allies announced new sanctions against russian lawmakers and a billion dollars in humanitarian aid to ukraine. but it s all fallen far short of what ukraine s president zelenskyy is pleading for, including tanks, fighter jets and anti-ship weapons. tonight, some republicans saying president biden is still not doing enough he has this tendency to let the bad guy behave poorly first, and then come in we should have gotten more lethal weapons systems into ukraine when it was easy, rather than waiting for the invasion to happen reporter: tomorrow president biden will meet with refugees here in warsaw and then deliver what the white house is calling a significant address about what s at stake. lester kristen welker, thank you. in ukraine, russian forces are surrounding a city in the north as new images emerge in that brutal missile strike on civilians sheltering in a mariupol theater ukrainian officials now saying hundreds were killed. richard engel is in ukraine.
will be a victory for ukraine. it couldn t be another way. reporter: just days ago, ukrainian authorities say that a russian air strike targeted the country s air force command in this area. and earlier in the war, the city s civilian airport was destroyed, so officials here are on very high alert. lester gabe gutierrez, thank you for that. tonight, major action by president biden to help lower prices at the pump energy costs have been a key factor driving inflation to a 40-year high, and with gas well over $4 a gallon, the president ordered 1 million barrels a day released from the strategic petroleum reserve. kristen welker is at the white house with more kristen, good evening. reporter: lester, this is the largest ever release of oil from the country s strategic reserve. 180 million barrels in the next 6 months. today the presiden insisted the move could lower the price at the pump by an estimated 10 to 35 cents, though he s
1,000 civilians have been killed by fighting in ukraine. more than 1,700 injured. on the warfront, a senior u.s. military official says the city of kherson may no longer be fully in russian hands as ukrainian troops fight to reclaim it. and vladimir putin now accusing the west of trying to cancel his country. i ll share some of the stories i heard from families here on the border today let s start with chief white house correspondent kristen welker reporter: tonight, president biden in poland, ground zero of the refugee crisis the country taking in more than 2 million refugees from ukraine so far the president meeting with poland s president about the growing disaster i m here in poland to see firsthand the humanitarian crisis. reporter: earlier talking to u.s. troops stationed here and casting this moment in historic terms democracy is going to prevail, and the values we share. or autocracy is going to prevail that s really what s at stake reporter: the national security
tapped the reserve twice before wit little impact on gas prices the president also called on the oi industry to produce more oil and issued a directive to enhance production of electric vehicle batteries. we pressed officials here on how soon americans would feel relief they say it is difficult to know, but high gas prices and soaring inflation have been a drag on the president for nearly a year with the midterms looming. lester kristen welker at the white house, thanks tonight, we re watching that severe weather as it sweeps up the east coast after pounding the south. blayne alexander on the destruction left behind reporter: it is the alarm sounding in cities across the south. you have no time left you need to be in your safe place. reporter: a massive fast moving storm system producing more than 400 weather warnings across at least 16 states with more than 2 dozen reported tornadoes. vibrating the house. i reassured the family we re going to be okay, we re okay. reporte
a lot to go through listening to the words here we heard a mention o sending additional capabilities back to that question, could that mean u.s. troops reporter: lester, the national security adviser made it clear they will only take action if russia invades ukraine, seeming to leave the door open to sending additional deployments if america s allies in the region feel threatened lester kristen welker at the white house, thank you. despite president biden s warning, there are no signs the russian troops are about to pull back from that border richard engle is in ukraine for us tonight. reporter: ukraine announced tonight russia is reinforcing its positions near the border with heavy artillery and snipers while the kremlin gave its readout of the call between presidents putin and biden. russia accused ukraine of provoking the crisis, and in a statement said putin told biden he wants legal guarantees that nato won t expand to the east and that