now, even as harrowing accounts of destruction emerge from ukraine, so, too, are tales of courage and survival. cnn s ed lavandera speaks to one resident of mariupol, who tried her best to deliver aid and offer support to civilians in hiding while she was running for her life. reporter: when the first bomb struck mariupol, katya thought her most effective weapon would be a gentle smile, and the ability to calm terrified families. she lived in an underground shelter, coordinating relief supplies for the trapped civilians of this besieged city. so we re watching your city get bombed and destroyed. people are being killed. you decide not to leave, but to help? it s horrible. the animals didn t allow even children to go out from the
reporter: when the first bomb struck mariupol, katya thought her most effective weapon would be a gentle smile, and the ability to calm terrified families. she lived in an underground shelter, coordinating relief supplies for the trapped civilians of this besieged city. so watching your city get bombed and destroyed. people are being killed. you decide not to leave, but to help? it s horrible. the animals didn t allow even children to go out from the city. reporter: day by day, the video katya captured showed life in mariupol unraveling. she lost touch with the outside world. none of her family and friends outside the city knew if she was alive or dead. life here was falling into an abyss. it was like middle age. like the middle ages? yes.
we re live from kyiv in our world lead. russian state media claiming a victory in the besieged port city of mariupol. this video allegedly shows more than 1,000 ukrainian marines surrendering to russian forces. ukraine is denying this report. cnn cannot verify if this is real or kremlin propaganda. still, mariupol has been one of the hardest-hit areas since the war broke out seven weeks ago. ed lavandera spoke with one survivor who has tried her best to deliver aid and offer support to citizens in hiding while running for her life. reporter: when the first bomb struck mariupol, katya thought her most effective weapon would be a gentle smile and the ability to calm terrified families. she lived in an underground shelter, coordinating relief supplies for the trapped
again in kharkiv yesterday. and this is a reminder of what the russian military is capable of doing with indiscriminate air strikes and artillery reducing the city of aleppo in syria to rubble, showing scant concern for civilian life. jonathan beale reporting there. earlier today, we had little children playing here in the underground shelter, oblivious to the nightmare above ground. their parents well aware of the dangers that lurk, they can only hope and pray that tomorrow that they ll all survive another day. and the otherjournalists here with us, living this subterranean life, we all hope we can tell a better story in the daylight. more from kyiv in a moment, but for now, back to huw in london. thanks, clive. during the day in moscow,
bans, media, the russian media should not have the right to broadcast in western countries, the state owned media. this is what we need right now. it needs to be introduced in a number of hours, not days, we do not have that much time. ukraine is getting a strong response to the russian invasion, despite the difference in capacities. but we need your help. and the number of cities across ukraine remain under russian control. they remain occupied, we do not know how long we can hold this ground without western support, without weapons, without sanctions, everything i mentioned. olena prokopenko, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us, our thoughts are with you and your family at this time. also, we wanted to show you, a note of defiance on the sunday front pages in london. the observer, featuring, there you see a small ukrainian child in an underground shelter, accompanied by the headline,