Welcome to the lead I'm Jake Tapper and we start today with breaking news in our world

lead a series of explosions just heard around the Ukrainian capital of Kiev just moments

ago you're looking live at the skyline of Kiev right now we're told the blasts were

heard about 20 minutes ago our teams on the ground are trying to find out exactly where

and what and whom might have been hit the latest attack coming as Ukrainian president

Volodymyr Zelensky sends a message to the world and to the United States in an interview

with CNN from a bunker in Kiev Zelensky telling CNN's Matthew Chance today that this

war is about more than bombings and missile attacks it's a battle for democracy and

freedom we're going to have Matthew's full interview in our next hour across Ukraine

today scenes of the Russian atrocities being inflicted on innocent Ukrainian civilians

Ukrainian officials say five people were killed and five others injured when Russian

military strikes hit the area around a massive TV tower in Kiev search and rescue teams

are coming through the rubble in the center of a different city hot kiv after Ukraine's

interior minister says at least one cruise missile hit the city's freedom square so far

at least ten people are confirmed dead there another thirty five injured this is an

addition of course to the deadly strikes yesterday which killed at least three children

moments ago Ukrainian leaders announced that Russian air strikes have hit the Babin Yar Holocaust

Memorial site in Kiev built on Europe's largest mass grave of the Holocaust CNN's Clarissa

Ward starts off our coverage today from Kiev and Clarissa what can you tell us about these

latest explosions yes so we're we're definitely hearing a lot of explosions tonight Jake just

in the last twenty minutes happen hour so we heard three large explosions coming from the

northeast which is sort of in that direction then just as we were opening up the windows

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