See Russian attacks underway in Odesa for the third night in a row

 There are loud

explosions lighting up the sky in Odessa

for the third night in a row.

Let's listen

I hear

anything.

You get my flak

I was just moments ago.

The Russia terrorizing

the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa.

There's been a launch of missiles,

drone strikes in the dark of the night.

Happening again

right now, our Alex Marquardt is there.

You know, you just heard his voice there.

If everyone was listening there

on the back background of that, Alex.

Describe for me

what you're hearing

and seeing here in these minutes.

Well, Aaron, this was right on cue.

Just moments before you went to air,

we started to get the first warnings

that something might be happening,

that this might indeed

be the third night in a row

that we would see a major attack

by Russia.

It is clear that this is underway.

It is quiet right now,

but this is almost certainly

a temporarily lull.

What we've seen in the past

few moments are more of those

just extraordinary scenes.

All of this firepower on both sides.

Let me remind our viewers, last night

we saw some 60 drones and cruise

missiles fired at southern Ukraine,

most of them at this city.

We have to assume that something similar

is happening right now.

And in just the past few moments,

we have seen those air

defense rounds lighting up

the night skies.

Bright red tracers, as well as spotlights

reflect it against the sky

those spotlights used

to look at to search for drones.

And then perhaps most dramatically,

Erin,

what appeared to be interception rockets

flying every which way,

one going that way, appearing

to try

to be taking out an incoming missile.

Another one.

A straight back behind me,

which did appear to take out a missile.

There was a huge explosion in the sky.

This monster glow

lighting up the night sky.

There was a lot of anxiety earlier today

and into the night, Erin,

of course, after these two

just staggering nights of attacks.

The question

whether there would be a third.

It does appear

this city is now under attack

yet again by Russia,

whether it will continue, of course.

That is the big question for now.

Last night's attack lasted over an hour

and for now,

it has only been about 20 minutes.

So we are obviously keeping a close eye

on the situation.

The the Ukrainian military had warned

that there was a missile

warning for this region

and that appears

to have materialized Erin.

And Alex, as you're

there, you're talking about the duration

that you had heard 20 minutes.

And obviously,

as I point out to people at 2:20 a.m.

where you are right now,

so so you don't know whether you're done

or in the middle or what

But you say last

night's was about an hour

when you

talk about what

you're seeing these tracers,

the spotlights in the sky,

the actual missiles themselves.

Is this more intense

than what you saw last night

or the night before?

I know this is the third night

you've been there for this

This is in

line very much with what we saw

last night,

which turned out,

according to the mayor himself,

to be the most ferocious assault

by Russia.

On Odessa since this war started.

If the attack ends now and again,

it is rather quiet right now,

except for a car alarm

that I can hear nearby.

And that's what's happened

when you've had

these rockets

being intercepted,

these Russian missiles being intercepted,

these shockwaves

just flying all across this city.

So it's very difficult to say.

But, Erin, it has been like clockwork.

I've been on your show

for the past two nights ahead

and it exactly the same time

just before 2 a.m.

starting to get word

on social media from official channels

that drones and missiles

might be heading towards Odessa.

You start to hear those air raid sirens,

then you start to see the air

defense tracers.

It looks

and I don't mean

to trivialize this at all,

but it does look like fireworks

going up in the sky,

these yellow

and red tracers that go up

and will often find a target

before that comes down Erin.

All right, Alex, thank you very much.

Of course,

we're going to keep

in touch with Alex here,

see what's happening in Odessa.

We'll go back to him in a few moments.

As this develops, this is

this is what's happening right now.

Right. This is

the live situation in Ukraine.

And it comes as we've

been getting new video

that purports

to show the Wagner chief, Yevgeny

Prigozhin, for the first time.

His first public appearance

since he led the armed

rebellion in Russia.

Now, we believe

this video was likely shot

or filmed on Tuesday night.

We cannot definitively say

it is Prigozhin,

but here's what we do know

from Fred Pleitgen.

OUTFRONT

five

Nearly a month after Wagner's Mutiny,

the private military company

and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin,

say their back.

This grainy video

which CNN cannot independently

verify, purportedly showing Prigozhin

welcoming his fighters to Belarus

from the on.

Welcome to the Bella Russian land,

he says, We fought with dignity.

We have done a lot for Russia.

What is happening

now with the front lines

is a shame in which

we do not need to participate.

We need to wait for the moment

when we can prove ourselves fully.

Prigozhin as critical as ever of Russia's

Defense Ministry

and apparently

signaling is fighters

could return to the front

lines in Ukraine.

Various social media accounts

had already reported movements

of what appeared

to be

large Bodner

convoys on the move towards Belarus

and seen an analysis of satellite

images from Planet Labs

and from Airbus showed

a convoy of Wagner

fighters had already arrived

at a formerly abandoned base

southeast of Minsk.

Some of the volunteer

fighters training

below Russian troops,

as seen here on State media,

shows a solution in providing

they have been in combat.

And this is undoubtedly

a very useful experience for our army.

This Belorussian soldier says

They saw some of the heaviest combat

in Russia's war against Ukraine.

But after their mutiny,

seen as a major threat

to Vladimir Putin's power,

Prigozhin was labeled as a traitor

by Russia's

leader,

and Wagner had to shutter its main base

in southern Russia

with demand for electricity.

The beast ceases to exist,

this fighter, says.

Wagner.

Private military company

is relocating to new areas.

Belarus seems to be

one of those new areas.

Putin apparently coming to the conclusion

he still needs the mercenaries

and their leader.

The head of Britain's intelligence

service, MI6, telling CNN

Prigozhin is, quote,

floating around after the rebellion.

If you look at Putin's behaviors

on that day,

Prigozhin started off,

I think, as a traitor at breakfast.

He had been pardoned by supper.

And then a few days later,

he was invited for tea.

And one of percussions, top commanders,

Dimitry Etkin, vowing

the mercenaries will come back

even stronger.

In Ukraine, it's not the end, he says.

It's only the beginning

of the biggest work

that will be done very soon.

And finally, welcome to hell.

Welcome to hell, he says.

And Aaron,

you know,

the US and its allies

are extremely concerned

about Prigozhin and Wagner

setting up shop there in Belarus.

They believe that it could

destabilize NATO's eastern flank.

And there are already

some Eastern European countries

who are sending additional

military assets to their borders.

To better secure them Erin.

All right, Fred, thank you very much.