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War Worsen Poverty and Hunger Worldwide; More Ukrainians Fleeing Their Country; Refugees Keep Rising Every Day; World Watches Putin's New Threat. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 09, 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 from Lviv in Ukraine where we are following breaking developments as Russia's latest plan for a limited ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors has been in effect for about an hour yet.

It's not clear at the moment whether any evacuations are happening, although the regional governor of Sumy says the corridors there will remain open. On Tuesday, roughly 5,000 people left the city. That's according to the Ukrainian president's office.

Earlier in the day, though, Sumy was the scene of some devastating carnage. Ukraine blaming Russia for airstrikes that killed 21 people, including two children.

Now the Russian ceasefire plan is also supposed to cover Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. It has seen some of the most damaging strikes from Russia since the invasion began two weeks ago. Ukrainian fighters putting up stiff resistance.

And, the southern city of Mykolaiv is under siege as well. CNN capturing video of explosions lighting up the night sky there. City leaders are asking residents to bring tires to every intersection to stop the Russian advance or at least slow it somewhat.

In Washington, our top U.S. State Department official explained what she thinks the war means for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA NULAND, U.S. UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: The way this conflict will and is when Putin realizes that this adventure has put his own leadership standing at risk with his own military, with his own people, that he is hemorrhaging the lives of people of Russia. The army of Russia, and their future to his own vein and ambition. And he will have to change course or the Russian people take matters into their -- into their own hands.

But, from the U.S. perspective, the endgame is the strategic defeat of President Putin in this adventure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: As the conflict grinds on, one thing seems increasingly clear, that is that this war is not playing out the way the Kremlin had hoped. A NATO official telling CNN that Russian troops are not making much progress and that NATO's intelligence suggests Russia won't be making any major gains for at least the next few days.

Here CNN's Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Nearly two weeks into the invasion, the war in Ukraine has become a slow grinding conflict. Not the Blitzkrieg advance that the Russian military had planned and hoped for.

AVRIL HAINES, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Russia's failure to rapidly seize Kyiv and overwhelm Ukrainian forces has deprive Moscow of the quick military victory that probably had originally expected.

SCIUTTO: U.S. And NATO military assistance to Ukrainian forces has flowed in quickly and in enormous quantities. Today, the U.S. and partners have provided some 17,000 anti-tank missiles, including the Javelin, and 84 shoulder fired systems. And according to senior U.S. official, some 3,700 antiaircraft missiles. Including the Stinger shoulder fired missile. A vast majority since the start of the invasion.

These missiles have had an immediate impact on the battlefield. This is a shoulder fired missile shooting down a Russian attack helicopter.

STEVE ANDERSON, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: It's a race between our ability and NATO's ability to push forward supplies such as the 17,000 missiles that have been recently approved to get those in the hands of the Ukrainian war fighters before the Russians can regroup and get their logistics, lines of communication, and capabilities up to snuff.

SCIUTTO: Military losses are harder to gauge. According to two senior officials briefed on the intelligence, the U.S. estimates Russia has lost somewhere between two and 4,000 soldiers. Though this estimate comes with low confidence. The U.S. does not have reliable informational losses of Ukrainian military personnel.

On the battlefield, Russian forces have advance more quickly in the south from Russian controlled territory in Crimea, more slowly in the east and the north, though they continue efforts to surround cities such as Kharkiv.

[03:04:59]

A senior U.S. official tells me the U.S. believes Russia is still several days from being able to surround the capital Kyiv. And after that, faces a protracted battle to occupy the city itself. HAINES: Our analysts assess that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by

such setbacks, and instead may escalate. We assess Putin feels aggrieved that the west is not giving him difference, and perceives this is a war he cannot afford to lose.

SCIUTTO: As Russia's advance has stalled, its forces have increasingly targeted the civilian population with aerial bombardment and shelling. Following a time worn Russian strategy that pursued ruthlessly in Chechnya in the 1990s and more recently in Syria.

At least 474 civilians including 29 children have been killed since the invasion began. This according to the U.N. human rights office. And a further 861 injured. Though the U.N. believes the true figure is likely to be, quote, "considerably higher."

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Lviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now the relentlessly Russian attacks have caused more than two million people to flee this country. That's according to the U.N. And many of them are not taking refuge from the neighboring Poland.

CNN's Sara Sidner with the story from there.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you know at the border, we're seeing mostly women and children. This is the border between Poland and Ukraine called Medyka border. And we have also talked to some of the children. We are a lot from the adults. But we talked some of the children, and one child in particular had a terrifying story about how he got here. Little Boldan (Ph) is 11 years old, he had school and was living his life along with his parents who are working and then suddenly, he was in the middle of the war in Kyiv.

UNKNOWN (through translator): I was hearing explosions all the time. I was scared because I knew that the rocket can hit my house or the home of my relatives. That's what scared me. The soldiers from Russia don't want to stop. They don't know where to stop. They are dropping bombs all the time.

SIDNER: He says it's so matter affectedly. And what we are also hearing from kids, it's really what we're not hearing. We're not hearing crying. And usually that means that they are in shock. Boldan (Ph) just described things as if it was a regular day. But clearly, the things he is saying were terrifying.

His grandmother was standing there and she was crying. So, this has been an incredibly difficult time for the adults. But for the children, imagine, you know, not really understanding what's going on and you are fly fleeing for your life. And we are seeing that by the hundreds of thousands of mothers and children who are coming over the border on a daily basis.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Medyka, Poland.

HOLMES: Now in the early days of the invasion here, the U.N. World Food Programme saw the writing on the wall and launched an emergency food assistance operation.

David Beasley is the group's executive director. He joins me now from Warsaw in Poland. And thanks for doing so.

I want to talk about the global impacts in a moment, but let's start first with this country, Ukraine. This is a place where a month back you'd at eat sushi restaurants. You would shop at world's top grocery stores and specialty food stores. Now, the country is facing a looming hunger crisis. Explain what is unfolding in this country and how bad it could get.

DAVID BEASLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Well, Michael, it's going to get very bad. In fact, we're planning to scale up three to five million people over the next few weeks and months. And you can imagine that's not simple in a war zone that we're facing all throughout Ukraine right now.

The people that have already fled two million outside of Ukraine they are the lucky ones. They are the ones that are out of harm's way and getting food, shelter and support from the international community, from their friends, their neighbors in Poland and everywhere else in Europe.

So now we're dealing particularly with over 40 million people inside Ukraine. How are they going to get food they need when supply chains are being disrupted and shut down, their lives are torn apart? So, we're scaling up to put the systems in place so that the international community will have a structure of logistics to be able to provide food, shelter, and many other things that will be needed over the weeks and months that.

HOLMES: Yes, and doing -- and doing great work as well. Now, you've also warned that this conflict could send global food prices soaring. And it's not really about the money, it's about the catastrophic impact that will have on the world for us. It's putting more people at risk of starvation worldwide. Tell us about that global aspect.

BEASLEY: You know, before Ukraine even hit the scene, Michael, we were facing an extraordinary circumstance of perfect storm with conflict around the world and other places around the world. With climate extremes, COVID on top of that. We've seen the number of people marching to starvation spike from 135 to 276 million people who are facing billion dollars of shortage and food price hiking fuel, as well as fuel prices going up.

[03:09:54]

Then Ukraine hits. And you think it can't get any worse. We already have hell on earth in many places like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Sahel, and Yemen, and now you have Ukraine. And why is this catastrophic on top of catastrophic, it's because 50 percent of all the green that we buy and feeding, we feed about 125 million people on any given day week or month. Fifty percent of our grains comes from Ukraine. Thirty percent of the world's grain of wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia. Twenty percent of maize, corn. Eighty percent of cooking oil, sunflower seed oil comes from Ukraine and Russia. So, you are going to see a global impact of food supply as well as a price spike around the world. Fuel costs are growing up.

HOLMES: Yes.

BEASLEY: Shipping costs are going up. We're looking at a $50 million per month right now of increased costs on operation. And we're billions of dollars short. That means more people are going to starve to death around the world in places like the Sahel, Yemen, Ethiopia, Syria who rely on this type of grain and wheat and shipping supply chains.

HOLMES: Yes.

BEASLEY: So, Michael, it's going to be a bad situation in the next nine months.

HOLMES: Yes, it is -- that's going to be horrible here. It's going to be disastrous around the world. Because I know you've written too, that the World Food Programme because of the pandemic and other issues as well was already paying 30 percent more for food than it did in 2019.

BEASLEY: Yes.

HOLMES: So, how much worse does this war make it?

BEASLEY: It makes it a lot worse. When your global supply is heavily dependent upon a region in war, it disrupts the supply chain and obviously pricing will go up. The question will be, particularly in this whole, in the farmers in Ukraine get back to the fields and plant with all the farmers barely all men, and they're on the war front.

We are actually struggling to get truckers, truck drivers because the men are on the battlefield. They are not in the field of planting anymore. They're not on the trucks anymore because they're defending their homes, their cities with their lives. So, this is creating catastrophic dynamics inside Ukraine, but also outside Ukraine. And the next -- the next six to nine months are going to be pretty tough on everybody around the world actually.

HOLMES: Yes, yes. You know, I was reading you wrote in the Washington Post that I think the quote was that the root cause of hunger around the world is, I think you said, human folly and reckless disregard for human life. How long-lasting could the impact of this war be in terms of global hunger? It's not a short-term thing.

BEASLEY: No, no, it's not a short term. I mean, the short time impact is already been felt around the world, particularly and especially inside Ukraine of course when you deal with 40 million people that are going to be worrying about how they get food on a daily basis. Things that we're already facing in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, North Africa, particularly in the Sahel.

So, you're really talking about a short-term immediate impact, but the long-term implications are going to be grave. And we still don't know how bad this is going to get, as we are seeing tremendous amount of international issues taking place right now on export and import issues.

So, this is still going to be played out, and I don't see a pretty picture anywhere on the short or the long term right now, Michael. This is - it's still being tough for everybody, and everyone needs to be prepared.

HOLMES: Yes. You know, I've seen you appealing for help for the World Food Programme in all kinds of situations well before this. And I hope people do support the World Food Programme because the work that's done is just so important. David Beasley in Warsaw, we'll check in with you again. Thank you so much for what you're doing.

BEASLEY: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, a monastery in Odessa has become a haven for the sick and the elderly who can't make the journey out of Ukraine. The nuns of the Women's Archangel Mikhail Monastery say it is happening daily. People are leaving their most vulnerable family members in their care as they desperately try to flee the country.

The nuns say is a struggle, but they will open their doors to as many people as they can, although they had to turn away some people they thought were in good health.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERAFIM, KEEPER, WOMEN'S ARCHANGEL MIKHAIL MONASTERY (through translator): It's not just the nuns here, we also have 150 elderly people. And about 100 students, as well as evacuees. And we need to feed them all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now pets are also being dropped off. And although there is a sense of calm as the evacuees share a meal in the dining room, the close proximity of Russian troops is a frightening prospect. And the nun say, Vladimir Putin will have to answer for that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERAFIM (through translator): I think it's a scary, unforgettable sin which Putin has committed and those who are acting alongside him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: As Russian forces began the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin made a threat which brought back memories of the Cold War.

[03:15:00]

Coming up, how western countries are analyzing the Russian president's nuclear stance. You're watching CNN Newsroom. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. The U.S. estimates as much as eight

to 10 percent of Russia's military assets deployed in the invasion of Ukraine are now destroyed or in operable. That's according to a U.S. official familiar with the latest intelligence.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins me now from London with more on that. Let's start with the ceasefire, it started about an hour ago. What are you learning about whether it's working?

[03:19:58]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: That is a very critical question, Michael, is whether it's working. It's been just over an hour at about 9 a.m. Ukrainian time, a humanitarian corridor was established in five key Ukrainian cities, of course including Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mariupol.

Russian forces announced this yesterday saying they were going to allow evacuations to take place. That they were going to observe a regime of silence for a number of hours today to allow families to flee from these critical areas. But again, the question, Michael, here is, how effective will these corridors be?

Ukrainian authorities have in the past with the course of the last few days accused Russian forces of bombing these humanitarian corridors, of attacking civilians as they flee. But there is a glimmer of hope here.

The Ukrainian government says the first successful humanitarian corridor took place yesterday, I know you showed our viewers pictures from Sumy where this evacuation took place, 5,000 people leaving that city, many of them foreign students, they've been pinned down in fighting for days.

But the other side of the coin here is that Mariupol where a humanitarian convoy was trying to leave Ukraine, forces say that convoy was bombed by Russian forces. Now Russia for its part denies these accusations. But all of this of course makes a very precarious situation, Michael, for these families trying to leave these cities, trying to leave their homes.

And look, we are talking about this as a best-case scenario, that people can safely flee, but all this does is going to create more displacement, more families forced to leave their homes, a bigger refugee population here. That's why the diplomatic efforts are also key here.

Michael, you know that it's been very difficult to get these two sides at the table, but again, there is signs of progress here. Turkey saying that the Russian foreign minister and his Ukrainian counterpart could be meeting as early as tomorrow to start peace talks, to start negotiations, potentially very little details on how indirect or direct those talks will be. But those will be critical, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, indeed. And the talks have gone nowhere so far, but it is significant that there will be hopefully talks at the level of foreign minister. Salma, thank you. Salma Abdelaziz there in London with the latest on that.

Well, there are new concerns surrounding Ukraine's nuclear power plant seized by Russian forces. The International Atomic Energy Agency says it is no longer receiving data from the monitoring systems at the Chernobyl nuclear facility.

Ukraine's nuclear regulators told the IAEA that they can only communicate with the plant via e-mail, and they warn the agency that it's now critical to rotate staff as it is roughly 200 people who are working there, and essentially living at the plant for nearly two weeks straight since Russia took control.

Vladimir Putin has publicly raised the specter of the Cold War and nuclear weapons since directing the invasion of Ukraine.

CNN's Nina dos Santos now reports on how western countries are analyzing those threats, and Russia's arsenal behind it.

As Russia's tanks rolled into Ukraine, Vladimir Putin made a threat not heard since the height of the cold war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As Russia's tanks rolled into Ukraine, Vladimir Putin made a threat not heard since the height of the Cold War.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia's response will be immediate, and will lead you to such consequences never experienced in your history.

DOS SANTOS: Then, days later, he raised the alert level of the world's largest nuclear arsenal.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Everyone knows that a third World War can only be nuclear.

DOS SANTOS: Only nine countries have nuclear weapons. The theory is that they are preventative mechanisms, hopefully never to be needed in battle. According to the Arms Control Association, Russia has the largest number of warheads, just over 6000. While the U.S. isn't far behind, no other country, not even Israel or North Korea has anywhere near this type of capability.

Now most of Russia's warheads are not currently on missile basis. Just over 1,400 of them are deployable at the moment. These find themselves on weapons like intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine launch missiles, and also bombers.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DOS SANTOS: But would Russia's president really use them? Britain's defense secretary told the BBC he thinks Putin is bluffing.

BEN WALLACE, BRITISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE: He reminded everyone he's got nuclear weapons, which as you say starts to set off people being worried, but secondly, he distracted from what's going wrong in Ukraine.

DOS SANTOS: This expert says the mere threat itself is designed to change the dynamics of the war.

MALCOLM CHALMERS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: He is in a corner, somebody is in the corner in that situation, that's declare more danger. We are all prepared to take risks, though it's more than likely, I don't want to alarm people unnecessarily that the probability of this happened. It is low (Ph) but it's not clear.

DOS SANTOS: The last time nuclear weapons were unleashed by the U.S. in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, more than 100,000 died. Could a U.N. disarmament conference Japan express grave concern about Russia.

[03:25:04]

ICHIRO OGASAWARA, JAPANESE AMBASSADOR TO U.N. CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT: It's the only country to have suffered atomic bombings during war. Japan is fully aware of the catastrophic human cost and consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. We stress once again that such tragedy must never be repeated again.

DOS SANTOS: While Russia says its nuclear intentions are purely defensive, that brings to mind its previous assurances, that it had no intentions to invade Ukraine.

LAVROV (through translator): It's in the minds of western politicians that nuclear war is going on. Not in the minds of Russians.

DOS SANTOS: Only President Putin knows how far he would really go. In the meantime, it's a gamble that the west can't afford to take.

Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.

HOLMES: Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, how residents in the port city of Mykolaiv are using tires to try to prevent a major Russian assault. We'll have that and more when we come back.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes with the latest developments from here in Ukraine. Russia's plan for limited ceasefires to allow for humanitarian aid and evacuations. Well, that was supposed to take effect last hour. Now it would provide corridors for people to leave five besiege cities. It is not known yet if the evacuations got under way successfully or not.

Among the five cities is Sumy, that's in the northeast of the country. The regional governor there announced the corridor will stay in operation today. Government officials say 5,000 people were able to leave Sumy on Tuesday.

That the evacuation came hours after officials say an overnight airstrike killed 21 people, two of them children. There has been no escape for people trapped in the besiege city of Mariupol in the south of this country. Ukraine's foreign minister says Russian troops are holding 300,000 civilians hostage as he put it there.

And in the northeast, sustained airstrikes continue on Kharkiv. Despite the shelling, air raids and strikes on residential districts. That city has not yet fallen to the Russians.

And now we turn our attention to the port city of Mykolaiv where residents are bracing for more Russian attacks there. Now it's a key battleground in Russia's effort to capture Ukraine's southern coast.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We are here in Mykolaiv, after dusk we saw what we thought was out going shelling. Relatively busy for about half an hour. And that fed into the general sense I think of unease here in this Kyiv Black Sea port city. Which has been the subject of a lot of Russian military attention over the past week or so.

At this stage, in the middle of the night, the snow has settled in. The exception of the occasional police siren, flashing lights going past, it is deathly quiet. But fear really is that the Russians are about to begin some broader military operation here, that was expressed by the regional Governor, Vitaliy Kim. A galvanizing presence for locals on telegram. With this constant video messages.

Most recently telling people, look, if you don't want to be involved in the fight for the city in a risky fashion. There's something really easy you can do, which is gather your spare tires and drive them to any intersection you can and pile them up. In about 10 or 15 as a pile.

We have seen molotov cocktails put next to it. There's a pile jut down there next to me. And so his order also to two hours later was, listen, you guys have been amazing. Thank you. You have managed to erect this barricades in a matter of hours. Please don't set fire to them until I give the order.

And this is a town I think bracing for the possibility of a Russian assault. They told us that it's unlikely to be this night. As I stand here. It maybe when the sun rises. That's unclear. But Mykolaiv is vitally important. Because it is essentially a port city on the way to Odesa. Along the Black Sea Coast.

Without this, it's very difficult to imagine how the Russians could hold the economic kind of life blood that is Odesa. We have seen over the past week a lot of attempts by the Russian military to get into this town center. Essentially have failed. Because they don't seem to have a military might. They (inaudible) the destruction, where the (inaudible) attacks, various other rocket attacks on suburban civilian areas. But I think the fear now is maybe looking at a new phase. The regional

head, Vitally Kim said that he believes Russia will try and take this town, quote, "At any cost."

It's unclear really what that means. But certainly for the queues the lines of traffic we saw trying to get out of this city, there is definitely real nervousness ahead.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:35:02]

HOLMES: We'll have much more from Ukraine coming up. But first, let's head over to Atlanta, and Rosemary Church. Rosemary?

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Thanks so much, Michael. We'll get back to you very soon.

Coming up, oil prices spike as the U.S. bans all Russian energy imports. We will have the latest in a live report just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the U.S. has now banned Russian energy imports in the latest move meant to punish Moscow for its assault on Ukraine. And one which could have a devastating impact on Russia's struggling economy. The U.K. and the E.U. also announcing moves targeting Russia's oil and gas.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand joins me now live from Brussels with more on this. Good to see you, Natasha. So the U.S. has banned all Russian energy imports. But the E.U. hasn't gone quite as far as that. What impact will all this likely have on Vladimir Putin and, of course, his war in Ukraine?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT POLITICO (on camera): Rosemary, it's really an unprecedented move here by the United States to ban all Russian oil imports. The United Kingdom following suit. Not quite though saying that they are going to ban all imports by the end of 2022. The European Union saying that it is going to phase out those imports by 2030, they hope.

Now, this is going to have a limited impact on the Russian economy. Because the United States really does not import all that much oil from Russia as is. It makes up about 8 percent of oil and gas imports into the United States.

So, in order for this to have a really big impact beyond just the symbolism of it, the European Union would have to follow suit. The whole European block would have to follow and also ban all Russian oil and gas imports. That is not looking like it's going to happen imminently. Of course they're hoping to phase it out.

But they rely on Russian oil and gas for about 40 percent of their imports, of that material. So, it is going to be a lot more difficult for them to do this. However, it is a very symbolic move. It is something that the United States has been weighing over the last several weeks. Of course as Russia launched its invasion. And they believe that if their allies follow suit, then this will have a major, major impact.

But in the meantime, they are -- the United States is seeking out additional countries that could potentially replace the oil that is lost by cutting off Russia from the global economy here. And that has brought in some of these countries from the cold.

To say the least, like Venezuela. The United States has been weighing, lifting sanctions on Venezuela. So that they can increase their oil production in attempt to make up for the lost production by Russia.

In the meantime though, Europe is fearful that Russia could retaliate by just cutting off immediately its gas, oil and gas exports to the block over that decision by Germany to end that Nord Stream 2 pipeline, in response to Russia invasion.

So, there are a lot of moving parts here, but the bottom line here is that the United States' decision alone to ban oil imports not going to have a significant impact on the Russian economy. But if European Union follows suit, it very well could, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Natasha Bertrand, joining us live from Brussels with that report. Many thanks.

Well, Chinese President Xi Jinping says Western sanctions on Russia will be detrimental to the entire world. He voiced his opinion during a virtual summit with the French president and German Chancellor on Tuesday. Saying sanctions will affect not only Russia but also the world's finance, energy, transportation, and supply lines. Notably President Xi again refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Instead offering to mediate the crisis.

Well, there's just a few hours left for South Koreans to vote for a new president. According to pre-election polls there are two front runners in a tight race, vying to replace outgoing President Moon Jae- in. The Democratic Party's Lee Jae-Myung or the People Power Party's Yoon Suk-Yeol. The winner will be faced with the ongoing challenge of their neighbor to the north. And when it comes to North Korea, both candidates represent a very stark choice.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me live now from Seoul with more on all of this. Good to see you, Paula. So what are the two different visions that each of these front runners offer the nation in this very tight and critical race?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Rosemary, these two candidates are ideologically opposed and they also from day one will have to focus and deal with the North Korea, who seems far more concerned with testing their weapons capability and launching missiles, improving their capabilities, than talking either to the South Koreans or to the United States.

So what we have on the liberal side from the ruling party. You have Lee Jae-Myung, he's a former governor of a Gyeonggi Provinces. He's also a former mayor. And he is really appearing to follow the line of the current president, Moon Jae-in.

[03:45:00]

He does favor engagement with North Korea. He favors the step by step process where as if North Korea shows signs of denuclearizing, then some of the sanctions against them could be lifted.

Now when it comes to Yoon Suk-Yeol from the Conservatives, he has a more hardline approach when it comes to North Korea. He believes that there should be full denuclearization before sanctions do start to be lifted. Now, of course, it won't just be North Korea that they will have to deal with, there's also the U.S.-China sanctions.

South Korea has been walking a tight rope for many years. They have this strong security alliance with the United States. And yet they have a very large and growing economic relationship with China.

Now, Lee has said that he believes he can continue to walk that tight rope. Well, there are analysts say that it is becoming more difficult. There will be pressure on the next South Korean president to choose. And we have seen from the conservative side from Yoon that he wants a stronger relationship with the U.S. and less so with China.

And then, of course you have the issue of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That they will have to deal with from day one. And it is wort pointing out, Rosemary, that neither one of these candidates has foreign policy experience. I mean, one is a former Governor. One is a former state prosecutor. They are not candidates who have spent time in the national assembly here, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah. Very important point there. Paula Hancocks, joining us live from Seoul. Many thanks.

Well, the city of Lviv welcomes thousands of displaced Ukrainians, the mayor is calling out for help. The things needed to take care of Lviv's growing refugee population. When we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. And this just in. Ukrainian officials say they will implement temporary ceasefires in some of the hardest hit cities today in order to allow civilians to evacuate.

Now, earlier, Russian officials also promised to abide by ceasefire rules. But so far, it's unclear if any evacuations are actually under way. Ukraine does say that around 5,000 people were able to escape the city of Sumy yesterday under a similar ceasefire agreement. But four other evacuations proposed by Moscow failed to materialize on Tuesday. Ukrainians objecting because most of them led into Russia. Meanwhile, the desperate race to escape fighting in Ukraine fueling

another crisis. The U.N. says, more than two million refugees have now fled the country. Making it the fastest growing refugee crisis Europe has seen since World War II.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YLVA JOHANSSON, HOME AFFAIRS COMMISIONER EUROPEAN COMMISION: This will not be over soon. Putin is fighting his war without restraint, or remorse, or mercy. More is to come. Worse is to come. Millions more will flee. And we must welcome them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, thousands have come here to Lviv to escape Russian attacks. But now the city is pretty much maxed out its resources. And is in desperate need of help to feed and house the influx of the displaced. It is a temporary stop for some. But many remain unsure of where to go from here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice over): In one of the best known theaters in Ukraine cultural Capitol, Lviv, no audience to be entertained rather families seeking shelter from war.

We never imagined we would end up living in a theater, again he 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. Now she contemplates what's to come.

TAMILA KHELADZE, DISPLACED MOTHER: We're (inaudible) and we have plans for future, for occasions, for our babies. We are starting for our babies and it was a happy future.

HOLMES: Throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lviv has been nervous but otherwise an oasis of relative quiet. And that's made this city of destination for those running from where the shells are falling. Most of them are moving onto the border. But more than 200,000 have decided to stay here. Lviv welcoming them. Looking after them. But now the city's mayor says, Lviv is full and we need help.

ANDRIY SADOVYI, LVIV MAYOR: This has put a lot of pressure on us and the infrastructure of Lviv. 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.

UNKNOWN (through translator): It is difficult to imagine how this craziness began. For the sake of what. For what reason? Are they killing people? What have we done to deserve this?

HOLMES: Lviv, a historic city in need of help. The impact of this war being felt well away from the front lines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:55:07]

HOLMES (on camera): Incredibly sad to see. Just think a month or so ago those people were in their homes, living normal lives. Their kids were going to school and now a lot of them are in places like that, theatre there. Not knowing if they'll ever have a home to go back to.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. Isa Soares picks up our coverage in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London. We are following breaking news coverage of the war in Ukraine. And just ahead right here on the show.