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Russian Military Opens Fire On Protesters, At Least One Man Hit; U.N. Says More Than 1.3 Million Refugees Have Fled Ukraine; U.S. And NATO Believe Russia Ready To Bombard Ukraine Into Submission; Critically Ill Children Evacuate Ukraine On Harrowing Train Ride; Sanctions Target Yachts Linked To Russian Oligarchs; Anti-War Protesters Arrested Across Russia. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 05, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:23]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

This hour new images highlight the agony brought on by Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. A photographer captured the scene at a hospital in Mariupol as a Russian attack took the life of an 18-month- old Ukrainian boy.

A warning for our viewers right now, these images are very upsetting to see. Marina Yatsko and her boyfriend Fedor, there you see them right there rushing to the hospital carrying her son, Kirill, in a blood-stained blanket. He was badly hurt by shelling. Medical workers frantically tried to save his life, but we're told they could not.

A senior U.S. official warns Russia plans to carry out more of these kinds of attacks in a similar fashion, bombarding cities, civilian populations into submission, an escalation that could lead to more shortened lives, shattered lives, like the lives that you're seeing right there. More grieving parents, more broken medical workers. The agony continues.

Also in Mariupol today, Ukraine is accusing Russia of violating a ceasefire that would have allowed civilians to escape from the siege in that area. So instead of heading to safety, they were forced to return to their homes and shelters. But Ukraine is not giving up without a fight. New video just in to CNN shows a Russian fighter jet crashing -- you can see it right there. Ukraine is saying that they shot it down.

Another video shared by the Ukrainian Armed Forces shows a Russian helicopter being shot down, there you see it right there, in northern Kyiv. CNN is unable to verify when this happened, but some very dramatic images there.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today told U.S. senators, other U.S. lawmakers he needs more air power, more Russian sanctions, and a no-fly zone. As for Putin, he is warning that any group, any country imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine will be considered a participant in the conflict and that the sanctions imposed on Russia are the equivalent he says to a declaration of war.

We have a team of reporters around the world dedicated, covering this breaking story. CNN's Sara Sidner is in Poland where more than half of the 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees have fled. But first let's start with CNN's Scott McLean in Lviv, Ukraine.

Scott, you're seeing the latest there. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have opened fire on protesters in a small town in eastern Ukraine. You saw some of this video earlier. It's just remarkable. Tell us more about that if you can.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim. Yes, let me set the scene for you. So this was, as you mentioned, this was a pretty small village, small town in northeastern Ukraine called Novopskvo, and it is not too far from the Russian borders. And there was a group of people, maybe a few dozen people, at least seen in these videos, protesting the fact that Russian troops have set up camp in their village.

They are in an open-air market in the center of town. You can see people waving Ukrainian flags, chanting Ukraine, obviously making the Russian soldiers feel pretty unwelcome. At first, it seems like the Russian soldiers are trying to clear things out, and they're firing warning shots. Let's just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in foreign language)

(GUNSHOTS)

(CROSSTALK)

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So, at first you don't see anybody really flinching when those shots are fired, but then in a second video -- again, these videos have been -- have been verified as authentic by CNN and geolocated as well. In a second video, you see a man walk toward the soldiers, there he is there, and then you hear two shots ring out. This man falls to the ground, as you can see there. A picture later on shows this man being carried away with a bloodied leg.

Then at some point later on, the Russian troops fire at the crowd again. It is not entirely clear whether they're firing into the crowd or whether they're firing above the crowd, as a warning. But either way, people are running for their lives. The head of the town of the local government says that the Russians opened fire and that three protesters were hit and are in hospital. We, though, have been unable to verify those casualty numbers -- Jim.

[15:05:02]

ACOSTA: OK, Scott. And stand by. I want to go to CNN's Sara Sidner in Poland near the Ukrainian border. Sara, you've been talking to so many people there who have left

Ukraine, just incredible stories, heartbreaking stories. What more are you hearing?

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, you just mentioned it. And I think the numbers -- you know, you hear numbers, and you think 1.3 million, and it's hard to get that in your head. But take a look at what's happening here. And this is day and night. We're talking from early morning until 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. There are people here all day and all night. And they are helping.

You'll see the people that have their bags with them. Sometimes it is literally just like a paper bag that they were able to bring out of Ukraine. And sometimes each person has maybe one. I have not yet seen someone with two bags that they've been able to take out with them as they came over the border. But you are also seeing the helpers. All of the people that have these vests on are here to help. And they have been doing so since this bombardment started happening more than a week ago.

I'll take you a little bit into the volunteer tent, and this is happening on both sides of this massive parking lot. It's a Tesco that has been shut down years ago. So now it's just being used, the whole parking lot is being used as a place where -- you know, look, there are little kids here playing with new toys that they're finding that people have donated. And it is terribly, terribly cold. So, as we walk through here, people are able to get a hot drink.

Children can get a hot juice, hot apple juice. You can also get anything that you need as far as water and things to take with you. There is bread. There is food. And there is also -- just over here, there is a whole box filled with blankets and jackets because it has been below freezing for much of this week. And we see people coming and going. Some people don't have on, you know, gloves. Some people don't have hats.

So there are things here to help them survive. But this is just an incredible outpouring of help, but it is also an unprecedented number of people who are streaming over the border. And that bus there, those size buses and larger have been dropping people off in mass all day long. It's just one after the other that has been coming through here. And we learned that in the last couple of days, we have noticed today there's a lot more people. And it's almost always mostly women and children.

We've noticed a lot more people getting dropped off today. And we heard that what happened at the border potentially is that they have loosened the restrictions to drive up to the border and then drop someone off. So you don't have to be six kilometers away. You can drop someone off so they can walk over the border and they don't have to wait as long. It is an incredible outpouring and an incredible number of people that need help -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Sara Sidner, seeing those boxes of toys there and those kids going up and picking up new toys, it's just heartbreaking to think about what they've all left behind, fleeing their country. Sara Sidner, Scott McLean, thanks very much. We appreciate it.

With me now is Alexander Bilkun who is a translator of the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

Alexander, great to talk to you again. We talked to you last week. Thanks for coming back. We know that you and your family left the capital. You're somewhere outside of the city right now. And I just want to talk to you, Alexander. We showed some of this to our viewers just a few moments ago, these images of attacks on civilians, people frantically going into hospitals with their children who have been killed or are clinging to life.

This is what's happening, I guess, every hour of every day. What can you tell us about what you've been hearing from people you're in contact with?

ALEXANDER BILKUN, FORMER TRANSLATOR FOR FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO: Hey, Jim. That is, indeed, exactly what is happening in the past days. And it's hard to believe that it's only the 10th day of this war, which the Kremlin stubbornly continues to call a special operation, peacemaking -- and I don't want to repeat this.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BILKUN: Actually, because the volume of atrocities that we've seen even in the seven minutes of Scott and Sara's report, they go far beyond any war I can recall in the past decades that lasted for years. Well, and if you ask me what has changed in the -- what this week that we haven't talked, the answer could have been duo. It's nothing and everything. Nothing because none of the objectives that Putin, perhaps, set for his military have been achieved.

[15:10:06]

Not a single large critical city is under his control. Yes, we admit they are being heavily bombarded, but none of the big cities are under his control. Everything has changed because the whole world has changed its perception of Putin, of Russia, and of how they can be believed. You know, because this --

ACOSTA: Right.

BILKUN: All this, everything that was agreed about these green corridors and humanitarian corridors and stuff like that, nothing of that is being adhered to. And they -- their cynicism is so boundless, they are not even shy to do it in front of the Red Cross representatives, which is, I think, the bottom of cynicism that one can speak of.

ACOSTA: I mean, I think that is exactly right. I mean, how can you trust anything that they say at this point? You know, Putin is saying that the war in Ukraine is going according to plan, but as you said, what has changed in the last week? Not a whole lot in terms of his achieving his objectives. One of the things that, you know, that stands out to me today,

Alexander, is this video that we're seeing coming out of Ukraine today showing these protesters, peaceful protesters with no arms.

BILKUN: Yes.

ACOSTA: They don't have any weapons. And they're being fired at, I suppose -- or perhaps the Russian soldiers are firing up in the air to try to scare them off. Just the bravery, the courage, that's being shown time and again.

BILKUN: The boldness of these people really is hard to describe. You know, we've been watching these videos, and I can't tell you how proud I am to be called Ukrainian. When these -- my compatriots are performing these really heroic feats.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

BILKUN: That is also part of my saying that everything has changed. The Ukrainian nation has changed. The people around us have changed. The whole world is consolidating around us. And that is a tremendous support.

ACOSTA: How have the people changed? Alexander, how have the people changed? Explain that.

BILKUN: Because, you know, Ukrainians are -- have always been very peaceful people. And they've never had a chance to show the other side of the coin because peaceful people, very hospitable people, and very nice people. But nice to those who have come to them with peace.

Those who come to them with war meet with a very, very different reaction and acceptance as you can see because we've known dozens if not hundreds of cases when an armed people were able to capture the heavily armed, demoralized Russian servicemen abandoned by their government, by their generals and commanders.

And it didn't take a lot of effort to disarm them, actually. Well, some of them didn't walk away. We have to admit. And -- but in any case, in this very broad span of this opposite hospitality, Russians are facing very, very harsh reaction, definitely not what they were expecting to find.

ACOSTA: No question about it. All right, Alexander Bilkun, thank you so much for being with us as always. We'll keep checking back with you. Thanks again for your time.

BILKUN: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Thank you. And up next, Putin now saying sanctions introduced on Russia are equal to a declaration of war, even though he's the one who's declared war on the Ukrainian people. Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, he joins me next to talk about that.

Plus a two-time U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning basketball player reportedly arrested in Russia. We'll have details on that next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:47]

ACOSTA: Two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner has been arrested in Russia on drug charges according to reports. The "New York Times" cites the Russian Federal Customs Services which says it found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. This reportedly happened in February.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson tells CNN they are aware of the reports and that they stand ready to provide all appropriate consular services. She currently plays for a Russian women's basketball team. We'll get any more information on that as it comes in.

Shooting unarmed protesters, dropping bombs banned by the Geneva Convention, ignoring a ceasefire, these are just some of the flagrant actions reportedly taken by Russian forces in Ukraine in recent days. Off the battlefield, Russia's Vladimir Putin says the sanctions crushing his country are a declaration of war.

Of course, he's not mentioning that he started this war and is doing so in ways that sounds like the actions of a war criminal. Putin also warned that any countries that help Ukraine establish a no-fly zone will be considered part of the armed conflict.

I'm joined now by former Defense secretary under President Clinton, William Cohen.

Mr. Secretary, when you look at what Putin is up to, the actions and the words of these past couple of days, he's escalating things almost every day.

[15:20:09]

It seems almost every hour of every day. What does it tell you about how far he's willing to go in week two, week three, week four? I mean, it just doesn't seem to stop.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think he's prepared to slay waste to every city in Ukraine, to create a wasteland, unless he has his way, unless the Ukrainian people run up the surrender flag, the white flag. And according to what's happening now, I don't see that taking place.

But I want to comment on the presence of the Israeli prime minister in the Russian meeting with President Putin. I think of all people, the Jewish people of this world, understand what it means to be slaughtered. In fact, you were running clips earlier about the brave Ukrainian people walking, standing up to Russian soldiers firing upon them.

You know, it reminds me of Babyn Yar. That occurred back in September, I think, of 1941, in which the city of Kyiv, they rounded up tens of thousands of people, Jewish people, took them out to this ravine called Babyn Yar, made them strip down, and then fired and shot all of them. 33,000 of them died that day. And then following that (INAUDIBLE) at the hands of the Nazis. They extended that murder by rounding up the prisoners of war, but also the Ukrainian citizens.

And they slaughtered them. So the total number (INAUDIBLE). That brought to mind what I was just seeing taking place with these brave people standing up saying, we want peace. We don't want force and enemy soldiers firing upon them. So there are shades of the (INAUDIBLE) on all of this, and I think it's clear to me at least that Putin himself has engaged in commission of war crimes.

One other point you raised (INAUDIBLE) on this, Jim, the question, should we be punishing the children of oligarchs? This is a tragic thing for them. What we are doing is we are doing whatever we can to punish the Russian people, not in the sense of going after them individually, but saying, you're living in a country with a ruler who is now killing thousands of people and displacing millions.

And so you're going to have to feel some pain when you go to the bank. Your money may be worthless. You may not be able to get loans. You will not be able to travel as you have in the past. And the reason we're doing this is we want you to understand the leadership put you in this position and to express your dissent. You take to the streets to express your dissent.

Some 8,000 Russian people have been arrested to date. They should be praised as well as all of the Ukrainians.

ACOSTA: And just very quickly, Mr. Secretary, your audio is breaking up. We might have to cut the interview short. But Putin apparently is going to send in 1,000 mercenaries into Ukraine. Our sources are telling us from talking to officials. What does that tell you about, I guess, what Putin is seeing on the ground from his forces, his conventional forces, that are on the ground in Ukraine right now? If he has to resort to sending in 1,000 mercenaries, it doesn't sound like things are going well for him.

COHEN: Well, they aren't going well. He has met a resistance that he wasn't prepared for. And the fact that he has to turn to mercenaries to try to accomplish that tells you how weak he is right now. The irony is we're all looking for a face-saving way for him to get off this road that we're on. But I don't think, whatever solution is ever arrived at, his face will always bear that of a criminal, a war criminal.

ACOSTA: I think that is quickly becoming the case, if it hasn't already been established as a case. Former Defense secretary William Cohen, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

COHEN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thank you.

Coming up, and these children were fighting to stay alive before the war began. Now Russian strikes have forced them from their hospital bed. CNN is on the train with them as they head to safety. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:56]

ACOSTA: When Russia invaded and started bombing Ukraine, critically ill children were forced to leave their hospital beds in Kharkiv and make the harrowing journey to a train that would carry them to safety in Poland.

CNN's Arwa Damon went with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A train speeds through the darkness and crosses the Ukrainian border into Poland. Most of these children are from hospices in and around Kharkiv. It had the best palliative care for children in Ukraine. Now, one of the area's most intensely bombarded. The carriage is filled with the sort of emotion that is too intense, too incomprehensible for words.

But it is also filled with so much love. Love among strangers, seen in the tenderness of the touch of the medical team. The whispered words of, you are safe now. Love of a mother, who will dig up superhuman strength just to keep her child safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Victoria. Hi. Oh, look at that smile.

[15:30:00]

DAMON (voice-over): Victoria, who has cerebral palsy, can't sit up.

Her mother, Ira, doesn't know what to say. She has so much pain, in her soul, her tears just won't stop.

They had to get closer to the border with Poland before this humanitarian train could pick them up.

Ira carried Victoria for three days through the panic of others trying to flee. The train so packed, she could not even put her down until now.

Dr. Eugenia Szuszkiewicz worked to bring the families together inside Ukraine to get on this train, organized by the Polish government and Warsaw Central Clinical Hospital.

(CROSSTALK)

DR. EUGENIA SZUSZKIEWICZ, PEDIATRICIAN & PALLIATIVE CARE SPECIALIST (through translator): I just have a storm of emotions. My biggest fear did not come true.

(CRYING)

DAMON: It's a trip that could have killed any one of these children, even without a war. That reality had the medical team so understandably anxious that we

were not permitted to film anything until the children were safely on board and stabilized.

(on camera): How old are you, Sophia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Five.

DAMON: Five. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL (through translator): Mom, what do I say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): What do you want to say?

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL (through translator): To say there is war there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Then say it.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL (through translator): It's war there. And now we'll live in another (hospital).

DAMON (voice-over): While this train was heading towards safety, Ira heard that her town was bombed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My husband, my mom, sister, everyone, my dad, nobody is picking up the phone. There are just the beeps and that's it.

DAMON: Ira follows quietly as Victoria is carried off the train. They are now away from their home that was filled with such love, a home and family that may no longer be.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Warsaw.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Coming up, Russian oligarchs scrambling to protect their assets as authorities worldwide target the wealth they think is propping up Putin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:53]

ACOSTA: President Biden and NATO allies punishing Vladimir Putin by going after his enablers, those super-wealthy oligarchs who owe it all to their friend at the Kremlin.

Their elite lifestyles are being sanctioned and seized, private jets, luxury apartments and, in this case, a massive yacht is now in the hands of the French government.

CNN's Drew Griffin has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 280-foot yacht "Amore Vero" features multiple decks, has a swimming pool that turns into a helicopter pad, and boasts of master and VIP suites to accommodate up to 14 guests.

And it's just been seized by the French government.

It's linked to Igor Sechin, the CEO of Russian oil giant, Rosneft. Though the yacht company now says he doesn't own it.

The European Union sanctioned Sechin earlier this week, describing him as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most trusted and closest advisers.

The seizure, part of a coordinated action from Western countries, making it difficult for Russian billionaires to operate and putting pressure on Putin.

BILL BROWDER, CEO, HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: This is what he cares about. This is what's important to him.

This helps because the oligarchs look after Putin's money. We want to punish Putin personally indirectly for what he's done. And this is the most direct way of doing that.

GRIFFIN: Another target of coordinated sanctions, the super yacht "Dilbar." It's currently being renovated in Hamburg, Germany, and owned by a telephone and mining magnate.

It has dozens of cabins and a crew of 96 people. Guests can swim in an 80-foot pool, once the largest ever put on a yacht.

A CNN review from marinetraffic.com found yachts have been reported to be owned by Russian oligarchs spread out across the world.

Some were already on the move towards friendlier ports in anticipation of a worldwide crackdown.

CATHERINE BELTON, AUTHOR, "PUTIN'S PEOPLE": The problem is, is that the sanctions have been announced ahead of time.

So probably right now, they're all busy, feverishly, engineering deals in which ownership changes could be triggered the minute sanctions are handed down. So it's going to be a game of cat and mouse, unfortunately.

GRIFFIN: That cat-and-mouse game may have already begun, even with Russian billionaires who are not under sanction.

The "Galactica Super Nova," with floor-to-ceiling marble and outdoor theater and a waterfall pool, reportedly owned by a Russian oil company executive, left Barcelona on Saturday and crossed the Mediterranean to Montenegro.

The ownership is often hidden behind complicated registries and shell companies.

These yachts are a symbol of the cash and prestige oligarchs have built under Putin.

Luxuries like anti-missile defense systems, bomb-proof doors and a mini-submarine or a beauty salon and an elevator.

One yacht now out of reach of any Western authorities, the "Graceful." German media has speculated the owner is none other than Vladimir Putin himself.

Two weeks before the invasion of Ukraine, the yacht left Hamburg, Germany, and sped to Kaliningrad, Russia, where no location data has been recorded since.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: And it is not just yachts, Jim. The U.S. government has sanctioned five ships it says are tied to a Russian bank, oil tankers and freighters.

[15:40:05]

And in a sign that some of this may be having its desired effect, that author, Catherine Belton, says she's talked to some these oligarchs, who they say are in shock. They never thought, Jim, that Putin would go this far -- Jim?

ACOSTA: Thanks, Drew.

Joining me now is the great granddaughter of former Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, Nina Khrushcheva. She's also a professor of international affairs at the New School.

Nina, thanks so much for being with us.

Some of these Russian oligarchs, they live like Bond villains. I'm wondering if some of these yachts are out from Russia with love or something like that.

What do you think? Does stripping these oligarchs of their yachts and so on create any pressure whatsoever on Vladimir Putin?

NINA KHRUSHCHEVA, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, THE NEW SCHOOL & GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV: Well, so far, it doesn't seem to be. I know they've been shocked in that many of them expressed concern, let's talk about it, let's negotiate and whatnot.

But it doesn't seem to have any effect. And I frankly didn't think it would just because he has been telling the Russian oligarchs for at least 10 years that will happen, get out of the west. They will sanction us anyway.

The whole thing about Olympics, remember 2014, when they built the Winter Olympics. It was about the fact that when Russians stopped allowing to go anywhere, they would have their own playground in Sochi.

So, I don't think they would -- I don't know how they play out in some time.

But in the short run, they seem more to have any effect on him. And it seems he's telling them, I warned you and now you're paying for it.

ACOSTA: I see.

And even before he launched this war, Putin has never been so isolated, due, in part, I suppose, to the pandemic.

We have so many bizarre images of him sitting at these huge tables, dozens of feet away from anyone he meets with.

I suppose there are some echoes of the Soviet Union in the way Putin operates even in this fashion.

KHRUSHCHEVA: Well, there is, of course, because, at this point, I think he's feeling he is a deity, he's a supreme leader. He basically observes the world like god.

And the whole world in Ukraine is a very philosophical struggle for the empire, so to speak.

It is interesting because those images were very bizarre and kind of almost like a post-COVID syndrome, where people get what they had and tried to get away from it.

What's interesting, today, he was meeting this aviation -- women in aviation airline industry. Essentially, Russia has heavily targeted, Russian planes, almost anywhere outside of Russia.

So, he was meeting with women for the Women's Day on March 8th. And he was sitting at the table with them. They were surrounding him. It was not -- it was very close.

So, it was an entirely, entirely different imagery there. When he's with women -- with other men, he feels he should compete or showing he is more important than the rest.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, this is straight out of North Korea and state television, some of these images that Russians are pumping out there to the public. It's just so very strange and bizarre.

And we've also seen Russians taking the risks of protesting this war. I mean, out on the streets -- I have to ask you about this, Nina -- including this one elderly woman.

I'm sure you've seen the images of her. She's confronted by police. She's taken away by police. She's obviously very frail, very old. She's holding these protest signs.

What does this say about Putin and how much he fears his own people when they're hauling grandma off the street? KHRUSHCHEVA: Well, it's -- you know, all autocrats play to their own

people. And he is in a long tradition of Russian guards, Soviet autocrats, and himself, that really, as I said, the father of the nation.

Really, if that's what your title is, then you really don't care about your nation or your people. You care much more about the state you represent. That is important more than people in it.

[15:44:58]

And so that is one of the images that is completely shocking. And this older woman it's more shocking. Just because she was walking, just because young people marching against the war. And they have faced issues and whatnot.

So, they were originally much stronger than they were now. And they get smaller because all the information in Russia now is in a black hole of medieval, no press, no free information whatsoever.

But also because people are very threatened. They are arrested. They lose their jobs. Now all the human rights organizations are essentially closed.

So, it is kind of the medieval -- very quickly and very violently. And they are back in the early days of Stalin right now or a Stalin-type state right now. And we don't know where we're going to go from there.

ACOSTA: He's certainly acting like a Soviet strong man. He can clamp down on the press all he wants but he cannot escape the truth. The truth appears to be catching up with Vladimir Putin.

Nina Khrushcheva, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

KHRUSHCHEVA: Thank you.

ACOSTA: I want to take a moment to show you images from around the world, everyday people protesting the war in Ukraine.

This is today in London. Some wearing Ukrainian colors of blue and yellow. One sign reading there, "A world with Ukraine." And it is.

In Paris, protesters hold signs comparing Putin to Hitler. Other signs say, "Wanted, war criminal," with Putin's face, and "Stop war."

And before a soccer match in Munich, members of the two teams and the referees stand around a massive sign that reads, "Stop the war."

And in Croatia, protesters wave Ukrainian flags and carry a banner reading, "Stop the war in Ukraine."

That is the resounding message coming from around this world, united against this aggression, this brutality that we're seeing unfold in Ukraine.

We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:44]

ACOSTA: We want to show you dramatic moment when a news crew found themselves staring down the barrel of a Russian tank as they were trying to escape the battered city, the port city of Mariupol.

ITV News' John Irvine describes the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN IRVINE, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, ITV NEWS (voice- over): With Mariupol just five miles behind us, tanks suddenly appeared in the mist. We hoped they were Ukrainian. But they were not.

We filmed the Russians as surreptitiously as possible.

(on camera): I can count four Russian tanks. Thankfully, the crews at the minute appear to be quite relaxed.

Somebody from our lead vehicle has gone to have a chat to convince them that we are who we say we are, an innocent convoy leaving Mariupol for safety.

You can see what it says on one side of one of the tanks. I can, anyway. They're definitely Russian.

(voice-over): At one point, the tank turret turned our way. We were staring down the barrel.

It's not clear what spooked them, but something definitely did. Suddenly, some of the Russian soldiers, to the right and left of the tank, were kneeling and aiming their rifles at our convoy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: My goodness. After a few tense moments, they were allowed to pass through.

Normally -- normally, this week, we'd be introducing you to the first "CNN Hero" of 2022. But as the world turns to Ukraine, so do we.

Russia's invasion and the missile attack near the Holocaust Memorial in Kyiv this week have evoked echoes of World War II.

And for Ukraine's Holocaust survivors, the crisis hits especially close to home as they find themselves once again at risk.

The 2014 "CNN Hero," Zane Buzby, has been helping this vulnerable population across eastern Europe for almost 15 years and now she's stepping up to do more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Many explosions in and around Kyiv, the largest invasion in Europe since World War II.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is happening?

ZANE BUZBY, 2014 CNN HERO: This is terrible for the Ukrainian people, and absolutely horrendous for the Holocaust survivors.

A lot of these people are the last person in their family, the only one who survived.

These people went through this once already, and so for them, something like this triggers all this -- this trauma.

She's holding a picture of her family that was killed.

In Ukraine right now, we have just under 350 survivors who were helped. They're spread out across this vast country. They don't have extended families. And they're very lonely as well.

The early memories come back and haunt them at night. So we have our translators and our people on the ground making sure they're OK.

We spoke to her daughter only yesterday. So she's OK.

We don't want food sources to run out. We're getting them as much medication as possible now because who knows in two weeks what's going to happen.

[15:55:03]

These are the people we have caregivers for. They're kind of going through this together.

The important thing is to give them some comfort and care, just like a family. That's what we bring them.

This was the woman who said, you are like a daughter, a grandchild, a niece and friend all in one.

We have to make sure that these survivors are not left alone during this devastating time. It's been logistically difficult, but we're doing it.

It's so important that they know they haven't been forgotten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: To find out how you can support Zane's work and nominate your own "CNN Hero," go to CNNheroes.com.

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