that s concerning, of course, here in the key city of odesa because the pressure russia is putting on kherson is being translated into more pressure on to the next town and eventually on to here, the third largest city, a vital port that russia must control if it wants leverage over ukraine s economy. warnings of a potential amphibious assault grow day by day. nick paton walsh, cnn, odesa, ukraine. while the u.n. believes that a million people have fled ukraine in the week since the russian invasion began, but heading in the opposite direction is a small number of volunteers ready to fight for their country. cnn s melissa bell has details. reporter: this is the sound that valerie, like many in ukraine, woke up to on thursday. [ siren ] i thought i was still
risen to 36 including one 14-year-old boy. in is a clear sign how difficult it will be for russian soldiers who found not particularly strong resistance in kherson. in the town less so. exactly how they re going to have to contend with the civilian population is deeply hostile to their presence. between us is the town that is under pressure and odesa warnings of an amphibious landing by the russians to try and take this third largest city and its utterly vital port. the vital port, the shipping lanes could be consequential as we move on into week two. nick paton walsh, i appreciate the reporting. heavy shelling in kharkiv, the second largest city south of ukraine s border with russia.
other parts of the country, but important because it gives you a sign, anderson, about whether or not a russian move on this, the third largest city and the vital port that moscow really needs control of, if it wants to exercise some degree of control over this country, whether or not this city might be afoot soon. we ve seen pressure mounting along the black seacoast where officials admitted they had suffered losses at checkpoints but also said the air strikes had taken out some of the russian armor convoys there and he did also put out a kind of cheat sheet, really, for russian soldiers if they wanted to surrender. so a lot moving along here, certainly, but extra, i think, anxiety here in odesa. anderson? in mariupol now, the red cross describing the humanitarian situation as increasingly dire, warning that hundreds of thousands of people are without food, without water, without electricity or medical
shoulder fire missiles and you can see the sound of gunfire. we have geo located this and verified the authenticity of the video. cnn s nick paton walsh is live in odesa. how are things there? reporter: the fight you re talk there is mykolaiv which is an important area. we have who are don t tall slow coming in. the video you pointed out there, which was posted and possibly filmed yesterday morning, shows the intense fighting to that port city s north. now this has been where a lot of the violence has moved because it appears russian forces rather than getting into the center themselves, they ve tried that unsuccessfully for days, are trying to flank to the north that vital port. that could potentially enable them to cut it off, encircle it and they can focus their attentions here on odesa. that appears to be part of this broader move as i say.
0ne family trying to escape the horrors they faced in ukraine. you may have seen over the last few days a report from our correspondent in 0desa andrew harding who observed the cautious reopening of music and entertainment venues in the city. in spite of the fact that the strategically vital port remains under curfew and faces constitent air raid warnings locals spoke of life returning to the city. that s continued with the reopening of 0desa zoo. for the first time since the invasion local children have been able to visit for a camel ride, or to feed the animals, another slice of relative normality. earlier we heard from ukrainian security analyst hanna shelest she s editor in chief of the outlet ukraine analytica and is in 0desa.