killed people from the streets and basements in occupied territory. in the mariupol, ukraine claims russia is now using mobile crematoriums to dispose of corpses perhaps to cover up the scale of the killing there. in bucha, where they witnessed the presence of mass graves, the killings appear to be deliberate and premeditated. the pentagon claims it can identify the russian units responsible for this. there is also new disturbing video this morning. this new drone footage showing the moment a couple was killed on a highway in western kyiv. maxim, a civilian gunned down with his hands in the air. his wife also killed. the family has confirmed their identities to cnn. brianna. i want to bring in cnn s phil black, who is here with me in lviv.
the army, they have to stay. they re ordered to stay. they stay. they re dying but they stay and they re holding the ground. reporter: nobody knows how many russians died here, but the group says it was many, taken out with a band of amateur drone pilots looking to defend their homeland. and they certainly were very effective at doing that, jake. nevertheless, this is a drone unit like pretty much all the units we spoke to of the ukrainian military that were involved in the operation to drive the russians away from the capital of kyiv. they say on the one hand of course they re very proud of their achievements. they of course know they were underdog in this. they were also very saddened and angry at the fact that so many civilians were left behind dead and it s something that now in many places is being discovered not just there but of course as we ve seen in other places around kyiv as well, jake. all right. fred pleitgen in kyiv for us this evening. thank you so much. really
in bucha with his own eyes, those bodies strewn all over the streets. fred, you also saw what unfolded in western kyiv from another vantage point today, that vantage point being drone video. tell us about that. reporter: hi there, jake. yeah, it really is one of the things about this war so far is the big question, how ukrainian forces, which of course were massively outgunned by the russians, managed to yet push the russians back. and now of course the russians have left the region around kyiv. and one of the main reasons why they were able to do that was regular civilians both taking up arms but also using other skills that they have, like for instance flying drones, to act as force multipliers. we were indeed with one that certainly plays an important role, especially in the west of kyiv. and we went to the region that they helped take back from russian forces. and there, like in so many other places, like in bucha, like in borodyanka, there were a lot of
front lines where the youngest member of the ukrainian parliament is taking up arms against the russian invaders. he s with the battalion that liberated a town near bucha. his girlfriend was a journalist. she was killed by russian shelling in mid-march. he joins us now from kyiv. good to see you again. you re part of a battalion that liberated that town near bucha. tell us what you saw there. can you hear me? can you hear me? i don t think he has his yes, i can. volume turned on. oh, now you can. i can. tell us what you saw in that town okay. tell us what you tell us what you what you saw, what you witnessed in that town near bucha that you helped liberate.
to nato s doorstep, about 40 miles from poland. this region was targeted by russian cruise missiles within the last 24 hours or so about an hour northeast of where i m standing. but ukraine s military claims to have shot those missiles down. the fiercest fighting is underway right now, however, in eastern ukraine, according to government officials there. that s where vladimir putin has shifted focus for what seems to be a new phase of his war, heavy fighting reported today by local officials in the donbas region of luhansk and due nets. the pentagon assesses the russian forces have completely withdrawn from areas around the capitol of kyiv and nearby chernihiv to close in on the donbas region. but putin has not necessarily given up on trying to capture the capital of kyiv. he s just moving his troops and targets elsewhere for now.