Return to Transcripts main page

Don Lemon Tonight

Thousands More Able To Flee Ukraine; Russian Regiment Targeted By Ukrainian Soldiers; Citizens Sacrificing For Democracy; Vladimir Putin Got Nothing To Lose; A Useless Meeting Between Leaders; Good Comes Out Amid Crisis; Russian People Rejected In The World Stage. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired March 10, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: More air raid sirens. Earlier in the program we interviewed an American man named David Walzer who in 2020 had a child born via surrogate in Ukraine. When David saw what was happening in Ukraine, he came to Poland because he just wanted to help. He didn't know what he would do, but he just wanted to do something.

He ended up going to the train station and started helping arrange Airbnb's for people leaving Ukraine, and his effort has kind of taken off. He's got a family right now of like 15 kids, four parents, two babies staying with him.

If you want to help, you can go to the GoFundMe pages he started at the address you see below on the screen, or you can also if you don't have time to take that down, or you can also go to Facebook and search Daveed, D-a-v-e-e-d and Care Bridge.

He was just somebody who was watching this on television and decided he wanted to do something. He calls it an act of radical empathy. It is an act of also radical compassion.

Stay with CNN for the latest from Ukraine. The news continues, let's turn things over to Don and DON LEMON TONIGHT. Don?

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: So, I'm glad he is doing that, but I'm also hearing, is that air raid sirens behind you? What is going on, Anderson?

COOPER: Yes, those are air raid sirens. It's the first time in a couple of days that that there been air raid sirens here. As you know the city has not been directly hit, so for most people oftentimes there are sirens but it doesn't amount to anything. So, people have to make the judgment whether to go down to the basement or shelter or not.

LEMON: Yes. It is because it has been said that Lviv was as safe as you could be in war, fairly safe or safer than other areas, but with air raid sirens going off, that is a bit concerning. COOPER: Yes, I mean, it's, you know, Ukraine is a war, so no place

and any place --

LEMON: Yes.

COOPER: -- is possible to be attacked, but again, this has not been directly attacked and obviously Russian forces are really focused on Kyiv, Odessa, you know, Kharkiv, all of the places, western -- the western part. This is really the reason -- one of the reasons so many refugees or internally displaced people are either coming to Lviv or moving, transiting through here.

So hopefully this area stays, you know, relatively untouched because it is an important transit point for people in Ukraine.

LEMON: Right on. Anderson, thank you very much. Be safe. We will see you again tomorrow.

This is DON LEMON TONIGHT.

And this is our breaking news. This is our breaking news. As you hear there in Lviv, there are air ride sirens going off. We will keep an eye on that and check in with our crews there. As a matter of fact, we're going to check in with Michael Holmes in just a little bit to see what's going on there.

But the breaking news now as Russian forces are moving closer to Kyiv. That's their target. They want Kyiv. One group reportedly just nine miles from the city's center. Thousands of people desperately trying to escape with time really running out. The president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that about 40,000 people have been evacuated just today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Almost 40,000 people have already been evacuated this day. They were given safety at last in Poltava, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Lviv. We are doing everything to save our people in the cities that the enemy just wants to destroy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: But as Russian forces close in, Ukraine is fighting back. I want you to take a look at this. Look at that, incredible drone video of Russian tanks ambushed in the city of Brovary on the outskirts of Kyiv picking off tanks, and they're doing it one by one. Look at that video. The Ukrainian military says it's defeated the entire regiment.

Now they say that they are, quote, "liquidated its commander." The U.K.'s ministry of defense saying tonight Ukraine's strong resistance is forcing Russia to move more and more forces to encircle key cities leaving them with fewer forces to continue their advance. And further slowing Russian progress.

And you have got to see this. The dramatic moment as Ukrainian emergency services defuse a bomb from a downward Russian fighter jet in Chernihiv while you can hear what sounds like explosions in the background.

[22:05:12]

I mean, that is really amazing. Something that you only see in movies. That is real life there on the ground. Also, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies show the before and after of a supermarket in Chernihiv destroyed by fire. These images are just unbelievable coming in every single day.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden today calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine, quote, "a threat to international peace and stability." U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield calls Russia's attack on Ukraine's people war crimes. That is the first time a senior U.S. official has directly accused Moscow of war crimes since last month's attack on Ukraine began.

What is happening to Ukraine is clear to see, in all of its horror and wanton death and destruction, which brings us to that failed diplomatic meeting today in Turkey, in the life of Russia's foreign minister who had the audacity and the depravity to claim Russia did not invade Ukraine.

Then what have we been watching? We see the atrocities with our own eyes every single day in images that are disturbing to look at, but we can't afford to look away from the reality of what's happening. Ukraine's foreign minister tweeting video of sick orphans being hurried -- hurriedly evacuated into ambulances from a suburb near Kyiv. One was clearly unconscious.

We don't know whether these children were injured in the fighting, but the people in the suburb have been without water. They've been without medicine, without food and power for days now. Pregnant women injured in an utterly outrageous assault on a maternity hospital carried out on a stretcher.

So many people killed in Mariupol, a devastated city with no food, no water or power. They're being buried in mass graves. That is the reality of the war in Ukraine, and I'll say it again this evening. It's a cliche, but it's true. War is hell.

I want to bring in now CNN's Michael Holmes on the ground for us live tonight in Lviv. Michael, are you experiencing what Anderson was experiencing just moments ago, the air raid sirens? What's happening?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, they've stopped now, Don. I've got to tell you, I've been here nearly a month, they've been pretty regular. We haven't heard them for, I don't know, probably nearly a week now, and nothing has happened here.

I heard Anderson talking to you earlier, and yes, nothing's happened here. So, you know, I hope they're not going to cry wolf one day, but there's been no activity here, and people pretty much sort of switch off. We don't really do anything now. A lot of people do go down to the shelter, but a lot of us don't. LEMON: Yes. So, let's talk about what's happening in the suburbs

around Kyiv. They're incredibly dangerous right now as Russian forces attempt to encircle Ukraine's capital. What do you know about that, Michael?

HOLMES: Yes, there's been a lot of fighting, Don, in recent days on the outskirts of the capital. It's been pretty active around the north and the northwest of the city. But you know, now it would appear Russian troops are making a push slowly for the east of the city.

You know, I know you've mentioned that column 40 miles, 65 kilometers long. That seems to have dispersed. That's difficult to tell when they're gone. They've probably taken cover and made some sort of movements to, you know, spread out a bit and make their incremental moves.

Kyiv is still bracing for being encircled and perhaps cut off, you know, the mayor, Vitali Klitschko said -- said that and many Russians have also been saying that many Ukrainians, rather have been saying that the Russians likely want to encircle the city, cut it off, overthrow the government.

The sense is that the plan would be bombardment from the outside. And we only have to look at Kharkiv and Mariupol to see how bad that could be. Half the population, up to two million people have left the capital, but a lot of concern about what these moves around Kyiv mean. There have been some evacuations by train. That's ongoing. And we have seen some successes with Ukrainian forces.

I know you've shown the video, you're going to show the video of them picking off tanks and so on. Russia has a lot of tanks so it's difficult to know how effective those operations are in the big picture, Don.

LEMON: Now to Mariupol. That is where a lot of the fighting, the maternity hospital was located that they bombed. The city remains totally blocked off without aid. What do you know about there?

HOLMES: Yes, that besieged city still suffering unimaginable things, Don. I know we talked last night, and one of the most striking images to me, the mass graves, stunning and sickening to see such a thing, you know, trenches and bodies being put into them.

[22:10:01]

Necessary because there's no other choice. The bombardment of that city continues. It is relentless. It is surrounded on all sides, including from the sea. The Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said that, you know, despite Ukrainian officials' best efforts to make a humanitarian corridor work, his words earlier were, you know, Russian troops did not ceasefire.

The mayor there saying it's obvious Russia is trying to destroy all the infrastructure there and completely isolate the city. With still so many civilians inside, the mayor said in a video message, Don, Russia's -- he said it was Russia's, quote, "cynical and destructive war against humanity."

And one other thing, I think we've talked about this before, too. Mariupol is so key for the Russians. Because it's long been believed they want a land bridge from the breakaway Donbas region in the north through to occupied Crimea in the south. And Mariupol is one of the final and critical puzzle pieces that would complete that aim.

LEMON: All right. Michael Holmes, we'll see you a little bit later on. Thank you very much. We appreciate your reporting as always.

I want to bring in now former, former member of Ukraine's government who says Russia will be stopped with force. Tymofiy Mylovanov is the former minister of economic development, and he joins me now.

Thank you, Tymofiy. I really appreciate you joining us.

You were able to get out of Kyiv, but we're now seeing intense fighting on the outskirts of your city with Russian forces advancing. Two weeks in, Russia has not taken Kyiv, but does it look like the situation is changing now?

TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV, FORMER UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: No, I think in Kyiv essentially in the west direction, there's very little movement. There has been recent movement in Brovary, you've been just talking about the column being destroyed. So that's a new development, but it's still sufficiently far from Kyiv.

And just to get the perspective on what Kyiv is, it's bigger than Manhattan, and two days ago the post office was working. The private -- the Ukrainian FedEx, (Inaudible) essentially -- we had -- I personally had to move some documents, I'm the president of a university now, and we had to get some crucial, critical documents, and we were able to ship it.

So, Kyiv is really, really large and I think if you want to create a belt around Kyiv that you are able to control, just, you know, engineeringly speaking, you would need half a year to a year to just build it or blow up building together in areas.

So, you know, they're going to be stuck there for months to come if they're going to really create a blockade of the type they are doing to Mariupol. At the same time, I think specific villages, people are suffering in unimaginable ways. We had two students unaccountable for and they came back to contact yesterday, and one of them told a story to my colleague that for two weeks Russian troops held them in a basement, and without water. It's a person who has -- it's a kid, 16 or 17 years old, and she had to survive with her family for two weeks without water. Russian soldiers wouldn't give them water. I am speechless at this.

LEMON: I want to ask you about we were showing the video of the tanks being blown up. Are you aware of that video?

MYLOVANOV: Yes.

LEMON: Can you tell us how many, what happened strategically what that means, especially for -- because this is in Brovary.

MYLOVANOV: Yes, it's -- from that direction, it's essentially the only road -- well, there are many, many directions to Kyiv, but from that specific direction, it's the only -- it's the main road to Kyiv, and outside of that there are fields and given the conditions it appears to for tanks and for trucks to be impossible to advance outside of that road.

So, what the video shows, while there are different versions of the video, but what the video shows that the front and the back of the columns were blown up and then the rest of the videos were taken one by one, almost all of them, and we have seen similar -- similar situations in other areas where essentially columns of tanks, advancement columns were fully destroyed.

That means that most likely in that area, there will be the type of fights that we would have seen in western sites of the -- on the western outskirts of Kyiv. So, they're going to be stuck there for days if not weeks.

[22:14:55]

What we have seen in the west direction that Russians were able to throw troops in and advance approximately, you know, five miles a day until they get stopped somewhere, and I think we're going to see something similar here.

LEMON: But are you concerned about -- because they said that, you know, that whole, that large succession of tanks that were -- they have now dispersed and they're going into cities and towns and into the woods. What is -- that's the concern level about that?

MYLOVANOV: Well, I think most of the tanks were destroyed.

LEMON: You do?

MYLOVANOV: What I'm really surprised by is that they don't put enough force or they don't have enough force to kind of advance simultaneously from multiple directions with multiple columns of tanks to overwhelm or try to overwhelm the defenses. It appears that their ability to advance is limited. They're thrown one or two units, and they have been doing this for two weeks essentially.

LEMON: Yes, Tymofiy, President Zelenskyy spoke from his Kyiv office this evening, and he had this message for Putin. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): We are accused of attacks on allegedly peaceful Russia. And now what? What are these allegations of preparing chemical attacks? Have you decided to carry out de- chemicalization of Ukraine? Using ammonia? Using phosphorous? What else have you prepared for us? Where will you strike with chemical weapons?

We are adequate people. I am the president of an adequate country, an adequate nation, and the father of two children and no chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land. The whole world knows that. You know that, and if you do something like that against us, you will get the most severe sanctions response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Tymofiy, what's your reaction?

MYLOVANOV: Well, you know, I know Zelenskyy personally. I know him very well, and you know, I'm proud to have served with him. He's the leader that we need in these times, and he's right. I think Russians -- the Russian government, they're constructing a false reality, and kind of really alternative situation.

You know, what they are doing, it's very difficult to explain rationally. They're there are absolutely no chemical weapons. We have requested the World Health Organization, the other organizations to verify to Russia additionally that there is not even a thought of this, an element of this. We just don't have that.

And I am worried, as my president does that, they're trying to create some kind of possibility ground that they will do a false flag operation or something else and then they will claim it was us and then -- and then it will sell it to their domestic audience.

So, I think at this point it's clear that the international community, the world is watching, and thank you very much to you for doing your job. It's critical for us. But inside Russia, there is some kind of different world and I think they are feeding these things to their domestic audience for political and other reasons. Because I think if Russia -- people, Russian people knew what really was happening, Putin would have been ousted in a day.

LEMON: Tymofiy Mylovanov, thank you very much. We really appreciate you joining us. Be safe.

MYLOVANOV: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you. Next, he left his life in the U.S. to go back home to fight for Ukraine, a tech entrepreneur now deep in a war zone joining the fight against Russia's invasion. He joins me right after this.

[22:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tens of thousands of people now fleeing Ukraine every single day seeking safety in neighboring countries. The U.N. saying tonight more than 2.3 million people have fled since Russia began its invasion more than two weeks ago. And yet, there are some incredibly courageous people traveling into Ukraine to help Ukrainians fight back against Russian forces.

So, joining me now is Andrey Liscovich, a tech entrepreneur who was born in Ukraine but living and working in San Francisco. Tonight, he is back in his native land. Andre, thank you. I really appreciate you joining us.

Why did you decide to go back and help in the war effort, and was it a tough decision?

ANDREY LISCOVICH, FORMER CEO, UBER WORKS: Thanks for having me, Don. I live in San Francisco, and I spent my entire professional career in Silicon Valley, and at the same time my family lives in Ukraine. I grew up here. It's very personal for me. As an entrepreneur, I know that if you want to help people you really need to understand what the problem is, and it's really hard to know what the reality is from afar.

It was very important to travel here in person and understand how I can be of use. It was a difficult decision but I could not sit this one out.

LEMON: Yes. A difficult -- I mean, what does one take with them? Once you decided to go, what did you bring with you?

LISCOVICH: I have a small backpack that just has some change of clothes, some cash, my documents, and pretty much nothing else. I needed to be very mobile. I needed to be able to come to whichever point where I can be most productive.

LEMON: What are you seeing?

LISCOVICH: I arrived in my hometown, so I'm in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. I'm working with the army right now helping them with procurement. In short, we're basically trying to help Ukrainians help themselves. A hundred thousand people stepped forward to volunteer for the army after the war started.

Unfortunately, there's not much supplies for them besides a gun, and the war is not just weapons. It's also socks, it's underwear and when your resources are limited, you sometimes have to decide would you rather get socks or underwear, and our job is to provide all these supplies that the troops are missing, those folks who have volunteered to serve.

[22:05:05]

LEMON: I was just wondering on the ground what you're seeing as you are traveling through Ukraine, destruction, people en mass trying to leave. What are you seeing? Take us there.

LISCOVICH: My hometown has been relatively fortunate. It hasn't been shelled with artillery yet. It has been bombed in the first few days, but not downtown. Compared to other cities like Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kyiv, there's relatively little destruction in downtown, but the city is disserted, it's like the strictest form of COVID lockdowns, check points everywhere, antitank barriers barricades.

It's empty. It's somber. It's eerie. At night there's no lights, no street lights, no sound. Ringing silence. It's very different than normal life. And we're going to everything else -- everything we can to bring the normal life back. LEMON: You know, I read, Andrey, that your fellow fighters there call

you the American. Have you ever carried a weapon? Do you have any military experience at all?

LISCOVICH: No, I had never held a weapon. Today, we did a drill where I was given an AK to hold just in case, but I'm not part of the military as a fighter. I don't hold the rifle. My job is to make sure that those people who have stepped forward have everything else they need to be able to be effective.

LEMON: So, as I understand, you're now helping with logistics. Talk to me about what you do, please.

LISCOVICH: When I arrived, the biggest challenge was being able to access supplies, and surprisingly we were able to find local supplies for tactical gear, clothes, shoes, electronics, power banks, all these benile things that make a soldier effective, and I was driving around town buying these items with my personal credit card.

And now that the supplies are almost depleted in the city, we're now shipping these from outside of Ukraine from four continents to Poland and then across the southern border to Ukraine.

LEMON: Yes. Can you talk to me a bit more, I asked you what you saw, but you know, there's a quote here where you said it was kind of like, a TV show. I want -- I want to know what you're experiencing day-to- day. You said that the bunker your sometimes take shelter in is something straight out of the HBO series Chernobyl.

LISCOVICH: Yes, we repeatedly hear air raid alarms, and when that happens, you need to run into a shelter, so I need to run eight stories down my hotel into this Cold War era bunker, that if you've seen the HBO series Chernobyl looks like the hospital where they dumped the radioactive clothes of the first responders. It's really eerie and it hasn't been renovated since the '70s, so it looks very much like that.

LEMON: You told The New York Times one of your favorite pieces of music is Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. You're an avid piano player. That piece is now included in the will that you wrote on your laptop on your flight there. That tells me that you've weighed the costs of this decision. Are you willing to give your life in this fight?

LISCOVICH: Unfortunately, the reality of war is that the more people are willing to die, the fewer have to, and without these people who are willing to take the ultimate sacrifice, the country will fold, and I don't know, I'm a human. The flesh is weak.

I don't know how much courage I'll be able to muster when it comes to an actual firefight. I really hope I will be able to defend the country to the end, but I know for sure that in Zaporizhzhia, I've already met a lot of people who I have ultimate confidence that they will do what's needed and the least I can do is to help support them with the needed supplies so they can defend the country and make sure that other people don't have to die.

LEMON: Andrey, take care of yourself. Be safe. I appreciate you joining us. I admire your courage. Thanks so much.

LISCOVICH: Thank you, Don. We have a group of supporters, many of them in the U.S., we're now called Ukraine defense fund available on all social media, UKR Defense Fund. People should free to follow. Thank you very much. Thanks for having us.

LEMON: Absolutely.

LEMON: He won't be deterred. U.S. Intelligence warning that Vladimir Putin will double down on the lies and attacks even as his own tanks and troops are being taken out by Ukraine. I'm going to ask a former CIA deputy director what he thinks. That's after this.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The highest-level talks yet between Russia and Ukraine ending with just that, talk, no progress made. No ceasefire agreed to. And Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov won't even admit his country attacked Ukraine. He is insisting that they didn't despite all the evidence you're seeing with your own eyes every single day.

Joining me now to discuss former acting director and deputy director of the CIA, John McLaughlin. Thank you, Director, I appreciate you joining us.

[22:35:07]

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, PROFESSOR, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Good to be with you, Don.

LEMON: So why do you think Russian officials keep lying openly to the world when the images coming out of Ukraine are being broadcast to everyone and everyone knows that they're lying?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, regrettably, Don, lying is just another tool in the tool kit for Russian diplomacy and their engagement with the world on issues like this, and Lavrov, in particular has no freedom of action whatsoever. He is completely a tool of Putin, so he has no independence to act on his own.

LEMON: Yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: Lying is really just part of what they inherited from the Soviet period and regrettably it continues.

LEMON: I want to get your take, Director, on a question the CIA Director William Burns posed in a Senate intelligence hearing today. He's talking about Vladimir Putin. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BURNS, DIRECTOR, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: The question is, is he simply going to continue to double down and grind down Ukrainian military and the Ukrainian population or at some point, does he recognize that reality that he doesn't have a sustainable end game and look for ways to end the bloodshed to cut his losses?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines says that he is unlikely to be deterred. She thinks he's only going to escalate. What do you think?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, Director Burns ask the right question. Who knows what Putin is going to do? If I had to bet, I would say he's not going to find a way out very easily. He may be looking for one, but I think the odds are that he will double down. In part because he is desperate. He's cornered. Things haven't worked out so far yet for him, and I believe this makes him more dangerous than ever.

A number of things I worry about are that the way I would put it is he's in a position now where Russia can't win without losing. In other words, the whole world has condemned this, and even if he were to successfully occupy Ukraine, hoping he won't, what will he have won? He will -- he will be a pariah in the eyes of most people in the world, and therefore, what's to stop him from going further? What would he have to lose?

And so, I think the odds increase somewhat that not only of doubling down but if he succeeds in occupying Ukraine for reaching beyond Ukraine, and that's why it is so good, so important that the president has so vigorously fortified the front lines of NATO.

LEMON: You know, I think it's interesting because you are warning against speculation that Putin's become unhinged or crazy, so how should we be thinking of him?

MCLAUGHLIN: You know, I don't think he's crazy. I think he's facing a situation at a make a level that, you know, many people face in their lives at a smaller level, which is he planned to do something. He was badly informed, hard to understand why.

I mean, I've been in Ukraine multiple times over the last 20 years and anyone who's been there could predict that he would meet the opposition he's met. Thinking of the Ukrainians, I think of what Dwight Eisenhower said once, he said what counts is not the size of the dog in fight, what counts is the size of the fight in the dog.

And what he's encountered there is a dog with a lot of fight in it. And so, I don't think of him as crazy, but I do think of him now as a little desperate. That is searching for what does he do next, and frankly, I think his avenues for exit have begun closing down.

LEMON: You're calling it -- you said he's facing the greatest threat of his power in decades.

MCLAUGHLIN: I have said that, and the reason I say that is that we haven't seen this yet in Russia. You know, I've seen the little clips of Russians on the street saying they trust Putin. He wouldn't do this. That's not happening in Ukraine.

But I do believe that in today's information environment, it's impossible really to for long wall off a country of 150 million people, particularly today. Perhaps in the Soviet period. But today the globalized world, even with all of the crackdown that he's carried out, people will find ways to get on the internet and I hope our government is looking for ways, I'm sure they are, to project inside Russia a truthful image of what is going on.

[22:40:02]

Much the way we did with radio through Europe in the Cold War and with other forward action steps. And knowing Russians reasonably well, I am confident that faced with the reality of what's going on in Ukraine, they will be ashamed of it. And I can't predict that they will turn him out of office, but his popularity, his respect will plummet at some point.

You know, if you look at some of the writings of retired military officers before this invasion, they don't have a lot of power, but often they are speaking for those in the military who can't speak. There was a fair amount of criticism of the idea of attacking Ukraine and a pretty clear understanding of what would happen in the event he tries it.

So, I just think there's a dam that's going to break there at some point, --

LEMON: Yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: -- and it will be a great danger to him in terms of his power.

LEMON: Well, when that does happen, if that does happen, we'll have you back. We appreciate having you on. Thank you very much, Director McLaughlin. We really appreciate it.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you, Don. Good to be with you.

LEMON: Thanks.

Ukrainian civilians doing anything they can to defend their country, taking up arms, delivering food, even as their homes and businesses are destroyed, including my next guest, who, who is feeding the hungry despite her bakery's warehouse being shelved.

[22:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ukrainians doing extraordinary things to help their country as Russia's brutal invasion continues, even those who have fled are doing what they can to pitch in. Like bakery owner Anna Makievska who continues to operate bakehouse from Spain. Bakehouse is one of the most popular bakeries in Kyiv and all of Ukraine winning awards and employing dozens of bakers, and they're still baking thousands of loafs of bread despite the company's warehouse being attacked and destroyed last week. Anna Makievska joins me now. I'm so happy to talk to you, and I've

been wondering how businesses are doing and proprietors and shop owners and such. Thank you for joining. First of all, how are you?

ANNA MAKIEVSKA, OWNS BAKERY IN UKRAINE: Hello, Don. I'm OK. I'm better than OK because I'm safe in a safe European country.

LEMON: Yes.

MAKIEVSKA: But like half of my colleagues are still in Kyiv, Oblast and other people are almost all of them are in Ukraine.

LEMON: But that's what I want to talk to you about because --

(CROSSTALK)

MAKIEVSKA: Not all -- not all of them. Not all of them are safe. Some of them are stuck already in some territories which already have Russian soldiers there.

LEMON: Yes. So, I want to talk about how you got out of Ukraine and Spain in a moment, but first, I mean, I just want to talk about your business and the destruction that took place there.

MAKIEVSKA: OK.

LEMON: And I'm going to show some pictures. The bakery's warehouse was destroyed. You say there is maybe 50 million euros worth of damage. Tell us what happened, Anna.

MAKIEVSKA: So just to -- just to explain, so the bakery we have around 90 employees. This is part of a bigger company, which is called Goodwine, and everyone in Kyiv knows Goodwine. Goodwine is a very beautiful fine food and wine store in the center of the city. Like, it is famous all afternoon the world, actually.

And we import food and wine from Europe, from America, from everywhere, and we had the warehouse near in (Inaudible) near (Inaudible) near Kyiv, and already on 26 of February we heard from our warehouse that there were shots there and there are Russian soldiers there, but it was more or less safe.

Our merchandise was OK, but we were not able to operate in a good way there. Then in a few days, we already see the first fire there, it happened that it was just the car which was burned because of some artillery or I don't know, I don't understand a lot about war and everything and guns.

But -- and we were hoping that everything's OK, but on the 4th of March we understood that our -- so our warehouse was burned because of some shots of tanks, and it is -- our warehouse and a few warehouses which were near us, they're just burned totally and we don't have any -- even any chance to check if any of our merchandise is still there because --

(CROSSTALK) LEMON: So how is it still operating?

MAKIEVSKA: -- they don't have an access to this territory. It is -- what?

LEMON: It's still operating, no?

MAKIEVSKA: No.

LEMON: The bakery is not still operating.

(CROSSTALK)

MAKIEVSKA: It's burned.

LEMON: It's burned, it's gone.

MAKIEVSKA: No, no, no. The bakery -- the bakery -- the bakery is operating. The warehouse of the goods that we -- that we got from --

LEMON: Got it.

MAKIEVSKA: -- ingredients like, I don't know, everything is burned. The bakery is -- we are happy the bakery is still working and the store is still working, but the goods that we have, it is only the goods that are in store or that we can buy with money, but we don't have a lot of them because 15 million euros, it's a lot of money.

LEMON: A lot.

[22:50:00]

MAKIEVSKA: And almost all our actives -- almost everything we had was in goods that we bought from our suppliers.

LEMON: Yes.

MAKIEVSKA: And so --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Let's get back to the conversation we're having in the beginning because you got from Ukraine to Spain with an 8-year-old and a 2-month-old.

MAKIEVSKA: Yes.

LEMON: Your husband stayed in Ukraine to fight. How is he doing? I know you've got to be worried about him.

MAKIEVSKA: Yes. My husband, just in two days after the invasion, we were on the Moldovan border. And we had to make the very difficult decision that thousands and millions of women in Ukraine made to separate with their men and to go out with small children.

My two-month-old, she was born just before New Year's, and she was so small. And I decided, so this was my idea that I should save the children. So, my husband now, he's in Vinnytsia doing the food logistics with some other partners of our company as well. And he tried to help Ukrainian regions, who we believe will have a big problem with food. He tried to help deliver food there.

But in any way, if it will be needed, he will -- he will need to fight, even if he never kept the gun in his hands.

LEMON: Yes.

MAKIEVSKA: So, a lot of -- for example, a lot of bakers from the bakery, they are already are soldiers. They are not baking. They are fighting.

LEMON: Yes.

MAKIEVSKA: And this is crazy actually.

LEMON: Well, Anna, we're glad that you're safe. We hope that your husband remains safe. You be well, and keep us updated, OK? Thank you for appearing on the program.

MAKIEVSKA: Thank you.

LEMON: Cancelled. The world turning its back on Russian artists, athletes, and more as Vladimir Putin wreaks havoc and destruction on Ukraine. Stay with us.

[22:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, Russia's bloody and deadly invasion of Ukraine now entering its third week and having an impact on key Russian figures of arts and sports. Scheduled performances in Montreal this week by 20- year-old Russian piano prodigy Alexander Malofeev were cancelled. Canada CTV reporting that while the pianist has spoken against the invasion, the Montreal Symphony feels the performances are not appropriate this week.

This follows the firing of famed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev by the Munich Philharmonic. And the cancellation of performances at New York's Carnegie Hall. The New York Times is reporting that he is a key ally of Vladimir Putin.

The Times also reports that Washington capitals hockey player, Alex Ovechkin, is also a big supporter of Putin. When he and the Caps battled the Oilers in Edmonton, Alberta last night, some fans were holding Ukrainian flag. And every time he touch the puck, he was loudly booed. Stay tuned.

So, next, Russia's encircling Ukraine's capital. Can Ukrainians continue to defend it? We're live on the ground right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)