Contesting Mariupol News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Wouldn't change the dynamic that much for the ukrainians except, of course, there is a political and symbolic value to mariupol and keeping it is, obviously, in ukraine's interest. it's almost like an alamo last stand kind of thing. of course, it's much bigger and a much more significant thing for the ukrainians. but in terms of the actual battlefield, none of this would really change. the russians would get their land bridge in here and they would potentially be able to then turn and move their forces this way. but mariupol is draining a lot from the russian forces that are attacking it. so i...

Chemical attack. these people aren't stupid. they have outfoxed the russians at every turn, every single turn, outnumbered three to one, five to one. i assumed they gamed this out and have a plan for mariupol. >> are you hearing -- if it is confirmed that they used chemical weapons, how does this change the war? >> well, i would say in some ways it's the sign of desperation, right? i mean, you turn to wmd when conventional warfare isn't working. it's clearly not working for the russians, and putin clearly is sort of registering that. he potentially is facing a massive humiliation just the kind...

Those reports. it comes as cnn is getting new video of that devastated ukrainian city. you can see smoke rising outside a shipping yard there. i want to bring in journalist and authors sebastian unger. good to see you. let's talk about what's happening in mariupol specifically because ukrainian marines in mariupol are vowing to hold on to the end they are saying, but their city is being demolished. president zelenskyy is saying tens of thousands of people have died there. and the u.s. is lacking into reports that chemical weapons are being used. how much longer can ukrainians hold on to this c...

Map in here. obviously, they are right in this area as well. a little element right here. what they're trying to do is they're trying to keep these areas away from the russians. in essence, what they are trying to do is save central ukraine. if the russians get a hold of zaporizhzhia, that would be a major problem for the ukrainians. so what they are trying to do is trying to contain the russians along these lines right here. of course, in the north they also have a job of containing them up here. so a see-saw battle will be the norm and they are going to be taking place over the next few week...

Weapons in mariupol? the reports are unconfirmed but the pentagon is fmonitoring the situation. if true, how would it change the war? >> russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents including tear gas mixed with chemical agents that would cause stronger symptoms to weaken and incapacitate entrenched ukrainian fighters and civilians as part of the aggressive campaign to take mariupol.