CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen reports from Kyiv, Ukraine on the attack Early this morning, Russia launched one of the single deadliest attacks on Ukraine in Russia's two and a half years of brutal warfare against that country. Ukraine says a Russian ballistic missile struck a military educational facility in central Ukraine, killing more than 50 people, injuring hundreds more. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports now from Ukraine's capital, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleads for more help from the West, saying every day the West delays means more death for the Ukrainian people. Parts of the military educational facility almost completely destroyed. Dozens killed here, the Ukrainians say when two Russian ballistic missiles struck, leaving those on the ground with no time to get to bomb shelters. More than 200 were also wounded and a nearby hospital damaged. Ukraine's president. Irate, obvious. Cold on his novel, the Russian scum will undoubtedly be held accountable for this strike. And once again, we urge everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror. Air defense systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere. Long range strikes that can defend against Russian terror are needed now. Not some time later. Russia has been accelerating its aerial bombardment of Ukraine's cities and infrastructure. A massive barrage aiming for the capital, Kyiv, early Monday, just as children were gearing up for the first day of school after summer break. One of the places damaged a management college, with the one we got up and it had already started to boom. We ran out into the yard near the dormitory. We heard something flying and something being shot down. You know. On Sunday, more than 40 people injured after Russian airstrikes on the northeastern city of hard hit responders desperately trying to save the victims. There's an ambulance on the other side, the photographer says. We won't be able to carry him there, she answers. While Ukraine's air defenses often take down Russian missiles, the consequences can be devastating when they don't. The strikes on Poltava were one of the deadliest single attacks since the start of the war. Yeah, Jake and ten residential buildings in that area also badly damage in those strikes. And the Ukrainians are saying those ballistic missiles that the Russians used today extremely difficult to take down for air defense systems. One of the few systems that can actually do that is the Patriot surface to air missile system, of course, made by the US. The Ukrainians say they badly need more of those, but they also want permission badly from the U.S. to be able to strike deeper into Russian territory with U.S. made weapons. They say that way they could take out potentially some of the launch sites of these missiles in the first place. Jake. Yeah. We just heard from Democratic Senator Kelly, who said that he wants the Biden administration to give permission to the Ukrainians to do that as well. Fred Pleitgen in Ukraine, thanks so much. CNN’s Jake Tapper talks to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly about Ukraine’s ability to use long-range weapons into Russia and debate over US support of the capability You recently led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. Those are all key NATO allies. All of them share a border with Russia. You met with leaders about the threats posed by Vladimir Putin's Russia and his aggression after meeting with leaders there. do you think the U.S. should allow Ukraine to use long range weapons in attacks on military sites in Russian territory, which the Biden administration has not wanted them to do? Well, we actually already do up to a certain point, like within 88km. The request is to do it outside of that longer range into Russia. Specific targets, military targets and the obvious weapon system you would use for this is attack them. So it's a long, longer range, you know. you know, missile with a 500 pound round that can take out some pretty good targets. I think we should we should certainly evaluate it and consider it. every one of the countries you mentioned, every one of the Baltic countries and Finland are requesting this because they know that if if Ukraine cannot beat Russia in Ukraine, and by the way, to beat them in Ukraine means you have to often step outside into this sanctuary that the Russians get just over the border. so we've got to be able to affect their supply lines and some military targets inside Russia, and we're letting them do some of that. Now. They want to do more. But the reason why this is so important to the Baltic countries is that they feel like their next 3 to 5 years from now, Russia will have an opportunity, if they win in Ukraine, to rebuild their forces on the other side of the border, and then they're going to be the next target. They do not want to be occupied like they were when this was the Soviet Union. And they're not going to let that happen. We're going to help them. These are NATO countries. So if they're attacked by Russia, we will be there for them. There's some steps I think we need to take. You know, now that we need to consider, to make this incursion or this attack by Putin into a Baltic country a little bit more intimidating. Putin response to one thing, and that's force, you know, and and he has now retooled his economy to be on a war footing. We've got to make sure that that doesn't affect our NATO allies. All right. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of the great state of Arizona, thanks for being here. Really appreciate it. Thank you Jake. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba talks to Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv and they discuss the latest Russian strikes in Ukraine as well as Kyiv's push into Kursk Meantime, the Polish foreign minister said on Monday that they had to scramble fighter jets along their border with Ukraine because of the incoming ballistic missiles. That's a NATO country. And, you know, it's taking its matters into its own hands. Let me just read what, Radic Sikorski. he essentially said membership in NATO does not trump each country's responsibility for the protection of its own airspace. It's our own constitutional duty. When hostile missiles are on course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defense to strike them. So have you talked to Poland or other NATO neighbors about this? Do you you foresee more of the frontline states becoming involved like this? We are talking to Poland extensively, and, they feel this threat on their skin. So they are the most natural interlocutor for us to have this conversation. But they cannot make this decision on their own because their air defense system is part of the integrated NATO air defense system. So there needs to be a decision that will be, will be cleared, will be agreed upon by all parties involved to actually intercept these ballistic missiles, ballistic, even in Ukrainian airspace. Well, it's a piece of steel. It's I don't know, maybe aluminum, whatever. It's metal, but let's let's let's get it clear. Intercepting Russian missile is not about killing Russian soldier, which could theoretically be interpreted as an entry to the war or becoming a party to the conflict. But this is just a piece of death that flights in the air and it has to be must be intercepted in Ukraine if it is within reach of the light, air defense system. Can I ask you about the Kursk incursion? This seemed to come as a big surprise to everybody. You obviously have very good operational security, but even your allies was surprised. Why did you do this? From the, let's just say, from the diplomatic perspective, which you are the chief diplomat. What was what is the strategy behind this? Well, first, every war of this scale that we are having is has multiple theaters of war. So things happen simultaneously in different directions. And you have to constantly think how to make the life of your enemy more complicated. how to, impose your will on the enemy and not endure, the will of the enemy imposed on you. Second, you remember we spoke like, in the spring, I think, and everyone was talking about a stalemate in the war. And there is nothing Ukraine can do. Ukraine can not change the course of the war. Russia is moving, is advancing, and there is nothing Ukraine can do. And it had a direct impact in capitals, among among our partners and their decision making processes. Now, we showed everyone we defeated, not only we defeated the Russian army in course, we defeated the arguments so popular in among, our partners that there was a stalemate. Because now everyone sees that when everyone sees what we've been talking about all the time, when Ukraine has everything it needs, we do not like courage and military skill to advance and win. So, you know, this is something you want to show your partners. It's morale boost for your own people. Was it aimed at changing a calculation in Moscow to around to Putin or people around Putin? I don't believe in people around Putin. I think, the I think what people of Russia saw, is that Putin is more efficient in grabbing someone else's land than in defending his own land. And I think this is a very important message, we that none of us can fully, and fully appreciate in the sense of its impact on the people of Russia. But it's there. They are talking about it. They're asking themselves questions. And now that the Russians see how the Russian army is even with the ground, Russian villages, Russian houses, that has a very negative impact on them as well. Talking about grabbing territory, as you know, Russians are advancing on crafts on, on, on, you know, important logistical hubs. Was this worth it, this trade off? Because there is, as you can tell in the in the in the chatter around there's some anger amongst Ukrainians. They say, hang on a second. There's one thing going up there. But don't forget, we need to be able to defend the territory that we're trying to defend here. This is also really important. Can you talk to to that and to the trade off? If there is? Of course, we do not think in terms of trade offs. This is not our our logic. We are not trading our territories. We are not trading our people. It was a clear, objective to make Russia's life, more difficult. And this was one of the key goals of the, of the course, of course, cooperation. Second, as President Zelensky stated on numerous occasions, we have taken many prisoners of war, which in in Kursk, which will allow us to do a swap and bring our, our soldiers more of our soldiers back. This is a very important issue. And the territorial swap, possibly. Is that also an issue? I mean, if you if you occupy however many square kilometers of Russian land, is that also a bargaining chip? no we don't again, we don't think of that in terms of, swapping territories, because that will imply that we have to swap something in in Ukraine and we want we want to do that. but again, if we were not doing anything and Russia was still advancing near pork roast, you know, the the argument would be why you're not doing anything. We've done something something that is having an impact. but it does not undermine our efforts in pork roast. Of course, our generals are better, fit to talk about this matter, but, from what I see, again, this is a war of multiple theaters, and we should never waste an opportunity to to, inflict more damage on the enemy. So, as you spoke, at the beginning, the Russians see winter coming. They want to attack your energy grid like they did the first winter, for sure. and you are also attacking their refineries. I mean, let's face it. And the West doesn't like that because it jacks up the price of oil. But there has been a report that there was some diplomacy potentially underway to have at least some kind of localized cease fire on energy infrastructure for the winter that Qatar or someone else might, might mediate. Can you confirm that to us and tell us this is before the Kursk incursion? Well, ever since the large scale invasion began, there have been numerous attempts to do, diplomacy, against the background of the region, front line. some initiatives were more successful than others. but, first and foremost, the to think that, you know, Ukraine, Ukraine was attacked, Ukraine is being attacked. It's ended. We lost half of our energy generation as a result of Russian Russian attacks. You don't have to bargain with them on this. They must stop it. This is, I think, clear. Clear to everyone. So I would, What I can say is that the rumors that Kursk operation killed the opportunity to defend Ukraine, to stop Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are largely exaggerated. As I said, you have a delegation, trying to persuade the administration to do many things. I also want to understand where you are with NATO. You were hoping for an invitation to start the process during the summer. Some it didn't come. Do you think it's going to come anytime soon? If I didn't, I when do you think it might. Well, I clearly see, an opportunity for that, to happen before the next summit, need to summit in the Netherlands in 2025. I think, you know, when there is a will, there is a way. And, the way is actually clear. You don't even have to look for it, because by all accounts, Ukraine can receive an invitation even now. Even today, because we are not talking about, imminent membership in the in NATO. This is just about clarifying the signal about removing this, the this there is a saying the constructive ambiguity in it is not constructive anymore. So, I think, for us, the issue of the invitation is still on the table. We, bringing this point up in talks with our allies, of course, first and foremost with the United States. And we want to make it very clear we're not talking about becoming a NATO member tomorrow. We are talking about extending invitation to Ukraine today. Meantime, can you tell us about the four point victory plan that you're also going to present, to the administration? What is that? Let's leave it to the president. He made, he he he made a teaser, about it and, it's it's a very short but, in, in my view, very efficient way. If, if, partners decide to, to supported President Will himself reveal all the details at the appropriate time. Lastly, as we speak and as these ballistic missiles keep raining down, President Putin is in Mongolia being received by the president that Mongolia is a signatory to the ICC. The president has been indicted, for removing Ukrainian children. What's your reaction to that? Well, did you talk to the Mongolians? Did you? Strong? Well, we told them we sent, we we sent a very clear message ahead of the visit. It was ignored. we, sent a very clear message after the visit began. It seems to be ignored as well. we will be talking, inside of Ukraine and also with our partners on how, Mongolia's respect towards its own international obligations under the. But you don't expect President Putin to be arrested while he's there. Well, I do, but, from everything I've seen so far, it seems to me that, Mongolia decided to blatantly, violate its obligations under the Rome Statute. Foreign Minister Kuleba, thank you very much indeed for being with us. Thank you. And in Washington, reacting to the Russian strike today, the US National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, offered condolences to the people of Ukraine, calling it another horrific reminder of the extent of Mr. Putin's brutality and reiterating, quote, unshakable U.S. support for Kyiv. Of course, that is something that this government would be very pleased to hear about. but they would keep saying, yes, we appreciate your thoughts, but we need the weapons to defend ourselves. Let's get back now to bianna in New York for the rest of the day's news. Such an interesting conversation and interview. And it's such a pivotal time there with that massive strike. Christiane, the casualty figures continue to climb. I'm curious, what is the mood there in Kyiv today following this devastating strike? So this is yet another one in a in a I mean, the worst one that, as we say, for for many, many months, perhaps since the beginning of the war. But there has been a real uptick, a very, very hard ballistic missile strikes all over the country, including here, including on the first day of school, which was yesterday. And, of course, it upsets people. Of course it shakes them. But we also know rescuers in Ukraine CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen shows videos from the scene after Russian missile strike in central Ukraine right now are desperately trying to clear the rubble after a Russian strike out of Ukrainian military academy killed at least 47 people or injured more than 200 others. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pike is joining us now from Kyiv. Fred, what are you learning? Other. Wolf. Well, apparently this happened after two Russian ballistic missiles struck that educational facility in the town of Poltava, which is in central Ukraine. And the way that the Ukrainians tell it is, they say that there was actually an air raid alert that went off. The sirens went off. However, the time from when those sirens went off to the impact of the missile was so short that a lot of people were still heading for those air raid shelters did not have time to get out of the path of those missiles that were incoming, and therefore were caught completely off guard. You just mentioned it. Right now, the toll stands at 47 killed and more than 200 people wounded. Now, the First lady of Ukraine actually came out a short while ago and she said this. I want to read part of her statements, quote, my deepest condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the Russian missile attack on Poltava. This is a terrible tragedy for the whole of Ukraine. Then she goes on to say, Russia is taking away our most valuable asset our lives. We will never forget that. So, as you can see, a lot of grief, a lot of anger here within Ukraine. The Ukrainians also saying that obviously emergency services were rushed to the scene almost immediately, trying to dig people out of the rubble, trying to save as many people as possible. They say that they managed to save 25 people, and 11 of them had to be dug out of the rubble. Aside from this military, educational facility. The Ukrainians also say that a nearby hospital was damaged as well. As you can imagine, the leadership of this country vowing revenge. Absolutely angry. In fact, the president of Ukraine came out shortly after this incident happened and once again called for a longer distance weapons for Ukraine and also called for more air defense weapons from Western nations. Of course, first and foremost meaning the United States, Wolf, they really want more of these Patriot air defense missile systems, which potentially could have shot down this incoming Russian missile. and as you correctly point out, Fred, President Zelensky is begging. He's repeating his call on Western allies, including, of course, the United States, to supply Kyiv with more of these air defense missile systems. It would have made a huge difference and potentially could have saved a lot of Ukrainian lives at that, Russian military educational center, the equivalent of a Russian ROTC center of Ukrainian ROTC center. I should say it would have made a huge difference in saving lives. Yeah. I mean, the Ukrainians say, well, certainly that it would have. And it's one of the things, of course, that they have been saying is that they not only need more air defense systems, but they need a lot more of those longer range air defense systems. One of the things that actually the foreign minister of this country pointed out, Dimitri Kuleba, an interview with CNN is he said, these ballistic missiles, especially the type Iskander missiles that the Russians often use, they're very difficult for surface to air missile systems to shoot down. However, the U.S. supplied Patriot, surface to air missile systems are ones that can shoot down these ballistic missiles and can also shoot down some of the more sophisticated hypersonic Russian cruise missiles. The Ukrainians are saying they need more of these type of weapons, and they don't have enough. And all this, Wolf, by the way, also coming, as we have seen, a notable uptick in the number of aerial attacks that Russia has been launching at Ukrainian cities. There was one in Kiev just yesterday, as children that were gearing up to go back to school for the first day of the new term, and also over the weekend, many aerial attacks as well, Wolf, huge development indeed. Fred Pleitgen in Kyiv. Fred, thank you very much. I want to continue this conversation. Joining us now, CNN's global affairs analyst, Mark Esper. He served as defense secretary under then President Trump. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us. Let me get your reaction, first of all, to this Russian strike on central Ukraine that killed dozens of people. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer talks to CNN global affairs analyst Mark Esper about the strike Yeah, it's a terrible assault. was it killed, as you said, dozens wounded? Well, over 200. It's probably one of the worst attacks ever. And it just highlights the brutality of the Russian onslaught against the Ukrainian people that they are raging cities all across Ukraine, without any care as to whether it's a military or civilian target. Because we know a hospital was hit in this latest strike as well. This is one of the deadliest, if not the deadliest, single airstrikes since Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than two and a half years ago. How concerned are you, Mr. Secretary, that this war could further spiral out of control? Look, I'm very concerned, Wolf, that the onslaughts will continue, cause great damage, affect the morale of the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people. At the same time, we know that Russian forces are moving closer to cross, which is a major, logistics hub in central Ukraine as well, that they may capture it fairly soon. And it highlights the importance of what President Zelensky is pressing Washington do to do, and that is lift the restrictions on the use of long range United States weapons against Russia. I think if the United States would relent, and we've been putting these restrictions on it for years now, that it would give them the chance to seize more of the initiative and then maybe rather than trying to knock down a, ballistic missile here and there, you could actually shoot at the warehouse on which the missiles are stored. I mean, it's there have been well over 240 targets identified by institutes like the Institute for the Study of War that are well within range of attack arms. If only the Biden administration would allow, Ukraine to use them against those fixed targets. And as you mentioned, Mr. Secretary, Ukraine has been pleading and pleading and pleading for a long time for the West, including the United States, for more and better air defense systems like the Patriot air defense missile system as this war intensifies. Would you expect the U.S. and its allies to be at least more willing to consider all those requests? Well, I hope so, Wolf. But there there are two issues here. One is are there enough interceptors, enough missiles. And I think clearly they need more of the what's called the pact three interceptor missiles that are used by the Patriot to knock down ballistic missiles. But the challenge they also have are enough launchers. And there's only so many of those launchers that we talk about. Patriot batteries, if you will. to to to kind of the can shoot the interceptor missiles. And I think that's a constrained number that we won't be able to produce quickly enough. And at the same time, it's important to note, Wolf, that we know that, Russia is purchasing ballistic missiles from Iran. So Russians are now in Iran training on the use of short range ballistic missiles, hundreds of which will soon be provided to Russia to use against Ukraine. So you can see that this threat, whether it's ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, is not abating anytime soon. And, Russia will continue to, to pummel, Ukraine, going into the fall and certainly try to knock out as much as they can with regard to Ukraine's energy supplies or the ability to generate power going into the winter. Retired US Army Maj. Mike Lyons reacts to the strike and possible air defense delays that failed to stop the strike one detail, from this story, sir, struck out to me. It was the limited time between the air alarms going off and the Russian strike hitting. I wonder what that tells you about Ukraine's air defense systems. Well, Boris, thanks for having me. what it does tell me is that, unfortunately, Ukraine has had to have an economy of force with regards to its air defense systems and is likely protecting other areas. And it's not saying this wasn't protected here. those systems are well far out from where these locations are. However, in this case of having too many false positives, too many times where they have an alarm go off and nothing happens, then the population becomes somewhat immune to them. So in this case, it looks like they're going to have to go back and take a look at, what that distance is. Perhaps these ones were more inside the system and they were not able, you know, to respond with air defense systems back. But again, in some ways, the population has got to recognize there's probably going to be more false positives. And next time to get to those shelters, if they can possibly do that. major Kyiv is arguing that it needs more weapons to limit these strikes. The U.S., though, has provided air defense in nearly every single aid package it's sent over. It's also diverted some $2 billion meant for other countries to Ukraine. Do you think what Kyiv has is insufficient and. It's not enough? No question about that. that that they've provided air defense systems in all different venues. For example, air defense systems have come ballistic missiles from, you know, from Russia that come from the sky, from airplanes and the like. Air defense systems have to exist in depth. you know, kind of long, medium and short range. And a lot of things that they're focused on right now is more closer to the front. They have to protect these assets back. in Ukraine, this was a target that that, again, likely was low on Ukraine's list as they have to decide who they have to protect and who they don't have to protect, that it's important for them to protect, and critical infrastructure as well as the capital in Kiev. So they could always use more, especially the Patriot missiles that would be effective against these kind of ballistic missile systems. I'm curious to get your thoughts on, this plan that President Zelensky says he's going to share with US President Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly next week? It's a plan for victory, in this war, what do you imagine that would look like? It has to be about leverage that Ukraine has gained over Russia when it comes to, their recent incursion into Kursk, into that region there. and in a way, perhaps it means there will be willing to give up land in the south and the Donbas region, an area that Russia has controlled for the past, 7 or 8 years. but but if they're going to negotiate, this is kind of the one last chance that the Biden administration can do something, in order to try to get something done before the US election, because I think Zelinski knows that Donald Trump is going to come in and likely, put a choke hold on some of the supplies he's been getting. He knows, that the the Republicans themselves are not necessarily for what's going on there. So they're going to do what they can to stop it. And that means, cutting down those supplies. So I think this is kind of his one last shot with this administration to try to gain leverage and get this negotiation over with, on the note of what the Biden administration is, allowing the Ukrainians to do. I'm curious what you think about, the list of targets that Ukraine provided the Biden administration. These are targets inside of Russia that they want to hit with U.S. weapons. What do you think the Ukrainians need to prove for the U.S. to lift restrictions on those kinds of attacks? Well, they've got a military targets, and they have to be in response to what's been coming from Russia towards Ukraine. And I do think that the administration should allow Ukraine to use those assets to that. This administration, as they look over the horizon, is trying to say, look, at some point where the United States is going to have to have a relationship with Russia when this is over. And I think that's what's holding them back here. But in the same token, we've given Ukraine the kind of capability that could force Russia to a negotiation table. So I do think that the administration should let them hit those military targets. They're doing it with drones that they're creating anyway. we saw them hit, infrastructure sites to the north of Russia. But as long as their military targets within the laws of land warfare, I don't see why not. we wouldn't allow them to do that. Major Mike Lyons, appreciate the analysis. Thanks for being with us. Thanks.