now the president, president zelenskyy says that city has been, quote, reduced to ashes. also this morning, several large explosions in the capital city of kyiv as ukraine said that it has retaken a key suburb of that capital. fred pleitgen in kyiv with the very latest. there is a happening. where do you want to begin? reporter: yeah, you re absolutely right, kate. there s a lot happening and there s a massive battle waging in and around kyiv right now. in fact, we re seeing black smoke over the capital over the outskirts of the capital, large explosions also towards the east of the capital. there s been some towards the west but especially towards the northern part of the capital. in fact, as we re speaking right now, we re hearing massive salvos of what sounded like artillery, which may have been outgoing artillery from the ukrainians but of course, from our vantage point, very difficult to say but if you look at the northern outskirts of kyiv, that s the area where the russians ar
the united states this hour. i m hala gorani reporting live from lviv, in ukraine. it is just past 6:00 in the morning in the western part of the country throughout this war-torn land, more than a day after mariupol, ukraine, rejected russian orders to surrender, bombs have been hammering that city. a ukrainian officer says they have been falling every ten minutes. president volodymyr zelenskyy said on wednesday monday that mariupol is being, quote, reduced to ashes. but that it will survive. the eu foreign policy chief calls this bombardment a massive war crime. the russian defense ministry, meanwhile, claims more than 62,000 mariupol residents have evacuated to russia in, quote, complete safety. but the city council says thousands were, in fact, taken there against their will. in the capital in kyiv, authorities say recent missile strike on a shopping center has killed at least eight people, and they are warning that that number could rise. russia says it attacked the mall
flames at 60 miles an hour. homes from california to washington left smoldering, reduced to ashes. pretty scary. i had never seen a fire storm travel like this, this fast. inform washington, homes on fire as they burned down utility poles. everything that is being done is degree done out there. our first prou orty is protekding people and homes. reporter: the drought out west has to do with this. areas are dry. beetles are eating pine trees and they are dead now. this has a lot to do with it. so does this. think about it, it was 117 degrees in phoenix on friday. that s not a heat index. that s a hot up dex. sure it s a dry heat. even today, needles will get to 118. think about fighting a fire in this heat gives you perspective.
think of is on short demand in this country right now. reporter: over a thousand residents warned to flee the infernos. it s pretty unimaginable. there s no preparing for this. reporter: some barely escaping the flames. this whole ridge was on fire. that whole hillside there. this whole hillside was on fire last night. i was literally outrunning flames at 60 miles an hour. reporter: hundreds of homes and structures from california to washington left smoldering, reduced to ashes. it was pretty scary. i have never seen a storm, a firestorm like this travel this fast. reporter: in washington about 9,000 homes were without power as wildfires out chelan burned down utility poles. everything that can be done now is being done out there, and our first priority is protecting people and homes. carol, look at this. the temperatures here across the southwest today, vegas it s going to get to 111. in phoenix on friday it was 117. today a cool 111. farther up to the northwest wher
colorado s governor bill ritter spoke to some of the people yesterday. he warned residents to be patient because of this wildfire in the hills. you can smell the smoke. some of the residents are very anxious and concerned. they re learning that they re not going to have homes to return to. steve and dee spencer built their home in the colorado mountain community of sunshine 25 years ago. it s 2400 square feet, three bedroom, two bathroom, and we built it. we designed it ourselves. reporter: today, it lives only in their camera, reduced to ashes by colorado s wildfire. the sun was orange and obscured. there is a really weird light from the fire in frontst son. very spooky. it was all smokey. reporter: there s never a good time to lose your house. but this is particularly bad for the spencers.