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Ukrainian Forces Destroy Russian Tanks Near Kyiv; IAEA: Ukraine Says Lost Communication with Chernobyl Plant; Foreign Students in Ukraine Finding Relief after Russian Attacks; Refugees Pour into Romania Amid Mass Exodus from Ukraine; Crisis Grows in Besieged City of Mariupol; Foreign Fighters Head to Ukraine to Help; Kyiv City Ballet Stranded in Paris. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired March 11, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[00:00:27]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine.

And Russian forces appear to be moving closer to Kyiv with a concerted push from the East. Heavy fighting reported in several towns near the Ukrainian capital. Here, Ukrainian forces trying to free a town that is currently being occupied by the Russians. The fighting, as you're about to hear, is intense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(GUNFIRE)

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HOLMES: New satellite images, meanwhile, reveal significant damage to an industrial district just North of Kyiv. Another picture showing a supermarket destroyed by fire.

And here, we see that the massive Russian convoy North of Kyiv has been largely dispersed. To where, as yet unclear. But the British defense ministry reporting more Russian forces are being sent in to encircle key cities.

And a U.S. official says Russians are relying more on long-range bombardment missile launches and airstrikes.

Now, global condemnation is growing for Russia's airstrike on a children's and maternity hospital in the southern port city of Mariupol. The mayor there calling it genocide, and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations saying it's a war crime.

Three people were killed in the attack. More than a dozen others were wounded.

The city is encircled by Russian forces, even from the sea, and the Red Cross says food, water, electricity and medical supplies are running out. The situation, they say, is quote, "increasingly dire and desperate."

Now the U.S. vice president, Kamala Harris, on a visit to Poland, came under some criticism as she stopped short of calling Russian airstrikes a war crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are also very clear that any intentional attack on innocent civilians is a violation. And I have no question the eyes of the world are on this war. And what Russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, talks in Turkey between the top Russian (AUDIO GAP) diplomats produced no breakthroughs. Not a lot of people were surprised. The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, even denying that Russia had attacked Ukraine.

Now, Ukrainian forces are putting up stiff resistance, as we know, to the Russian military advance outside of the capital. They claim they've destroyed a tank column that was on its way to Kyiv.

CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The aftermath of fierce fighting East of the Ukrainian capital.

"This is what you get when you invade Ukrainian land," the narrator says.

As Russian forces attempt to encircle Kyiv, Ukrainian military says it's defeated an entire regiment of Russian tanks and liquidated its commander.

Drone video captured the armored column in the city of Brovary, being attacked and destroyed. The latest battlefield win in what is proving for now to be a determined Ukrainian stand.

But on the diplomatic front, stalemate. Despite the highest-level talks since this Russia-Ukraine conflict began, foreign ministers meeting in the Turkish city of Antalya. Ukrainian officials tell CNN the Russian side appeared unwilling, or unable, to make a deal.

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We also raised the issue of a cease-fire, 24-hour cease-fire, to resolve the most pressing humanitarian issues. We did not make progress on this, since it seems that there are other decision makers for this -- for this matter in Russia.

CHANCE: It's these gut-wrenching scenes in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol provoking wide international scorn. A maternity hospital, devastated by Russian forces. According to Ukrainian officials, killing at least three people inside, including a child.

Horrific images are circulating, like this one, of pregnant women bloodied in the attack.

[00:05:02]

Still, the Russian foreign minister is insisting this was a legitimate strike on a far-right Ukrainian militia, the Azov Battalion, not a war crime.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): At the meeting of the U.N. Security Council, our delegation presented facts about this maternity hospital having long been seized by the Azov Battalion and other radicals. And they have driven all the pregnant women and the nurses out of it.

CHANCE: But in cities across Ukraine, trapped civilians are desperately escaping the fighting.

These, the latest scenes from Irpin, North of Kyiv, where the city's mayor says nearly half the population has already fled.

With no peace in sight, Ukraine's capital is emptying as Russian forces advance.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, the top U.S. intelligence official is dismissing Russian allegations the U.S. is developing chemical weapons in Ukraine. National intelligence director Admiral Haines testifying before senators on Thursday, a day after the White House slammed those accusations as false and said they could be part of Moscow's strategy to accuse first before using similar weapons themselves.

Haines said the allegations are signature Russia propaganda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADMIRAL AVRIL HAINES, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We do not believe that Ukraine is pursuing biological or nuclear weapons. That we've seen no evidence of that.

And frankly, this influence campaign is completely consistent with long-standing Russian efforts to accuse the United States of sponsoring bio weapons work in former Soviet Union. So this is a classic move by the Russians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy echoing the U.S. sentiment on Thursday. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): They accuse us -- again, us -- that we are allegedly developing biological weapons. Allegedly we are preparing a chemical attack. This makes me really worried, because we've been repeatedly convinced, if you want to know Russia's plans, look at what Russia accuses others of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, President Zelenskyy also denying Ukraine has developed any kind of weapon of mass destruction.

Concerns are growing about Ukraine's nuclear power plants taken over by Russian troops. Ukraine is now telling the U.N.'s Atomic Energy Agency it has lost all communications with the Chernobyl plant.

On Wednesday, it lost its external power supply, which is needed to cool its used nuclear fuel. The U.N. nuclear agency says it cannot confirm reports that power is now back on. Nina dos Santos has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR (voice-over): First, Russia seized Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear meltdown. A week later, it was Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear plant. Now, with power cut from Chernobyl and more than 200 plant workers held hostage, alarm bells are ringing.

ZELENSKYY: This was terror at a new level. Ukraine has 15 nuclear plants, and the Russian military has forgotten Chernobyl and the world's tragedy.

RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: We cannot go on like this. There has to be clear understandings and clear -- clear commitments not to go anywhere near a nuclear facility when it comes to nuclear -- to military operations.

DOS SANTOS: Some have called the targeting of such sensitive infrastructure a war crime.

(on camera): Do you think that these nuclear plants are going to be targeted specifically?

TARAS KUZIO, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SECURITY AFFAIRS EXPERT: They are extremely callous. They don't give a damn about civilian casualties. But I'd be surprised if they were going to deliberately target with missiles or artillery nuclear power plants. Although, you know, with the sociopathic President Putin, anything is possible.

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: It's energy extortion, nuclear energy extortion in this case. And it also is extortion of the Ukrainian people, because it's going to harm their ability to gain -- eat, have electricity. This is a diabolical maneuver by Vladimir Putin. DOS SANTOS: Ukraine is home to 15 nuclear facilities. With two taken

already, Russian forces are now approaching Ukraine's second largest nuclear site, Yuzhnoukrainsk, in the middle of Oblast.

But being targeted is a means to control the power supply to Ukraine cities and towns, as a way of internally controlling all aspects of -- of Ukrainian society. Trying to put a stranglehold, or a squeeze on Ukraine civilians.

DOS SANTOS: Nuclear power makes up almost a quarter of Ukraine's overall energy mix, after coal and natural gas, most of which ultimately comes from Russia.

But oil has also been hit. Ukraine posted these images on Tuesday of fires at oil depots in Zhytomyr and Chernihiv, in the northwest of the country.

The jury is out for now on what Russia's endgame is with Ukraine's energy infrastructure, especially its nuclear sites. Ukraine tells the IAEA that radiation levels at these plants appear to be normal. But Western nerves have been rattled.

[00:10:14]

Nina dos Santos, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And joining me now from McLean in Virginia, Douglas London is a retired CIA operations officer and author of the book, "The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence."

And on that subject, I want to tap into your intel expertise. It's good to see you again. You -- you co-wrote a fascinating article in "The Hill" about the role of intelligence in the context of this war and particularly about what the community calls human -- human intelligence.

How important is that? How lacking has it been, perhaps, perhaps when it comes to Russia and Vladimir Putin?

DOUGLAS LONDON, RETIRED CIA OPERATIONS OFFICER: Thank you, Michael.

The war in Ukraine illustrates what I write about in my book, that human intelligence, the information you get from sources, people on the inside, has become even more important as technology has evolved.

Intelligence isn't perfect, because it's incomplete. It's like looking at a jigsaw puzzle where you have only parts of the picture apparent to you.

We are watching Russia move all of its weapons and its machinery into Belarus and around the borders. But we couldn't tell from those pictures what it meant, what Putin's decision was going to be, whether he was going to invade, and how far he was going to go. You see the intelligence to which that American officials have

referred, they use descriptions of confidence. We have high confidence that Russia plans to invade and seek to decapitate the capital.

That, I believe, is a reflection of multi-source information, including human, which tells you what you're looking at, gives you context, and gives you a sense of interpretation of what it is and what the meaning is, and what's still to come.

HOLMES: Yes. You've had a long history, as we said, in the intelligence community; held many roles. So in the context of Ukraine, what was fascinating, particularly early on, was the U.S. tactic of releasing apparently classified intel to head off possible Russian plans for a false flag operations and so on.

How unusual was that in the world of intel, declassifying things like that?

LONDON: It's really unprecedented, the amount of information that was declassified from apparently raw intelligence. We've seen the Khashoggi report. We've seen the information on Russian meddling. Those were finished products that had gone through analytic review and a good deal of scrubbing before it was made declassified.

Here we had the president, secretary of state, secretary of defense releasing almost daily information that seemed to be coming in a stream of information. We haven't seen that since at least December of 1980, when we tried to throw off the then Soviets, who were planning to invade Poland.

I don't necessarily think it was done with the belief it was going to be preempt Putin's invasion. I think we are pretty confident he was going to do it.

I would like to think it was more to prepare the battlefield, to create public opinion pressure on our allies, on governments in NATO and the G-7, to unify as we have. So I think in that extent, it's been very successful.

HOLMES: That's an interesting take on it. In the bigger picture, does there need to be a bigger investment in human intelligence? Human and resources? Has that ball been dropped in this high-tech age, that sort of shoe leather aspect?

LONDON: Technology is such that it works both ways. And people could use it to manipulate images, manipulate collection of voice recordings that we might even pick up. And so I think that the agency, particularly the CIA, my old employers, were so focused on counter- terrorism for a while that they were likely under-investing in what they needed.

But were able to transition and pivot now, as we see, clearly from the intelligence set we've heard and read being declassified.

But there's still some work to do. Technology is great, and we need it, but it's not going to tell us what's going to happen. And it may not actually tell us the truth about what we're looking at.

HOLMES: Yes, yes. You know, there's been a lot of talk about Putin's state of mind. But for the U.S. to assess that, that requires assets on the ground, doesn't it? People, if not with him, close to those who are able to offer an assessment, that's been uniquely difficult when it comes to Putin, hasn't it?

LONDON: Well, Putin's trajectory, if you look at it in hindsight, probably makes a lot of sense. He's been talking about the era that was the collapse of the Soviet Union, not recognizing Ukraine as a sovereign, independent country for a while now.

But understanding his calculus is understanding who he's listening to and what the intelligence is he's getting. And you really do need an insider for that, because from his aims and from the way the war has been executed, it would seem that it doesn't even meet his own objectives, which would suggest that he's not been getting the best intelligence himself.

And whether it's a matter of him being less rational, maybe it's really more a case of he's not getting the right information. And those around him in his circle aren't willing to tell him the truth as it really is.

[00:15:07]

HOLMES: Yes. Which -- which is not a way to run an operation, is it? Doug, good to see you, my friend. Douglas London in McLean, Virginia. Great insight there on the intel aspect of all of this.

LONDON: OK.

HOLMES: All right. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, hundreds of foreign students caught up in the crossfire after the Russian bombardments. Ahead, CNN speaks to some of them as they got safely through a newly-opened humanitarian corridor

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What was going through your mind when you were sheltering in that basement?

SHABNAM HEERAH, FOREIGN STUDENT IN SUMY, UKRAINE: I just said to myself, I'm ready to die. I'm going to die now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The humanitarian crisis growing in Ukraine shows no signs of slowing down. According to the United Nations, more than 2.3 million people have fled this country so far, nearly a million and a half of those to Poland alone and hundreds of thousands of others, of course, to nearby countries.

[00:20:14] Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, explained how the country had been evacuating civilians in danger over the last two days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): Humanitarian cargos were also delivered. Hundreds of tons of food, medicine. We're doing everything to save our people in the cities that the enemy just wants to destroy. Taking into account the work of humanitarian corridors in the previous two days, we have already evacuated about 100,000 people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Among those trying to get to safety are foreign students who had been stranded in a town a few hundred kilometers East of Kyiv. CNN's Scott McLean with their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLEAN (voice-over): This is what relief looks like for hundreds of foreign students who've been trapped in Sumy, a Ukrainian city under constant bombardment. They say their exhausting journey to safety took more than 24 hours.

HEERAH: I don't think I will ever forget this in my whole life. It will -- it will just be in my mind.

MCLEAN: Shabnam Heerah, a student from Mauritius, was one of hundreds who spent days sleeping in an underground bunker, hoping and praying the bombs would let up. They didn't.

(on camera): What was going through your mind when you were sheltering in that basement?

HEERAH: I just said to myself, I'm ready to die. I'm going to die now.

MCLEAN: Really?

HEERAH: Yes. Because when you hear that bomb explosion, you just freeze and you start shaking.

MCLEAN (voice-over): The evacuation of the students, who are mostly from India, China, and countries in Africa, came after intense diplomatic efforts to get them out to safety, and tense negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to open a humanitarian corridor out of Sumy after days of failed efforts in other cities.

DURI NDISIRO, FOREIGN STUDENT IN SUMY, UKRAINE: How will I get out of this place? And even if I get out of this place, will I survive the journey out there? Because we heard that the Russian army was surrounding the city and all of those things.

MCLEAN: When the buses finally left, the students were prioritized in the first convoy. Local authorities say subsequent convoys were held up because of fighting on the outskirts of the city. It took 11 hours along the indirect corridor to Poltava, past rows of

military vehicles. Then, they were quickly put on a train bound for Lviv, arriving some 15 hours later.

BLESSING JOHN IBANGA, FOREIGN STUDENT IN SUMY, UKRAINE: We've been here to Sumy in Ukraine. We are going to fight assistance, and I'm supporting Ukrainian all the way.

MCLEAN: These students from Nigeria are headed to Budapest by bus, where their embassy will help them from there. Some say they're planning to go back as soon as the war is over.

SAMUEL OTUNLA, FOREIGN STUDENT IN SUMY, UKRAINE: I spent six years in this country, and it's just -- it's a wonderful place to be. Ukraine is -- they are going through all this trauma in the country, but they're still able to look out for us as foreigners. And a lot of us are very grateful for that.

MCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The U.N. expects millions more to flee Ukraine in the days ahead as hundreds of thousands of refugees are arriving all across Europe.

In Portugal, hundreds arrived in Lisbon and were welcomed by a delegation led by the country's president.

And the Red Cross greeted Ukrainian arrivals in Paris. The agency has set up a welcome center at a Paris train station. France says it's already taken in more than 7,000 refugees.

Now, neighboring countries such as Poland, Romania, and Moldova are now trying to figure out how to house the thousands of people pouring across their borders every day. And that's a hard thing to do when you can't be sure how many more are coming.

CNN's Miguel Marquez with more on that from Romania.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The refugee crisis deepening.

ANNA LEUKINENKO, FLED UKRAINE: They open just my bag, and I took what I need. And maybe about two hours.

MARQUEZ: Anna Leukinenko from Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, a city hammered indiscriminately by Russian rockets and artillery. Leukinenko had two hours to pack up her two kids, her mother, and her children's godmother. Two hours to pack. No idea if she'll see her husband, grandparents, or country again.

LEUKINENKO: I said in my heart, I think that Ukrainians will be free and everything will be OK. But who knows when? MARQUEZ: Leukinenko trying to get from Bucharest to friends in Poland, one story of millions. Families now being torn apart in Ukraine and across Europe.

DR. RAED ARAFAT, STATE SECRETARY, ROMANIA MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS: We will see people who are without capabilities, without possibilities, financial possibilities, who are running from war. They are running for their lives, taking just very few things with them. And sometimes even without documentation.

[00:25:08]

MARQUEZ: The speed at which Ukrainians are transformed into refugees increasing exponentially as Russia continues punishing attacks on civilian and military targets alike.

COSMINA SIMIEAN, GENERAL MANAGER, DIRECTORATE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, CITY OF BUCHAREST: We don't know what is coming and how many people are coming to Bucharest. As far as we know, the people coming here are only in transit. A few of them remain in Romania. But we don't know how many people will come, so we need to be prepared.

MARQUEZ: Romanians not just waiting to receive Ukrainian refugees. Now, they're collecting and organizing massive amounts of humanitarian supplies, all to be shipped directly to Ukraine.

NICUSOR DAN, GENERAL MAYOR, BUCHAREST: They need drugs, and we have a specialty list of what kind of drugs. They need medical kits, and they need food that can be preserved.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Did you ever think you would be in this situation?

DAN: No, I mean a war in 2022, it's unbelievable.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Miguel Marquez, CNN, Bucharest, Romania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Newly-released images showing tremendous devastation and suffering in that ravaged city of Mariupol. But can those who survived the bombardment survive the severe shortages? We'll have that and more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:48]

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone, I'm Michael Holmes, coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine.

More than two weeks into this invasion, Kyiv is under growing threat, with heavy fighting on several sides of the city. Western defense officials warn Russian forces are moving closer, some just kilometers away. Got some satellite images we can show you there. They show Chernihiv,

which is North of the capital, which we're told now is isolated by Russian troops. That's how it's been put.

The Ukrainian military claiming some victories, though, like the destruction of a Russian tank regiment in a region just East of Kyiv.

The British Defense Ministry it appears Russian troops are now focused more on encircling major cities, as opposed to gaining new ground.

And that massive Russian convoy we've reported on over the last days, that was stalled outside Kyiv, well, it's been largely dispersed. Redeployed, it would seem.

And you can see here on the map, the growing amount of red, marking the presence of Russian troops, especially to the East of the capital. That is a fairly new development.

Now, a U.S. official also warning Russia is increasing its use of long-range missiles and mobile -- mobile launchers, which have been hitting the port city of Mariupol and hitting it hard, its mayor accusing Russia of genocide and launching a war against humanity. He says no aid has been able to reach the city for six days and that some 400,000 people are being held hostage.

The Ukrainian emergency service building in Mariupol was shelled on Thursday.

Now, a day earlier, as we reported, a blast damaging a maternity and children's hospital, killing three people, setting off global condemnation. Russia denying any responsibility and has called the attack -- wait for it -- staged.

Well, after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Russia's foreign minister claiming the hospital had been taken over by Ukrainian radicals, as he put it, yet, provided no evidence of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVROV (through translator): At the meeting of the U.N. Security Council, our delegation presented facts about this maternity hospital having long been seized by the Azov Battalion and other radicals. And they have driven all the pregnant women and the nurses out of it and set up a base for the ultra-radical Azov Battalion of Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, a warning for you now. These next images in our report might be difficult to watch. I'm sure they will be. They show some of the Ukrainian civilians harmed by the relentless attacks on Mariupol.

CNN's Phil Black with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you hear a Ukrainian city is under siege, cut off, and under bombardment by Russian forces, this is what that means.

No one knows how many people have been killed in Mariupol. But it's too many to allow the care and dignity that usually comes with death.

Relatively few images have escaped Mariupol since the siege began. These were captured by A.P. photojournalist Evgeniy Maloletka, who says he saw around 70 bodies buried in this trench over two days.

They arrived wrapped in whatever people could find and use: plastic bags, even carpet. And this shows why it's likely there are many more. Mariupol's suffering from above. Before and after satellite images reveal extraordinary devastation in commercial and shopping areas, residential neighborhoods, too. Russian munitions are steadily wiping out this city.

It's already unlivable. There is no food, water, or power.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says a child in Mariupol has died of dehydration, probably for the first time since the Nazi invasion.

During a meeting in Turkey, the Ukrainian foreign minister says he asked his Russian counterpart for a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave Mariupol.

KULEBA: Unfortunately, Minister Lavrov was not in a position to commit himself to it, but he will correspond with respective authorities.

[00:35:09]

BLACK: That means Sergey Lavrov has to ask his boss.

But Russia's top diplomat was comfortable repeating Russia's explanation for bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday.

The Russian version says there were no patients or staff in these buildings, just soldiers. This was the reality. Captured in the moments immediately after the blast. An obviously pregnant women is stretchered from the site.

Another, hurt, bleeding, walks out, carrying what she can.

Russians often honor the bravery and determination shown by their own citizens who were besieged by Nazi forces in the Second World War. Now, Russia is inflicting that same suffering on the people of Mariupol.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And I will have more from Ukraine a little later this hour. But for now, let us go to Paula Newton, who's standing by there in Atlanta. Over to you, my friend.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Thank you, Michael.

Now, fighters from around the world have gone to fight for Ukraine. But there can be downsides to having an international fighting legion. We will take a look at both sides. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:24]

NEWTON: On Thursday, U.S. lawmakers from both major parties had harsh words for the Biden administration. This after the U.S. refused to let Poland send fighter jets to a U.S. airbase in Germany for possible transfer to Ukraine.

Now, the White House believes putting the U.S. into the mix would risk a broader war between Russia and NATO. And now, let's keep in mind, Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Despite that, the senators say it is time to do more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): There is bipartisan support to provide these planes. It is disappointing to see the reluctance on the part of the administration. And it's coming across as indecision.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): Believe there's a sentiment that we're fearful about what Putin might do. And what he might consider as an escalation. It's time for him to be fearful of what we might do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So the Biden administration says the U.S. and other NATO countries have sent anti-tank and anti-missile weapons to Ukraine.

Now, the number of foreign fighters volunteering to fight for Ukraine has grown now to 20,000. That's according to Ukraine's defense ministry, which created the special unit called the International Legion. Fifty-two countries are represented, they say, in that group.

And there's also word, of course, that Russia is trying to recruit Syrian fighters and others to join the cause. Now those joining the fight for Ukraine say it's about helping those in need.

MICHAEL FERKOL, U.S. VOLUNTEER MEDIC: I'm a little nervous, to be honest, but at the same time, it's not about me. It's about the people that are suffering there. So coming up, when you see the images, you see the people that are here right now, you understand that you're not suffering. It's more about them.

BEN GRANT, U.K. VOLUNTEER FIGHTER: I was over in Iraq. And you know, I was there for a few months. And then flew home. Saw my kids. Hadn't seen them for a while. And basically said, yes, I'm going to Ukraine.

JAX, U.K. VOLUNTEER FIGHTER: We're here because of the war crimes that are being committed. Obviously, the president asked if we can help. And I started to think about it, and then I started to read the war crimes, and that's when it gets sickening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Colin Clarke is the director of policy and research at the Soufan Group and has just coauthored a piece in "Politico" entitled, "Foreign Fighters Are Heading to Ukraine. That's a Moment for Worry."

He joins me now from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

And good to see you and have you weigh in on this. Because it's been interest to so many of them watching this conflict now. I mean, how could the presence of foreign fighters change the character of this conflict on both sides?

COLIN CLARKE, DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND RESEARCH, SOUFAN GROUP: Sure. Well, thanks for having me. And it's an important issue, and it's one that's picking up steam as the days and weeks go by.

Foreign fighters traditionally can change the ideological tilt of the battlefield. They can make the conflict more bloody. Because when you have extremists showing up, you have people that are willing to go beyond the pale.

Particularly in this case, when you have the Russians committing war crimes, people are going to feel compelled to defend the Ukrainians. And to -- you know, this is war. People will be engaging in some pretty extreme acts of violence. And when you have foreign fighters in the mix, that makes it more complicated.

NEWTON: Yes. And you're categorical, saying that look, this introduction of foreign fighters from whichever side, will likely increase the duration and lethality of this conflict.

Why is that? And specifically, how significant is it that there are now these reports on both sides? Not just the volunteer legion that Ukraine says that they have that could possibly be 20,000 strong. But the fact that the Russian side may be bringing in fighters or mercenaries from Chechnya and Syria.

CLARKE: Well, we know this from -- from research. I mean, personally, I've been part of a team that's conducted research, looking at every single insurgency from the end of World War II to 2009.

And so we see trends and patterns that emerge over time. One of them being when you have external forces, namely foreign fighters, introduced to the battlefield, it prolongs conflicts and hence, the duration part. And the lethality goes up. And it makes them bloodier.

And so, it's really, you know, as you mentioned, there's volunteers flooding into the Ukrainian side. It now looks like Russia and their, you know, desperate attempt to increase its manpower is looking to bring in -- I mean, the Wagner Group, which is Russia mercenaries, but also mercenaries from the battlefield in Syria.

NEWTON: You know, this is a menacing development, I think, the way you put it and the way you say your research bears out. And yet, you know, on the Ukrainian side, there's been extraordinary backing, I would call it. Because if you look at even the governments of the U.K. and Denmark, they're saying that, Look, if you want to go to Ukraine, it's a personal choice.

Now, I will say, other governments have said, Please stay home.

And yet, how do you think that tacit backing will -- could actually a be danger?

CLARKE: Well, it's going to encourage people to go, No. 1.

No. 2, it's going to be perceived by the Russians as, you know, people from NATO countries engaging in conflict on the battlefield.

Here's a question. What happens when the first American, Brit, Belgian, or German gets captured alive by the Russians and held as a POW? Because the way things are now, that seems an inevitability.

You then you have some, you know, pretty dangerous situations, plus with the proliferation of social media, the battlefield propaganda, we're getting into, you know, some really complex and, I think, you know, situations that are likely to escalate the conflict and not to actually dampen them.

NEWTON: And to the point of that escalation, you know, everyone is still hoping that sooner rather than later, there would be an eventual compromise or a ceasefire.

Does the presence of these, whether they're mercenaries or volunteers, does that complicate things in that sphere, as well?

CLARKE: Well, it does, because that's another issue with having volunteers or foreign fighters come in. They typically have a far more global outlook, and we've seen this over time. Whereas the people involved in the conflict have a more local or parochial objective.

Ukrainians are fighting for Ukrainian statehood and sovereignty, whereas people coming from, you know, Argentina, Japan, Serbia, wherever, may be influenced by left-wing, right-wing, whatever types of ideology. And so, you know, their ideologies may be, actually, at odds with a compromise. They may be there with nefarious intentions. We don't know.

So when you have this many people -- members are at 20,000 now, and that's growing -- foreigners flocking to the battlefield, to say nothing of who's joining the Russian side. There's been somewhat of a media blackout. It just makes for a bid of a witches' brew. And unfortunately, that's going to lead to pretty negative second- and third-level consequences.

NEWTON: You're certainly introducing, you know, some very complicated new developments in this conflict as if we didn't have enough already. Colin Clarke, I really appreciate you weighing in.

CLARKE: Thanks for having me. NEWTON: Now, dancers for the Kyiv City Ballet are, in fact, stranded

away from home. After the break, how they're adjusting and how they're finding ways to support Ukraine's fight from afar.

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[00:52:10]

NEWTON: Welcome back. The U.K. government has sanctioned a Russian oligarch who is also the owner of the British football club, Chelsea. Raymond Abramovich was added to a list of sanctioned individuals to, quote, "isolate Russian president, Vladimir Putin, after the invasion of Ukraine."

Just last week, Abramovich had announced plans to sell the club. Well, now, his assets are frozen and transactions are prohibited. But the government says Chelsea will be given a special license to continue football operations.

Well, it started off as a quick tour, but now, members of the Kyiv City Ballet are stranded abroad, helplessly watching Ukraine fight the Russian invasion from afar.

CNN's Jim Bittermann meets with the dancers, many of whom say they want to go home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 34 dancers of the Kyiv City Ballet troupe practiced and trained for weeks before coming to France on tour.

But no rehearsals could have prepared them for the news that they saw the day after they arrived in Paris. Their country was being invaded. And they found themselves with no direction home.

In the days that have followed, they've nearly completed their scheduled tour, but stranded abroad now, they face an uncertain future.

Director Ivan Kozlov says all of his troop, some as young as 18 years old, want to go back because of families and friends who are now under fire at home. But he knows how dangerous that would be.

IVAN KOZLOV, BALLET DIRECTOR: The most good thing they can do is to dance to provide Ukraine, to show Ukrainian heart, to show Ukrainian culture from the stage, to show to the audience, to share our culture. And we call ourselves the warriors from the stage.

BITTERMANN: But if they are warriors, they are warriors practically without uniforms.

(on camera): The dancers came here expecting only a brief tour, with only the costumes for the Nutcracker performance and no scenic backdrops or stage props.

For now, they'll continue performing around France, but borrowing everything, right down to replacement ballet shoes.

(voice-over): Olga Posternak and Mykhailo Scherbakovv, two of the ballet company's star performers, have toured abroad before, but this is different. Neither can stand being apart from their families, knowing that they are increasingly under the Russian boot.

MYKHAILO SCHERBAKOVV, KYIV CITY BALLET PERFORMER: At this moment, I understand we are safe here, but still, I want to return home.

BITTERMANN: Olga says there are times when she steps offstage and breaks into tears.

OLGA POSTERNAK, KYIV CITY BALLET PERFORMER: All my family is in Ukraine. What I am without my family? Nothing. Sometimes I feel like I'm ashamed because I am here. I want to help them.

[00:55:14]

BITTERMANN: But as the mayor of Paris said at the ballet's fund- raiser, creativity is its own form of resistance.

The French are helping the dance companies stay, lending them what they need, trying to arrange performances, and giving them a dance home at one of the most prestigious theaters in Paris.

The dancers from Kyiv closed out the program, not dancing, but singing the words to the Ukrainian national anthem. The kind of cultural identity and patriotism Vladimir Putin wants to crush.

But in their own small way, 1,000 miles from home, the dancers are helping to keep it alive.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And that's all the time we have this hour. Thanks for spending some time with us. I'm Michael Holmes. I will be back with much more from Lviv in just a moment.

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