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Russia Intensifies Attacks on Ukraine; U.S.: 95% of Russia's Amassed Combat Power in Ukraine; Polish Volunteers Give Comfort to Refugees from Ukraine; Moldovan Prime Minister is Interviewed about Refugee Crisis; Families Pack into Trains to Flee Russian Attacks; Jewish Refugees from Ukraine Arrive in Israel; China Calls for Negotiations While Pushing Russian Agenda; Organizations Around the World Provide Aid to Ukraine. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired March 07, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[00:00:20]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, coming to live from Lviv in Ukraine. And we are following breaking developments in Russia's assault on this country and the brutal reality for so many civilians on the ground.

Now, the video we're about to show you, it is hard to watch. It captures the moment a Russian military strike hit a town just outside the capital, Kyiv, as Ukrainians were attempting to flee the fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(EXPLOSION)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, the mayor of Irpin saying a family was killed in this strike. Eight people in all died during evacuations as the area was hit by intense shelling, once again.

Now, even as Russia ramps up its attacks, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, they do continue. A third round of talks aimed at ending hostilities set to take place in the coming hours.

Now, since the start of this invasion, Russia has fired 600 missiles, according to a senior U.S. defense official who says Moscow now has 95 percent of its amassed combat power inside Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says sanctions aren't enough to stop Russia, who he accuses of planning deliberate murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It seems it is not enough for the Russian troops. Not enough to ruin destinies, crippled lives. They want to kill more.

For tomorrow, Russia is officially announced in an attack on our territory and defense facilities. Most of them were built decades ago under a Soviet government. They were built in cities, and now they are in the urban setting, where thousands of people work and hundreds of thousands live nearby. This is murder, deliberate murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: U.S. officials say there are urgent discussions underway with allies, as Ukraine pleads for more help. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. is in talks with Poland next door about the possibility of sending fighter jets to Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are working with Poland, as we speak, to see if we can back fill anything that they provide to -- to the Ukrainians. We, remember, support them, providing MIGs, Sus (ph), planes that Ukrainians can fly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: CNN's Arlette Saenz now with more on Russia's military campaign, which is growing more aggressive and deadlier by the day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, Russia is closing in on many major cities in Ukraine as their bombardments from afar are creating a dire situation for Ukrainian citizens.

ZELENSKYY (through translator): It seems it is not enough for the Russian troops. Not enough ruined destinies, crippled lives. They want to kill more.

SAENZ: Russian forces, shelling areas to the West and Northwest of Kyiv over the weekend, including at a checkpoint for evacuating civilians in the suburb of Irpin, where the mayor says a family, two parents, and two children were killed.

Four other people died in other strikes across the district, the mayor said.

Just over 50 miles from Kyiv, in the town of Bila Tserkva, nearly 20 residential buildings rocked by Russian fire. It's not clear how many were killed or hurt.

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Russian planes continue to bomb Ukrainian cities, kill Ukrainian citizens, including women and children. It's a -- it's a disaster here.

SAENZ: In the village of Markhalivka, just South of the capital, Russian airstrikes killed a number of civilians, including a disabled 12-year-old girl, her father said.

IGOR MOSJAJEV, SURVIVED MARKHALIVKA ATTACKS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: They dug me up over there somewhere. Two of my grandchildren are alive, but my wife and daughter were killed.

SAENZ: In Southern Ukraine, civilians are desperately trying to flee the city of Mariupol, cut off from water, power, and now heat in freezing temperatures.

But a second attempt for safe evacuation corridors breaking down, the Red Cross tweeting its attempt to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 people has failed. Ukraine accusing Russia of using a humanitarian cease-fire as a trick to kill more civilians.

SERGEI ORLOV, DEPUTY MAYOR OF MARIUPOL, UKRAINE: Cease-fire took place only for 30 minutes. After that, the Russian troops, army start to continue shelling of Mariupol. We're facing war crimes, hour by hour, second by second.

[00:05:10]

SAENZ: And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now warning that Russia plans to bomb the key port city of Odessa.

With Zelenskyy's life increasingly under threat, Western officials tell CNN talks are underway about how to support a Ukrainian government in exile. But Zelenskyy has rejected any thought of leaving Kyiv, instead focusing on boosting the resistance against Russia.

BLINKEN: The Ukrainians have plans in place that I'm not going to talk about or get into any details on, to make sure that there is what we would call continuity of government, one way or another.

SAENZ: Ukraine is still pleading for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over the country, which the alliance has dismissed, fearing it could lead to an escalation.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Any movements in this direction will be regarded by us as participation in the military conflict.

SAENZ: But the U.S. and Poland are in talks about possibly providing Soviet-era fighter jets from the Eastern European country to neighboring Ukraine.

BLINKEN: We also want to see if we can be helpful, as I said, in making sure that whatever they provide the Ukrainians, something goes to them to make up for any gap in the security for Poland.

SAENZ: Russia and Ukraine are set to begin a third round of talks on Monday. But with the Russian war machine already being accused of violating a cease-fire, the prospects for a peaceful solution seem bleak.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: The French president, Emmanuel Macron, talked with Ukraine's president on Sunday about the nuclear power plant seized by Russian forces. Mr. Macron telling Volodymyr Zelenskyy he will continue to pay close attention to Ukraine's needs.

He also told Mr. Zelenskyy about his call, earlier in the day, with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Mr. Macron said he had grave concern about nuclear safety during that call. And he reiterated the necessity of avoiding further attacks on Ukraine's nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, says his country will continue to make every effort to assist in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. He's fresh off his trip, of course, from Moscow, where he met with the Russian president. He's also speaking to Ukraine's President Zelenskyy by phone. Mr. Bennett acknowledges the likelihood for diplomatic progress is slim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Given there's a chance, it's not great. As soon as there is even a small opening, and we have access to all sides in the capability, I see this as our moral obligation to make every effort. As long as the economy (ph) is burning, we must make an effort, and perhaps it will yet be possible to act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: In stark contrast to diplomatic efforts, the U.S. says nearly all of Russia's amassed forces that were outside Ukraine's borders are now inside the country. However, their advance has been much slower than expected. Oren Liebermann with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: They've now moved into Ukraine some 95 percent of the amassed combat power. So not only the vast majority, but nearly all of it, at this point, very little remains outside of Ukraine. That is in Belarus and Eastern Ukraine, and perhaps some in Crimea, as well.

But really, what we heard from the senior defense official is over the last couple of days, the movement has been, more or less, incremental. Yes, there is an increase in the number of missiles that have been fired. That includes both ballistic, and cruise. That's now up to more -- more than 600 missiles fired by the Russians.

There is fighting around a number of different cities. Kherson in particular, where the U.S. still believes there is fighting there, even though the Russians say they've taken control of the city. And the mayor there says he has ceded control to the Russian military.

The Russians are still trying to encircle a number of major population centers, including Kharkiv in the northeast of Ukraine, as well as Kyiv itself, the capital of Ukraine. But they have not succeeded in doing so, taking much longer than was originally anticipated. And of course, the convoy we've been watching that spans some 40 miles

of road, just north of Kyiv, that also hasn't really moved. There was no update on exactly how far away it is from Kyiv, but as of the last couple of days, it was about 25 kilometers. So 16 miles away from the city center of Kyiv. Notably, it has not moved in days now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Oren Liebermann there.

Joining me now to talk more about the latest developments is Douglas London. He is the author of "The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence." He's also a retired CIA operations officer and adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies.

It's good to see you again, Doug.

By all accounts, the -- are the Russians still having these major issues with resupply, disorganization, but they do have the numbers. And they are moving on Ukraine's cities. What would Ukrainians be doing, or should they be doing now, to prepare for, you know, encirclement, or sieges, or even entry?

DOUGLAS LONDON, RETIRED CIA OPERATIONS OFFICER: I think we already see reflections of the strategy here. It's at least two-fold, and probably more conflicts than that. They're striking in the rear. They're striking supply lines. They're striking static areas, where the Russians are stretched out a great deal.

They're also, no doubt, preparing for defenses. I would imagine they've had time to cash weapons and food and such. And the advantage really is to the defender.

Some of these encirclements are not quite as easy as they might seem. Kyiv itself is a huge city. I think it's bigger than New York City. So stretching out all the way around also thins out Russian forces and leaves them vulnerable to attacks behind their lines, denying them a rear area.

HOLMES: Yes. Potentially, you mentioned that, about how they've been nimble, moving quickly, striking and leaving. Done a fair bit of that, taking out tanks, taking out artillery positions.

Will they have worked out things like, you know, smuggling routes and their own resupply logistic safehouses to counter a Russian occupation, whatever form that might take?

LONDON: I think they would've had to have done that, well in advance. And some of these networks work, and some of them don't, so there has to be some redundancy. The Russians seem well aware of that.

Their strategy seems to be to try to consolidate in the South, so that they can move in the west, try to interdict these supply lines. But the Ukrainians have the advantage there it's their country. They've had plenty of time to set up networks, support networks and safehouses, opportunities to move weapons, people, materials in and also out of the country, over at least the last eight years, since the Russians invaded the first time.

HOLMES: And given the Russian military hasn't been able to do what it planned, in terms of speed or success, for that matter, what adjustments do you think Putin is making?

LONDON: We've already seen him, and much to the unfortunate dismay, of civilian casualties, he's resorting to what we've seen him do in Chechnya, what we've seen him do in Syria. Which is more typical Russian doctrine, to essentially level the cities and follow in with their armor and their troops.

But it's not going quite as well here. There's certainly problems with their coordination. Their air force has been limited. We've seen them having to fly lower to do ground support, which they're not good at. And it also makes them vulnerable, particularly to the Stinger, under 11,000 meters.

So it's -- it's not going as planned, and I think it's going to continue to struggle, but it's hard to say, because they could always keep putting in fresh troops and fresh supplies.

HOLMES: Yes. The -- what sort of U.S. intel do you think the Ukrainians are receiving? What sort of things do you think the U.S. is doing for them?

LONDON: Well, the United States in public has been careful to say they're not giving them real-time, actionable intelligence, because they don't want to be seen as a provocation on the part of the Russians.

I would have to think that there might be a different system on the intelligence side, assuming there's a finding, assuming the finding allows the lethal authorities that were actually aiding and abetting Ukrainians in killing Russians. Then they would be getting much more up-to-date information from all source intelligence, from our technical (ph) collection, as long as our unit and what we're seeing from imagery on the ground.

HOLMES: The longer this takes, I guess it inevitably is going to increase the potential for unrest at home. Would you think so?

LONDON: I think that's why Putin launched this invasion to begin with. I would think he felt in his world he had limited time to go ahead and secure his buffer area, and secure his client state from the outside, fearing a grassroots revolution.

And we've seen several mentions of -- trauma, I think, is a fair phrase for it, from the Arab Spring, when he saw Gaddafi, particularly, killed in a drainpipe, tortured, and beaten.

And I think he's been moving steadily, since that time, to align Russian policy, to sort of take himself back to the days of empire and greater control. But it might be too late, and certainly, his tactics are not working

as he would've imagined, simply based on the time table of results. There's no way I can imagine he thought this was going to go past a week, let alone we're day 11. He still hasn't secured any of the major cities, particularly those in the North, as well as Odessa in the South.

HOLMES: Yes, and the longer those logistic issues and resupply issues go on, the tougher it is to maintain force effectiveness in the field. Doug, let's get you back real soon. Douglas London, really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

LONDON: Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. We'll take a break. When we come back here on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll take you to the Polish-Ukrainian border as thousands of refugees continue to cross to safety and volunteers do their best to soothe the pain of war.

Also, still to come on the program, the country of Moldova sheltering hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees. We speak exclusively to the nation's prime minister about the crisis. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:18:48]

HOLMES: Welcome back. The U.N. says more than one and a half million people have now fled the fighting here in Ukraine, and some 500,000 of them are children who have been forced to witness the horror of war as Russia steps up its bombing campaign.

But one hotel in Poland is trying to ease their plight. The Ossa (ph) Hotel, Southwest of Warsaw, has been largely repurposed, housing hundreds of Ukrainian refugees. And many of those are children from the Ukrainian orphanages close to the fighting.

The hotel says they have taken in around 700 children from these orphanages, and they will be allowed to stay as long as they need the help.

Poland has, as we've said, taken in the most Ukrainian refugees since the invasion began.

CNN's Arwa Damon is at the Polish-Ukrainian border and takes a look at how volunteers are helping those fleeing the fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're starting to see is this sort of sad rhythm that starts to play out in reception centers like this one. The buses arrive. The people file off, exhausted, mostly women and children.

But then there is this pretty incredible effort by an army of volunteers to provide them with food, water, diapers, toys for the children, clothing to replace everything it is that they had to leave behind.

[00:20:10]

But you also need to remember that, just because someone has managed to reach safety, they are so far from being even remotely OK.

Those who have been able to flee, the vast majority of them are just utterly wracked and consumed with guilt and fear. Fear for those who are left behind. Guilt because they actually had to make that impossible decision to leave. And for the vast majority, it really has boiled down to saving their children.

But they have left their men behind. Their husbands, their sons, their fathers.

Conversations here start to take on a different, and perhaps to a certain degree, unique feel. Because you have to also keep in mind that Poland and Ukraine, the populations are all quite -- they're quite close. And so conversations here are no longer about how -- hi, you know, how are you today?

It's, Hi, oh, my friend called me; he's decided to go to Ukraine to fight. Or, Hi, my relative inside Ukraine, we haven't been able to get a hold of them.

And so the way that the war is percolating over the borders, permeating over the borders, that is having a separate impact on the Polish population here, who's also now trying to figure out how to absorb these hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who are coming across the border.

But it's also worth noting that when it specifically comes to this conflict in Ukraine, the reception that we're seeing for refugees from all of Ukraine's neighboring countries, that is quite different than previous receptions that, you know, we've seen for refugees from other parts of the world in the past. And, I have to say, it's quite heartening to see that, at least in this conflict, refugees are, in fact, welcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Arwa Damon there.

Now, the U.N. says this is the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

One of the countries bearing the brunt of it is neighboring Moldova, which has taken in more than 230,000 Ukrainian refugees. That's nearly 10 percent of the country's entire population.

Moldova now scrambling to find shelter for all of these people. In an exclusive interview, Moldova's prime minister spoke with CNN about how she's managing the crisis and shared her thoughts on Russia's unprovoked attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NATALIA GAVRILITA, PRIME MINISTER OF MOLDOVA: We strongly condemn this military attack on Ukraine. And we have called for peace ever since the beginning of the war. We are seeing an extraordinary humanitarian crisis.

So, already, 230,000 people have crossed the Moldovan border from Ukraine. So every eighth child in Moldova is now a refugee. So about three-fourths of the refugees are actually staying with families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Moldova has opened a huge stadium to house some of those refugees. Our Ivan Watson is there on the scene and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Governments are still trying to wrap their heads around the size of the refugee exodus now coming out of Ukraine. And this is just one example to help illustrate it.

It is a stadium in the capital of Moldova, where you have hundreds of people staying. The numbers can swell to more than 800. And each day, hundreds of people then leave to move into Europe, and then there are hundreds of additional arrivals to come here.

The people who I have spoken to describe fleeing explosions, fleeing attacks on their cities and homes. And all of them are wrestling with this terrible question: How do I rebuild? How do I start a new life when my country has been invaded by the Russian military, and nobody has any idea when this war will come to an end?

The Moldova authorities are also overwhelmed. They say there have been more than 230,000 refugees who have come through their borders in just nine days. They're expecting many, many more. That is just a fraction of the 1.5 million people displaced by this conflict.

Every person you talk to here has a story of loss and fear and no answer for their children of what the next day may bring.

[00:25:10]

Ivan Watson, CNN, Chisinau.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Still to come on the program, torn between two ideologies. China remains an ally of Russia for now, but how long can it support a country violating the values it holds most important?

Also, shaken Israeli citizens fleeing Ukraine arrive at the Tel Aviv Airport. We'll have details on that, as well, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news. HOLMES: Hello. I want to bring you up to date now on the latest developments in Ukraine at the moment.

And more and more civilians being killed, as Russia escalates its attacks here. People trying to flee the invasion struck at an evacuation crossing point. This is in a suburb of Kyiv. The mayor of Irpin says at least eight civilians were killed across the district.

Hopes for safe routes out of Mariupol were dashed for a second day on Sunday. The governor of the region said heavy Russian shelling made evacuation too dangerous to attempt.

A U.S. defense official says Russia has launched about 600 missiles so far in this conflict.

[00:30:02]

NATO and the U.S. continue to resist President Zelenskyy's calls for a no-fly zone, but the U.S. working with Poland on possibly providing MIG fighter jets to Ukraine.

And Russia cracking down on antiwar protesters again. An independent monitoring group says more than 4,600 protesters have been detained so far.

Now, Poland's border guard says that the country has taken in at least 1 million of Ukraine's refugees since the war began. And with Russian forces now in control of the Ukrainian nuclear power facility, people in that area, have packed into a train station to evacuate.

CNN's Sam Kiley reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A collective breath is held as a long-awaited evacuation train slows to a halt. The odds of getting out determined by access to a carriage door.

Police struggle to contain the crowd. All are desperate to flee west. The mass evacuation from Zaporizhzhia is part driven by the recent capture of a nuclear power station by Russian invaders.

Here, they're being begged by the control room over a public address system to stop their attack on Zhikh (ph) reactor plant, the biggest in Europe. They say, "You are endangering the security of the entire world. Attention, stop shooting at a nuclear hazardous facility. Attention: stop it."

There is now a disregard as much for nuclear safety as civilian lives in cities across the country, being bombarded by Russia.

(on camera): Scenes like this have not been seen in Europe since the Second World War, in the 20th Century. The mass evacuation of civilians, from a major city. It's been accelerated here, because the people now believe, based on the evidence that they've seen elsewhere in Ukraine, that it is civilians who are now going to be targeted in Vladimir Putin's invasion.

SERGIY SAMKO, ZAPORIZHZHIA RESIDENT (through translator): When Russian troops came closer to Zaporizhzhia, I decided it was better to get my family out before they entered the city itself.

LATONA SAMKO, ZAPORIZHZHIA RESIDENT (through translator): We hope that we can make it on the train today, because this morning, people didn't let us in, even though we have a baby.

KILEY: This is a war that separates lovers and parts husbands from their wives, fathers from their families. Ukrainian men here between 18 and 60 cannot leave. They're needed for the fight.

(on camera): You're staying here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

KILEY: So this is goodbye? Temporarily?

Well, I hope within a week or two, you can be back together again.

(voice-over): More than a million Ukrainians have fled their homeland so far. But more, still, are enduring these freezing conditions in the hope of a train to safety.

But Mykola Tymchimshin, who's 80, is staying on. He's a former paratrooper in the Soviet army.

MYKOLA TYMCHIHSHIN, ZAPORIZHZHIA RESIDENT (through translator): I made Molotov cocktails. I have great rifles. I'm a hunter, with 40 years of experience. I have a medal, left from the USSR. I'm staying. I hate them. All the invaders, because of this. Not to mention the fact that my grandson was bombed for a week in Kharkiv.

KILEY: Those people who make it on board now face a 600-mile journey to Lviv. For those who don't, time, and luck, may be running out.

Sam Kiley, CNN, Zaporizhzhia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, the Israeli government says it will help treat victims of Russia's invasion. The country's foreign ministry says it will set up a field hospital in Ukraine in the coming days.

Officials say more than 10,000 Israeli citizens have now left Ukraine. And Israel is taking in Jewish refugees.

CNN's Hadas Gold spoke to some recent arrivals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The children, peer out of the airplane's windows, entranced by the commotion down below. A red-carpet arrival for these Ukrainians, now refugees escaping war, for a new life in Israel.

This is one of three planes of Ukrainians that arrived on Sunday to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, including one with some 90 orphans, welcomed personally by the country's prime minister, Naftali Bennett.

[00:35:08]

Like many mothers on this flight, Lena, originally from Odessa, came without her husband because of Ukraine's compulsory conscription for all men of fighting age.

LENA: That's awful.

GOLD (on camera): He'll be able to join you here?

LENA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: Yes, I really do hope that he can come to us. But he is helping right now, and I hope it will stop soon and we can be together.

GOLD (voice-over): She and her two sons spent more than ten days making their way to Poland for capturing the flight out.

LENA: I was planning about to come here, but when the war start, it was immediately decided.

GOLD: Toabia is from Kyiv. She thinks many more Jews will soon decide, like her, to make their way to Israel.

(on camera): How does it feel to come here, having been through what you've been through for so many days?

TOABIA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: I think I'm still shaken, because I have seen war in front of our house. The Russian plane was hit, so it was really dangerous. And so we had, like, a real panic.

GOLD (voice-over): Under Israel's law of return, anyone with, at minimum, a Jewish grandparent, or who has converted to Judaism, is eligible for Israeli citizenship, along with their families.

(on camera): Israeli officials say they are preparing for a potential huge wave of Ukrainian immigrants, with tens of thousands of Jews in Ukraine potentially eligible for citizenship under the law of return.

(voice-over): With refugees fleeing so quickly, Israeli authorities set up special processing centers along Ukraine's border to help expedite what would normally be a lengthy process.

SAM GRUNDWERG, UNITED ISRAEL APPEAL: Literally tens of thousands. Every day, we've set up with our partner various hotlines, and there are also certain border points, five or six border points neighboring with Ukraine. And every day, we are getting in the thousands of requests. And we're trying to take care of all of them. GOLD: After pushback from the Ukrainians, Israel is now also

considering allowing Ukrainian refugees not eligible under the law of return to enter the country with a special work visa.

Israel's Interior Ministry says they're on track to receive 15,000 Ukrainians by the end of the month.

For these exhausted families, torn apart by war, traveling for days, the most important thing is that they made it out.

KEREN HAYESOD, UNITED ISRAEL APPEAL: A lot of emotions. I'm tired. I'm excited, and I -- I feel that I am in a safety place. And I feel a lot of support.

GOLD: Hadas Gold, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, the Ukrainian city of Lviv, where we are, is safe from Russian attack so far. That could, of course, change. When we come back, a look at the lives thrown into turmoil by this conflict and the efforts to keep people safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:41:32]

HOLMES: Now, the E.U. estimates more than 7 million Ukrainians could be internally displaced by Russia's invasion. With the number of refugees fleeing the country potentially higher.

Many have come here to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, which hasn't seen the intense fighting of other regions. But nothing lasts forever. And the people here are preparing for the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): In a government-run children's shelter in Lviv in Western Ukraine, kids being kids. No parents looking after them, though. They're foster children from troubled homes, among several hundred evacuated here from places where Russian shells were falling. They say, for now, there're already scarred by this war.

SVITLANA HARVYLIUK, FOSTER CARE DIRECTOR (through translator): We can tell those kids were very worried when they arrived. When they heard the first siren here during the day, some had a panic attack. They were looking at me with their scared eyes, shaking from anxiety.

HOLMES: Several humanitarian organizations are helping shelters like this take care of the children and the many more who will come in the days and weeks ahead. The Russian military, not in this part of the country, yet.

HARVYLIUK (through translator): We are ready. We only hope that this situation doesn't get worse here. Because then, we will have to move somewhere with all those kids, too. And it is scary. They're just kids.

HOLMES (on camera): Now, compared to other parts of the country, the city of Lviv has remained free of the shelling and the missiles. But they're preparing for what could be to come.

There's more security. There's more patrols and checkpoints. Even some of this beautiful historic city's statues are being wrapped to protect them from war.

(voice-over): John's Shmorhun is a Ukrainian-American living here, working with an NGO, the Ukrainian Education Platform, providing humanitarian assistance for people headed to the borders but also bring those who've left their homes but don't want to live their country, the internally displaced.

JOHN SHMORHUN, VOLUNTEER, UKRAINIAN EDUCATION PLATFORM: I think the city is preparing for the worst and are ready. I mean, we see thousands of people coming into Lviv today, of families that are looking for a place to stay.

And I think one of the objectives for the families, for the children, is to provide the necessary accommodations so they don't have to become refugees and go abroad.

HOLMES: Lviv, a city so far spared the physical impact of war, but ready for when that war might arrive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes in Lviv in Western Ukraine. Paula Newton will have more news after the break. I'll see you a little later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: More companies, severing ties with Russia over its invasion in Ukraine. Streaming giant Netflix is joining entertainment companies pausing operations in Russia. It will stop selling and providing its video service there. Netflix hasn't said what will happen to existing subscriber accounts or when it will re- evaluate the matter.

But two global giants aren't abandoning Russia. Soda maker Coca-Cola also, along with fast food giant McDonald's, are continuing to operate there. And that has Ukraine's foreign minister angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KULEBA: We were upset to hear that companies like Coca-Cola and McDonald's remain in Russia and keep on providing -- providing their products. It's -- it's simply against the basic principles of morale and to continue working in Russia and making light of it. This money is soaked with Ukrainian blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now China's foreign minister is calling for diplomacy and dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. But still, Beijing has not denounced Moscow's invasion.

From the beginning, China has, of course, walked a fine line, saying it doesn't want to see all the violence in Ukraine, while at the same time calling out the, quote, "negative impact" of NATO's expansion towards Russia.

CNN's Steven Jiang joins me from Beijing with more. You know, you can't overstate this. All eyes really are on China right now. To see if, in fact, China will prove a financial lifeline for Russia. We may be a ways away from figuring that out, but still, we do expect to hear from the foreign minister today. Do we expect more of the same?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula, that is, indeed, a million-dollar, even billion-dollar question. Now, we have seen some signals in the past few days. It seems to be -- to give us some indications of how they're going to respond to the western sanctions, when it comes to entities, Chinese entities with large western exposures.

It seems to be many of them have signaled they will. At least, they will be willing to -- to consider compliance with these sanctions. But when it comes to other entities, there might be work-arounds being created, as well.

So, in terms of the specifics, I think, as you mentioned, we'll have to wait and see.

But, you know, even though the Chinese government has still very much publicly insisting they're impartial in this conflict, it's increasingly clear to many analysts which side they are on.

You mentioned that phone call between Wang Yi and Tony Blinken last Saturday. During that phone call, as you mentioned, he again said China respects all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity. That obviously is a long-standing policy that now sounds very hollow, given their new best friend, Russia, is launching this brutal, full- scale war on its neighbor.

Then, as you mentioned, Wang Yi also suggested NATO'S eastward expansion is the root cause for this conflict. Again, that is a Russian talking point they have been parroting, as well.

Probably more tellingly is how they have been presenting this war to their domestic audience. Very much a one-sided picture, both through whether state media added reporting but also through their very much heavy censorship of social media platforms.

Last Friday, for example, the state television network, CCTV, actually censored parts of the speech by the head of the International Paralympics Committee at the opening ceremony of the games, when he denounced the war and called for peace.

And then, if you browse through their coverage, it's very much citing Russian sources to highlight Russian success, militarily, but also justification for going in. Not to mention, minimize civilian casualties from the Russian invasion. So Paula, this may not be surprising for a lot of people who've been

paying attention, because part of the -- the so-called no-limits partnership you mentioned is coordination on both governments' messaging. That's something they have been touted for years -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, Steven, a lot there happening in China, as we continue to follow developments in this conflict. Steven Jiang for us in Beijing. Thanks so much.

Now, we have some news just in to CNN. Russia's Defense Ministry says its forces will open humanitarian corridors from four Ukrainian cities starting in about an hour from now.

Now, those cities are Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Mariupol. Now, I will remind you, this will be the third attempt. This is an expansion in terms of trying to open those humanitarian corridors to these four cities. But this would be the third time for trying.

And when civilians have tried to leave, they have still been met with, in fact, violence, murders, and artillery rounds in their direction. And in fact, Mariupol saying when they tried this last time, the buses that were supposed to evacuate those civilians were actually in the line of fire.

Now stay with us. We'll continue to have much more on those humanitarian corridors in just the next few moments.

Now, meantime, around the world, many organizations are going that extra mile to try and help refugees from Ukraine. CNN's Randi Kaye talks to one U.S. operation providing aid in Poland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL CAPPONI, FOUNDER, GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION: If you look behind me right now, you can see all the people just coming in. It just doesn't stop flowing. It's night time here. It will keep like this all night long.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Ukraine's border with Poland, Michael Capponi is watching a steady flow of refugees. The founder of the Miami-based Global Empowerment Mission, or GEM, has been in Medika (ph), Poland, for more than a week now, providing aid to refugees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Cecilia (ph) and Saeed (ph). They are here with us. And they basically walked over. It took them three days to get here.

KAYE: The global empowerment team says they are the first friendly faces these Ukrainian refugees see once they cross over. On-site, GEM provides warm tea, snacks, medical supplies, and other essentials.

CAPPONI: Lots of hygiene kits. Probably 20,000 sleeping bags. We filled up a truck yesterday with undergarments for people, because it's freezing. All kinds of warm things. KAYE (on camera): Helping the refugees takes a massive effort. And it

all starts here at this warehouse in Doral, Florida. Hundreds of volunteers working around the clock, packing up supplies bound for Ukraine in the region, sending everything from socks, to hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, food, electrolyte powder, you name it, anything that helps.

(voice-over): GEM has committed to $15 million in aid. A big part of their mission is also keeping refugees safe and, if possible, reunite them with family members outside Ukraine.

[00:55:04]

CAPPONI: So this is Nadia (ph), right? She's basically in our car. We're basically getting her out of here. She just walked all this way from Kyiv. And this is her cat that she had with her.

KAYE (on camera): Oh, you're beautiful.

(voice-over): Michael says Nadia (ph) walked for four days, carrying her cat. His team got her a hotel and were hoping to reunite her with family elsewhere.

(on camera): Are they pleading for help? Or what is the message from these people that you're seeing there?

CAPPONI: They are in absolute shock. I don't think they knew what to expect when they get to the border. And it's -- you know, people are in absolute tears, as soon as they open up to you. Everyone is crying.

KAYE (voice-over): GEM is in partnership with Bethenny Frankel's Bstrong, but GEM also has help with people on the inside. The organization says Ukrainian church pastors are helping GEM identify people who need passports, and travel agency partners are helping to quickly process airplane and train tickets.

CAPPONI: I've seen mothers literally pushing two strollers with a suitcase on her back and with absolutely no plan.

KAYE: Mothers like this woman, Christina (ph), who Global Empowerment helped first to get a hotel.

CHRISTINA (ph), UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: My daughter is asking 100 times a day, when we will we need to go back home. We can't do this, because there is a war.

KAYE: Then, safely evacuate to her husband's relatives in Spain.

CHRISTINA (ph): Now, my daughter is as safe as me in home of my family.

KAYE: Michael says they are processing about 1,000 families per day but are in a race against time as the conflict worsens and more Ukrainians march across the border, desperate for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We walked eight hours from one of the cities in Ukraine to the border. There's no bus. There's no cars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And our thanks to Randi Kaye for that report. Now stay with us. We will continue with our breaking news coverage, live from Ukraine, right after the break.

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