Unprecedented push on the city of bakmut. russian troops are also raining artillery fire on other cities along the front line. president zelenskyy says the damage that russian guns leave behind is staggering. translator: for a long time, there s no living space left on the land of these areas that has not been damaged by shells and fire. the occupiers actually destroyed bakmut, another donbas city that the russian army turned into burnt ruins. russia s president is taking his nuclear saber rattling to a new level. on friday, vladimir putin said the kremlin might abandon its stated commitment never to use nuclear weapons first. he says u.s. nuclear doctrine does not rule out a first strike, so why should russia? cnn s sam kiley has more from ukraine. reporter: vladimir putin, the russian president, is continuing
Buildings, shelling the shelling is now primarily in the northeastern out skirts in an area called saltivka and that s a very important area strategically for the russians because they have a supply line moving down from the north from russian city of belirad down to the donbas city and isium which is very important for them at the moment so the thing people in kharkiv fear is as russia tries to neutralize ukrainian counter offenses that potentially kharkiv could become the next mariupol and they see these images, new mass graves, hear the harrowing reports of people who were forced to take a shovel and dig these graves for water and food and understandably, it gives them a shiver of fear down their spine because they re so keenly aware of the fact that they are potentially vulnerable to that as well, i would say, though, anderson, it would be a very
Two doors down, we see a figure peaking out. 73-year-old larissa is still living there alone she s saying she does have a sister she could stay with, but she also lives in an area being heavily hit and living in a shelter at the moment. it s from all sides, she says. from there, and there, they can shell. with her fresh lipstick larissa is a picture of pride and resilience. much like this city, still standing tall in the face of a ruthless enemy. and clarissa ward is back with me now. i mean, the bombardment is so indiscriminate and i mean i just am so struck by the russians, continuely russian officials lie
Troops in the east and south, quote, launched offensive in all directions and claim resistance held despite the stepped up attack, several russian military commanders say trying to block the portions of kharkiv to aid advancement, clarissa ward, more from inside kharkiv, ukraine s second largest city. reporter: there s no rest at night for the people of kharkiv. flares light up the sky as artillery thunders through the air. for nearly nine weeks, ukraine s second largest city has been shelled relentlessly. only by day, do you see the full scale of the destruction the neighborhood of pavlovopoya hit repeatedly last week as russian forces try to push into the city, no site was spared, not even the local nursery school. so it looks like this was some kind of a dormitory.
Where are they going is the fundamental question, russia announced lofty aims to veer out left toward odesa, maybe towards moldova, seems unlikely, trying to months and no luck. are they aiming at the symbolism of the president s hometown here? possibly, but pretty well defend of as far as we can see or as some investsuggesting are they out east, but i have to tell you it has been remarkable to hear the accounts of the vaolume of russian forces on this side of the river. clarissa, you were just coming out of kharkiv, got very close to a missile attack when with some paramedics. what does the world look like in that area, now kharkiv is the second largest city. reporter: it is just relentless bombardment, i mean it s nearly nine weeks now that kharkiv, day in, day out, has been under fire. cruise missiles into government