Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
New Video Shows Jets Attacking City Of Irpin Near Kyiv; Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Shelling Evacuation Routes In Mariupol And Volnovakha, Breaching Temporary Cease-Fire; Belarus Drawn Deeply Into Conflict Across Its Border; Zelenskyy Asks For Oil Ban, Fighter Jets, In Call With U.S. Congress; Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett Meets Putin In Moscow; Mayor Says Russian Troops Are Everywhere In Kherson; Foreign Students Among The Crowds Fleeing The War; Indian Students Trapped In Ukraine Ask To Be Evacuated; WNBA's Brittney Griner Detained At Moscow Airport. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 06, 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]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers, joining us from all around the world. Live from Lviv in Ukraine, I'm Michael Holmes. I want to get to our breaking news updates.
We're learning that much of a Ukrainian tank factory has been leveled after Russian strikes. This is about 85 miles West of Kyiv. The area has seen intense shelling in recent days.
And new video coming in from the city of Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, you can see jets flying overhead. And then a massive explosion, plumes of black smoke billowing from the rubble.
Needless to say, the massive bombardment caused heavy damage, many buildings going up in flames.
And take a look at this. The Ukrainian armed forces posting this video, which it says is a Russian helicopter being shot from the sky.
CNN geolocated the area where the video was taken and it does include a base where Russia has been running helicopter operations. But we've been unable to verify exactly when that video was shot.
Ukraine's national police said an airstrike damaged almost 20 residential buildings. This is in the town called Bila Tserkva. No word on casualties at the moment yet. All of this coming as the temporary cease-fire in parts of Eastern Ukraine, to let civilians get to safety, is now on hold after allegations Russian fighters violated the agreements on that cease-fire. Russia blames Ukraine for it.
Against that backdrop, amazing acts of courage, defiance and protests by the Ukrainian people, like this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice-over): This is Kherson. And you see that man, jumping onto a Russian armored personnel carrier, waving the Ukrainian flag as he does. The city's mayor telling CNN earlier, the city is surrounded. Russian troops are, in his words, everywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And in an address to the Ukrainian people, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urging them to keep up the resistance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukrainians, in all our cities, where the enemy invaded, go on the offensive. Go out on the streets. We need to fight every time we have an opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Scott McLean is here with me in Lviv.
We talked about humanitarian corridors. What is the status of talks?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was a glimmer of hope yesterday; obviously didn't work out very well, when the Ukrainians accused the Russians of bombing, continuing the bombing of the cities that were supposed to have those corridors.
Now we have potentially another bit of hope but maybe don't hold your breath. There's going to be another round of talks tomorrow in Belarus. We assume it will be in Belarus. That's where the first two rounds have been held. Both Ukrainians and the Russians have confirmed this.
The Russians say their common goal is to save human lives. That might be a tad bit rich for the Ukrainians to hear, considering what's going on there. Things are getting quite desperate.
In Mariupol, the mayor says the dead and wounded are now in the thousands; in fact, things are so bad, they can't even go and collect the bodies. They had about 50 buses, the mayor says, yesterday, ready to go for that humanitarian corridor. Now they're down to about 30.
The mayor's deputy said Russians were shelling the areas where the buses were supposed to be gathered. They also had 10 buses, the mayor says, in another area, hiding them, anticipating possible shelling. So now they're down to 20 buses.
HOLMES: What, the others have been destroyed?
MCLEAN: That's the assumption: destroyed, out of service, broken, whatever. And so now you think, if you can fit 50 -- a bus generally fits 50 -- even if you cram 100 onto the buses, now we're talking about 20 buses times 100. That's only 2,000 people. Ukrainians say there's 200,000 people who would like to get out of
Mariupol alone. Even if you had this corridor open up, even if you had buses ready to go, you would still only be able to get a fraction of the people who want to get out, out in the timeframe that you actually have.
So with these talks, obviously there are talks about a cease-fire, an armistice, things like that. Those seem like a distant dream. But perhaps, maybe, there's a chance to make progress again on these humanitarian corridors that are so needed.
HOLMES: Yes, I think it lasted an hour, yesterday, that so-called cease-fire. The other thing the mayor said was, you can't get these people out on the trains, because the train infrastructure has been blown up as well. So there's that.
You're here with me in Lviv. A lot of the people fleeing end up here.
[03:05:00]
HOLMES: I saw you out and about all day yesterday, looking into what's going on. Fill us in.
MCLEAN: Yes, so if you go to the train station now, I've never seen anything like it. I've been there, spent a few days there, covering the humanitarian situation there.
And there is a lineup to get onto a train to Poland that stretches underneath the five or six platforms that they have and a tunnel, up through the station, out the door and then around the corner.
HOLMES: That's just to get in?
MCLEAN: Just to get in. I spoke to one woman who was in that line. She had been there about an hour. Maybe she'd moved about 100 yards or so in an hour because the reality is, these trains come very sporadically.
And perhaps that's several trainloads of people that are just waiting to get onto the trains. So you can imagine how desperate it is. People don't actually have to have had their homes bombed out to flee. Many of these people, just, hey, the town next door to mine saw shelling. I'm seeing what's happening on TV, I'm worried I'm going to be next.
HOLMES: Of course.
MCLEAN: Other people are more directly affected. One woman came with her small kids, collect the her mother and, between her mother and her, there were five kids they were trying to get out, waiting in frigid temperatures to get on a train, hoping they can get out.
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness, that line. That's unbelievable, waiting hours just to get in the station.
MCLEAN: Remember also, not everyone's taking the train. I spoke to one family that was going by car. And this is so typical. You had a mother, her 16-year-old son, then three younger daughters.
That 16-year-old boy told me he suddenly feels like a lot more of a man, having to step up, help his mother take care of the family, figure out where to go because obviously his father has been staying behind to fight.
HOLMES: Unbelievable. Great context, good information. Thank you, Scott McLean here with me in Lviv.
We do have disturbing video that Ukrainian officials say shows Russian troops firing at an anti-war demonstration. It's unclear whether the gunfire is being directed at or above the crowd. But have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice-over): Quite a volley of gunfire. Those protesters showing their defiance as Russian troops push further into Ukraine. Forces appear to be losing patience with those fighting against the invasion. CNN's Matthew Chance with more on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have seen scenes of these kind of civilian defiance, really up and down the country, in the areas where Russians have taken control of these population centers.
And for the most part, even though the scenes have been often quite angry, you know, we're now starting to see, you know, the Russian forces, perhaps, lose some of the patience that they've been exhibiting to these kinds of -- these kinds of angry crowds in the past few days.
Take a look at this astonishing moment, in which angry protesters in the northeastern town of Novhorodske (ph), which is a Russian-speaking area, filled with ethnic Russians, remember, take a look at how these protesters are shot, for want of a better way of describing it, by the Russian forces they're confronting. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Very astonishing, isn't it?
But it just underlines, you know, the amount of defiance that there is in this country, when it comes to this Russian invasion force. If the Russians thought that these people were going to back down easily and capitulate and welcome them, they were very badly mistaken.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Matthew Chance there.
Another country deeply enmeshed in the invasion of Ukraine is Belarus to the north of this country. For weeks, we've been telling you about the Russian buildup of troops there. There were those exercises -- that's what the Kremlin described them as at the time. But then came this.
The video showed Russian troops entering Ukraine from Belarus. Belarus has insisted its forces are not involved in the invasion, in fact, Belarus currently hosting those talks between Russia and Ukraine when they happen. Reuters reporting the third round of talks could resume Monday.
Now during this all, with the world's attention focused on its neighbor, Belarus held a constitutional referendum.
[03:10:00]
HOLMES: And the outcome could have a huge impact on NATO's strategic planning.
As a result of that vote, Belarus renounced its nonnuclear status. That means it could, of course, theoretically allow Russia to place nuclear weapons back in Belarus for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has been relying more and more on support from Moscow, ever since he faced weeks of protests, the demonstrations following his 2020 re-election, in a contest that critics say was rigged.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Franak Viacorka is the senior adviser to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition leader, widely believed to have actually won the Belarusian presidential election. He joins me from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
How difficult has it been to see the Belarusian president, Lukashenko, so eagerly sign up to help Putin with his invasion?
And what will be the regional impact of that?
FRANAK VIACORKA, BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN: Yes, Lukashenko, (INAUDIBLE) the price he pays for Putin's support in 2020. He will definitely not survive the crisis that started after elections, rigged elections.
And Putin gave him political support, financial support, diplomatic support. And now he's paying for this. He's not an independent figure anymore. He lost respect and support among ordinary Belarusians. Right now he's trying to drag our country into this war. He lost support even among the (INAUDIBLE) elites.
HOLMES: Yes, I know.
But what's going to be the fallout for him?
What will be the impact of sanctions Lukashenko has brought upon the country of Belarus and the people of Belarus?
Will they blame him?
Will they blame the West?
VIACORKA: Oh, people are blaming him. According to the last data we received, 58 percent are blaming the regime, the government, for the crisis in Belarus. And less than 10 percent blame the West or the Belarusian opposition.
People also blame Russia, Putin. People are very disappointed. In Belarus, pro-Russian mood is quite high. But right now it's falling down very quickly. I think Russia can lose Belarus same way as it lost Ukraine.
HOLMES: What are you hearing from opposition supporters inside the country about not just what their government is doing but what the opposition is able to do still?
Because they are oppressed, really, aren't they?
VIACORKA: Of course. Now we are dealing with a totalitarian state. There is a KGB network all over the country. People are being detained every week. Myself, I have 11 criminal articles against me and up to 20 years in prison. Almost every journalist, every activist in Belarus can be sentenced to years.
So (INAUDIBLE) criticize the invasion to Ukraine, more than 200 people were either fined or sentenced or sent to forced labor. Even for comments on Instagram. So it means that they're not allowing any critical voices to appear.
HOLMES: As we mentioned in the lead-in to this interview, while all this has been going on, Lukashenko pushed changes to the constitution; one, to give himself more time in power, years more time in power but, two, do away with the country's nonnuclear status.
What is going to be the impact of that on your country?
VIACORKA: The constitution will be signed in one week, on March 15. And we will see the consequences. And it's definitely not about solving the crisis. It's about changes to the paradigm.
Now Belarus can become a Russian proxy, officially. Russian nuclear warheads can come to Belarus officially. This creates huge risk. Last Sunday, you could see mass demonstrations all over the country in Belarus, the biggest since 2020, protesting against war in Ukraine and against this shameful referendum.
HOLMES: You mentioned those protests. And we have seen, as you said, Belarusians protest their government's election results and be brutally beaten down. Lukashenko, he's still there.
What chance the opposition and the people can make a real impact on the political scene in Belarus or rise up again?
Is that ever likely to happen?
VIACORKA: We organized a resistance movement, anti-war movement. There are many officers that are working inside of military units and trying to convince not to participate in the war against Ukraine.
There is very large movement, cyber partisans, students, I.T. programmers are joining this movement and they're hacking state institutions. They're disrupting the railway system. The train with food for Russian soldiers was delayed by five hours because of the cyber partisan attacks.
[03:15:00]
VIACORKA: And we are trying to show that we did not give up and we don't want Russian occupants to be on our territory because it's difficult to resist on the square. When you go to square, it means months or years in prison. But we resist, like in Second World War, in underground. And it is quite efficient.
HOLMES: I wanted to ask you this, too, because I know it's something that concerns you. You're worried Belarusian people around the world could be blamed for the actions of their government.
What do you say to that?
VIACORKA: Unfortunately, Belarus and Russia are put in the same basket. And I would urge them not treat Belarusians as enemies of Ukraine. At least 200 soldiers, Belarusian soldiers, are fighting with Ukrainian army; 300 soldiers are training for Ukraine.
Dozens of thousands are helping Ukraine right now to resist. And Belarusians all over the world are helping Ukraine. Majority of Belarusians don't support the war. So please don't treat Belarusians as aggressors. Lukashenko's regime is aggressor. He's collaborated with Putin's invasion forces. But not Belarusian people.
HOLMES: Franak Viacorka, thank you so much, senior advisor to the Belarusian opposition leader. Really appreciate you joining us.
VIACORKA: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Belarus is now the only destination Russia's largest airline will be flying to after it suspended international flights everywhere else.
Russian state media reporting Aeroflot is grounding all other flights abroad from Tuesday. And passengers with return tickets to Russia won't be allowed to depart from today. This comes after most of the Western world closed its airspace to Russian planes.
Quick break here. When we come back, Israel giving diplomacy a chance as the brutal fighting ranges on in this country. Next up, the Israeli prime minister making an unannounced trip to the Kremlin for talks with Vladimir Putin.
And before we go, listen as protesters in Paris sing Ukraine's national anthem in solidarity with those impacted by the war. I'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: On Saturday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told American lawmakers that Ukraine urgently needs more assistance from the U.S. as it fights against Russia's invasion. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux with more from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held an impassioned one-hour Zoom call Saturday morning with nearly 300 U.S. lawmakers, Democrats, Republicans, on the House and Senate side.
Essentially giving them an impassioned plea, an urgent plea, saying that Ukraine needs more help by the United States as well as its European allies.
One of the lawmakers, a senator who was on that call, told me that Zelenskyy said, look, if you cannot support a no-fly zone, then at least support additional aircraft and airpower. Get those Russian-made fighter jets that are sitting in those European countries transferred inside of Ukraine.
Allow those Ukrainians to fly them themselves and to take this fight to the next level. Zelenskyy also saying that tougher economic sanctions were needed, particularly dealing with the energy sector.
He called for a global ban on Russian oil imports. He also gave an update of what is happening on the ground inside of Ukraine, saying that many of these Russian soldiers they had captured had no idea why they were there, not even knew they were in some sort of armed conflict.
And he also said that there were many, many targets that were just civilian neighborhoods that had been hit, a lot of pain and really a lot of sorrow.
Many of the lawmakers responding to that, those emotions, and coming out and saying that they wanted to support him. One of the lawmakers telling me that, after this call was over,
several dozen of them unmuted their mikes in that Zoom call to say, thank you, we will help you, Mr. President; many of them saying, "Slava Ukraini," "Glory to Ukraine."
The lawmakers will return on Monday. That is when they've been tasked by the Biden administration to put forward and approve a $10 billion aid package to Ukraine, military as well as humanitarian aid, a deadline of March 11th, which coincides with funding the U.S. government -- Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, at the U.S. Capitol.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett has flown back home after trying to play mediator in the Russian war on Ukraine. He did make an unannounced trip to Moscow Saturday, meeting with president Vladimir Putin for three hours.
He then flew to Berlin for talks with the German chancellor Olaf Scholz. For more on this, Hadas Gold joins me.
Tell us about the meeting.
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a completely surprised, unannounced trip. We only heard about it from the Kremlin and Israeli side as it was going on. It was done with the blessing of the United States, according to Israeli officials, and was coordinated with France and Germany.
I spoke with Ukrainian ambassador to Israel last night. He told me the Ukrainians were also aware of the trip ahead of time and were supportive of it. As you noted, Bennett flew to Moscow Saturday morning.
I should note, as an observant Jew, for Bennett, flying on Shabbat, on Saturday, is a big deal because it essentially breaks the rules of Shabbat. But many Jews believe you can do so if it is to save a life.
It shows the urgency of this trip. He spent three hours in the Kremlin with Putin. Afterwards, we know he had a phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Then he took off to Berlin, met with German chancellor Olaf Scholz. In terms of what was said, we have no immediate information on any outcome from this meeting. All Israeli officials said was, of course, the situation in Ukraine was discussed.
[03:25:00]
GOLD: And Naftali Bennett specifically brought up the plight of Israelis and Jews in Ukraine affected by this conflict, because there is a large Jewish population there.
Now Israel has been trying to play the mediator for some time, saying it's trying to take advantage of its unique position in the situation. It has a good relationship with both Ukraine and Russia. Of course, it's a U.S. ally. It also has close cultural ties with Ukraine.
Ukraine has a Jewish president, a large Jewish population. It also has security coordination with Russia in Syria on Israel's northern border. Israel wants to do this so it can strike targets in Ukraine.
Although Israel has come under pressure to come out more forcefully against Russia, Naftali Bennett has not been mentioning Russia or Putin by name. They're hoping to use their position to mediate, to potentially, hopefully, bring an end to this.
Naftali Bennett is expected to make remarks ahead of his cabinet meeting. And we'll update you if we hear anything more about the outcome of this meeting with Putin.
HOLMES: All right, Hadas Gold there, thanks, from Jerusalem.
Still to come here on the program, President Zelenskyy has a message for his fellow Ukrainians, as Russian troops push further into the country. Our breaking news coverage continues after the break.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: Welcome back. Our breaking news continues this hour with the announcement that Ukraine and Russia will resume talks on perhaps ending hostilities on Monday.
[03:30:00]
HOLMES: That's according to negotiators from both sides of this conflict. It comes as Ukrainian officials say thousands of civilians are still trapped in the southeastern cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha after Moscow breached a temporary cease-fire agreement to allow civilians safe passage out.
Meanwhile, Russian military strikes leveling part of a Ukrainian tank factory just outside the city of Zhytomyr. That video published on social media on Saturday showing the damage you see there.
And another video captured by Reuters shows several fires in and around the city of Irpin near Kyiv. Artillery and airstrikes causing extensive damage to buildings, roads and bridges.
The U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, meeting with Ukraine's foreign minister on Saturday, who is demanding a new round of sanctions against Russia. That on the same day that president Putin warned that sanctions imposed on Russia already are the equivalent of a declaration of war.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, did speak with U.S. lawmakers on this Saturday, asking once again for a no-fly zone in the skies over Ukraine and more military support. And as the fighting presses on across his nation, Mr. Zelenskyy urging his people to not give up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Ukraine, which we know, love, protect and will not give up to any enemy, when you don't have a firearm but they respond with gunshots and you don't run, this is the reason why occupation is temporary. Our people, Ukrainians, don't back down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And joining me now is Oleksandra Zhovtyuk, a Ukrainian citizen. She is a mother of three. She is seeking shelter inside her grandmother's home in the Russian occupied city of Kherson in Ukraine.
I really appreciate you taking the time. That city has been the scene of a lot of fighting. The Russians took the city. The people continue to resist. Give us a sense of what the situation is right now for you and your family.
OLEKSANDRA ZHOVTYUK, UKRAINIAN CITIZEN: Hello. For right now, it's -- they're not bombing outside, because we are like occupied and they have their people inside our city. That's why they are like trying to hide behind our backs, like civil people, because they know that the Ukrainian army won't do anything to harm us. So they just like occupy.
We don't have much left in, like, medical supplies, we don't have much left food in the stores, because they won't let the West, the U.S. help to come to our city and bring us something. So we are feeling, you know, isolated from the rest of Ukraine for right now.
HOLMES: So it's difficult to get food and supplies. People are resisting there.
What is the interaction like with the Russian forces?
ZHOVTYUK: We don't go outside, you know, because, as far as I know, they shoot civil cars. And actually, my friend's mom passed away two days ago and she lives in another district of our town.
And she couldn't even come to her and say goodbye to her, because they won't let us, you know, like, drive through the town. So -- we don't, like, communicate with them, we, just civil people.
HOLMES: What a horrible situation. You're a mother of three kids, as we said; I think one is a newborn. I see one on your lap there, a beautiful young child.
How are the children dealing with all of this?
ZHOVTYUK: My oldest kid, she's 7 years old. She's sitting there. You cannot see her right now. She only understands what's going on. She wakes up in the night and she cries and he asks me when it will be all over. My middle kid here, she doesn't understand. She thinks it's like a
game or whatever. And actually I really want her to think, like, it's like game, you know, we have to play for their rules.
But my baby boy, he's not a newborn; he is 1.5 years, he doesn't understand what's going on. But he feels like -- I think all this atmosphere, he sleeps very bad at night and he cries and all these things. He wants to be, like, you know, with me all the time, because he feels that something's going on like this.
HOLMES: What do you tell your oldest, as this is all unfolding?
You know, when there were explosions and all of that, what did you tell the child sitting there on your lap, that beautiful young child?
ZHOVTYUK: The only thing I want to keep them safe and I say we have to be strong right now. We need to be together right now and she needs to listen to me.
[03:35:00]
And, you know, the scariest thing, I have never thought I would tell my child that something will explode right next to her, because they sleep in the corridor for right now, because it's very unsafe to sleep in bed.
And we find the most, you know, like, safest place, as we thought -- I read a lot about the safest places, like, we need to have two walls before the window. It means this place is, like, much safer than other place in the building.
So they sleep there. And I told her, if something will explode or whatever, she needs to hold her sister and don't run to me. They need to stay there and be there for her.
And, like, the scary thing, she's 7 years old. I never thought I would tell my child not to run to me but stay with her sister and keep her with her, not to, you know, like -- I don't know what to say, it's very scary. But I tell her all the time --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: It would be -- yes, I -- I think there would be parents all around the world now, listening to you, just horrified that you have to do that, that you have to tell your children that.
You told our producer that you just want your lives back and that all of this feels like a terrible dream. I mean, when you think back a few weeks, a month or two months ago, could you have ever imagined hat this would be happening in your country, that Russian troops would be outside your door?
ZHOVTYUK: You know what, I -- even right now, I cannot imagine. My brain is, like, trying to block this information. Even for right now, my mom, she wakes up every day and she's like, everything is OK, I think it was like a dream. If you are asking me about, like, a month ago, like, no never. It's
2022.
You know, what war?
Like, we live here, we have all these -- I don't know, internet. People are traveling around the world. People can speak to people from other countries. And all this, all of a sudden just, like, faded away for us.
HOLMES: What do you think will happen in the days and weeks ahead?
And do you have a message to the world?
ZHOVTYUK: I don't know what will happen, because, like, you know, the first days, when it all just started, I was like, it can't last forever. It can't last, like, for a week. But it does.
My message is, we're trying to keep -- we're (INAUDIBLE) here. We're trying to save our kids' lives, we're trying to save our lives. Just pray with us and just be with us, because we are all praying, every single day. Every hour, I pray for my kids to be safe and kids all over my country, because I know they are suffering much more than even we do. It's horrible.
HOLMES: I can't imagine what you're going through, it's impossible to imagine what you're going through. Your courage is just so -- it's just shining through. So stay strong, give that lovely daughter a hug from us. And we will touch base later. Oleksandra Zhovtyuk, thank you so much.
ZHOVTYUK: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: If you would like to help people in Ukraine who might be in need of shelter, food, water, warm clothing, so on, go to cnn.com/impact. You can find several ways there that you can help if you so wish.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: Some breaking news coming in, humanitarian corridors in those Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha will be open again in the hours ahead. That's according to the Russian state news agency Tass, quoting an official with a militia in the Donetsk region.
The corridor had been put on hold from Saturday blaming Russia for violating the initial cease-fire. But a spokesman for the Russian defense ministry blamed what he calls nationalist formations, using residents as human shields.
Again, humanitarian corridors in those Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha will be open again in the hours ahead.
Thanks for your company. From Lviv, Ukraine, I'm Michael Holmes. At the top of the hour, Kim Brunhuber will have more news from around the world. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all our viewers here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
The United Nations says more than 1.3 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the invasion. Some of those fleeing are foreign students, who are now trying to figure out how to get home.
The Indian government says it's arranging buses to evacuate more than 2,000 people. Already more than 20,000 have left Ukraine since the conflict began. Around half have made it back to India. Listen to one student in Poland describing their escape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were all terrified. In the Indian embassy didn't do anything. They were all telling us they will rescue us from Moscow. Even the day we left Kharkiv, there was a online message that we will get rescued from Moscow.
I'm happy that I didn't believe it. I risked my life, I came here all by myself, without food, without water. We lived for six days under the basement, where we can't even breathe properly.
When we were at the station, the shelling was, like, just feet away from us. The station was shaking and we were covering our heads with our bags. We were afraid we'd all die. One student died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: But at least 700 other students from India are still stranded. They're stuck in the city of Sumy near the Russian border, in an area where heavy fighting is going on. They say food is getting scarce and electricity and heat are out. As Vedika Sud reports, some say they are taking the only way out they still have.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Around 30 miles or 48 kilometers from the Russian border, hundreds of Indian students remain trapped in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy. At least 700 Indian students are waiting to be evacuated. Heavy fighting is taking place on the outskirts of the city.
[03:45:00]
SUD: Students we've spoken to say the biggest fear that is Russian troops could advance anytime soon into Sumy.
Speaking to CNN, students said every time sirens go off, they rush to their makeshift bunkers in the hostels. Saturday, dozens of students shared a video, urging the Indian government to evacuate them from the conflict zone.
Desperate to reach safer ground, students are weighing making the risky journey to the Russian border. They said this would be their last video appeal to the Indian government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the last video from the Sumy State University students and we are just risking our life and we are just going to this border which Russia has offered so this will be our last request and last video, guys. Just pray for us.
And government, please let you guys know that we are moving from our own risk. This is our last video.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD: Due to water and electricity shortages, students have been forced to drink melted snow. Responding to the video message, the Indian government has advised these students to take all safety precautions and avoid unnecessary risks.
According to India's ministry of external affairs, the Indian government has reached out both to Russia and Ukraine to create safe passage for these Indian students to leave Ukraine. On Saturday, an Indian government official said that over 20,000 Indians have left Ukraine ever since the first advisory was issued by the Indian embassy -- Vedika Sud, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The invasion of Ukraine has put more pressure on energy prices that already were climbing. And U.S. motorists are seeing the result at the pump. The cost of gasoline has topped $4 a gallon in several states. On average, these are the biggest price hikes in the U.S. since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005.
CNN's Camila Bernal has more from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These prices just continue to go up and we're just cents away from that national average being $4 a gallon. Experts believe we could get there just in the next couple of days, because of the increases that we have already been seeing.
Here in California, the average already above $5 a gallon. In Los Angeles, there are some gas stations where the situation is even worse.
At the gas station where I am right now, a regular gallon of gas is $6.95; for that premium, $7.55.
And as this crisis in Ukraine continues, it could continue to increase. Ever since the invasion of Russia in Ukraine, we've seen those prices go up by 37 cents just in the last two days. We've seen a 19-cent increase.
So that's what people are worried about because this is obviously affecting everyday Americans. For example, rideshare drivers, they are greatly impacted. I spoke to one of them.
Benjamin Valdez (ph) says he works three days a week and this increase in prices for him makes a huge difference.
BENJAMIN VALDEZ (PH), RIDESHARE DRIVER: I was putting in probably around $60 for a full tank. And now it's climbed up to about $90. So it's getting up there.
If I drive 200 miles, I'm spending $50 in gas. And if I make $150 to $200 that night, I'm putting at least one-third of expense in gas alone.
BERNAL: It's not just him. I talked to many rideshare drivers, who told me other drivers they know have been quitting over the last couple of months and they say this is the final straw.
But it's not just the rideshare drivers; it's the taxi drivers, the truckers and everyday Americans. Anyone who gets in a car, who has a commute will notice the difference and, unfortunately, the situation could get worse -- Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And we'll be right back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: Growing concerns for U.S. basketball star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner after "The New York Times" reported she was arrested in Moscow.
Customs officials said they found cannabis oil in her luggage upon arriving in New York, the report said, adding that drug-sniffing dogs detected the possible presence of narcotics in her carry-on baggage.
(WORLD SPORT)
[03:55:00]
BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.
