signs of pushback. richard, thanks. at five minutes past the top of the hour, today is a big morning in washington. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy will make a rare, virtual address to congress, as the fighting rages on and the attacks in kyiv intensify. we re going to have full coverage of that historic speech. we ll stay on the air for that. first, we have former ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul with us, and we want to get his analysis on this development. we ve been talking about the russian people and their response to the invasion of ukraine. many are leaving the country. young people feel it s wrong. many are protesting, and many have no idea what s really going on. the producer who stormed the set of a live russian state television news broadcast to protest the war was fined 30,000 rubles yesterday, the equivalent of about $280.
going on the offensive, according to several ukrainian officials. starting last night and into this morning, they say that they have launched several, what they re describing as, large-scale offensives against russian troops, and they re encouraging battlefield information. in mariupol, in the south, two local officials describe a troubling situation in that city. as you know, the city had been surrounded for days. there was a humanitarian corridor that opened yesterday, allowing 2,000 cars to leave. it didn t allow it was just one-way traffic out of the city. there was no supplies that went in. then the local officials said that russian troops took between 400 and 500 people hostage, herding them into a hospital that russian forces have taken over, including doctors and patients, and are holding them as human shields, not allowing them to leave the building.
may he rest in peace. the second piece i would say is that, won t surprise any of you, that none of us are planning tourist trips to russia. none of us have bank accounts that we won t be able to access. we will forge ahead. hillary clinton responded on twitter, posting, i want to thank russia for this lifetime achievement award. that is something. ambassador mcfaul by the way, ambassador mcfaul got the lifetime achievement award a long time ago. he s not allowed back to russia, ever. mr. ambassador, i want to go back to the protester who faces 15 years in prison and what she did. i feel she was speaking to the audience that is most in need of the truth. absolutely. yes, i ve made that list in 2014, so i m glad to welcome my fellow americans to join the list. mika, it is an incredible story.
tremendously powerful russian army. it s not doing well. we ve said that many times. the ukrainians are fighting heroically, but putin still has most of his forces available and he s still moving forward. he is creeping towards where president zelenskyy is sitting in his bunker today. so he is going to ask for more weapons to help him stop putin s army. and, of course, congress has approved $13.6 billion. people i speak with, i m sure you ve spoken with, many people telling you this, as well, there are armed shipment going in there that we don t know about, that nato, that the west does not want putin and russia to know about. what more can we do? well, it s good we don t know about it. i think, you know, if you go back to the whole mig-29 fiasco, and that is not over as far as what i ve heard in the biden administration, but the problem with that whole decision was it was so public, it was a fight
bravery, that you d be arrested and, again, face these years in jail. that suggests to me that there are millions that think the same, they just don t want to go to jail. finally, let s not forget alexi navalny. court case ended yesterday. he ll get 13 more years in jail. yet, from his jail cell, he is calling on russians to stop this war. come out on the streets. realizing that they have a role to play in stopping putin s horrific war. incredible, incredible bravery, as well. ambassador mcfaul, thank you very, very much. here now are the latest developments this morning with russia s invasion of ukraine. ukrainian president zelenskyy expected to make a rare, virtual appearance to the u.s. congress in just about two hours from now. he is expected to ask lawmakers for more military support and harsher sanctions against russia. that help is headed ukraine s way. president biden is expected to