Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Battle for Kyiv Underway as Russian Troops Close in on Capital; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Says Fate of Country Being Decided Right Now; U.S. President Joe Biden Orders Release up to $350 Million to Support Ukraine; Ordinary Ukrainians Forced to Flee; Active Fighting Now in Streets of Kyiv. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 26, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. Live from Ukraine, I'm Michael Holmes.

Now our breaking news this hour, let's bring you up to date. The Ukrainian interior ministry now says, quote, "active fighting" is taking place on the streets of Kyiv. It is warning residents to stay calm and stay indoors.

Now this after a night full of explosions and bursts of gunfire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

HOLMES (voice-over): Ukraine's military says those blasts were part of an operation that destroyed Russian tanks. Meanwhile, a mayor of a town just south of Kyiv says it is, quote, "completely occupied with fighting."

Ukrainian officials say clashes are also underway in an eastern suburb of Kyiv. And here in Lviv in the west of the country, we've been hearing this.

The sounds of air raid sirens regularly going off, announcements warning people to take cover and head to shelters. Ukraine's president says it is a make-or-break moment for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This night will be very difficult, and the enemy will use all available forces to break the resistance of Ukrainians. This night, we have to stand ground. The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now the Russian invasion now in its third day. It began Thursday, with Russian forces attacking from three sides by land, sea and air. Ukraine's defense ministry said 18,000 guns with ammunition have been distributed to reservists in the Kyiv region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice-over): Now this was the scene at a Kyiv railway station on Friday, as civilians desperately sought to evacuate. Ukrainian troops receiving a loud round of applause as they walked by.

And new satellite pictures showing the Ukrainian border with Romania. Traffic is backed up for miles as many are trying to leave. The United Nations says more than 50,000 Ukrainian refugees have already fled the country, many of them now seeking refuge in Poland and Moldova.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Alex Marquardt is in Kyiv while Jasmine Wright is in Washington for us.

Alex, let's go to you first. Bring us up to date on what's been going on there in a very active morning.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It really is, Michael. A flurry of developments and activity in the past few moments. Just before we came on the air, we heard those air raid sirens that you also heard in Lviv.

But right here, as the sun's coming up in Kyiv as well, now we have heard those throughout the evening, but it had been quite some time. Those air raid sirens ending just moments ago.

And again, moments ago, we also heard some gunfire, loud gunfire, coming from that direction. That is the east where, as you also mentioned, we have heard about fighting in the suburbs of Kyiv.

We have a very solid sense now that this fighting is really encircling the city, that the Russian troops are proceeding in their goal to make their way all the way around this city.

But Michael, possibly the most significant fighting that we saw overnight was in the western part of the city, within the city limits. For the first time, we heard explosions within the city limits, just about five kilometers or just over three miles away.

We believe that is near a military installation and the Ukrainian military is saying that they were able to take out two cars, two trucks laden with ammunition, as well as a tank with an anti-tank missile. So that is what we believe those explosions to have been.

So we have that fighting in the west as well as the east. Now we have also been told that there is significant fighting in a town about 20 miles or 30 kilometers south of here as well. So when you add all those three orientations to the fact that we know

the Russians have been coming in from the north, although that front has been relatively quiet all night, for much of the night, the encirclement of Kyiv is very much happening, Michael.

HOLMES: Alex, you know, we heard the interior ministry telling people to stay indoors, get away from windows and balconies, take cover where they can. At the same time, the government has called on all active people basically who can handle a gun to get one and fight.

What is happening among the general population as much as you are able to tell?

[01:05:00]

MARQUARDT: Well, it's unclear whether these air raid sirens are related to that warning from the interior ministry. You're absolutely right, the interior minister -- the Facebook page for the interior ministry saying that this morning, Saturday morning, there is active fighting going on in the streets of Kyiv and asking residents to stay inside; if they are in air shelters, to stay there; if they are at home, to stay away from windows and balconies, to get away from those windows that could break if there was some sort of fighting going on.

So we do believe that there is active fighting underway, according to the interior minister and, at the same time, we have seen not just the military going out to confront this Russian threat.

And it does appear that they are making some headway -- or at least they are doing a fairly good job at keeping those Russian forces at bay. But you're also seeing Ukrainians of all stripes being called upon by the government to take up arms and who are responding to that call.

You have the reservists who have been called up; general mobilization for men between 18 and 60 years old. And the Ukrainian government saying anybody who wants a weapon can go and sign up for one to fight the Russians.

Now as you noted at the top, there are Russian movements coming in from three different sides, from the north. And that is the biggest concern for Kyiv, those forces that can come in from Belarus; whereas, where, for the past few weeks, from the east, where President Putin has recognized those breakaway republics.

And then from the south, where troops have been stationed in Crimea. And we know there are ships both in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov -- Michael.

HOLMES: Very active situation to say the least. Alex Marquardt in Kyiv, thanks so much. Let's turn to Jasmine Wright in Washington.

Jasmine, what are you hearing from the White House as it monitors what's happening in Kyiv?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, the president spent his weekend in his home in Delaware. But a White House official just told me he is being regularly updated on the developments happening in Ukraine.

And, of course, he's keeping in touch with his national security team. But no doubt that White House officials are watching what's happening on the ground in Ukraine with really great concern.

For weeks now, we have gotten these intensified warnings from White House officials about what could happen in Ukraine and, more often than not, they are seeing some of these predictions come into focus here.

So no doubt they are concerned, not only for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people and, of course, the stability of his government, as Russia looks like it is enclosing (sic) to the capital, but also for President Zelensky himself.

Now we know, Michael, that President Zelensky and President Biden spoke in a secure phone call. The White House said it lasted about 40 minutes. It is the first time that President Biden and Zelensky have spoken since Thursday, since that initial invasion from Russia.

And in a readout released afterwards, the White House said that President Biden commended the Ukrainian people for fighting for their nation. But also President Biden and President Zelensky spoke about support that the U.S. is giving Ukraine and also defense assistance.

Now we know just from a few hours ago, the White House released a memo in which the president instructed the State Department to release up to $350 million in defense assistance going to Ukraine, their third such type of release of funds, really trying to shore up the U.S. support for Ukraine and for its sovereignty.

So for tomorrow (sic), we can expect, in terms of how else the White House is really staying engaged on this issue, we can expect the president to hold a rare Saturday morning call with national security officials and the vice president, really trying to stay up to date here when it comes to things happening on the ground.

HOLMES: And, Jasmine, when it comes to sanctions, are there further steps that the president is planning to take?

Tell us how far he's going to go.

WRIGHT: Well, today the White House announced just how far the president is willing to go in sanctions. They said that he will impose sanctions against President Putin. It will mark the highest-profile mark of sanctions that this White House has done so far in trying to deter Russia but also punish it for its continued aggression, as it looks like a deterrent is not something President Putin is willing to accept right now.

SO the White House said this really came in the last 24 hours in concert with the allies after we know that the E.U., U.K. and Canada said that they would impose similar sanctions against both Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. [01:10:00]

WRIGHT: So this comes as the White House really looks to ratchet up its punishment, even if they say it won't all affect President Putin and Russia in the short term.

They're looking, of course, to put in the maximum amount of pain in the long term, trying to keep this, you know, what looks like the beginnings of a war as short as possible here. Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Jasmine, thanks. Jasmine Wright there in Washington for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Max Seddon is the Moscow bureau chief for the "Financial Times." He joins me now from Moscow.

Thanks so much for doing so. You write in the "FT" about Putin's behavior, quote, "being the culmination of a slide into paranoid autocracy that earns comparison with Russia's most brutal rulers."

Talk more about that paranoia and how it might play into what we're seeing now.

MAX SEDDON, MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, "FINANCIAL TIMES": One thing we're seeing is that Putin has become increasingly isolated in recent years. He was already making decisions in a very tight circle of advisers even before the pandemic hit.

And as we saw when he made the president of France, the German chancellor sit at the other ends of that enormous, just ridiculously huge table in the Kremlin, he goes to these absurd lengths to stop himself getting COVID.

What that means, according to people who know him, that I've spoken to, is that the information he's getting is much, much more restricted. And he's retreated into himself. And he seems to have really started believing his own hype.

It appears that Macron and Scholz, from France and Germany, when they met him, basically he gave them these hours and hours long lectures about his own warped interpretation of history, much like we saw on TV earlier this week, when he made his speeches.

So it seems that Putin, even if he even is acting rationally, which a lot of people have doubts about, he may not have all of the information that you and I are seeing. He may be given a very, very different picture of what's happening on the ground.

HOLMES: Of course, one of the big dangers of all of that is there doesn't seem to be anyone around him who will say no to him.

SEDDON: No. I think it was really remarkable. We saw it in that security council session on Monday. They had it in the same room where they did the annexation of Crimea. And when he did the annexation of Crimea, he stayed up until 7 in the morning with his top security advisers, almost kind of like politburo.

This time he had his security council all sitting 20 feet away from him in this enormous room and he basically grilled them and forced them to almost, you know, dip their hands in blood by endorsing this move on Ukraine.

There's a Russian expression that kind of means "collective complicity," that really looked like Putin was trying to get everyone to say that they were going in with him, almost this kind of loyalty test. A lot of his closest, most hawkish advisers, they looked visibly uncomfortable at what Putin was trying to make them do.

HOLMES: The talk of possible talks now, possible talks, what is your sense of what Mr. Putin would see as his minimum requirements and whether they would even be acceptable to President Zelensky?

SEDDON: I think it's very difficult to tell what Russia's real goal is in calling for these talks, because, yesterday you saw, after Ukraine said it was willing to put possible neutral status like Finland or Austria out on the table, the Kremlin really ran after that as hard as it could. Putin said he was ready to do it.

Then I was on a very strange call with Putin's spokesman, who seemed quite demonstrably upset that they hadn't managed to agree on a venue for these talks with Ukraine, even as they were bombing the government district. And there were worries that Russia was going to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelensky.

But the problem is, firstly, Russia doesn't seem to be serious about negotiations in the sense that you and I think negotiations are, where each side is prepared to make a compromise.

Russia has made it clear they're only interested in negotiations where they don't make any concessions; Ukraine surrenders and essentially ceases to exist in the form that we know it.

The possibility is that, given how things are going on the ground and given the difficulty for Putin of selling a war to Russians, where a lot of Russians die and where they do significant damage on the, quote-unquote, "brotherly nation of Ukraine," it's possible that he might want this to be like the five-day war in Georgia in 2008: declare victory quickly, establish new facts (ph) on the ground and then get out.

[01:15:00]

SEDDON: Also you could think about it the other way, given what Putin said. He was complaining about what he said were neo-Nazis setting up artillery in the civilian areas in major cities.

And you could just read that as preparing the population, given how the tactics already from Russia are so much like what they did in Syria, starting in 2015, that they could be prepared to turn cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv into Aleppo.

So we really don't know where it's going to get. It's been quite clear that Putin's own officials -- you've seen the foreign minister and the Kremlin spokesman, saying completely opposite things at the same time.

Either they're trying to obfuscate or they don't know themselves what the line is. Only Putin himself really seems to know that at this point.

HOLMES: Great analysis. Max Seddon in Moscow, really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, people around the world are responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine with tens of thousands protesting the incursion. We'll be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Many people around the world, you hear them there, venting their anger over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of protesters in Madrid joining members of the Ukrainian community there to demand an end to the invasion.

Across Latin America, thousands marching in Argentina, Brazil and Peru, calling on Russia to pull its troops out of Ukraine.

And some 30,000 people taking to the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, to protest the invasion. Many demanding the resignation of Georgia's prime minister after he refused to join the economic and financial sanctions imposed by the West.

Now there is outrage and protest even inside Russia. Thousands have taken to the streets again to voice their anger at the government and, in many cases, risking arrest. CNN's Nic Robertson reports now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, a second night of anti-war protests against Russia, more than 2 dozen cities involved. By midnight Friday, more than 500 people across Russia arrested, almost 200 of those in St. Petersburg.

More than 200 arrested in Moscow. The day before, Thursday, more than 1,800 people had been arrested at anti-war protests; more than 1,000 of those arrested in Moscow. These are relatively big numbers for short-notice protests.

Not clear why the protests weren't as big and heavily attended on Friday evening; the police crackdown just as brutal and strong as it was on Thursday. The government saying that these protests were not authorized, that

people could face criminal prosecution, that criminal prosecution could bring, in essence, damage their ability to get work, damage them for the rest of their lives.

A very clear message from the government that they didn't want people to turn up. Nevertheless, significant numbers of people being arrested.

On Friday, one of the country's top officials, the main Kremlin spokesman, the spokesman for President Putin, Dmitry Peskov, his own daughter posted a "stop the war" message on Telegram. Now hers is a verified account. She has more than 180,000 followers.

The post has now been taken down. But it just goes to show the reach and depth of feeling and the number of people that actually are opposed to the war. It would be ridiculous to think it's a number that's going to change President Putin's opinion at the moment.

More than 50 percent of the country are estimated to support his current war in Ukraine. But the protests haven't stopped. That is still a significant number of people arrested on the second night -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, Russia's media, of course, looks very different from most news coverage around the world. CNN contributor Jill Dougherty with the details from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY AND WILSON CENTER: At the very same time that CNN and other Western media were showing the attacks in Kyiv, Russian TV was not showing live coverage from Kyiv.

In fact, it was showing pre-taped reports, some of them very dramatic, showing reporters in flak jackets standing in front of tanks -- but coming instead from that breakaway region in the eastern part of Ukraine, the Donbas region, where those two breakaway republics that were recognized officially this week by Russia are located.

This is all part of the messaging from the Russian government on state TV, constantly showing the people in those locations, claiming that they are the victims of genocide, that they are being attacked by the Ukrainian government.

The Ukrainian government, of course, denying that. But it is an attempt to justify the steps that the Russians are taking now to remove that government which they argue is illegitimate.

And also another piece of really dramatic video today and that was President Putin. He was directly addressing Ukraine's military, urging them to turn against their leaders, saying that you should take power in your hands and also calling the government in Kyiv terrorists, drug addicts and neo-Nazis. Again, another way of demeaning and trying to give the impression not

only to the people of Russia but to the world --

[01:25:00]

DOUGHERTY: -- that the attack that they are carrying out in Kyiv is justified -- Jill Dougherty, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And our breaking news coverage continues after a break. We'll be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Welcome back. I'm Michael Holmes, coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine, where warnings by the nation's president appear to be coming true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice-over): Just a little while ago, the Ukrainian interior ministry posting a warning on its Facebook page, saying "active fighting is taking place on the streets of our city."

President Zelensky telling his people earlier, quote, "This night will be very difficult.

[01:30:00]

HOLMES: "The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now," but also striking a defiant tone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKY (through translator): Our main goal is to finish this slaughter. The enemy losses are very grave. Today, there were hundreds of killed soldiers who crossed our border and came on our land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now that defiance evidenced all across the country. Some of the Ukrainian TV channels giving instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails -- fire bombs.

And as the sun comes up, smoke seen rising from parts of the city. Now for his part, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had his own message for the people of Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): Do not let vanderites (ph) and neo-Nazis use your children and wives and old people as human shields. Take power into your own hands.

It looks like it will be easier for us come to an agreement than with this gang of drug addicts and neoNazis that have settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now a breaking development in the battle for Ukraine's capital. A senior Ukrainian presidential adviser says the situation in the suburbs and surrounding area of Kyiv is under control.

He said the Russian forces tried to bring, quote, "maximum amount of equipment into the city of Kyiv," but then he insisted, quote, "currently the situation in the suburbs and surrounding area is under control," adding that, inside the city, there are separate Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

He says police and self-defense groups are actively working against them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Peter Zalmayev is the director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative. Taras Berezovets is a political analyst. They are near Kyiv and they join me.

Now, Peter, I'm going to start with you because I had the most extraordinary conversation with you. I've interviewed you numerous times over the course of the buildup to this conflict.

There you were, driving out of the city, on the phone with your family and saying to me, "I'm going to go back and fight."

Bring me up to date on what has happened since then.

PETER ZALMAYEV, DIRECTOR, EURASIA DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE: Well, indeed we were able to -- Taras and I -- we had to smuggle our families out of Kyiv. We had a note of warning, a very urgent warning that our lives were in danger for a variety of reasons.

So we finally were able yesterday to get our folks to safety. We're now heading back to Kyiv. There's fighting around the city, around the perimeters. They're trying to surround the city. We're trying to find out which routes we can take to reach the capital and join up with resistance there.

But we witnessed and it's important to know, the entire country -- and we haven't seen anything like this since 1940s -- has risen up. You have kids. You have teenagers. You have old men. You have grandmothers, arming themselves in units of territorial defense, which simply means that Vladimir Putin shall not pass.

HOLMES: And Taras, I didn't realize you were in the same position until just now.

What are your plans? TARAS BEREZOVETS, UKRAINIAN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, like Peter said, we're heading back to Kyiv. Whatever happens, Putin is not going to win. We see it as putting forward -- invading our country from all directions.

They will try and use his control over our capital, Kyiv, using every inhuman technique. Well, everybody in the world should understand, Putin is a murderer. Yesterday, he gave an order to start a rocket launch attack against orphanage near Kyiv, effectively killing several kids.

I think it's just the right time for the whole world to act, act now. Save Ukraine now, because we see the only thing which Putin understands is force.

And according to Ukrainian authorities, the Russian military forces, for the last two days, 3,500 people killed. And we see that Ukrainian armed forces have been very effective in repelling Putin's attack against Ukrainian cities. Not a single Ukrainian big city has been captured so far.

HOLMES: Just to explain, last night the president made it clear that this was a very dire moment and that everything was on the line. We're hearing now from the government that they have held back the Russian advances around the city.

What do you think is going to happen now?

Peter, let's go to you.

ZALMAYEV: Well, it's too soon to predict obviously. Ukraine is facing the world's second largest army --

[01:35:00]

ZALMAYEV: -- which has shown, as Taras has said, that it will not stop at anything. It's already committed in plain view over the last two days, it has committed a whole series of war crimes.

That is enough probably to send the whole gang, Putin and his company of buddies and cronies, to The Hague and then to prison for life. It's too soon to tell.

But it's obvious to all military experts -- the Pentagon is firming that blitzkrieg, the short war of shock and awe, has completely failed. Putin is getting his face kicked in, his nose kicked. You know, he's getting bloodied, like he didn't expect this kind of resistance.

His speech yesterday, appealing to Ukrainian armed forces, telling them to, you know, give up on their drug-addicted president and rise up, shows, first of all, desperation, shows that he's desperate, shows that he's also detached from reality. He's honestly thinking that Ukrainians wait to be liberated by the Russians.

He has another thing coming. Last eight years, thanks to Vladimir Putin, time and again -- first it was in 2014 and now the second time it's today, that Ukrainians are realizing they are a nation to reckon with.

And the national identity flowering is actually very much due to Vladimir Putin. So Ukrainians have a lot to thank him for.

HOLMES: Yes, and, Taras, to that point, let's say the worst happens and the government falls. I was here in 2014 at the Maidan. I was then in Crimea when the Russians came in down there.

Do you think that Vladimir Putin, even if he puts in a puppet government, do you think he realizes what the mood of the Ukrainian people is right now?

They have already thrown out two pro-Moscow presidents.

Does he think that another one would do any better?

BEREZOVETS: You know, Michael, to put it bluntly, I don't care and I think all Ukrainians don't care what Putin thinks of our country, of our nation.

Putin, like I said, he's a murderer. And he effectively turned Russia into North Korea for the last two days. And Russians as a nation will pay a huge price for this. I'm absolutely sure of that.

Whatever happens, Ukrainians are not going to surrender. Even if, at some point, we're going to lose some parts of our (INAUDIBLE) -- and it looks very much like we might so -- it doesn't change anything for us. This is our country and this is our homeland.

Peter was originally born in Donetsk.

(CROSSTALK)

BEREZOVETS: Both of them are Russian speaking (INAUDIBLE) in Crimea. And we both have had to leave our cities in 2014. But we're not going to leave anymore. This is our country. This is our capital. And Vladimir Putin is not going to take control over it, whatever happens. He will pay a huge price for this.

And I'm pretty sure that Russian people actually, they have to be (INAUDIBLE) with the president. If they are not going to protest against Putin's regime, they have to face the fact that Russia should be going under the severe sanctions.

And I'm asking again, U.S. and European politicians, act now. Be sure that Ukraine is not going to surrender. But we need your help. We need your assistance now.

ZALMAYEV: Michael, with your permission, I've coordinated with my colleagues, Ukrainian Americans, Ukrainians, a very short list of what can and should be done. Obviously SWIFT; goes without saying, SWIFT should be turned off for Russia. And already Macron of France, the French president; Italy is onboard. The only recalcitrant country is Germany. Germany has to be brought on

board very quickly. All assets belonging to Russian oligarchs should be seized immediately.

The Russian sovereign wealth fund, which is $650 billion, keep in mind that much of it sits on the ledgers of three major banks, Central European Bank, Bank of England and U.S. Federal Reserve. That money should be frozen.

In fact, it could then be used to pay for Ukrainian resistance, you know.

Finally, Representative Kinzinger in Congress yesterday was discussing the possibility of closing Ukraine's sovereign airspace. That is something that should also be considered.

Folks, don't make any mistake about this. This is our credibility, the world's credibility, civilization's credibility on the line.

HOLMES: We are almost literally out of time, so, very quickly, if you will, Peter and Taras, both of you, you are going back to fight.

Are you willing to die?

[01:40:00]

BEREZOVETS: I think, of course, not. Nobody is going to die. But say it to Ukrainian heroes (ph), 11 Ukrainian sailors, who rejected to surrender to Putin's navy on the Ukrainian island. And all of them died. But still Putin is going to lose in this battle with democracy, in his battle with Ukraine.

ZALMAYEV: Glory to Ukraine, folks. Thank you for your support.

HOLMES: Peter and Taras, thank you so much for your time. I admire your courage and your patriotism. And Godspeed. Thank you.

ZALMAYEV: Thank you, Michael.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Just have a little think about that. These are two analysts I've been talking to over recent weeks. They are political analysts. They have an academic bent. Here they are, having dropped their families to safety, heading back into Kyiv to fight the Russians. Have a think about that.

All right. Ukrainian troops put up a fight for a key bridge south of their country. Still ahead, we'll show you the carnage left behind by a brutal battle for this strategic link.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:45:00] (MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Now just a few minutes ago, the Ukrainian President Zelensky, he appeared in a video speaking outside his Kyiv office, saying, quote, "I am here. We are not putting down arms. We will be defending our country because our weapon is truth and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children and we will defend all of this."

He then went on, quote, "That is it. That's all I wanted to tell you. Glory to Ukraine."

The Ukrainian president speaking there.

Now as Russian troops close in on the capital, they are facing strong resistance in southern Ukraine. It's happening near the city of Kherson, the site of a key bridge connecting Russian-held areas with the rest of Ukraine. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh saw the aftermath of the brutal fighting.

We do want to warn you, some of the images are graphic and may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: For a moment, this was a bridge too far for Vladimir Putin. As we arrived in the town of Kherson, just before dusk on Thursday, the fighting had crossed over to our side of the river, meaning Russian tanks were in these sleepy streets.

But the night brought no rest; jets flying low, terrifying locals; airstrikes. Here, a mother's bedtime duty is to switch out the lights, not to calm her kids but to protect them from the Kremlin's jets overhead.

The boys are noisy but the girls quiet.

"It's safer here than on the street," says Lena.

Ruslan jumps in.

"They'll kill us all," he says.

Moscow's games scar here.

"I did hear blasts but I was not afraid. I heard a tank," he says.

But by dawn, it was a case of the Russians are coming but also maybe not. Ukrainian forces had reclaimed the bridge but not without a cost. I asked Viktor (ph) if the Russians would move back.

VIKTOR (PH): Yes, Russians no fall away, Russians about 3,000 meters.

WALSH (voice-over): Locals picked through the wreckage for ammunition.

WALSH: It's strange to see civilians picking up leftover armor from vehicles here. It just shows you how many people are involved now on a local level in this war effort.

He's doing it again. They're stopping everywhere to pick up whatever they can.

WALSH (voice-over): It's unclear if the bodies here were discarded because they were Russians or because there were just too many.

The Ukrainian military you can see here is the bit that was pushed back. The defenders still holding this bridge stayed hidden, waving our cameras away from their positions. On the bridge, the living surreally passing the dead.

WALSH: OK, I gotcha.

He's saying the Russians are on the other side of the bridge. But you can't see them but they aren't disturbing civilians.

WALSH (voice-over): Anyone who wants to run Ukraine needs this tortured piece of concrete.

WALSH: This is the Dnipro River, which basically cuts Ukraine in two. The side here, which connects to Russia, and this side, which connects to Europe, a vital piece of Ukraine to fight over and has been obviously very intense here in the past days.

WALSH (voice-over): There are no winners here, just holes that will need filling in and shreds of lives that need collecting.

Vladimir (ph) is here helping himself to a hot dog. The other Vladimir, Putin, wants to steal lives here holed (ph) for his wider vision of empire restored.

For the people in this town, it means afternoons with the noise of rockets landing in the streets.

But at dusk, the balance of power changed again, shells landed around Ukrainian positions and, it seemed, near houses. Ambulances unable to get in. Then came this noise, the sound of an attack helicopter.

Acute violence that seems to have led the bridge to change hands again. Minutes later, local officials said the city's defenses had fallen. But victories here are laden with loss and so bitter in the mouth -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kherson, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:50:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I am Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Let's get you up to speed with the latest developments on the ground in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN (voice-over): Explosion after explosion is rocking the capital, as Russian troops try to burst into Kyiv from multiple sides.

Well, CNN crews heard blasts coming from the west and the south. Ukraine's government has just described the scene on Kyiv's streets as "active fighting," urging people to stay calm and take cover at home.

But the situation may be different in the suburbs. A senior presidential adviser says the situation there in surrounding areas of Kyiv is under control. He said Russian forces are trying to bring the maximum amount of equipment into the city of Kyiv.

Well, Delta Air Lines has announced it is ending its partnership with Russian airline Aeroflot in response to the invasion.

[01:55:00]

COREN: It follows the termination of a sponsorship deal by Manchester United. Pete Muntean has more on what it means for the business world and for passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Delta Air Lines says its agreement with Russia national airline is over effective immediately. It is just the latest partnership with the carrier known as Aeroflot to come to a sudden end.

First, English football club Manchester United ended its corporate sponsorship. And now Delta says it will not book its passengers on Aeroflot flights. That also means that Aeroflot cannot book its passengers on Delta flights, called a co-chair agreement. Pretty common in the airline world.

It is mostly symbolic, but it does affect a handful of flights from Moscow, JFK or LAX. Delta says it is working with impacted passengers to reaccommodate them. It is getting harder for Russian airlines to operate in general.

On Thursday, the United Kingdom announced it was banning civilian Russian aircraft from entering its airspace -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Thanks so much for watching, our breaking news coverage of the Russian invasion in Ukraine continues, after this short break.