all right. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i m christine romans. this is early start. we begin with ukrainian forces struggling to hold on in the eastern city of bakhmut, as russian troops close in from three sides. ukrainian officials say the situation in bakhmut has grown much tougher. they say their forces may need to retreat to avoid being trapped by encircling russians. cnn s scott mclean is tracking this story for us from london. and, scott, what are the chances the ukrainians will be able to turn this around? and if they can t, does that mean russia is back on the offensive. so, christine, good morning. it really depends on who you ask. because last week there were plenty of indications that the ukrainians may in fact be forced to withdraw from that area. a drone reconnaissance university has been ordered to retreat from the area. you also had a key bridge by the russians kiting off the ukrainians final supply routes in and out. a
unaccounted for there, they have been working day and night in the time sense to see if there were any survives. nine people were pulled out including a pregnant woman. it s unclear if any military target have been in the area that the russians have been aiming at. one the russian minister of defense shoigu made an appearance on the soil. the ministry of defense leased video showing hill handing out medals to russian troops, apparently in the donbas area and also visiting mariupol, arriving at the airport by helicopter. and then visiting a medical clinic, a newly built apparently medical clinic there. mariupol, of course, was heavily, heavily fought over in the early months of the war before the russians eventually took it. and this trip appears to be a way to showcase what the russians have done there since. christine. interesting, all right. scott mclean, thank you so much.