viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. i m bianca a oig. . i m max foster. just ahead russian forces trying and so far failing to make real head way in the opening stages of a new offensive. we re not only up against ukraine, but also against nato and especially the united states. to control the narrative early on. what folks are really concerned about is what happens later, what happens down the road, what happens three years from now. several buildings have collapsed. several people have been confirmed killed. hundreds injured. some of them in critical condition. live from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster and bianca nobilo. it is tuesday, february 21, 9:00 a.m. in london, 12 noon in moscow where vladimir putin is set to deliver a speech to the nation s top political and military leaders on the state of what he calls russia s special military operation in ukraine. mr. putin is expected to lay out his vision for wha
it is tuesday, february 21, 9:00 a.m. in london, 12 noon in moscow where vladimir putin is set to deliver a speech to the nation s top political and military leaders on the state of what he calls russia s special military operation in ukraine. mr. putin is expected to lay out his vision for what is next as well as russia s assessment of relations with the west, this is just one day after u.s. president biden s surprise visit to kyiv. this is on the same day as president biden speaking to al, two alternative realities. reporter: that is a pretty good assessment. and i think that it will be a pretty fundamental speech that vladimir putin is going to hold here. we can already see the folks there inside that auditorium getting ready, that is the prime minister of russia that you see there next to head of the dumba, everybody from russian political
goals which was to find any means possible to lay down arms against russia. he is presenting this as an existential threat and he said that this is about ending us and they will respond accordingly. we knew that they were presenting this as an existential threat and even though european leaders made it clear that that is not its end goal. but this is all part of the russian this is about destroying russia, you see why him invoking the other invasion of russia during the second world war. i think one of the most striking moments was when he stood up and he said it is they that started the war, we are using force to try to stop it. at which point he gotcha applause. a complete and total reversal of the truth. russia is the aggressivor in th war. and so it is important to point that out because the reverse