ukraine, with john berman in new york. investigations are under way this morning to determine whether russian forces might have used chemical weapons in the battered southern city of mariupol. the head of the military there in the donetsk region telling cnn that three people are being treated for a nonlife threatening illness, or symptoms, after a russian drone dropped something from the air. cnn cannot independently verify that claim. but the pentagon says it is monitoring this development, and the uk has launched an urgent investigation. and breaking moments ago, fierce new fighting there in mariupol, we have a new video that shows plumes of smoke rising from a residential area on the hills above a shipping yard near the city s port. and even though russian forces have retreated from the kyiv area in the north, there is still danger lurking in northern ukraine. president zelenskyy describing the region as one of the most contaminated by mines in the world.
where residents are scrambling for the most basic necessities. ukraine bracing for a full-scale russian assault in the east. there s a heavy russian troop presence in the south and the east. the areas here marked in red. military analysts say the russians will try to take control of the entire donbas region in eastern ukraine. there are new images of a long column of russian military vehicles near russia s border with ukraine. all of them pointing towards the direction of the donbas. meantime, russian education off on monday, there were unconfirmed reports of a russian chemical attack in mariupol. cnn cannot independently verify that claim. and to the north, ukraine s president says russian troops left behind thousands, thousands of mines.
economic recession. watching the oil prices. thanks for joining us this tuesday morning. i m christine announcer: this is cnn breaking news. good morning to our viewers in the united states and around the world. it is tuesday, april 12th. i m brianna keilar in llviv, ukraine w john berman in new york. the war is entering a new stage of terror against ukraine. that is the words those are the words of president volodymyr zelenskyy as fear is growing about russia resorting to chemical or biological warfare. ukrainian military unit in the city of mariupol is accusing russian troops of already using chemical weapons there. cnn cannot independently verify that claim, but we did just speak to the head of the military in that region, the donetsk region, he said there are three people being treated
and with producer dominik van heerden we make our way down the emba embankment. camera operator richie mockler has taken two rounds to his body armor but is still stuck in the car. he runs for it in a hail of bullets. now, the journalists say they were ambushed by a russian reconnaissance squad. cnn cannot corroborate sky news s account of who shot at them. and just a word. these colleagues of ours, they re also friends. dominik van heerden, the producer there, used to work for us here at cnn. i worked with her many times from iraq to here in ukraine back in 2014. we re all very glad they re alive. all right. more now on that attack on ukraine s and europe s largest nuclear power plant. it led to fears of course of a catastrophe in the making. and even though radiation levels remain stable those fears still remain too.
ago that u.s. intelligence fears the capital could fall within days. ukrainian citizens are being asked to make molotov cocktails to take down the occupier. the former president of ukraine was on the streets talking to us just minutes ago. he was holding a qaa hrerb cough to fight for himself. overnight, kyiv was hit by missile fire. eye crepe s foreign minister calls it the worst attack his country has been inflicted with since the nazis invaded in 1941. the current president volodymyr zelenskyy is the number one target. number two, he says, is his family. a fighter jet was shot down over kyiv. fragments believed to hit and set fire to a home. cnn cannot independently confirm that. the ukrainian defense ministry says it blew up a bridge north of the capital city trying to