about what this natal force is going to look like. it is the first time ever that the nato response force has been activated to protect all of these nato allies. as mike mccaul just pointed out, congressman became part of nato in the late 90s. this is a first. i would like to take a moment here to bring in trey banks who standing by. in kyiv and he has been very close to some of the incoming that is been on its way to that city. as we see, as the ground forces make headway. trey, what can you tell us now? martha, good afternoon. ukrainian officials tell us that russians are currently inside the city limits of kyiv. at this hour, we here continue to explosions in the distance appeared just a few miles from where we are at in the northern part of the city. this indicates that there is some back and forth taking place between the ukrainian forces were trying to hold the line and those russian troops were looking to make their way into the city center. i want to pull the map here and
unclear whether or not that toll could rise. right now the responders are on the scene there. in total, we can see it has been a really intense 24 hours. there has been a lot of shelling going on, especially toward the northeastern part of kyiv, where apparently the ukrainians are trying to make headway. you had that great interview just an hour ago with the adviser to president zelenskyy, that s some of the first information we have gotten of the ukrainians saying they re making headway, them saying that, we have since been able to get some information from the mayor of a district called irpin, also in the northwest of kyiv, and he says that now it was held by russian forces, and he s saying now 80% of that district is back in ukrainian hands. he said there is 4,000 civilians that are there, but he also said that district as well is getting shelled by russian forces. so still very much a frontline place, even as the ukrainians are saying they made some headway in key areas as they re
they moved us into the woods but they did not shoot us like the russian soldiers are shooting now, killing children. reporter: the kremlin claims its forces don t target civilian areas, but the u.s., nato and the ukrainians say the russians are frustrated by their lack of progress and are firing longer range weapons because they can t make headway on the ground. translator: i understand that sooner or later our troops will push them out of our territory. now the russians are doing dirty tricks. they shoot more at civilian areas than positions of the ukrainian army. reporter: ukraine s army says it s pressing its own counter offensive trying to dislodge russian troops from the outskirts of kyiv. the kremlin s forces, meanwhile, so far unable to take the ukrainian capital are instead laying waste to its suburbs. and, jake, that was really the story of the day today. we heard explosions, air raid
its forces don t target civilian areas, but the u.s., nato, and the ukrainians say the russians are frustrated by their lack of progress and are firing longer-range weapons because they can t make headway on the ground. translator: they understand that sooner or later, our troops will push them out of our territory. now, the russians are doing dirty tricks. they shoot more at civilian areas than at the positions of the ukrainian army. reporter: ukraine s army says it s pressing its own counteroffensive trying to dislodge russian troops from the outskirts of kyiv. the kremlin s forces, meanwhile, so far unable to take the ukrainian capital. instead, laying waste to its suburbs. fred pleitgen, cnn, ukraine. and hala gorani joins us now from lviv in ukraine. hala? all right. thanks so much, rosemary, we will talk to you in little bit. now, against the backdrop of russia s widespread destruction in ukraine, a new round of peace
reporter: the kremlin claims its forces don t target civilian areas, but the u.s., nato, and the ukrainians say the russians are frustrated by their lack of progress and are firing longer-range weapons because they can t make headway on the ground. translator: they understand that sooner or later, our troops will push them out of our territory. now the russians are doing dirty tricks. they shoot more at civilian areas than at the positions of the ukrainian army. reporter: ukraine s army says it s pressing its own counteroffensive, trying to dislodge russian troops from the outskirts of kyiv. the kremlin s forces meanwhile so far unable to take the ukrainian capital are instead laying waste to its suburbs. fred pleitgen, cnn, ukraine. i spoke last hour with cnn military analyst, retired u.s. army general mark hertling. i asked him what is behind russia s strategy of using