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Russian Strikes Ukrainian Base Near Polish Border, At Least 35 Dead; U.S. Journalist Killed, Photographer Injured By Russian Forces In Irpin; Ukraine Pleads For Fighter Jets As Russia Escalates Attacks; 2.7 Million Refugees Flee Ukraine Amid Russian Attacks; Former KGB Agent On Putin's War; Many Russians Unaware Of Ukraine War Due To Putin's Propaganda; CNN Hero Helps A Family Who Fled Ukraine. Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired March 13, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:16]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington and we begin with the Russian strike that landed only 11 miles from Poland's border which of course is NATO territory. 35 people are dead and more than 130 are hospitalized after dozens of missiles hit a military base near Lviv in western Ukraine. Witnesses telling CNN the explosions created a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire.

And in the besieged port city of Mariupol, local officials confirm more than 2,000 people have been killed since the invasion began. In the last 24 hours alone, there have been 22 separate bombings. Russian ground forces also continuing their march towards Ukraine's capital Kyiv. They're now just 15 miles away.

But look at this. New video from Kyiv shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy out on the streets and visiting with wounded Ukrainian soldiers in a hospital. There he is. Knowing all the while that he is Putin's number one target.

This remarkable strength seems to be contagious. Kherson residents continue to stand up against the Russian occupation in their city.

Watch how a Russian soldier fires an automatic weapon over the heads of peaceful protesters but they don't flinch except maybe to give the middle finger.

The anti-war sentiment is also still alive in parts of Russia. Images of brutal arrests are emerging after riot police have detained more than 700 people in 37 Russian cities today. Some of those arrested include Russian members of the press. The Russian people now mostly cut off from reliable news sources and journalists who expose the ugly truth about Putin's war.

And today it cost one of those journalists his life. Award-winning American journalist Brent Renaud was killed by Russian troops in Irpin. He was just 50 years old.

Let's begin with CNN's Scott McLean in Lviv on those Russian airstrikes that have been pounding western Ukraine near Poland.

Scott, what more do we know?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim, yes, in recent days we have seen airstrikes in cities like Lutsk, like Ivano-Frankivsk, and they seem to be migrating farther and farther west. And you cannot go much farther than the military base that was hit today near here in Lviv. This is a sprawling military campus. It is a place that is normally home to training where American, Canadian, European soldiers would come to train Ukrainian soldiers there.

And it is only 11 miles from the Polish border, and so you would think that that might spare this part of Ukraine from Russian attacks given that Putin may not want to get so close to NATO territory. It turns out that is not the case. 35 people were killed in that attack. The Ukrainians are saying that none of them were foreign.

Ukraine has obviously made no secret of the fact that it is starting this international legion of soldiers, of foreigners who would like to come and fight against the Russians. But again, they insist that none of them were killed in this particular attack. The Russians say that 180 foreigner mercenaries, as it says, were killed along with a large stash of weapons that was destroyed. That is something that the Ukrainians say is pure Russian propaganda.

Now for context, my colleagues headed out to that area today. You could not get near the base, but they did see some foreigners in military fatigues who said that they were volunteering to help with medical evacuations.

Broadly speaking, though, Jim, the real danger with these strikes moving west is that many of these cities that are being hit, so far it is only military targets, but these are cities where many internally displaced people have been fleeing to because up until now, and even to a large extent still now, they have been quite safe. And so in Lviv, for instance, you have 200,000 plus people from other parts of Ukraine who are taking shelter here.

The U.N. has warned previously that the next round of refugees leaving the country may not be as well resourced, they may not have the connections in Poland or elsewhere in Europe to go to. And so you may have a whole new round of refugees flooding for the exits with only a fraction of the resources of those who went before them.

ACOSTA: And Scott, we know the Russian forces are now about 15 miles outside of the capital of Kyiv and today the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy made a point to visit wounded soldiers in the hospital. Tell us more about that.

MCLEAN: Yes. So we know that he visited a hospital. We don't know exactly where it was. Of course, the president's office has been not keen to telegraph the president's movements because they say that he is a prime Russian target. So the video that we have of that visit shows him going into a room with several Ukrainian soldiers.

[16:05:06] One of them says that he was hit by an exploded mine. He'd been in the hospital for a few days. And the president saying, telling all soldiers that you guys are tough. Now the president also today took a call from the British prime minister, but his primary task was getting aid into Mariupol. This is a city in southeastern Ukraine that is under siege. It has been that way for some time now and aid for about the last week has not been able to get in.

The president has sent an aid convoy in that direction. Right now is stuck, though, about 50 miles west of the city in a Russian-held city unable to go any further for the time being. They're going to try to get that convoy restarted. It has aid, it has buses to pick people up, to take them out of the city. We know that Mariupol has no food, no water or they're running out of food, they're running out of water. But they have no power, no heat. No cell phone signal. The list goes on and on. The situation is quite dire and that aid cannot come soon enough -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. It's a desperate solution. All right, Scott McLean, thank you very much.

And we're also learning more about the award-winning U.S. journalist who was killed and another who was injured by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Irpin today.

Let's go now to CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter.

Brian, this is always the fear with journalists out, you know, in war zones, covering something as dangerous as what's happening in Ukraine right now. The U.S. State Department is calling this yet another gruesome example of the Kremlin's indiscriminate actions. So what more can you tell us, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Brent Renaud is the first foreign journalist known to be killed during this conflict. Previously a Ukrainian camera operator was killed when that TV tower was struck in Kyiv. Now Brent Renaud dying earlier today in a suburb of Kyiv and the local police there are blaming Russian forces.

Renaud was 50 years old. He didn't work for just one specific news outlet. He and his brother Craig had a production company making documentaries for many different outlets over the years. At the "New York Times," Vice and many others. In this case "TIME" magazine says that Renaud was working on a project for its studios division in recent weeks.

We can share the statement on screen. It was a project, quote, "focused on the global refugee crisis." So he was in the country, in Ukraine working on a long-term project. "TIME" magazine saying here, "Our hearts are with all of Brent's loved ones. It's essentially that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Amidst so much death and suffering in Ukraine, it is journalists like Renaud who are trying to document it and yet they are in the line of fire as well -- Jim. ACOSTA: And, Brian, we know that we have new video now of Brent

Renaud's injured colleague. I had a chance to view some of this a little earlier this afternoon. It's remarkable footage. What is he say?

STELTER: Yes. This is when Juan Arredondo arrived at the hospital. Let's go ahead and play what he told a documentarian who was inside the hospital where it looks as if he's about to undergo surgery. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me please, what is your name?

JUAN ARREDONDO, JOURNALIST WOUNDED IN UKRAINE BY RUSSIAN FORCES: Juan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Juan?

ARREDONDO: Juan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you from?

ARREDONDO: The U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S. What's happened to you?

ARREDONDO: We were -- we crossed the first bridge in Irpin. We're going to film other refugees leaving. And we got onto a car. Somebody offered to take us through the other bridge and we crossed a checkpoint and they start shooting at us. So the driver turned around and they kept shooting. Two of us, my friend is Brent Renaud, and he's shot and left behind.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And how is he?

ARREDONDO: I don't know. I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't know. You don't know what happened to him?

ARREDONDO: I saw him being shot in the neck, and -- we got split. And I got pulled into the --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And who brought you here?

ARREDONDO: An ambulance. I don't know.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: So you get a sense there of the chaos immediately after the attack. His colleague not knowing if Brent Renaud was dead or alive. We did learn later in the day he had died and the State Department now confirming Brent Renaud's death as well -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Brian Stelter, just another reminder of just how much danger our fellow journalists are in the field covering this war. Brian, thank you very much.

There are still heated debate over whether the U.S. should facilitate the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine. The White House's stance is that direct U.S. involvement would be seen as a provocation. But increasingly senators have been pushing back on the administration's concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): The Russians have complained about everything. Vladimir Putin has said that the sanctions are an act of war. They certainly complained when we provided Stingers directly from the U.S. government which can knock down an airplane and have been successful in doing that at lower altitudes. We have given them helicopters as recently as January. We've provided them U.S. military helicopters.

And those are directly from the United States. I don't understand why this is any worse than, from the Russian point of view, than other things that we've already done or that we're talking about.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

[16:10:00]

ACOSTA: And with me now retired Army Brigadier General Peter Zwack. He's a former U.S. senior Defense attache to the Russian federation.

General, good to see you again. You know, to the layman, some of these distinctions can seem silly, I think. Allies are giving Ukraine this lethal aid. The U.S. has been supplying Ukraine with weaponry. Why does it matter who's the last one to touch it? And what do you think? Where do you stand on this?

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Jim, I'm -- I've been long supportive of not putting in major over weapon systems into the Ukrainian buzzsaw with the Russians, let alone especially ground troops. But I'm going to be frank. I'm wavering. All right? I still think that it is fraught with enormous risk, but the continued remorseless of criminal pounding of the Ukrainian population -- this isn't a force-on-force thing.

This is something that, again, is a -- we talked about it yesterday. It's a combination of Spanish civil war, the takedown of Czechoslovakia, and then the full invasion of Poland while, you know, until Poland and the whole world sort of looked aghast. So I'm wavering.

I will say this. Our president and the leaders in Europe, they feel and they have a responsibility to try at all costs to keep their populations safe while being credible and push back on aggression. President Biden and many of the -- many of us seniors were teenagers or younger during the Cuban missile crisis. They have that in their minds, I believe, but if the Russians do something like put chemical weapons into the cities or do something even more crazy, then there may be -- the barn door may open and then all kinds of aid, including considering boots on the ground I think will be under consideration.

ACOSTA: Well, it's interesting that you're saying that you've been wavering on this to some extent because, you know, what we're seeing right now is Putin pushing the envelope even further. There were these strikes that took place in western Ukraine. Not far from the border with Poland, which, of course, is a NATO partner. And, of course, there is this growing concern now that Putin may go ahead and authorize the use of chemical weapons.

Could you foresee a scenario where the U.S. -- I guess, you know, up arms the Ukrainians too late? That they put in fighter jets, the kind of weaponry that they need right now too late?

Let's listen to what the National Security adviser told Dana Dash earlier this morning about the prospect of Russia unleashing WMDs in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: They're right now accusing the United States and the Ukrainians of potentially using chemical or biological weapons which is a tell. It's a tell that they themselves may be trying to do so and then try to pin the blame on someone's else.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: What is America's level of concern that Putin could use some kind of nuclear weapon?

SULLIVAN: As things stand today, the United States has not adjusted our nuclear posture but it is something that we monitor day by day, hour by hour.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. So that's what I was wondering, General. You know, as we get concerned about Putin pushing the envelope further and further that by the time we do offer more sophisticated weaponry, that it's just going to be too late at that point?

ZWACK: Yes. It's a factor. And I think we're coming to that bridge soon. Again, I still support the no-fly zone but I am wavering because this is over the top. You know, going back to the Second World War, I'm kind of going to say, hell hath no greater fury than democracy scorned. And Putin is on the verge of that. And if this continues, and they go chemical, and then we see something of the line of Idlib and things like that, I think that it will be impossible for us, and not just NATO, but whatever we call the like-minded free world, this will be the time to get in -- get out of there.

All right? And as my good friend Dr. Richard Hooker said, it would be better if there is an intervention to intervene while there's still a Ukrainian military force to align with, to help in the fight or help them in the fight. I am right now still against it but I'm wavering.

ACOSTA: All right. General Peter Zwack, I guess we'll check in with you on that question as things develop. Thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

[16:15:05]

And this just in on the COVID front. Former president Barack Obama has COVID. Just a short time ago he posted this on Twitter. We can put this up on screen. "I just tested positive for COVID. I've had a scratchy throat for a couple of days, but I'm feeling fine otherwise. Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted. And she has tested negative. It's a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven't already, even as cases go down."

The former president is 60 years old. And good reminder there, if you haven't been vaccinated get vaccinated, get boosted because COVID is still out there even though we're not talking about it as much.

Coming up, as millions flee the violence in Ukraine, an incredible moment caught on camera. A mother reuniting with her children at a border checkpoint. A live report from near the Poland-Ukraine border is next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And this is a video from Donetsk, Ukraine where a Russian airstrike damaged a historic monastery.

[16:20:04]

More than 500 people were sheltering inside at the time including 200 children and several were injured in the blast. In the meantime, the U.N. says 2.7 million people have fled the violence to neighbor countries.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joins me now from the Polish-Ukrainian border.

Ed, you have witnessed some remarkable scene there today. I'm sure it's been a long day for you. What can you tell us?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Jim, this is the alleyway to safety yet an alleyway to uncertainty, and this is the gateway that so many Ukrainian refugees are taking, and anytime you stand here, you look, the emotional path that so many of these people are taking. Earlier today we witnessed a mother reuniting with her children just there at the gates of the border. An emotional scene unfolding as this mother clearly holding her children in her arms in a much more safe place.

And this alleyway culminates here, and these are all of the refugees, the women and children mostly, who are arriving here in Medyka, Poland. And they are about to come on to buses. We can show you here as we make our way through the crowd. There are buses here, Jim, waiting to take all of these refugees to what is essentially temporary shelters in a nearby Polish city. So a great deal of concern for a lot of these people here as they are not exactly sure where exactly they're going to end up, and what they need to do next. But for the next couple of days, they will go a few miles down the

road, and after they board this bus, and that is where they will begin to figure out where to go next. And the uncertainty, Jim, really comes from, number one, they don't know how much longer they will have to be away. That is the question that is literally changing dramatically for so many of these people. Many of the people you talk to speak of their homes in the past tense.

And then in the immediate communities around here along the Polish border, they have essentially filled up in the last few weeks. So there is not a lot of room for these refugees. But we're going to continue to get out of the way here, but there are people trying to figure out where to go next. So you see organizations, private people, essentially, offering rides to far-flung places all across Europe to help these people settle down for the coming weeks, perhaps months, as they wait for the events to continue unfolding in Ukraine.

But this is a 24-hour operation here now at this border checkpoint in Poland and has reached a point where it's almost like organized chaos. There's a system of buses that continually take people here who have walked across the border just moments ago and then these buses will take them a few miles down the road to get to the shelters. And that is where they will spend the next couple of days figuring out where to go next.

And so here you can see. We spoke with one doctor a little while ago who described it as you can see the trauma in the faces of the people as we're walking across this border checkpoint and on to these buses -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Just remarkable scenes that you're showing us right now, Ed. I mean, just right over your shoulder a few moments ago we saw an elderly person helped on to that bus. Children and people just carrying I guess whatever bags they brought with them to this checkpoint. Just unbelievable. So sad.

Ed Lavandera, thanks for staying on top of it for us. We appreciate it.

LAVANDERA: You got it.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Ed.

Coming up, a former KGB agent offers insights on an increasingly desperate and isolated Vladimir Putin. What could the Russian leader do next to stay in power?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:10]

ACOSTA: We're back with a disturbing update in what appears to be a new face of Putin's war in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have abducted a second mayor in order to install pro-Russian replacements. The kidnapping of the first mayor in Melitopol was captured on camera. Armed men leading him away from a government building. There you see it right there. The shocking abduction sparking protest in the city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Speaking in foreign language)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Speaking in foreign language)

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is demanding the immediate release of Melitopol's mayor and a source tell me that Zelenskyy had French President Emmanuel Macron ask Putin about the kidnapping during a phone call yesterday.

And joining me now to talk about some of this is former KGB agent Jack Barsky. He is the author of the book "Deep Undercover: My Secret Life Entangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America." He's also the executive producer of "The Agent" streaming on major audio platforms.

Jack, thank you so much for joining us. As you know, Putin is facing worldwide scrutiny for this unprovoked war. Do you think he's still the KGB agent that he was so many years ago? He's relying on that training, relying on those mind games that KGB agents play at this very moment?

JACK BARSKY, FORMER KGB AGENT: I have to disabuse you of the notion that the man he is today was trained by the KGB and he got his political skills and whatever he uses from the KGB. He was a mid-level bureaucrat in the KGB.

[16:30:00]

He served in the city of Dresden in the '80s, and I happen to have met an ex-boss of his, Oleg Kalugin, who was in charge of counterintelligence for the first directorate which -- of the KGB, which was espionage, and he will tell you that he was not impressed with Mr. Putin.

Putin is a phenomenal politician, and a master chess player, because, you know, he has, you know, he has been in power for the last 22 years in a country where the standard of living hasn't much boomed. Particularly outside of the big cities. So how he got to who he is today is probably not that relevant, but let's not think that KGB agents are supermen. I am not and I was one of the best trained KGB agents ever sent out.

ACOSTA: Well, that leads me to my next question, which is, Putin is not invincible. You know, we spoke with the former CIA chief of Russia operations yesterday and he told me that Putin -- what Putin really fears is not the oligarchs or the Russian people turning on him. It's his fellow spies. People in his national security realm around him.

BARSKY: Yes.

ACOSTA: Intelligence people around him.

BARSKY: Yes.

ACOSTA: What do you think about that?

BARSKY: And that was Dan Hoffman, I believe. Did you talk to Dan Hoffman?

SCIUTTO: Steve Hall made that observation but I think others have been --

(CROSSTALK)

BARSKY: But Dan Hoffman also head of CIA and I've heard him and he says the same thing. And they are absolutely right. Putin has a complete disregard of what his people are thinking and doing. He knows that he can keep them under control as long as he also has the power players in his regime under control, because if he doesn't, you know, he's toast. There will be a palace revolt and he's done.

And he has to really walk a fine line because he put himself into a situation now that is very difficult for him to get out of. If he thinks he can occupy Ukraine and declare victory, he is wrong because I've heard other people say that but I said it right when this thing started, Ukraine won't be defeated. You cannot, you cannot defeat a country when you fight the entire population. We lost Vietnam, we lost Afghanistan, the Soviets lost Afghanistan.

So this would be a very prolonged, very bloody, partisan kind of fight where too many, you know, Russian soldiers would be killed and come home and eventually Putin's legacy would be caput and he would be deposed. So the choice that he may have still is find this off ramp where he can declare victory and get out, and get some concessions from the Ukrainian government, but that's not entirely dependent on him. So he put himself into a really tight situation.

ACOSTA: And, you know, there have been a lot of questions about his mindset these days. He's been isolated because of COVID or at least that's the reporting that comes out about how Putin has been behaving during the pandemic. But you see these bizarre photo ops, the long tables, dozens of feet away from anybody. You know, I've been describing it as Putin in wonderland.

I mean, what do you think about his mindset at this point? Is he living in sort of an upside-down world? A reality of his own making?

BARSKY: Well, a dictator like Vladimir Putin or Adolf Hitler -- I'm not saying they're the same but, you know, anybody who is completely in charge of a whole country must totally believe in himself. All right? And you know, there have been other bizarre photos in the history of Putin as a president, that half naked picture on a horse, or when he plays ice hockey against the Soviet national team.

All of this indicates that he, he has no -- he has no -- little man in his head that checks on him occasionally. So he believes in himself, period, and if you think, and I've met people like that in corporate America. If you think you're always the smartest person in the room, you set yourself up for failure. And I think he is at that point. He may well have disregarded intelligence and he's now blaming a couple of guys from the FSB for bad intelligence.

[16:35:02]

I don't believe that. I don't -- I don't believe that they didn't know how Ukraine and the Ukrainian people would act. He probably ignored it because he knows better.

ACOSTA: All right. Jack Barsky, thank you very much for those insights. We appreciate it.

BARSKY: You're welcome.

ACOSTA: All right. And coming up, a propaganda tearing families apart. We'll introduce you to a Ukrainian man whose father in Russia does not believe him when he says Putin is bombing them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:08]

ACOSTA: Despite the media blackout in Russia the mothers, wives and siblings of Russian soldiers have plenty of questions about where their loved ones are now and some are even calling a Ukrainian government hotline to try to find out. Take a listen to this audio exclusively obtained by CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Hello. Is this where one can find out if someone is alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Hello. Do you have any information about my husband?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Sorry to brother you, I'm calling regarding my brother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): When was the last time he contacted you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): On the 23rd of February when he crossed the border.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Did he tell you where he was going?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): He said towards Kyiv.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And that's not the only way families are feeling the effects of Putin's propaganda. Joining me now from Ukraine is Misha Katsurin. And Misha, thanks for being with us. Your story has been fascinating

because your father is in Russia where the media is banned from you calling this an invasion or a war. They have to call it a special media operation or a special military operation, I should say. Tell us what happened when you spoke to your father and you told him that cities are being bombed. He didn't believe you, I guess.

MISHA KATSURIN, UKRAINIAN RESTAURATEUR WHO HAS FAMILY IN RUSSIA: Hi. You know, the media in Russia has been banned for 20 years. I mean, my father is 58, and he lives in, like, a small village in the forest and he doesn't use the internet. So the only media he can read or watch is like a federal TV and the federal newspapers. So that's not like something new for him. Yes.

And when I called him to tell what's going on in my family, and in my city, he start arguing with me and he told me that, no, everything is not like you are talking about. So in reality, Russia is not bombing you. Russia is making special operation. It's peaceful and they're trying to kick out the Nazis government from your country, and as the whole world knows, there is no Nazi government in my country.

And also he told me the most impressive thing for me that the Russian soldiers, they are giving warm clothes and food to locals and to Ukrainian military. So they are quite kind people in the eyes of my father. So that goes the story. I try to explain to him that it's not true and I'm here in Kyiv and I see everything with my own eyes, and with, like, I'm communicating with my friends, and they also see, but he didn't believe me.

ACOSTA: That's unbelievable. Let me ask you this. What do you think your father would say if he could see the images that we've all been seeing? You can see the reality on your television or on your phones, and what do you think he would say if he saw, if he could see the same footage?

KATSURIN: This is not relative for him because for he thinks that I'm also victim of propaganda and he told me that, no. All information you've got, that's Ukrainian propaganda, and that's the thing. So Russian people are living in perverted reality which was formed by federal channels and build the media by years and years. So by 20 years. So I know that my father loves me. I know that he wants to believe me, he just cannot because in his reality, that's unbelievable.

That's all. And then after this call I made the post on Instagram with this story and it became viral, and I realized that, like, millions of people had similar problem. And mothers that --

(CROSSTALK)

KATSURIN: Daughters. Like sisters doesn't believe to their brothers. Nobody believes to nobody in Russia and Ukraine. That's totally horrible.

ACOSTA: Right. You went on Instagram, and you told people about how your father did not believe you, and it was then you realized that you were not the only person having that experience. It sounds like what you're describing is that people in Russia have been brainwashed, and that, in Ukraine, a lot of people are finding their Russian relatives in Russia have essentially been brainwashed?

KATSURIN: Yes. They are. But, of course, they don't think they are brainwashed. They think that we are brainwashed. So Russian political propaganda is, like, amazing marketing case. You know? That's super hard to imagine, and to understand, and to realize it. So, of course, me as a son, I expect that he will believe me because I'm his son first, and second, I'm here and I see everything with my own eyes, but, no.

[16:45:01]

And probably if I was on his place and watched this TV for 20 years, probably I will be in the same situation. And so after I realized it, I figured out that there are, like, more than 11 million relatives of Ukrainians in Russia, and just imagine. That's a huge power. And they don't have access to free information. And so I created the Web site which called Father Believe and in this Web site there is a call to action to call to the relatives and to try to explain to them what's going on.

And we make all the answers to the main questions of Russian propaganda, and so these people, they support Putin because they don't know the truth. They know the fake relative, that Russia is saving the world from the Nazis, and so they're heroes for that and they're giving warm clothes to the people. They are heroes again.

And imagine, if these people will know the truth, if we, relatives, we will help them, and this 11 million people will tell the story to their, I don't know, two of their friends, it will be 33 million people who will not support Putin because that's, these people are not murderers.

They don't want to kill anybody. They are normal people. My father, he's against the killing. He's, like -- he's a super religious guy, and I just understand that it's long, long way, and --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: This is what happens when the government controls the news. When the government controls the media.

KATSURIN: Yes. Of course. And I sent him pictures, but I realize that personal stories works. So the news, the views of dead children, don't work because he think that it's all propaganda. Ukrainian propaganda. That's why I'm sending him screen shots of my conversations with my mother and my mother now is in occupied Berdyansk. And I cannot take her out of here. And it's impossible not to believe in screen shot of messages with my mom.

These messages, mom writes me that Misha, I cannot -- today there was a green corridor and this was the fake green corridor. And when civilians tried to exit Berdyansk, they were killed by Russian military. So and she writes me that seven people were killed and I send the screen shot to the father, and you know, now my father already understands that it's war. It's not a special operation. He wrote me, that oh, son, that's so terrible. So that's a small success.

ACOSTA: Misha --

KATSURIN: Sorry.

ACOSTA: I have to wonder, though. Could your father get in trouble, could people in Russia get in trouble for talking to their kids in other countries and getting the truth? Could that get them in trouble, do you think? Are you worried about that?

KATSURIN: When I posted the -- actually my post, which became viral, I also recorded my conversation with my father, and I cut it from the 50 minutes, I left 5 minutes. Of course, I tried to cut all the things which can be harmable for him and I left only, like -- and he's, for the Russian people, he is normal because he's arguing with me. Because he doesn't believe me. So I think for them, he's totally normal.

I'm (INAUDIBLE). That's why I think everything will be OK right now. But we need to call them, we need try to help them. Because they are also victims. They are victims of Russian aggression. They're victims of Russian propaganda.

ACOSTA: They're victims, too, and that is something that people don't understand is that, you know, they have been misled. They've been lied to on a massive scale, and it's part of the reason why this is happening right now. If they could just get the truth, there might be hope for ending all of this.

KATSURIN: Of course. And with our relatives, we don't need to break our relationships. We need to help them. We need to do it, I think.

ACOSTA: Yes.

KATSURIN: We need to do it through love and through respect, and we need to, like --

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

KATSURIN: Help.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right, Misha, well, Misha Katsurin, thank you very much for telling your story. It's quite a tale, and keep talking to your father and get back to us, if you can convince him to start believing what's actually happening there in Ukraine. Let us know. Thank you very much for your time.

KATSURIN: Thank you so much.

ACOSTA: And we'll be right back.

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[16:53:46] ACOSTA: We have all been moved by the stories of the millions of people in Ukraine forced to leave their lives behind as Russia intensifies its attacks when 2007 CNN Hero Aaron Jackson read a news story about refugees sleeping in a train station with nowhere to go. Within 24 hours he bought a plane ticket and traveled from his Florida home to Poland. He's since been on the ground at the border doing what he can to help people find emergency housing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON JACKSON, 2007 CNN HERO: When I got to the border I didn't like really know what to expect. I saw roughly anywhere between 1,000 and 1500 refugees living in cots. I stumbled upon a little child playing with a toy. This family, they're from the Congo. They've been living in Ukraine now for roughly 12 years, and the father, he had seen a bomb drop very close to his house. They told me that they had no money, that they had nowhere to go.

We put them in a cab and moved them into a hotel.

We're getting them settled in.

It is really complex finding any sort of housing. I found a apartment that was for rent and we secured it for one year.

What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very good.

JACKSON: To get this family in and, you know, to see the child jumping on the bed and just happy.

[16:55:04]

And smiling and laughing. Just being a kid. Definitely a good feeling. It's good to have wins. You know? In a situation like this. And this was definitely a win.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Find out more about Aaron's work and to nominate your own CNN Hero, go to CNNheroes.com.

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