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City Of Kyiv Still Standing As Ukrainians Fight Back Against Russia; Russia Peddling Propaganda, Disinformation As It Attacks Ukraine; Biden Seriously Weighing Whether To Remove Russia From SWIFT; Defiant Ukrainian President Zelensky Face Historic Crisis; Interview With Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT); U.N.: 120,000 Ukrainian Refugees Have Fled Violence. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 26, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:21]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Our breaking news this hour, as Russia fights to take control of Ukraine's capital city their invasion is not going according to plan. That's according to a NATO military official, who says Russian troops are running out of fuel, lacking morale, and proceeding slowly in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance. Moments ago, Ukraine's president released a new message of defiance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The world has seen that Ukrainians are powerful. Ukrainians are courageous. They're on their native land and they're never going to give up to anyone. They will never betray it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Countless examples of courage have emerged like this video from northern Ukraine showing Ukrainians using their bodies to try and stop this Russian tank and other Russian tanks from rolling forward in their community. Regular citizens, some who have never picked up a gun until now, are joining the fight and learning how to make Molotov cocktails, as you can see right there. Even those who are hunkered down in bomb shelters find ways to show their patriotism by singing the Ukrainian national anthem.

But uncertainty lies ahead. A NATO official telling CNN Russia is likely to intensify their efforts to make up for lost time. CNN cameras were rolling as more Russian tanks move toward the frontlines. This crew has also spotted a disturbing Russian weapon, a rocket launcher capable of launching multiple thermobaric weapons or vacuum bombs which many human rights organizations have condemned.

We have reporters all around the world for us right now. CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Wilmington, Delaware, where the president is. Jill Dougherty is in Moscow. But let's begin with CNN's Alex Marquardt in Kyiv.

Alex, I was just noticing a few moments ago you were posing video of air raid sirens that have been going off just in the last few minutes. Tell us what's going on on the ground there.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, you've got this dichotomy of really eerie silence in this city. It's very, very quiet. There's that curfew that is in place, entering its seventh hour now. But at the same time that silence is then pierced by these sounds of war. You've got the air raid sirens that just went off about five minutes ago, sustained for about a minute or two, I would say.

In the past few minutes also heard gunfire in the distance over the course of the evening. We have heard those distant thumps of artillery or rockets being fired. It's very difficult to tell. So what is clear is that the fighting is ongoing. I wouldn't say that it's been particularly tense tonight, but we have seen in the past 24 hours that there is evidence of fighting all around this city. That Russia still very much has a goal of trying to encircle this city.

But I think it is important to note that they have not made much progress. This capital city is still very much firmly in the hands of the Ukrainian government. You have foreign military officials and Ukrainian military officials praising the fight that Ukraine's military has taken to the Russian troops that are entering Ukraine, but also Ukrainian civilians who have taken up arms. And even those who don't have weapons.

You were just talking about that incredible video of Ukrainians in a town about 110 miles from here, who literally stood in front of those Russian tanks to prevent them from going anywhere, throwing their bicycles under the tracks of those tanks. And so there is some speculation that, you know, that Russia really is running into a tough time here, that they are facing -- Jim, you can hear there are some more of that gunfire.

But we have heard from President Zelensky praising his military, praising his citizens saying we have ruined their plans. They have no advantage over us. But this is the small Ukrainian army against the mighty Russian army. So make no mistake, this is a formidable fight. And so President Zelensky is calling on all resources, everybody for any kind of support they can offer. Of course there are no foreign troops who are helping them here, but there are foreign weapons, and Zelensky says he needs more of those.

We now know that he was offered by a chance by the Europeans and the Americans to evacuate, he said, I don't need a ride, I need more ammunition.

[16:05:05]

I spoke with a Ukrainian Defense official who said they are very happy with what they are starting to get from the Americans and from the Europeans. But they need more. He said, not tomorrow, but now -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Alex Marquardt, stand by. Let us know, you know, flag for us if you see any more gunfire or hear any more gunfire where you are. I want to go to Jill Dougherty in Moscow, which, I mean, you know,

I've been really anxious to talk to you, Jill, because yes, Russia's disinformation campaign continues. They won't report casualties that they've sustained in this fight. They don't want to acknowledge that the Ukrainians are putting up more of a resistance than what they previously anticipated.

We now know, I mean, we shouldn't even say we now know, I mean, we've known for a very long time not to trust really anything that they say, but they've been proven liars in just recent days in what they've been saying and how they've been saying that there is invasion, there is no plan for an invasion, and so on.

How much do the Russian people, I guess, inside Russia, obviously, how much do they know about what's going on? What is the messaging going on the ground there? Are you getting the sense that people are starting to I guess come to reality, come to the reality that things aren't going well unlike what their government is saying right now?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, I think in the West we've had this image that, you know, Russian propaganda, Russian use of information war is very powerful, and they can influence a whole lot of things around the world, but actually from the perspective of Moscow and watching a lot of the Russian media right now, it feels very flat-footed, ineffective, and almost Soviet in the way they're approaches this.

I'll give you an example. CNN and other networks are broadcasting live pictures from Kyiv, the attacks on the city, and fighting across Ukraine. Russian media, which granted our, you know, primarily speaking to a domestic audience, but they're showing pictures from that breakaway region, the Donbass region in the eastern part of Ukraine, and occasionally a briefing from a Russian military official who is in a very formal kind of stiff way reporting on the action and the successful action.

So I think, you know, in terms of just making the argument, there are no live pictures really coming from the Russian media from downtown Kyiv or from other cities where the fighting is taking place. And then you look at protests, there are protests on the street as we have been reporting, that 2700 people arrested across Russia so far.

They're in big cities, small cities, 26 cities just today, and then -- now, you can see what is happening in terms of how the government is reacting to this, because they are now ordering independent media not to use words like "war," "intervention" and "attack." It has to be this "special military operation."

Facebook's access is being -- the access is being slowed down here in Russia to Facebook because that's the place where, you know, social media are criticizing this military operation. So, I think, you know, you get the picture that really they're not being very effective and I think one of the things, Jim, is that the young people here in Russia just like young people all over the world really get their information from the internet, from TikTok, Instagram, et cetera. The Russian government doesn't seem to really get that. And it's just not working. ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, you know, Jill, before you get started, I was

thinking, you know, they sound like Baghdad Bob, but your description of Soviet is so perfect because it's almost frozen in time back in the 1980s. And you know, we're just living in a different era now. We're living in a different age. And as you said, those young Russians they can just go on social media, they get around the censors, the Russian minders, and so on, and figure out exactly what is going on.

Such a smart point. Jill Dougherty, thank you for raising that.

Let me go to CNN's Arlette Saenz who is in Wilmington, Delaware, with the president.

Arlette, sources say that President Biden is seriously weighing whether to remove Russia from SWIFT. That is something that some of our viewers may not be familiar with, it has to do with international banking and financing, and so on. But the consequences of that if President Biden goes after that, the consequences of that could be very severe for the Russians. If you can, explain that for our viewers.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, removing Russia from SWIFT is essentially considered the nuclear option of the possible sanctions that are on the table against Russia. Now SWIFT is this high-security messaging system that basically connects thousands of financial institutions around the world and cutting off access for Russia would essentially remove them from the global financial system.

[16:10:13]

Now sources have said that President Biden is weighing supporting removing them from SWIFT, but that final decision has yet to be made. But this is an incredibly complicated process that the United States can't exactly decide unilaterally on. It has something that would have to be done in coordination, in conjunction with the European Union and other allies. Now President Biden when he issued those punishing sanctions against Russia on Thursday, he was asked why SWIFT was not a part of that, and he said that essentially there were some European countries that were yet on board.

There has been quite some debate over the course of the past few weeks about whether to remove Russia from SWIFT as there are several European countries that rely heavily on gas and energy exports from Russia that are, in part, facilitated through this financial system, but today we have seen the steady drumbeat of European leaders who have now expressed some openness to going ahead and moving forward with removing Russia from SWIFT. One of those notably was the country of Germany, which has close gas and energy ties with Russia.

They have said that they would be open to it in some limited form, as the U.S. and European allies are trying to find other ways to sanction Russia for their aggression in Ukraine.

ACOSTA: All right. Arlette, thank you very much. Thanks to all of our correspondents. We have so many of them in the field in Ukraine and elsewhere doing amazing work. Arlette, you're doing great work as always. Thanks so much.

With me now to discuss all of this, retired Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton and retired Army Brigadier General Peter Zwack.

Gentlemen, thanks so much for your time this afternoon. We appreciate it.

Colonel, let me go to you first. Want to ask you about this Russian thermobaric vacuum bomb launcher seen in Ukraine. That is some very worrying stuff there. What does this say to you about what the Russians may be up to next?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Jim, this is one of the most fearsome weapons that the Russians have in their arsenal if for no other reason than as a thermobaric bomb. What it basically does it sucks the air out of people's lungs as the projectiles go through the air. And that has a, you know, certainly a tremendously difficult aspect to it from a human rights perspective and the loss of war perspective. It is a certainly questionable lever to use if not downright illegal.

So it tells me that the Russians are going to go all in if they have more obstacles on their way to achieving their objective, which I still believe is the toppling of the Ukrainian government.

ACOSTA: So in essence, Colonel, I mean, it looks like the intent here would be to bring in weaponry that would obliterate and terrify the local civilian population. That is essentially what you're talking about.

LEIGHTON: That's exactly right. The local civilian population, as well as the military population. So that is really the issue here that this could be a not only a fearsome weapon but it could very well violate all the rules of engagement that we normally would use in a wartime situation.

ACOSTA: And General, Germany announced in something of a reversal, major reversal, it would deliver 1,000 antitank defense weapons and 500 stinger missiles to Ukraine. What do you make of that? And what are your thoughts on -- I mean, that is another indication of how the West and NATO is really unifying in the face of what Vladimir Putin is doing here, almost the reverse of -- the exact opposite of probably what he wanted to accomplish strategically?

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK (RET), U.S. ARMY: Yes. Thank you. Yes, clearly Vladimir Putin and his coteries, Kremlin, they have overstepped and they have completely mis-assessed the alliance and the Ukrainian people, and frankly most of the likeminded people in the world. Yes, the Germans I think faced with the reality of it, I think there was some denial early on, we all saw that. But Putin really kind of made it easy for them because he kept doubling down,

And he kept pushing, and then he engaged -- he committed, I mean, a full blatant aggression against a peaceful country in Eastern Europe. So the Germans had to go all in, and this has unified, well, not just NATO, but the EU, Europe, and I say the like-minded countries of the world.

ACOSTA: And Colonel, the Russian Defense Ministry, they are saying that they have ordered troops to resume offensive operations in all directions, quote, "in all directions."

[16:15:10]

Do they have enough troops for that? And what do you make of some of these anecdotal reports that we're hearing, that some of these Russian troops, they climb out of their tanks, they have I guess contacts with local civilians on the ground, and they don't seem to know what they're doing there or that they're fighting against an enemy that they did not anticipate.

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think this is going to be very interesting as it unfolds, Jim, because when troops go into an area, they're told that they're there for one reason, and it turns out that the reality is something completely different. That can have a really big impact on unit morale, unit cohesion. And quite frankly battles are won and lost at the unit level. You know, when it comes to the Russian Ministry of Defense order that combat operations or the offensive be resumed in, quote, "all directions," that really means that they, you know, as far as the orders are concerned, that they're pressing forward with their battle plan.

You know, I think they put a little pause in there, they say it was for negotiations, or at least to give the possibility of negotiations, but obviously they ignored that. And I think the real reason was that they were having logistical issues. So with that, the feared Russian war machine may very well have some problems that weren't anticipated.

ACOSTA: And General, what about Putin's mental state right now? I mean, he seems like he's off his rocker. It just seems like he's lost it and that he's launched something that essentially amounts to biting off more than one can chew. And he's united so much of the world against him, it's kind of extraordinarily insane what he's doing.

ZWACK: Yes. A quick, I just wanted to follow up on your former point. I found that clip in Bakhmach, when the Russian tankers, the tanks encountered them, in those type of units, about a third of them are draftees, conscripts. These are good troops, but they're not the elites. And yet when you're faced with something like that, you don't -- as my colleague said, they don't know what to do. And this is -- and so there are tremors going on already, I think, about that. Not just among the young soldiers, but the young officers. What are we getting ourselves into?

Vladimir Putin, I think that, you know, charitably, a number of us, myself included, would say he's cold-blooded rational, pragmatic, but this is a man who is rational in his own world, but this is a man that's driven. He's in his own -- he's got his own drivers. He's angry. He's an angry foreign policy here. There's payback, there's revenge, it's revenge. It's 30 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. And he saw that from Dresden.

So this is personal. And he's getting in deeper and deeper. And this is what makes it scary. Because it is so personal, and he has lost his (INAUDIBLE), and I've got to believe even some quietly in the Kremlin are really nervous about the way this is going and the way he is acting.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, a lot to digest from our conversation, gentlemen. Thank you very much, Colonel Cedric Leighton, Brigadier General Peter Zwack. We'll get back to you as soon as we can. But much appreciated for those insights. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

And the United States now imposing sanctions on Vladimir Putin -- I hate to even call him president, doesn't deserve that title. Vladimir Putin directly, but as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, is there anything that will really get Putin's attention?

Congressman Jim Himes is here to discuss that next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:16]

(VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That inspiring video from Kyiv, a woman brushing glass from the windows, still singing the Ukrainian national anthem. At the end there, she says, quote, "Long live Ukraine."

As a leader of a country under attack by Russia, Ukrainian President Zelensky says he is target number one for the Russians but with Putin's forces just miles outside the Kyiv's city centers, Zelensky has not budged, he even rebuffed an offer from the United States for evacuation, saying he needs ammunition, not a ride out of town.

CNN's Brian Todd looks as how this political newcomer became a central figure in this historic global moment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just three years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky may never have envisioned himself dealing with the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II. Zelensky was known to Ukrainians then as a comedian, playing the role of a schoolteacher in the series "Servant of the People."

On that show, Zelensky's character unexpectedly became president of Ukraine after ranting about corruption. Then life imitated art. Positioning himself as a political outsider, running on a platform of fighting corruption and ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Zelensky won a landslide victory over incumbent Petro Poroshenko in 2019.

JOHN HERBST, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: His background is Jewish. And he was very comfortable in what's called the Russia world. He made a great career for himself as a comedian and a businessman in part by appealing not just to Ukrainians but also to Russians. TODD: Just a few months into his presidency, Zelensky became enmeshed

in the scandal that led to then President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial. A phone call in which Trump leaned on Zelensky to investigate allegations of corruption against Joe Biden's family in Ukraine, allegations that were never supported by any evidence.

[16:25:10]

Zelensky made no promises on the call and later denied Trump pressured him.

HERBST: He handled it well because he understood that what he's being asked was outrageous.

TODD: But this crisis makes the Trump phone call seem almost trivial. This was the 44-year-old president's message to his country on Thursday.

ZELENSKY (through translator): The enemy has marked me as target number one. My family as target number two. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.

TODD: According to "Axios," Zelensky told E.U. leaders in a video conference Thursday, quote, "This might be the last time you see me alive."

(On-camera): How enormous is the pressure he's under right now?

SAMUEL CHARAP, RAND CORPORATION: It's really tremendous. I mean, he to a certain extent is alone and it's clear that the Russians have put a target on his head. So I certainly don't envy the position he's in.

TODD (voice-over): By Friday night, Zelensky's warning to his nation was dire.

ZELENSKY (through translator): This night will be very difficult. And the enemy will use all available forces to break the resistance of Ukrainians.

TODD (on-camera): Is he in over his head overall?

CHARAP: You need a real like Churchill-type leader to excel at a moment like this. I think he is scrambling and trying to find the right tenor and the right message.

TODD (on-camera): Even top Russian officials won't flat-out deny that Volodymyr Zelensky is in danger. When asked by CNN, do you intend to decapitate the Ukrainian leadership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov didn't say no, saying only, quote, "Nobody is going to attack the people of Ukraine."

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And our thanks to Brian. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:00]

ACOSTA: Earlier this afternoon, Congressman, we were showing just brutal weapons that Russia was rolling into Ukraine, the thermobaric weapons that can cause all hell to break loose if those weapons are launched, heavy flamethrower weapons as these are called.

If Russia starts to attack the Ukraine population that it just shakes the conscience of the world, shouldn't the U.S. Be doing more than just dumping in arms and doing sanctions, that sort of thing?

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): It's really an important question, Jim. It would appear as though the Russian hasn't' been able to move nearly as rapidly

as they expected to do so. You never know in the fog of war.

But if anything like the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has actually occurred.

The Russians have gotten bogged down in certain parts of Ukraine.

[16:35:04]

So you can expect the Russians will up the savagery of their campaign. They may use unguided bombs, unguided bombs, missiles and rockets. And we'll see more civilian damage and death.

So, yes, look, I think the momentum is in the right direction. The Germans announced they would allow weaponry to flow to the United States.

The president of the United States, Biden, announced he would do another $350 million in weaponry.

We need to set up a supply line to the Ukraine army to make sure they have the weapons they need.

By the way, we need to work with the world to help promote the remarkable protests we saw inside Russia. Thousands of Russians inside Moscow and St. Petersburg saying I don't care about the lies, I don't believe the lies, this can't go on.

There are things we can promote so that Putin feels the pressure every day. It's going to get, in the next couple hours, the next couple of days, grimmer for the Ukrainian people.

ACOSTA: I wonder if you can help us, since you're e on the Intelligence Committee and I know you can't disclose everything you get from a briefing from the Intelligence Community here in Washington.

I wonder what you think of Putin's state of mind, and whether he's totally lost it, to launch into this misadventure the way he has. Comments from Republican Senator Marco Rubio, he tweet, "I wish I

could share move but, for now, I can say it's pretty obvious to many that something is off with Put.

"He's always been a killer, but his problem now is different and significant. It would be a mistake to assume this Putin would react the same as five years ago."

What do you think? I know you may have some differences with Marco Rubio on a whole slew of things.

But he is sort of getting at an issue that a lot of people picked up on, which there seems to be something very wrong, more wrong from what we have seen from Vladimir Putin in the past years.

HIMES: Yes. It's hard to know. It is hard to know.

Obviously, as much as our Intelligence Community has insight into that question, that's not something they're going to talk about that, for obvious reasons.

But you don't need the CIA at your disposal to know that the very act of invading Ukraine, a sovereign nation, knowing that the world, with the exception of China and maybe a few other countries, were going to do all they had to isolate Russia.

And then the almost demented ravings that we're seeing. What, it was 24 hours ago, he accused President Zelensky.

And the world is seeing President Zelenskyy showing immense courage. They're seeing Ukrainians rise up to support their own government.

That Putin picks that moment to call them terrorists and drug dealers, suggests, quite frankly, ravings.

I hope that's not the case. We hope Putin has most lost, you know, a poker player's rationality.

There will be a lot of decisions to be made in the next couple weeks. If he makes those irrationally and in a demented way, a lot of people that don't need to die may end up dying.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Some very worrying days ahead.

Congressman Jim Himes, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it, as always.

HIMES Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right.

Up next, amid Russia's invasion into Ukraine, thousands of families are fleeing. Some of their stories are next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:28]

ACOSTA: As Russian troops and tanks roll into Ukraine, meeting stiff resistance, thousands are trying to get to safety.

Roads and train stations have been swamped with people desperately seeking a safe place to go.

We spoke to some about what they've been going through.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we are afraid. My husband is still there. We'll fight, even if (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translation): It can be dangerous. Our husbands were telling us, maybe we shouldn't travel. They suggested we stay here for a bit until everything calms down.

But we're mothers, our hearts are telling us to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most people didn't have tickets, so they stormed the train. It was almost like a stampede. People were like trying to get inside no matter what.

Nobody was actually checking tickets, because, I mean, obviously most people didn't have any tickets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was chaos?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was chaos. It was people pushing around. But, I mean, people run to escape, run for their lives, so I don't blame them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): My wife is already here. We're going to get some rest now, because we haven't slept in almost two days. We are tired. My daughter is tired.

Now we will rest and think about what to do next. Now it is necessary for my family to leave Ukraine.

I will stay here, but the main thing is for my family to leave Ukraine and not feel the threat of attack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are staying here for a long time, maybe six, seven hours to wait.

But it's crazy. It's crazy traffic. Actually I don't want to leave my native country, but because of invaders, I must leave as fast as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I will go and fight. I'm ready to die for the future of my family fight for democratic and freedom country, for the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Just incredible.

Many of those Ukrainian refugees have fled to Poland, as you saw there. At least 100,000 since Russia's invasion began just days ago.

[16:45:03]

CNN's Arwa Damon is on scene for use in Police near that country's border with Ukraine.

Arwa, tell us what you're seeing. And it looks like you have a bus full of people behind you loading up.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Actually, unloading right now.

ACOSTA: Oh.

DAMON: These are people who have just come across the border. (AUDIO PROBLEM) -- into this parking lot.

(AUDIO PROBLEM) -- people -- (AUDIO PROBLEM. They're holding up signs.

They're all volunteers. And the signs have the names of different locations that the people arriving from Ukraine can get free rides to find accommodation --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Arwa --

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: -- people who have been.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Arwa, stand by just a moment. It sounds like your audio was breaking up there.

Why don't you try one more time? If you can, just tell us quickly what you're seeing.

We may have to break away. Unfortunately, your audio may not be usable.

DAMON: Sorry about that.

We are at a makeshift reception center. What you're seeing is buses arriving from the Polish/Ukrainian border.

People coming here, off-loading, incredibly shell-shocked as you can imagine. Everyone holding up placards.

These are volunteers. They have locations, names written on pieces of cardboard where the newly arrived Ukrainians, who are finally in a safe area, can find free transportation, free accommodation.

You also have people who are coming here as a meeting point, trying to help them move on.

So many families have been torn apart by all of this. You have fathers, husbands, sons who have had to stay behind in Ukraine. And 18 to 60-year-olds are not being permitted to leave.

We have spoken to a number of people here. This woman was traveling with her 7-year-old son and 2 1/2-year-old child. She told them daddy was coming soon.

People, once they have managed to get this far, as I was saying, are being moved on by basically mostly volunteer efforts.

There's also tents further back where they can get warm meals, rest for a little bit if they want to before moving on.

You also have a number of people who we have been meeting here, who have their elderly parents who are inside, who are unable to come out and make this journey.

So many heartbreaking stories that we have been hearing throughout the course of the night.

ACOSTA: Arwa, thank you so much for the report. Really appreciate it.

Thanks for hanging in there with us with the technical issues. Very important report. Thanks so much for that.

Coming up, how some of Russia's most well-known as athletes are speaking out against Putin's war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:52:31]

ACOSTA: Figures in the sports world are reacting to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Following his semi-final win in Dubai, Russian professional tennis player, Andrey Rubley, wrote, "No more war, please," on a camera lens.

Before that, this was his message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREY RUBLEY, RUSSIAN PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: In these moments, my match is not important. It's not about how it affects me. What's happening is much more terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And a Russian-born star player for the NHL's Washington Capitals is straddling two worlds now. He's pleading for hostilities to end in Ukraine but choosing words carefully when it comes to his leader, Vladimir Putin.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX OVECHKIN, RUSSIAN-BORN NHL STAR: Please, no more war. It doesn't matter who's in the war, Russia, Ukraine, different countries. I think we live in a world where we have to live in peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Of course, a war always means impossible choices. And you're looking at a tearful reunion at the border of Ukraine and Hungary.

A mother hugging her child after the father was forced to hands the kids off to a stranger, in the hopes she can safely make it across the border.

Dramatic scenes like this are playing out as governments brace for an influx of displaced Ukrainians.

Organizations around the world and on the ground in Ukraine and neighboring counties are asking for any help you can provide to those in need with shelter, food, water and additional aid.

For more on how you can help, go to CNN.com/impact for more information.

That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

[16:54:22]

Up next, it's a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with my friend, Wolf Blitzer.

Have a good night, everybody.

(CROSSTALK)

[17:00:09]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news.