American fighters seek to help civilians across Ukraine
Russian forces have breached a besieged steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, leading President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ask the United Nations for help in rescuing the remaining civilians trapped inside. Mariupol has been shelled relentlessly for over two months, but there is still a final pocket of resistance.
Inside the Azovstal steel mill, dozens of civilians are holed up alongside hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who refuse to surrender. They've been joined in this war by American fighters like Manus — who has been blinded by shrapnel.
"I'm young, I can take it, I'm a man, I'm young," he said. "It's the kids and old people who I really worry about."
The U.S. fighters are not just casualties of the war, but heroes. Red Taylor and two friends were fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers when their vehicle hit a landmine, leading them to drag volunteer fighter Vitaly from the burning vehicle.
Their actions saved his life, and Vitaly told CBS News he's now worried about theirs.
"I don't want something to happen to them. I want them to be alive," Vitaly said. "I can't imagine my life without my saviors."
Things could continue to get worse in southeastern Ukraine, where already thousands of civilians have died The Associated Press revealed Wednesday that the civilian casualties in the March bombing of the theatre in Mariupol are double the number initially reported — with 600 people killed.