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Don Lemon Tonight

Russia Attacks Ukraine; Biden Imposes New Sanctions On Russia; U.S. On High Alert For Cyberattacks As Russia Invades Ukraine; Subway Turned Into Bomb Shelter Amid Attacks. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired February 24, 2022 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[23:00:00]

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DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): This is DON LEMON TONIGHT. Our breaking news, it is now Friday morning in Ukraine, a country enduring an unprecedented Russian military assault, a massive full-scale invasion by land, air, and sea.

A senior U.S. defense official saying Russian forces have launched more than 160 missiles. Ukraine's president saying at least 137 of its country's soldiers have been killed defending their homeland since the invasion began more than 24 hours ago.

CNN is covering this breaking news story from all angles. Sam Kiley is in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Atika Shubert is in Lviv, Russian expert Jill Dougherty is in Moscow, Kaitlan Collins is at the White House, and Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon for us right now. Hello to one and all.

Sam, I'm going to start with you. New video tonight showing explosions in Kyiv. Let's take a look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[23:04:58]

LEMON: Ukrainian President Zelensky is saying that 137 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the Russian invasion began. Sam, what's the latest?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the most sinister development has to be the statement, the video statement, almost like a hostage video, wasn't it, when President Zelensky said in an address to the nation released on the internet that he felt that he was the target number one of potential saboteurs and infiltrators from Russia that had already arrived within the Ukrainian capital and his family were target number two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILEY: This, of course, as you'll recall, Don, it was the United States who had been pressing him prior to this Russian invasion to start thinking about relocating from Kyiv because they obviously had an inkling that this would be part of the Russian playbook, not least because, of course, British and American intelligence had been talking prior again to those invasions, saying that they had intelligence that would lead them to believe that there was going to be an attempt following a Russian or as part of a Russian invasion to decapitate the political structures within Kyiv, within the capital, within the state, the independent state of Ukraine, in order to turn it into a vessel state.

Clearly, with the heavy level of bombardment that has been recently seen in Kyiv, the pressing of paratroopers down towards and attempting or succeeding in taking over airfields, the lozenge of operations coming in from Belarus down into Kyiv, it is actually the greatest distance penetrated of this very widespread campaign from Russia into Ukraine.

Here on the other side of the country, in Kharkiv, for example, we know that there is a substantial number of Russian tanks somewhere between where I'm standing and the Russian border, which is about 25 miles away.

But we also got some information that the town of Sumy may have fallen to a Russian assault, but they seem to be forming out in a much more straight line ahead, perhaps trying to wait and see what happens in the campaign in Kyiv before really going into phase two here, which, of course, would be deeply worrying for the civilian population because it would be in phase two where the Ukrainian Armed Forces try to regain the initiative, start to put use to -- put the javelin and the other antitank equipment that they've been sent recently by the United States, United Kingdom to use, Don.

LEMON: Atika Shubert, I want to bring you in. It is early morning in Lviv, a city in Western Ukraine. Authorities there have ordered a citywide light out as a preventative measure. Tell us what it has been like there, please.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, here it's been relatively quiet, but people are very aware that things could escalate very quickly. Yesterday, we heard air raid sirens. And just about 15 minutes ago, I heard a volley of shots and then red flares in the sky and a distant plane.

So, even though this is supposed to be the safest place in Ukraine, people are still feeling very nervous here. You're right, lights were turned out last night around 11:00, and they asked this as a preventative security measure. Everyone -- they announced that everyone should stay at home, stay safe if they can, turn off their lights at home, and lights were turned out.

This was, I think, in effect to prevent anyone from becoming an accidental target just in case. It was really a preventative security in their words.

LEMON: Kaitlan Collins, talk to me about the White House conversations with Zelenskyy on contingency plans if Russia takes Kyiv. What's the plan here?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is something that they have been discussing with the Ukrainian president for several days now, just this idea of this is pre-attack on, pre -- last night when you saw all this Russian invasion happen, but it was something that clearly, based on the U.S. Intelligence that has been borne out today, they believed could happen.

And so, U.S. officials had been having conversations with the Ukrainian president about a potential contingency plan should he need to leave the capital city and maybe go to Lviv, go to a city closer to the Polish border where they believed he would be safer, because, of course, they knew what we are seeing today, what Secretary Blinken confirmed just a few hours ago, which is that they do believe Putin wants to go in and take the capital city and overthrow the government and install a pro-Russian government, a puppet government.

And so, there's no indication that Zelenskyy is doing that or that he wanted to do that. What we just know is that U.S. officials did have conversations with him about that. We know they had other conversations with him about traveling when he went to Munich last Saturday. U.S. officials had talked to him about maybe not leaving because they weren't sure what would happen if he left the country. He ended up going to that security conference, meeting with the vice president, making it back.

But, now, of course, it is clearly a real concern because that video that Sam was refencing just there of Zelensky earlier tonight, you know, he is making these videos of these heartfelt pleas to the Ukrainian people.

[23:09:59]

And this one tonight, saying that he is target number one and his family is target number two, was a very chilling statement and it really does reveal just the position that he is in as he has tried to maintain the steadfast leadership in this situation.

It just reveals the conversations the White House has had with him, there are concerns about what could happen and, of course, their major concern that Russia could definitely overtake Kyiv.

LEMON: Atika, what is the feeling in Lviv tonight?

SHUBERT: I think there is certainly nervousness, but also defiance. I mean, you mentioned those appeals by President Zelensky to the nation. Many Ukrainians have responded to that. They are encouraged by what they're hearing from the president.

And what you're seeing is defiance in many ways. You know there is now this general mobilization, which says that anybody who is able, between the ages of 18 to 60, should come up and defend the country. And we had already been hearing before the stories of people coming back to Ukraine from Poland to try and defend the country.

So, I think there is nervousness here, but also defiance and anger at what's happening.

LEMON: Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon, new satellite images show dozens of vehicles that have moved across a pontoon bridge near Ukraine-Belarus border. What does this tell us about Russia's plan of attack?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a pontoon bridge that CNN has been watching over the course of the last 10 days or so, watching it put out over the Pripyat River on Ukrainian-Belarusian border or near that border and taken down and put back up.

Now, we see forces and now we see essentially -- I believe it's tanks that we see in that imagery or some sort of vehicles on the southern side. It means that it's a strong indicator that the concern of the U.S. that's been stated, that Russia will move on Kyiv, is playing out.

A senior defense official said earlier today that Russia was drawing closer to Kyiv. That official wouldn't be specific on what that distance was. But this is already pretty much the closest point from the Belarusian border to Kyiv, some 50 miles or so, give or take. It goes right through the Chernobyl exclusion zone, which was reportedly taken over earlier in the day by Russian forces.

So, this builds that weight of evidence that the Russia is trying to, as the officials said, decapitate the Ukrainian government and put in, as we heard, a puppet government, one that is subservient to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and this is what we're seeing play out and this is what we're seeing evidence of in this new satellite imagery.

LEMON: Jill Dougherty in Moscow, we saw dramatic video in St. Petersburg of antiwar protesters being arrested. What will happen to these brave people just for speaking out?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It depends. You know, some of them could be used as examples. Some may, you know, be held in prison for or in jail for a while, detained, and then sent home with a warning that now they have a record and that that police record will have an impact on their future. Others, you never know. If they were involved in any type of hitting or even the pretense of that, they might be arrested and prosecuted. It's hard to say.

But I can say, Don, you know, the fact that there really were people on the street and not just young people but kind of a mix, it was really surprising to me because it is very difficult to go on the streets right now in Russia, any place, and protest anything that the government is doing. Ever since, you know, a few years ago, they've really cracked down. And these protests, at least the one we saw here in Moscow, was shut down very quickly.

But that said, if you look at, you know, the numbers for Russians overall, probably most of them do support this operation. But one of the reasons they support this military operation invasion is because of the stream of propaganda on TV. I mean, it is massive all day long. There are pictures of, you know, Ukrainians and fascists from World War II, Ukrainians being depicted as monsters who murder people. It is all out propaganda.

And so, a lot of people are frightened here in Russia. They believe in kind of this mirror image that Russia is the one that is being threatened, is being threatened by NATO. So, you know, that's one of the problems that people believe it.

But there are people -- you can see there were some former generals, who actually spoke out before this invasion began, against it. And I would say some in the intellectual, you know, educated big city community are beginning to speak out.

LEMON (on camera): Oren Liebermann, let us bring you back because I want to ask you about -- we have this audio tape that has emerged, reporting to be an exchange between Ukrainian soldiers defending an island in the Black Sea, cussing at a Russian warship before being killed in battle.

[23:15:02]

LEMON: I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I am a Russian Military ship. Repeat, I am a Russian Military ship proposing to put down arm immediately to avoid bloodshed and unjustified deaths. In worst case, you will be hit with a bomb strike. I am repeating, I am a Russian Military ship proposing to put down arms or you will be hit. Acknowledge.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): (bleep) it as well.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Just in case.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Russian warship, go (bleep) yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Wow, the Ukrainians are defiant, Oren. They aren't backing down.

LIEBERMANN: Two things were certain going into this, and this is what the U.S. had assessed. First, that Russia had the massively superior military and the armed forces buildup around Ukraine, and that Ukraine's military might not be able to hold out all that long. Whether that's days or weeks is unclear and the Pentagon wasn't going to get into how this was going for the Russians.

But the other thing that was clear was that if the Russians chose to become an occupying force after this invasion, the Ukrainians would put up one hell of a fight, an insurgency against a Russian occupation, perhaps against a Russian puppet government, and that spirit there, that will to fight, that will to stand back against Russia and to be Ukrainians, that's what you're hearing in that video, and that's what you're hearing from our correspondents who are in Ukraine and talking to Ukrainians on the ground there.

LEMON: Yeah. And our understanding, again, is that those folks were killed. Oren, thank you. Thanks to all our folks in the field: Sam, Atika, Jill, Kaitlan, and Oren Liebermann.

We got much more on our breaking news, Russia invasion -- Russia's invasion of Ukraine. CNN's teams are live on the ground throughout the region. Don't go anywhere.

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[23:20:00]

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LEMON: Kyiv under curfew tonight. CNN's teams there reporting hearing heavy explosions just a short time ago. The second day of fighting underway as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

Let's discuss. CNN's military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton is here to walk us through this. Colonel, thank you so much for doing this. The Ukrainian defense ministry says its armed forces have inflicted more than 800 casualties on Russian forces. They also said more than 30 Russian tanks and multiple aircraft and helicopters have been destroyed. We can't verify this, but what do you think of these claims?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, RETIRED AIR FORCE COLONEL: Well, they're quite extraordinary, Don. I mean, compared to the number of Ukrainians that are supposed -- have supposedly been killed in action, which is at 137, I believe, at last count, that's a pretty extraordinary number. If it's true, that would be a pretty lopsided situation in favor of the Ukrainians.

Now, it might be something that won't last as long as we would expect it to because, of course, the preponderance of forces is on the Russian side. In fact, you know, we have to remember that we have 150 to 190,000 troops on the Russian side, and that very fact, of course, is quite a preponderance and that's just for those military forces there.

So, if it is true, they can -- the Ukrainians can obviously withstand a lot of pressure and they're apparently fighting back in quite a decisive way. But there are some things that they'll have to remember, that they can't do this forever unless they get resupplied and that they're very careful with how they, in essence, husband their resources.

LEMON: Yeah. Let's talk more now, colonel, because it is clear that Putin's ambitions go well beyond Ukraine's eastern regions. Russians are moving in on multiple fronts. Take us through Russia's tactics, please.

LEIGHTON: Sure. So, what this would do, Don, actually is the Russians are looking at one major thing. They've got one thing in mind and that is this. And if I press this button, it might be even better. But this is Kyiv. This is the center of everything. What we've been talking about is the decapitation strike that we think might happen with this.

So, the first idea is to take out the government here. But how do you do this? Well, the one thing that they do when they get into preparing for the battle is they -- a series of phases of warfare. And right now, we're in the very first phase of warfare by Russian standards. And in that first phase, what they're doing is they're actually softening up the ground, literally and figuratively, for their next move.

This is the ultimate goal. But to get there, they have to go through here and here and here, and potentially this way as well. So, they are looking at several different things. They think they can get this very quickly, but they may not be able to do it in the way that they're envisioning it. So, they've got contingency plans to put more pressure on the Ukrainian forces. That is kind of how they do that. But the first phase of operations from the Russian side is what we're in right now.

LEMON: So, colonel, Russian forces have seized Chernobyl. That's the infamous sight of one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. What could their objective be here, seizing Chernobyl?

[23:24:51]

LEIGHTON: So, with Chernobyl, which is right there approximately, that is, you know, a very sensitive area because, of course, what they're dealing with is the radiation from the 1986 nuclear accident that was the worst nuclear accident in history.

That particular accident caused radiation spill that went over large areas of Europe, basically Central Europe, Northern Europe, and affected a large portion of that -- of the continent, and it's really bad in this area and in the southern part of Belarus.

Over the years, of course, the radiation has decreased a bit in the outlying areas, but that core of the reactor is still highly radioactive and it was placed in a sarcophagus.

So, why is it important to keep that? Well, that can be, you know, depending on what happens, that can be an accident waiting to happen. If I were the Russians, I would have avoided it like the plague, but they don't think like we do. And for them, the most important thing is to go as directly as possible to their main objective, and Chernobyl happens to be in the way of that.

So, this is why they decided that they needed to go through this area. It's also an area that's not very populated and for good reason, of course, and that is why Chernobyl has become this area where they actually are holding hostages now.

LEMON: I want to talk about the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. We don't know where he is, but he is saying tonight that he is Putin's number one target and that sabotage groups have entered Kyiv. How tactically critical is it to keep him safe right now, colonel?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's both tactically and strategically critical. He is now, whether he likes it or not, the representative of the Ukrainian nation, and I think he's actually embraced that role. But as the representative, as the head of state, he is critical. It's like in chess, the king, and this is why it's very important for Zelenskyy to be -- his entourage and his family to be kept as safe as possible.

If the Russians capture him, they will basically try him as a war criminal or potentially execute him on the spot. We don't know exactly what would happen there, but those are certainly possibilities.

If that does happen, that, of course, brings up a whole another series of questions about human rights, war crimes, all kinds of things that for a western military would be something you would never get into. But for the Russian military, they may take that as basically being the cost of doing business.

LEMON: Colonel Leighton, thank you. I learned a lot. Appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Don, absolutely.

LEMON: We're keeping an eye on the situation in Ukraine, and we're going to keep bringing you the very latest information. President Joe Biden announcing that Russian sanctions today, he's going to ratchet them up, but will they be enough? Stay with us.

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[23:30:00]

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LEMON: An angry President Biden condemning Russia's assault on Ukraine, calling it unprovoked and unjustified, and imposing a round of sanctions, saying Putin chose to launch this war, now he and his country will bear the consequences.

I want to bring in CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser. Susan, good evening to you. Good to have you here. We have seen President Biden's response to Putin. He slapped additional sanctions on Russia today, but warns there could be more. Explain these sanctions more for us. Why are they a big deal? And do you think they need to be even tougher to get Putin's attention?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Don, look, I think the concern here is what is the goal of this policy? At this point, obviously, they're not deterrent in the sense that the invasion has already happened. There was a debate beforehand, before the invasion, which Washington warned about, but at the same time, President Biden was reluctant to actually impose the sanctions. There were some Republicans on Capitol Hill, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine urged the United States to put the sanctions on first. That didn't happen.

So, now the question is -- these are much more serious than any sanctions that have been levied before on Russia, according to the experts. President Biden says there may be additional measures as well. There are still other things that the United States and Europe could do, for example, like cutting Russia off from the swift international banking system, but not everyone in Europe is on board with that.

And so, you know, there's a question about whether it's been maximal, and then there's the question of, what's the goal? Is it to deter Putin from going after other countries aside from Ukraine? Is it to get him to stop the war? By all accounts, it probably will take quite some time for the full effect of these sanctions to be felt. So, it's not clear what impact, if any, it will have on the state of Ukraine itself right now.

LEMON (on camera): Susan, Biden says that it's going to take a while to change the situation. Listen to this, and then we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening. This is going to take time, and we have to show resolve, so he knows what's coming, and so the people of Russia know what he's brought on them. That's what this is all about. This is going to take time. It's not going to occur -- he's going to say, oh, my God, these sanctions are coming, I'm going to stand down. He's going to test the resolve of the west to see if we stay together, and we will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:35:03]

LEMON (on camera): Is this a battle of wills? It sounds like that's what he's saying. And who can last the longest here?

GLASSER: Well, he is saying that -- again, I come back to the question of, you know, it doesn't really help Ukraine even by President Biden's formulation there, right, that this is going to be a long haul. And, you know, what's really painful as we watch this situation unfold is that President Putin unfortunately very likely factored the cost of these sanctions and the other actions that the U.S. and allies are taking into his decision to go into Ukraine and decided to go for it anyway.

And, you know, one thing I've observed in 20 years of watching President Putin is that, you know, he's not looking for off-ramps that the U.S. is giving him. He's not seeing behavior modified by round after round after round of sanctions. He's just not motivated by that. He's talking about an almost existential war that he's launched here to regain the Russian empire. And it's very hard to negotiate with that and it's very hard to change behavior based on things like sanctions with that.

LEMON: Yeah. We have been witnessing it on the air. We've seen a rise in divisions in this country, Susan. Biden is warning Americans will feel this hitting their pocket books. Do you think he'll be able to keep the country behind him for months, let alone, you know, our international allies?

GLASSER: You know, Don, that is I think the great fear. You know, America is not only an inward-looking time, understandably with the pandemic, with so much economic dislocation, but, you know, the political divisions are such that even on a day like today, you saw many Republicans very critical of Biden. There was not the rallying around the flag that you might have expected in a previous era today. And, in fact, there is an enormous amount of second guessing from Republicans.

I'm not even talking about those who joined former President Trump in complete, you know, admiration for Putin or cheerleading for it, even among Republicans who condemned Putin's actions. They haven't been supportive of Biden. His poll numbers are below 50%. So, it is not clear at all that he talks about tough times that the Americans may have to endure as the price of freedom.

But it's not clear that Americans are willing to pay that price. I mean, look, we're still screaming at each other as a country over taking public health measures in a deadly pandemic. So, it's -- I'm concerned that what's happening in Ukraine very far away is not something that the public is going to rally around the leader for.

LEMON: Always enjoy hearing your perspective. Thank you very much, Susan Glasser. Appreciate it.

Missiles --

GLASSER: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: -- air strikes -- thank you, Susan -- ground incursions, we are seeing all of those on video and pictures happening now. But Russia is also known for cyberattacks. Stay with us.

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[23:40:00]

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LEMON: We're back with our breaking news. Russia is waging war on Ukraine, and the U.S. is on high alert for the possibility that Vladimir Putin could lash out in cyberspace.

Joining me now, CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Andrew, thank you for joining us this evening.

A senior defense official is saying that we have yet to see Russia employing the -- quote -- "full scope of their electronic warfare capabilities." If they do, what could that look like for Ukrainians and for the U.S., quite frankly?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FBI: So, Don, Russia has the ability to deploy those cyber tools in a way that will essentially shut down essential government services, could negatively impact critical infrastructure, could make it hard for citizens to access banking and financial institutions, could slow down the logistics that are necessary to deliver goods like food and, you know, water, things that everyone needs to get by.

And that's not just in Ukraine. They have the ability to wreak that same sort of pain here in the United States as well.

LEMON: If Russia were to carry out cyberattacks against U.S. interests, how damaging could it be, Andrew?

MCCABE: There's really no limit, Don. Let's remember that the cyberspace is the low risk, low cost, and high impact weapon that Russia has in its arsenal right now, right? So, you can reap the same sort of pain and suffering via cyberattacks without sending, without firing a single shot, without sending troops overseas, without having to support a military invasion.

It's cheap, it's easy, it's done from within Russia. It's done by their own intelligence services or criminal groups, contractors that they hire that out to, and they can literally shut down sectors of economies if they wish to do that.

They have been probing our systems and invading our networks in this country for years, and many of those places done just for this, to establish the sort of capability that they can rely on in the event that they need it, and they might very well need it now.

LEMON: President Biden said today that the U.S. is prepared to respond to Russian cyberattacks should they come. What type of cyber capabilities does the U.S. have to use against Russia?

MCCABE: So, Don, our folks are just as skillful, just as practiced, just as impactful in the ways that, you know, we can employ the same sort of cyber tools.

[23:44:58]

But, you know, essentially where you are then is an all-out cyber exchange that could rope in economies and governments and large masses of people around the world.

So, those sorts of effects won't be trained simply at the United States. We know that Russia has, you know, deep grievances with all of the western European nations, with the NATO nations. So, this really could go broad scope very quickly.

LEMON: So, could we engage in cyberwarfare with Russia without there being some blowback? I mean, could Russia retaliate in some way that could put the lives of our allies or even American lives at risk?

MCCABE: It's hard to imagine -- it's hard to imagine Russia not responding if we engage in that way. I don't see a proactive, you know, aggressive U.S. kind of first strike cyberattack as a realistic probability. But let us think about this now. Russia is already on the end of extreme sanctions, sanctions that will clearly negatively impact their economy. It is completely reasonable from their perspective to strike back, right?

Vladimir Putin doesn't get hit in the face without sending a punch back in the other direction. That punch just may come in the cyber realm in a way that's designed to exert some sort of economic pressure on the United States in the same way we've put that pressure on him through sanctions.

LEMON: When you look at the lead up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Biden was quite open with the intelligence we had about Russian troops and their intentions. What's the thinking behind that strategy?

MCCABE: I thought the way the Biden administration utilized intelligence by declassifying and communicating the best intelligence they had was incredibly effective. Essentially denied the Putin administration the opportunity to do this work in secret, right?

The world knew what they were up to. That painted them into a very uncomfortable place diplomatically. I think it goes a long way to rounding up support for the U.S. position, for NATO's position, for the world's position really in opposing this level of Russian aggression.

So, it's nothing we've ever seen before. I've never seen intelligence of this quality and this scope declassified and communicated broadly in this way, but I think it was definitely the right call.

LEMON: Andrew McCabe, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

MCCABE: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: We are solidly into day two of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and our correspondents are spread out all across the region. We're going to keep bringing you the very latest right after this.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: Terrified Ukrainians running for their lives, seeking safety anywhere they can from Russia's violent military assault. The U.N. Refugee Agency saying more than 100,000 Ukrainians are on the move since the invasion began more than 24 hours ago. In Kharkhiv, many residents seeking safety underground in the subway system.

CNN's Clarissa Ward getting a firsthand look. Clarissa?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, this time last night, the square behind me in the center of the city was lit up. The streets were quiet and tensed. But nothing like this. There is now a curfew in place from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. as people in this city brace themselves for what could come next.

(Voice-over): Kharkiv residents scrambled to find shelter as Russia's brutal assault unfolds. Deep underground, scenes reminiscent of the second world war. The shock just thinking in, that what was unimaginable is now a reality, as 36-year-old Daria (ph) tells us.

UNKNOWN: You wake up (INAUDIBLE) at 5:00 a.m. and to find out that the world is no longer a safe place. We are an independent country, Ukraine. We are totally not the same as Russians. And we don't want to be a part of Russia or any other country. And I cannot believe it.

WARD (voice-over): Yesterday, this was just an ordinary metro station, full of people going to and from work. Today, it has become a de facto bomb shelter. And there are just hundreds and hundreds of people who have descended on this place.

(On camera): Fearful for their lives and uncertain of what the future will bring. And the thing you hear over and over again from people is, where can we go? Where is it safe now to go in Ukraine?

I want to be clear about something. This is not a frontline city in Ukraine eight-year war with Russia. This is a thriving metropolis of 1.4 million people who have never experienced anything like this in their entire lives.

And now, they are being forced to literally camp out with their families, their pets, their loved ones. They grab whatever they could from their homes, and they brought it here. And they don't know what's next for them. They don't know what's the new Ukraine will look like and what place they will have in it.

(Voice-over): Many we approached are too overcome to speak.

(On camera): I am asking them if they afraid. They are very nervous. Why are you nervous?

(Voice-over): Look at the situation around you, this woman says.

(On camera): I'm so sorry, this is a terrible, terrible situation.

(Voice-over): There is no doubt here about who is responsible for this conflict.

[23:55:00]

(voice-over): But few can understand why.

(On camera): So, it's interesting. I just asked them, what do they think of President Putin? Do they think he is crazy? They said, he is not crazy, he's sick, he's sick, we just want to live peacefully.

UNKNOWN: (INAUDIBLE) some people (INAUDIBLE).

WARD (voice-over): A simple plea for mercy that has, so far, fallen on deaf ears.

(On camera): The Civil Military Administration in this city, Don, has been asking people to come and volunteer. They have been looking for drivers, not for military assistance, but just to try to keep this city still functioning, keep those basic services still going. They have also been asking people to donate blood. Reportedly today, some 400 people came out do that. Don?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Clarissa, thank you very much. Appreciate it. And thank you for watching, everyone. Our live coverage continues with Anderson Cooper in just a moment.

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