which recently banned it tonight, germany s economics minister said that russia could not divide europe and that western allies would not be blackmailed. lester richard engel, thank you. as more people make their way acros ukraine, new and harrowing accounts that escaped the most intense fighting gabe gutierrez spoke with some of them in central ukraine. reporter: this is the heart-stopping drive out of southeastern ukraine as seen from the car of olga. how hard was the journey from mariupol? reporter: it was horrible, she says the city is destroyed completely these are more images from her neighborhood, now a ghost town this man, who asked us not to show his face, says he was with mariupol s territorial defense. his hand shattered by what he tells us was a russian grenade. do you think mariupol may eventually fall? no, never. but he says the russians captured his father and he hasn t heard from him in almost two weeks
announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening, everyone russian intentions are still difficult to sort out, but judging by their actions, kyiv is still very much in their sites tonight. while putin s forces pivot to the east, u.s. military officials say the tempo of russian air assaults has picked up over the last 24 hours and that the capital is very much under threat from air strikes. elsewhere, ukrainian troops say they continue to draw blood against the invaders this video of a russian tank burning recorded in slaboda, a village near kharkiv, which the ukrainians claim has been liberated. and there s word that the chernobyl nuclear plant is no longer in russian hands. troops pulling out today but only after some may have been exposed to the site s decades old radioactive soil richard engel reports from the front lines in eastern ukraine
putin. tensions are flaring on ukraine s border with new signs russia might be preparing to invade richard engel is in ukraine tonight. reporter: new satellite images tonight show russian forces at the ready near the ukrainian border u.s. intelligence warned russia s vladimir putin may be planning an attack on the u.s. ally. u.s. and ukrainian officials estimate there are already 70 to 100,000 russian troops near the border an unclassified u.s. intelligence estimate predicts another 100,000 could be called in for a potential invasion early next year. president biden has signalled to putin the u.s. will oppose him. i have been in constant contact with our allies in europe, with the ukrainians. reporter: analysts expect the u.s. would likely confront russia with sanctions and not a full war on its border though in the past, sanctions have done little to change putin s actions.
sector workers to get vaccinated by december 27th now confirmed in 20 states, while the delta variant drives a surge in hospitalizations our exclusive inside the icu being pushed to 200% capacity. also tonight jussie smollett taking the stand at his trial. what the actor told the jury about the brothers he s accused of paying to stage a hate crime attack on himself. plus, new details about the parents of the alleged michigan school shooter what we re learning about their time on the run. police interviewing the person of interest whose art studio is where they were arrested. the diplomatic boycott of the 2022 beijing olympics as tensions rise with china. president biden set to hold a high stakes call with president putin. can the president s message halt a confrontation? richard engel in the region tonight our nbc news exclusive. the new weapon that
fears of war are growing in ukraine back in april, we were with ukrainian troops who were carefully monitoring russians on the other side. what are you looking at through this parascope it s enemy. reporter: tonight putin may be bluffing. he does not want ukraine to join nato, and he doesn t want nato to put advanced weapons systems into the country. perhaps it is just saber rattling either way, the swords are drawn. presidents biden and putin will have a video call tomorrow. u.s. officials say russia has been sending troops to the border and also pulling them back to keep the world guessing what it will do lester richard engel in ukraine, thank you. let s turn now to our exclusive reporting to a new weapon in america s military arsenal a small and lethal