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Ukrainian Civilians Take Up Arms To Fight Russian Forces; Select Russian Banks Expelled From Vital Financial System; Ukraine Under Russian Attack For Fourth Day; Putin Attempting To Redraw The Map Of Europe; Anti-War Protesters In Russia Stand United With Ukraine; Zelensky's Unlikely Path To Becoming Face Of Defiance; CNN Crew Sees Thermobaric Weapon Enter Ukraine. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired February 26, 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]
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Find out how you can help humanitarian efforts in Ukraine at CNN.com/impact.
Thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Pamela Brown. I'll see you again tomorrow night starting at 7:00 Eastern. CNN Newsroom continues right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world live from Lviv in Ukraine. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
And our breaking news this hour. As fighting in Ukraine enters a fourth day, the capital remains a city under siege. Kyiv is now under a strict curfew until at least Monday morning, and the death toll is already starting to mount. The U.N. reporting more than five dozen civilians killed in the fighting. And CNN has now learned a six-year- old boy is among the dead.
Now this was the scene in Kyiv overnight. CNN cameras capturing the moment and explosion lit the sky above Ukraine's capital. One of two massive explosions on the city's outskirts. Let's take a closer view now. This area just south east of Kyiv is home to a large military airfield. The town's mayor says a petroleum storey depot was hit, adding, quote, the enemy wants to destroy everything but we will stand our ground and we will win.
Similar words from the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has so far refused U.S. offers to evacuate here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): The world has seen that Ukrainians are powerfully, 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 VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now we're also seeing some incredible scenes of defiance among everyday Ukrainians video from social media. Look at this, showing a man trying to hold the tank bank before he kneels in front and tries to obstruct the path. Incredible.
Still, others are just trying to desperately get out women, children, the elderly, coming by foot and by car trying to cross the border into Poland and escape the fighting. Now the people of Kyiv are making it clear they will not let go of their homeland easily. Many ordinary residents taking it upon themselves to fight against the Russian invasion. CNN's Matthew Chance talks to one such group of men.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are Ukraine's civilian defenders, local residents taking up arms and ready to fight.
(on-camera): And that's his blood on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His blood.
CHANCE (voice-over): Already here in a suburb of the Capital Kyiv, there's been blood spilled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People was here and covered by this.
CHANCE (voice-over): Deadly contact between these volunteers and Russian forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. I've never been -- I've never served in army.
CHANCE (on-camera): You've never served in the army?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
CHANCE (voice-over): Volunteers like Yuri, who was an economic analyst. He tells me before this Russian invasion made him a fighter.
(on-camera): Shot gun in school. You work in an office but now you're defending your city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. I didn't think I would join this unit just two days ago. I thought that, you know, I don't know how to handle guns. And yesterday, it came to me that, you know, Russians are in the city. I mean, it's -- it gets close to the point that I have completely changed my mind and I have decided that, you know, I should do something about it.
CHANCE (voice-over): Just hours before, this northern Kyiv suburb of Arborlon (ph) was the scene of firefights with Russian forces probe the Ukrainian capital. Now the entire city and its residents are bracing and preparing for more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know what they can use.
CHANCE (on-camera): There's a petrol bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHANCE (on-camera): Those are your Molotov cocktails?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me. Packaging them out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my (INAUDIBLE). This is what I have to use to (INAUDIBLE).
CHANCE (on-camera): These are your Molotov cocktails, your petrol bombs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHANCE (on-camera): And you made these yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. The people from this. They bring me this.
CHANCE (on-camera): The people from -- the local --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), they bring me this.
CHANCE (voice-over): And they may be needed soon. Very soon. As we left the building, more shots ring out as Russia's assault on the city seems at hand.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[23:05:03]
HOLMES: Now the West, meanwhile, rolling out more sanctions aimed at hitting Russia where it hurts on Saturday. The U.S. and some key Western allies announcing they will expel certain Russian banks from Swift. That is that high security network that connects thousands of banks around the world.
CNN White House Reporter Jasmine Wright joins me now from Washington with a closer look at the new sanctions. Bring us up to date, Jasmine?
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Michael, what's significant is that something of this scale hasn't happened yet. And so it is definitely the western countries attempts to isolate Russia financially responding proportionately to what President Putin has done. And so from this joint statement from the U.S., Canada and European leaders, it expels selected Russian banks from the international financial country.
And I think if we can isolate one thing, it is what would happen to the Russian Central Bank, something that holds up to about 600 billion cash reserves. Really, they're trying to take aim, the Western countries are trying to take aim at a bank that is trying to keep the Russian economy and the Russian ruble afloat amid all of these different waves of sanctions.
And then if we turn to SWIFT, specifically, that financial banking system that connects about 11,000 financial systems around the globe, the U.S. and European leaders are really trying to basically cut off selected Russian banks from being able to actually deal in that. Basically, cutting them off from being able to be kind of these global financial partners, keeping some of the more wealthy Russian citizens afloat there.
And I think one thing I want to point to here, Michael, among the other things, that what the U.S. announced today, along with the European allies, is just how quickly this came about. We just heard from the President on Thursday, when asked when he first talked about those sanctions, additional sanctions, why not take SWIFT into account, he said that European leaders just aren't there yet. And now, fast forward to just a few hours when we get this really significant step, this really significant announcement from the U.S., again, trying to really proportionally respond to Russia, trying to cut them off from the international financial community, trying to isolate them amid this heightened aggression. Michael?
HOLMES: It's certainly a major step. Jasmine Wright in Washington, appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Now, our next guest is an expert on Russian politics and has extensively researched and written about Vladimir Putin and his government. Now, this is one of Angela Stent's books, "Putin's World: Russia Against the West, and with the Rest. She's also a former National Intelligence Officer in the U.S. for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. A good voice to have on this. She's also a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution.
I appreciate you joining us from Washington. First of all, do you have a sense of what it would take for the offensive to stop total capitulation at the very least of the government or something less than that perhaps?
ANGELA STENT, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Well, at the moment, it doesn't look as if anything is going to make this stop. And that the Putin's Kremlin is hell bent on subduing Kyiv and putting another government in power that will essentially do Russia's bidding. So we'll see these sanctions that have just been announced, will have really severe consequences for the Russian economy. But I'm not sure that the people in the Kremlin really are very focused on that. They're focused on conquering Ukraine.
HOLMES: If we step back a few days, maybe a week, I mean, you have an intelligence background, could you have even believed that Putin would do this and that we would be sitting here talking about a war in the heart of Europe?
STENT: I mean, it was inconceivable, right? 77 years after the end of World War II, we have another major war in Europe. But, of course, the U.S. and the British intelligence agencies have for some months been warning us that what they were seeing with the massive troop build up around three corners, if you like, of Ukraine, they could only really interpret that as a prelude to invasion.
But I think most people still thought it couldn't be done. It's completely unprovoked. It's a manufactured crisis. And that is really what makes it so tragic.
HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. When it comes to Putin's plans, after whatever happens with Ukraine, and we're yet to find out what that is, he has, of course, explicitly demanded that NATO retreat to where it was in May of 1999 before enlargement began, an incredible demand. What do you see as his grander regional aspirations?
STENT: Well, his grander regional aspirations and to really re- litigate the end of the Cold War, and to establish a Russian sphere of influence not only in the post-Soviet space, not only dominating Ukraine, Belarus he already has and other post-Soviet states but he's obviously set his sights now on Central and Eastern Europe.
[23:10:10]
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been that demand that NATO retreat to where it was in 1997. So he wants to go back to the world in 1991, when there was still a Soviet Union and NATO was really Western Europe in the United States.
HOLMES: Yes, and that demand of NATO is, of course, never going to be mad. I mean, when we look back, he was warned. He was sanctioned when he went into the Donbass, then he was sanctioned some more when he went further. He's being sanctioned right now. And he hasn't blinked. Has this invasion, exposed, perhaps, the limits of what the U.S., Europe, NATO can do to stop something like this? The short of military action?
STENT: Yes, unfortunately, it has. I mean, the sad reality is, Russia is there right next door to Ukraine. Ukraine is seen as an existential issue for the Kremlin. And apparently, for Vladimir Putin personally, who regarded that as a major insult that Ukraine is an independent country, and the United States and NATO cannot get directly involved in fighting Russia in Ukraine, because the U.S. and Russia are two nuclear superpowers.
And Putin already hinted earlier on this week that if anybody tried to really stop him, he would use methods that no one had ever dreamed that he would use. So we are in a relatively weak position in this much as Russia dominates geographically this space, and we're not willing to risk clearly a nuclear war.
HOLMES: And to that very point, you're right, I think it was in foreign affairs that Putin saw this as a good time to act because he saw the United States as weak and divided and, quote, less able to pursue a coherent foreign policy. How much did that point of view factor in the disunity in the U.S.?
STENT: I think that must have been a major factor. I think he looked at the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He looks at the difficulties the Biden administration is having getting any kind of legislative agenda through the polarization of the United States. He looked at Europe, which also seemed to be largely focused on its own issues. But paradoxically, by this action, by invading Ukraine, he is really united the alliance in a way that it hasn't been united for a very long time.
And NATO is much more united. It's found a new purpose after withdrawing from Afghanistan. So ultimately, his moves have been counterproductive if he thought that he could take advantage of a weak and divided alliance.
HOLMES: Fascinating insights and analysis. Angela Stent, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
STENT: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right, we're going to take a break. Still to come here on CNN, how some anti-war protesters in Russia are facing resistance and arrests. And a closer look at the man who's become the face of Ukrainian defiance against Russia. The unlikely path of President Volodymyr Zelensky. That's when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:17:08]
HOLMES: Just have a look at that, this video from Kyiv, very symbolic of the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people as they endure this war. And this is a woman obviously removing broken glass. This is from her mother's apartment after it was bombed. She's emphatically singing the Ukrainian national anthem as she also fights back tears.
Now as Russia's invasion against Ukraine continues, a curfew remains in place in the capital Kyiv, and Ukrainians are showing they are not afraid to fight back. Two senior U.S. officials telling CNN Russia is encountering stiffer than expected resistance from the Ukrainian military as well as difficulties supplying its forces. The sources say Russia is suffering heavier losses in personnel, armor and aircraft than expected and they say Ukrainian air defenses have performed better than U.S. intelligence anticipated. But these officials also cautioned the situation on the ground could change very quickly as Russian forces keep up their assault.
Meanwhile, anti-war protests are popping up around Russia and many of them are being met with resistance from police as you might expect. More than 2,700 people have been arrested up to this point. But their support for Ukraine does not seem to be waning. CNN's Nic Robertson shows us why.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: For a third day now, protests, anti-war protests going on in the heart of Moscow. That's the Ukrainian embassy over there, a police are lined up on the streets. And over here, people have been leaving their floral tributes -- sorry. Police officers just telling us there to leave space for people to walk along the streets. That's what the protesters are facing here.
Every time they come here, the police move them off. And that's what we've been watching. But look at this here, somebody has left a child's toy with a note on it. And it says, against the war. Earlier on we've been talking to people about why they've been coming here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I want to tell the Ukrainian people that they are not alone. That people in Moscow are also scared of the war. I wanted to show that we are like them, that we are also afraid of war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): We love this country. We've always lived here. We're proud to be Russian. But this step, it's a disgrace, simply disgrace to the world to all those people who are now dying there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): Even now I can't believe it, I woke up in the morning in horror. I realized it was real. It's impossible to believe I think. It's painful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So people being arrested and taken away so far in protests over the past three days. More than 2,700 people arrested across Russia protests on Saturday in more than two dozen cities in this country. And it's not just the crackdown on the streets. Look at this, emptied out again.
[23:20:03]
The police have forced everyone away, not just the crackdown out here on the streets but independent media have been told by the government to stop their false reporting, stop reporting about civilian casualties. They can't use the words invasion and attack and war. They warned that if they do, then access to their publications will be restricted. The government here absolutely kind of shut down any, any anti-war narrative.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.
HOLMES: The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is Russia's target number one. His family, target number two, and he vows to stay in his country despite offers of passage to safety. Now in many ways, he's become the face of Ukraine's defiance against Russia.
CNN's Brian Todd with more now on an unlikely hero.
(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 school teacher 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, he's 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 (voice-over): 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. Zelensky made no promises on the call and later denied Trump pressured him.
HERBST: He held it well because he understood that what he's being asked was outrageous.
TODD (voice-over): 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 translation): 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 (voice-over): According to Axios, Zelensky told E.U. leaders in a video conference Thursday, "This might be the last time you see me alive."
TODD (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 translation): 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE) 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 Sergei Lavrov didn't say no, saying only, quote, nobody is going to attack the people of Ukraine.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
HOLMES: Now tens of thousands of Ukrainians meanwhile are fleeing their homes, fleeing their country, many of them. We're going to hear some of their shocking stories when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:27:46]
HOLMES: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine. We are now in day four of Russia's assault on a major European country. The latest developments for you to bring you up to date, massive explosions in a town about 20 kilometers southwest of Kyiv earlier, as you can see there lighting up the night sky.
The town's mayor saying a military airfield and a petroleum storage depot were hit. Now warning the enemy -- warning that the enemy wants to destroy everything around and adding, quote, he will not be successful.
Earlier in the day, CNN crews saw another convoy of Russian military equipment heading into Ukraine, including this particularly lethal weapon that fires what is called thermobaric warheads, which cause powerful explosions and large enormously destructive pressure waves. Russia used the weapon during its war in Chechnya.
And the White House along with the E.U. and other nations announcing that, quote, selected Russian banks are being cut off from SWIFT, the highest security network that connects thousands of financial institutions around the world. Ukraine's President says that move is a victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKY (through translation): Our diplomats have been working hard round the clock and enthusiastically to make sure that all countries of Europe would approve a powerful and just decision to cut off Russia from the international interbank network. And we have this important victory. We're talking about billions and billions of losses to Russia, a specific price for this treacherous invasion into our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: For Ukrainian civilians, the conflict growing increasingly desperate. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 160,000 people are now reported to have been internally displaced, more than 116,000 have been forced to flee across international borders that makes them refugees. The government estimates a worst case scenario could involve as many as incredible 5 million refugees.
All right, let's hear now from some of those many Ukraine means being forced to flee their homes and from the people who are doing their best to help them.
[23:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): In all the years I've lived, I never thought I would live to witness such horrors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of never ending day that basically has left to really early and then it's really kind of hard to to concentrate and keep calm but we are trying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was trying to get out of Kyiv two days and luckily yesterday I got the free train to Lviv. And then we took the taxi and police stop him and send him back to Lviv and we walked off about 20 kilometers, and we are exhausted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband and other outside waiting for us. Which we are 77 kilometer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. Children, front, family, family, children front.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're coming empty-handed. Some of them with just children and then clothes on their bags.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK.
(Speaking Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Romania. You're safe here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Some incredible images there, powerful. Now if you would like to help people in Ukraine who might be in need of shelter, basic things, food, water, and so on, go to cnn.com/impact, plenty of resources there. You'll find ways you can help if you wish.
Now as we've been reporting, some Russian banks are going to be banished from the international financial system over the invasion of Ukraine. On Saturday, the U.S. and several G7 ally said a selected group of banks will be cut off from the so-called SWIFT financial system. A joint statement says the banks will be practically disconnected from the global flow of money, which will limit their ability, obviously, to operate internationally.
But Western nations are considering taking a step further and possibly sanctioning Russia's central bank. Now that could prevent Moscow from using its massive foreign reserves to cushion the effect of international sanctions. So, what exactly is the SWIFT system? And how would expulsion hurt Russia? Here's Anna Stewart.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's like the pipe work of international banking, founded in 1973, to replace the dated telex transfer system, SWIFT handles the majority of international money transfers and settlement of trades. It's short for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, and now connects over 11,000 financial institutions.
Removing Russia from SWIFT would make it extremely difficult for financial institutions to send money in or out of the country, delivering a sudden shock to Russian companies and their foreign customers. SWIFT is governed by its board members and describes itself as a neutral utility. As it's based in Belgium, though, it must comply with E.U. regulations. So when Iranian banks were sanctioned by the E.U. over the country's nuclear program in 2012, SWIFT cut those banks off. The effect was dramatic.
According to the Carnegie Moscow Center Think Tank, Iran lost almost half of its oil export revenue, and around a third of its foreign trade. Kicking Russia out of SWIFT was considered in 2014 in response to the annexation of Crimea. At the time, former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin estimated that the expulsion could shrink the country's economy by 5 percent. And it's not just Russia that would be affected.
There's no global accepted alternative to SWIFT so Russia's expulsion could potentially hit everyone who has international business dealings with the country. Without SWIFT business deals with Russia would become difficult, but not illegal.
[23:35:14]
BRIAN O'TOOLE, NONRESIDENT SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Cutting them off from SWIFT is less severe than putting SDN or blocking sanctions as they're no more colloquially on the major Russian banks. SWIFT is a messaging system, it doesn't actually prevent transactions.
STEWART (voice-over): After Russia, Germany and the U.S. might have the most to lose. The Carnegie Moscow Center says German and American institutions are the most frequent users of SWIFT to communicate with Russian banks.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now to follow up on Anna's point there, some of the countries behind the exclusion are also among Russia's biggest trading partners. In 2019, Russia's top trading partner was China, which is not part of the decision related to SWIFT, but Germany was second, the U.S. was fourth, Italy and France in the top 10 as well.
Now the international sanctions might be significant but many Ukrainians say they don't go far enough. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIINA VISLAPUU, RESIDENT OF LVIV, UKRAINE: We should not be left alone with this because like, you know, when you have a -- when you see a child like beaten in your neighbor's yard, you don't just put sanctions on the person who's doing the beating, right? You should go and kick his ass, right? And that's not what we're doing now. We're just, you know, sanctions would not do anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now resident of Lviv in Ukraine are speaking the word CNN earlier there. Now our coverage of the Russian attack on Ukraine continues in just a moment from Russian tanks moving, invading from the east to the ordinary Ukrainians fleeing for safety across the borders to the west. CNN is there with the latest reporting when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:40:57]
HOLMES: Welcome back, an emotional moment in Hungary just over the border of Ukraine. A mother reunited with her children fleeing the Russian invasion of her country. The father had to stay in Ukraine under a national decree to fight for his country. The mother came from Italy to meet them at the border where a complete stranger fellow Ukrainian forced to leave behind family had been entrusted to bring the children to safety. They hugged, and as you see, they cried just a few of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians whose lives are being shattered by this Russian invasion.
Russian forces, meanwhile, pushing into Ukraine through several staging areas along the border. One of those is the Belgorod region of Russia. Now on Saturday, CNN Senior International Correspondent was reporting from Belgorod when he and the team witnessed Russian tanks and heavy equipment heading towards the front line in Ukraine. Let's listen to Fred Pleitgen.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very difficult to see from our vantage point whether or not the Russians are having any sort of problems or whether or not. You know, there have -- their offensive is sort of halting. But we do see the Russians moving a lot more heavy equipment than they have in the past couple of days.
And actually, as I'm speaking to you right now, I don't know how well we're going to be able to see this in the dark. But there's actually a massive column of Russian armored vehicles that are sort of going past us right now as we speak. I'm going to pan to them for a second.
We've also seen some really heavy rocket launchers as well past here. What you're seeing right now, I have to speak really loudly, that's a main battle tank or the Russians. That's a T-72 Battle Tank, this one as well. So we're sort of seeing a column of tanks. And those right now are taking a turn. And they're actually heading towards the frontline near Kharkiv, where you just said where the heaviest fighting is going on right now.
So as we speak here, you can see the invasion that Russia is conducting of Ukrainian territory going on and, obviously, moving forward as the Russians moving more heavy equipment towards Ukraine. This is something that we've seen throughout the entire course of the day. That more of this heavy equipment has been moving towards the frontline, towards Ukrainian territory.
And again, it's not clear whether or not this means that the Russians need more of this because it's coming more difficult for them. But it's certainly a fact that we are definitely seeing a lot more of this stuff going towards Ukrainian territory. Also, again, as I said, a lot of big multiple rocket launchers coming past, rockets being fired. This is definitely sort of a very common occurrence right now.
One of the other interesting things is also is that a lot of these troops are actually parked in small villages around here. And it also shows that the Russians, if they are having trouble with their military campaign, they certainly still do seem to have the capacity to escalate all of this. We're seeing a lot of these kinds of vehicles parked around here at the ready to go anytime. And as you can see, the Russians moving more forces now towards the Kharkiv region.
You can see -- I don't know how well you're going to be able to see this, but if we go back in the distance over there, you can see the tanks turning a corner over there. And what you're seeing right now is then going straight towards Ukrainian territory. This is the last checkpoint that the Russians have before you reach Ukrainian territory and before you get to that region of Kharkiv.
Those Russian forces now taking that last turn, past the last checkpoint. And a couple of miles down the road, you're already in Ukrainian territory. And then later, you get to the frontline in Kharkiv.
HOLMES: Incredible dramatic images there from CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporting earlier from the Belgorod region of Russia. That's just over the border from here in Ukraine.
Now, my colleague Anna Coren is going to pick up after the break with the outrage over Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Protesters around the world gathering to express their anger against Russia and Vladimir Putin and show their support for Ukraine.
[23:45:06]
Also calls growing for the Russian owner of one of the world's most successful football clubs to relinquish his stake. What he says his plans are, that's also after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNA COREN, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong with our continuing coverage of the crisis in Ukraine. Well protests have been erupting around the world condemning Russia's aggressive incursion into Ukraine. From demonstrations in the streets to landmarks lit up yellow and blue. People are showing their support for Ukraine and venting their anger at Russia.
CNN's Kim Brunhuber has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of Swiss protesters in Bern chant with a mix of sadness, outrage and disbelief. They carry signs and a clear message. They stand with the Ukrainian people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand with Ukraine!
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Stand with Ukraine!
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): From Munich to Milan and London to Ankara, similar outpourings of support are ringing from the streets and city squares in many languages. Crowds of protesters gather in Munich, many carrying or wearing blue and yellow flags.
[23:50:01]
For some war seemed a thing of the past. Now, they stand in disbelief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): One demonstrators says we are worried about our brothers, sisters, our relatives. We had peace for 80 years and all of a sudden war is back in Europe.
In Milan protesters wave a giant rainbow flags you're going to find peace across the Duomo (ph) Square.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): (Chanting Foreign Language)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): In London, streets are flowing blue and yellow as protesters sing Ukraine's national anthem and urged governments to do more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's going to be much worse consequences if we let it go. I really hope that Putin would listen. The only way he would listen is with other countries helping us because if you just stand here, if we're spreading awareness, this is obviously not enough.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): In Turkey's capital, some 200 people including Ukrainian and Turkish nationals, repeated slogans against the Russian invasion, a few chanted between tears.
One woman says, we are all aware of this ugly attack against the Ukrainian state. Children there should live there laughing and playing happily. Some world leaders are also joining in on Twitter. The U.K.'s Prince William and his wife Kate wrote that, quote, they stand with the President and all of Ukraine's people.
Pope Francis showed his support with a tweet addressing the, quote, senselessness of violence and urging people to pray for Ukraine. In other parts of the world, people are lighting up buildings and appealing to higher powers. The Atletico Stadium in Madrid lit up in the national colours of Ukraine on Friday. A message at the front of the stadium sent out another plea to stop the war. In one North Indian city, people gathered to perform a holy ritual praying for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Russia, go home. Russia, go home.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Many across the world are standing up against the invasion with prayers, protests and pleas as Ukraine's future hangs in the balance.
Kim Brunhuber, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well people in the U.S. are among those joining global protests against the Russian invasion. Crowds gathered in New York City's at Times Square on Saturday to show support for Ukraine. And several states are joining in as world, heating an important Russian export where it hurts. They're ordering liquor stores to halt the sale of some or all Russian alcohol, most notably the Russian standard brand of vodkas.
Ukraine's government says it wants hackers to fight back against Russia on the cyber front. Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation at tweeted on Saturday, Kyiv is creating what he called an I.T. army. He's encouraging hackers to conduct cyberattacks on key Russian energy and financial firms. The minister shared a link to a channel on the messaging app telegram with a proposed target list including Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and big Russian banks.
The owner, the Russian owner, I should say of one of England's most successful football clubs is giving up what he calls his stewardship. Billionaire Roman Abramovich has owned Chelsea F.C. for nearly 20 years, but now there are calls for him to be barred due to his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
World Sports Patrick Snell has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORT ANCHOR (voice-over): Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich has overseen a golden era for the West London clubs since taking over in 2003, twice champions of Europe, five Premier League titles and FIFA Club World Cup winners too. But as his team prepares to play Liverpool in England's League Cup final on Sunday, Abramovich releasing a statement which reads in part, "I have always viewed my role as the custodian of the club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities. I have always taken decisions with the club's best interests at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today getting trustees of Chelsea's Charitable Foundation, the stewardship and care of Chelsea F.C." Meantime, I saw as close to the club clarifying to CNN the 55-year- old's decision was to protect the club's reputation after his 20-year commitment and does not want to damage it. Although some British parliamentarians have called for Abramovich to give up ownership due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Russian national will stay on as owner of English Premier League side, according to that source.
Abramovich himself has not been sanctioned by the United Kingdom, according to the U.K. sanctions list website, while the billionaire himself maintains he's not an official political figure for Russia. And Chelsea supporters trust saying it is deeply saddened and shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent loss of life, adding it seeking urgent clarification on what the Abramovich statement now means for the club.
Meantime in the English Premier League Saturday, Everton and Manchester City showing their support for Ukraine and for cities Alexander Lukashenko. The defender moved to tears at Goodison Park. Emotions running high too for his compatriot, the Toffees Vitaliy Mykolenko, both play sharing a powerful poignant embrace.
[23:55:13]
Aston Villa's Matty Cash sending a stay strong message to Polish international teammate and Dynamo Kiev Defender Tomasz Kedziora who said he's currently in the Ukrainian capital. Cash book though after scoring. While Poland and Sweden's national teams now say they won't face Russia in playoff matches next month, ahead of this year's World Cup in Qatar.
And the Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev, who made global headlines with his powerful gesture writing no war please on a TV camera, winning the Dubai Tennis Championships this weekend in the UAE.
Patrick Snell, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: And another Ukrainian athlete who's not only using his voice to end the war in his homeland Ukraine, he is actually joining the fight. Well former heavyweight boxing champ Wladimir Klitschko posted this sobering message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO, FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMP: Now to stop Russian aggression with anything you can have now in an hour, or buy tomorrow is going to be too late. Please get into action now. Don't wait. Act now. Stop this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The boxing legends brother Vitali is the mayor of Ukraine's capital Kyiv. He is also a former boxing champion.
Well, thank you so much for watching. Our breaking news coverage continues after the break. Please stay with CNN.
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