Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Sanctions Now Felt by Russians; Protesters Detained in Russia; Ukrainians Fought Hard for Their Land; President Zelenskyy Skeptical of Peace Talks; World Leaders in Concert to Support Ukraine; China Wants to Play Neutral. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 28, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN: This is CNN breaking news.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): And the breaking news this hour, Moscow starting to feel the fallout from a slew of western sanctions. In just the past couple of hours, the Central Russian Bank has announced that it will more than double its key interest rate from 9.5 to 20 percent per year. Now, the bank says drastic changes in what they call external conditions has prompted the change, and all of this coming as Moscow faces mounting pressure from world leaders to draw back its forces from Ukraine. But so far it is not clear if the Kremlin is listening.

Ukrainian and Russian delegations will meet for talks near the Belarus border soon, but bitter fighting continues in Ukraine's major cities. And Ukraine's president seems to have little hope that those talks will resolve the conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Alexander Lukashenko asked for the Ukrainian Russian delegations to meet on the Pripyat River, and I emphasize this without any conditions. I will say this frankly as always, I don't believe in the result of this meeting, but let them try. So then later on, no citizen of Ukraine would have any doubt that I, the president, did not try to stop the war when I had a chance, small as it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (on camera): So far, Ukrainian forces have managed to defend the capital Kyiv despite being outgunned and outmanned. And we've just learned that the city is lifting its curfew now, allowing grocery stores and public transportation to open during the day, but urging residents to leave home only when necessary.

Meanwhile, we've seen intense fighting in and around Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv. In all, Ukrainian officials say more than 350 civilians, including more than a dozen children have been killed since the invasion began. In the hours ahead, we are also expecting U.S. President Joe Biden to

host a call with allies to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and coordinate a united response to the crisis.

Max Seddon is the Moscow bureau chief for the Financial Times. He joins me now from Moscow. We only spoke a couple of hours ago, but new developments. What does this increase in interest rates tell us about the impact that these sanctions are having on Moscow?

MAX SEDDON, MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, THE FINANCIAL TIMES: Well, this is going to be absolutely dramatic because it's going to enormously increase the cost of imported goods in Russia. It's going to cause enormous headaches for anyone who has a loan or mortgage because your prices just -- your rate is just more than doubled.

And of course, this is going to have very serious effects on GDP growth because the central bank in trying to stop the rapid ruble depreciation and the inflation is going to come with that, they basically have to sacrifice everything else to try to get this through. This is going to hit Russian people very hard.

HOLMES: Well, that was my next question. What does it mean for the average person living in Russia? What are they going to face? What are you going to face?

SEDDON: I don't know how we're going to continue to finance our bureau, quite frankly. I think I'm the last person I need to worry about. There are 20 million Russian people who live in poverty, millions and millions more who live paycheck to paycheck. There are millions of labor migrants to countries like Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan who send remittances back home in rubles. And basically, that's just all been -- all been wiped out. People are going to suffering from enormous inflation and price rises. And it's going to be very, very difficult for the Russian people.

This is something that the Russian government has already tried to spin this. You saw this on state TV last night. You know it's not just the government, it's not just the oligarchs. They don't like you because you're Russian, that was one of the most popular state -- propaganda TV presenters said, said last night. And it's possible that a lot of Russian people might think that, not that it is Vladimir Putin's fault for starting the war, but this is a hostile western action against them.

HOLMES: Yes, yes, well, that state media and the effect it has -- I wanted to ask you one more question. When we spoke an hour or two ago, I can't remember when, we were talking about, you know, the pace and the ferocity of battle and whether it might improve -- increase.

[03:05:09]

You made the point that Vladimir Putin is not one to back down. Now with this financial aspect of things, obviously enormous financial pressure on Moscow, what is it likely to have any impact on him and his positions at the moment when it comes to this invasion? SEDDON: I think the impact is likely to have -- he may see himself as

forced to escalate further. He said even before he ordered the invasion of Ukraine that sanctions don't matter because we can prepare for them somewhat, and we can, you know, safely expect they would have done it anyway because he seems to think the sanctions are just -- the way he tells it, an instrument of the west, particularly America to try to contain Russia and stop it from being a great -- a great nation.

And even if he were interested in de-escalating, which he doesn't really, really seem to be, there don't seem to be many off-ramps so far, he's been offered by the U.S. And U.K. and Europe to try to back down. We already saw yesterday in response to the sanctions that were already in and some of the things that NATO leaders had said, the increased weapons supplies to Ukraine, he ordered his nuclear forces on alert. So, I think that we can all be in for a very, very trying fraught and uncertain time now.

HOLMES: Yes, it's hard to know what off-ramp would be appealing to Vladimir Putin. One more thing real quick before I let you go. You mentioned what statehouse, state media is spinning this. What do Russian people think -- do they have any other information sources outside of that that they can look at and go, hang on, maybe it is our leader leading us down this path rather than aggression from outside?

SEDDON: This is a very big test for that. Because four out of five Russians, their primary source of news is state television. And state television is pretending the war isn't happening. They're not even calling it a war. They're saying this is a special military operation to liberate the Donbas, Ukraine, where there was previously a slow burning war going on for eight years.

They are not being shown any destruction in cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv. They show them running doe the center of Kyiv looking like it's all -- it's all peaceful. Obviously, there is a lot of unfiltered information that comes through on Russian media, particularly on the messaging app Telegram.

But Russia has already move to do quite a lot to try to stop it coming through. And this will be the opportunity for them to demonstrate how much they learned from China and other countries and how capable they are of censoring the internet because this isn't Syria. Millions and millions and millions of Russian people have relatives in Ukraine. Word of mouth is going to get around. It is a question of can Russia plug that hole. We don't know because this is completely unprecedented. We're going to find out.

HOLMES: All right. Max Seddon, you got a busy day ahead there reporting for the Financial Times. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. Thanks so much.

All right. CNN's Nick Payton Walsh is in Mykolaiv which is a city near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. He shows us what it's been like for people there living through this conflict.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Pitch battles are happening outside many Ukrainian towns at the moment. And we visited one of them where it was extraordinary to see the determination, the heroism, but also to try and understand what on earth Moscow's forces are trying to do fighting their way into densely populated areas.

The bridge here hasn't been raised for as long as they can remember, but neither has the sleepy port town of Mykolaiv been invaded. The clack-clack is exchanges with Russian paratroopers we're told landed nearby. Locals Struggling to keep up with their world here collapsing and soldiers edgy.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: The fear here, Russian saboteurs like these two suspects thrown to the ground by soldiers. Then the sirens go off. And it is back in the basement for mothers and cats. Here, the noise of what Russia would do to these towns in the name of subjugation and geopolitical gain.

Police trying to turn off lights it seems in business that close in a hurry. Life persisting. caught between hoping this is short lived and wondering if it may go on forever.

Behind it all, in empty streets, the fear they may be overrun. And whether each huge blast will be the decisive strike that lets Putin's troops enter.

[03:10:07]

The shelling just went on and on. The next morning, we saw where it hit. It's likely a missile tore off these Ukrainian tanks, but nobody left. It was broken. How do you feel?

UNKNOWN: Good, very good.

WALSH: Yes? But they tried to come into the town.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: He's saying the Russians tried to come in last night, the town of Mykolaiv beat them. You can see what it looks like here.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: He is saying look around here. I'm asking how do you feel living here looking at all this. This is where you live, right? Look at the windows blown out that are blown out.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: Yes. So, the words of Russian minister, he's saying that they're not going to hit civilian infrastructure here. He's repeating them back to me saying, look, look at this. They say they're not hitting civilian structures. Look at this damage around here.

Putin's rockets may have shattered glass, but not dented the anger here. As they take stock, you have to ask yourself, why Moscow ever thought these towns would gladly be occupied, and what Russia's end goal is. Tempers fray here. Blood has been spilled, but despite Russia's overwhelming firepower, they did not pass.

Now come Sunday night, we heard from the mayor of that town on his Telegram channel telling people to organize the circular defense of the town, and to get Molotov cocktails. A sense it's certainly facing another onslaught, but you can see in that report how serious they are about defending their homes.

HOLMES: Now, joining me here is Maria Toma, she is head of the Crimea platform, Department for the Mission of the President of Ukraine in Crimea. Again, we emphasize you are here in your personal capacity and we must make that clear.

An interesting part of this, you are embarking on a project with others, a grassroots project to collect evidence of war crimes. Tell me about that and how it's working.

MARIA TOMA, UKRAINIAN CITIZEN: OK. Hello, and thank you for having me here. Actually, when we say the Ukrainian army has been gaining experience throughout these eight years, Ukrainian society, civil society either. And there's a bunch of organizations here in rise NGOs that have been collecting the evidence of and documenting the evidence of international crimes in the temporal occupied territories.

And now they united their efforts, joined their efforts with Ukrainian governmental structures in order to get the evidence, document the evidence of the war crimes and crimes against humanity that are taking place currently in various parts of Ukraine due to the aggression.

HOLMES: And how are you doing it?

TOMA: It's like now we are just trying to collect the facts and, of course, after that these facts are going to be analyzed. They are going to be analyzed in terms of the international humanitarian law, like Geneva conventions and so on. And then the facts are going to be represented to the international courts.

Now it happens already actually. It is not something going to happen in the future. Now it happens. Now is only the question basically how it's going to happen, and there is a great debate, I think, that's a good idea to establish a separate international tribunal on the crimes committed by Putin's regime, not only in Ukraine, but also in Georgia, in Moldova and maybe in Syria.

HOLMES: Yes. So, you're using, what, social media, eyewitness statements, things like that. Are you hearing reports already?

TOMA: Yes, everything. We're just try to collect all the pictures, videos, testimonies, everything. But then, of course, that information will need to be checked and document it very properly. But as our experience shows the previous years, now it's just important to collect all the possible evidence and to store it in the safe place.

HOLMES: Last time we spoke, you were talking about you wanted to go back to Kyiv. That is obviously impossible now. How are you doing?

TOMA: I'm just trying to be helpful here where I can because we're also coordinating with local activists to provide some humanitarian aid to help with the logistics because now tons and tons of humanitarian aid is coming to Ukraine from various parts of Europe and it needs to be properly transferred, et cetera.

So, yes, we're just trying to do this small like tasks, but to be helpful and to be united with the rest of the country. Because essentially all of the society of Ukrainian society resists.

HOLMES: I was talking to you before we started the interview. How is your family? You were telling me how they're doing.

[03:15:04]

TOMA: Unfortunately, my younger sister is in Kyiv. She's pregnant and she is just all the time in the basement hiding from the shellings. I feel really bad about that, but I also feel that I can be more helpful here by, you know, coordinating some things and working with the information and supporting my colleagues than just, like, sitting in the basement in Kyiv.

HOLMES: Yes, I understand. Maria Toma, thank you so much for being with us again. And I hope we will speak again soon. Do take care.

TOMA: Thank you.

HOLMES: Our best to your family as well.

TOMA: Thank you.

HOLMES: All right. Now from Beijing to Istanbul, we're following the response to the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Our correspondents have the latest from around the world. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(CROWD CHANTING)

HOLMES: You're looking there at anti-war protesters. This is in St. Petersburg in Russia. A monitor says Russian authorities have now detained nearly 6,000 people for taking part in protests across the country since the invasion of Ukraine began.

[03:20:08]

Under Russian law, large demonstrations require a permit, and heavy fines or even jail time can be imposed on those without the proper paperwork. Here's one protester's take on what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISA KURBANOVA, ECONOMIST (through translator): To start the war was a very bad decision for our people because many of them have relatives, friends, husbands, and they will die for nothing. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (on camera): Now, Russia just one of many countries around the world where demonstrators are gathering to protest the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

CNN's correspondents have been covering the global reaction since the invasion began. Steven Jiang is with us from Beijing this hour following backlash for China's response to the crisis. Jomana Karadsheh is in Istanbul tracking Turkey's position on the war in Ukraine.

But let's begin with Jim Bittermann and the latest move from European leaders in the European Union. And Jim, a major shift for a lot of countries in Europe coming to Ukraine's aid. Fill us in.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Michael. In fact, it's a tectonic shift in some positions. For example, Germany where the chancellor says that in fact, they are going to up their defense spending in general because of the invasion into Ukraine, 100 billion euros to be committed over the next years to increase the German defense posture, something that the Americans have been pleading for with the Germans for decades, probably three or four decades along the line there, they're trying to get the Germans to spend more on defense.

In any case, we are seeing a lot of people stepping up. In fact, the European Union last night in the form of a chief diplomat, Josep Borrell said that they are going to be committing $500 million in lethal weaponry that is going to go directly to the Ukraine, including he said, not just ammunition and small arms and that sort of thing, but including fighter jets.

The idea here would be that some of the countries of the European Union, former Soviet bloc countries like Hungary and Poland, what not, have made 29 jets that Ukrainian pilots could fly. If they can get those jets perhaps through Poland to the Ukraine, they could have -- strengthen their air defense capabilities against the Russian air defenses.

Other things have been going on. You mentioned the protests on the diplomatic front. The French are going to go to the United Nations today and ask for some kind of a cease-fire and humanitarian corridors to be opened up to get refugees out, and to get aid in.

One thing that's happened, a small detail, but it's one of those things. Turkey has declared that this is a war, not just an invasion. And that allows them to exercise under the 1938 treaty, exercise a possibility of blocking Russian warships from going through the Basra Straits and into the Black Sea ports, and also to prevent amphibious landings in the south of the Ukraine.

And even neutral Switzerland -- even neutral Switzerland is going to look at the possibility of joining some of those financial sanctions today at a federal council. Michael? HOLMES: All right, Jim, thanks for that wrap up. You mentioned

Turkey's position. Let's go to Turkey. Jomana Karadsheh is there in Istanbul for us. Give us more detail on a bit of a shift for Turkey.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Michael, Turkey is one of those countries that's been in a very unique position here. This is a NATO country that has maintained very close ties with Russia over the past few years, and it also has very close ties with Ukraine as well, and has really tried to remain on the periphery here. It has tried to play peace maker several times.

We've heard President Erdogan offering time and time again trying to host talks between the Ukrainians and the Russians offering to broker a ceasefire. Their official position remains that this needs to be resolved through dialogue.

But as Jim mentioned there, we saw this shift in rhetoric on Sunday when several Turkish officials including the foreign minister coming out and saying, look, after consultations and deliberations here, they have decided that what is going on in Ukraine is a war. This comes after they had really tried to carefully measure their words, describing it as an incursion, an invasion, an attack.

And why this is significant, Michael, is because Ukraine has been pushing Turkey to block the passage of Russian naval vessels through its main two waterways, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits.

[03:25:00]

Now Turkey is obliged to do so in certain circumstances under that 1936 Montreux agreement. And one of those circumstances is a war. We have been speaking, Michael, to analysts and experts who say that this is not likely to change much on the ground because Russia would have probably already moved all its naval assets that it needed to move into position already, and there is also a get-out clause of sorts where it can still move its vessels back to their bases.

But what this does it really pulls Turkey into this difficult position where it had to, to an extent, choose a side while still trying to maintain that neutral stance, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. A good wrap up there from Jomana in Istanbul.

Let's go now to Steven Jiang there in Beijing. It's interesting, Steven, China really trying to strike an impossible balance here. They haven't praised the invasion. They haven't criticized it. Tell us the situation there.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Michael, impossible is really the keyword here because on one hand China is obviously trying to maintain or strengthen their alliance with Russia. With this partnership now being described as having no limits, according to both leaders after their recent meeting here, and then, of course, at least publicly they are still paying lip service to this long-held principle of national sovereignty and territorial integrity as the most sacred aspect of its foreign policy. Remember, China still recognizes Ukraine as a sovereign nation.

Although that pledge seems to be increasingly hollow given their recent reaction. And then of course, China is trying to minimize its exposure to the unprecedented severe sanctions against Russia given the enormous trading volumes China actually have with the U.S. and the E.U. which actually dwarfed that with Russia.

So, given how impossible it is to juggle, although many analysts have long pointed out China cannot avoid making a hard choice. China has indeed decided to side with Russia despite its public pledge to be impartial and its attempt to play the role of peacemaker.

If you read the Chinese remarks and statements from senior officials to their government spokesmen, they really have adopted the Russian talking points, highlighting NATO expansion as the root cause and of course, also addressing Russia's legitimate concerns being a key demand of China and not to mention their firm opposition to all forms of sanctions, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Great summary there, Steven Jiang in Beijing. Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul, Jim Bittermann in Paris. Thanks to you all.

All right. Now as we enter a fifth day of fighting, the humanitarian toll in Ukraine becoming ever more apparent. Coming up we'll take a look at the human cost of Russia's invasion. That's after the break.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to grow. Let's give you some of the numbers and they are staggering. According to Ukrainian government figures, at least 352 people have now been killed. Among those, 14 children in this conflict. Nearly 1,700 wounded. More than a hundred of those are children. Leaders in the European Union already considering how to best help refugees likely to be heading to E.U. states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANEZ LENARCIC, EUROPEAN COMMANDER FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT: We are witnessing what could become the largest humanitarian crisis on our European content in many, many years. The needs -- humanitarian needs are growing as we speak, and our number one priority should therefore be the assistance to people affected by this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, in the coming hours, talks are expected to take place between Russian and Ukrainian delegations. It is unclear what, if anything, will come of these discussions.

Earlier, I asked the former Ukrainian prime minister what he hoped may come out of these talks. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Talks today between Russia and Ukraine, what are your hopes for something -- anything really substantive and importantly something acceptable to Ukrainians?

ARSENIY YATSENYUK, FORMER UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER: You know, here is the thing, Michael. First of all, let me thank you for the job you are doing. You and CNN are telling the truth to the world and this is a very strong weapon against the Russian aggression.

In terms of the talks, I believe that these talks are no more than a smokescreen. Putin is a liar. He is a killer. So, I don't believe that Putin wants to negotiate.

He has a huge, huge opportunity and big window of opportunity to solve this problem, to solve this crisis, not to wage this war with diplomatic solutions. But he lied to the world. He lied to us. He lied to you. He will lie to his people. So, I don't expect anything good out of the talks with the Russian federation.

But I do respect the decision of President Zelensky who has to participate in this talk because we are showing our goodwill. We are that we are ready to negotiate.

But, once again, going back to Russians, the only thing that Putin is ready to do, he is ready to invade Ukraine, to conquer Ukraine, and to change the geopolitical structure as well. That is his intention, and we are not to allow it to make him succeed.

HOLMES: What then about this -- putting these nuclear forces on alert, if you like? Using them, obviously, in Ukraine would hurt his own country. So, presumably, some of these is for show. But what does it say about his state of mind, that he would even put those weapons on alert?

YATSENYUK: I don't know, Michael, whether you saw all these kinds of talks that Putin has with these military commands and the so-called National Security Council that he held a few days ago. But I strongly believe that Putin is unhinged. So, he is a very, I will say, specific psychological situation.

On the one hand, this could be a saber rattling. He's raising the stakes. The reply to U.S. administration provided was the right one, not to increase the escalation, but on the other hand, well, this is a completely belligerent state. He is a dictator. We can expect everything out of this war criminal.

[03:35:01]

YATSENYUK: I want to indicate that Putin and his cronies, they are war criminals. And they have to be brought to justice. And they will be behind the bars in international criminal court. The time will come.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: More than 368,000 people have fled this country. And those making the trek across the border are threatened by more than just bombs and bullets. The journey can be arduous, the freezing temperatures, brutal, and the emotional toll equally hard.

CNN's Arwa Damon is near the Polish border as thousands pour across in hopes of reaching safety.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Little hands clutch bigger ones that would give anything just to keep them safe. Sleepy, tiny, cold faces and tired arms. The hum of voices you would expect from the number of people that are here, it doesn't exist. It is as if the shock and disbelief has brought with it an odd silence. It is mostly women and children here who have had to say goodbye to husbands, brothers, fathers. Men aged 18 to 60 are not permitted to leave.

DAMON (on camera): How were you able to say goodbye to your father?

UNKNOWN: I think that it was the most awful thing to say.

UNKNOWN: She was crying.

DAMON (voice-over): And then, there is the sheer hell of getting here. Walking four hours, waiting, in some cases, for days. Out in the bitter cold, hungry, thirsty. We meet (INAUDIBLE) and his family. They fled Afghanistan last May, getting asylum in Ukraine. His seven-year- old daughter barely made it here.

Marwa.

UNKNOWN: Marwa.

DAMON (voice-over): I'm Arwa.

UNKNOWN: Arwa. Oh, it's similar.

DAMON (voice-over): Hi, Marwa.

UNKNOWN: Hi.

UNKNOWN: It's very, very cold. And my daughter became shocked. We're calling. She not answer. And finally, we tried to contact the ambulance. We found an ambulance. The doctor comes. Just checking. And after that, they gave us a chance.

DAMON (voice-over): You must --

UNKNOWN: Yeah, to go there first.

DAMON (voice-over): She clutch one of the donated stuffed animals, replacing a similar one she left behind. But who is going to give her the rest of her life back?

UNKNOWN: But I don't know without unknown future.

DAMON (on camera): Again.

UNKNOWN: Again.

DAMON (voice-over): At least this time, unlike in years past, Europe is welcoming refugees. There is a massive inhumane backlog on the Ukrainian side. But once finally here in Poland, an army of volunteers.

At the train station, seven-year-old Maxim buries his face in his mother's legs. He is not used to the crowds. It is all scary and confusing.

(On camera): They waited for two whole days. Your mother is in Kyiv, oh.

UNKNOWN: My mother is in Kyiv.

DAMON (voice-over): It is tearing her apart. But at least her husband, who is not Ukrainian, is out with her.

For how do you say goodbye to the love of your life, the father of your children? This woman is not the only one in tears. Others as well, understandably, not wanting to talk. We can't take it, it makes us cry too much, they say.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Przemysl (ph), Poland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, every day, people are doing what they can to help those fleeing their hometowns. Earlier, I spoke to Khrystyna, an English teacher and Western Ukraine. She asked that we only use her first name given the tensions here. I asked Khrystyna about some of the families she has been helping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: It must be terrible for these people. What do they tell you about why they are fleeing? How frightened are these people about what is going on?

KHRYSTYNA, ENGLISH TEACHER: Most are frightened children. The youngest was one year old. He was so tired and sleepy and he all the time on mama's arms, of course. They're telling they lost their safety. They cannot stay in Kyiv and closer cities because there are shootings and bombs and rockets.

They can see everything outside their windows. It's dangerous to stay there. They could go outside where the garage is and bomb shelters. But still, they are hearing them all the time again and again: the shootings, shootings, and shootings. So, it's terrible.

[03:40:00]

KHRYSTYNA: I have lots of friends from Kyiv, and I saw these pictures where they -- crashes. Everything is crashed.

HOLMES (voice-over): Yeah.

KHRYSTYNA: Their homes, their hospitals and children places.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): Very difficult for ordinary Ukrainians living through this. Stick around.

Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," long lines at ATM, the value of the ruble plunging, and now a key Russian interest rate soaring. A closer look at the immediate impacts of powerful sanctions put on Moscow when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Welcome back, everyone. Well, you are looking at long lines of Russians waiting at ATMs after days of punishing sanctions levied on Moscow by the west. Many Russians are worried their bank cards will stop working or that banks will limit cash withdrawals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Since Thursday, everyone has been running between ATMs to withdraw cash. Some get lucky, some don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S., European Union, U.K., and Canada announced Saturday they would expel certain Russian banks from SWIFT, an international payment system that connects financial institutions around the world. Other sanctions include freezing the assets of some of Russia's biggest banks. And the growing sanctions are now clearly having far- reaching effects as Russia's central bank recently announced it will more than double its key interest rate from nine and a half to 20 percent a year.

In a statement, the bank says external conditions for the Russian economy have drastically changed and that the rate increase is needed to support financial and price stability and protect the savings of citizens from depreciation.

[03:45:00]

CHURCH: So, let's talk more about all of this with CNN's Eleni Giokos. She joins us now live from Dubai. Good to see you again, Eleni. So, tough sanctions already hitting Russia's ruble and then the country's central bank responding by more than doubling its key interest rate. But, the rest of the world feeling some pain as well, of course. So, where is all this going and what's the real impact in the end?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, look, the central bank in Russia doesn't have many tools in its arsenal to try and counter the 30% depreciation of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, and by hiking rates to 20%, it is sort of (INAUDIBLE) for people not to go to the ATM and draw money.

If you got everyone trying to withdraw money at the same time, that means you got to have a run in the banks. That means you're really seeing a liquidity crisis in Russia. That is going to have far- reaching ramifications. Already, you see just a turmoil that is occurring in Russia because of the sanctions.

And yes, you're right, this is also impacting global markets. Markets don't like uncertainties specifically when you don't know what kind of risks are in store in the next few months. And then you got the rise in oil prices, which is also having a big impact.

You can see the Europe markets opened up, and we see blood across the board. FTSE is down over 1.6%. You got the DAX taking a really big hit. You got markets across Europe in the red right now. Asia closed mixed. But DOW futures are also showing a negative start to the day as well.

It's not oil prices that people are really worried about. You've got high oil prices. That is going to mean more inflation for everyone around the world. That could, of course, counter the work that we have seen in terms of economic recovery, post-pandemic.

Brent Crude sitting there just below $100 per barrel. That's up four and a half percent. These are huge numbers. Why? Because Russia is an important oil and gas supplier not only to the U.S. but specifically to Europe.

Now, the sanctions against Russia to get Russia out of SWIFT, which is a very important way for Russia to transact and sell goods on the international market, means that making payments for oil and gas is going to be difficult. It means that they won't be able to engage on international trade.

The U.K. now imposing, Rosemary, more sanctions against Russia, in tandem with the U.S. and the E.U. specifically, and they say that the measures will prevent Russian central bank from deploying its foreign reserves in ways that undermine or impact sanctions imposed.

So, these are now in store for Russia and this is going to have a detrimental economic impact for Russians going forward.

CHURCH: All right. Watching this very closely. Eleni Giokos joining us live from Dubai, many thanks.

Canada is protesting what it calls a violation of its airspace by a Russian flight. It is one of the growing number of countries that is off limits to Russian planes because of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed Sunday the E.U. would be shutting down the airspace not only to Russian carriers but to the private jets of oligarchs as well.

And Ukrainian-Americans and their allies are finding solace in church attendance. One Ukrainian Catholic church in New York is seeing an increase in attendees from those wanting to pay respects, and others trying to find peace through worship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church, church leaders estimate that at roughly 5,000 parishioners, about 80% of them are Ukrainian immigrants. We have seen for the last several days many of them coming here and uniting in prayer.

Faith is certainly playing a massive role for so many Ukrainian- Americans. We met several of them, including Maya Lopatynsky, who attended Sunday service earlier this morning, talking about that sense of unity that she is seeing not just within the church but around the Ukrainian American community in general.

MAYA LOPATYNSKY, UKRAINIAN AMERICAN PARISHIONER: It did, and I think to see how packed the church was so early in the morning on an 8 a.m. on a Sunday, it just made me feel connected to a community. If feel, you know, I'm Ukrainian American, I was born here. To be connected to a community of immigrants and people who were born here, it just made me feel a lot better. And I do feel like coming to church is the best that we can do. It is all that we can do right now.

SANDOVAL: And outside of those Sunday services, we have seen people showing their support with this small memorial that is formed just at the steps of this church.

Also in attendance during Sunday service was New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, telling the congregation today that he is not only praying for the Ukrainian community but also praying with them as well.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And still to come, more punishment for Russian sports teams. But are the new measures enough? More on FIFA's restrictions on the Russian national football team when we return.

[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES (on camera): Russia's invasion of Ukraine is impacting the world of sports and global football, FIFA, facing countries refusing to play against Russia in World Cup qualifiers even after the decision was made to stripped Russia of its flag, national anthem, team name, and even fans in the stadium.

CNN World Sports' Don Riddell explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT (on camera): Football's governing body, FIFA, is used to calling the shots, but right now, it is really struggling to keep pace with the ferocity of a global backlash following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.

(Voice-over): Next month, the Russian national team is due to compete in the World Cup qualification playoff against Poland. And FIFA has decided that they will play under the name, Football Union of Russia, and that the match and others should be played on neutral territory, without fans or the use of the Russian flag or national anthem.

But Poland has made it clear that they will not play under any circumstances. On social media, the president of their football association wrote, we are not interested in participating in this game of appearances. Our stance remains intact: Polish National Team will not play with Russia, no matter what the name of the team is.

[03:55:04]

RIDDELL (voice-over): Sweden and the Czech Republic could also face Russia in the World Cup playoff and they have expressed similar views. So, FIFA must now decide, kick Russia out of the tournaments or give them a free pass to the World Cup in November.

This will be a difficult decision for FIFA because they have become rather cozy with Russia in recent years. Despite Russia's hostility with Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, they were still allowed to host the World Cup in 2018.

And the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, accepted an order of friendship medal from President Vladimir Putin the next year. He has not said if he will give it back.

FIFA now finds itself in a similar position to the International Olympic Committee. When Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, they were subsequently found to have been doping their athletes in a state-sponsored program.

Russia now competed the games as the ROC, the Russian Olympic Committee. There is no flag and no anthem, but everybody knows it is still Russia. And this month in Beijing, the games were marred by another Russian doping allegation.

Meanwhile, some football players are capturing the global sentiment, calling for the violence in Ukraine to end and supporting those players whose family and friends are caught up in the chaos and uncertainty. On Sunday, Benfica's Roman Yaremchuk from Ukraine was moved to tears by the reception he was given when he came on to the field as a substitute.

(On camera): So, the ball is very much in FIFA's court. What to do about one of the most influential players in world sport? And they really don't have long to decide. Russia is supposed to be playing Poland on March the 24th. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): Our thanks to Don Riddell there. And thank you for watching the program. I'm Michael Holmes live in Ukraine. I will be back with more of our breaking news coverage after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:00]