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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; U.S. Condemns Latest North Korean Missile Launch. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 27, 2022 - 03:00 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 here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine. It is now 10:00 am in Ukraine.
And Russian forces pressing ahead with an all-out assault on the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have held the Russians at bay for four days now, despite being outgunned and outmanned. But more help could be on the way.
Within the last few hours, Australia announced plans to boost support for Ukraine and help supply lethal aid to the country. France said it's going to be sending fuel supplies and more defensive equipment. And Poland says it will provide a special train to transport the wounded from Ukraine to hospitals in Warsaw.
But across Ukraine, the dangers of war still loom around every corner. The U.N. reporting more than 5 dozen civilians have now been killed in the fighting at least. And CNN has learned a 6-year-old boy is among the dead.
We've also just learned that fighting is breaking out in Ukraine's second largest city as Russian troops begin entering Kharkiv. We're also seeing more violence around Kyiv. CNN cameras capturing the moment that an explosion lit up the skies above Ukraine's capital, one of two massive explosions on the city's outskirts.
Let's have a closer view now. This area just southeast of Kyiv is home to a large military airfield. The town's mayor says a petroleum storage depot was hit. CNN's Alex Marquardt saw the fiery assault himself from Kyiv.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Then, since then, for the past eight minutes, there has been this pulsing glow in the distance. You have to imagine that it is some kind of fire. It is a very eerie scene.
It is a location that we've been looking at earlier today because there was a missile or a rocket that hit a residential building near that airport.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Fears also mounting in the far West of Ukraine where we are. This is Lviv, not far from the border with Poland. Sirens over recent days going off routinely, urging residents to take cover.
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HOLMES: CNN has correspondents positioned across Ukraine and around the world to bring you the latest on this breaking news. We've got Jasmine Wright in Washington with the latest on sanctions on Russia, Arwa Damon on the other side of the border in Poland and Matthew Chance has been spending time with civilians in Kyiv.
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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?
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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 U.S. and some G7 countries are moving to banish Russian banks from a key financial network. The move would cut them off from the so-called SWIFT system, which could send shock waves through Russia's banking system and its entire economy. The European Commission president explained what is at stake.
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URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: I will now propose to E.U. leaders the following measures. First, we commit to ensuring that a certain number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT.
This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.
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HOLMES: For more, Jasmine Wright joins me live from Washington, D.C.
This is certainly an uptick in the sanctions. Tell us what's been going on and what they hope will come from this.
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Michael, something of this scale hasn't been done before so it's significant. In a joint statement released today, European leaders, Canada, U.S. announced a slate of actions really trying to expel some certain banks from the financial community.
I want to focus, before we get to SWIFT, on the Russian central bank and the actions, taking preventive measures, really trying to attack that $600 billion in cash reserves that the Russian bank has and has really been using to keep the Russian economy afloat as it gets through this wave of sanctions.
These punitive measures announced today would try to basically stop that from happening and basically try to knock the ruble into freefall.
If we go back to SWIFT, it's intended to basically stop all transactions from certain identified Russian banks that are able to do transactions through SWIFT. That connects to about 11,000 different financial institutions across the globe.
And that is supposed to really limit the ability for some of these Russian oligarchs and businesses from being able to bank within this real global community, stopping that. It comes after Thursday, we heard the president say, when asked why not include SWIFT in the sanctions, he said clearly European leaders weren't ready to take that step.
Now it seems today, after that latest announcement -- you can see some of what SWIFT does on the screen here. After this latest announcement, it seems that European leaders are ready to take that step as they try to ratchet up their punitive measures, trying to respond to Russia's aggression proportionally.
HOLMES: Jasmine Wright in Washington, thanks so much.
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HOLMES: Olha Vorozhbyt joins me now here in Lviv.
It's great to have you here. You are the deputy editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian weekly magazine, "Tyzhden." I hope I said that good enough.
First of all, give me a sense on a personal level, how are you feeling now?
How are you and your family dealing with what's going on in this country right now?
OLHA VOROZHBYT, "TYZHDEN MAGAZINE": Well, probably as everyone. So it's a huge challenge for us. And also for me personally as a journalist because, like you, from one side, you're a journalist; you need to be objective, you need to cover everything.
But from the other side, you're a citizen and this is your country. I know my colleagues in Kyiv, some of them gave up journalism and went to (INAUDIBLE) defense units because they think it's more important now. But while at the same time you need to collect evidence as a
journalist. This is the great importance of your work.
HOLMES: First, you're a mother, with two little kids. You lived in Kyiv. You know the city. You know this city.
What does it feel like to have Russian troops in this country?
VOROZHBYT: It's scary. At the same time, I feel not only fear but also, well, all what's going on -- just sometimes even hit you because this is my country.
What are they doing here?
So these are very bad feelings of what's going on. And also sometimes I feel fear about my kids because they live in this country. I want them to live in this country. I want for them a prosperous future.
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VOROZHBYT: And now these people are violating all possible -- breaking international law and (INAUDIBLE) and just ruining our future and the future for our kids.
HOLMES: You don't want them growing up under Russian rule?
VOROZHBYT: No.
HOLMES: Yes.
Going back to the journalism, you are a journalist.
Are you able to work effectively?
And how important is it for you to do the journalism now at this time?
VOROZHBYT: Well, It's really important, because I think, after the war ends, Russia needs to hold responsibility for what's going on here. And for that, we need to work effectively to show all the violations, all what was done so that it wasn't (INAUDIBLE) future.
HOLMES: You're talking about your friends in Kyiv, how they're going and fighting.
What else do they tell you about life there at the moment?
VOROZHBYT: Well, frankly, we don't have much contact. So I'm just contacting those who are not in the (INAUDIBLE) defense units, as my mother-in-law. She decided to stay in Kyiv. So we're just doing constant updates.
She says, yes, there were air alarms. But I'm staying, I'm staying at home, I'm staying with my cat and so on. So just personal things.
But with those who are now defending Kyiv, it's like, are you alive?
Is everything OK?
That's OK. That's all.
HOLMES: I'm curious. You mentioned the kids. And we're both parents.
What do you tell them about what's happening?
VOROZHBYT: Well, you know, it was really amazing. But they knew what's going on. Because we had the war since 2014. And my older daughter, she already knew that we have the war. But she knew that this war is in Eastern Ukraine, because she saw the soldiers.
I have a friend who died there. So it's very personal. So she understood this. And -- you know, but when everything started and she did not have to school, she said, "So, the war started, yes?"
"Yes."
"OK, so are there rockets?
"What's going on?"
And then the next day she just got up and asked me, "So am I not going to school?"
I said, "Yes. You know why you're not going to school."
And then she said, "But we have a shelter there. We can go there if something happens."
So it's very painful, because of them understand what's going on and --
HOLMES: Because they shouldn't have to.
VOROZHBYT: -- and they shouldn't have to, yes.
HOLMES: Yes, to have your child say, hey, we've got a shelter at school. They shouldn't have to be saying that sort of thing.
I was here for the Maidan in 2014. I was in Crimea for the Russian takeover there. The Ukrainian people are very patriotic, they are very independent and they love their democracy.
Were Russia to take over -- Ukrainians have thrown out two pro-Russian presidents before.
What would they do if there was another one?
VOROZHBYT: I can't imagine that there could be another pro-Russian president. This is just impossible. You know, Ukrainians have a staunch democratic spirit. We go constantly to elections. We fight for our independence.
This war, we are now thinking, with my colleagues, how to call this war. It seems that this is the war for our independence, independence of all those pro-Russian influences that try to influence our country. So...
HOLMES: Is it day by day now for you?
Is it hard to look ahead, even a week or two?
VOROZHBYT: Yes.
HOLMES: It is?
VOROZHBYT: Yes. It's hard to plan something. But, well, we're here. And me and my family will stay here until the end.
HOLMES: Yes. Olha Vorozhbyt, thank you so much, I really appreciate you coming in. And I feel for you and your family and your kids. And our thoughts are with you.
VOROZHBYT: Thank you.
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
VOROZHBYT: Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: That is just heartbreaking. All right.
When we come back, violence in Ukraine pushing thousands of innocent people out of their homeland and forcing them away from their loved ones. We'll be right back.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband is still there. We'll fight, even if Europe doesn't help us.
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HOLMES: Hear from some of these new refugees in their own words -- when we come back.
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WALED CHEKROUN, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE IN POLAND: From suffering, I think of our kids because there was so many little kids and it was freezing outside. I had to stay all night outside. So just I can pass from the first border, to the second border, third border.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Just imagine. Refugees talking about their journey out of Ukraine there as the Russian invasion sends people flooding across the border. The U.N. says more than 150,000 people have already fled Ukraine, about half of them went to Poland, with others going to Hungary, Romania, Moldova and beyond.
CNN crews witnessing some people who had to wait 60 hours to cross the Polish border. But once they did, some of them received aid donations from residents of the area, which was heartwarming to see.
U.N. officials say millions more refugees could follow if the conflict drags on. CNN's Arwa Damon is in Poland on the Ukraine border and shows us the disturbing scene as shell-shocked Ukrainians arrived.
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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This bus has just arrived. Oh and we can see some sort of a reunion happening here.
This bus just arrived from the Ukrainian border. And there's been a steady stream of buses like this coming into this parking lot that has now turned into something of a makeshift reception center.
These people, the vast majority of them, would have walked for hours trying to just get across.
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DAMON: And you'll notice that most of them are women and children. And that is because men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not being permitted to leave.
All of these people here that you see holding up these signs, they're all volunteers. And on these cardboard pieces of paper are written the names of various different cities that people who are disembarking from these buses can get rides to, places where they can find free accommodation.
One thing that is quite eerie when it comes to being here is just how quiet it is. People, you can see them as they're coming off the bus, are completely and totally shell-shocked.
And we have been talking to a number of people here and also at the train station.
Many of them still struggling to comprehend exactly what it is that has happened, how it is that less than a week ago they were able to wake up in their own homes and now parents are having to figure out how to describe this to their children.
One mother we met as we were speaking to her she was smiling and she said, "I have to smile because it's the only way that I can control my hysteria."
And it's really quite jarring when you think about the reality that all of these children who are here, these mothers, wives, they all said goodbye to husbands, to fathers, to sons who have had to remain behind in Ukraine. So many families torn apart.
We've also met so many people here on this side of the border in Poland who say that their loved ones, their elderly are still inside, that they are unable to make the journey this far.
No one knows what's going to happen at this stage. No one knows what's going to be happening next.
And you really see just how sobering that reality is when you look at people's faces as they're coming off these buses, as they're trying to figure out exactly where they're going to go.
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HOLMES: Arwa Damon, on the spot as refugees cross across to Poland.
A short time ago I spoke with Ewan Watson of the International Committee of the Red Cross. He talked about the dire circumstances Ukrainians face, inside or outside the country.
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EWAN WATSON, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: It's absolutely heartbreaking what is happening in Ukraine. We're seeing people having to make impossible choices about what to do next, whether to try and find some safe haven in the country or whether to flee outside.
Right now in the capital, Kyiv, there is a curfew until tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. People really can't get out and get the basic necessities they might need. Supermarkets are essentially empty and, of course, amid all that, you've got active warfare. You've got shelling.
And that's why one of our calls to the parties to the conflict today is to facilitate humanitarian access to the people most in need and to protect civilian infrastructure and the civilian population.
HOLMES: Yes, we're meeting a lot of these people here in Lviv, coming from Kyiv, and heading to the border. There are the issues of human movement and that is, of course, critical. You noted something that is just as interesting: a million people lost access to water in the east of the country because of shelling as well. Those sorts of impacts.
WATSON: Yes, absolutely. That happened before this latest escalation. So in the east, there's been a whole series of incredibly painful events that have happened over these last eight years.
Just last week, two major water plants were essentially taken out by shelling. And that meant a million people were essentially cut off from vital water supply.
And we're seeing that all along the line of contact in the east, where homes have been destroyed. Vital infrastructure that keeps homes, hospitals, schools running is taken out. And that has catastrophic effects on civilian life.
And now we're obviously seeing that spread right through the country.
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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. There you'll find several ways you can help.
Before we go to break, I want to leave you with some scenes of resilience playing out in Ukraine, people singing their national anthem while huddled in a shelter here in Lviv.
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HOLMES: Welcome back. I'm Michael Holmes, live from Lviv in Ukraine. There have been sirens, there have been explosions, there have been clashes on this fourth day of Russia's assault on Ukraine. We're getting word that street fighting has now broken out in the center of Kharkiv, as Russian troops enter the city.
That's coming from the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration. Russia claims its troops have made advances in southern Ukraine as well, including in the city of Kherson. It also says there was a mass surrender by Ukrainian troops. We could not immediately independently verify those claims.
Overnight, there were massive explosions in a town about 20 kilometers southwest of Kyiv. The town's mayor saying a military airfield and a petroleum storage depot were hit.
Earlier in the day, CNN crews saw more convoys of Russian military equipment heading into Ukraine, including this particularly lethal weapon that fires what are called thermobaric warheads, which cause powerful explosions and large, enormously destructive pressure waves. Russia used the weapon during its war in Chechnya.
This as Ukrainian President Zelensky is calling for people around the world to join the fight against Russia, saying, quote, "Anyone who wants to join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals."
They were his words. A short time ago I spoke with Kira Rudyk, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament.
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HOLMES: And I asked her to describe what her day-to-day life is like now. Here's part of what she said.
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KIRA RUDYK, UKRAINIAN MP, HOLOS: 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. 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: So hard to hear. It really is difficult for so many people in this country, particularly parents and their children.
The U.S. and its allies moving to banish some Russian banks from the SWIFT financial system, coming on the heels of more sanctions announced Thursday. That's when 13 major Russian companies lost the ability to raise money from U.S. markets.
Russia's so-called elites, members of Putin's inner circle, had their U.S. assets frozen. Russia's military got blocked from certain imports and the financing to expand. And the sanctions also blocked Russia's high-tech imports.
The Western alliance raising the stakes on Friday with both the European Union and the U.S. announcing direct sanctions on Putin himself and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. President Biden has been blunt about the goal.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences.
Putin's aggression against Ukraine will end up costing Russia dearly, economically and strategically. We will make sure of that. Putin will be a pariah on the international stage. And it's going to take time and we have to show resolve so he knows what's coming and so the people of Russia know what he's brought on them. That's what this is all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now the removal from the SWIFT system could send shock waves through the Russian banking system. It is a big deal. The move makes it next to impossible for the affected banks to move money internationally.
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HOLMES: Anna Stewart with more on that.
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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.
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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: To follow up on Anna's point, some of the countries behind the exclusion are also among Russia's biggest trading partners. In 2019, the top trading partner was China, which was not part of the decision related to SWIFT. But Germany was second. The U.S. fourth. Italy and France in the top 10 as well.
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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A resident here in Lviv, Ukraine, speaking with CNN earlier.
Now Ukraine's government is turning to hackers to help 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 shared a link to a channel on the messaging app Telegram with a proposed target list, including Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and some big Russian banks.
Thanks for your company here in Lviv, Ukraine. I'm Michael Holmes. CNN has more on Russia's invasion into this country. Coming up, Kim Brunhuber will have more news from around the world. After a short break, I'll see you a bit later. Stay with us. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for people around the world to join in the fight against Russia.
In a statement he said, quote, "This is not just Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this is the beginning of a war against Europe, against European structures, against democracy, against basic human rights, against a global order of law, rules and peaceful coexistence."
His remarks come as street fighting erupted in Kharkiv when Russian troops entered the city. Protests have been erupting around the world condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Thousands in Tbilisi, Georgia, rallied on Saturday. In 2008, Georgia suffered its own invasion by Russia.
Protesters also gathered in Brussels on Saturday. Some held up signs, calling Russian president Vladimir Putin a terrorist.
Belgium says it will deploy 300 troops to Romania as part of NATO's effort to strengthen its eastern flank. And Ukrainians in Greece took their protests to the Russian embassy in Athens Saturday, some holding up signs saying, "Russian terrorists, get out of Ukraine."
Cities across the U.S. have come out in force to show support for the people of Ukraine. Crowds gathered in New York's Times Square on Saturday, many calling on Western nations to provide more help for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
And many in the sporting world are condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, especially in international football. Signs of support were visible when Everton hosted Manchester City on Saturday. Both teams wore Ukrainian flags.
In Germany, Bayern Munich traveled to Frankfurt, where the stadium was lit up with the Ukrainian flag colors. The message, "Stop it, Putin," displayed on the JumboTron.
In Leverkusen, the two teams joined in solidarity and fans held a moment of silence before the game.
And a high-profile Ukrainian athlete is urging an end to the war. Former boxing heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko posted this sobering message.
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WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO, FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION: You need to act now to stop Russian aggression with anything you can have now. In an hour or by tomorrow is going to be too late. Please get into action now. Don't wait. Act now. Stop this war.
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BRUNHUBER: The boxing legend's brother, Vitali, is the mayor of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. He's also a former boxing champion.
"Saturday Night Live" is also showing its solidarity with Ukraine. The program replaced its typical opening comedy sketch with this.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): That's the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York singing, "Prayer for Ukraine." Afterwards, cast members returned to say the show's catchphrase, "Live from New York, it's Saturday night."
But rather than cutting to the opening credits, the camera panned to candles arranged to spell out "Kyiv."
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 eastward from somewhere near its West coast. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us from Hong Kong.
With the world's attention focused on Ukraine and Russia, take us through the importance and the timing of this North Korean launch.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's all about timing. It prompted South Korea to call it undesirable for peace. You have the world's attention fixed on the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Earlier today, North Korea decided to go ahead and fire a ballistic missile, its first such launch since January. This is the country's eighth missile test so far this year. According to the South Korean military, it took place about 7:52 am. It was launched from Sunan, an area near the North Korean capital and landed in the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.
The South Korean military are maintaining a state of readiness as they monitor the situation. The United States said this test posed no threat to the United States or its allies. It also urged North Korea to refrain from any more provocative action.
The timing of this launch is significant. It comes after the Beijing Winter Olympics. North Korea maintains close ties with China and made sure not to take part in any missile testing during the Olympic Games in February. Today's ballistic missile launch also takes place less than two weeks
before the South Korean presidential election is slated to take place on March the 9th. And concerns are growing that North Korea may launch more ballistic missiles as the world's attention is fixed on Ukraine.
But analysts point out that North Korea has been testing multiple rockets and missiles this year already. There was an uptick in January. I want to bring up this Twitter post for you, a bit of analysis from John Delury with Yonsei University.
Quote, "Putin's war shapes almost all geopolitics now and should factor 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 on it."
South Korea says that today's missile launch is undesirable, as all countries work together to try to resolve the crisis and the conflict in Ukraine. I should add North Korea's last missile test took place on January 30th.
That involved a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile. That was the biggest and boldest test undertaken by the North Koreans since 2017, a few years ago.
BRUNHUBER: Yet, another important story to keep an eye on. Thanks, Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
And we'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This powerful video from Kyiv, symbolic of the spirit of the Ukrainian people as they endure war. This is a woman removing broken glass from her mother's apartment after it was bombed.
She is emphatically singing the Ukrainian national anthem as she fights back tears.
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BRUNHUBER: That spirit is possibly having an effect on the battlefield. British and American defense officials say Russian troops are facing stiff resistance and not making the progress they had planned.
But we're getting word that street fighting has now broken out in the center of Kharkiv, as Russian troops enter the city. That's coming from the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be willing to hold talks with Russia. But he rejected Russia's proposal for a meeting in Minsk. Zelensky said Ukraine won't agree to talks there because Belarus isn't neutral. He said any other city would be fine, quote, "as long as there are no missiles flying from this country."
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, over 150,000 have been forced to flee across international borders. Let's hear now from some of those many Ukrainians and people doing their best to help.
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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.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And 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 and safety.
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BRUNHUBER: If you would like to help people in Ukraine who may need shelter, food and water, please go to cnn.com/impact. You'll find several ways you can help.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. Our breaking news coverage of the Russian invasion in Ukraine continues after a break. You're watching CNN.
