Return to Transcripts main page

Don Lemon Tonight

Russian Forces Ramping Up Attacks on Key Ukrainian Cities; The Human Cost of Putin's War; U.N. Reports a Million Refugees Have Fled Ukraine in a Week. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 02, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is "Don Lemon Tonight." Here is our breaking news. New explosions hitting Ukraine's capital tonight. The massive blasts in Kyiv coming as the first major Ukrainian city falls into Russian hands. Putin's tanks are now patrolling the streets of Kherson.

We're covering all the angles of this breaking news story for you tonight. CNN's Sam Kiley is in Uman, Ukraine, Matthew Chance is in Kyiv, and Russian expert Jill Dougherty is in Moscow for us.

But I want to begin with Sam. Sam, hello to you. New explosions in Kyiv tonight and Kherson, the first Ukrainian city falling to Russian forces. Russian tanks are now patrolling the streets of Kherson. Explain why this is such a strategically important city for Putin.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very important city indeed for the Russian campaign against Ukraine. It's also a terrible loss for the Ukrainians because it's at the mouth of the Dnieper River, the river that effectively bisects the country.

But on top of that, it's also pretty close to the head of a very important water canal that carries water into the Crimean Peninsula, an otherwise parched patch of land that the Russians illegally annexed back in 2014 in their last military invasion of the Ukraine.

The Ukrainian authorities cut off that canal supplying water into Crimea back then. And now that the Russians have got control or will have control over that area, that means that they can continue to or restart water supplies, and that is a very major step forward for them.

LEMON: Sam, you're in Uman right now where people are sheltering in the local synagogue. What are you hearing from them?

KILEY: Well, Don, I mean, you can see that I'm here with absolutely minimum amount of light and that's because the entire city of Uman is under very strict blackout regulations. We're being allowed to have a very minimum amount of light.

Because on day one of the bombing campaign against Ukraine conducted by Vladimir Putin as part of what he called a de-Nazification program, a position he keeps maintaining in all talks, he says that the country has to be de-Nazified, he is insisting that he is coming to the rescue effectively of the Ukrainian population.

Now, that does not sit very comfortably or even rationally with the residents of Uman, who host many tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews every year to the -- who are on a pilgrimage to the site of the tomb of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, one of the most important figures in Hasidic Judaism.

And underneath the synagogue that is dedicated to him and houses indeed his tomb, there is the mikveh and it is the mikveh which for the local community is now a bunker, where the Jew or Jent people are being welcomed in there, given a cup of tea or coffee, sat down on the benches underground whilst what remains of the Hasidic community there tend to them.

Now, there were about 500 or so permanent residents. Most of them, like many other people, have fled to Poland or Hungary or nearby countries. But about 50 people are still there.

And the hotels around the shrine that are usually occupied by pilgrims are now being occupied by groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N. as they withdraw themselves from Kyiv for heading on elsewhere in the country to set up IDP camps for people displaced internally here in the country.

But extraordinary scenes there, particularly in the synagogue, where people are praying and studying the torah and other holy works, and all in a sense lampooning almost the idea that Putin is coming to rescue them from a Nazi regime, which of course everybody must recall is actually headed by a Jewish president. Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself is 100% Jewish, Don.

LEMON: Yeah. Interesting. Sam, thank you very much. We appreciate your reporting.

I want to turn now to Jill Dougherty. Jill joins us now in Moscow. Hello to you, Jill. Jill, we appreciate you joining us every evening here on CNN. You're doing really great work and working long hours.

We're getting this new video that's just into CNN of an elderly woman arrested for protesting in St. Petersburg tonight. She's one of more than 350 anti-war protesters detained just tonight. That is according to a local monitoring group. And you have been talking to Russians who are speaking out against the war at great personal risk, I may add. What are they telling you, Jill?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I've been concentrating mainly on young people.

[23:05:00]

DOUGHERTY: And it's -- we've talked with people who are -- who have gone to these demonstrations, these protests, and some who haven't but they're thinking about it. And they're all, I would say, really in shock that this is happening. You know, one girl said, we're kind of talking with my friends about before the war. And, you know, it sounds like World War II. She means a week ago, when this war began.

And there's a feeling that their lives are literally going to be transformed, that this is -- it's never going to be the same. This is what they're telling us.

They also feel, I think, a sense of desperation and a lack of power to really change anything. This is for the young people who want the war to stop. Because they realize that really -- again, quoting them -- all they can do is go on to the street. They have no real hope that that is necessarily going to change President Putin's decision here. But one girl said, I just have to do it.

And then there's also -- and this is a little different. A lot of them use the word shame. And they said they are ashamed for Russia, that it is doing this. And they're also ashamed for themselves that they can't change it. And that's really a strange dynamic.

And then, I think, again, this feeling that the things that they counted on, being able to travel, maybe study abroad, become Europeans or part of the world, a lot of them, these are, again, people who are more against the war, there are some who are for it, but these are people who really feel that they're losing their chance and that they could lose their chance for a long time to be really part of the world.

LEMON (on camera): It's hard to watch that video. Listen, Secretary of State Tony Blinken addressed the Russian people directly today, Jill. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: My message is that we know many of you want no part of this war. You, like Ukrainians, like Americans, like people everywhere, want the same basic things. Good jobs, clean air and water, the chance to raise your kids in safe neighborhoods, to send them to good schools, give them better lives than you had.

How in the world does President Putin's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine help you achieve any of these things? How is it going to make your lives better?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Here's a question. I was murmuring to myself as I was watching that video. He's trying to get through to Russian disinformation. But will it work? Do the Russian people actually even see that?

DOUGHERTY: Well, it depends on who are the Russian people. I mean, people older are watching TV and they're not going to hear that. But younger people are not watching TV.

One of the young women that I spoke to said she has not watched TV in seven years. And she doesn't because she just thinks it's stupid, boring, and full of propaganda. So, she's on the web, as all of the young people really in Russia are.

They're on the internet. They're looking at a whole lot I have different sites and they're getting different information. And they're also getting different information from entertainment. You know, music has become very important in this. And memes and things like that. So, they know what's going on.

And remember that over the past time that President Putin has been in office, he has been really destroying the free media here. There is no other word. And just recently with this war, it has been astounding what's happened to the really leading independent. They're small relatively, but TV Rain and Echo of Moscow radio, which is actually quite influential, they're being blocked. And you know, what is left? It's very, very difficult.

But I do think what everyone fears, of course, would be if there were a complete block of some other channels like YouTube or something that has become almost the TV of Russia right now. So, it's pretty bad situation.

LEMON: Jill Dougherty, thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Let's bring in now CNN national security analyst Steve Hall, the former CIA chief of Russia operations. Steve, good to have you on. Thank you very much. Did you want to respond to anything Jill said before I ask you?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONNAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER CIA CHIEF OF RUSSIA OPERATIONS: You know, it's interesting because Jill is absolutely right. It's really hard for most Russians to get real information. If they're getting it from TV, it's all propaganda.

The young folks are trying to use the internet but the problem is the Russian security services are really good at blocking that stuff or at the very least watching who's watching stuff on the internet and then you get a knock on the door which you tell your friends about.

So, it's a very, very oppressive but very sort of silent oppression, if you will.

[23:09:56]

LEMON: Listen, this is sort of media adjacent because U.S. officials are telling CNN about a western intelligence report that Chinese officials asked Russian officials to wait until after the Beijing Olympics to invade Ukraine. What are the implications of that?

HALL: I think what's going on there, Don, is really interesting. The Chinese are using Putin and the Russians as sort of the canary in the coalmine.

So, they're watching very carefully as to what the West's response is to everything that Putin has done in Ukraine, the attacks, military use, the massive use of force, and they're of course thinking, well, the parallel for us is Taiwan. And so, they're very happy to say, yeah, you know, Vladimir, go in there, do what you want, and then let's see and measure and very carefully analyze what happens from the West towards Russia afterwards.

So, you know, there is that sort of watching and testing type of thing. The cooperation between the Chinese and the Russians is a very complicated matter. It goes hot. It goes cold. It's a little warmer now but it's awfully tough for both sides. And make no mistake, Putin is the junior partner here.

LEMON: Yeah. We're learning that Ukrainian forces captured several Russian troops in the town of Mykolaiv today. One of the captured Russian soldiers was filmed while being allowed to call his mother. This is very -- have you seen this?

HALL: I haven't seen it yet.

LEMON: He reportedly said, mom, I am a prisoner. And, basically, mom, go to the military registration office and enlistment office and start getting together 'Council of Soldiers' Mothers' so that they would get our people out of here, those who are fighting in Ukraine. So, those were his words that we are reading back.

So, it makes you wonder, and if you've seen this video, are Russian soldiers' hearts really in this?

HALL: From what we're seeing from soldiers that have been captured -- and of course that's a little touchy there too because they've been captured. So, what are they saying? Are they telling the truth? But if we can believe and take them at their word, and some of them are so young that you kind of do, it seems like they had no idea, especially the ones training up in Belarus.

All of the sudden, they were told -- we thought we were just undergoing training and now here we are in Ukraine, we had no idea. And of course, when they get out of their armored personnel carriers, they're not fighting Americans who look different and speak a different language. They're fighting people who speak a very similar language and oftentimes the same language that they do.

LEMON: Look just like them.

HALL: Look just like they do, have similar background.

LEMON: And what I've seen, though, is they're hungry, they're cold. I mean, they're starving. This one soldier I saw could barely -- he was sipping coffee and they were giving him, you know, some sort of bread or something. And he just looked like -- he was like, I don't want to be here.

HALL: Yeah.

LEMON: Yeah.

HALL: You know, General Hertling, I think, Mark Hertling, said a couple days ago, the real problem here is going to be not tactics but logistics. And I think that's what you're seeing. If you can't feed your troops and if you can't put fuel in the tanks of your vehicles, then how far are you going to go?

LEMON: "The New York Times" is reporting tonight that many eastern European countries are fearing that this invasion of Ukraine, that it could be catastrophic for them as well. What do you think? What kind of impact did this have on the entire region?

HALL: There is a theory and I think the Baltic countries will be the first to stand up and say, yeah, we're really worried about this. There is the theory that perhaps if Putin is successful in Ukraine, that then what he will do is say, okay, I made it there, let's give it a shot in other places.

In the past, there have been another set of theories that he really wants to test Article 5 of the NATO agreement to see whether or not if -- you know, if they attack, for example, Lithuania, Latvia, whether or not the United States, you know, who doesn't -- a lot of citizens in the United States don't pay attention to that part of the world, would they really jump in and defend? The government -- our government has been very clear that we would. But there's a lot of questions there.

LEMON: This part is the frightening part, the one that frightened me and I'm sure everyone, about Putin raising the specter of nuclear weapons. How seriously should we take him?

HALL: Well, when you talk about nuclear weapons, of course, you can never be flip about it because, of course, it's horrific, what's possible. But I will say this. The Russian government dating back to the Soviet times has had an official policy, I mean this is written out on documents that you can find, that talk about using the threat of nuclear weapons, not the launch of nuclear weapons, but merely using the threat of nuclear weapons against the West because they know the way we think about it.

The way we think about it is oh, my God, this is something we can't even contemplate, it's horrific, and that our actions will change if they simply raise it, if they simply talk about it. So, it's one thing to use it essentially as an active measure, as a propaganda effort, and it's another thing to actually push the button.

LEMON: That it was de-escalation by escalation.

HALL: Yeah.

LEMON: Let's hope that that doesn't happen.

HALL: It's kind of a sick approach if you think about it.

LEMON: It really is. Thank you, Steve. I really appreciate it.

Now, I want to bring in now Nadiya Oleksenko, an English teacher in Ukraine. Nadia, thank you. How are you doing? Are you safe?

NADIYA OLEKSENKO, ENGLISH TEACHER: Thank you. Yeah, I'm safe. Me and my kids are safe. Thank you very much.

LEMON: Yes. [23:14:59]

LEMON: So, tell us what is happening right now. The air raid sirens just went off and you're -- I understand you're in a shelter. Is it a bomb shelter? Where are you?

OLEKSENKO: No, I'm home in my room. Well, we have air alarms every day. Today, we had it four times. But they say that our town is not shelved. I live in Western Ukraine not far from the Polish border. Starting from the 24th of February, from the first day of the war, we had air alarms every day.

LEMON: So, you said you're with your family -- you're with your family and you're at your home. Correct?

OLEKSENKO: Yeah. We have shelter in our house, in our cellar. When we hear an air alarm, we hide there. Me and my four kids. My husband is not home because he is in service now.

LEMON: Your husband is out fighting.

OLEKSENKO: Well, not actually fighting. He's not in the zone of active military operations. Well, he joined the territorial defense group. These are men who volunteer to join these defense groups to help our armed forces to control the villages and towns and cities, keep order, and to help function the village and city sees. These men, these territorial defense groups are ready to join the armed forces any day if it's needed.

LEMON: As I mentioned, you're an English teacher. You said you had your four children there. How old are your children?

OLEKSENKO: I have two girls and two boys. The youngest daughter is five years old. Then I have a seven-year-old boy. Then a 15- and 17- year-old boy and girl.

LEMON: Do they talk to you about what's going on?

OLEKSENKO: Yes, of course. I try to explain everything to them in terms as I can do it for kids. I calm them down every day. But they know what's happening in the country. They know what's happening with our Ukrainian people. And, well, they try to understand and they try to keep calm and be strong.

LEMON: Nadiya, what do you want people to know right now about what's going on and what the Ukrainian people would like at this moment?

OLEKSENKO: Most of all, Ukrainian people would like, of course, peace as fast as possible. And we ask the help of NATO forces to close our airspace because we don't want to observe our kids and peaceful citizens of our country to be killed every day.

Our peaceful cities and peaceful buildings are being shelled every day. And we can hear, in the news, about the maternity homes being shelled and about the deaths of innocent kids and about the deaths of the 18, 19 and 20-year-old soldiers.

LEMON: Nadiya, we wish you safety. Thank you very much.

[23:20:00]

OLEKSENKO: Thank you.

LEMON: Cities left decimated. Families separated. Scores of people killed. Our reporter shows you the brutal costs of this war next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Russia ramping up attacks on key cities in Ukraine as Ukrainian forces try to sow their advance. But a week after Putin launched the invasion, the human cost of war is on full display.

Here is CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's assault on Ukraine continues with anguish (ph).

[23:24:59]

CHANCE (voice-over): This is what's left of a university in Kharkiv, the country's second city, amid (INAUDIBLE) of civilian (INAUDIBLE). In the port city of Mariupol, also the scene of heavy shelling, local officials say hundreds of casualties are now feared (ph).

United Nations has confirmed more than 200 civilians killed across Ukraine in the weeks since this Russian invasion began. Ukrainian officials say the figure is much higher.

You think those figures would scare people off the streets. But look at the scene (INAUDIBLE) where a Russian officer holds up two grenades for protection after delivering an ultimatum demanding surrender. Shame on you, the angry crowd shouts. Just go back to where you came from.

Minutes later, the local mayor sets out Russia's terms (ph).

If we start resisting, they will shell the city, he tells crowd. But if you vote for it, we will fight back. The decision has to be taken by everyone, though, because the artillery is aimed at us.

Across Ukraine, there continued to be courageous acts of civilian defiance against the Russian occupiers. This was a scene in the southern town of Melitopol, now under Russian control. Locals literally laying in front of these military vehicles to resist.

There is resistance on the battlefield, too. Russian officials admitting nearly 500 of their own soldiers have been killed so far.

Ukrainians say the figures is closer to 6,000. By the way, the human cost of this war is already tragically high.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Russian forces making gains around several Ukrainian cities as U.S. officials warn of a pivot to strategy called slow annihilation of Ukraine's military.

Colonel Cedric Leighton is here to break it all down at the magic wall. He is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: More explosions tonight in Ukrainian cities as Russia ramps up its assault. U.S. officials warning that Russian troops could be switching to a strategy of slow annihilation of Ukraine's military. So, how much longer can Ukrainian forces keep up their fierce defense of their country?

Let's discuss now with CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, hello to you. Russia is attacking cities all over Ukraine tonight. There are battles in the north, the east, the south where the city of Kherson has fallen to Russian forces. How significant is this to the overall battle for Ukraine?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, RETIRED AIR FORCE COLONEL: It's pretty significant, Don, and good evening to you. The big thing that we have to look at here is not only what is happening here in Kherson, I will get to that in just a little bit, but the other thing is this. Look at what is going on here. You have two areas where you can very clearly see that the Russians are moving towards Kyiv right here.

That is, of course, the scene of the long -- 40-mile-long convoy that is coming towards Kyiv, which has been stalled and we think for logistical reasons, but everything that you see going on here is designed to create a situation where Russian forces can move forward. They are not doing so. They're not synchronizing their movements the way they thought they would be able to do this.

Let's go down to Kherson here and what is going on in the southern area. Why is Kherson important? It is in the south. This is the Black Sea right here and what important about this is it's very close to the port city of Odessa. Odessa is Ukraine's major port.

The other thing that Kherson is fairly close to is this area here, Mariupol, which is close to the area that the separatists have been controlling for a while, and of course, it is close to the Crimean Peninsula, which is this right here, which the Russians have annexed.

So, Kherson is one of those key points that they can jump off from. And they're already moving on from Kherson up to Mykolaiv and all into this area right here which mean that when you bring this out, you can see that it's all part of a basic plan to go into the central area of Ukraine from all of these different directions.

LEMON: Colonel, a U.S. official was saying that they have delivered hundreds of stinger antiaircraft missiles to Ukraine this week. Secretary Tony Blinken says right now the Ukrainians are still able to receive vital defensive equipment. How critical is that kind of weaponry to Ukrainian defenders?

LEIGHTON: It's exceptionally critical, Don. The stinger missile is really what's needed for them to shoot down Russian aircrafts. If they don't have stinger, they're not going to be able to do that and they're not going to be able to have freedom of movement, which means that the Russians will not only control the sky but they'll control whatever else is going on in the ground.

[23:35:02]

LEIGHTON: The stingers are vital to Ukrainian success.

LEMON: How do you think they're getting those weapons in?

LEIGHTON: Well, they're doing this this way. Let me show you what I think is happening here. They're probably using land areas coming in from Poland, Hungary, and Romania. Those areas then can be used to transmit -- transport the stingers and other equipment into Kyiv and any other areas that are resisting the Russian onslaught. So, that is going to be the key point.

What they're going to be doing here is they're going to be using as much of the land bridge as they possibly can as long as the Russians don't come in and actually take control of the airspace. Basically, right now, the Russians have not even achieved air superiority and they certainly haven't achieved air supremacy.

Those are terms of art, but basically what they mean is control of the skies. They have some of that, but it is not for all of -- over all of Ukraine. And that is one of the biggest areas that they have to work with.

LEMON: We have been reporting on this 40-mile, you know, long caravan. The Pentagon is saying that that 40-mile-plus convoy north of Kyiv has stalled. There are reports that they're having issues with fuels -- with fuel and supplies. But talk about the damage that convoy could do if they are able to fix whatever their problems are.

LEIGHTON: Right. That convoy could be actually quite significant because this is the area around Kyiv again and this is what they would be using that convoy for. It would basically be part of the movement to encircle the city.

And if they have what we think they have in that convoy, such as armored personnel carriers, tanks and parts for tanks, of course troops, infantry, those are the kinds of things that are going to be extremely important when it comes to actually controlling the space in an urban environment. That makes that convoy key if they've got the personnel that we think they have there and also the equipment that we think they have there. LEMON: Colonel, Russia is admitting that nearly 500 of their soldiers

have been killed. The Ukrainian military says that figure is actually in the thousands. Russia has got more troops and armor, but this invasion is not going the way that Russian planners had hoped.

LEIGHTON: That is correct. And Don, one of the big things about this is that the planning that the Russians did for this seemed to have been thorough when you first looked at it. But unfortunately, it lacked -- for them, it lacked the detail that they would have needed and the follow-through that they would have needed to make it a blitzkrieg-like action. It is definitely not a blitzkrieg-like action, at least not so far.

LEMON: Colonel Leighton, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Don. Anytime.

LEMON: Putin's invasion of Ukraine began one week ago. Now, Russia is finding itself more and more isolated. My next guest says this could be the end of a post-Cold War era.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Vladimir Putin's unprovoked and bloody war against Ukraine is leaving Russia almost completely isolated among nations around the world in just one week and having an immediate impact on the world order.

Let's discuss now with Richard Fontaine, the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security. Thank you, Richard, for joining us. We really appreciate it this evening.

It is now one week since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. You say that the past seven days have essentially turned the world order on its head. Explain that, sir, please.

RICHARD FONTAINE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: Well, the world this week is not the same as the world last week. If you look back a week ago, Russia was seen by Europeans and other countries as a sullen, revisionist state that would act out on occasion but not the kind of country that would foment in the middle of Europe the greatest land war since 1945.

The fact that the European Union has had this war break out on its borders means that they've done some things that are unthinkable themselves. Germany announcing a big rearmament plan and a big boost to its defense spending.

European and Asian countries and the United States enacting sanctions the likes of which have never been imposed on a country and an economy the size of Russia. Deliberately trying to foment a financial crisis in Russia and weaken that country into the indefinite future. Even Switzerland, neutral Switzerland, been neutral since 1516, announced that it would freeze Russian assets and join the E.U. in imposing sanctions. Finland, Sweden, countries that are not in NATO, now are starting to talk about joining.

And as you add all of this up, you start to see a set of alignments and an international order that is reacting very, very quickly and probably in ways that aren't going to change anytime soon to what has happened in Russia and Ukraine.

LEMON: What you have said, on top of that, the United Nations voted overwhelmingly today to condemn the invasion. Only four nations joined Russia in voting against the resolution. Do you think that Russia -- do they expect to face this much isolation?

[23:45:00]

FONTAINE: I don't think so. I think that they expected a lightning quick fleeing of the government in Ukraine and to establish some sort of fait accompli in Ukraine that would not elicit the kind of response from the international community that we've seen.

But as you just mentioned, today, in the general assembly, the kind of countries that Russia found itself together with include Syria, Eritrea and North Korea. When Vladimir Putin pledged to restore Russian greatness and its standing in the world, he can't possibly have imagined that that would be the club that he was left with.

LEMON: Yes. Major players in business, in media, sports, have all taken action as well, Richard. How would all of that influence the outcome here?

FONTAINE: It's not clear that it would influence the immediate outcome in the sense that it will get Putin to stop the war in a way that he otherwise wouldn't or to seize hostility sooner than he would have. But certainly, over the long run, this is going to matter dramatically to the trajectory of Russian power in the world to economic performance and to the life of everyday Russians.

What you are seeing is certainly the financial sanctions and the kind of export controls starve Russia key technology and other things. But, like you said, private companies are quickly divesting oil companies, Apple and other companies with consumer goods.

And what this is going to leave Russia with is a country that, whether or not it succeeds (INAUDIBLE) Ukraine, is a country that is more isolated, that has cut off the benefits of globalization, trade and technology and travel, and that has increasingly impoverished and weakened over the years.

LEMON: The erosion of democracy here in the U.S. and around the world has become more and more apparent over the past few years. Is the reaction to the invasion proved that democracy still has a fighting chance?

FONTAINE: Well, I hope so. I think that democracy has more than a fighting chance. And of course, Russia has been one of those, if not the chief external source, that has been trying to meddle in democracies abroad so as to divide what it believes to be its adversaries.

But what you saw, for example, at the state of the union address last night, for all the divisions on domestic policy and even some foreign policy matters both at home in the United States and in democracies around the world, in Europe, in western hemisphere, and Asia and elsewhere, there is a desire to Nazi autocracy and aggression triumph over democracy and the desire to let people live in peace at home.

And that is really at the most basic level of what is an issue now and it is, for all the tragedy that we've seen in Ukraine, it is encouraging to see the counter forces that are unwilling to let this simply stand.

LEMON: Richard Fontane, thank you very much. We appreciate you appearing.

FONTAINE: Thank you very much.

LEMON: One million people fleeing Ukraine in just one week. We are going to talk to folks who have reached safety in Hungary next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Experts warning that Europe can be facing its largest refugee crisis this century. The U.N. is saying tonight that one million people have already fled to Ukraine since Russia invaded, most crossing into neighboring Poland and more than 100,000 seeking asylum in Hungary.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more on what the refugees are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The train to safety arrives 20 minutes late. Rolling across the border from Ukraine, loaded with civilians. All fleeing the world's newest warzone. It is a carefully managed procession. Families emerging one by one, expatriates from South Asian and Africa, and of course, Ukrainians, welcomed by Hungarian officials and aid workers.

Each handed a solidarity ticket, a free seat on another train to the Hungarian capital where more help waits.

UNKNOWN: Will help them with traveling, with food, with wi-fi and all necessary things, even with hotels.

WATSON (voice-over): Among the new arrivals, Anastasia Hrankina, her son Mark (ph), and their cat.

ANASTASIA HRANKINA, FLED KYIV: (INAUDIBLE). His name is (INAUDIBLE).

WATSON (voice-over): They fled Kyiv on the first day of the invasion.

HRANKINA: Two days ago, I was thinking that this war is going to finish just in few days and that we won't need to even to leave Ukraine. But now, I just can't make any plans. I don't know when I'll see my family again.

WATSON (voice-over): The Ukrainian refugees are almost all women and children. Absent here, husbands and fathers, men of fighting age ordered to stay behind to defend the country.

You're going to Ukraine?

UNKNOWN: Sure.

WATSON (voice-over): Oleksandra Shulenina was on a foreign business trip when Russia invaded.

[23:55:00]

WATSON (voice-over): Now, she's hurrying back into Ukraine to collect her children.

OLEKSANDRA SHULENINA, HUSBAND IN UKRAINE: My husband insisted that I protect our children. So, I take my son, my niece. We can go to Europe where my friend is waiting for us. And he stayed in Ukraine to protect our country.

WATSON (voice-over): Anastasia Hrankina's husband is also back in Kyiv, defending the city against Vladimir Putin's invasion.

What will you tell people in Russia?

HRANKINA: I would tell them to just get rid of your president. He is insane.

WATSON (voice-over): Safe, but now uprooted, with no idea if and when these people can ever go home.

Ivan Watson, (INAUDIBLE), on the Hungarian-Ukrainian border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Thanks for watching, everyone. Our live coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)