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Russia Declares Partial Ceasefire To Allow Humanitarian Corridors In Ukraine; Civilians Fleeing Bombarded Regions Hits Two Million; ; Moldova Gym Turns Into Makeshift Shelter for Refugees; Letter "Z" Emerges as Pro-Russian Invasion Symbol; Zelenskyy Uses Social Media to Rally Ukrainians. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 09, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine and we begin with this news just into us. The humanitarian corridor from the northeast and city of Sumy will continue on Wednesday. That's according to the Regional Governor there.

It is the same corridor that was opened on Tuesday one of five proposed by the Russians thus far, but the only one agreed upon by Ukraine.

And we are just about an hour away from that proposed Russian ceasefire for five cities and a chance for civilians to leave.

On Tuesday, Ukraine, says Russia hit Sumy with airstrikes before Tuesday's ceasefire took effect killing 21 people including two children.

The government in Kyiv says about 5,000 people did manage to make it out of Sumy during the eventual pause in fighting. No evacuation though from the southern port city of Mariupol. Instead, Ukraine claiming Russian forces fired on an aid convoy.

Now the city has been without water and electricity for days and a U.S. official calling it isolated.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have seen their share of setbacks but the US intelligence community says it is not likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin is deterred. The U.S. estimates between two and 4,000 Russian troops have been killed in the invasion so far. Numbers on the Ukrainian side harder to come by.

The UN reporting at least 474 civilians have been killed including 38 children, the CIA says that toll will undoubtedly rise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He's likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties. Where that leads I think is for an ugly next few weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Ukraine's Armed Forces acknowledged Russia's announcement of a proposed ceasefire that said quote, it is difficult to trust the occupier. The events on the ground Tuesday underscoring that suspicion. Oren Liebermann with our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONENT (voice-over): In Northeast Ukraine, not far from the Russian border city of Sumy was supposed to be safe, but only for a few hours. Ukraine and Russia agreed on a single evacuation quarter open for half of Tuesday, but the agreement has not protected the city.

The announcement came after Ukrainian officials say a Russian airstrike killed 21 civilians including two children overnight. Russian strikes have destroyed homes in the city flattening neighborhoods. Western leaders have already accused Russia of targeting pre-approved safe routes in Ukraine.

The city of Mariupol in the south has been isolated by Russian forces according to a senior U.S. defense official cutting off hundreds of thousands from water and electricity for days. But that official says the Russian forces have not entered the city.

AVRIL HAINES, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose.

LIEBERMANN: U.S. intelligence estimates with low confidence that Russia has lost between 2,000 and 4,00 troops in combat, but they still retain an overwhelming majority of their combat power. The U.S. defense official says with new advances east of Kyiv.

Russian forces still have not been able to encircle Kyiv, Ukrainian capital with their assault stalled from the North, the official says. Ukraine says the Russian invasion has killed more than 400 civilians to date, including 38 children, calling it genocide and accusing Russia of war crimes, which Russia denies.

Russia's invasion has now created more than 2 million refugees according to the United Nations, while millions flee others state to fight.

In Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, a Ukrainian police officer says goodbye to his son. For how long? No one knows. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressing the British Parliament.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight till the end at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land. Whatever the cost.

LIEBERMANN: He showed once again his mixture of composure and defiance. Zelenskyy urged Western nations to ban Russian energy imports a move President Joe Biden announced today.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Russian oil will no longer be acceptable to U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine.

LIEBERMANN: The European Union says it'll cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds this year and phase out Russian oil completely before the end of the decade. Daunting goals Europe relies much more heavily on energy imports from Russia.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, the Russian stock market remains closed for the eighth consecutive business day with the ruble in free fall. Oren Lieberman, CNN at the Pentagon

(END VIDEO TAPE)

[01:05:03]

HOLMES: And joining me now once again from Canberra, Malcolm Davis, he's a senior analyst in Defense Strategy and Capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. It's always good to get you on, Sir.

The pounding of civilian areas continues. But as we were just discussing there in Jim's story, and early would appear the actual advance of Russian troops in terms of achieving objectives like encircling Kiev is still slow, what is your read of progress or otherwise?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Thanks, Michael. Yes, I think that the Russians are still making very slow progress. It's a real slog for the Russians. I think in part, this is due to the lack of logistic support. So to sustain high intensity operations, you've noticed, for example, the number of servers to serve as missiles that are being fired has decreased remarkably over the last few days, because they can't maintain that rate of fire or the run out of missiles. The same goes with the sorts of artillery barrages.

Now as the Russian forces maneuver around Kyiv and Kharkiv with the intent in particular in Kiev, of taking the city center in the next three to four days, then you will see that pick up again. But I think that the Russians are struggling to sustain operational and tactical momentum. And this is really becoming quite apparent in terms of how the Russian government is responding, including bringing in foreign fighters into the battlefield.

HOLMES: Yes, then the missile point you made is a good one, 630 something five total, but I think 300 were fired in the first few days. So it's really slow down.

And it is smart isn't it for a smaller underdog army, like the Ukrainians to avoid, you know, big frontal battles in in favor of ambushes and attacks on supply lines, is that what you're seeing with the Ukrainians in this war, being nimble moving quickly strike and leave? DAVIS: Exactly. I think if the Ukrainians tried to confront the Russians in a head on battle, they would lose and they would lose badly. Because the Russians still have weight of numbers. And quantity has a quality all of its own.

So really, the key to victory for the Ukrainians is to hit the Russian supply lines and slow them down that way. And they seem to be achieving success in that regard. That 60 kilometer long column north of Kyiv, for example, it's sitting stationary, because it's run out of fuel, essentially, which leaves them wide open to stinging attacks by ambushing Ukrainian units. And that's sapping the morale of the Russian forces in that column. So yes, these are the sorts of tactics they're using very effectively.

HOLMES: Yes, taking out individual tanks, they took out an artillery position the other day. The West has certainly shocked Russia, I think we can agree with both, you know, its unity and the strength of the sanctions, even stronger sanctions are coming in all the time.

I'm curious, your thought on how delicate the risk balance is, is there a tipping point, when the strength of punishment combined with a lack of battlefield progress becomes an existential threat to Putin and could cause him to lash out even more.

DAVIS: I think that is a real danger. And it's likely to be a danger that grows in the next few days, potentially into the next couple of weeks. As we ramp up the intensity and the effectiveness of shape sanctions, in particular, we stopped buying Russian oil, for example, that's going to start placing real pressure not only on Putin, but also the people around him, the oligarchs.

And so it's more likely that he will become more isolated, more paranoid, and like a cornered animal he's likely to lash out. And I do fear that that's where you could see significant escalation. There's already been talk, for example, that the Russians are trying to create a false flag operation involving chemical and biological weapons. That would, you know, do it in a justification to move to tactical nuclear weapons.

HOLMES: Yes, yes, that that is worrying. And the Russians already putting that false flag out there. You touched on something that I think is really interesting for Mr. Putin, losing this war could take many forms. I mean, he could win the battlefield with sheer numbers but lose the overall war in terms of his aims. I was interviewing an analyst yesterday who said that, you know, one history -- lesson of history is that autocratic rulers cannot lose wars and remain autocrats. How much damage could Putin be doing to his own political survivability?

DAVIS: I think he's very conscious of that. His primary motivation in all of this is his own personal power and his grip on power. And I think if he is seen to lose this war then that grip will be severely weakened.

[01:10:09] So, I do think that the risk is of groups around him moving against him in a coup d'etat. At the same time, you've got growing popular unrest that could generate the possibility of a color revolution in the streets of Moscow.

So I do think that there's a real risk that, you know, as I said, he's a cornered animal. Could he lash out? Could he escalate, including potentially to the use of nuclear weapons? That's what's on the back of everyone's mind at the moment.

HOLMES: Yes, always terrific analysis. Malcolm Davis, good to see you. We'll have you back. Thanks so much.

DAVIS: Thank you.

HOLMES: You hear there the sound of recent shelling echoing in the distance which these people were trying to escape. Now you can see them making a treacherous journey over a damaged bridge. This is in Irpin in Ukraine just outside the capital, Kyiv. They're carrying whatever they can.

The UN says more than two million refugees have fled Ukraine since the start of this invasion, mostly women, children and the elderly since men of fighting age are not allowed to leave. More than half of the refugees have crossed into Poland, half of them are children. Hundreds of thousands of others have made it to some of the other countries neighboring Ukraine, where many have family and friends.

And while millions have evacuated Ukraine, the UN says hundreds of thousands of others are still on the move, trying to flee combat zones inside this country. The struggle to survive and escape especially hard on the elderly and other vulnerable people. CNN's Clarissa Ward reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Incredibly, they emerge, some still standing. Some too weak to walk after more than a week under heavy bombardment in the key of suburb of Irpin.

Volunteers help them carry their bags, the final few feet to relative safety. There are tearful reunions as relatives fear dead finally appear after days of no contact with the outside world.

Many are still looking for their loved ones. Soldiers help where they can. For Larisa (ph) and Andry (ph) it is an agonizing wait. Their son has been pinned down in the hotel he owns. We wait, we hope, we pray they tell me. This is the grief of all mothers of all people, Larisa (ph) says. This is a tragedy.

Every time the phone rings, there's a scramble. Anticipation that it could be their son's voice on the line. This time, it is not. Excuse me, I can't talk, Larisa (ph) says. We're waiting for my son.

They are not the only ones waiting. These residents of a nursing home were among the last to be evacuated from Irpin. They have been sitting here now for hours. Confused and disorientated many don't know where they are going. Volunteers (INAUDIBLE) these women back to wait for the next bus.

Valentina (ph) tells us she is frightened and freezing, after days of endless shelling and no heat. I want to lie down, she says. Please help me. But for now, there is no place to lie down. The women are shepherded onto a bus, their arduous journey, not over yet.

For Larisa (ph) and Andrey (ph), the wait is finally over. Their son is alive.

ANDRIY KOLESNIK, IRPIN RESIDENT: The only words you can tell to the phone like Mom, I'm alive. Mom, I'm alive. And that's it.

WARD: I'm the happiest mother in the world right now, she says. My son is with me. But not every mother here is so lucky. And for many, the weight continues. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES: Such a sad scene. Still to come here on the program, I look at war through the eyes of a Ukrainian citizen. I'll ask a woman here in Lviv how she feels about Russia's invasion and the Ukrainian resolve to never give up.

Also, as the city of Lviv welcomes thosands of displaced Ukrainians, the mayor warns it cannot sustain care efforts for its growing population. We'll have more on that as well when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:19:14]

HOLMES: Welcome back. Thousands who have come here to the city of Lviv to escape Russian attacks, but now the city is in need of help. Lviv's mayor says the city is in desperate need of food, medical supplies, and shelter to help the influx of displaced people here.

The city may be a temporary stop for some but many are remaining unsure of where to go next.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): In one of the best known theatres in Ukraine's cultural capital, Lviv, no audience to be entertained, rather families seeking shelter from war of humans. We never imagined we would end up living in a theater, Evgani (ph) tells us. We never imagined leaving our home and fleeing our city.

Tamila says she fled Kyiv two days ago to get her kids out of danger, leaving her mother and husband behind.

[01:20:05]

Now she contemplates what's to come. TAMILA KHELADZE, DISPLACED MOTHER: We live happier. And we have plans for future, for locations, for our babies, for studying for our babies, and it happy future.

HOLMES: Throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lviv has been nervous but otherwise an oasis of relative quiet.

(on camera): And that made the city a destination for those running from where the shells are falling. Most of them are moving on to the border, but more than 200,000 have decided to stay here. Lviv welcoming and looking after them. But now the city's mayor says Lviv is full. And we need help.

ANDRIY SADOVYI, LVIV MAYOR (through translator): Sir, this has put a lot of pressure on us and the infrastructure of review, which is what I would like to address international organizations asking for support. We need you now and we need you here.

HOLMES: Andriy Sadovyi is pleading for tents, food, medical supplies. He says more than 400 cultural and educational facilities are being used to house the displaced. Here a school a place of learning in normal times, now a place of refuge for families not knowing their next move, other than it won't be going home.

VICTORIA HARBATIY, DISPLACED GRANDMOTHER (through translator): It is difficult to imagine have this craziness began, for the sake of what, for what reason are the killing people? What have you done to deserve this?

HOLMES: Lviv then historic city in need of help, the impact of this war being felt well away from the frontlines.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES: And joining me now here in Lviv is Maria Toma, who's been with us a couple of times now. She's the head of the Crimea Platform Department at the Mission of the President of Ukraine and Crimea, but she is here in a personal capacity. And we want to emphasize that.

You have been heavily involved in Crimea. And since the Russians invaded it back in 2014, how has it been for Crimeans to watch what is unfolding here now?

MARIA TOMA, UKRANIAN CITIZEN: Basically, one of the major trends from the point where this all out invasion started, has been the very active conscription of the Crimean residents to the Russian army. So basically Ukrainian citizens who live in Crimea are thrown into a war against its own country. And we can see them being captured by Ukrainian army. So there are Crimean residents among prisoners of war. The (INAUDIBLE) Crimean residents amongst those people who died within this war, and it's, of course, it's very dramatic.

And I would also like to emphasize that Russian Federation provides and conducts like the separate conscription for this war campaign. So it's not just like those general regular conscription that were taking place in Crimea throughout this eight years, but the special conscription for this war against Ukraine and also which is remarkable that there are Crimean Tatar people, indigenous population, that has been perceived as non-loyal towards the aggressive state, towards the occupying state.

And now for this propaganda proposes. So Russia highlights in media, that Crimean Tatars are taking part into a war against Ukraine into this so called special operation.

HOLMES: It's unbelievable in Crimea Tatar has been oppressed under the Soviet Union. They had their freedom under Crimea when it became Ukraine. Now I met some of them down there in 2014. And now they're under Russian occupation again, and being oppressed all over again. And extraordinary to think that, you know, Crimeans, a lot of Crimeans support Russia, but the Crimeans who felt part of Ukraine are now being forced to go and fight in Ukraine.

We just saw the story, the report we did there. And I want to ask you, it's been incredible to see how people here have pulled together for those who are, you know, who were fleeing the fighting. Tell us about how, you know, despite the horrors of this, it's really brought the country together.

TOMA: Exactly. And it's somehow it reminds me of my downtimes of the times of Revolution of Dignity, which happened in Ukraine in 214.

HOLMES: Yes.

TOMA: This feeling of unity of the society, but now it becomes much more broader. And even those people who were more or less distant from the political things from the developments in the country, social political, they now come together and try to do something in order to like to bring the victory to Ukraine, basically.

HOLMES: Yes.

TOMA: So -- And they're volunteering with various what you can do what you can do and you sacrifice your time and your efforts in order to support your society. So, and it's very obvious that unfortunately, there are victims, I mean killing people among the volunteers.

HOLMES: Yes.

[01:25:00]

TOMA: Just yesterday it was all over the place in social media that one of the young volunteers from Kharkiv, young lady, she was killed while conducting some volunteer work by the Russian society (ph).

HOLMES: I read about her. Yes, it was incredibly sad. I mean, I wonder if before we go to, last time you were here you were telling us about how you're part of a group that is sort of trawling social media and other sources to gather evidence of war crimes, how is that coming along?

TOMA: That work is ongoing. And I should say that, again, it's governmental institutions are there, but also civil society are also -- is also there. And it's very important that we get the support from the best lawyers all over the world. They just like write to us messages, e-mails, and they offering -- they offer their support.

And it's important also that the court institutions, the legal institutions has -- had been really supportive. I mean, they give very quick feedbacks like International Criminal Court. And just few days ago, my colleague, Anton Korynevych participate. He was the key person in the delegation of Ukraine in the International Court of Justice in the UN, so where Ukraine presented this position.

So I believe in that perspective, in that legal perspective, although many people are quite skeptical about UN currently and other institutions that has been in the place like for, after the World War II, basically.

HOLMES: YEs.

TOMA: But I think that may like bring new life and new inspiration to those institutions.

HOLMES: It should coming along. We're out of time. But how are you? You seem a little bit more down than last time we spoke. You OK?

TOMA: It's complicated, because, you know, every day we see new victims.

HOLMES: Yes.

TOMA: Children are dying. And it's like, I know that it sounds like very probably too dramatic or something like this. But it's something that happens in our country, with people we know with our friends with our -- sometimes with our families.

And here, I would like just to remind that we can do more, international society can do more --

HOLMES: YES.

TOMA: -- to cut Russian Sberbank or from the SWIFT to provide to Ukraine fighter -- fighter jets, and to impose more sanctions on Russian Federation. So that's what the response should be on all of this dramatic development.

HOLMES: Well, I -- you've been on here a few times and we care about you. I hope you're OK.

TOMA: Thank you.

HOLMES: We'll get you back and check in on you soon. Thank you.

TOMA: Thank you.

HOLMES: Maria Toma here with us in Lviv. And all right, Ukrainian families are enduring long lines, insane traffic, freezing temperatures, broken hearts, all for a chance at safety. We'll have that when we come back. Also, improvising hospitality a recreation center in Moldova, and makeshift shelter refugees escaping the war to Ukraine -- in Ukraine speak to CNN. That's coming up after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With hands up. Please, we want to leave. We want to be happy. Stop shooting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:19]

HOLMES: Welcome back everyone. I'm Michael Holmes with the latest developments from here in Ukraine. It is about half an hour until a Russian proposed cease-fire is set to take effect allowing for supposedly humanitarian aid and evacuations from five cities. The corridor out of the city of Sumy is the only one Ukraine has agreed to, and the regional governor says it will be in effect later on today.

Now, on Tuesday, Ukraine says Russian air strikes in that city Sumy killed 21 people, including two children. Hours later though about 5,000 people were able to evacuate.

Now, the besieged city of Mariupol in the south is also supposed to be covered by the cease-fire. A senior U.S. Defense official says Mariupol is now isolated by Russian forces, pretty much surrounded, that they have not entered the city yet in any significant way. Ukrainians are still fighting back there. The official says that Russia is making more progress advancing in the south than elsewhere in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a new assessment from the U.K. ministry of defense says Ukrainian air defenses appeared to have successfully defended against Russian jets. Likely preventing the Russians from controlling the airspace fully.

The U.S. meanwhile has now banned Russian energy imports. That is the latest move meant to punish Moscow for its assault on Ukraine. And it's one which could have a devastating impact on Russia's struggling economy.

Oil prices have been soaring after the announcement from President Joe Biden who warned Americans to brace for even higher prices that the pump.

Ukraine's president thanking his U.S. counterpart for taking further action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I am grateful personally, to president of United States Biden for this decision. For this leadership, for this most powerful signal to the whole world.

It is very simple, every penny paid to Russia turns into bullets and projectiles that fly to other southern states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now the U.N. says the Russian invasion has caused more than two million people to flee Ukraine. And the humanitarian crisis only set to get worse, we're sorry to say. The vast majority of refugees heading to countries neighboring this one.

The journeys, though, never easy, of course. And those who reach safety well they face an uncertain future.

CNN's Scott McLean explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For more than a million Ukrainians, the road to safety in Poland is filled with checkpoints, bumper-to- bumper traffic, and seemingly endless anticipation.

[01:34:56]

MCLEAN: Valentina Dekhtarienko (ph) and her family had been waiting to cross the border for more than 24 hours but they're still nowhere near the front of the line.

VALENTINA DEKHTARIENKO, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: I don't know what's waiting for me and my family. We are going into the unknown and it scares us.

MCLEAN: Everyone in their cars is willing to wait, closer to the border, even hobble.

Buses drops people off by the dozens to cross on foot, joining lines that stretch for blocks and for hours.

Max Amelin is taping and zip-tying left over insulation from his heating business to his daughter's feet, to make sure she is warm while she waits for hours in the frigid cold.

You just wanted to make sure that your family got here safe.

NATALIA AMELIN, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: Yes, he saves us, and that's all.

MCLEAN: When they get to the front of the line, max will have to stay behind as a man of fighting age. His in-laws aren't leaving either.

AMELIN: It's very difficult, it is so hard. My heart is ripped into pieces. My parents stayed back in Kyiv region, I don't know even what is going on with them now. It is so scary.

MCLEAN: Ilona Gutnichenko, with her young daughter and godson in tow, fled the heavy shelling of Irpin, just outside Kyiv.

ILONA GUTNICHENKO, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: It was terrible. We left only two days ago, sat on the last train. We didn't believe that in 21st century it can be a real war.

MCLEAN: Valentyna also fled Kyiv. She's never been forced from her home but she is no stranger to tragedy.

VALENTYNA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: My husband died at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, do you understand? And that's what they're doing now. They're destroying the whole world. It is outrageous. People around the world shall not be silence.

MCLEAN: This elderly couple fled Kharkiv but only after spending eight days sheltering in the metro station. On the eight day an explosion shook their underground hideout.

VLADIMIR CHUMSAKOV, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: The women were hysterical. I understood this is not going to pass. This horror cannot be endured, I cannot express it, the fear, the crying children.

When I saw a pregnant woman entering the metro, I understood this could not be forgiven.

MCLEAN: From here many have no idea where they'll go when get to Poland. Or when they might be able to come back.

Scott McLean, CNN, near the Polish border in Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now Moldova is another country taking in a large number of people fleeing this war. CNN's Ivan Watson reports from a recreation center in Moldova's capital that has turned into a makeshift shelter to help people escaping the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look how people here in Moldova are improvising to deal with the refugee crisis from neighboring Ukraine. Turning a squash court into a place for refugees and for children some of whom here have been on a bus for more than 70 hours traveling across the border to relative safety.

This is a small country. Just 2.5 million people. And it has already dealt with more than 230,000 people streaming across the borders from the war zone in Ukraine.

They come to makeshift places like this and I can tell you refugees are still in shock, but some of them are also very angry and defiant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are Ukrainians. It's our land. My son was born in independent Ukraine. It's our land. Independent. Nobody can enter our land. And if someone is entering, we have to answer, because it's our motherland.

We have no other choice. We are a very peaceful people we are not Nazi. We are just on our land with hands up. Please, we want to live, we want to be happy, stop shooting, please. WATSON: This is not a government-run shelter, this is coming with the

help of private donations, groups like the Jewish community of Moldova. Taking care of thousands of people at centers like this and others that have cropped up in just the last week and a half.

Almost everybody we've spoken to in Moldova has in some way, reached out to help their neighbors from Ukraine if not providing assistance, then even opening their doors and housing families as they come through.

Most of the people here are going to move on to other countries, and they are just the beginning of a much larger flow of civilians fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ivan Watson, CNN -- Chisinau.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:39:59]

HOLMES: Now, if you would like to help people in Ukraine who might be in need of things like shelter, food, water, warm clothing and so on, go to CNN.com/impact. You can find several ways there that you can help.

I'll have more from Ukraine a little later this hour. But first, let's bring in John Vause in Atlanta -- over to you, my friend.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Michael, as always, thank you.

Meantime, you can have a short break and we'll also take a shorts break here on CNN.

But when we come back, why has the letter Z made a sudden appearance across Russia. We does that have to do with the war in Ukraine?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The Pentagon has dismissed Poland's offer of 28 Soviet-eras MIG fighter jets to Ukraine. Many in the Biden administration were stunned when Poland announced it was ready to transfer the jets to the U.S. and then hand it to Ukraine which has pleaded for more warplanes after suffering heavy losses since the Russian invasion began.

[01:44:59]

VAUSE: Ukrainian pilots would be able to fly the Polish MIGs with just minimal training. But U.S. Defense officials fear a transfer of fighter jets from a NATO country to Ukraine could risk a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.

There is one letter which has emerged as a symbol of Russia's war against Ukraine. That's the letter Z, which doesn't actually exist in the Russian alphabet. But it's being seen on Russian tanks, painted on military vehicles.

CNN's Phil Black reports on how it's being used to show support for Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's impossible not to notice. Many of the Russian vehicles invading Ukraine carry a distinctive mark. Trucks, tanks, fighting, engineering and logistical vehicles. They are advancing through Ukraine with the letter Z painted conspicuously in white.

The people being invaded have noticed. Here in the Eastern Ukrainian town of Copianz (ph), an angry crowd swarms after and attacks a single vehicle. It's only obvious connection to the war, the letter Z.

ARIC TOLER, RESEARCH AND TRAINING BELLINGCAT: It's almost certainly some kind of tactical grouping. There's a millions different theories about what the Z means, but I think it's just marking, just easy to do, easy thing to mark sit's like a square or triangle.

BLACK: In a war where the wannabe conquerors are not flying their national flag, that single character has taken on a special significance.

At a recent gymnastics world cup even, 20 year old Russian competitor Ivan Kuliak (ph) accepted his bronze medal wearing a Z prominently on his chest. He was standing next to a Ukrainian athlete.

The sports governing body described it as shocking behavior.

But how do you describe this? Terminally ill children and their carers formed a giant z outside a hospice in the Russian city of Kizan (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disgusting that the state is co-opting young children to be propaganda mechanisms for their war.

BRIAN KLAAS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON: It's dangerous when small little symbols become proxies for being a loyal citizen in an authoritarian regime during the time of war. Because those who don't wear it, those who don't show the Z, could be targeted by the state.

BLACK: And in this highly produced propaganda video, Russian men wearing that letter declare their support for the invasion. Chanting -- for Russia, for the president, for Russia, for Putin. An aerial shot shows a giant Z made from the orange and black of the St. George's ribbon. A traditional symbol of Russian military glory usually associated with a victory over Nazi Germany.

By accident, or design, a character that doesn't feature in Russia's alphabet has become an iconic symbol of Putin's invasion, and the propaganda campaign to win support among his people.

Phil Black, CNN -- London.

VAUSE: Still ahead here, (INAUDIBLE) how Ukraine's president is using social media to wage an information war, becoming an unlikely hero in the process.

Michael Holmes will be back with that live from Lviv in just a moment.

[01:48:09]

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HOLMES: The sound there of a Ukrainian military band playing outside the opera and ballet theater. This is in Odessa.

On Tuesday, the city rich in history and culture has been spared so far from Russian attacks, but many fear that might soon change. The sandbag barricade behind the performers is in the same spot where one was built in 1941, during World War II.

Now the conflict in Ukraine shining the spotlight on an unlikely hero. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emerged as a defiant and inspiring wartime leader for people in Ukraine, and indeed, across the world.

CNN's Brian Todd reports.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A defiant Volodymyr Zelenskyy receiving multiple standing ovations from the British House of Commons.

VOLODYMYR ZELINSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will not give up, and we will not lose. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, on the streets.

Zelenskyy likely reminding his audience of the wartime inspirations of Winston Churchill who addressed the same body after the evacuation of Dunkirk.

WINSTON CHURCHILL, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.

KEITH DARDEN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Of course, he's definitely trying to channel Winston Churchills. I mean one thing that's very important to remember about Zelenskyy is he is a performer --

TODD: Zelenskyy's use of social media and other platforms as allowed him to dominate the information war from his interview with CNN's Matthew Chance from his bunker --

ZELENSKYY: First of all, everybody has to stop the fighting, to a defiant address from behind his desk on Monday, the first time he was seen there since the invasion began.

ZELENSKSYY: I'm staying in Kiev in my office. I'm not hiding, and I'm not afraid of anyone.

TODD: To a videos posted on Facebook from the streets of Kyiv with his cabinet on the second night of the invasion delivering a similar message.

ZELENSKYY: The president is here. We are all here. Our military are here.

TODD: Analysts say there's no doubt Zelenskyy's almost daily messages have stiffened the backbone of the Ukrainian military and its citizens. And have even resonated in side his enemies borders.

SAMUEL CHARAP, RAND CORP: Some of his recent video messages it must be said, have been quite powerful, including the message to the rest of the people and he basically called on them to resist this war which was quite emotional.

TODD: The images of Zelenskyy, meeting with his troops as they prepare for battle, of selfie videos posted from the street.

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ZELENSKYY: This is our land, our country, and we are defending all of it.

TODD: These are products, analyst say, of a leadership team which knows how to connect with younger audiences.

DARDEN: They're very in tune with that younger generation. These guys really mastered social media in a way that has been very effective.

TODD: Contrast that with autocrat in the Kremlin who sits distanced from aids at long tables and whose messages to his country seem increasingly disconnected.

DARDEN: He appears fearful. I mean you just get the sense of a man alone. Where Zelenskyy is among his people, among his team, and in the fight.

TODD: All of which means that if Zelenskyy is killed, imprisoned, or driven out, the loss of those messages would be devastating for Ukrainians.

Analysts was point out there are other Ukrainian leaders who can take up the slack, like former president Petro Poroshenko or Kyiv Vitaly Klitschko who have been bravely transmitting messages from the streets.

But it's unlikely they would have the resonance of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

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HOLMES: Live from Lviv in Ukraine, I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate you being with us this past hour.

Our breaking news coverage continues after the break. I'll see you then.

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