russia right now, bracing for what they call the heaviest battles ahead in the fight for kherson. cnn is reporting from the front lines as vladimir putin is lobbing new verbal attacks at the west. also tonight, president biden touts unexpected economic growth as he he tries to rev up democratic voters in the blue state of new york. we ll break down his message and his challenges as recession fears persist 12 days before the midterm elections. and former president trump s lawyers take part in a secret court hearing related to the mar-a-lago documents investigation. why did they meet with u.s. justice department prosecutors here in washington, d.c.? welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. let s get straight to ukraine right now. the front lines of what one official warns will be, quote, the heaviest of battles against the russian invasion. cnn s senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is
nuclear confrontation was never something that russia had sort of instigated, even though we know that just a few weeks ago when he called up soldiers from civilians into the military he he made that explicit threat, that russia has nuclear weapons, and it wasn t a bluff, he said. and just yesterday, of course, the russian military, you know, staged strategic missile tests. but take a listen to what vladimir putin had to say about his use of nuclear threats. translator: we never intentionally said anything about the possibility of using nuclear weapons by russia. we only responded with hints to western leaders statements. reporter: vladimir putin there obviously completely denying that he ever made any nuclear threats in the first place. wolf. matthew chance reporting for us. matthew, thank you very much. let s get some more on all of this. joining us now, a ukrainian member of parliament, kira