a port city with half 1 million residents in southeastern ukraine. a new york times reporter in the city tonight says air raid serum started blaring there at 8 pm, shortly before the city was pounded by several artillery strikes. there were no immediate reports of casualties or white damage may have been caused. the city is just about 200 miles northeast of crimea, and importantly about 80 miles from odessa, another port that sits on the black sea. because of the proximity, mykolaiv it s become a strategic target. it could become a doorway to odessa. putin s forces have been targeting civilian areas of the city, leveling houses and pushing thousands of residents or evacuate. ukrainian forces are fighting back as russian soldiers have been peppering the town with firepower and missiles, killing hundreds of ukrainian soldiers and civilians. local officials say that more than 120 people have been killed so far, and some
artillery strikes. there were no immediate reports of casualties or whatever mitch may have been caused. the city mykolaiv s northeast of crimea, importantly about 80 miles from odessa, another port that sits on the black sea. because of the proximity, mykolaiv has been a strategic target and taking the city could open the door to odessa for putin s forces. for the past two, weeks putin s forces have been targeting civilian areas of the city, leveling houses and pushing thousands of residents to evacuate. ukrainian forces are fighting back as russians holders have been peppering the town with firepower and missiles, killing hundreds of ukrainian soldiers and civilians. local officials say that more than 120 people have been killed so far. some ukrainian troops. but the vast majority are civilians. at the local morgue, corpses are piling up outside in the snow because there is not enough space to store the bodies. one ukrainian reporter, natalia
Transcripts for CNN Anderson Cooper 360 20130517 08:25:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
there s still no explanation for what caused it. the explosion was felt 50 miles away, damaged much of the town, certainly the four or five block area around the town, leveling houses, damaged the nursing home, the town high school, the middle school. the state fire marshal s office ruled out some potential causes but they haven t been able to rule out others. one of those potential causes is criminal activity. a lot of people are wondering if this man, bryce reed, might have had something to do with it. reed is a resident of the area and now sits in federal custody for possession of pipe bomb materials. and it s a very, very strange story, something we found out first-hand because we actually interviewed bryce reed the day after the bombing when we were in west texas. we ll have more on that in a moment. first, here s ed lavandera joining me live from west. investigators say the cause of the fire is still undetermined but are they ruling out bryce reed? reporter: well, that official
Transcripts for CNN Anderson Cooper 360 20130517 02:25:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.