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Russian Missiles Target Fuel Depots Across Ukraine; Biden on Putin Remark: I'm not Walking Anything Back; Russian Shelling Intensifies in Suburbs Around Kyiv; Russian Forces Consolidating Control Outside; Delegations In Istanbul for New Round of Ukraine- Russia Talks; Family Mourns Ukrainian Soldier Killed in Combat Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 29, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London and we are following breaking news coverage of the war in Ukraine. And just ahead right here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kyiv remains under full-on attack by Vladimir Putin's army.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's absolutely of necessity for people to stop killing people. To stop people die.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was expressing the moral outrage I felt towards this man. I wasn't articulating a policy change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What has happened to the Ukrainian soldiers defending Mariupol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They hold the line and they stand to the end, he says, to the last drop of blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SOARES: Thank you for your company. It's Tuesday, March 29th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Ukraine. And we'll begin this hour with a new tactic emerging in Russia's brutal war on Ukraine. Russian forces are largely stalled on the ground so they are firing missiles at fuel depots across the country -- as you can see there -- including this one in the western city of Lutsk. The mayor is asking residents to stay inside their shelters.

In Kyiv, meanwhile, Ukraine's deputy defense minister claims Russian forces are trying to establish a corridor around the capital to block humanitarian supply routes. She says Ukrainian soldiers and Kyiv residents are defending the city making it very difficult for the Russians. And the mayor of Irpin -- that's west of Kyiv -- says Ukrainian fighters have reclaimed that city.

Meanwhile, new drone footage shows really the utter devastation in the southern port of Mariupol. The city's mayor is calling for complete evacuation of remaining civilians. An estimated 160,000 people still stuck there.

Kharkiv in the east is another city that suffered brutal Russian attacks. The U.N. and its partners say they were able to deliver food and medical supplies to the area on Monday.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden said he is sticking by his comments over the week -- and if you remember -- that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, quote, cannot remain in power. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I'm not walking anything back. The fact of the matter is I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man with just brutality, and half the children in Ukraine. I had just come from being with those families. And so -- but I want to make it clear, I wasn't then nor am I now articulating a policy change. I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel. Nobody believes we're going to take down -- I was talking about taking down Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: President Biden clarifying his remarks over the weekend. Let's bring in CNN's Phil Black live this hour in Lviv, Ukraine. And Phil, let me start this morning in Mariupol. Because as we just showed our viewers there in that drone footage, the situation on the ground is worrying as Russian forces continue to close in and encircle the city. What do we know, Phil, about who controls what and how many civilians may still be trapped inside?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's still thought to be about 170,000 civilians trapped inside. Isa, they've been enduring terrible conditions for so many weeks now as the city has been sieged, surrounded and under constant bombardment. Every day now we are seeing images there that show just the utter destruction and devastation that has taken place there. And yet the Ukrainian military says it has forces that are maintaining what they call a circular defense. Circular because they are surrounded as they have been for some weeks. And yet it seems now after so many weeks of really fierce resistance, it's looking increasingly difficult to see how the fall of Mariupol can be prevented. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK (voice-over): Russia is so close to taking the prize of Mariupol. These soldiers are already celebrating. The flag going up on this local government building is from one of the Russian-backed separatist regions in Ukraine's east.

"The Ukrainians peeled off, praise the almighty," the soldier says. "The guys are in a good mood and we are working according to the order of Putin."

We get a rare glimpses of Russia's efforts to take the city street by street. These soldiers are from the Russian republic of Chechnya. It's propaganda video from their leader which CNN has geolocated to Mariupol.

Mariupol's Mayor Vadym Boychenko tells me, the fight isn't over.

BLACK: What happened or what has happened to the Ukrainian soldiers defending Mariupol, are there any left?

[04:05:00]

BLACK (voice-over): "They hold the line and they stay to the end," he says. "To the last drop of blood."

It's not only Ukrainian soldiers trapped here. The city council estimates there are still around 170,000 civilians in this devastated city. And 90 percent of homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Valentina (ph) enters what's left of the only home she's ever known. The place where she raised her family. She wasn't here when the shell hit, she's been hiding in the basement. She doesn't want to leave. She knows she can't stay. But many will never leave. The council says almost 5,000 people have been killed during the four-week siege including more than 200 children. Russia is so close to taking its prize. But it will be a blackened shell of a city and it's unlikely that people there conquering will ever forgive them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK (on camera): So, there is no question, Isa, that Mariupol is the most bombarded of Ukrainian cities but the Ukrainian officials say they're still seeing the same tactics used on other key Ukrainian cities as well. Chernihiv in the north, Kharkiv in east, Mykolaiv in the south, all of these cities are receiving indiscriminate bombardments into residential areas. You touched on some of the success of the Ukrainian military in the last 24 hours and reclaiming the suburb, really just an outward suburb of Kyiv, that is Irpin to the Northwest. They say they are now in control there. But as President Zelenskyy said overnight, that doesn't mean it is secure. There was more Russian rocket fire felt there through the night -- Isa.

SOARES: Yes, very fragile gains for of course, for Ukrainians. Phil Black for us there in Lviv. Thanks very much, Phil.

Well, right now, Ukrainian and Russian delegations are in Istanbul for a new round of talks. Russia's demands for a recognition of Crimea's annexation and independence for the Donbas region are major sticking points. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy said the obvious goal of these talks are piece as well as the restoration of normal life. And Ukrainian is ready to accept -- remember him saying yesterday -- nonnuclear status with security guarantee.

Well, CNN is covering all of the angles for you. We have Atika Shubert in Valencia, Spain with the details of what Russia wants from these negotiations. But let us go to Istanbul and Arwa Damon for the latest talks. And Arwa, I know that the heads of delegation are on site. What can we expect to come out of this? Because I know President Zelenskyy yesterday hinted at concessions but said he wouldn't compromise peace for territory.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And it's highly unlikely, Isa, there we're going to see any sort of signing of a document or a more concrete outcome from these negotiations sadly. Although that is perhaps one of the hopes that does exist.

We did hear from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who addressed both delegations saying that the groundwork is there for a more concrete outcome. But realistically speaking there are just too many issues that have still to be resolved. Even though, yes, Ukraine is, as you mentioned there, open to this discussion about Ukraine becoming a neutral state. There are so many other mechanisms that need to get put into place, not to mention what you were just speaking about there as well. Which is what is going to be the fate of Crimea and the Donbas region.

We have also heard from the Ukrainian side that they will not negotiate when it comes to territory, civilian lives or sovereignty. But what one can really hope for is a bigger, broader, more solid, more reliable discussion about humanitarian corridors. More humanitarian corridors and perhaps more importantly, humanitarian corridors that are at the very least safe and secure at this stage.

SOARES: Stay with us, Arwa. Let me bring in Atika. Atika, it's clear that the visions, the gap between both sides is absolutely huge despite the fact that they're meeting. They met before. But there is one person, of course, who can put an end to this, and that's Putin. How serious is Russia here, Atika, about putting an end to this war?

ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Well, trying to read the mind of Russian President Vladimir Putin may be an impossible task. But I think the very fact Russia is there and it's willing to look at some draft agreement. Clearly there is a piece of paper there floating around with a lot of issues, but it's there. And, again, there are some that are just, you know, not going to go anywhere.

This issue of territory, for example, is impossible to resolve certainly today but in the immediate future. And that's because Russia says Crimea is Russian. It forcibly annexed the peninsula in 2014.

[04:10:00]

And that the Donbas in eastern Ukraine must be recognized as independent. This is something Ukraine absolutely will not do. But the one issue where we could see some breakthrough is this issue of neutrality. Now what Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently said is that Ukraine must not be a part of NATO. And this is because Russia sees any NATO troops or bases in Ukraine as a threat to its own security.

So, if Ukraine -- and it has signaled this -- if Ukraine is willing to say we will not be a part of NATO, we will be a neutral country, then that is something that Russia could in theory accept. So, I think there is some serious discussion about that. The problem is, while Russia may see this as something that simply signed, done deal, Ukraine is saying, wait a minute, it's not just a piece of paper we sign, and say, OK, we promise not to join NATO. It's going to require much more. Because in Ukraine's constitution actually embedded that the country should join NATO.

So, even if there is an agreement to stay neutral and not join NATO, it would still require a referendum putting any agreement to a public vote and then changing a constitution. And that's a process that Russia has to understand would take months, possibly more than a year.

So, really the hope for today is that perhaps if they can come to some agreement, we could see the terms and some sort of temporary cease- fire while those other issues are ironed out later on.

SOARES: I mean, what it sounds to me, Atika, it's Ukraine making concessions. That Russia is not really willing to compromise on much here. But before you go, let me ask you about the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Because there was some sort of incident where he suffered symptoms suspected of poisoning. What do we know?

SHUBERT: Yes, this is very strange. We don't have all the details. It still confirmations coming in, but we do know that Roman Abramovich has been a sort of informal go between mediator flying between Kyiv, Moscow and Istanbul. Now CNN spoke to several Ukrainian officials and they have confirmed that on one of these trips -- well we're not sure if it was Kyiv or Istanbul -- several symptoms, strange symptoms developed. Skin peeling, blurry vision, sore eyes not just to Abramovich but also to several other members of the team.

Now we checked with -- both CNN has tried to confirm this with both Ukrainian and other officials. But they've said there's a lot of speculation. There is no evidence this could be a symptom of for example, poisoning. These are very similar symptoms we've seen in other poisoning cases, such as Russian critic Alexey Navalny. But there's no clear evidence that there is any indication of poisoning in this case. In fact, when CNN brought this to U.S. officials, they said their intelligence showed could have been, quote, environmental factors. So, I think this is still, you know, very strange details. We still don't know a lot about this. We did also check with Roman Abramovich's team in person and they simply said they would not give any comment.

SOARES: Well, we shall try working our sources and continue to wait for confirmation of what exactly unfolded there. Atika Shubert for us, thank you very much. Arwa, thank you very much. Keep us posted on the meetings taking place in the next few hours. Appreciate it, ladies.

Well, I had right here on the program, as a war in their homeland goes on, the families of fallen Ukrainian soldier says good-bye. We'll have a report from Odessa, next.

And stalled by a fierce resistance on the ground, Russia turns up the pressure with artillery and missile strikes. I'll speak with someone on the outskirts of Kyiv, about what has happened -- what's happening in the region. That's next.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than a month with no end in sight. According to numbers announced by President Zelenskyy, from March 12 at least 1,300 Ukrainian troops have lost their lives defending the homeland from the Russian invasion. Sadly, before this conflict is creating work for priests as well as grave diggers. Ben Wedeman went to one soldier's funeral in Odessa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lord have mercy goes to hymn's refrain. Another family drinks of wars bitter dredges. Forty-seven-year-old Yuri Solomka, died on the 18th of March from wounds sustained in the frontline city of Mykolaiv. His mother Lyudmila struggles through the ceremony. Every day, there's another funeral during this time of death, destruction and displacement.

These are indeed the times that try a people's soul. Yuri was a volunteer not a regular soldier, he was given full military honors. Beyond the customs of respect for a man who died in battle for a nation at war lies the trauma of the woman who brought him into this world.

There can be nothing more painful for a mother than to attend the funeral of her child. A son killed in a war not of his choosing.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): He decided on his own to join the army, says Lyudmila. He hadn't told me. He was a good father and a good son. Says his sister Yelena, he was always a man of his word.

Yuri lies with other freshly dug graves.

WEDEMAN: After a month of this conflict, no one really knows how many soldiers and civilians have been killed.

[04:20:00]

The only thing of which anyone can be certain is that only the dead have seen the end of war.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Before this funeral ends, preparations begin for the next. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Odessa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Heartbreaking piece there from Ben Weidman in Odessa. Joining me now from the outskirts of Kyiv is Peter Zalmayev, the

director of the Eurasian Democracy Initiative. Peter, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. I know you're on the outskirts of Kyiv. Give us the sense of what you're seeing there in the last 48 hours or so.

PETER ZALMAYEV, DIRECTOR, EURASIAN DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE: Well, what I've been seeing and what I've been hearing is a lot of artillery fire, a lot of, you know, rockets being launched at Kyiv. Which are being intercepted and many of them but some continue to land within the city limits. And that is basically contrary to Russia's pledge to regroup and try to concentrate on the eastern parts of Donbas.

You know, what I've said all along, but what my colleagues have said all along, is that the obviously you cannot take Putin at his word. You cannot trust anything that comes out of their mouth, you know. Whatever they state their intentions are, they may actually try to come in the east of Ukraine simply because of the lack the sufficient force to take large cities like Kyiv.

They are making life here true, true hell. You know, they are hitting critical infrastructure targets. They're hitting oil storges. They are trying to destroy airport, civilian, military with the end goal that they will try to bring Ukraine to its knees by basically destroying all of its economic potential.

SOARES: Yes, and like you said, you know, we've heard, Peter, Russia basically saying that they have no intentions -- they don't have their eyes set on Kyiv. From what you're saying, you don't buy that at all. But we are starting to see as you hinted there at this new strategy that's being employed by Russia, you know, the targeting of fuel depots as of course the ground forces stall. What does that tell you about the challenges they're facing?

ZALMAYEV: Well, the challenges they're facing is a highly demoralized part. The army that was not really equipped there that they would be going into Ukraine in all like 19th century kind of, you know, style of territorial conflict. They were told was a special and very quick operation. Within three days they would be marching down the main drag of Kyiv in parade uniforms, et cetera. Now they have 15,000 and counting military dead on their hands, probably 50,000 disabled, meaning wounded or deserted or taken prisoner. Untold number of tanks destroyed, et cetera.

I mean, this is a whole different picture than the army was aware of going into it. And so, that is one problem. The other problem is logistical supply lines. Ukrainians have been very adept, you know, in hitting the supply lines and disrupting logistical kind of networks for the Russians. So that's going to be very difficult.

And Vladimir Putin knows that Kyiv -- in order to up the game he would have to conduct mobilization which he knows is going to be very difficult for him politically. You know, and obviously Russia's economy is suffering severely under sanctions. And you know, it is now up to us to make sure the sanctions work. That there are no bad actors trying to intervene to help Russia bypass sanctions. That is something that's critical. Zelenskyy, the president, has said and this is something that I'm taken the opportunity right now, you know, in case our Western leaders are listening, that they need to make sure that the sanctions regime stands, you know, firm and Russia is not allowed to circumvent it.

But then, finally I will say, Ukraine needs to continue getting critical supplies of ammunition. Ukraine needs air defense systems, SK-100s, it needs, you know, fighter jets. It needs everything short of having airspace closed. Which is something the NATO countries have said they will not do. But everything else they must do in order to enable Ukraine to not only resist the occupation but try to kick out the invaders as soon as possible.

SOARES: Yes, and this is something that we've heard President Zelenskyy ask for time and time again. But let me ask you, Peter, about the besieged city of Mariupol. The drone footage we saw this morning is absolutely heartbreaking. We've seen scenes of intense fighting there. Parts of the city look like they've been completely flattened and charred. How worried are you about the situation on the ground right now in Mariupol?

[04:25:00]

ZALMAYEV: Well, Mariupol, I mean even -- we're talking about a diehard of Ukrainian fighters who are just -- they are like 300 Spartans. They are fighting to the death.

The way it is going, you know, I've seen scenarios maybe a few more days before Mariupol, you know, folds to the Russians. But the question is, what are the Russians going to do with Mariupol? Do they are probably not going to rebuild the city. Almost 50 percent of it is completely destroyed, 90 percent of the buildings have been damaged. Untold carnage in Mariupol. They're saying as many as 5,000 civilians, you know, are dead.

This is part of (INAUDIBLE) right now, a limited strategy is to cut out this -- you know, to try to conquer this land corridor -- to try to carve out the land corridor leading from the Donbas to the Crimea in order to sell it to its public as kind of a limited victory. Because he has to justify this untold number of dead. We're talking about, like I said, thousands, you know.

Mariupol is a crucial component here. Once again, Putin doesn't care about the city, he cares about the land. He cares about the territory. Mariupol has pretty much ceased to exist as we see it. And for as long as Russia occupies it, they're not going to spend any money on trying to rebuilding it.

SOARES: And as our, you know, correspondent on the ground in Lviv was saying this morning in the last 26 minutes or so, there are so many people still trapped inside and it's just heartbreaking to see the scenes that were watching on our screen of Mariupol and what it looks like right now. But what is clear, Peter, is that, you know, Putin hasn't really achieved his objective. He's not getting the political victory he dreamed of. So, do you think -- do you think you expect any compromise on anything during these peace talks taking place in Turkey today?

ZALMAYEV: I do not -- I'm very -- I'm very skeptical as to any compromise. So far, we see Russians have used these speech talks as ways to stall, as ways to regroup, as ways to present kind of a good face to the public. Like look, we're trying to, you know, we are for peace. They are nothing but mere window dressings so far. Vladimir Putin has not shown any inclination to back down. He still obsessed with the idea of controlling all of Ukraine. And once again, the Ukrainian position is clear, Ukraine is willing to sit down and talk. But Ukrainians are also very cognitive of the fact that only Ukrainian armies, Ukrainians continued resistance will persuade -- if anything does -- will persuade Putin to compromise. So far, that hasn't happened.

SOARES: Mere window dressing. You heard it here. Peter Zalmayev, I appreciate you taking the time and do stay safe. Peter, thanks very much.

ZALMAYEV: Thank you.

SOARES: And still to come, evacuees fleeing the violence in Mariupol -- as we were just discussing -- describe the devastation they've left behind. We'll bring you the details when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]