taken casualties. it has, for the past eight years, fighting russian backed separatists. this battle will prove even more costly. among the most recent is tetiana s only child. alexander was just 3a years old. the last time tetiana heard from him, his unit was being hit by russian rockets. there will be many more grieving families in the days and weeks to come. this next phase of the war could prove decisive. but it will also be bloody. jonathan beale, bbc news, kramatorsk. as russia prepares for the new offensive, families back home are counting the cost of the war. thousands of russian soldiers have been sent to their deaths here in ukraine, and as the fighting ramps up in the east, many more are likely to lose their lives. vladimir putin said, in his first comments for some time on the war,
killed civilians up close, shooting people in the head. in borodyanka most were killed by air strikes but as many or perhaps more civilians died here. tetiana and her husband came back today. they escaped to another town. what is it like to come here now and see your home like this? translator: i have no words, my husband is a builder, she says, 30 years, we were making this house for our children, now we have no future here. we went up to their apartment. how many of your friends and neighbors died in these attacks? translator: we just buried our colleague and her family, there were three of them, she says. another of her friends, alona and her father and her brother-in-law, are under this rubble next door. deliberately attacking civilians is a war crime. unless russia can somehow prove these were military targets.
his son, 18-year-old mykyta, 9-year-old daughter alisa, and his wife tetiana, together they decided it was too dangerous to stay. i told my wife, i m sorry i couldn t be there to protect you, but she said, don t worry, we ll get through it, everything will be good. serhiy tracked tetiana s phone, it showed up as a local hospital. 20 minutes later ha photograph flashed on his phone from the scene. the lifeless bodies of the children and the the young churn volunteer helping them escape ensaps lating the savage riof the war. i was able to recognize them by their clothing, backpacks and suitcase. that must have been a terrible moment for you. yeah. reporter: the wife he d known since high school has been killed, too. his son a computer programmer, just like his da and your daughter, just nine years old. yes.
and heated tents for a break from the brijd winter cold, but sometimes, tempers still flare. this woman says she s been here since 5:00 a.m. with her 10-year-old son. translator: i don t have any other choice. i came from far away. i need to evacuate my child. am i husband stayed. reporter: exhausted and frustrated, a volunteer suggest she try a bus to the border. there are line-ups for those too, standish room only to make the 50 mile journey to the pedestrian crossing to poland, cancer patient, tetiana wanted to stay in kyiv but said the bombings were getting too close to home. crash, crash, crash, crash, crash reporter: as darkness arrives so does this family, three days from across the country from a individual in kharkiv, trying to
crisis worsens. russian forces are making inroads across the entire black sea coastline where the residents who remain face the choice of flee or stay and fight. cbs s chris livesay reports from odesa, a city on edge. reporter: the shelling is cse fire. tagn on humanitcorrors meant for thousands to flee from the city of mariupol. instead, those spared are forced to bury the rest. some in mass graves. we have no gas. we re freezing, says tetiana. we can t live like this. with no more running water, desperate locals turn to an old well. local officials say more than 1200 people have been killed in this city alone, and the devastation is by design. one by one, russia is targeting