Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Attacks on Civilians Intensify in Kyiv, Across Ukraine; Five Hurt in Attack on Convoy Heading for Zaporizhzhia; Zelenskyy Appeals to U.S. Congress for More Help; Biden Announces Additional $800 Million Security Aid; Witnesses: 10 Killed in Chernihiv Bread Line Shelling; Russians in Istanbul Taka a Stand Against War. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 17, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:18]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world and in the United States. This hour, it's just past 7 a.m. here in Lviv, Ukraine. I'm Hala Gorani.
A 35 hour curfew in Kyiv is set to expire this hour. Intense Russian attacks on civilians and residential buildings prompted the move initially. And although it may have kept people off the streets, it did not stop the Russian bombardment of the capital and other cities.
Authorities in Mariupol, along the southern coast, say the Russians bombed a theater where hundreds of people were taking shelter from the fighting. It is not clear still how many were killed or wounded.
And to the north in Chernihiv, witnesses say 10 people were killed when Russian shells hit a group lining up for bread. Video of the scene shows lifeless bodies on the ground and others being carried away, injured. Russia is denying responsibility.
In Central Ukraine, a civilian convoy heading for Zaporizhzhia came under artillery fire from Russian troops. Local officials say at least five people were hurt, including a child in serious condition.
In the Capital, Kyiv, Russian shells hit a 12-storey apartment building, wounding two people. You see the giant fireball film from a distance there. This attack sparked a major fire and damaged another residential building nearby.
A U.S. defense officials says Russia has launched almost 1000 missiles since the invasion of Ukraine began and advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reports Ukrainian forces are now beginning counter strikes against Russians in several directions.
And a frightening situation for journalists as well. This is a crew from the Russian language network, current time. They came under Russian artillery fire northwest of Kyiv. Fortunately, they were not hurt.
President Zelenskyy brought his plea for more help directly to the American Congress in a virtual speech, Wednesday. He referred to pivotal moments in U.S. history reminding lawmakers assemble there, of the urgent response that the U.S. had to Pearl Harbor or to September 11. He reiterated his request for a no fly zone saying Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death.
Finally, he had a message for President Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: To President Biden, you are the leader of the nation, of your very nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world, being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, after Mr. Zelenskyy's speech, President Biden signed off on an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine. It will include and this is quite crucial because it's what politicians here and people are demanding anti-aircraft systems, but also drones, grenade launchers, guns and ammunition. The aide stopped short of a no fly zone or fighter jets over concerns that that would lead to direct conflict with Russia. But the U.S. president didn't make his harshest condemnation yet of Vladimir Putin, a remark you're about to hear that the Kremlin called unforgiveable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Is Putin a war criminal sir? Are you ready to call [Putin] a war criminal?
JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: Oh, I think he is a war criminal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: He is a war criminal said Biden. With attacks on schools, hospitals, bomb shelters, and now even breadlines, you don't have to look too far for evidence of potential war crimes. CNN's Oren Liebermann reports from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the streets of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, they came looking for bread when the Russian shells landed. Original official says 10 people were killed in the bombardment. The latest victims in the Russian attacks that have claimed more and more civilian lives.
In the city of Mariupol, hundreds sought shelter in the drama theater. Their fate now unknown after the city council says Russia bombed the building. The word DETI was written on both sides of the building, it's Russian for children. Recent drone footage reveals the larger devastation inside the southern city conditions being described as unbearable and just held by residents who've been able to flee.
ANDRI OSADCHUK, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: Almost 350,000, 400,000 people now locked in the city without food, water, heating supply. Now it's still cold in Ukraine and the fate of 1000s of people is absolutely uncertain.
[01:05:11]
LIEBERMANN: Another apartment building hit in the capital Kyiv, near the city center. The streets are deserted for 35-hour curfew. Even escape has become difficult. A civilian evacuation convoy and route to the city of Zaporizhzhia came under Russian attack. According to local officials, wounding five.
Ukraine a struck back destroying a number of Russian helicopters near the occupied city of Kherson. The conflict raging as negotiations show some promise. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says he hopes for compromise. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vows his country will not fold.
ZELENSKYY (through translation): The meetings are ongoing as I'm told, the positions are sounding more realistic. But we need more time to get decisions in the interests of Ukraine.
LIEBERMANN: With acts of protest growing more public in Russia, President Vladimir Putin called some of his own citizens traders.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Obviously, the West will try to rely on the so called fifth column on national traders, on those who earn money here with us, but live there. And I mean live there, not even in the geographical sense of the word, but according to their thoughts, their slavish consciousness.
LIEBERMANN: Meanwhile, the U.S. is working on getting more lethal aid to Ukraine, which is pushing for more advanced weaponry. NATO reiterating that the alliance is united in the decision not to impose a no fly zone over Ukraine.
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: We see death. We see destruction, we see human suffering in Ukraine. But this can become even worse if NATO took actions that actually turned this into full- fledged war between NATO and Russia.
LIEBERMANN: Oren Liebermann, CNN at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right, well, joining me now live here in Lviv is Michael Bociurkiw, he is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Thanks for joining us. You -- we were speaking earlier, and you argue that there's a need for not just an overall size and potentially a humanitarian no fly zone over some parts of Ukraine. How would that work?
MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Yeah, absolutely. Because I don't think we see the political will right now for the West to do a complete no fly zone over Ukraine. So let's look at past history where in other theatres of war, I think this was done where you have a humanitarian, no fly zone over a certain part of the country, in this case, Western Ukraine, where there are lot of internally displaced people here seeking shelter and protection.
And I think that would be -- that would come across I think, to the west and to Mr. Putin is less of a confrontation that is purely for humanitarian reasons. But whether again, the political will is there, and the West is difficult to tell.
GORANI: Because you'd have to enforce it?
BOCIURKIW: It would have to be enforced. But, you know, the other thing is Mr. Zelenskyy is still also pressing for those polish MiG jets to come here. And I'd also argue, Hala, is that what's the difference between providing lethal weaponry and these jets? I mean, it's already the President is there as well. But I'm getting very worried that again, the West does not have the ability or the willingness to come to Ukraine's aid -- assistance. And I think the feeling I'm getting from a lot of people here is that we are pretty much in this alone. And we're protecting, you know, the NATO's eastern flank. And I think what you're going to see is more and more kind of micro alliances of neighboring countries, who also feel threatened by Mr. Putin.
GORANI: Do you think there's any hope right now, at this stage in those talks that Russia and Ukraine are conducting, because we're hearing from Lavrov sort of the beginning of -- we're getting the sense from him that there may be some overlap where there was none a few days before, same with Zelenskyy. Any hope on that front do you think?
BOCIURKIW: I think the Russians like to project a bit of diplomatic front that yes, we're talking? Yes, we understand. Yes, we're going to negotiate over this and that. But I know from my own time here with the OSC, I was here in 2014, 2015, we had multiple talks with the Russian back thugs and Donetsk and also, you know, representatives from Moscow. And each time a ceasefire was negotiated. It was broken shortly afterwards. There's a pattern of lying and deceit on the Russian side. And I don't think we should expect anything less right now.
GORANI: It's a bit of a different situation only in the sense that here the Russians are certainly not performing the way they had hoped.
BOCIURKIW: Right.
GORANI: Their ground advances have stalled. They're starting to use crude aerial bombardments on clearly marked civilian targets. I mean, what does that tell you about their -- what their intentions are?
BOCIURKIW: Yeah, their intentions are to throw everything they have and these crude missiles are the same ones they also used in Donetsk, there -- we call them kind of stupid missiles. They're not guided in the land anywhere, but most of the time in populated centers with maximum damage. So it will be a kind of scorched earth policy, sad to say, and then perhaps they'll retreat but it's very sad what we're about to see I think happened to more civilian deaths and destruction.
[01:10:09]
And then, of course, it's going to push more people out of the country in the short to medium term. We're probably looking at upwards of 10 million, which is a quarter of the Ukrainian population.
GORANI: What could at this stage make Putin retreat, turn back, stop this insane war?
BOCIURKIW: China. I think that's the only leverage, the West has left with Mr. Putin is to put pressure on Beijing. Because don't forget, China also has an interest here, economic interest before the violence began. President Zelenskyy called China their closest economic partner, a lot of energy and food security for China depends on Ukraine, not entirely but part of it. So they don't -- I don't think they want to see Ukraine destructed, or Ukraine totally in Russian hands. So that's the only space I think we have left sadly.
GORANI: And you think the willingness is there on China's part right now, or not?
BOCIURKIW: Hard to say, I think at the moment, they're playing a waiting game, watching what's happening, because don't forget, this is of course, a lesson for Xi Jinping when it comes to Taiwan. I think the stomach of the Chinese dragon is growling right now seeing looking at Taiwan and seeing what's happening here. But at the same time, I think China has a sense of pragmatism in it, that there's economic energy interests here that need to be protected.
GORANI: But I'll say it can't be happy that this is really disrupting what it hope would be its post COVID economic recovery. And this is really driving commodity prices up. They're so sensitive to those commodity prices.
BOCIURKIW: Yes.
GORANI: I wonder at what point does China come in and say, and what could they say, because, by some accounts, Putin is delusional right now. He doesn't even realize how badly his army is suffering on the ground in some cases, and how some of his tanks and helicopters are getting shot out of this guy. Can China even do anything at this stage?
BOCIURKIW: I think that trip of Putin to Beijing during the Olympics was very important. And I would think that this was discussed and that he was given sort of an OK to come here. But I don't think neither of them thought it would go that badly for Russia, and this long, I think only a few days. And I think the thinking then was to maybe grab key interests in that land bridge, for example, between Russia and Crimea to establish that, but they seem to be intent on keeping on going and again, more death and destruction.
GORANI: Michael Bociurkiw, thank you very much for joining us here live in Lviv. We're going to take a quick break. More of our breaking news coverage after this, some Russians go abroad to do what's not allowed at home, speaking out against the war.
Still ahead, we go to an anti-war concert in Istanbul, where Russian rap artists amplified the anti-war Russia into Word message. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:16:55]
GORANI: The Russian state television journalist who protested the war in Ukraine during a live broadcast says it was impossible for her to stay silent anymore. You'll recall she rushed the set of a newscast on Russia's channel one on Monday, holding a large sign that said no war. On Wednesday, she told my colleague Christiane Amanpour that the act has changed her life forever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I just want to know on a human level, how do you feel? Are you feeling scared right now?
MARINA OVSYANNIKOVA, NEWS EDITOR, RUSSIAN CHANNEL ONE (through translation): No. You know, I don't feel scared. But at the moment, of course, I feel a huge burden of responsibility. And I realize that my life has changed irrevocably. I don't think I'm -- there's some sort of sad fate in store for me for the demurs on air. But I'm hoping that I won't face criminal charges.
I wanted to show to the world that Russians are against the war. The majority of Russians are against the war. And even if they support the Kremlin policy, they are pacifists. They hate war inside themselves. Everybody in Russia is scared by what's going on. Everybody's confused. Our life changed overnight. Russians are really scared by what's going on. And their faces show fear and confusion.
I don't know yet what to do next. What my steps will be. At the moment my children are safe. And, of course, I fear for them very much, but I hope they will be OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, so far, she has now been charged for the actual on air protest but in Moscow Court did find her guilty of organizing an unauthorized public event for a video statement that she recorded prior to her appearance. She was fined nearly $300 for that.
Now, one of Russia's top ballerinas is also taking a stand leaving the world famous Bolshoi Ballet to protest the war. Olga Smirnova left Moscow for the Netherlands where she is joining the Dutch National Ballet. With her first performance in fact, already scheduled for April, the prima ballerina had been with the Bolshoi for more than a decade where she became a principal soloist.
Regarding the choice to leave her country, Smirnova says, "I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia. I have always been proud of talented Russian people of our cultural and athletic achievements. But now I feel that a line has been drawn that separates the before and the after."
[01:20:07]
Well, since it speaking out against the war is off limits, inside of Russia some ordinary Russians are taking a stand abroad. This week a large crowd attended an anti-war concert in Istanbul headlined by a top Russian rap artists and as Jomana Karadsheh reports, no one there missed a beat in criticizing the invasion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To protest Putin's war, top Russian rap artist Oxxxymiron canceled concerts in Russia. On Tuesday, he kick started the first of his Russians against for charity gigs in his Istanbul. Proceeds from this concert streamed live he announced will be going to Ukraine and donations came rolling in fast.
(On camera): Tickets for this event sold out pretty much immediately. It is packed here. But not everyone is here for the music.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to meet people with the same views as me. I want to meet with them and to feel that I'm not alone with this position.
KARADSHEH: And 20 year old Anatoly (ph) is not alone. Many here left Russia in recent days, escaping a crackdown on dissent, where 1000s have been detained at protests. Even calling Putin's invasion what it is a war has been criminalized.
MASHA KOLGA, RUSSIAN CITIZEN OPPOSED TO WAR: When we are posting something on social media at least we know that nobody's going to come for us, but back home. Even now they have a new law, if you post something that you can be arrested, at least we can speak up from here.
KARADSHEH: Like many of those here tonight, Masha and Daria have no plan. They just bought plane tickets and left the country.
DARIA BARABANOVA, RUSSIAN CITIZEN OPPOSED TO WAR: Locked down, sanctions and it's not the feelings. We are not feeling safe there. We're afraid of this iron curtain thing.
KARADSHEH: They're here to help Ukraine they say it's the least they can do.
KOLGA: Yeah, it's very hard to feel that you are on the side of aggressor, you know, it's like you feel responsibility, you feel shame. You're also a victim of the situation because back home it didn't feel like -- it's very hard to understand what can you do.
KARADSHEH: The crowd spontaneously chants what they couldn't back in Russia, no to war. Tonya just arrived in Istanbul. She says she was detained and fined in St. Petersburg for taking part in a protest. She had to leave her parents behind opposing the war has even torn apart her own family.
TONYA, RUSSIAN CITIZEN OPPOSED TO WAR: They watch TV, and they listen to propaganda. And it's really hard because now many, many families in Russia are divided between these two sides, those who are against war and those who unfortunately support, but they even don't know, what do they support.
KARADSHEH: Tonya, do you have hope that you will have a future in your country someday?
TONYA: During the Putin's regime, no, no, definitely not.
KARADSHEH: There is so much uncertainty here. It's the fear of the unknown. Many don't know when or if they'll be able to go back home. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, if you would like to help the people in Ukraine who may be in need of basic things like shelter, food and water, go to cnn.com/impact and you can find ways to help there.
When we come back, they are outnumbered and outgunned yet Ukrainian forces are stalling the Russian advance. How they're doing it, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:28:01]
GORANI: We continue our breaking news coverage. I'm Hala Gorani in Lviv, Ukraine. A U.S. defense official says the Russian offensive in Ukraine is "generally stalled." But that has not slowed Russia's relentless shelling of Ukraine's civilian population. A theater being used as a shelter in the coastal city of Mariupol was reduced to rubble on Wednesday, if there was any doubt as to whether or not the Russian attackers knew children were inside. Well, the word children had been painted on the outside. It was visible from the skies and hundreds of people were believed to be in the building at the time.
The number of casualties is not yet known. Also among the developments today to the north in Chernihiv, witnesses say 10 people were killed when Russian shells hit a breadline. Video showed lifeless bodies on the ground and others being carried away. Russia denies that its forces are responsible for this carnage.
In the Capital, Kyiv, Russian shells hit a 12-storey apartment building wounding two people. The attack sparked a major fire and damaged another residential building nearby. Kyiv's mayor had these words for Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv Mayor: Putin says he's only targeting military targets. Boom, sorry. Where's the target? This building is their target.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Vitali Klitschko there. Well, President Zelenskyy has made repeated requests from the beginning really, for a no fly zone and fighter jets, most recently in Wednesday's address to the American Congress. The U.S. and NATO are concerned that either action would risk a wider war with nuclear armed Russia. But it's Fred Pleitgen reports Ukraine has been able to hold Russia back through other means. Take a look.
[01:29:46]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is how Ukraine's army is halting Russia's advance, using anti aircraft weapons like the U.S.-made stinger against low flying helicopters.
Now answering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plea, the U.S. says longer range anti aircraft missiles are arriving in Ukraine, including the powerful S-300.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): You know what kind of defense systems we need, S-300s and other similar systems. You know how much depends on the battlefield on Russia's ability to use aircraft.
PLEITGEN: After Zelenskyy's impassioned speech to Congress, President Biden announced a massive new security assistance package with $800 million, including drones, anti tank weapons and 20 million rounds of ammunition.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It includes 800 antiaircraft systems to make sure the Ukrainian military can continue to stop the planes and helicopters that have been attacking their people, and to defend the Ukrainian airspace.
PLEITGEN: despite being drastically outgunned, Ukraine's forces have been putting up a tough fight. The country's ground forces led by Colonel General Alexander Sirsky, a veteran of Ukraine's defense of the Donbas Region.
Meanwhile, the chief commander of the Armed Forces General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who's widely credited with reforming Ukraine's military, vows to fight the Russians to the last drop of blood.
"I don't have any illusions and don't wait for a gift from God," he says. "I fought and have been preparing my armed forces."
The weapons supplied by the U.S. and its allies are giving them a fighting chance. Ukrainian units blowing up Russian tanks with shoulder-fired missiles like the Javelin, supplied by the U.S. or NLAWs a similar anti tank weapon made in Britain.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: We're at a crucial point in the battle here where Ukraine is tipping the balance against Russia. Russia is clearly in trouble.
PLEITGAN: Ukrainian troops have fought tooth and nail with the Russian tanks on the ground, despite being massively outgunned by Vladimir Putin's army.
While the U.S. and NATO still reject the idea of a no-fly zone, the Biden administration has made clear it will continue to arm Kyiv's forces to help as they bog down the Russian military and inflict massive casualties.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Lviv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, the U.S. president did not mince his words when he was asked about Vladimir Putin. He took it a step further calling the Russian president a war criminal.
It's an allegation not taken lightly with the International Criminal Court already investigating whether Russia's attacks meet the bar to be considered legitimate war crimes.
The ICC's chief prosecutor sat down exclusively with my colleague, Anderson Cooper, to talk about the investigation so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: In the past, getting justice has taken years and years, decades sometimes. What is the timeframe you think this may take?
KARIM ASAD AHMAD KHAN, CHIEF PROSECUTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: I think it's a test for us. International justice has done remarkable things since Nuremberg but it has not been an easy road. It's been criticized in part for being slow, for being ineffective and not making a real difference to peoples lives.
I think it's a test for the court. It's a test for me. It's a test for the office that we see the whole world is holding its breath.
COOPER: Because the world is watching what is happening here, the stakes are high for -- not only for finding justice here but for the international order of law.
KHAN: I think this is why we need a lot more than ever. We have to value the law, restrain ourselves individually when we have the upper hand. And realize for our collective survival and for the collective progression of civilization and humanity this law is worth fighting for, protecting and supporting.
And what I am really keen about is not the burden of me as prosecutor, it is not the burden of the opposite prosecutor. It is not a burden just of Ukraine or the States. These red lines that demark basic norms of acceptable conduct like prohibition against genocide and crimes against humanity and war crimes. These red lines need to be placed by all of us. COOPER: It's interesting in the world of politics and international,
you know -- international diplomacy, political leaders are often wary at drawing red lines. You're not wary of drawing a red line when it comes to the law.
KHAN: Well, you know, there is red lines -- these are the basic minimum standard. This is an opportunity to mobilize the law. And send the law into battle to protect and to deter and to insist on accountability. Because if we don't do this, we are going to keep on having the sweet nothings of never again, of wringing our hands and knowing what is coming tomorrow which looks like yesterday.
[01:34:57]
COOPER: We've seen video of them returning to hospitals, being attacked, we've seen, you know, a pregnant woman being brought out, who ultimately died as did her baby. And on the face of it, that would seem to be a war crime. Is that enough, from a legal standpoint?
KHAN: Well it's a start. I mean clearly I'm here for a reason. And we have reasonable grounds to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed.
COOPER: You have reasonable grounds to believe that alleged crimes, alleged crimes against humanity have been committed.
KHAN: Yes. Absolutely. And you know, when one sees -- one thing is clear, I mean the law is clear on this. It is a crime to intentionally target civilians. It is a crime to intentionally target civilian objects.
Now, of course, there has to be further investigation. Were those civilian objects being used to launch attacks that made them legitimate targets.
But even then, it's no license to use cluster bombs or use disproportionate attacks in, you know, concentrated civilian areas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: The ICC chief prosecutor there in an interview with Anderson Cooper. He also says that anyone can be served an indictment regardless of military rank or civilian status.
I have more from Lviv in Ukraine at the top of the other. First though let's bring in John Vause in Atlanta.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hala, thank you. Back to you at the top of the hour.
Now Russia has avoided defaulting on its sovereign debt, made good on interest payments which fell due Wednesday.
The finance minister told state media the $117 million payment came from Russia's foreign reserves which have been frozen by the U.S. A treasury spokesperson says the payment will be allowed to go through, but there is trouble ahead still with a $2 billion debt falling due early next month.
We'll take a short break. When we come back, on the frontlines of a misinformation war. We'll meet the activists who are taking on the Kremlin's propaganda machine. A determined resistance armed only with truth.
[01:36:46]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back.
Another war is raging out of Ukraine, this one online where Russian disinformation flooding social media is now being met by determined resistance fighting back with the truth and armed with videos and images of the death and destruction caused by Putin's war of choice.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan talked to the online activist on the front lines of an information war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you should be here in Poland. You should see all these people, refugees from Ukraine. People like you and me.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hackers fighting against Russia's information war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We knew that there are people all around the world who would like to do something. But since they can't buy a gun and fight against Russia, we decided to let them use their smartphones instead.
O'SULLIVAN: This man, part of so-called Squad 303, online activists in Poland who have built a tool that allows anyone to send text messages and emails to Russians to give them information about the war in Ukraine, an attempt to get around Vladimir Putin's growing digital iron curtain. Russia recently cut off access to Facebook and Twitter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a new group that just came out with a Web site to allow you to text Russian cell phones.
O'SULLIVAN: So how many text messages do you think you've sent to Russians over the past few weeks?
TITAN CRAWFORD, ONLINE ACTIVIST: 3,000 -- 4,000 -- 5,000 -- 6,000. I couldn't even count. It just keeps going.
O'SULLIVAN: Titan Crawford, a truck salesman in Oregon has spent hours messaging Russians. He says most of his texts don't get a response and some people tell him to go away. But others engage.
CRAWFORD: It's been a mixed bag. I had a gentleman, pretty early on, that reached out to me. He sent me a picture of where he's working and then I sent him about how we like to travel. So I sent him pictures of my travels. He sent me pictures of his travels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from a generation of Radio Free Europe. And we all remember how hard it is to live in an enslaved country where you do not have proper information, real information about the world.
I can remember a time when we used to listen to Radio Free Europe. The only voice from the free world for enslaved people in Poland.
O'SULLIVAN: Thomas Kent is the former CEO of Radio Free Europe and an expert in Russian disinformation.
Do you think some people in Russia would be receptive to these messages? Or will they say, why is there an American sending me a text message?
THOMAS KENT, FORMER CEO, RADIO FREE EUROPE: While a certain number of people are going to say yes, absolutely, this is a hostile propaganda. This is spam. This is an attempt at psychological warfare against us.
But many others will be grateful for some information that they're having trouble to get. And maybe be affected by the fact that there is someone out at the end of the communication who really would like to hear from them.
O'SULLIVAN: Other so-called hacktivists taking a different approach on the Telegram app, a group called the Ukraine IT Army has amassed 300,000 members. It sends out lists of Russian Web sites to attack.
You're coder, not a gunner.
CRAWFORD: Yes, that's true.
O'SULLIVAN: We spoke to an organizer of the group over the phone. He said he is in Ukraine.
So I think I saw, over the weekend, you took down some food delivery services like for takeout in Russia. I think I saw you guys targeted some banking services in Russia.
I mean what you are doing is targeting Russian citizens, people in Russia. Do you think that's fair?
[01:44:56]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's exactly the point that I wanted to convey, right. We want those people to feel that the war has started and not only Ukrainians involved in that. Because there are many people in Russia they don't feel that the war is there. And we want them to feel that.
O'SULLIVAN: Donie O'Sullivan, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We have this just in to CNN.
Ukrainian authorities say pieces of a downed missile has hit a residential high-rise in Kyiv. At least one person was killed, three wounded when an apartment caught fire. About 30 people we're told were evacuated from that building. Emergency crew says the fire was quickly put out.
But a note here on the timing. This happened around 5:00 a.m. local time, two hours before a curfew was set to end at 7:00 a.m. in the capital.
Still to come here, on the CNN NEWSROOM.
Free, free at last. The long struggle is over to free a British woman detained for six years in Iran. All the details in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:49:56]
VAUSE: At least four people are dead and more than a hundred injured after a strong earthquake in Japan. The 7.3 magnitude quake was centered east of Fukushima. That's where an earthquake and tsunami led to a meltdown of a nuclear power plant 11 years ago.
Japan's prime minister says Wednesday's quake cause no issues at any of the country's nuclear plants. A tsunami warning was issued just after the quake but was canceled.
The quake also derailed a bullet train leading almost 80 people trapped for a number of hours. They did eventually get out through emergency exit and no one was hurt.
A British Iranian woman held by Iran for six years is now back home in the U.K. Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in 2016 while visiting relatives in Iran.
She is now at home with her husband and daughter, who was just a toddler when she saw her last.
CNN'S Nadia Bashir has more on her release.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADIA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Free at last Nazanin Zaghari- Ratcliffe finally home after almost six years in detention in Iran, the end of a long and arduous fight for freedom for both Nazanin and her family.
Gabriella was too young here to understand the serious nature of her mother's situation. Arrested and detained in Iran in 2016, the coming years would see Nazanin separated from her daughter. Seen here just a matter of months ago delivering a speech on her mother's behalf, written from a jail cell in Tehran.
GABRIELLA RATCLIFFE, DAUGHTER OF NAZANIN ZAGHARI-RATCLIFFE: One day, may we live in a world where we do not need to fight for our freedom.
BASHIR: The British Iranian national had been on vacation visiting family with her daughter when she was arrested. Accused of working with organizations allegedly plotting to overthrow the Iranian regime. It's an accusation she has vehemently denied.
But the situation was further complicated in 2017 when Boris Johnson, then foreign secretary, made an appalling blunder, inaccurately telling parliament she had been training journalists in Iran.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I acknowledge that the words I used were open to being misinterpreted and I apologize.
BASHIR: Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard, tirelessly championed her case throughout her detention, embarking with hunger strikes to pressure the British government to take tougher action against the Iranian regime.
RICHARD RATCLIFFE, HUSBAND OF NAZANIN ZAGHARI-RATCLIFFE: The government strategy isn't working. The governments approach is unchanged.
BASHIR: After several years in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was placed under house arrest due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And April 2021, she was handed a further one year sentence and a travel ban on charges of spreading propaganda against the Iranian regime.
In the background, ongoing negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal, controversy around a now settled multi million dollar debt to Iraq, predating the Iranian revolution and according to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, tenacious British diplomacy.
LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH FOREGN SECRETARY: I do pay tribute to foreign office officials who have worked hard for years to make this happen.
BASHIR: For Nazanin's family, the wait for her return has been long and difficult. Now, their fight for freedom is finally coming to a close.
RATCLIFFE: I think, you know, it's going to be the beginning of a new life.
BASHIR: Nadia Bashir, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, Wednesday was My Freedom Day around the world, a day when students in more than 140 countries hold events to raise awareness about modern slavery.
Usually we bring you many of those events live throughout the day here on CNN but because of our extensive coverage of the war in Ukraine, we're bringing them all on our special My Freedom Day Web site. You can find it at CNN.com/MyFreedomDay.
Here's a look at some of those student-led events we love so much.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: My freedom day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom to me is being able to be surrounded by those who I love, being able to support others and also having an opportunity to speak for a lot of reasons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom means being able to express myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel free when I can play football.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I feel free when I jump on a trampoline.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel free when I get to play the keyboard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel free when I can walk to school without having to worry about my safety.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone deserves freedom, and basic human rights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As students, it is imperative that we become catalysts for change in education, regarding the effects and consequences of human trafficking.
[01:54:56]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These crimes threatens life and steals the innocence of many people especially children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, freedom is not just what makes dreams come true, it's what makes dreaming possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom is the ability to express one's self, not being judged or looked down upon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, freedom means to have privacy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom is the ability to make your own choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom to me means having the right to work and freedom of community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom to me means that no one can take away your human rights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let freedom ring across the globe on March 16th and support CNN International's efforts to spread the word.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eliminate the silence. Be free.
CROWD: Happy freedom day. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well done kids.
That's all the time we have for this hour.
I'm John Vause. Back live to Hala Gorani in Lviv, Ukraine, right after this.
See you tomorrow.
[01:55:53]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:00]
