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Scores Of Children Evacuated From Orphanage In Sumy; Former Ukrainian President Urges Sanctions On Putin's "Propagandists"; New Images Show Damage To Mariupol Theater After Bombing; Over 2 Million Refugees Flee To Poland; Russia's War Plans Have Missed Objectives; Ballet Stars Unite For Fundraising Gala; U.S. Health Officials Monitoring Rising Covid-19 Cases In Europe. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 20, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world and also this hour in the United States. Welcome, everybody, I'm Hala Gorani, reporting live from Lviv in Ukraine.

A safe escape for dozens of children trapped by the fighting in this country. We are now learning that 71 kids from an orphanage in the northeastern city of Sumy have been safely evacuated.

Officials say the children, many of whom are disabled and all under the age of 4, spent two weeks in a basement, sheltering from Russian attacks. It must have been so terrifying for them.

The conflict is showing no signs of slowing down, though. And Ukrainian officials say another Russian general was killed last week amid fierce fighting near Kherson in southern Ukraine. CNN can't independently verify those claims.

On Saturday, officials in the U.S. confirmed that Russia launched hypersonic missiles, one similar to the one you see here, against Ukraine. Now Russia says they were used to target an ammunitions warehouse on Friday. We can't verify this.

This is the first time we know -- we know of, I should say, that hypersonic missiles have been used in combat.

And yet a new report from British intelligence says Russian forces still have not managed to gain air superiority over Ukraine.

And take a look at these new satellite images that show what is left after a theater in Mariupol was bombed on Wednesday. Officials believe hundreds of people were sheltering inside when the attack hit. The Russian word for "children" was, by the way, clearly visible.

Despite the relentless assault Ukraine says his people will continue to fight for their country.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukrainians have proven that they can fight more professionally than an army that has been waging wars for decades in various regions and conditions. We respond with wisdom and courage to the great number of their equipment and soldiers sent to Ukraine.

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GORANI: In southern Ukraine officials believe dozens of soldiers were killed after a Russian strike on military barracks. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Mykolaiv.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Potentially one of the largest losses of Ukrainian military life in this war so far that we know of. What we do know is still relatively slight.

I'm hearing from Ukrainian officials that certainly 20, possibly 30 or 40 soldiers' lives may have been lost in this startlingly devastating explosion at two separate military buildings, quite close to the city center of Mykolaiv, where I'm standing.

One of those buildings torn, frankly, in two, by the blast; another reduced to rubble. We met some of the soldiers who were injured in that devastating series of blasts in hospital, bewildered, one man lying there reciting the names of his friends, asking how they were; another man whose legs had been heavily damaged, reduced to tears.

This is a military target, certainly. But that doesn't reduce the human tragedy of those killed or injured there. We understand the injuries may be close to 40 as well.

And this is, I say, a military target but a sign, again, of what we're seeing now as a pattern of Russia's behavior across the country, using heavy weapons, often guided missiles at this stage in the conflict, to exact a heavy price against targets, this one military.

But so often across the country and here in Mykolaiv, it's been civilian targets that have been pounded by rockets. And we've seen, in some of the residential complexes here, the damage that is done.

But that is despite the fact that Russia appears, certainly here around Mykolaiv, to be losing ground against Ukrainian forces. And we've seen that along the main road from here, Mykolaiv, down to Kherson, which was the first city Russia captured and remains really the only city Russia has held.

But still, against that, Ukrainian forces are pushing back, down the road away from here, Mykolaiv. So there's two elements of this war, a persistent pattern on the ground that Russia is not gaining terrain; in fact, finding itself at a stalemate or, even around here, losing part of the terrain it thought it had gained. But at the same time, they are exacting a vengeful cost through heavy

weapons, sometimes against military targets; so much of the time, against civilian targets. And here in Mykolaiv, causing utter devastation, so close to the heart of the city -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

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GORANI: You may remember yesterday I spoke to some Ukrainians living abroad, who traveled back to the war zone to help the resistance effort. One of them is working in and around Mykolaiv. We called him. He's doing OK, thankfully.

As you can see there, it's an incredibly violent situation there in that particular key city.

A former Ukrainian leader is calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to show solidarity with Ukraine by coming to visit the country. Former president Petro Poroshenko made the appeal in an interview with CNN.

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PETRO POROSHENKO, FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I know that President Biden plans to go to visit Europe next week. And I think that he analyzing the possibility.

Why don't very good friend of mine and very good friend of Ukraine, Joe Biden, the leader of the global world, who demonstrate now the leadership, why don't he can visit Kyiv next week?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, that was Petro Poroshenko.

And we're learning new details about a call between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkey's president on Thursday. According to Turkish officials, Mr. Putin laid out a specific set of demands for a peace deal in Ukraine. Those are his demands.

Turkey also offered to host negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. For more, let's bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul.

What do we know about Russian president, who decided to invade this country unprovoked, asked for in that call with President Erdogan?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Hala, to put this into context, Turkey has really been pushing for this diplomatic path, for talks between the two leaders for quite some time now.

Turkey's really trying to use its position, this very unique position, as a key member of NATO, that maintains really good relations with both Ukraine and with Russia as well. President Erdogan does have a good working relationship with President Putin. And so far, Turkey feels it has been able to achieve what others

haven't and that is bringing together the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia for talks here earlier this month.

But there is also this realization, Hala, that what they're pushing toward is a permanent cease-fire and a resolution for the situation in ending the war. And to do that, as we've heard from Turkish officials, they obviously need to bring together the two countries on a leadership level.

Because the decision to end this conflict is the decision of one man and one man only and that is Vladimir Putin. So we know that President Erdogan has been -- he had several phone calls with both leaders throughout this crisis. The latest, according to Turkish officials, was last Thursday.

And Turkish officials are saying that President Putin, repeating really what we already know, Hala, what his position is, what his terms are to end this war, whether the neutral -- a neutral Ukraine, disarming the country, the so-called denazification.

And these are issues that, according to Turkish officials, that are being worked through between the two countries in their ongoing negotiation. There might be some progress being made there.

But the most difficult issues, according to President Putin and what he told President Erdogan and what Turkish officials are saying, is the main issue here for both countries, where they don't see any room for compromise and that is the status of the so-called republic in the Donbas and the annexation of Crimea.

President Putin wants the recognition of those territories. And we know that territorial integrity and sovereignty for Ukraine is a red line. So this remains the most difficult issue.

And while President Zelenskyy is saying that he is open for talks, he's open for these leadership talks, President Putin telling President Erdogan, according to Turkish officials, that their positions are not close enough right now for them to be having these leader-to-leader talks. But Turkey is continuing to push for that, Hala.

GORANI: All right. Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul, thanks so much.

A quick break. When we come back on CNN, lives turned upside down. We'll take an in-depth look at the massive refugee crisis created by Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine.

Plus I'll talk to a representative from the International Organization for Migration and find out what he's hearing on the ground from refugees.

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JULIA VOLOK, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE (from captions): I feel like 100 percent better because I sleep -- I start to sleep well because there is no sirens and I don't need to worry about will I wake up tomorrow or not.

Because I know many people in my country, unfortunately, they slept one night and they couldn't wake up the next day. And it's very hard to fall asleep when you see news, when you see everything and you see that they would come to you soon.

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GORANI: That was a Ukrainian refugee. And Ukrainians like Julia, who've escaped across the border, are the lucky ones, because they're still alive. The U.N. says nearly 850 civilians have been killed, about 1,400 injured, numbers that are likely to climb much higher as Russia's war grinds on.

The flow of refugees and internally displaced people is growing by the day. Ukraine says more than 6,600 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors on Saturday and more than 3.3 million have fled the country since the fighting began.

More than 4,000 people were evacuated from the city of Mariupol Saturday via humanitarian corridors.

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GORANI: But a Ukrainian army commander tells CNN the port city is under attack day and night from Russian tanks, artillery, rockets and aircraft. One resident describes what life is like in what is left of his town.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLEKSANDR BEZIMOV, MARIUPOL REFUGEE (through translator): You should see it with your own eyes, how people cook food in the courtyard of a residential building and then someone hears a plane coming and shouts, "In the air."

And the whole crowd rushes to the porch to take shelter. It is a state of horror, when you walk around the city and see shell craters everywhere, when you don't know who stays where. I haven't seen my son since March 2nd.

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GORANI: Ukraine's president calls the misery that Russia has brought to Mariupol a war crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The besieged Mariupol will go down in history as an example of the responsibility for war crimes. What the occupiers have done to Mariupol is an act of terror that will be remembered for centuries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: That's not the only horrific news emerging from Mariupol. According to the city council, thousands of residents there have been removed from the city against their will by Russian forces.

A statement from the council says they were taken to camps, where their phones and documents were checked and then sent to Russia. Mariupol's mayor compared Russia's actions to the forcible removal of people in Nazi Germany.

CNN's Melissa Bell is monitoring the refugee crisis in Poland. She joins me now live near the border with Ukraine.

What are you seeing and hearing, Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hala, more refugees continuing to arrive today, as you just heard a moment ago from that woman speaking. No one wants to leave their home.

And that's what we've been seeing here at this train station in Przemysl over the course of the last few days, more and more people arriving with all that uncertainty of what's happening for those that they left behind and all the uncertainty of what that means for them going forward.

And what we're talking about, Hala, here is women and children. So extremely vulnerable people, trying their best to help their children to be reassured. And just inside the train station behind me is volunteers with stuffed toys there, to greet the children, try to make the children feel a little comforted.

This morning, a couple of trains expected, one from Odessa and about midday from Kyiv. All of those trains then stop in Lviv, where you are, before coming on here to Przemysl.

What this town has seen is an extraordinary outpouring of solidarity for what have been unbelievably high numbers of people coming in within a very fast space of time. Have a listen to what the city's mayor had to say about what's been happening and about what he expects.

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MAYOR WOJCIECH BAKUN, PRZEMYSL, POLAND: Yes, I think we need help now because it's about 2 million refugees in Poland and nearly 3 million -- over 3 million in Europe. So that's huge -- you know, that's huge crisis.

I think it's the worst crisis from the Second World War because we never expect that crisis, when 3 million now but maybe another 3 million coming. People leave their houses and want to go to some other country. So that's a huge operation for -- I think for E.U., not only for Poland.

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BELL: This is a town that had to show all that solidarity, to prepare to welcome all those refugees over the course of the last three weeks, Hala.

From one day to the next, to get prepared, that took ordinary people leaving their homes, coming here with groceries, coming here with their cars, opening up rooms, bedrooms in their homes, schools being turned to shelters.

What's happening now more than three weeks in this war is space and resources are running out. That's why the mayor of this town is calling for more to be done by the European Union, by Polish authorities, to try and help.

This is a gap that's been filled by the kindness of strangers, of course, the extraordinary efforts of NGOs that have been very quick to organize themselves. But going forward and the longer this drags on, the greater the numbers of people coming through stations like this one, the more help is going to be needed, Hala.

GORANI: Absolutely. Thanks very much, Melissa Bell, reporting live in Poland, close to the Ukrainian border.

Joining me now from Medyka, Poland, is Jorge Galindo. He's a communications officer with the International Organization for Migration.

Thanks for being with us. One of the things that I guess from UNICEF, a few hours ago told me, that I thought was interesting was that, in the initial days of the war, people leaving usually maybe knew somebody abroad or had a place to stay.

But the people leaving now are leaving extremely stressed, because they have no choice and there is real conflict from the regions they're fleeing from.

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GORANI: Is that a trend you've been able to observe yourself?

JORGE GALINDO, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: Well, what we have been seeing recently is the initial reports said, you know, people coming not only in Medyka but through other border crossing points here in Poland. They were staying mostly close to the site of the border because they thought the war would end anytime. And then they would be able to come back to their homes, to their families.

But as we have seen, unfortunately, this has not been the case. People continue to enter the country. And a lot of them have relatives in other parts of Europe and further afield. But, for a lot of them, their futures are very uncertain. They

certainly don't know where to go or what services they can access; again, not only in Poland but elsewhere. So I think information, providing information to these people, in addition to other essential services, is going to be key.

We have set up an information point here in Medyka, where we're giving them -- (INAUDIBLE) providing them with information about where they can go, what are reliable transportation services that they can access.

And, yes, just trying to provide some more certainty at a time like this, that is, of course, very difficult for the people coming, especially considering that the majority are single-headed households, women, children --

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GORANI: All right. Your audio's cutting in and out but I'm just getting the basic gist of what you're saying. And one of the reasons obviously it's mainly women and children is because men between the ages of 18 and 60 are forbidden from leaving the country, men of fighting age.

What is the biggest challenge that you're facing right now?

GALINDO: Yes, and I apologize for the audio. The connection here is a bit unstable. But the biggest challenges, of course, is people are coming here after traveling for days at a time.

And, of course, they're tired. They're basically tired, hungry and a lot of them have, you know, additional needs, mental and physical health needs, after having, you know, gone through these very highly stressful events.

So we're looking to provide the necessary psychosocial support for them. And another rising concern certainly is going to be the issue of human trafficking. We know that this issue is present in the region.

And just last year in 2021 we identified and assisted over 1,000 victims of trafficking. We need to look at this issue and provide people with information to avoid the risks and avoid that they fall into criminal activities.

GORANI: I keep hearing that concern about human trafficking.

Can you tell us what are some of the ways that you are able to use to identify that risk?

What are you telling people about how to keep their kids safe?

What do they need to know?

GALINDO: Well, first of all, as I mentioned, we've set up hotlines and we are giving them (INAUDIBLE) authorities reliable forms of support provide to these people. There's a lot of actors on the ground.

And there's a lot of movement and -- at a time like this vulnerabilities of people. As you mentioned, women and children are more likely to be exploited. So we're raising awareness. And people can call in to the hotlines, not only in Poland but other neighboring countries, where they can get the reliable information.

And we also need to work together with the actors and the volunteers here. A lot of people lending a hand and they also need to be aware of how to protect potential risks for these people.

GORANI: What are the risks?

I guess, what would you be telling a woman and her children to look out for, so they can potentially spot someone who's not -- whose intentions are bad, at their most vulnerable, as they flee a war zone?

GALINDO: Well, (INAUDIBLE) there's a lot of people that are getting into the buses. The local authorities are vetting the people who are offering transportation services here. What we're saying to women and children is that, if somebody comes with promises of, you know, getting them jobs.

[03:25:00]

GALINDO: Getting them opportunities (INAUDIBLE) without properly identifying themselves, without having some sort of certification from the government or that they're actually providing these services as an authorized form of support, that's already a red flag.

And so the best thing they can do is reach out to humanitarian actors, to reach out to the U.N. and to the local authorities here, to make sure that the offers that they receive are reliable.

GORANI: OK. That's great advice there. Jorge Galindo, thanks very much. And thanks for all the work that the people on the ground have been doing, to assist these refugees fleeing a very distressing situation.

And yet more tragic news coming out of Mariupol that I want to talk to you about. We're learning that an art school, being used as a shelter, in the besieged city has been bombed by Russian forces.

Again, an art school used for vulnerable people to seek shelter has been bombed by Russian forces, according to a statement by the Mariupol city council, released on its Telegram channel.

The council says about 400 people were sheltering in the building, which was destroyed in the attack. It adds that information on casualties is still unclear but that people remain trapped under the rubble.

And, of course, this comes just days after Russians attacked that theater in Mariupol, where hundreds of people were seeking shelter. We'll bring you more information about that when we have it. The Ukraine war is looming over the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels,

with Russia now unleashing advanced missiles never used before in modern warfare. The latest from the White House when we come back.

Plus, more than three weeks into the war, experts say Russian forces are not making the kind of progress many expected. Our Phil Black asks why this is the case. Stay with us.

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GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. We're live in Lviv, Ukraine. Shocking reports of a Mariupol school being bombed while hundreds of people sheltered inside. I'm talking about another target here. This is not the theater.

This word coming to us from the city council a short time ago. The statement said about 400 people were inside when the building was destroyed. We're talking about an art school here.

We do not know exactly what happened in terms of casualties on the ground. We're working on getting more information for you from Mariupol.

This word comes after the U.S. confirmed that Russia struck Ukraine with hypersonic missiles, similar to ones you see on your screen there. Russia says last week's attack targeted an ammunition warehouse in Western Ukraine. We cannot confirm this; this is the Russian version.

These missiles can fly very low and very fast, making them almost impossible to defend against.

And Ukraine says a fifth Russian general was killed last week in southern Ukraine. CNN cannot independently verify the claim. According to the Ukrainian military, the general died in fierce fighting when Ukrainian troops attacked Russian forces occupying an air field near the city of Kherson.

There was a bit of hopeful news from Eastern Ukraine. A local official tells us 71 orphans, all aged under 4 and many with special needs, were safely evacuated from a care home in the town of Sumy. They were brought out by a humanitarian corridor after spending two weeks in bomb shelters.

Some will stay in Kyiv for now. Others will go to Lviv.

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GORANI: I'm joined now by Ukrainian Parliament member Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze. Thank you for joining us.

She chairs a committee in charge of Ukraine's integration into the E.U. And she's live in Kyiv.

You're still in Kyiv. You haven't left.

What is it like there right now?

IVANNA KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE, UKRAINIAN MP: As I was saying earlier, the city is becoming like a fortress. So a lot of people have left. And the streets of Kyiv during the day are totally empty; obviously, during the night, even more so.

But at the same time the preparations for defense of the defense of the capital are ongoing. And this is cooperation and coordination between the armed forces, the territorial defense and the society, those Ukrainians and those Kyivites that are staying here and are not allowing themselves to leave.

I mean, because it is our city, we were born here, we were raised here and we believe nobody can and should be able to take it from us.

GORANI: Do you have any hope whatsoever for any kind of diplomatic track to yield any results?

We heard that the Turks are happy to host any kind of Putin-Zelenskyy summit.

Do you think there's a glimmer of hope there or not?

KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: You know, every war, at some point, finishes by some peace agreement or capitulation. And I think we have to understand that Ukraine, at this moment, is not ready to capitulate.

And that means that all the ultimatums of Russian Federation cannot be delivered. So therefore I do not have any expectations, any closer to midterm, from the negotiations that are being held.

The only thing that we might be getting from those negotiations -- but not probably on the top level -- is the possibility to evacuate our people from those areas that are most badly shelled on and most badly attacked or under siege, like Mariupol.

GORANI: And speaking of Mariupol, have you been at all able to confirm these reports that some Mariupol residents are being forcibly moved to Russian territory?

KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: That was the information we received yesterday from adviser to the mayor of Mariupol.

And he was saying about one of the specific shelters, where more than 1,000 people were trying to escape from the bombs and were trying to hide from the bombs.

[03:35:00] KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE: That Russian occupying force has actually grabbed them and sent them, deported forcefully to the Russian Federation.

But that's not the first case. We have had, in earlier days, we have also had reports of this similar behavior of Russian occupying troops in the north part of Kharkiv region, in the villages.

They were not letting people go inside Ukraine and flee to the safer regions or to flee abroad through the Western borders. But they were forcefully taking Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian villagers from Ukrainian village and deport them into Russian Federation. We've seen that before. We've seen that during Stalin's time.

We've seen whole nations being deported, like Crimean Tatars in 1944.

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GORANI: That was Ukrainian Parliament member Ivanna Klympush- Tsintsadze, a parliament member who has by the way stayed in Kyiv.

The U.S. and its allies know that Russian president Vladimir Putin's brutal assault on Ukraine cannot go unanswered. But in the nuclear age, every option poses risks of miscalculation.

That's precisely what Joe Biden and other leaders will be talking about, one assumes, when they meet this week at the NATO summit. CNN's Arlette Saenz has more from the White House.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House has described President Biden as a big fan of face-to-face diplomacy. And he will have the opportunity to engage in just that when he travels to Europe on Thursday.

The president will have a host of meetings with allies, beginning with an extraordinary NATO summit to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine. Leaders are expected to speak about defense and deterrence measures.

And it also gives Biden an opportunity to reaffirm to NATO allies that the U.S. remains committed to them and their ability to defend themselves.

Additionally, Biden will be meeting with the European Council at a summit, where they will take about a host of issues, such as sanctions and humanitarian assistance.

And later in the day Thursday, he will attend a meeting with G7 leaders. This was a meeting that was called by Germany, where they will also talk about further ways to respond to Russia in the wake of their aggression toward Ukraine.

Now the U.S. has been working very closely with allies over the course of the past few months every step of the way, as they've crafted these responses to both Russia and also developed ways to assist Ukraine going forward.

This will give Biden one of his first opportunities to sit face to face with so many of these leaders, as the U.S. continues to want to show this united front against Russia's aggression toward Ukraine and also developing ways to help Ukraine defend itself amid these attacks -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

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GORANI: Well, Russian bombs and munitions continue to have devastating impact on cities across this country. But the soldiers and vehicles on the ground are not making as much progress as many expected. And some experts say the war could get uglier as it drags out. Phil Black has that angle.

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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian munitions are still having a devastating impact on civilians in key cities; in Mariupol; in the capital, Kyiv. But Russian forces are still making little progress advancing across Ukrainian territory. The core U.S. assessment hasn't changed for much of the war.

NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The Kremlin's forces remain stalled in many areas.

BLACK (voice-over): And experts agree: three weeks in, Russia is in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No wars go according to plan. The problem is that Russia's plan was especially bad.

The key question, why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would argue it's a mix of everything. It is a failed or botched concept of operation, with plenty of wrong assumptions about the very nature of the battlefield, Russia believing in a way that Ukrainians would capitulate or Ukraine would crumble.

BLACK (voice-over): And experts believe Russia's failure to secure a quick, definitive win has revealed another major flaw in its planning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russia's out of available combat forces to put into this fight.

BLACK (voice-over): Analysts say Russia's limited forces are now divided between taking territory and laying siege to major cities, reducing their ability to do both tasks effectively. And that means Russia must be reassessing what victory looks like.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this stage, we are still talking about limited gains and goals. There's simply not enough troops potentially coming from Russia or elsewhere to do a sort of massive full-scale ground invasion of Ukraine, keep that territory, hold it and then find a very costly counterinsurrection.

[03:40:00]

BLACK (voice-over): U.S. officials say they're seeing some early efforts to boost troop numbers with foreign fighters.

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE, USMC, COMMANDER, CENTCOM: We believe that out of Syria there are perhaps small, very small groups of people that may be trying to make their way to Ukraine.

BLACK (voice-over): How the next phase of the war plays out will be significantly determined by Russia's intentions in Kyiv. Trying to take the capital would likely involve months of bombardment and urban warfare.

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS, U.S. NAVY (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: That's going to be a tough order of business. Those Ukrainians know every single alley, every back room, every road, every intersection. The Russians are going to find themselves in a hard fight.

BLACK (voice-over): Slow Russian progress can help Ukrainian forces by allowing them more time to prepare and be resupplied with advanced weapons from allies. But experts say it could also inspire greater brutality from Russia, a willingness to escalate and destroy in order to compensate for its stalled invasion -- Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, that's it for me in Lviv, Ukraine. For more, I'm turning it over to my colleague Kim Brunhuber at the CNN Center -- Kim.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All right. Thank you so much, Hala.

Top dancers from around the world come together for a special performance. After the break, their message of peace and their aid to Ukraine.

And fleeing your homeland is never easy. But these athletes were determined to stay together as they fled the war in Ukraine. After the break, we'll show you the unusual place where they ended up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: World famous ballet dancers have come together for a performance with a purpose, to send a message of peace and raise more than $100,000 for charities to help Ukraine.

The performers, from Russia and Ukraine as well as Argentina, Cuba, France and Japan, joined forces in London on Saturday at a benefit gala. They hope their message of peace reaches the Russian people. [03:45:00]

BRUNHUBER: One of the organizers said shows like this take months to put together but the need for aid in Ukraine prompted them to set up the show in a matter of weeks.

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IVAN PUTROV, UKRAINIAN BALLET DANCER: The money needs to come very quick and very fast, as the situation is developing so fast. That is why we've taken on this project and put it together in two weeks.

Something that takes six months we have done in two weeks. And I think it's very important that we have done it in this timeframe because what's happening in Ukraine is really impossible to understand how they are surviving this time.

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BRUNHUBER: In hallways and cramped conference rooms, a group of refugees are now living in the office of a Munich startup. They're in Germany after fleeing the war in their homeland. And among them are the Kharkiv Panthers, a women's ice hockey team. They've managed to stick together in a traumatic escape from violence.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): In the office space of a German startup, 22 Ukrainians find refuge from war. Many separated from family and loved ones amid the fighting back home. But among them, one group has managed to stick together.

ALEKSANDRA KOOZAR, KHARKIV PANTHERS (through translator): It's very important to us to be together as a team. We have known each other for many years. And for me, this is like a family, a second family.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): These are the Kharkiv Panthers, a women's ice hockey team from the now besieged city. Some members also play on Ukraine's national team. Now they're a team of friends, fleeing from war.

KOOZAR (through translator): We fled and it was a very difficult journey. Our escape lasted four days. We're very happy to be here and we are so grateful.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Munich's startup Wirelane made the space in its offices available after the company's CEO was approached by a friend about helping the refugees.

CONSTANTIN SCHWAAB, CEO, WIRELANE (through translator): The Kharkiv Panthers were wonderfully pragmatic and helped with everything from the start. In total, we were able to accommodate 22 people, some of them children. There's also an 87-year-old grandmother among them.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): From young to old to pro athlete, the refugees settle into a temporary home, thankful for a respite from violence.

ANASTASIA LES, KHARKIV PANTHERS (through translator): I was just so happy to finally arrive somewhere. We spent seven days in the subway station. And then it was a long trip to come here. I was just happy to get somewhere, where we can live.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): It's not clear how long they'll have to stay in the startup's office, though German officials have promised to help Ukrainian refugees find semipermanent accommodations.

For now, these conference rooms and cubicles, hallways and reception areas are a shelter from war in and a place to preserve team spirit.

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BRUNHUBER: Ukrainian children staying at a hospital in Rome got a visit from Pope Francis on Saturday. The 19 young patients fled Ukraine during the first few days of the invasion. The Vatican says they're being treated for cancer and neurological issues as well as injuries sustained from blasts.

The pope gave them gifts before returning to the Vatican.

We want to show you now a picture that tells the story of how far Ukrainians have to go to protect their loved ones during this war. Have a look here.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): It shows a woman named Olga, nursing her 1- month old while she recovers in hospital. The hospital says Olga shielded the child with her body after their home in Kyiv came under fire.

The mother sustained multiple injuries and underwent surgery. Thankfully, her baby is OK. Olga's husband is also in the picture and the attack left him with wounds on his leg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Ahead on CNN, we're following a surge of COVID- 19 cases across Western Europe that has health officials here in the U.S. on high alert. Stay with us.

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[03:50:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back.

Well, returning to our coverage of the war in Ukraine shortly. But first we want to give you an update on the coronavirus pandemic. Cases of COVID-19 are surging again across Western Europe. Health

experts say the U.S. should expect its own wave soon. CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner explains why.

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DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Throughout this pandemic we have followed the United Kingdom and Western Europe by about three weeks. So what happens there typically happens here.

What they're seeing is not sort of a resurgence of the original BA.1 Omicron variant. What they're seeing is a second peak now of BA.2, the more transmissible variant. And that is now slowly starting to rise in the United States.

And I expect that we will see pretty definitive evidence of an increase of cases in the United States, probably by the end of this month.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. Let's bring in CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau in Rome.

So Barbie, case numbers in many places there in Europe are going up, even though restrictions continue to fall.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're seeing record cases in places like Germany. They had nearly 300,000 cases in a 24- hour period. That's as many as they've had.

But yet as you say, the restrictions are going down. That's because they're not seeing the number of hospitalizations that they've seen in previous peaks of this pandemic. So there is some optimism despite these rising numbers, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Despite those record numbers in some places, there seems to be a different reaction to this wave, less concern.

Is that fair?

NADEAU: Yes, no, it's very fair. You have places like Germany, which are taking away the mask mandate, despite these high number of cases. You have places like Italy, which, you know, we were the first -- sort of the canary in the coal mine in this pandemic two years ago.

They're lifting the state of emergency the end of this month. And we're going to see mask mandates leave -- you know, be lifted here for the first time since that pandemic started two years ago on May 1st. You know, every single country approaches it differently, based on their own health capacity, based on their own outlook.

[03:55:00]

NADEAU: And I think that's a reason you're seeing a more optimistic look at how they can handle this. We're not seeing the hospitalizations. We're still seeing deaths. We're not seeing the hospitalizations even though these numbers are rising, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: And then as we heard there from Dr. Reiner, many here in the U.S. are sort of casting their eyes nervously at what's happening in Europe.

How do you assess the cause for concern here in the U.S.?

NADEAU: You know, the cause for concern in the United States is justified, because they just don't have the vaccination rates there that you do here. Here in Italy, 85 percent of the population is vaccinated; 65 percent are boosted.

In Germany, too, where you've got the higher numbers, they've got so many more people vaccinated. In the United States, you just don't have that high level of vaccination.

So even though, as you say, as the doctor said, the United States follows by three weeks what's happening in Europe, the outlook is very different, because here people are vaccinated and, in the United States, not to the same extent. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate your insights there. Barbie Nadeau, thanks so much.

And we close the hour with this poignant moment of resolve. Have a look here.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Well, that melody is Ukraine's national anthem. It's become a song of defiance more than three weeks now into Russia's war. The soloist is a Ukrainian soldier. You can see there his audience: all fellow troops, all listening, some recording the special performance on their phones.

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