are now stationed along the border with ukraine. some of those russian troops taking part in joint military operations in belarus. here in the u.s. tonight, airmen at travis air force base in california loading up military and weaponry to help ukraine. and what the ukrainian president just said about moves by the u.s. to get families of u.s. embassy personnel out of that country. he called the move premature, urging calm. our chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz leading us off tonight. reporter: with more russian troops massing on ukraine s border, navy vessels in the baltic seas, and russian fighter jets heading to belarus, ukraine s neighbor to the north, the pentagon tonight placing 8,500 u.s. troops on heightened alert for possible rapid deployment to back nato allies in eastern europe and the baltics. at the direction of the president, and following recommendations made by secretary austin, the
also today, secretary of state antony blinken spoke with his russian counterpart urging him to stick to the path of diplomacy. satellite photos show russia continues its troop buildup and now surrounds ukraine on three sides. today, the u.s. is ordering all nonemergency personnel out of the embassy in kyiv and removing about 160 u.s. soldiers who had been in ukraine on a training mission. as ukraine s president is urging calm. we have a lot of information because we are on this border. it s our borders. it s our territory. i have to speak with our people like you know, like a president and say the truth and the truth that we have different information. and now the best friend for enemies that is panic in our
a critical taking place right now between president biden and russian president vladimir putin to discuss the escalating crisis in ukraine, holding this call just two hours after emmanuel macron talked by phone for more than an hour and a half. satellite photos show russia continuing its troop buildup and is surrounding ukraine on three sides. today the u.s. is ordering all nonemergency personnel out of the embassy in kyiv and the pentagon is removing about 160 u.s. soldiers who had been in ukraine on a training mission as ukraine s president is urging calm. we have a lot of information because we are on this borders. it s our borders. it s our territory. i have to speak with our people like, you know, like like president and say people truth
war. but it didn t deter vladimir putin from launchinging an attack on ukraine, of course. that assault began with shelling near kyiv and kharkiv. these are plumes of smoke. have a look at that. this is near the capital where the main international airport is located. the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy urging calm and has announced that martial law is being introduced. the u.s. president joe biden swiftly condemning the attack as unprovoked and unjustified. he is set to lay out additional consequences for moscow in the coming hours. mr. biden will also take part in a meeting with g7 leaders to discuss the crisis. all right. joining me now is jan eklund, it s great to have you here, sir. just a word of warning. i can t hear you. you tell me what you see is the
america s u.n. ambassador there condemning russia s military moves on ukraine. ukrainian officials say the invasion is under way, and that includes missile strikes on kyiv. now, i just want to update you. we reported earlier ukrainian armed forces are saying that they shot down five russian aircraft and a helicopter. i want to update you on that. the russian defense ministry is saying that is not true. obviously we are in a fog of war situation here, and there will be claim and counterclaim. meanwhile, let s show you images of blasts near the capital, kyiv. our correspondents on the ground there have heard explosions in multiple cities, including kyiv, kharkiv, and odessa. i can tell you the air raid sirens here in lviv have started up again. that s the fourth time over the last hour or so. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is urging calm. he has announced that martial law is being introduced