was hit, and civilian shelters at a theater and an art school were bombs. our thanks to richard angle for his continued reporting. later, president biden will meet with nato allies in europe. while he spoke on the phone with gop leaders, the kremlin responded to biden, calling putin a war criminal, saying that comment could end relations between moscow and washington. and as the conflict is about to enter a fifth week, the number of ukrainians who have been forced to leave their homes continues to skyrocket. the and says 1 million people are displaced. nbc s cal perry is reporting from lviv. thank you so much for being there with us. i know we re almost a month into this war. you have been here this entire time. describe the situation in lviv, and what are you hearing across the country?
russia is expanding its attacks, hitting right into the center of kyiv. you can t get a more downtown location than that one. but it is also a sign of weakness, because russia s front lines have not been advancing. its troops and armored vehicles and that long convoy outside of kyiv are where they are and have not been advancing for the last several days. instead, russia s relying more on its long-range weapons, its artillery and rockets to carry out attacks like this one, that are generally untargeted, hit primarily civilians, and are part of a long russian campaign of attrition. nbc s richard engel in kyiv, thank you. joining us now is nbc news foreign correspondent, ali arouzi from lviv in the western region of ukraine. ali, you ve been in lviv, which was once insulated from the conflict, but now russians have expanded this conflict westward.
more homes were also hit. kyiv s mayor says more than 70 buildings were destroyed. but despite the violence, or more likely because of, ukrainians are hill turning out to challenge russian troops. in a russian occupied kherson, protesters are refusing to back down. until russian troops opened fire, forcing it to disperse the crowds. croissant in the russian-speaking city. russia s doomed it would fall easily. the besieged city of mariupol is getting the worst of the russian assault. ukrainian officials rejected a russian demand to surrender the city this morning. even after a maternity hospital was hit, and civilian shelters at a theater and an art school were bombs. our thanks to richard angle for his continued reporting. later, president biden will meet with nato allies in europe. while he spoke on the phone
sitting by herself, disoriented and frightened. i am so afraid. my whole body is shaking. at night, i cover myself in a blanket and a shake, she says. mostly, she wanted comfort. press cove esa she lived through world war ii, and doesn t have the strength to go through it all again. our thanks to richard angle for that report. earlier today, on a call, president biden told ukrainian president zelenskyy, the united states will send an additional $500 million in aid to the ukrainian people. the white house is also keeping a close eye on the pandemic. president biden pressuring congress for more funding to fight covid. he then received his fourth shot, after the cdc and fda signed off on a second booster for adults ages 50 and older. let s get back to the war in ukraine and bring in my good friend, partner, and colleague, ali velshi. he s joining us from lviv. ali, earlier today, you are