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Russia Thinks They Can Fool Ukrainians; Russian Forces Don't Spare Civilians and Their Homes; Refugees Scattered in Europe; Moldova Receiving More Refugees; Russians Lie in Front of the World. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired March 08, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine.

And the ceasefire proposed by Russia was meant to take effect an hour ago in five hard hit Ukrainian cities including the capital. But we do not know if it is being honored or how long it might last. The ceasefire is meant to give civilians an opportunity to evacuate by humanitarian corridor.

But under the Kremlin's plan, most of those corridors would lead through Russia and its ally Belarus where of course many refugees do not want to go. The Ukrainian president reportedly calling Russia's proposal immoral and it was loudly condemned by the United Nations.

Now on Monday, Russia ramping up its bombardment of key Ukrainian cities. This is just a sliver of the damage in Kharkiv and in Mykolaiv where residential neighborhoods are not being spared. U.N. human rights officials say more than 400 civilians are confirmed dead since the attacks began with about 800 others wounded. Now those numbers are likely under estimates.

In northern Ukraine, this blue walled church caught fire after alleged Russian military strike there. One of the priests from St. George's says a shell hit the dome. Russian troops shot at houses. And the fence was riddled with machine gunfire. He says thank God no one was there.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's president has been seen in his office for the first time since the Russian invasion began and he had a defiant message once more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): We are all on the ground. We are all working. Everyone is where they should be. I am in Kyiv. My team is with me. The territorial defenses on the ground, the servicemen are in position. Our heroes. Doctors, rescuers, transporters, diplomats, journalists. Everyone. We are all at war. We all contribute to our victory which will definitely be achieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The Ukrainian military digging in this artillery unit firing at Russian forces north of Kyiv. The Pentagon says that giant Russian convoy meanwhile outside the capital is still stalled in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): We know we are defending our country. And the enemy should know that we are always on guard.

UNKNOWN (through translator): There's a feeling of strength that the enemy clearly cannot resist. We're defending our children. So, the troop clearly is on our side. God is on our side. Ukraine will last forever. Victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The Pentagon says nearly all of the combat power that the Russian president amassed for his invasion outside Ukraine is now inside the country. We're told all these images posted online appear to show the Russians in Irpin, that's suburb west of Kyiv has been hammered in recent days. And police say another 2,000 people were evacuated from there on Monday.

Now we've gotten word moments ago an air strike has killed several civilians near the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine. Russia's indiscriminate shelling has trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians in what is left of their cities and towns. Many now without food, water or electricity. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians but scenes across Ukraine challenge that claim on a daily basis.

Matthew Chance reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Clearing up the broken debris of a shattered home. This is devastation caused by a Russian attack on a residential neighborhood in a small Ukrainian town. Bila Tserkva 50 miles south of the Ukrainian capital is nowhere near the front lines but it has felt the rage and the pain of this war.

All right. Well, we've coincided one of the houses that was affected by what was apparently random artillery or rocket fire into this residential neighborhood. And you can see just how -- just how shattered the lives of the family here that were. Look.

I mean, the windows have all been blown out obviously. All their belongings have been left behind as if they're going to hiding. There's a picture up there of what seems to be from the people who lived in here. It was a family, there were some children. Apparently, they've survived this, which is good.

[03:04:59] But of course, when you look at the situation and the way that Russians have been shelling residential areas across the country, so many people haven't survived. This is interesting. Come have a look. It's the -- it's the children's bedroom.

You can see over here, look, the bump beds. The roof has fallen down onto the top of them when that shell hit. And of course, in the -- in the panic and in the evacuation the kids have left all their toys up here, you know. And it just shows you that no matter where you are in this country with Russia attacking towns and cities across it, lives have been shattered.

Statoslav (Ph) is a close friend of the family who were nearly killed in their beds here. Godfather to the three children who escaped with their lives. Now he has one request he tells me for the United States.

"Please, close the skies over Ukraine," he begs. If we can just contact NATO and ask them this, everything will be fine. Otherwise, he warns, Putin will cross Ukraine and threaten the whole of Europe.

In a bunker under the town, it's terrified children singing Ukraine's national anthem that keeps them calm. And as Russia invades, a whole generation of Ukrainians is being united by this war together as they shelter from the horrors above.

Matthew Chance, CNN, in Bila Tserkva.

HOLMES: The United Nations now says more than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine for other countries since Russia invaded. But the crisis is expected to get so much worse. The European Union's foreign policy chief is warning the E.U. needs to prepare for five million refugees from Ukraine as the Russian -- Russian bombardment intensifies.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing to another former Soviet Republic. The U.N. says more than 82,000 refugees are in Moldova but many more have passed on their way to other countries in Europe.

CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II spilling across the border of the former Soviet Union. More than 1.7 million Ukrainians leaving everything behind have now relying on the kindness of strangers. People like this grandmother who says a Russian strike destroyed her family's home in Mykolaiv on Friday.

"I never thought the day would come when we would have to run away with these little kids," she says, holding her four-month-old granddaughter. Nearly everyone here left their husbands, fathers and sons behind to defend their home. Mothers with young children now on their own in a foreign country.

Imagine if you had to pack up your children, your pets, your belongings into a single suitcase and flee your home and your country on a moment's notice. That is what has happened to all of these people.

Moldova a small relatively poor former Soviet republic opened its doors to the refugees, providing free transport, hot meals and shelter to tens of thousands of Ukrainians says the country's prime minister.

NATALIA GAVRILITA, MOLDOVAN PRIME MINISTER: So, about three-fourths of the refugees are actually staying with families. A lot of the Ukrainians have friends or relatives in Moldova, but also regular people have just taken in Ukrainian families into -- and invited them into their homes.

WATSON: Complete strangers.

GAVRILITA: Yes, absolutely.

WATSON: This woman is traveling alone. She says she came from Kyiv. And it took nine days to get here. She has family waiting in Moldova.

The woman is headed to meet relatives here in an arena in the Moldovan capital.

This is one of the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of Ukrainians who have taken shelter in a stadium in Moldova. This a temporary stop, a place to pause and process their new reality.

These women tell me they still can't believe the Russian military would shell and bomb their home city or Kharkiv. A city where almost everyone speaks Russian. After all, Putin claims he is protecting Russian speakers from Ukrainian nationalists.

[03:09:57]

"They say, look, look at where the Russian speaking people are. They are all sleeping here."

This observation echoed at the border by 65-year-old grandmother Tatyana Patrishinav (Ph).

"We watched the Russian TV channel and they have it all backwards," she says. "They say the Russians are heroes defending us. Look here how they're liberating us. Is this a liberation?" She asks. "If I'm running away with a little baby like this."

She joins the crowd lining up into waiting vans. One of tens of millions of Ukrainians now facing a very uncertain future.

Ivan Watson, CNN on the Moldovan border with Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Joe Lowry is the spokesperson for the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration. He joins me now from Moldova. Thanks for doing so.

You know, I was reading on the IOM web site a couple of days ago where you wrote, one day they were calmly going about their business, the next, their worlds were turned upside down. And that really does sum up what's happened to millions of Ukrainians. How bad is the humanitarian situation?

JOE LOWRY, SPOKESPERSON, UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: Well, let me just tell you some new figures I've got directly from our data teams who are working with the border police. There are now 273,500 people have crossed into Moldova. And about half of them are staying in the country. The rest are going across to Moldova. That's accurate information form six o'clock this morning our time.

And what we're seeing is just a painful, pitiful picture of families, broken families from across the border. You know that men having to go back that going as far as the borders with their families and then walking back into a very uncertain future. And sending their families to an uncertain future in Moldova and further afield.

Today is International Women's Day. And there are women looking after their families across this country and across all the countries that Ukrainians have got into. And they're in need of great help.

One thing of course they need material aid. And we've heard about the shelter needs, food, water, warm clothes, blankets and so on are needed. The people urgently need protection as well. Families are being ripped apart. They don't know when they are going to see their partners again. So, it's a very, very sad situation. And what we're also doing is capturing -- go ahead.

HOLMES: Yes, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. There's a little bit of a delay so I do apologize. But talk about that. I mean, I think it's hard for most people to grasp the level of upheaval as they sit at home and they are watching this and leaving your home, your city, your life with whatever you can carry. And then leaving your country.

Try to describe what these people are going through on an individual basis.

LOWRY: Well, it's absolute turmoil living there is expected. And I've been going there out of Ukraine for the last 20 years or more, and it's just, you know, it has always been, especially Kyiv a cosmopolitan European city. And to think that people have to flee there under fire is just something that's unconscionable, unthinkable for people.

I was actually married in Kyiv. So, it's -- you know, and our friends are still there. So, it is, their families really have been torn apart. And the other thing that's needed apart from material aid and cash to respond to this is solidarity and kindness. And we work -- we work under the principles of humanity, independence and impartiality and neutrality.

And I think the entire population of Europe and the world has to embrace those principles and really show solidarity and kindness to people because they are people who are just exactly like us who as you open your, the speech with the war going, about there going their business. And suddenly, their world is just anymore there. Their parts (Inaudible) untouchable, their futures in some other country.

No matter how long or short this continues people are going to need to work, children are going to need to be educated and people are going to need healthcare. And it's on countries like Moldova, a small poor country are just two and a half million people is going to place a huge burden.

I also want to mention as well I have the opportunity that border management is an enormous issue here. We are working with the -- because thousands and thousands of people are pouring across the borders every day. Normally this border post might see couple hundred people going across during the day. But now you're talking about 20,000 in one day.

So, we're working to help the government to open new border posts and giving resourcing mobile document readers so that people can be counted into the country and counted and that the authorities know where people are and know what their needs are.

HOLMES: Yes. And you make a great point about Moldova. I mean, the 270,000 who passed in, that's like 5 percent of the population of Moldova. It's a small country. The resource burden is huge.

[03:15:01]

The reality is the depending on what happens in the weeks and the months ahead. This could be a years' long program -- problem for Ukraine and indeed, for Europe. Some people might not be going home for a long time.

LOWRY: That's absolutely true. We don't know that for certain. And we hope for a positive outcome. But even if people can go home soon, what are they going to be going home to? And you know, people have left in huge numbers and they will, as I said, need all the things for daily life that you and I need to survive.

I mean, there's wonderful things happening all across Europe. Where I live in Vienna, the city is giving free transport to the Ukrainians. People are Airbnb are opening up all the Airbnb's for Ukrainian refugees and also, we're very concerned as well that we'll be called third country nationals, people who aren't Ukrainians passing through into Moldova.

Already about one in 10 of the people crossing the border, about 25,000 are third country nationals. And we know that they're coming from 140, I think different nationalities to be (Inaudible) leaving Ukraine. And for people who have maybe students or workers or citizens, rather Soviet -- ex-Soviet states, they're leaving the country and they have a very uncertain future. They don't know whether they may find family structures that Ukrainians have, so they will be especially vulnerable.

HOLMES: It is a massive problem. It's likely to get even bigger. We hope that the generosity and the patience of neighboring countries and all of Europe in fact endures. Joe Lowry, we're out of time. I really appreciate it. It's great to

get the perspective from there in Moldova. Thank you so much for the work you're doing.

LOWRY: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, so far more than 40,000 of our viewers here at CNN have helped raise more than $3.2 million to help Ukraine in need of shelter, food, and water. If you would like to donate and join them, please go to cnn.com/impact.

Still to come here on the program, a war of words between Russia and Ukraine at the U.N. The Russians somehow claiming they are not bombing civilians while Ukraine's ambassador says Russian diplomats need mental help. That's coming up.

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. Heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces broke out in a broad area from the north to the west of Kyiv on Monday. Russian forces appearing to have attacked several areas to try to push further towards the Ukrainian capital.

CNN's Clarissa Ward went to a Kyiv train station as Ukrainian families hurried to escape the assault.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the Kyiv central train station today, crush of people trying to escape as Russian forces hit closer to the capital. Many here have just been evacuated from the hardest hit areas. Few know where they are going next.

Ala (Ph) and her family made it out of the Kyiv suburb of Bucha early this morning leaving behind her 81-year-old grandfather.

"He didn't want to come with us. He decided to stay," she says. "He's old and can't run very fast and we had to leave so quickly. I don't know what's happening there now. It's so scary."

This is what remains of the place she calls home. Burnt out husks of Russian armored vehicles, entire apartment blocks destroyed.

"I don't understand how you can shell peaceful people. We never wished harm on anyone. We were friends with Russia. We have relatives in Russia," she says. "They just want to erase Ukraine from the face of the earth."

It's that fear that is feeling a sense of desperation here.

So, the minute they announce the next train going west, you can see everybody just scrambles to try to get on it. Down below the platform is packed but people remain calm. They rush in

to help an exhausted elderly woman who has fallen on the track. Close to departure time, confusion sets in. Another train arrives and people run across the track hoping to catch it.

Finally, the train to Lviv arrives. It was pushing and shoving as people jostle for space. "Let the women and children go first," one man shouts. Another weeps as he hugs his wife goodbye. "Sonya, (Ph) I love you." He calls out. He waits for the train to leave. Eyes locked on the window for what may be his last look.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Heartbreaking, isn't it. CNN's Clarissa Ward reporting there earlier from Kyiv. Now as the humanitarian crisis deepens in Ukraine, Russia facing strong criticism at a U.N. Security Council meeting over attacks that have killed civilians fleeing the war. Russia's U.N. ambassador firing back claiming radical groups are to blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VASILY NEBENZYA, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. (through translator): We once again we still emphasize that safety for civilians in Ukraine is not a problem for Russians because we're not bombarding them, but rather Ukrainian radicals and neo-Nazis that were holding hostage hold towns and cities and they are making use of citizens as a human shield, not allowing them to leave cities despite the fact that there are humanitarian corridors and that Russian units have declared a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:25:01]

HOLMES: Well, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.N. says it is Russia that has blocked attempts to evacuate civilians through humanitarian corridors and said it was appalling that Russian troops have opened fire on evacuees. He offered this advice to Russian diplomats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYSLYTSYA: I think that it's not only the Russian diplomats in New York who need mental assistance, but also those who posted today this text. Foreign Minister Lavrov, the goal of Russia is special military operation is to stop any war that could take place on Ukrainian territory or that could start from there.

Russian embassy in London, retweet retweeted by the Russian foreign ministry. Let me remind the Russian diplomats that in London in case of need for mental help you can dial NHS line 111.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now CNN's Nina dos Santos joins me now from London to talk more about these humanitarian con -- corridors. The ceasefire is meant to be up. What do we know? Is it holding? NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the Interfax

news agency which by the way is a Russian state-owned media organization, they appear to be claiming that the cease fire is holding. But you've got to remember, Michael, that these four humanitarian corridors that have been proposed are very much on Russia's terms. They cause the people who are in those cities to make a really, really difficult choice, an immoral choice was put on the table as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine put it yesterday.

Essentially what the Russians have offered here is four-way out but to Russia or to Belarus. So people escaping Kyiv could head north towards Belarus. Or people escaping other cities like Sumy, Kharkiv, and also Mariupol which is really been badly besieged in south could head east. But again, that would be taking them towards Russia.

Now the west is deeply skeptical about these routes, not at least because the last three days ceasefire attempts to set up humanitarian corridors have failed with civilians having been killed in indiscriminate shelling. Again, there's been question marks over whether or not that shelling was deliberately targeted at those civilians as they ran for safety.

And Russia as you just heard there was very much pressed on this issue at the U.N. Security Council and claimed some might say fancifully that these attacks on civilians as they were trying to flee some of these stricken parts of Ukraine were by bandits essentially. Various armed groups.

Now, obviously, the situation at the moment is that people have to make a very, very difficult choice. The west doesn't necessarily want -- doesn't want these people to have to make this type of choice. They would rather see people have the chance to go west towards Lviv where obviously it's safer.

And they are also acutely aware of the possibility of pictures of these refugees heading east towards Russia being greeted with open arms and that again being part of the propaganda machine that Russia might use to try and explain what's going on in Ukraine to its people. Michael?

HOLMES: Yes. That President Zelenskyy had exactly that thought, too. That forcing people to go into Russia where Russian TV cameras will be and being portrayed as beneficiaries of Russian (Inaudible) is catching in his crow, that's for sure, especially when they are fleeing Russian shelling.

Nina dos Santos in London, I really appreciate the update. Good to see you. Thanks.

And we will take a quick break here on the program. When we come back, Ukraine could be one step closer to joining the European Union. Why becoming a member of the block matters even as the Russian forces continue their assault on Ukraine's cities?

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And more on our top story this hour. We have just learned that Ukraine and Russia have agreed on a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the northeastern city of Sumy. Which has seen heavy fighting in recent days. No word yet on four other corridors proposed by Russia. Which would include the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

Meanwhile, we have learned that at least nine people were killed by Russian bombing over night in Sumy. That's according to Ukrainian officials. And Ukraine's president remaining defiant appearing in his office on Monday for the first time since Russia invaded. He says he's not leaving and he is not afraid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Here I am. I'm staying here on (inaudible). I'm not hiding. And I'm not afraid of anyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The U.N. reporting more than 1.7 million refugees have fled Ukraine in less than two weeks. And the E.U. warning the number could eventually reach 5 million. A staggering number. European Union officials agreeing Monday meanwhile to examine bids by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to join the block. That's according to the French E.U. presidency.

The European council president sharing a similar message on Twitter. Saying the group will discuss Ukraine's application in the coming days. It is a significant step toward E.U. membership for the country. But it may be largely symbolic since the process of joining the E.U. can take years.

[03:35:06]

For more I'm joined by CNN's Natasha Bertrand, who is there in Brussels for us. OK, what does it actually mean for Ukraine, Natasha?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT POLITICO (on camera): Well it's going to take a very long time. As you said, E.U. leaders are going to be discussing this over the coming days when they meet near Paris on Thursday. And they could choose to take up Ukraine's candidacy application or they can punt the issue to the European commission for them to do a fuller review which could take anywhere between a year and a half to two years.

So this is a very slow moving process. It is obviously something that Ukraine has been pushing for over the last several weeks and months, especially since the beginning of the invasion. You'll recall President Zelenskyy gave that very emotional and passion speech to the European Parliament last week, imploring them to fast track Ukraine's candidacy to join the European Union.

But this is not something that is going to happen overnight. And we were speaking to members of European parliament last week, many of whom were very skeptical, but this is the kind of process that the European Parliament should be focusing on right now. Rather than focusing more on the actual instantaneous needs of the Ukrainians right now as they try to fend off the Russians.

Focusing on humanitarian support, for example, and of course, further weaponry being provided to Ukraine. But Ukrainians say look, we can do both at the same time. We can be fast tracking our candidacy into the European Union and giving our people this kind of morale boost. Showing them that if we get out of this, if we get to the end of this conflict. Then, we will have proven ourselves as members of Europe and we feel European.

The European Union is saying that they also consider Ukraine to be part of the block. They consider them to be European and they do support those aspirations. However it is a very long process that could take up to a decade. Previous member state or nations who have tried to become member states have been waiting for well over a decade now.

So this is very delicate process. It's a very delicate situation. Of course, there are other nations that want to join the European Union. That have been -- that have their membership status kind of on hold. As the European Union examines their legal, political and financial application to join.

But Ukraine now saying this is more urgent for us than it is for anyone else. Not least in order to show the Russians that we are part of Europe and we are united with the West, Michael.

HOLMES: Yeah. Indeed. Natasha Bertrand in Brussels, I appreciate the reporting. Thanks so much.

I am Michael Holmes, live in Ukraine, in Lviv. In the west of the country. Let's go now to Rosemary Church, in Atlanta for our continuing breaking news coverage. Rosemary.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Thanks so much, Michael. And stay safe my friend.

Well, countries are doubling down on Russian sanctions as attacks in Ukraine escalate. It will be one of the first conflicts for South Korea's new president to navigate, after the election this week. We're live in Seoul just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the World Bank has now approved a $723 million emergency financing package of loans and grants for Ukraine, as it battles Russia assault. The bank is set to work on another support package in the coming months. And plans to provide further support for Ukraine neighbors amid a growing refugee crisis.

Japan has frozen the assets of 32 Russian and Belarusian officials and oligarchs, furthering sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. The country's central back and sovereign well funds are becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the world as well. With new sanctions by South Korea expected to take effect on Tuesday.

And CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me now from Seoul. Good to see you, Paula. So, what more are you learning about South Korea's new sanctions? Designed of course to apply pressure on Russia to end its war on Ukraine.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Rosemary, what South Korea appears to be doing at this point is try and keep in step with the United States with other countries as well. Increasing the economic sanctions on Russia. So what they announced on Monday which does come into effect today, Tuesday.

They've said that they'll suspend all transactions with Russia's central bank. Also suspending any transactions with two sovereign wealth funds. Now this comes just a week after they said they were seven major Russian banks that they would not be dealing with. They've signed on as well to ban them from the SWIFT system. And also they have pledged about $10 million humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

So, they're really trying to match what the United States and others have been doing up until this point. They have also said that exports controls will be put in place. These are strategic goods that they will not be exporting to Russia. They have also included Belarus in that ban, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And less than 22 hours away from elections. How are the leading two candidates likely to handle political issues?

HANCOCKS: Well, it's interesting, Rosemary, because neither of them has any foreign policy experience per se. In fact on the conservative side he would be considered a complete political novice, not having been a politician in the past. But certainly when it comes to Ukraine, to Russia, they are going to have to hit the ground running. But let's take a look at the two leading candidates.

[03:45:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS (voice over): One of these men will likely be the next president of South Korea. Human rights lawyer turned Governor Lee Jae- myung, on the liberal side. Former state prosecutor and political novice, Yoon Suk-yeol on the conservative side. From day one, they have to deal with the North Korea that appears more concerned with testing weapons than talking. Neither candidate has foreign policy experience. Lee supports the sort of engagement current president Moon Jae-in has sought with minimal success but favors the multi (inaudible).

LEE JAE-MYUNG, SOUTH KOREA DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): We need dialogue as well as sanctions. We need incentive as well as disincentive. The most important thing is to secure trust. HANCOCKS: Yoon believes sanctions should be eased only after

denuclearization is complete. Even hinting at a preemptive strike if he saw signs of an offensive launch against Seoul.

YOON SUK-YEOL, SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PEOPLE POWER PARTY CANDIDATE (through translator): North Korea only improved their nuclear capabilities and disregarded inter-Korean dialogue. I will prepare a peace treaty only when and if North Korea moves towards complete and verifiable denuclearization.

HANCOCKS: For years South Korea has been walking a tight rope of a strong security alliance with the United States and a growing economic relationship with China. The next president may feel more pressure to choose.

KIM JIYOON, RESEARCH FELLOW, INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, SOGANG UNIVERSITY: All the talk that we have to be balance between the United States and China. And obviously the time and the period for that kind of tradition is ending.

HANCOCKS: Lee believes he can strike a balance.

JAE-MYUNG: We are moving the U.S.-South Korea alliance into a more comprehensive one. But we cannot ignore the economic relationship and geographical proximity to China.

HANCOCKS: Yoon has looking for stronger ties with the U.S., including the installment of a second ballistic missile system (inaudible) from South Korean soil. China stage an economic boycott after the first was installed in 2017.

SUK-YEOL: South Korea and United States share an alliance forge in blood. As we fought together to protect freedom against the tyranny of communism.

HANCOCKS: Gender equality is also a key issue, particularly among younger voters. A unique clash of those pushing for more equality for women. And so called antifeminists claiming discrimination against men. Yoon is quoting both amongst the anti-feminist, promising to abolish the ministry of gender equality and family if elected.

Lee has been more vocal on women's rights. A third candidate, (Inaudible) from the justice party is expected to garner young female support but her polling numbers have been low. Leaving a close battle between conservatives and liberals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (on camera): Of course on the voting issues taken into account will be the economy, there will be housing, real estate issues, and also employment. And of course, this does comes as well as we are seeing close to record numbers of new COVID-19 cases here in South Korea. So there will be many procedures and restrictions in place as people are voting to try to make the process safe, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks, many thanks for that report. I appreciate it.

In Ukraine a separate race for safety. Coming up, the push to save cultural treasures from Russia's offensive. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

CHURCH: Updating our breaking news. Just minutes ago, we learned that Ukraine and Russia have agreed on a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the northeast city of Sumy which has seen heavy fighting in recent days. But no word yet on four other corridors proposed by Russia. Which would include the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

Well, meanwhile we have learned that at least nine people were killed by Russian bombing over night in Sumy. That is according to Ukrainian officials.

And it has become clear there is a dwindling number of safe places to take refuge in Ukraine. While civilians consider their options for escaping the relentless attacks. There's a separate effort to protect what's left behind.

Atika Shubert reports on the rush to safeguard the country's heritage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Racing against time to save Ukraine's cultural treasures. Among them, a thousand year-old bible. Ancient manuscript hastily stored in boxes meant for supermarket bananas. The fastest way to save them from the threat of Russian bombardment.

When Russian missiles hit the historic holocaust memorial in the capital of Kyiv. National Museum Director of Lviv, Ihor Kozhan realized no place was safe. From his now empty museum he tells us why he order the emergency storage of the city's entire collection.

We see how Russia is shelling residential areas, even people that are evacuating, he tells us. They guarantee they wouldn't. But now we can't trust them. And we need to take care of our heritage because this is our national treasure, he says.

It's not just about saving priceless works of art, this is the country's spiritual heritage. These are from the 17th century and they are here in the hallway because the museum has ran out of space in its basement.

[03:55:09]

Even religious sites fear the worst. This mass at Lviv's cathedral Basilica of the Assumption was one of the last before its giant stain glass windows were boarded up with steel plates. Praying for protection in a war where it seems no place is sacred from attack.

Atika Shubert, for CNN, in Lviv, Ukraine.

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CHURCH: And thank you for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN's coverage of the desperate situation in Ukraine continues with Isa Soares after the break.

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