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Russian and Ukrainian Diplomats Meeting in Turkey; V.P. Harris Travel to Europe; Thousands Flee Through Humanitarian Corridors; Ukrainian's Bravery Are Immeasurable; Moldova Takes in Refugees. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 10, 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, and welcome to our viewers joining us all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine.

And I do want to get to our breaking news now. Two weeks into the Russian invasion of this country, a merciless blast in Mariupol hurting hearts and causing global outrage.

Russia accused of striking a maternity ward and children's hospital. We're told 17 people were wounded in the explosion, pregnant women, new mothers, and staff members. Amazingly, no deaths were reported, at least as of now. Ukraine's president calling the attack a war crime and genocide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Children's hospital? Maternity ward? Why were they a threat to Russian federation? What kind of country is Russian federation that is afraid of hospitals? Afraid of maternity wards and destroys them? A strike on a maternity hospital is a final proof, a proof of genocide of Ukrainians is taking place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now we are about to show you a series of images that are disturbing but are important for people to see to understand what is really going on here. They show some of the visibly wounded victims from that hospital. Extremely pregnant women being rushed out, in some cases, carried out on stretchers.

Russia denies responsibility again, insisting its forces do not target civilians. But a few hours before the attack, the Russian foreign ministry claimed that Ukrainian combat troops had taken up position inside that hospital. Ukraine says that is absolute nonsense.

Mariupol has endured more than its share of misery. These photographs showing bodies wrapped in plastic bags and carpets being placed into mass graves. We're told this trench was dug next to a graveyard. Overwhelmed workers and terrified families clearly unable to provide fitting burials.

City officials say some 1,300 civilians are being called in Mariupol since the start of the invasion. We cannot independently confirm that figure, but it far exceeds the U.N.'s estimated death toll of 516 which is for the entire country and almost certainly a vast underestimate.

Now the red areas there showed the cities that Russian forces are closing in and the direction they've been moving. Meanwhile, high level talks between Ukraine and Russia's top diplomats are said to get underway any moment in Antalya in Turkey.

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba is meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. The two have also been meeting with Turkey's foreign minister. Now Kuleba says his expectations for the negotiations are low, but hopes that Lavrov's goal is to work towards ending this war.

Jomana Karadsheh joins me now from where the talks will take place in Antalya in Turkey. Jomana, expectations low, at least from the Ukrainian side. What can we expect?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're going to have to wait and see in the next few hours, Michael, what comes out at these meetings. We know that the meetings set to begin in any moment right now. We know that the Turkish foreign minister who will be part of this meeting hosting both his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts has been meeting with the two of them separately this morning ahead of that meeting.

Turkish officials really have been working really hard behind the scenes for weeks now, Michael, trying to negotiate, to mediate, to bring both sides to the negotiating table. They are quite optimistic. I mean, the Turkish foreign minister saying he is hoping that this is going to be a turning point.

President Erdogan hoping that this would open the door to a permanent ceasefire, he says. But as you mentioned, I mean, from both sides, it seems the expectations are quite low. The Ukrainian foreign minister, Kuleba, again saying he doesn't have high expectations, but he is going to try his best. He is going to try and make the best out of it pretty much.

He's also saying that he is hoping that his Russian counterpart approaches these talks, in his words, in good faith and not from a propaganda perspective. Really pointing out there that he knows his Russian counterparts' style really well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (voice over): When the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers meet in Antalya in southern Turkey on Thursday, they won't just bring to the table different objectives, but also very different styles. [03:04:57]

Sergey Lavrov has been the face and voice of Russian foreign policy since 2004, one of the longest serving Russian cabinet members. Now 71 years old, Lavrov is seen as a tough, no-nonsense diplomat who vigorously defends the Kremlin line, standing firm on Russia's policies over the years from the annexation of Crimea to its military campaign in Syria, to defending against criticism of Russia's human rights record. He is a stern figure who doesn't shy away from blunt talk.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Well, everybody knows the third World War can only be nuclear. But please see this nuclear war is constantly rotating in the heads of western politicians, not in the heads of Russians.

KARADSHEH: On the other side, Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba is 31 years younger than his counterpart. He has only been a minister for two years, at age 40 one of the youngest senior diplomats in Ukrainian's history. But he has worked in Ukraine's diplomatic service off and on since 2003.

Kuleba is also seen as a media savvy diplomat. Writing in 2019 book called "War for Reality," described as a handbook on personal data protection, critical thinking and resisting manipulation in the age of internet and mass digitization. In the current crisis he has appeared often on western TV news as even tempered and straight forward.

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: As we speak, Russian planes continue to bomb Ukrainian cities, kill Ukrainian civilians including women and children. It's a disaster here.

KARADSHEH: But despite the skills of each diplomat, the results of the meeting in Antalya will likely be driven by the national interest of each country and the outcomes desired by their bosses.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (on camera): And Michael, while Foreign Minister Kuleba saying that he is coming to these meetings without any really high expectations at the outcome of these talks, he does say that he is coming here with -- from a position of strength right now after the fight that the Ukrainians have put up on the ground over the past couple of weeks, as well as the international support his country has gotten and the sanctions that Russia has been hit with.

HOLMES: All right, Jomana, thanks. Keep an eye on the talks for us. Jomana Karadsheh there in Turkey for us.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back this hour, fleeing the war zones thousands heading for safer ground during a fragile ceasefire. We'll see what's in store for the day ahead.

[03:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: All right. Crucial, vital, important talks about to take

place in Antalya in Turkey. There is the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov arriving. He is going to be meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in the next hour or so. A lot riding on this, but low expectations, it has to be said.

All right. We'll keep you informed of what is happening as that goes on. Now meanwhile, authorities were planning to open six more humanitarian corridors in Ukraine today. Three green corridors are planned for the Sumy region. That's what they're calling them. Routes out of Mariupol and Volnovakha are being planned. Both cities are being surrounded by Russian forces for several days.

Now President Zelenskyy said nearly 35,000 people were rescued from Sumy, the Kyiv region, and from Enerhodar on Wednesday. The interior ministry said more than 3,000 people were able to escape the fighting in the occupied parts of Irpin and Vorzel. About 100 buses and ambulances got people out of those areas north of Kyiv.

Now CNN's Scott McLean joins me here now to talk more about these humanitarian corridors. I mean, it's good that there is something going on. But where were their problems?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so you mentioned the places that we had success. So Enerhodar parts of Kyiv and Sumy. But other parts of suburban Kyiv obviously there were issues. Specifically, the town of Bucha, a suburb north and a bit west of the city.

That is where the Ukrainian authorities accuse the Russians of blocking a convoy which had assembled. So, what appears to have happened according to the local officials on the ground is that some people who were in that convoy ended up trying to get over to the other corridor through Irpin and then getting out.

The trouble is that by the time they actually got there, well, it was quite late. And so, officials were saying that there was 15 kilometers of backed up traffic of people trying to get out. And this was after the 8 o'clock curfew. Obviously, the corridors did not work out yesterday in Volnovakha where Ukrainian say some 20,000 people would like to get out. And obviously, given the destruction that we saw in Mariupol, that was a non-starter as well.

HOLMES: Right. Now I know that yesterday you were at the train station here in Lviv. There is a lot of people who got out of Sumy, came here via train. You spoke to some of them. What did they tell you about the experience?

MCLEAN: Yes. This is actually a pretty remarkable story. So, some of the first people to leave in that convoy were actually international students, well over 700 of them. Mostly from India, China and a lot of Africans as well.

And they described an absolutely terrifying experience, staying in the basement of their dormitory for days on end, just hoping and praying. One student told me that she at one point just accepted that she may die.

HOLMES: Wow.

MCLEAN: And she said because every time that a bomb would hit, you wouldn't just hear it, you would feel it and you would freeze. And so, they were just hoping and praying that something could get organized with these corridors. But remember, at the time they were watching the news and realizing that things were not working out well in Mariupol. Things were not working out well in Volnovokha. And so, it was a pretty tense time.

[03:14:58]

And so, when they were able the get out, it took them 11 hours by bus. They went past lots of tanks, lots of military vehicles, a frightening experience. And then from there they were put on a train here to Lviv. The entire experience took them well over 24 hours. Some very uncomfortable transportation, but I can tell you nobody complained about the transportation.

HOLMES: Yes.

MCLEAN: Here is what one student told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: We've been crying. We've been shouting for everyone to like help us out of Sumy for the past two weeks. And eventually, they came to our rescue. They brought us out of Sumy.

MCLEAN: So how you feeling now?

UNKNOWN: Happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Amazing stories.

MCLEAN: And here's what's remarkable. Obviously, this is a terrifying experience for all of these students. But most of them who I spoke to said they're keen to come back. This has not marred their experience in Ukraine at all.

HOLMES: Wow. Really?

MCLEAN: They say look, the war is probably not going to last forever. So, when it does end, they plan to go straight back to continue their education. They love Ukraine, and they say that it's been wonderful experience. Obviously save for the last few days.

HOLMES: That is -- that is remarkable, isn't it?

MCLEAN: Yes.

HOLMES: This country is big for foreign students and education at the universities here. Many of which they'll have to rebuild. Scott, good to see you. Thank you so much.

MCLEAN: Yes.

HOLMES: Scott McLean there.

All right. Now we've got the foreign minister for Poland Kuleba arriving now. Ukraine, sorry, for Ukraine arriving, Mr. Kuleba. He's going in. We saw Sergey Lavrov arrive just a few minutes ago. So, both of these foreign ministers are now there for these talks in Antalya. And we'll keep you updated on how it goes.

All right. Olena Dunieva is a mother of two. She has been living through the invasion. She comes to us from the coastal city of Odessa. That is a city that is under threat. What is the situation like there at the moment? More importantly, perhaps, what are you expecting?

OLENA DUNIEVA, UKRAINIAN MOTHER: Hi, Michael. Yes, for now it is fairly calm in Odessa. Of course, we may hear several air raids alarms throughout the day. We may hear how anti-aircraft systems working. But for most of the day, it is calm. Of course, there is this constant threat coming from the sea, from Russian warships patrolling the Black Sea nearby Odessa.

The results of this looming threat coming from the so-called Republic of Transnistria and the Russian troops keep on coming from Crimea. But from that side, we are shouldered by our neighboring city of Mykolaiv. The guys fighting like superheroes there. And they're actually ensuring our calm sleep at night at the cost of their lives.

So, Odessa has been ready for a few days for an assault. It's not happening yet. But I think most of the citizens are ready to fight and to resist. I have never seen my people that mobilized and that united in a common goal to resist this invasion.

HOLMES: We're seeing extraordinary bravery by Ukrainians. A couple of things. Why did you decide to stay, having a pretty good idea of what might be to come? Why did you decide to stay? And you have two little kids. What do you tell them?

DUNIEVA: Well, when this full-scale invasion started, at first, we were as kids and we were lost, and my maternal instinct told me to flee away from danger to grab my kids and flee away. But then I realized that I am more angry than scared, that I'm at home. This is my homeland. And really, I will stay here as long as I have -- as long as I have a roof above my head.

So, I can't do much. I'm a civilian. But I think with my --with my attitude, with my determination to stay and protect my homeland, I'm somehow helping my people. So, yes, I'm determined to stay for now. I'm determined to stay.

HOLMES: Right.

DUNIEVA: Of course, we prepared. We prepared. We are prepared for the worse. We see what is happening all around Ukraine. And this war crimes against civilians are terrifying. But still, yes, I decided to stay.

HOLMES: Well, and extraordinary courage. I mean, you touch on this before. But I mean, if the Russians do come in, and they are certainly planning on doing that. How will the people in Odessa respond once they try to enter the city?

[03:19:54]

DUNIEVA: I think we will welcome them with cocktails of Molotov. I think we will show no mercy to invaders. I think that Odessa people feel a little bit maybe guilty because our city is untouched yet. And we see how the rest of Ukraine is suffering. So, I think our people and our military, they are -- they are eager to finally fight invader and to show that he is not welcomed here.

HOLMES: Yes. And for perspective, that's Ukraine's third largest city. Incredible bravery. Olena Dunieva, thank you so much for speaking with us. We wish you well. Good luck. We'll check in with you. Thank you so much.

DUNIEVA: Thank you, Michael. Thank you for the interview. Thank you. Bye.

HOLMES: Isn't that just amazing? You hear the courage there. That city almost certainly to be attacked, or it's certainly on Russia's list to be attacked. And the sheer courage that you hear there, the stoicism in the face of that threat.

A quick break here. When we come back, when refugees arrive in a new country, the future can seem dark. Coming up, we'll meet some families who have opened up their homes and their hearts to those fleeing war. Stay with us. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

[03:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. I'm Michael Holmes in Lviv, Ukraine.

And we are keeping a close watch on developments out of Turkey. That's where the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. It is the highest-level face- to-face contact between these two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago now.

Meanwhile, in Poland, the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is going to be meeting with the country's president and prime minister in the next hour, hoping to clear up a dispute over Poland's plan to send fighter jets to Ukraine by way of a U.S.-NATO air base in Germany. The U.S. has rejected that idea, saying it could just make things worse.

Now an old quote says that "war brings out the worst and the best in people," and some of the best can be seen in a Moldovan village with an earshot of the Ukrainian border. Moldova has received more than 80,000 Ukrainian refugees. And as Ivan Watson reports people in one village are opening their homes and their hearts to Ukrainians in need.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the day Russia first attacked Ukraine, residents of this sleepy village in Moldova heard explosions.

RUSANDA CURCA, MOLDOVAN ACTIVIST: You can hear sometimes the explosions from Ukraine. It's terrifying.

WATSON: It's not just the sounds of war that are coming across the border. Refugees of the conflict have come here too. Some Moldovan villagers have opened their doors to their Ukrainian neighbors in their time of need. People like Boris Makeyev. This 75-year-old widower welcomed Olga Kuznetsova, her mother and two children into his home after they fled across the border last week.

"I feel badly for them," he says. "The children are small. This little one is innocent." Boris holds 2-year-old Andrei (Ph) as if he was his own grandson. These Ukrainians have never been to Moldova before, but they fled after spending days and nights hiding from Russian air strikes in the basement of their home.

The family left on very short notice after hearing warplanes to the night. They packed two suitcases and left with five minutes' notice. With no advanced planning, the women rely entirely on the generosity of Moldovans for food, shelter and clothing, including for 8-year-old Viera (Ph).

Viera says there are very kind people here in Moldova.

What made you want to help?

CURCA: I don't know how to act differently, you know.

WATSON: Rusanda Curca has been helping find homes in the village for a few dozen of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians that have fled to Moldova in the last two weeks.

CURCA: Because it's normal to help people in need. Some people are hosting refugees. Other are donating products, stuffs, things. And others are just praying for peace.

WATSON: Down the road from Boris' house, we meet Valentina Cherney (Ph). She took in her Ukrainian sister-in-law Olga and family, including 29-year-old Natalya, who is seven months' pregnant.

"We have to stop Vladimir Putin," Olga tells me, "or else, he'll just keep going, invading countries like Moldova and Poland." As she speaks, Olga's 14-year-old daughter fights to hold back tears.

The Moldovan government says tens of thousands of refugees are living in the homes of ordinary Moldovans, an extraordinary act of collective kindness from one of the poorest countries in Europe. Asked how long he could afford to continue hosting this Ukrainian family, Boris Makeyev told me they can stay as long as they need. [03:30:05]

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hirtop, Moldova.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now when refugees arrive in places like Moldova, which you just saw in Ivan's report, it can be frightening, of course. And that's where groups like ShelterBox come in. They hand deliver emergency shelter and supplies to those devastated by war. Now ShelterBox's president says they're working with locals to provide help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRI MURRAY, PRESIDENT, SHELTERBOX USA: Ten to 20,000 people a day. This is the first stop at this train station. We're in a small town. It's only 60,000 people. And I'll tell you that the polish citizens are the first responders here.

At the train station, people are tired. They're overwhelmed. But I'll tell you, there are so many people here that are providing everything from soup and hot meals, bread. They're giving out sim cards. They're helping people find (inaudible). And at ShelterBox we have to forward our response to here to Poland to see how we can mobilize support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You saw Kerri Murray there. And Kerri Murray from ShelterBox joins me now live from Poland. Tell us more about the immediate needs that you've identified that people need help with. I mean, a lot of these are very basic things of life, aren't they?

MURRAY (on camera): You're right. They're so basic. It's around food, water, shelter, access to medical care. And the overwhelming majority of the people I met, and at that train station, 20,000 people a day. They're women. They're children. They're elderly. They're disabled.

And they've come with little more than the clothes on their back. Maybe a small bag. And they don't know what's next. So it's just the basic things for survival. And that's what we do every day at ShelterBox. We respond in some of the world's most extreme conflict zones, and we provide emergency shelter and the basics.

Things like blanket, things like ground mats, solar lanterns, water purification, the basic things you need to sustain your life when you've lost everything in an instant.

HOLMES: And you coordinate your efforts I think with the United Nations. I mean, how much cooperation is there between the various aid groups, NGOs and so on?

MURRAY: It's incredible. I'm here now. I was in the southeast of Poland on the border earlier in the week. Today, I'm in Krakow. It's incredible to see the humanitarian agencies from around the world coordinating. We feed into the U.N. cluster system, the shelter cluster and logistics cluster.

We're all here. We're all working together. We're all sharing knowledge. We're all sharing any sort of needs assessments we're getting out of Ukraine, and we're working together. No organization can do it alone.

It's the collective effort of all of these humanitarian agencies that are going to help provide life-saving assistance to these families fleeing Ukraine and also to the very vulnerable people that are displaced within Ukraine, the internally displaced.

HOLMES: You've had I think a decade working in the humanitarian field. What do you make of the sheer magnitude of this?

MURRAY: Never seen anything like it, ever. You know, this is the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War. I have never seen movement like this as quickly. ShelterBox has been responding for a decade within Syria, and massive displacement as well as internal displacement refugee crisis.

But this is so fast-moving. And these neighboring countries, including Poland are quickly becoming overwhelmed. Two million refugees today. The U.N. is saying seven, I even heard nine million potential. And these countries, like you mentioned Moldova, they're going to quickly become overwhelmed.

HOLMES: Yeah, yeah, I mean, at one stage the number of refugees in Moldova was a significant percentage of the population of that country. I think, you know, one of the things that is difficult to do sometimes is to, you know, get past the numbers. Get people to put themselves in the position of these Ukrainians fleeing.

I mean, yeah, last month, living normal lives in their homes, you know, kids are in school. They go to work. And then all of the sudden, they're refugees, you know, possessing only what they could carry out.

MURRAY: Yeah. Their families have been ripped apart. At the train station, I met a mother. She traveled for five days. She went by foot. She went by bus. She went by train and she came with her 10-year-old son. But she had to leave behind her 22-year-old son who was forced to stay to fight. And so their families are ripped apart. They don't know if their homes have been destroyed. It's just awful. And they just need the basic things. We have to help this families.

HOLMES: All right. Kerri Murray with ShelterBox, I appreciate you joining us. I appreciate what you're doing there in Poland. Thank you so much.

[03:35:03]

All right. If you would like to help the people in Ukraine yourself who might be in need of shelter, food and water, please go to CNN.com/impact. A lot of resource there. You'll be able to find several ways you can help.

All right. I'll have more from Ukraine a little later this hour. For now though, let's bring in Rosemary Church in Atlanta. Rosemary?

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Thank you, Michael. I appreciate that. We'll get back to you very soon.

Well, a winner has emerged from South Korea's tightly contested presidential election. Yoon Suk-yeol takes power in May, and some big changes could be in store for the country. We are live in Seoul with more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the White House is slamming China for helping Russia push lies about its invasion of Ukraine. In a tweet, Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, said, and I'm quoting here, "We took note of Russia's false claims about alleged U.S. biological weapons labs and chemical weapons development in Ukraine. We've also seen Chinese officials echo these conspiracy theories."

And this comes as China, a key Russian ally, faces growing scrutiny as state media pushes the Kremlin spin. Earlier, I talked about all of this with Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at "The Atlantic Council."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE METZL, SENIOR FELLOW, THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: So China is finding itself in this very, very difficult position where she called President Putin his best friend. They said there were no limits to the friendship between China and Russia. And now that friendship is being tested because China is ostensibly all in for this invasion. Certainly based on the majority of what Chinese government officials have said, based on what kind of communications are being allowed in Chinese social media, and based on the actions of the Chinese government. So the Chinese government is not in for murdering Ukrainian civilians, now is the time to speak up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Jamie Metzl there talking to me earlier.

Well, meantime, South Korea has a new President-Elect. Conservative Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party squeaked out a victory over Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung with just over 48 percent of the vote. It marks a significant shift from the leadership of outgoing President Moon Jae-in.

Yoon has promised a tougher stance against North Korea and a closer relationship with the United States, referred to as iron-clad by the White House on Wednesday.

Well, the news comes as the U.S. steps up intelligence gathering and surveillance of North Korea after a flurry of recent ballistic missile launches by Pyongyang. The U.S. Indo-Pacific command has also ordered missile defense forces in the region to heightened alert. CNN's Paula Hancock joins me now from Seoul with more on all of this.

Paula, what could the election of conservative Yoon Suk-yeol mean potentially for relations with North Korea and of course for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Rosemary, what we could see is some radically different policies when it comes to North Korea. Considering he is part of the opposition Conservative Party, he has a very different idea to the current President, Moon Jae-in, who is very pro engagement with North Korea.

President-Elect Yoon has said that he wants to see complete denuclearization of North Korea before he would consider lifting sanctions.

Now we already know from experience that is not something that North Korea would agree to. It's something that the former U.S. President Donald Trump was pushing for. And we saw how that ended in Hanoi at their summit as both walked away without any agreement.

So certainly it is going to be interesting to see how that policy does change when he takes power in May. Because of course what we've seen so far is his campaign promises.

And bear in mind he is a former state prosecutor. So he has very little political experience. He has no foreign policy experience. So, of course we will have to wait and see exactly what he does once he gets into power.

He has spoken already to the U.S. President Joe Biden. The U.S. President calling him to congratulate him. And he did ask the U.S. President to be more engaged and pay more attention to North Korea. He has today been talking about the illegal and unreasonable actions of North Korea.

We've seen a very active North Korea in recent months. January was a record when it came to missile launches. And he is already pushing the U.S. to do more, saying he wants to be closer to the U.S., which of course there are questions as to what his relationship with China will be.

There is an expectation he will pull away from China somewhat, which economically could be difficult. But of course, we have to wait and see what he does exactly when he takes power in May. But it's certainly not going to be the sort of relationship and engagement hopes with North Korea that we have seen over the past few years.

[03:45:02]

Although it is worth bearing in mind that even with those engagement hopes and pushes, North Korea at this point is far more concerned with testing its weapons capabilities than talking to South Korea or the United States.

So, I think the next five years, it's a one-term, five-year term for the South Korean president, could be fairly different to what we have seen in recent years. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks, joining us live from Seoul. Many thanks for that report. And we'll be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes in Lviv, Ukraine. We do have an update on our top story this hour for you. The Mariupol City Council says that three people wounded in that airstrike on the maternity hospital there have now died. And that includes one child. Ukraine blaming Russia for the attack. More than a dozen other people were wounded, including pregnant women, new mothers, children, and doctors.

Now the innocent and vulnerable victims of any war, of course, are the children. In Mariupol, they're suffering the consequences of Russia's bombing of that maternity and children's hospital. (Inaudible), forced to flee a makeshift medical trains when they're desperately ill. Many of them now living as refugees in neighboring countries, some of them without their parents with them.

Miguel Marquez with some of their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASHA, UKRAINIAN KID: Hello. My name is Sasha.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nine-year- old Sasha (Inaudible), one of hundreds of Ukrainian kids with no parents or separated from them, now being cared for in Romania.

"I have no mother and father, they died," he says. "I lived in several places, and I know it's important to listen to my teachers and behave myself."

This government facility, north of (inaudible) has taken in 27 kids, all with varying degrees of physical or mental disabilities.

"This is a tragic moment for all of us," she says. "It's a huge challenge for the system and our community, but we have the resources to care for these children."

These kids along with a few teachers fled Ukraine's Southern Odessa region last week.

"Our trip took all morning and all night," he says. I don't know how to explain it."

Was it a long trip?

Stas Glitman (ph) turned 11 the day we visited.

"I wanted a smartphone for my birthday," he says, "but I'm afraid to ask the teachers." Angelinas, Stas' big sister says their mother is still in Ukraine,

unable to travel. "I'm thinking about my family," she says. "My mother can't walk. She was injured in a vehicle accident." They all know a war is happening back home. They don't totally understand it.

"There is a war in Ukraine," he says. "So the director of our school decided to bring us here."

Nearly 220 Ukrainian children like Sasha are now in Romania, say immigration officials here. Their futures before the war uncertain. Today -- how long will you stay here?

"Maybe two or three months," she says. "Maybe four months."

Just this one county sheltering 66 Ukrainian children in three different facilities, kids who have no parents with them, and for now, no country.

How do you feel they are doing?

"They are feeling good," she says. "They're sleeping well, playing lots of games, and eating well."

These teachers and staff from the Ukrainian school upended their lives too, leaving loved ones behind, they stayed with these kids. Their responsibilities for them and hope for their homeland boundless.

How do you feel about the future? Where will all this go?

"We believe in a better future and that the war will be over," she says. "I believe Ukraine will stay united as a nation."

And like kids everywhere, they have dreams, big ones. What you want to be when you grow up?

"I want to be an American," he says. Then adds, "I also want to fly into space and take my teacher with me."

Those caring for these kids have a simpler maybe more impossible hope.

If you had a magic wand and you could wish for one thing, what would it be?

Peace, only peace. No translation needed.

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HOLMES: Miguel Marquez there. Now, again, if you would like to help people in Ukraine who might be in need of shelter, food and water, go to CNN.com/impact. You're going to find a lot of ways there that you can help.

Now before we go, more than 1500 people gathered in Budapest to send a visual call for peace. Greenpeace Hungary and 37 other NGOs organizing this demonstration.

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In a statement, Greenpeace condemning the war, quote, "Launched by President Putin." Demanding an immediate end to the fighting and the withdrawal of Russian troops from this country.

Thanks for your company, spending part of your day with me. From here in Lviv in Ukraine, I'm Michael Holmes. More on Russia's invasion of Ukraine ahead with Isa Soares.

But first, we leave you this hour with music from the Kyiv classic symphony orchestra performing in the city's Maiden Square.

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