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Ukraine under Russian Attack for Fourth Day; Six-Year-Old Boy Killed in Heavy Gunfire in Western Kyiv; UNHCR: 116,000+ People Flee Ukraine to Other Nations; U.S. and Key G7 Allies Expelling Some Russian Banks from SWIFT; CNN Witnesses Russian Tanks Moving toward Ukraine; Global Protests Condemn Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Aired 1- 2a ET
Aired February 27, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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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 Lviv in Ukraine, I'm Michael Holmes.
Our breaking news this hour, as fighting in Ukraine enters a fourth day, the capital is a city under siege. We're also learning new details about one of the youngest victims in this conflict. A local hospital says a 6-year-old boy was killed amid violent clashes happening in Western Kyiv.
I want to show you the scene in Kyiv overnight.
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HOLMES (voice-over): CNN cameras capturing the moment an explosion lit the sky above the city, one of two massive blasts on the outskirts of the capital.
Let's take a closer view now. This area just southeast of Kyiv is home to a large military air field. The town's mayor says a petroleum storage depot was hit. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 150,000 people have fled this country. Many others internally displaced.
The people in this video are trying to board a train from Kyiv to Western Ukraine, where I am. So far, the outgunned Ukrainians have kept the Russians from taking the capital.
The Ukrainian general says they have captured some 200 Russian troops. But the British ministry of defense says the bulk of Vladimir Putin's invasion force is within 30 kilometers of the capital.
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HOLMES: Russian troops trying to take Kyiv are clashing with other soldiers. The people of Ukraine are also taking up arms to defend their country and their home. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are Ukraine's civilian defenders, local residents taking up arms and ready to fight.
CHANCE: That's blood on the ground?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is his blood.
CHANCE (voice-over): Already here in a suburb of the capital, Kyiv, there's been blood spilled, deadly contact between these volunteers and Russian forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never served in an army.
CHANCE (voice-over): Volunteers like Yuri, who was an economic analyst. He tells me, before this Russian invasion made him a fighter --
CHANCE: You work in an office but now you're defending your country, your city?
YURI, VOLUNTEER DEFENDER: 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, Russians are in the city.
I mean, it's close to the point that I have completely changed my mind and I have decided that I should do something about it.
CHANCE (voice-over): Just hours before, this northern Kyiv suburb was the scene of firefights as Russian forces probe the Ukrainian capital. And the entire city and its residents are bracing and preparing for more.
CHANCE: Those are your Molotov cocktails?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHANCE: Show me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what I have to use to stop the tank.
CHANCE: These are your Molotov cocktails, your petrol bombs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHANCE: You made these yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. The people bring me this.
CHANCE: The people?
From the local -- CHANCE (voice-over): And they may be needed soon, very soon. As we
left the building, more shots ring out. Russia's assault on the city seems at hand -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
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HOLMES: The West rolling out more sanctions aimed at hitting Russia where it hurts. Saturday, the U.S. and some key Western allies announcing they will expel certain Russian banks from SWIFT, that is a high-security network that connects thousands of banks around the world.
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HOLMES: CNN White House reporter Jasmine Wright joins me now live from Washington with a closer look.
Fill us in on what's been happening, Jasmine.
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Michael, something of this scale in terms of what the U.S. and allies announced today has not happened, making it really significant in its aim for Western countries to try to isolate Russia financially.
So the U.S., European allies and, of course, Canada, they announced, in a joint statement, a couple of different moves. First, they expel certain banks from the international banking community, then really taking, homing in on the Russian central bank and their actions there.
They announced new restrictive measures, trying to attack the money that the Russian central bank has in its reserves, about $600 billion that it is using currently to prop up the Russian economy as it faces waves of sanctions.
These restrictive measures are really trying to stop that and of course put the ruble in freefall. As you said, for SWIFT, that international banking system that connects about 11,000 financial systems to world banks across the globe.
Well, this measure that the folks announced today, it would basically take away the ability for some Russian banks to do those transactions through the SWIFT system, cutting off that lifeline, in an attempt to isolate the country of Russia, isolate these transactions, making sure they cannot happen.
In terms of sanctions going forward, they were asked basically whether or not the central bank would be a part of sanctions. That is something that the U.S. is considering. We don't have an answer to that.
But that would be going another step further, potentially something on the pipeline. One thing I want to flag to you is just how quickly this happened.
Just on Thursday, the president was asked, why not include SWIFT into this amount of sanctions he announced a few days ago? He said very clearly that European leaders weren't ready to take that step. Fast forward to today, when we have this announcement that they're willing to go further than they have before, trying to do something significant in responding proportionally to Russia's aggression here.
HOLMES: Yes, it is a significant move. As you say, it came on fast in the end. Ukraine's been asking for this move for a long time now. Jasmine Wright, thank you, from Washington for us.
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HOLMES: Matthew Schmidt is professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven. He joins me now from New Haven, Connecticut.
It's good to see you again, Professor. I know you've written that Vladimir Putin, quote, must not just lose, he must be defeated. Explain what you mean and what defeat would look like.
MATTHEW SCHMIDT, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: He's losing the war now; he just doesn't know it. The Ukrainian military has put up a defense that he did not expect. If you look around at casualty counts that the Ukrainians are imposing on the Russians, if you look at downed aircraft -- which is one of these things that hasn't been reported very much -- they're high numbers from what we expected.
That's why you see that Kyiv is still here, right?
This far into the battle -- and probably will be here tomorrow, maybe even the next day. So he's losing. But he will take Kyiv eventually. And he will be able to take physical control of the rest of the country.
It's at that point that things get dangerous, because he won't be defeated; he'll still be in power. He'll be stuck in a quagmire, in a guerilla war he can't win. And he'll lash out.
HOLMES: It does seem at the moment, as you're saying, Ukrainian forces, they're fighting well. They seem to be blunting the advance of the Russians. And militarily, they, the Russians, need to keep moving or face supply problems in a logistical sense, other issues as well.
How do you think these Ukrainian forces have been performing?
SCHMIDT: I think they've been doing an extraordinary job. Their courage is unbelievable. As I've said before with you, the key here is for Ukrainian forces to fall back, transition out of this active defense, which they don't have to do yet because they're doing so well.
Nonetheless, at some point, to fall back into insurgency and maintain unit cohesion, that's what they've done an amazing job about.
The report just before, about people making Molotov cocktails, bringing them in from Lviv, this is exactly the kind of thing that allows Ukraine to operate and organize as a unit, fighting against the Russians.
This is going to be far worse for them than what the United States had to face in Afghanistan. You have a larger percentage of the population that's going to fight. They're better organized, they have better weapons.
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SCHMIDT: Eventually, Putin's going to start using things like thermobaric bombs and have to take some real risks.
HOLMES: Yes, and that's frightening, too, what he might do, to get ahead here.
I know you don't believe sanctions will work. We've heard about the SWIFT payment moves now.
What would then work to stop Putin?
SCHMIDT: I think the only thing is to, frankly, stack up the body bags and send them back to the Kremlin so that Putin can see what's there and so that, unfortunately, those deaths would work to bring the Russian public out into the streets and sustain them in the streets.
In the end, I think the center of gravity, the defeat mechanism for Vladimir Putin is going to be his own people in the streets. The Ukrainian military and the rest of the world can tie him up in Ukraine. We can sanction him. We can hurt him economically. But none of that is going to be enough until the Russian people decide they've had enough.
HOLMES: When we look at his broader picture, what do you think he, Putin, wants to end up with from this invasion?
Politically but importantly, as well, territorially, even if he's sort of held back, there are parts of this country he wants and needs, like the corridor along there, the land bridge, so-called, from mainland Russia to Crimea.
SCHMIDT: I think his goal, in the end, is political. He's trying to build a vision of manifest destiny that brings Ukraine into Russia's sphere of influence, that builds a kind of future historical greatness for this idea of a greater and large Russia.
In order to do that, he does not need all of Ukraine territorially. I think he needs east, probably all the way to the land bridge into Crimea. He would settle for that if he had to.
But he's not going to have that choice because Ukrainians have shown us, over and over again, Zelensky has shown us, every day of this war now, that Ukraine is not going to accept anything less than unity and freedom. And the problem is, Putin's going have to decide how to react to that. And that's going to hurt the rest of us.
HOLMES: Yes, that is a very good point. Before all this kicked off, few people thought he would actually do it, that he would make this move. You used to teach strategic planning for the U.S. Army. And I know you argue, in fact, this has been a long time in the planning.
SCHMIDT: That's right. He's been doing just the military planning, logistical planning, for years. He's been doing the financial planning, hording that cash reserve, working his arrangements with China and in other ways, frankly, getting the oligarchs in line so that they're not going to turn on him, even with the sanctions.
And that's taken years. Division itself goes back to the earliest day of his presidency, to looking at the collapse of the Soviet Union as the largest catastrophe of the 20th century, precisely because Russia loses that center of historical power. And what he is trying to do here is fix that.
HOLMES: Fascinating. Matthew Schmidt, always good to speak with you and get your analysis. Appreciate it, thanks, professor.
SCHMIDT: My pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Stay with CNN for the latest on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Coming up on the program, the crisis stretching across border, as refugees overwhelm international crossing points, desperate to flee the violence.
And a closer look at the man who has become the face of Ukrainian defiance against Russia, the unlikely part of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
For Ukrainian civilians, the conflict growing increasingly desperate. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 150,000 people have been forced now to flee across international borders, half heading to Poland with others going to Hungary, Moldova, Romania and elsewhere.
The government estimates a worst-case scenario could involve as many as 5 million refugees. Let's hear now from some of those many Ukrainians, forced to flee from their homes and from the people who are doing their best to help them to help them.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): In all the years I have lived, I never thought I would live to witness such horrors. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of never-ending. We basically haven't
slept since really early. And then it's really kind of hard to concentrate and keep calm. But we're trying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was trying to get out of Kyiv two days. And luckily, yesterday I got the free train to lviv. Then we took the taxi. And the police stopped him and sent him back to Lviv. And we walked about 20 kilometers. And we are exhausted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband is at another site, waiting for us. But we are 27 kilometers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run. Children, run. Families, families, children, run.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're coming empty-handed, some of them, with just children and the clothes on their backs.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Romania.
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HOLMES: Powerful images of humanity there.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is Russia's number one target. He says his family is number two. And he's vowing to stay in his country, despite offers of passage to safety. In many ways, he's become the face of Ukraine's defiance against Russia. CNN's Brian Todd now with more on an unlikely hero.
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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 (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 handled 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 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 (voice-over): According to Axios, Zelensky told E.U. leaders in a video conference Thursday, quote, "This might be the last time you see me alive."
TODD: 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: 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: 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.
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HOLMES: If you would like to help people in Ukraine who might be in need of the basics of life -- shelter, food, water, so on -- go to cnn.com/impact. You'll find several ways in which you can help.
Stay with us here on CNN. The latest on the fighting across Ukraine. Also, new international sanctions aimed at crippling Russia's economic structure.
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HOLMES: Welcome back, I'm Michael Holmes, live from Lviv in Ukraine. The latest developments from here, let's update you.
Massive explosions in a town about 20 kilometers southwest of Kyiv earlier, lighting up the night sky. The town's mayor saying a military airfield and a petroleum storage depot were hit.
Warning that the enemy wants to destroy everything around, that's what Ukrainian military leaders were saying, adding, "He will not be successful."
Clashes were also reported in Kyiv on Saturday night. Several people wounded, we're told; a 6-year-old boy was killed.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine's state emergency service says a nine-story residential building was hit by what they're calling enemy artillery. A female civilian, we're told, was killed there.
And to keep internet service up amid the Russian attacks, Elon Musk says his company's satellite-based Starlink internet service is now active in Ukraine.
Now as Moscow presses on with its invasion of this country, the U.S. and some allies are tightening the screws on Russia's economy. On Saturday, they announced some Russian banks would be cut off from the so-called SWIFT global financial system.
The move makes it next to impossible for those banks to move money internationally. Anna Stewart explains more.
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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.
[01:30:00] STEWART (voice-over): 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.
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.
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HOLMES: To follow up on Anna's point, some of the countries behind the exclusion are among Russia's biggest trading partners. In 2019, Russia's top trading partner was China, which is not part of the decisions related to SWIFT. But Germany was number two. The U.S. fourth, with Italy and France in the top 10 as well.
Now the international sanctions may be significant but many Ukrainians say they do not go far enough.
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KRISTIINA VISLAPUU, LVIV RESIDENT: We should not be left alone with this because, like when you have a -- when you see a child beaten in your neighbor's yard, you don't just put sanctions on the person who's doing the beating, right?
You just go and kick his ass, right?
And that's not what we are doing now. We just, you know. Sanctions would not do anything.
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HOLMES: A resident of Lviv, Ukraine, speaking with CNN earlier. Now Ukraine's government is turning to ordinary people from around the
world to fight Russia on the cyber front. Ukraine's minister of digital transformation tweeting on Saturday that 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 sharing a link to a channel on the messaging app Telegram with a proposed target list, including Russian national gas giant Gazprom and big Russian banks.
Still to come here on CNN, how some anti-war protesters in Russia are facing resistance and arrest from the police.
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HOLMES: A beautiful shot there of Lviv in Ukraine, taken by our photographer, John, here on set with me. It is just after 8:30 in the morning. I'm Michael Holmes, reporting to you live from Lviv.
I want to bring you up to date now on the latest on the Russian invasion of this nation. Ukrainian troops holding the line in Kyiv, apparently, as the invasion enters its fourth day.
A Ukrainian general based at the nation's embassy in Washington, he says his troops have captured around 200 Russian soldiers. He claims they were badly equipped and some of them did not get any training at all. He says a lot of them were just 19 years old. CNN has not, of course, independently confirmed that report as of yet.
Meanwhile, a CNN camera capturing more Russian tanks, heading toward the Ukrainian border from Russia on Saturday night. U.S. and British officials say Russia is advancing slower and taking heavier casualties than they might have expected.
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HOLMES: Let's bring in Kira Rudyk, now in Kyiv, she's a Ukrainian MP and the leader of the Holos political party.
It's good to have you with us. First of all, just give us a personal perspective.
What is day-to-day life like there at the moment?
KIRA RUDYK, UKRAINIAN MP, HOLOS: Hello, good morning.
Well, the day-to-day life is, first of all, you have to watch out for the sirens. And every time you hear the siren, you go to the bomb shelter. It's usually two or three times during the day and four, five times at night. During the night, we usually expect Russian soldiers. And every
evening, goal is to stand up until the morning because what they are doing, they firstly clothe the city with the shells, cover it with the shells.
Then at some point they just bring their people with the guns inside the city. So our army is hitting the strategic spots. And then the resistance, such as myself, is taking care of the smaller groups of Russian soldiers, who are coming into the city.
So far we have been doing very well, I think, in this matter.
So about the day-to-day life, we don't have the open supermarkets anymore, maybe one or two. And everybody has a storage of their food and the storage of water. So I have one bathtub in my house and it's filled with water, because we know there could be a shortage at some point and humanitarian issues.
We are getting ready and the days are spent in just driving around, helping each other to prepare.
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RUDYK: Because we are preparing both for siege or for attack.
And you know the worst thing?
The, really the worst thing is how you act and tell children why they have to get down to the ground when the sirens are on, about the air force attacks.
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HOLMES: Right. You tweeted -- sorry, you tweeted that, while waiting for airstrikes to pass -- and I read this tweet.
You said this, quote, you imagined "what life would look like when the war is over."
Tell me what do you imagine?
RUDYK: Well, as a member of Parliament, I'm like very practical.
And I'm very concerned about every hit that the Russians make, we will have to rebuild, right?
So I'm concerned about every time they say, oh, they blow the bridge; I'm thinking, oh, shoot, how are we going to rebuild that?
We will have to work with the traumas of our children after what they experienced. We will have to rebuild the country from scratch.
But if, at that point, there will be no Russia or no -- or Russia will be decapitated and we will not have to spend like 10 percent of all our income on the defense, then we'll have such a great chance to rebuild the country to a whole new world. This is what I'm thinking of.
HOLMES: You said earlier, and I want to go back to it, you said you think about what you should tell the children when all this is going on.
What do you tell them?
RUDYK: So my friend suggested this -- and I want to share it with the audience, that when you have to tell child that there will be an attack, you don't start with, all go on the ground.
You tell him, let's play a game of Turtle. So you have to lay on your belly, you have to open your mouth and you have to cover your ears with your hands. This is how we pretend that we are turtles. We had to pretend we are turtles many times already.
HOLMES: What is it like to have to do that?
I mean, I can't imagine, as a parent myself, I can't imagine what it's like to have to tell kids that.
RUDYK: Well, so you -- first you got to be very calm and brave. And there are things that, when you are telling this, you're just like getting very, very angry. This is what makes me like take the Kalashnikov and go out, because I'm thinking, like why, why do Ukrainian children have to suffer through that?
Because the crazy tyrant decided he wants our land?
And they will be traumatized for life. And they will be -- God knows how their lives will turn out because now they will be survivors of the war. And that makes me so, so vicious that you can't even imagine. This is the best mood to go out and fight Russians.
HOLMES: I can't imagine. Our thoughts are with you there, as things unfold there in Kyiv. It's so hard to listen to that. Appreciate your bravery. And I thank you for taking the time, Kira Rudyk, appreciate it, thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Imagine having to tell your children that.
All right. Now, let's turn to Russia where anti-war protesters are popping up across the country. More than 2,700 people have been arrested, we're told, up to this point. But their support for Ukraine doesn't seem to be waning. CNN's Nic Robertson shows us why.
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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.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): 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 translator): 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 translator): 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.
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ROBERTSON: So people being arrested and taken away so far in protests over the past three days.
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ROBERTSON: More than 2,700 people arrested across Russia protests on Saturday in more than 2 dozen cities in this country. And it's not just the crackdown on the streets. Look at this, emptied out again.
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.
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HOLMES: That's the picture from Russia. But protests have been erupting around the world, condemning Russia's aggressive invasion of Ukraine. From demonstrations on the streets to landmarks lit up in yellow and blue, people showing their support for Ukraine and venting their anger at Russia. CNN's Kim Brunhuber with more on that.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND 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.
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.
For some, war seemed a thing the past. Now they stand in disbelief.
One demonstrator 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 flag, signifying peace across the Duomo Square.
In London, streets are flowing blue and yellow, as protesters sing Ukraine's national anthem and urge governments to do more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's going to be much worse consequences if we let it go. I really hope that Putin will listen. But the only way how he would listen is with all the countries helping us. If we just stand here, if it's putting a runners (ph), 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 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 colors 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 FEMALE: Russia, go home. Russia go home.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Many across the world are standing up against the invasion with prayers, protests and pleasure, as Ukraine's future hangs in the balance -- Kim Brunhuber, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: That will do it for now from Lviv in Western Ukraine. We will have much more a little later. For now, let's go to Anna Coren standing by in Hong Kong.
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Michael, thank you.
We're also following this developing story. North Korea has conducted its eighth missile test of the year. We'll have the latest reaction from the region coming up in a live report. Stay with CNN.
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COREN: The U.S. and South Korea are calling for restraint from North Korea after Pyongyang conducted its eighth missile launch of the year. The launch came just hours ago.
Japan says North Korea fired at least one intermediate range ballistic missile from the east of the Korean Peninsula. And it comes less than two weeks before the South Korean elections. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout live from Hong Kong.
It's been quiet since a flurry of tests.
What are you learning about these ballistic tests?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have the world's attention fixed on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And earlier today, North Korea fires this ballistic missile, the first such test since January. This is the eighth time North Korea has fired a ballistic missile so far this year.
This is what we're learning from the South Korean military. They're saying this test took place 7:52 am local time. It was launched from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, obviously, the capital of North Korea.
And the South Korean military, they're closely monitoring the situation and they are in a state of readiness.
The United States has also issued a statement. They said that the missile test that took place -- and it landed into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula -- does not pose any threat to the United States and its allies. It also urged North Korea to refrain from any further destabilizing action.
The timing of today's ballistic missile test by North Korea is very significant. It takes place after the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Of course, North Korea has close ties with China. It did not conduct any missile tests during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games in February.
Today's ballistic missile test also takes place less than two weeks before the South Korean presidential election, due to take place on March 9th.
And, of course, you have concerns growing about further ballistic missile testing by North Korea when you have the situation in Ukraine unfolding. When you talk to analysts, they point out North Korea has been engaging in this uptick of behavior well before the Russian invasion.
I want to share this analysis for you. We'll bring up the tweet for you.
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STOUT: He writes this, "Putin's war shapes almost all geopolitics right now and should factor somewhere in Kim's calculus. But even taking advantage of distraction seems to presume too much, since North Korea was already testing aggressively before the war a month ago, when briefly all eyes were on it," unquote.
Now South Korea says this missile launch by the North is undesirable while the world is trying to come up with some sort of resolution to the ongoing crisis and the conflict in Ukraine.
I should also add that the last test that North Korea conducted was back in January the 30th, when it tested that intermediate range ballistic missile. That was North Korea's biggest and boldest missile test since 2017 -- Anna.
COREN: Yes, it's quite extraordinary. The world is obviously fixated on Russia's invasion you're in Ukraine and yet North Korea carries out another missile test. Really seems like it's throwing its toys, wanting even more attention. Kristie Lu Stout, joining us from Hong Kong, great to see you and many thanks.
I'm Anna Coren. Thank you very much for your company. Our breaking news coverage continues after this very short break. Please stay with CNN.
