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Don Lemon Tonight

Russian Convoy Advance Into Kyiv; Countries Continue To Help Ukraine; Russians Feeling The Pain Of Sanctions; Newly Weds Show Their Love For Country; Companies Cut Ties With Russia. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired February 28, 2022 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (on camera): The news continues this hour. I want to turn things over to Don and DON LEMON TONIGHT. Don?

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Anderson, it's good to see you there on the ground. You've been in a number of war zones. It strikes me, you can correct me if I'm wrong, to see this many civilians actively taking part in fighting for their country. Is that unusual? Is that something that you can speak to or you've observed?

COOPER: I mean, I think certainly the -- to see so many civilians taking part against such an overwhelming force as the Russian army, I think is really an extraordinary thing to see. I mean, I've certainly been in places where, you know, people have taken up arms, formed roadblocks and things like that, but I think it's the mobilization of the entire country, which I think was even unexpected to some Ukrainians who didn't maybe expect this to happen like it has.

But I mean, the sense of solidarity and the sense of the outrage and sort of just the defiance is -- it's -- I mean, it's a beautiful thing to witness if that's the right word, but it's really -- it's extraordinary.

LEMON: Yes, it is. One, can I just debrief you on the -- I saw your interview with the mother, the newborn actually breast-feeding, you know, you have a newborn as well. It is -- it was just -- it was an unbelievable interview, very emotional interview. Talk to me about that.

COOPER: Yes, she's extraordinary. She is in -- not even a bomb shelter. She is in a basement in Kyiv as are hundreds, if not thousands of people, families, children, women just trying to make it through the night. She's been there now for several days. She's got three children.

She was breast-feeding her 3-month-old child, and her husband is a journalist but has signed up to fight and is out with civil defense forces doing what he can. You know, it's -- there are many people who have tried to leave, you know who have left, a lot of women, a lot of children who have been able to try to get to the border, and that's an arduous journey, and it's difficult, and they've been able to seek safety, and there's many more still who are here who haven't -- don't have a way to get out or who have just chosen to stay. And the, again, this courage that they're showing in the face of this

to be taking care of three children in a basement with, you know, dwindling food supplies, dwindling medical supplies, you know, it freezing out here. You know, it is, the conditions are just going to be getting worse.

There's a -- you know, I talked to the mayor of Kyiv earlier today, Vitali Klitschko, who said, you know, there's a looming humanitarian crisis that could occur here of a lack of medicine as supply lines run short. And, you know if the worst fears are realized and what the Russian tactics may be moving forward, you know, cutting off supply lines, cutting off electricity, cutting off power, cell phone service, that is all part of the Russian playbook in a situation like this.

LEMON: Yes. And listen, the time line according to lawmakers here of cities falling and for all of those supplies getting -- dwindling is much quicker than they even thought, and that woman that you interviewed, that mother is just one of many who are facing similar situations.

Anderson, thank you so much. Be safe. We will see you tomorrow. Thanks a lot.

And this is DON LEMON TONIGHT. Here is our breaking news.

U.S. officials fear the worst is yet to come from Kyiv, a western official telling CNN Vladimir Putin's military is -- and I quote here -- "well behind the schedule it set for the invasion. As Ukrainians fight back harder than he may have expected."

And there are fears and angry and frustrated Putin will escalate. New satellite images from Maxar Technology show a Russian military convoy getting closer and closer to Kyiv, it's much larger than previously thought. More than 40 miles long, as a matter of fact.

The company notes it saw plumes of smoke rising from a number of homes and buildings near the roads where the convoy is traveling. It is unclear what caused those plumes of smoke. The White House closely monitoring the convoy.

That as members of Congress coming out of a classified briefing tonight, they said were given an alarming time line for when Ukrainian cities could fall. Senators warning the Russian invasion appears likely to intensify. And in the country's second largest city, Kharkiv's mayor says nine civilians have been killed in Russian rocket attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says civilians are being targeted and killed and accuses Russia of a war crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): It was clearly a war crime. Kharkiv is a peaceful city. There are peaceful residential areas, no military facilities.

[22:05:03]

Dozens of eyewitness accounts prove that this is not a single false volley but deliberate destruction of people. The Russians knew where they were shooting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

And there's this military strike on a supermarket and multiple apartment complexes.

This video posted online shows what appears to be rockets landing in quick succession outside an apartment block as people flee. The toll of Vladimir Putin's war after only five days, at least 406 civilians killed or injured.

The U.N. says more than half a million refugees have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries.

I want to get right now to our worldwide coverage. Let's get right to CNN's Matthew Chance in Kyiv, Jill Dougherty is in Moscow, Sara Sidner on the border in Poland, Phil Mattingly at the White House, and Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon.

Matthew, to you on the ground in Kyiv first. The White House is keeping an eye on this massive 40-mile-long Russian convoy. We have new satellite imagery showing images of it. It's reached the outskirts of Kyiv, which we know Putin wants. The Ukrainians have been incredibly strong so far, but what's on the way now looks like an enormous second wave, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it does, and I think it marks the end, perhaps, of that initial strategy of Vladimir Putin to fly in special sources in small sort of cramped groups and hope that the Ukrainian military fold and, you know, achieve a quick takeover of the Ukrainian capital.

If that was the initial tactic, that has completely failed. The airports haven't necessarily been held that were originally taken by the special forces that were flown in. The defense of Kyiv has been, you know, really much more impressive by the Ukrainian security forces and the various civilian defense outfits than anyone had really anticipated.

And if Vladimir Putin felt that or thought that there was going to be mass defections to the Russian side, they were going to be welcomed with open arms, the military were going to fold here in Ukraine, I mean, he was very, very much mistaken.

And we've seen sort of evidence, you know, on the streets of that failure. I mean, earlier I came across and we've seen this multiple times, but earlier today I came across a Russian armored convoy that had attempted to, you know, move down a bridge towards the capital and had been absolutely hammered, devastated by concerted Ukrainian defense.

I mean, no one in that convoy could have survived. There were dead bodies strewn all over the place, and I think that's been a real wake- up call for the Kremlin. Now, there's a possibility they could back down, of course. That's always a possibility, a very remote one, and perhaps cut their losses and run. It's not in character with Vladimir Putin, though, and all the signs, particularly with that massive long convoy of armored vehicles heading towards Kyiv now, all the signs are that Vladimir Putin is much more likely to double down than to back down. Don.

LEMON: To Oren Liebermann now at the Pentagon. U.S. officials fear the worst is yet to come for Kyiv. So, talk to me about the supply lines for security assistance. Anderson just mentioned that. Is the U.S. still able to get military assistance and other help to Ukraine?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon is confident that it is still able to get the supplies into the hands of the people who need it. Now of course they're very cagey about exactly what goes in, although they have said that lethal and nonlethal assistance continue to go in including within the last day, and they're also very cagey about how it gets in or how it comes.

We know or are at least confident to say the U.S. isn't going through the air because the air space is contested. And the U.S. wants to avoid any sort of confrontation between U.S. forces and Russian forces. That still leaves a few options, basically through the western borders of Ukraine, whether it's Poland, Romania, Slovakia.

When we asked are you confident that it's getting to those who need it. Are you confident the line are still open, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby essentially said, yes, we're confident it's going in and on top of that he said, they're confident they're using not only the U.S. aid but also aid from other countries that Ukrainians are using it effectively?

Now as Matthew just pointed out, it is a question of numbers right now. Do they have enough aid? How much time do you have left to get more aid in, and how creatively can you continue to use the lethal assistance you're getting against a much larger force. That's a question, don, we may very well be about to horribly find out the answer to.

LEMON: All right. Oren, stand by. Phil Mattingly at the White House now. Almost overnight the U.S. and its allies will turn Russia into a financial pariah state with crippling sanctions.

[22:10:03]

You have reporting tonight about the behind-the-scenes months' long diplomacy at play here. What do you know?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Don, I think the scale and the velocity of the sanctions package by more than 30 countries from four continents surprised even some officials here at the White House. But the origins of that package, actually getting to that outcome started in mid-November. It was at that point I'm told by several officials that three cabinet agencies, officials from three cabinet agencies across the National Security Council really put the full weight of the Biden administration behind crafting that package, trying to let their European counterparts in particular. But also, those in the U.K., Australia, Canada, other countries as well, know what was coming and what they thought the response should be, and the scale of that response changed over time. It evolved over time.

It evolved in particular over the course of the last several days when one European official told me that they saw what was happening, they saw the images but they also heard directly from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and it completely changed the trajectory of that package. And what that means, both the work that the U.S. officials put behind the scenes over the course of the last several months and in this kind of almost peaking moment over the course of the last several days is the most unprecedented sanctions package for a country of Russia's size, $1.7 trillion, it's integrated in the global economy like we've never seen before in terms of targeting in these phases.

And you can look at what's happened in Russian markets to see the immediate effect. You had the ruble down more than 30 percent at one point today. The ruble against the dollar, $0.01 was the value, less than $0.01 at some points. The stock market closed. You see lines across banks and ATMs.

There's a recognition that these sanctions are real, these sanctions have bite. And Don, when we talk to officials here at the White House, they say the real bite of the sanctions will happen over time. How the sanctions package actually came together, in large part, because the Biden administration when most nobody was paying attention, European officials were still skeptical about that intelligence was working behind the scenes to put it together.

What they have put together not just in terms of the actual sanctions but scale of the coalition, it's something that we simply haven't seen before and it underscores the seriousness of this moment.

LEMON: Jill Dougherty in Moscow now, two Russian oligarchs are calling on Putin to end his war. Russian authorities have detained nearly 6,000 people for participating in unsanctioned antiwar protests since the war started. The big question is through all of this what are people of Russia really thinking about this unjust war?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CONTRIBUTOR: You know, it is so hard to say because it varies. You really -- I still think that probably the majority support this operation and primarily because they've been watching on TV and being given this idea by the government, of course, that it is an attack on Russia, that Ukraine is being used by NATO to attack Russia, and what's more, they are ne-fascists and neo-Nazis.

So, there's, you know, among the people who are watching TV they really do think they had to have this war, this is important to protect Russia. But you know, there are, as you mentioned, there are protests. They are not huge, but they are significant and especially they're significant at a time where it is very dangerous to really protest, you know, people have been arrested and detained.

Usually, they're held and there has been some violence. We saw it, you know, in previous video, but that is growing, and you also had a little bit of pushback in the parliament, two or three people who were criticizing it, but essentially, I think, you know, there are a lot of people who are still convinced by President Putin and the massive propaganda campaign right now.

And Don, I just wanted to add one thing about the military side, you know, President Putin today spoke with President macron of France and after that meeting, the French came out essentially saying that they are more worried, you know, about escalation.

In fact, a spokesperson for the Elysee Palace said there are good reasons to fear that civilians will be targeted more massively and without precautions by the Russians. So that is coming after the conversation between President Macron indirectly with Putin. So, it's a very worrying sign.

LEMON: All right, Jill, Oren, Phil and Matthew, please stand by, everyone. Thank you so much.

The world has turned upside down in Ukraine in just a matter of days. Now a couple who got married just hours after Russia invaded their country, they are fighting to defend Ukraine. You're going to meet them next.

[22:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): I want you to take a look now at your screen. We're getting a look at that new satellite, new satellite images showing a 40-mile-long Russian convoy getting closer to Kyiv tonight.

That's especially alarming for my next guest. Just days ago, a Russia -- as Russia began its invasion, Yaryna Arieva and Sviatoslav Fursin rushed to tie the knot. Here they are just hours after their wedding. They grabbed weapons and joined to protect -- joined the fight to protect their country.

I'm honored to be joined now by Yaryna and Sviatoslav. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. We know that it is a very trying time for you. How are you doing? Are you safe at the moment?

YARYNA ARIEVA, MARRIED ON FIRST DAY OF RUSSIAN INVASION: Hi, it's 5 a.m. in Ukraine, and everything is mostly silent here right now. You know, it is kind of weird. It's the sixth day of Ukrainian/Russian war, and the first day of spring, and very soon people will shelve their ground in their countries to plant some flowers, some trees and we have to shelve our ground just to -- just to make -- how is it called? Just to make the troops.

LEMON: Yes.

[22:19:58]

ARIEVA: And that's -- that's really weird. That's really hard like understanding this new reality we have. But still, everyone here has a great mood. No one here is like we will lose or crying or something like this. Everyone here believes that we will win. That's just only question of time.

LEMON: Yes.

ARIEVA: And I'm really happy to see such a great amount of people really being ready to fight, being ready to kill for their land and having no doubt about our win in this war.

LEMON: Well, let me ask you this, I told a bit of your story, and we'll get to it, but since you're there, how do you, where does this come from, you know, this -- that you guys are so willing to take up arms and fight a trained army, civilians who have not necessarily been trained. What is -- what is forcing you to do that?

ARIEVA: You know, this is our land.

SVIATOSLAV FURSIN, MARRIED ON FIRST DAY OF RUSSIAN INVASION: Yes, we love our land.

ARIEVA: We love our land. We love our city. My husband was born in Lviv, it is west -- western Ukraine, I was born here in Kyiv. I have spent all my life in Kyiv. I have worked here. I have friends here. I have my home, my family, my beloved people here, so I didn't have any other choice. Just I have to protect it.

Even though I can't go on some combat missions because I'm not so physically strong as my husband who come on them and who has come back like one day ago from a two-day very long and very hard combat mission, but still, I do some volunteering work right now, still working as much as I can because everyone here works like for days and believes that we will win. That's all we can do, working and living.

LEMON: Sviatoslav -- Sviatoslav, you said that you love your land. Talk to me more about that.

FURSIN: Actually, as you can -- I was born in Kyiv or sorry in Lviv and I know my -- I know my country as beautiful and really -- and really different and really -- and really conservative people. I know my land as -- I know my land it's a country who always want to be free, people in this country always want to be free.

And these people is ready for -- to fight for their freedom. It was in 2014 on Maidan when Yanukovych plead to Russia, it was in 20 -- 2004 when it was Orange Revolution, and it is now when it is going to the Russian invasion.

And everything about our country, everything that you should know about our people, our country, for us, for us, it's a question of our -- it's a question of our honor. It's our -- it's our family, first of all. It's our family and we really -- and we really love our country, and we don't want to be -- we don't want to be again a Soviet Union or something like that.

LEMON: We're looking at pictures now that were just pictures up of, Yaryna, of your wedding. You guys were supposed to get married in May. You decided to do it earlier. This should be your honeymoon period. What has it been like living in a city now under siege? Where are you sleeping? Is there power? How do you get your food?

[22:24:53]

ARIEVA: So, at the first day when we got married, we just came back home to my parents' home and everything was mostly OK there, but in the next morning, the -- we have heard the shootings in -- near our homes, and it was, you know, really, really scary and hard just to stay there and to hear that doing completely nothing.

And we have decided to go to the tutorial defense force, and right now we are here for the fifth day, if I'm not mistaken, and we had just -- it is easier here because we do something. We always know what work to do, what work to do, what we can help with, and if we can fight, they just -- they tell us where to go and what to do. Like for my husband.

Of course, like it's kind of hard and it was hard waiting for my husband to come back from a combat mission for the first time, but still, we have some food in here, like volunteers are working and people are bringing food. Everyone here is helping each other, and that's really cool.

And like right now, right now everything is mostly fine. We just have a lot of times when we hear the -- someone screaming here and we have to just stand up and go to a shelter and stay there like for 10 minutes.

But still there is a lot of our friends here also working, volunteering or going on some combat missions and I'm very happy to see them. And we also have made a lot of new friends. People here just are fantastic. They are laughing at Russia. They are laughing at animals -- at these animals who came to our land.

And as I have told before, no one has doubt about our about -- about this that we will win. That's the question of time. People in here are sitting in a shelter and joking about them. People in here are sitting in a shelter not shaking and crying. People in here are sitting there and maybe playing cards some -- I remember we have played kind of corruption game cards with our friends and that was cool, and life here is kind of different, but it is life, and people communicate.

People joke about them. People laugh, and that is -- that is very interesting to see. Just another kind of life which has changed with the beginning of war, but still life.

LEMON: Sviatoslav, I have to ask you, you know, she talked -- Yaryna just said that you're not sitting cowering afraid in a shelter, that you have been out fighting. I'm wondering if you're concerned at all, though, about Putin saying that he's going to ratchet up or increase the pressure and troops and that it's going to become worse or bloodier or harder for you to fight back against the Russians? Any concern about that?

FURSIN: Yes, I have some concern, but only in case that my people, my family, family of my wife, my sister can be hurt, only in that case. But I know that me, my comrades, my commandeers do everything, we will do everything to protect them, and I do everything to protect them.

LEMON: I want to -- can you guys -- I want to take a break, we want to come back and talk to you. Can you stay with us for a few more minutes and we can come back and speak with you, please?

ARIEVA: Of course.

FURSIN: OK.

LEMON: OK. I want to talk to them about what is happening with other people if they're talking to their friends and families and neighbors and what they're experiencing as well. We'll be right back with them on the other side of this break. Don't go anywhere.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): All right, everyone. We're back now with Yaryna and Sviatoslav. They got married the first day of the invasion and then took up arms the next day. We're so glad that you stayed with us. So, thank you so much.

Yaryna, talk to me about where you are now, your neighborhood, what does it look like?

ARIEVA: We are in the town of Kyiv really close to the governmental streets, and we are the place which was an office before, even I was working here before, like the war, and I know this place pretty good. But right now, it's kind of strange.

You have -- you know, you can see the documents, a lot of documents in here, and that's the place we are sleeping like this room, our friends helped us just to have a -- to stay here and to have some rest.

[22:35:01]

People in here are just sleeping on the floor on some mats everywhere they can. But we are -- still have a great mood about everything, still the office building is not a building which is good for a tutorial defense force. It has a great position and it has just a lot of rooms and a lot of places we can use right now.

LEMON: What do you need from the United States and the rest of the world? Either of you can answer.

ARIEVA: I want people to gather together and to go on strikes and to their governments, to the Russian embassy. I want them to say that they want more strong sanctions against Russian federation, and they want support and help for Ukraine.

You have to understand, we will fight. We will -- we are ready even to die for our land, but we will never surrender, and no one here has any doubt that we will win. That's only the question of the time. We really need everything you can help with. Money, food, weapons, medicines, everything you can give us, -- give it to us, we will use it.

We will fight it. We will protect our lands. We will protect also Europe and western normal civilized world from Russian federation. We just need help right now and we will be fighting for our land and for the rest of civilized -- civilized world also.

LEMON: Sviatoslav, how do you -- how do you want this to end? How do you I know you said how you think it will end, that you'll be successful, but how would you like this to end?

FURSIN: Well, (Inaudible) this is end. I hope that my comrades, my family, my wife, I hope that they all will be alive and I can -- I can gather them all in one place and drink a good cup, a good glass of wine and say everybody hooray, war is end. We win.

LEMON: Have you had a chance to speak to your family members? And if so, what are they saying? How are they doing?

FURSIN: Yes, I have some chance to speak to my family members, actually, when I was come back from the mission, I called my mother. My father just now in regional in regional -- in regional civil defense in our city in --

ARIEVA: Near.

FURSIN: -- near Kyiv. They had really some problem because every bridge to the city are full down and they just -- they even don't have arms to protect their home. We can't -- we just can't -- we just don't -- our comrades, our city just don't have time to send them armor. Not very good, but as I can -- but as I can talk from my mother, they're safe. They're ready to --

LEMON: You're still there. Can you hear me? You're good. We can still see you and hear you. You're fine.

FURSIN: Yes.

LEMON: So, let me just ask you before, listen, I'm not going to sit here and pretend and be the big anchorman and know everything. I'm not sure it's the perfect question, but I know that this is an opportunity for you to speak. We don't often see this and for people to hear what you have to say, so I will ask you.

[22:39:55]

Did you get -- have the opportunity with the world watching, did you say everything you want to say being in this unique position that you're in? Is there anything else you would like to say to the world, to your family, to anyone who's listening?

FURSIN: Well, I want -- I want everybody in this world including Russia, including Russian people maybe, remember that we fight, just like now we fight against Putin with his pocket, pocket generals and we fight for free -- for the freedom world. We fight for what resolve in new Soviet Union but without of course --

LEMON: Take your time. You're fine.

FURSIN: Yes, without -- without -- without -- without --

ARIEVA: Danger.

FURSIN: -- without army -- conflict -- conflict dangers, and we fight for freedom to everyone, and we want to see this freedom in every country, every city, and every man in this world. Man and woman, children and old men and young men.

LEMON: Your courage --

ARIEVA: You know --

LEMON: -- is to be admired. Go on, Yaryna. Sorry.

ARIEVA: You know, it isn't the first Russian and Ukrainian war. We have been fighting for 300 years. Or even more, but it is the last one, and I know we will win. We just need the help and the support from all around the world. We just need sanctions against Russia.

We need to, I don't know, maybe kill their economics so if they couldn't feed their people, we hope they wouldn't feed their army who kill our people, who use our children and our women just to pass some more distance without being shooted by Ukrainian army.

And they do awful and terrific things right here, so we need everything the world can give to Ukraine and we need everything the world can provide against Russia, and we hope for you, and I believe, I know we will win together.

LEMON: Well, thank you both. Please be safe. We'll check back in with you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

ARIEVA: Thank you.

FURSIN: Yes. Thank you so much.

LEMON: Thank you.

We'll be right back.

[22:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): The battle lines shifting tonight as Russia continues its all-out assault on Ukraine. Ukrainian forces putting up stiff resistance in key areas around the country. U.S. officials now warn the worst could be yet to come.

Joining me now to discuss CNN military analyst and retired air force colonel, Cedric Leighton. Colonel, thank you so much for joining. I appreciate it.

Let's get to Russian troops meeting with fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces, particularly tough fighting in and around Kharkiv. Where does this battle go to next?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So, Don, what we're seeing here, so this is Kharkiv right here. What I think is going to happen is that the troops that are -- if they do take Kharkiv, there's as you said lots of fierce fighting there. If they do take it, they'll then move from there to Dnipro, and they will join with forces from the south here. And then once that's done, I would foresee that the Russians would try to do this. That they would try to join their forces and then move up in the direction of Kyiv.

And of course, in Kyiv they're moving down this way as we saw with that 40-mile-long column, that convoy that we've talked about before. That, of course, is focused right on Kyiv right there.

LEMON: Listen, quickly, Congress said they got, you know, this alarming time line of when Ukrainian cities could fall. How long can they hold out?

LEIGHTON: It really depends on, you know, how things go with urban combat. But I would say they could hold out anywhere from three days to five days. It really depends, but if they get more aid, it could be potentially indefinitely.

LEMON: Colonel, thank you so much. We appreciate that.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Don.

LEMON: The west is unified, sanctions are crippling Russia's economy, companies, sports teams, universities one by one pulling out of Russia. But how is it all impacting Putin's next move? Stay with us.

[22:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): The White House now monitoring the miles long convoy of Russian forces approaching Kyiv tonight.

Let's discuss now with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman. He is the former director for European affairs at the National Security Council. Thank you, Colonel. We appreciate you joining us once again this evening.

We're entering day six of the Russian invasion and looks like things could escalate quickly. Russian forces just outside of key Kyiv with a 40-mile-long convoy. But we have seen Ukrainians repel several attacks. What do you make of their resolve and to try to keep hold of the capital for this long?

ALEXANDER VINDMAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, EUROPEAN AFFAIRS FOR THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Thus far, that's been the decisive factor in this sixth -- going into the sixth day of war. Sorry. Thus far, that's been the decisive factor in the six-day war and it's going to probably continue to be the most important thing for the Ukrainian side. LEMON: That's OK, colonel. If you have a -- you can turn it off if

you have a do not disturb, you can put it on. We understand you're it from home.

VINDMAN: I thought I had it on.

LEMON: That's all right.

VINDMAN: Yes, I am. I thought I had -- so, I'm not sure why it going off. But I apologize. Let me try that again. So yes, it's the decisive factor, the Russians are pivoting to a new series of tactics. They are going to be a lot more aggressive in targeting civilian populations to affect the moral. They are going to start using a lot more air power and that's going to start to degrade Ukrainian operations but regardless, the Ukrainians have felt success.

[22:54:58]

They've had five days of holding out against the odds and I think this is not going to be something that plays out over the course of hours or days. It's likely to be something that plays over the course of weeks. And at that point, that's when Vladimir Putin starts to face challenges at home with body bags coming back and with economic pressures.

So, this is going to play out very different than Vladimir Putin initially thought it would.

LEMON: Colonel, you know, Russia's military seems to have been exposed. Its economy is being crippled from sanctions and the -- there's the, of course, the cultural backlash. Key sports leagues have cancelled events in the country or banned Russian teams from playing. MIT is cutting ties with partner school -- a partner school in Russia.

The Metropolitan Opera says it won't work with pro-Putin artists. Social media companies are taking their own action, oil companies are offloading shares in Russian companies. I mean, that is a lot. Tonight, Disney says that they will stop releasing films in the country. Russia loves to try to look strong but is that facade being stripped away now?

VINDMAN: Unfortunately, it's irrelevant. Vladimir Putin has committed all his resources on this -- on this operation before he got to Ukraine, kind of make or break for his legacy. He's either going to be successful and pull Ukraine in and start to rebuild Russian power or this is going to undermine his entire project.

So, all these other things could play out on a longer time frame over the course of weeks and months but that's not what we have here. We have -- we have days and weeks. So, if the Ukrainians hold out, then these other factors could start to bring to bear a pressure on Vladimir Putin.

Until then, we need to keep supporting Ukraine with all the resources that they're asking for, these jets coming in from Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia are going to be particular especially with regards to attacking this convoy that's just parked like sitting ducks. They just need to get -- get some forces on it and destroy it.

LEMON: Colonel Vindman, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

VINDMAN: Thank you.

LEMON: A 40-mile-long military convey approaching Kyiv -- approaching Kyiv, I should say. The former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper is here along with correspondent live across Ukraine and Moscow. Much more after this.

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