Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Americans Among Thousands Enlisting in Ukraine's Foreign Legion; Russian State TV Staffer Found Guilty in Russian Court One Day after Live Anti-War Protest; TV Presenter Resigns from Popular Pro-Kremlin Channel; Russian Soccer Star Stops Training Camp in Protest of War; 3 Million-Plus People Have Fled Ukraine Since Start of Russian Invasion; Zelenskyy Adviser: Mariupol Bombings Have Caused 2,500 Civilian Deaths. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 15, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

JERICHO SKYE, U.S. ARMY VETERAN VOLUNTARILY FIGHTING IN UKRAINE: Even a few months ago, strangely enough, I started to practice my tactics, my shooting, my training just out of nowhere.

I actually had been dreaming about something like this for about three years. It was really strange.

Being out here with my team, I just got designated as a -- you know, as a team leader here with my group of guys.

And a lot of them are war veterans. Several of them live here and have actually fought here before, I think 2014, 2015.

So I have the most confidence in my group. We have really strong team cohesion.

And, you know, we're all here for the right reasons. We're all fighting for something. Some of these guys are literally fighting for their families and way of life.

Other guys we're fighting to protect these people behind us.

So I --

(CROSSTALK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: I'm so curious to learn more, understand more about how this is all being organized.

You have a team. You say you're the team leaders. How many are on your team. It sounds like some are Ukrainians. Are others foreign fighters like yourself?

And what are your different roles?

SKYE: Yes, ma'am. The proper terminology in the military is I'm a squad leader. I have two teams underneath me. Each of those have a team leader. And that's the structure of our team at the time. The way the foreign legion is structured, we're under command of the

Ukrainian military. We're part of the defense -- the Ukrainian defense.

And then it just kind of goes down from there. We have a commander. Our commander has a commander. So it's proper military structure. It's not just like the Wild West out here.

As far as the roles for my team, I'll be behaving as a medic until we can get a medic on our team.

We have one guys that needs to go through in combat training, but he was just about to graduate as a doctor when this all happened, so he felt compelled to lend a hand. Once he comes on, he'll be a medic.

Then we have other designated roles that are mission dependent, and what the situation dictates. Then based upon what the mission is, we can assign specific roles and tasks.

Also equipment dictates as well. Because ideally, we would have all equipment that we would want, if we had a list for Santa. But unfortunately, at this time, because of logistics, we are limited to what we have access to.

CABRERA: What do you need? What does the Ukrainian fighting force need right now when you talk about equipment?

We're also hearing that Russians are running out of the food? Are you seeing those types of supply problems with Ukrainians as well?

SKYE: Very fortunately, where I am, we are not seeing problems with food or water. There are places in this country that are cut off from resources.

The city of Mariupol, they are completely surrounded. They can't get people in and out. They need everything. They need food and water.

So I'm very grateful and blessed to be where I am in Kyiv, where we have access to essentials, like food and water.

But we need body armor, ballistic plates, helmets. We need things like night vision goggles, so we can conduct night operations, infrared.

As well as different things that are helpful, like smoke grenades, regular grenades, grenade launchers would be tremendous.

I hear there's antitank missiles like Javelins, NLAWs and T-4s.

But as far as I've seen we're kind of -- at least right now, my team, we don't have access to these types of things. So body armor is the number-one thing.

CABRERA: Got you.

SKYE: We have some medical supplies. But there's still parts of our medical individual first-aid kits we are low on. And once you start getting into combat and wow many civilians, I would

prefer if we had access to more medical supplies for the type of wounds we're going to be seeing.

CABRERA: It looks like a lot of preparation at this stage to go into combat.

We know Russia is trying to work its way to Kyiv, and they've been shelling or bombing some buildings in that area.

The U.S. State Department issued a warning to people just like you, warning of the significant risk here, the risk of capture, or even death. They said the U.S. is no in a position to provide assistance.

As you hear that, what goes through your mind? And are you afraid at all?

[13:35:00]

SKY: Yes. So, yes, of course, there's a part of me that's definitely doesn't want to be captured. I think that would be the worst thing. That would be the worst for my family, for me personally. I don't know. It's kind of simple.

And, yes, I knew what I was getting into. This is a war zone. And now, bombs are dropping around us outside.

And nobody wants to get air strikes, but it would be a pretty quick way to go.

My biggest thing is my mother's already lost a child. I don't want her to have to go through that again.

And, yes, I don't know if I fully answered your question.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: How long are you prepared -- how long are you prepared to be there? If you have to run because of your safety, that's most important. I'm just curious.

SKYE: Yes, if we ever have to restreet, it's going to be strategic retreat. It'll just be able to go back and rearm, resupply, and then we'll go back out. We'll be here until we win.

CABRERA: Jericho Skye, thank you for taking the time, for your bravely. And wishing you the best, praying for your safety. Thanks again.

SKYE: Thank you very much.

CABRERA: An anti-war protester crashed a live broadcast of one of the Russia's major state TV networks. Ahead, what we're learning about her status and the country now offering her protection.

And it's a welcome these two Ukrainian children will likely never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: There they are. This is in Naples, Italy, at a school where they were greeted with cheers. Some welcoming them by waving Ukrainian flags.

And we've learned those two children are now staying with their grandmother, who has been living in Italy for 20 years.

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:41:49]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: I'm Anderson Cooper in Lviv, Ukraine.

Over in Russia, as Vladimir Putin tries to stifle all dissent against his invasion of Ukraine, another high-profile protest has broken through.

On Monday, a Russian state TV employee crash a live newscast with an anti-war sign and released a prerecorded message calling out Vladimir Putin.

Now, a day later, she was found guilty of an administrative offense by a Russian court.

CNN's Nic Robertson is tracking this for us.

What do we know about what's happened to her?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's an interesting case, Anderson. Because she's done something no one else has done in Russia, break onto the state media's main broadcast set in primetime, carrying an anti-war message.

Doing that on the streets alone gets you arrested, never mind doing it in the middle of primetime.

She was arrested immediately.

And initially, the Investigative Committee, which is the Russian state body that oversees journalists, said she would be charged with, you know, essentially presenting fake news information, false information about Russia's military, which carries a maximum 15-year sentence.

But when she got to court today, she was handed a much lighter charge, a very light sentence, relatively speaking, compared to 15 years. It was less than a $300 fine.

It's a charge for essentially -- and this is her -- the post that she put on social media before she ran on the set, Russia's channel 1.

That she posted a statement saying that people should go out and protest, that there were too many of them for the Russian state to arrest them all.

And it's that that this discharge relates to, which is trying to solicit unauthorized protests and promote unauthorized protests.

Which does sort of give the indication that the Russian state is trying to minimize what she did, breaking onto the set, and try to go with something will create less public attention, a much lower sentence and not draw attention to holding a banner during the primetime news.

She's not the only journalist, by the way, that the state news organization in Russia who has quick or has come into the headlines because of the war.

Another anchor of the third-rated station, NTV, has left the country. She quit her channel. She told a Russian popular blogger that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to leave.

Now we don't know all of the details surrounding that. But it does appear she had become upset with her position and has left the country, in fear of being arrested.

COOPER: Another example of how the war is seeping into many aspects of life, I understand that a Russian soccer star won't be training with the national team.

ROBERTSON: Yes, this is significant as well. He plays for the national team. He's said he doesn't want to be called up for training in Moscow, because a lot of his family are in Ukraine, and this is a difficult time for him.

[13:45:02]

But it's noy just any player. This guy's been around for some time. He's 33 years old. And he's the joint national top goal scorer in the Principal League in Russia at the moment.

This is somebody with a significant profile, who has been around, is a popular figure, particularly, among soccer fans.

It's not clear really how much this will impact the Kremlin's propaganda at the moment. When you talk to people on the streets -- I was over just a week ago,

two weeks ago now -- people were saying -- perhaps a quarter of the people were saying they disagreed violently with what the Kremlin was doing with the war in Ukraine.

But you can have a significant number of people in the street that are angry with the Kremlin.

But that doesn't always translate into people standing up and willing to sacrifice, you know, careers, jobs, as the football player has done, as some of these journalists has done as well.

That takes a huge amount of bravery, and undoubtedly consequences further down the line.

The Russian government warned even the street protesters that your actions protesting the war can affect your livelihoods and careers going forward.

COOPER: Yes. Nic Robertson, appreciate it.

Ana, the bravery of the woman who did that on the primetime Russian news program is extraordinary. We'll continue to follow what happens to her.

CABRERA: My understanding is France is now offering her protection. We'll continue to be on that.

Anderson, thank you.

More than three million people have reportedly fled Ukraine since Russia invaded. That's more than a million people a week. Most of those refugees have gone to Poland. We'll share one of their stories with you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:34]

CABRERA: More than three people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. So far, more than half of all Ukrainian refugees have gone to Poland.

And that's where Ed Lavandera is, at one of the intact hubs there on the Polish side of the border.

Ed, what are you seeing today?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ana. Here on the Polish/Ukrainian border, we are still seeing the influx of refugees arriving.

And here on one of the train platforms is where many of these refugees are now ending up and beginning their journey away from the Ukrainian border to other destinations across Europe. And this is really putting a lot of pressure on these refugees because

it is much more difficult right now to find places to seek refuge here close to the Ukrainian border.

And so many of them are having to look further and further, deeper into Europe.

And that is a cause of great concern because simply there have been so many refugees that it is harder to find a place to seek shelter for the coming weeks, if not months.

In fact, in this crowd today, Ana, we noticed a woman, 66 years old, Tatiana Poloshenko (ph) , who was by herself, simply carrying three bags. And she was asking a volunteer where she should go, what she should do, what country is loyal to Ukraine.

She seemed totally confused by the moment, unable to figure out where to go.

We spoke with her briefly inside the train station.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TATIANA POLOSHENKO (ph), UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): She doesn't know where she will go. And she has nothing except for these bags.

She had everything back there in Ukraine. She lived in her family estate that belonged to her parents. So it's very hard to leave it all, especially at this age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Tatiana told us that she lives in a city just west of Kyiv, that her apartment building had been bombed out.

She survived because she was in a shelter with other elderly people. She said they were sat there and prayed throughout the bombing. It took her nearly two days to get here.

But her story really exemplifies what so many of these refugees are enduring at this moment, especially those who are leaving the country alone -- Ana?

CABRERA: It's hard to imagine that reality.

Ed Lavandera, thank you for that reporting.

Not everyone can flee. In the city of Mariupol, just devastation. An advisor to President Zelenskyy says 2,500 civilians have died here. Hundreds of thousands remain trapped without food or power.

A local official says it is so bad people are melting snow just to have water to drink. John Shmorhun is a volunteer director with the charity, Ukrainian

Education Platform, and he's joining us now.

John, thanks for taking time with us.

Who exactly are you helping right now? And what condition are people in when they reach you or you reach them?

JOHN SHMORHUN, DIRECTOR, HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE, UKRAINIAN EDUCATION PLATFORM: Ana, thank you for having me on.

We're helping the IDPS or the internally displaced people from the war zones to get to places of safety.

So basically, what we provide are services in municipalities, in the safe areas, where people can go for temporary accommodations, which we provide for.

And then to move on either further to western Ukraine in cities like Lviv or to become refugees. That's what we do.

CABRERA: So, I understand you have nine distribution centers. And you talk about how people are moving through the country.

[13:55:07]

We've been reporting on the roads and bridges that are destroyed. And of course, Russian forces have encircled certain cities.

How challenging is it to get the aid to the people who need it?

SHMORHUN: Good question, Ana. It is challenging. Particularly for the hard-hit areas like Mariupol.

We bring our trucks as close to the city as we can. For example, we may stop in a city between Kyiv and Mariupol.

And we will either hold the goods there and wait for a green corridor to open up, which is not being violated by the Russians, or we will simply deliver those goods into the city, which is another city under fire.

CABRERA: What's the biggest need right now?

SHMORHUN: The biggest need right now are medicines. I think there are plenty of -- clothing is coming in. Mattresses, pillows for people.

Food distribution is still badly needed. Chlorination for water, because, as I heard in your previous discussion, people are basically melting snow. So, water filters are needed. Things like that, Ana.

CABRERA: You're in western Ukraine. I understand your wife just arrived from Kyiv.

How's she doing? And what more are you learning about the situation for people there in the capital city? SHMORHUN: Well, my wife arrived. It has probably been a week. It took

her about 24 hours to travel 500 kilometers. And that was, I would consider, on the easy side compared to today.

Because things are getting tenser in Kyiv. The Russians are attempting to surround the city. So, getting out of Kyiv may become more problematic with time.

CABRERA: And just quickly, if you will, I know you have been -- your organization's been around since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. This is obviously a different beast.

Did you ever imagine it coming to this?

SHMORHUN: Ana, I knew they were going to be problems. But I had no idea it would be to this extent. Honestly.

I've been living in this country for over 20 years, and we have a number of businesses, my wife and I. I've been in agriculture.

I work with Franklin Covey. I'm a partner in Franklin Covey International here.

But I had no idea that it would get to this extent. That's why I'm volunteering.

CABRERA: Wow.

Well, thank you. Thank you for all of your amazing work that you are doing, that your wife is doing, and all the volunteers who work with you.

We appreciate your time and sharing that insight with us.

That does it for us today. The news continues after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:00]