ukrainian military says russia's assault on the eastern part of the country is heating up as the next phase of russia's war gets under way. now a key town in that region. ukraine is accusing russia of shelling the town friday with cluster munitions which scatter over a wide area. in the small town outside of kyiv, drone video that you're looking at shows a really apocalyptic landscape left by russian shelling during the first phase of the war. ukrainian forces are being honored for holding the town and for blocking of course the russian advance on the capitol. and president volodymyr zelenskyy is vowing to keep fighting. have a listen. >> we will defend ourselves as long as necessary to break this ambition of the russian federation. the armed forces of ukraine continue to deter attacks by russian invaders in the east and south of the country. i'm grateful to each of our defenders bravely holding. >> meanwhile, russia military now confirming its objective is to take full control of ukraine's black seacoast. president zelenskyy warns that if russia is successful, it would only be the beginning and other countries will be next. but russians ministry of defense released statement a short time ago. in the last 30 minutes or so saying russia has made no major gains in the past 24 hours. that is air and sea forces haven't established control in either domain and russian troops continue to face heavy fighting in the city of mariupol. the despite of course the russian claims by putin that the city had quote been liberated. but, the reality on the ground is that the city of mariupol we have seen the images is battered. evacuating the city is often is a careless act. thanks to russian bombardment. we spoke to a few families who made it out friday. >> the train was designated just for evacuees. if all went to plan it would arrive here to lviv packed with hundreds. fleeing war. instead just a handful of family ts finally found safety. including her and her daughter who fled mariupol. they are furious there are not more who got out. >> she says so many should have been evacuated but the russians kept shelling. they are not human beings. i don't know who gave birth to them. horrific. horrific an apt word to describe what russia has done to the people of mariupol. collecting dead bodies amongst the city's wreckage, a task now as common place as it is morbid. some of the dead loaded into russian marked trucks. others have been buried in a alleged mass graves. seen here in new imangs. and yet for the ten of thousands who survive here, they need to get out. and cannot. he says humanitarian corridors declared by russia are only on paper. russian troops dominate the vast majority of the city. if they wanted to let people leave safely, they could. and yet several humanitarian corridors agreed to this week have failed. with ukraine accusing russia of repeatedly violating cease fires. it's meant the number of evacuees following the planned route for mariupol has slowed to a trickle and even then danger awaits. ukraine military says this train actually came under fire as it was leaving a station. some of the train cars were so badly damaged they had to be left behind and the ones that could travel you can see here have some damage left over. another example of ukraine says of how russia continues to target civilians. for those fram mariupol, these are some of the first moments they felt safe. in weeks. we were just thinking about our survival, she says. i don't know how i'll tell my son about such terrifying events. she'll eventually tell her son about russian military brutality. about the needless destruction of an entire city. and maybe her son will live long enough to return to mariupol one day. others doubt they'll have their chance. she says i want to believe that i will return. i think we'll need many years to restore the city after what they have done. i'm not going to be around that long. >> i want to bring in ukrainian journalist. she joins us. thank you for taking time to speak to us. i believe you were in the city meeting the evacuation the first bus from mariupol. give us a sense of what people are telling you from those who made it out. >> well, most of the people there they're heartbroken and they just cannot stop crying and they couldn't like they were just crying and tears were -- they couldn't -- it's it was hard to watch. and every time there was like one family where of elder people, we spoke and they're like 65 years old and they were crying their homeless, the city is destroyed and have nowhere to go. they have no savings or nothing. there were among 79 people who were lucky to get out. if you know that evacuation before was happening only for those people who have their own cars. but they were among those people who like the most vulnerable citizens of mariupol. who had no cars and -- >> trying to check if it was just me. we can't we don't have your connection. let me ask you again to make sure that we you and can hear you clearly. okay. it was on my end. apologies. many don't have cars to be evacuated. these are waiting for transportation. and we saw the buses arrive. 79 people got out. in the buses, there's so many people smiling, i'm guessing relief. but also many many tears. give us a sense of what the people went through inside mariupol as they were trapped ffr weeks on end. >> some of them spent 50, 56 days in the bomb shelter. and it's hard to imagine but this is something that they're going -- some of the people who are still there are going through this. those who managed to get out they are saying that there was no electricity, no water, can you imagine this? to live in the basement without water or food and electricity. some of them were brave to say at one point the citizens were have to loot shops and pharmacies to get the most essential food. and pharmaceuticals they need. some of people that we spoke they were hiv positive and they were the ones who were didn't get any medicine support for almost two months. crucial for their lives. some of the people were saying they were they had interaction with russians and it was very painful experience. besides that russians were asking them if they know somebody from ukraine military, like if they know where the location. where they are located. and others things but the other experience some of mariupol has this is filtration camps. where mostly men, mostly men are stuck for one month. like russian are torturing them and getting evidence and like any kind of information that they can use to find out where the position of ukrainian army is. and if those men have any connection with the military or with ukrainian government. like any kind of information. so, this is something i think which is very crucial and many people of mariupol are saying not many are lucky to get out of the camps. this is something that is i think horrifying and, you know, yeah. hard to describe. >> it's terrifying. something we heard yesterday from a young boy, young man, coming out of mariupol. of course he was telling me there are 100,000 so people still stuck in mariupol. i believe that you have been traveling in other throughout other parts of ukraine. give us a sense of what you have seen. >> well, we were in a couple days ago and the situation is also not very optimistic. because the mayor of the city is saying that russians declared the plans they want to surround the cities. and he is asking actively the citizens to leave the city because he is afraid that something could happen in mariupol can repeat in those cities. so, but at the same time, he is saying evacuation is mostly completed. people more than around 30% is staying in the city. and they don't want to leave and most of them again elder people who don't have nowhere to go. for whom this is their home. and you know, and the mayor is saying that the situation can be crucial just because in case the pharmacy will be closed it will be very hard for those people who have like a chronic disease to survive the occupation. so -- for citizens, it's very hard to evacuate right now. just because the only train exists. this is the only train for the whole region of donbas. the buses are evacuating but many people are afraid to use the buses and the trains. because many of them are targeted by rockets. specifically the train station te destroyed by a rocket and we hear a lot of reports about evacuations buses that were shelled or shot by russians. >> i mean the options you laid out are not great. you stay under ground with surrounded by russian military with no food or water, facing shelling, you get out or face the risk as well of being hit. at the same time. so it's incredibly hard to make the decision especially if you are elderly and you may struggle. as you hear the last 24 hours or so, the russian military basically saying they want full control of the east and the whole coast. really how given what we have seen, what you have seen traveling the country in the last 58 days, what's your assessment and how bad do you think it will get given what you have seen every day here? >> well, you know, when russians are saying or declaring they won the battle for mariupol and then you see the footage where the whole building destroyed. the city is destroyed and it's unclear what is the strategy here. how russians are planning to hold the cities or to if they even have the plan to rebuild it. or is it just a distraction campaign which is like it looks like. it looks like all the occupied cities they're heavily shelled and infrastructure destroyed. the people who are disagree with russians or who don't want to collaborate are killed or tortured or both or raped. we have a lot of reports from bucha about raping not only women but also kids and elder people. which is also devastating and it's -- i don't know what the strategy to be honest. besides to capture territory and to get land between crimea and russia. like regarding the safety of people that are on the occupied territory. the situation is horrifying and it's like -- i think it has to be investigated by -- it is investigated by war crimes prosecutor and collecting evidence right now. and we'll find out the names of the soldiers who are torturing people and civilians. also i think it's a hard case against the president of russia. vladimir putin himself. >> whatever the strategy is on the ground, what you have painted for us really helps describe and explain to viewers around the world really the fall out of this strategy. up and down the country as you have seen, like you heard, children, families crying, people huddled in basements. you are saying young people even elderly people being raped. it's one can't even fathom what is to come. please stay safe, thank you very much for taking time to speak to us. and as we have been talking about and what we have seen, families in mariupol facing really dire straits with some traveling thousands of miles under the most dangerous conditions just to get to safety. some of those who fled are describing the horror of living in the war zone. >> they started hitting home. bomb connection failed. electricity and gas as well. we had to cook on straight on grill. and they were shooting. they were incoming shells. so it happened that as soon as you set up your grill, you are r running way so as to save yourself. shells were flying over our heads and splinters falling into pots. >> according to the un more than 5.1 million people have fled the country since the fighting began. if you'd like to safely as well as securely help people in ukraine, who maybe in need of shelter, food or water: go to cnn.com/impact. you will find several ways that you can help. all right. thanks so much. coming up, our other top story. french voters prepare to decide who will lead their country for the next five years. we'll go live to paris on the eve of an election the impact of which will be felt well beyond france. 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(soft music) ♪ some home fragrances can be... overwhelming. air wick fresh new day fills your space with fragrance that's always fresh, never overpowering. air wick. connect to nature. political analyst often say the french vote with their hearts in round one of the election but with their heads in round two. but heads or hearts, they'll with b choosing between two these two candidates sunday. incumbent president facing far right challenger le pen. whoever comes out on top the election is expected to have a far reaching impact at home and abroad. for more on this, jim bitterman joins us from paris. where do we stand? >> well, the cone of silence descended on france. this is the 24, 36 hour period before the voting takes place in france. where the media cannot broadcast any results of polls and so after weeks of sometimes noisy campaigning, there's a eerie calm this morning and probably will be throughout the day today. and right up until the results announced tomorrow night at 8:00. in any case the newspapers have to resign themselves to very general headlines like this, decisive choice for france. that's the way he put it. how decisive the choice in the minds of french voters however remains to be seen. the voters on the left because these are two candidates represent the center right and far right, voters on the left say it's a choice between the plague and cholera. some of the may not even vote as a matter of fact. and that rate will be something that a lot of people will be watching. it could have a big impact on the contest when we get the results tomorrow. we'll see what the abstention rate it. there will be a substantial number of people that ab stain from voting. because they're not happy with the choices and there are school vacations and nice weather. any other factors that they can think of an excuse to not go to the poll. >> we have a about a minutes left. i want to ask you, we talked in the run up the stakes go far beyond just france. but to europe as well. and this choice is sort of brought into stark relief with the war in ukraine. >> well, there are a number of issues here. cost of living an issue. environment is an issue. and the war in ukraine has been an issue throughout the campaign. but i think as well the bigger broader picture of europe there is some impact this could have in the kinds of public sentiment elsewhere in europe. the fact is that there has been a lot of talk for a number of years now about the rise of the right in europe and populism. and every bit of examination on this election to see if in fact that is actually happening in france. as well as the right is rising as some countries. >> yeah. we'll be following along closely. live in paris, thanks so much. of course join us sunday at 8:00 p.m. paris time. 2:00 p.m. eastern in the u.s. for special live coverage of the french election. right here on cnn. for our international viewers, african voices change makers is next. for those in north america we're back are breaking news after the short break. stay with us. pre-rinsing yo dishes? 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