn journalist on the ground in ukraine right now. be careful. we will stay in touch. appreciate it very much. and one thing we ve seen again and again since the war began is the resilience and the determination of the ukrainian people. that includes kyra rudic, a key member of the ukraine parliament, former business executive who has taken up arms against putin s forces. and she is joining us right now. we ve spoken several times over these past few weeks.