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Mayor: 50 Percent Of Irpin Destroyed, Shelling "Constant"; Ukrainian Forces Claim To Retake Sloboda From Russians; Russia Keeps Up Attacks Despite Pledge To Scale Back; Zelenskyy: Ready For Russian Attacks In Donbas Region; U.N.: More Than Four Million Refugees Flee Fighting; Ukrainian Shares Harrowing Story Of Escape From Mariupol; Zelenskyy to Deliver Video Address to Australian Lawmakers; Shanghai Effectively Imposes City-Wide Lockdown. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 31, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:11]

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to our viewers around the world and also in the United States this hour. I'm Hala Gorani live in Lviv, Ukraine where it is just past 8:00 in the morning. Russia has dashed any hope that it would scale back its attacks on Ukraine with yet another day of missile launches, airstrikes and shelling. We begin this hour with the hard-hit city of Irpin just west of the capital Kyiv.

The mayor reports half of the city has been destroyed. Water and electricity are still out much of the video from the region is graphic and obviously quite heartbreaking. Uninhabitable you can see most of it. Emergency workers ventured out on Wednesday to collect some of the dead bodies. The mayor says Irpin is now under full Ukrainian control but Russian soldiers are still nearby. He says many civilians remained in the city despite the fighting.

Farther north, Ukrainian forces claim they've retaken a key town near Chernihiv. You can see the bombed out Russian tank there in these images and Ukrainian soldiers in the streets. Recapturing the town is crucial to Ukraine's push to break Russia's encirclement of Chernihiv.

As CNN team on the ground reports that heavy fighting on the outskirts of Kyiv, including constant shelling, rocket launches and small arms fire is still very much taking place. Ukraine's president says Russia's pledged to reduce its attacks on the region was clearly not true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Yes, we have negotiations process, but there are only words without anything concrete. There are other words about a legit pullback of Russian troops from Kyiv and Chernihiv and reduction of activities of the occupiers in these territories. This is not a retreat. This is the result of the work of our defenders who pushed them back.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GORANI: The president there Zelenskyy praising his troops defense of the key cities like Ukraine and other areas. Ukraine's defense ministry says Russia is continuing though its full scale armed aggression. And the Pentagon is reporting no evidence of a Russian de- escalation.

CNN's Phil Black has more on the latest fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the same day, Russia said it would limit attacks on Chernihiv. Its forces rained munitions down across shopping and residential areas. Russia's purported goodwill gesture didn't prevent another difficult, painful night for this city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

BLACK (voice-over): Chernihiv's Vladyslav Atroshenko says Russia increase the intensity of it strikes. He says 25 people were wounded in a colossal attack.

Chernihiv is cut off, surrounded Ukrainian defenders that holding off Russian soldiers while Russia's shells and rockets crashed down from above.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).

BLACK (voice-over): This Ukrainian soldier says he's embarrassed he believes stories of Russia's power. Their only advantage, he says, they fight well against civilians.

Artium (ph) is scared, alone, young, he's 18. He was struck down by a Russian shell while walking in the center of Chernihiv. He's being moved to another facility in a car that wasn't designed for passengers like him. Volunteer ambulance drivers are now a vital service as Russia's bombardment tears apart the city and the people who live here, one blast at a time.

This is another area Russia said it was going to back off from, the outskirts of Kyiv. These images were captured in the Irpin neighborhood by a Ukrainian non-government group. On the same day, Russia said it wanted to reduce risk for people in the capital. It's a gruesome, eerie scene.

The quiet streets are filled with debris and death. People still lay where they were struck down. Ukraine is in control here now. But Irpin's mayor, Oleksandr Markushyn is pleading with people not to return because Russian weapons are still striking frequently.

Russia's will to destroy is captured vividly from space. New satellite images of the city of Mariupol give a powerfully wide perspective on the devastation inflicted during four plus weeks of siege and bombardment. The Russian work here is ruthlessly thorough.

[01:05:01] Whole blocks, entire neighborhoods are now destroyed. Russia is determined to conquer Mariupol even if there's nothing left to rule over.

Phil Black, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, I spoke last hour with National Security Professor Matthew Schmidt from the University of New Haven in Connecticut. I asked him why Russia would promise to scale back its military operations one day, only to increase attacks the next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW SCHMIDT, NATIONAL SECURITY PROFESSOR, UNIV. OF NEW HAVEN: I think we need to understand that war is about using military force and the threat of military force to change political outcomes. And I think that's what you see happening here with Vladimir Putin and Russian forces, is they continue to use terror. They continue to increase the brutality of the war against the Ukrainian population, the civilian population in order to shift, you know, what they hope the negotiating standard would be of Zelenskyy as they go forward.

They just to say, to take more of what they want, to get Crimea in negotiations, to get the whole of the Donbass instead of just the currently occupied territories, you know, the NATO question and so forth. But they are using brutality in order to drive the political situation.

GORANI: But what about these reports of, in some cases, Russian troops refusing to obey orders? In one case, we understand according to intelligence reports, perhaps even accidentally shooting down one of their own aircraft. There's a video circulating online of Russian troops hitchhiking away from their positions, because they just do not want to fight this fight. What impact does that have overall on the Russian war effort?

SCHMIDT: It's hard to say, because this is fundamentally an information war where, you know, where the kinetic war is driving the information (inaudible). So you have these incidences, it's very clear that you have a morale problem within the Russian military, perhaps all the way up into the, you know, the Ministry of Defense, you know, in Russia, but at the same time, it really -- what really matters is what people think is going on.

What they perceive is happening on the battlefield. So it only takes, you know, enough troops to commit brutalities to frighten enough of Ukrainian population to change Zelenskyy's position of negotiating table. And even though there are Russian troops that, you know, may or may not be shooting on their own aircraft, that doesn't mean that the -- the (INAUDIBLE) mercenaries that come in, or the Syrian mercenaries that come in, either know about that or care about that. They would still be capable of engaging in --

GORANI: Right. SCHMIDT: -- you know, war crimes in order to again up the brutality and push the negotiating position forward.

GORANI: And where do you think that stands this negotiation at this very early stage, about one month in to this Russian invasion? How, how does it how is it shaping up on the diplomatic front here, in your opinion?

SCHMIDT: I think it's extremely fluid, as we've seen here with words, saying one thing, and then actions, you know, being another. And the thing people need to understand is that Ukraine is a parliamentary republic. And Zelenskyy said over and over again, that any question about negotiations about the future of the territorial integrity of the country about NATO sanction, these sorts of things have to go to a national referendum.

And I think people just wave their hands. And they think that well, if Vladimir Putin can say x is going to happen, and then x happens for Russia, Zelenskyy can't do that. And he won't do that, because he's fighting for democratic principles here. But when you look at the Ukrainian population, right, just two weeks ago, there was some polling done and almost 70 percent of the population essentially said, we'll fight on. We don't want to give up the whole of the Donbass, right?

They even said, we don't want to give up Crimea, and we don't want to give up NATO. So it is very unclear that Zelenskyy can even pass through the negotiating positions we've been talking about for the last week.

GORANI: Right. Well, obviously, when a democracy is engaged in a battle with an autocracy with no accountability to citizen, it's an uneven fight in that sense, as you describe that so well. What about the timeline? Because when the Russians made those statements that they would deescalate around Kyiv, there was a wave of optimism around the world (ph).

Oil prices went down and the markets went up and people sort of took Russia at its word. But is it possible that this is just a strategy, a lie to prolong the situation on the ground so that they can reposition troops and that really we should expect a very long term battle here?

SCHMIDT: Unfortunately, Hala, that's where I think we're at. Often the outside world I think, dismisses Zelenskyy, dismisses his cabinet, as knowing your enemy better than we do. But I think that they do and they understand what's going on here between the military fight and the political fight.

[01:10:02]

And so, you know, what you see here is that there's no downside to Putin to negotiate in bad faith and then to try to increase the brutality and the pressure on Zelenskyy. He's pushing Zelenskyy into a position where Zelenskyy has to look out and say, essentially, these are the Ukrainians that are alive still today, right? And I'm responsible for them. And how much do I want to save those lives that are alive today versus future Ukrainians in 20 or 40 years that want to live in a country with real independence, with real security, right, with a real European style, economy and European values.

He's got --

GORANI: Yes.

SCHMIDT: -- a way that. That's not an easy decision. And every time Putin murders another Ukrainian civilian, he increases the chance that Zelenskyy will turn around and say, enough, I have to save people now. I can't keep this fight going. But that's what the referendums for too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Professor Matthew Schmidt there from the University of New Haven in Connecticut, thanks very much.

Millions of Ukrainians had to flee their homes because of the war and because of such a staggering number. Aid workers sometimes have to think outside the box to find them a place to stay, that includes an offbeat refugee shelter in Lviv located in what some call the wild house. Don Lemon went there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIYA OPRYSHKO, OPENED REFUGEE SHELTER: This was photo studio --

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

OPRYSHKO: -- and TikTok room and now it's still shelter.

LEMON (voice-over): When bomb started falling on her country, 29-year- old journalist Nadiya Opryshko knew she had to act.

OPRYSHKO: One day, morning 24 of February, we woke up and we understand that this war is coming all territory of Ukraine.

LEMON (on-camera): So everything changed?

OPRYSHKO: Everything changed.

LEMON (voice-over): So she and her friends founded what might be Lviv's most eclectic shelter in a building she calls the wild house. On the first floor, a coffee shop and bar along with a clothing shop. Upstairs, a performance space. All of it used to shelter evacuees when the war began.

OPRYSHKO: We who are young, adult who feel that he can be not just passive on this war, we decided what we can do.

Oh, we have place and we understand that a lot of people like our friends started to come to Lviv and they need a place to stay. Next day, we take first things that we can take from our place like pillows, like medicine, food.

LEMON (voice-over): They provided housing for more than 300 people.

OPRYSHKO: There was big table. You can take some tea, coffee, everything was free.

LEMON (voice-over): Now, evacuees live here across the hall from a barber shop.

Oleg Malapura is one of those stranded here, unsure when or if he will be able to return to his home in the Donetsk region.

OLEG MALAPURA, DISPLACED BY WAR: I have no idea. I dream about this but it's very hard and I think some years I need wait.

LEMON (voice-over): But he is grateful to have a safe place in Lviv, found through his friends.

MALAPURA: Thanks God, thanks my friends, thanks my lucky that I finds this place.

LEMON (voice-over): As the work continues, Opryshko was working to place the displaced in an informal network of 20 small shelters across the city.

OPRYSHKO: We want to give caring support in other people.

LEMON (voice-over): Doing good in the midst of the bad.

OPRYSHKO: When people, kids, families, they're in danger, you need to do the best what you can.

LEMON (on-camera): Yeah.

OPRYSHKO: So we did.

Don Lemon, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, our next guest is a Ukrainian professional who was stuck in Mariupol for weeks, while Russian forces decimated much of this city. We'll talk about how she survived 28 days in a bomb shelter and how she escaped this carnage. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:18:40]

GORANI: The United Nations as the number of people fleeing the Russian bombardments in Ukraine, is now more than 4 million. The vast majority of those refugees have been heading to neighboring countries. According to UNICEF, half of those who've left Ukraine are children, with another 2.5 million minors internally displaced.

The Ukrainian prosecutor's office says 145 children have been killed since the start of the invasion. The Ukrainians able to escape the shelling are facing an uncertain future and dealing with tremendous anguish. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees tried to explain what they're going through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FILIPPO GRANDI, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (through translation): I can't put it in context. There's no more context here to compare this to anything else. It's not just numbers. It's the fear, it's the loss, it's the separation, it's the uncertainty about the future. And this is difficult to compare, difficult to measure, difficult to address.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Alina Beskrovna is a Ukrainian startup product developer who recently escaped the besieged city of Mariupol. She is with us from Warsaw, Poland. So glad to see you safely out. You are, I understand, sheltering for 28 days in Mariupol. Tell us about about what you experienced there.

[01:20:05]

ALINA BESKROVNA, EVACUEE FROM MARIUPOL: Thank you so much for having me. I'm glad to be able to tell my story to the world. Yes, I was in Mariupol when the war began on the 24th of February and I escaped miraculously with my mother on the 23rd of March.

We stayed in the basement the entire time. And the air rates picked up about March 8th to march 9th. There was constant shelling. We were -- we did not have any electricity, and heating, any water, whatsoever. And we found ourselves melting snow just to have something to drink.

Cooking in open air fires under shelling, constantly deciding between staying hungry or trying to make some food under fire. There was no cell phone service, no WiFi, obviously. And I witnessed a lot of civilian deaths. And just makeshift graves by the sides of the roads.

GORANI: I mean, just listening to you describe what you went through is so upsetting, Alina, and I'm so sorry you went through this. What was it like in that shelter, in that basement, what was going through your mind? How were you able to withstand this anguish psychologically? You were with your mother, I understand.

BESKROVNA: Yes. So I was with my mother and I was with my three cats that I just could not leave behind. Now you have to understand that it wasn't a proper shelter, it was just a basement. And we're very lucky because it was --

GORANI: Yes.

BESKROVNA: -- technically a luxurious accommodation. Because in my basement, we were able to stand up upright, and we were -- it was dry unlike in most basements in Mariupol, that people have to still endure as we speak. It was absolutely pitch dark because there was no electricity, we use candles.

It -- we spent most of our time just trying to survive. Between trying to get water and cooking food and rationing and thinking how much more we can make it in this besieged city. Because there was no way to get food, money was worthless. You know, we were just thinking of how do we escape. And then how do we live with making it through if we do escape successfully, knowing so many people are just left behind in those conditions.

GORANI: And you have that guilt of leaving people behind. How were you even finding food to eat?

BESKROVNA: We cooperated with neighbors just because it was almost impossible to survive on your own. So we pulled all our stash resources together, you know, everyone went through their cupboards and kitchen cabinets, pulled it all together, try to make it through together. But it was obvious that once the grocery stores were looted, and there was a thriving black market, you know, the more vulnerable you are, maybe the elderly, maybe you did not think of drawing cash before the war began, the more risk you are taking to just die of hunger in the middle of Europe in the 21st century.

Which is incomprehensible to me as they tell you, but I have to tell you because it's the truth right now, the city is still besieged. So to answer your question, the way to survive was to cooperate with neighbors.

GORANI: I wonder how people view this Russian attack on Mariupol. Vladimir Putin is saying he came to liberate Ukrainians and ethnic Russians. What were they saying about him in these bomb shelters as they endure days of shelling and bombing?

BESKROVNA: Well, it's a complicated question because you have to understand some of -- even Mariupol residents were under a very heavy Russian propaganda influence. If they have been consuming only Russian media for the last 10 years, they were under the impression that whatever -- the Russian spring was coming and they had to endure this liberation, and everything will be fine.

I did have neighbors like that. Obviously, we did not talk and we did not cooperate. And I let them know about my views and we just stayed as far away as possible. But that was a minority in the basement.

The majority was absolutely viciously just -- they could not believe this had happened. They were not understanding what exactly they were being liberated from. If it was peaceful life, that was the case. But --

GORANI: Yes.

BESKROVNA: -- the main feeling was just anger. It just extreme anger at the Russian people in general who let it happen in the last 30 years and (INAUDIBLE).

[01:25:08]

GORANI: Let me ask you now about your escape. You went through, I understand, 11 Russian checkpoints to get out of there. Could you describe that journey? BESKROVNA: We went through two Ukrainian and 16 Russian checkpoints. So 18 total. I made sure to count just to have the exact number. We drove out on the morning 7:00 a.m. on the 23rd of March. I was the one driving one vehicle, just because there were not enough drivers. It was private cars that we're lucky enough to have enough fuel to get us to Zaporizhzhia because there's a -- impossible to buy fuel anywhere from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia.

And I saw Russians with my very eyes, I made sure to never speak Ukrainian with them, because that would endanger my life and the life of my passengers. But we you just drive past, you know, summer camp, you went to your high school and it's all absolutely destroyed and burned down. Not even tanks, which is like pieces and remnants of tanks and private cars and bodies just lying over -- on the streets.

And you just hope and pray and you don't make eye contact with the Russians and you just hope they don't go through your camera so you can get some evidence out of it. You just constantly pray. Even the athletes I knew prayed (INAUDIBLE).

GORANI: You weren't speaking Ukrainian in front of the Russian soldiers so that you wouldn't endanger your life or the life of your -- of the passengers and of the car you were driving. And you were just basically closing, I mean, not closing your eyes you are driving but it's one of those like, let's just do this. Let's just go, pray, hope it goes OK, and you made it. And when you finally made it out, what was that like?

BESKROVNA: When I made it out, there was a specific moment when we approached a checkpoint and the guy spoke to us in Ukrainian next in Zaporizhzhia, and it was this complete sign of just relief. We made it, you know, we made it. We got cell phone service, we got WiFi. Everybody was trying to make calls.

And we were escorted by the Ukrainian military into the city itself because it was past curfew. It felt eerie because the city was also in the middle of the conflict. It was just not as destroyed as Mariupol. So it was pitch dark. Everybody was absolutely exhausted for the ride. But the main feeling was just we're back home.

GORANI: Well, I'm so glad you made it out. And I know you're still processing all of this, this trauma and I wish you and your family all the best. Alina Beskrovna joining us now from Warsaw after a harrowing almost one month under constant bombardment and chilling in Mariupol. Thank you.

BESKROVNA: Thank you so much.

GORANI: Well, this Russian shelling and these missile attacks across Ukraine continue. They're all too familiar to the people of Chechnya, Georgia and Syria. Coming up, look back at more than 20 years of Moscow's unbridled aggression on some of those countries after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:33:01] GORANI: Welcome back. I'm Hala Gorani in Lviv., Ukraine.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to address the Australian parliament about an hour from now. We'll bring that to you live when it happens.

Now Mr. Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Wednesday for nearly an hour with the U.S. promising another $500 million in direct budgetary aid.

Ukraine says talks with Russia will resume Friday but that they'll take place online. But President Zelenskyy is downplaying any hint of a breakthrough, saying the meeting so far had been, quote, "only words".

The U.S. military says more weapons and supplies are arriving in Ukraine daily. A Pentagon spokesperson said shipments of switchblade attack drones, as well as anti-tank and anti aircraft systems will be coming soon.

The U.S. also believes Russian president Vladimir Putin is being misled and misinformed by his generals and advisers about the true state of the Russian war effort and the true impact of sanctions.

Here's what the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: On the reports of Putin not being well advised, I'm going to be careful here not to get into intelligence, but we would concur with the conclusion that Mr. Putin has not been fully informed by his ministry of defense at every turn over the last month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well that assessment mirrors the view in the United Kingdom. The head of British Intelligence claims morale is low among Russian forces, with some of them sabotaging their own equipment and even allegedly refusing to follow orders.

Russia's assault on Ukraine follows a pattern of military aggression going back more than 20 years.

[01:34:55]

GORANI: CNN's Matthew Chance covered all of this conflicts and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Russian troops fresh from battle, cruising through the devastated streets of a deserted city virtually leveled by rockets and artillery fire. You can see the apartment blocks in the background, reduced to rubble. (INAUDIBLE) Ukraine in the past few weeks, but this is footage from 22

years ago in Chechnya, a breakaway Russian region brutally suppressed by the Kremlin, an early glimpse of how uncompromising Vladimir Putin would be.

(on camera): The almost unanimous opinion of these soldier is that if he is elected on Sunday, Vladimir Putin will make a strong president to lead this country and its armed forces.

(voice over): At the time, he vowed to chase terrorists to the toilet, and wipe them out in the outhouse. He later expressed regret for those words, but not the actions.

Europe's first war of the 21st century was also Putin's war. The tiny Georgian enclave of South Ossetia was a backwater of the former Soviet Union, but it was here that Putin got a taste for violating international boundaries, intervening to support the breakaway region, pounding Georgian forces and rolling his tanks across the border.

(on camera): Well there has been a lot of speculation about where the Russian troops are. Well here they are. Well, inside Georgian territory and outside the main conflict zone of South Ossetia. The big question is, how far will they go?

(voice over): Then as now, the invasion provoked international scorn. But just after the short Georgia war, Putin seemed confident relations with the West would endure.

(on camera): Do you think that this is a turning point in relations between the Russian and the west? Do you think that period of postwar calm has come to an end?

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator):I think no. I hope not.

CHANCE (voice over): He was right. The Western backlash against a resurgent Russia never came until this.

In 2014, protesters toppled a pro Russian president in neighboring Ukraine and Putin moved quickly to secure Russian interests.

(on camera): Well, astonishing developments in Crimea because without a shot being fired, Russia has moved into the Ukrainian territory, and despite international condemnation, effectively brought it under its control.

(voice over): Sanctions followed, but so too did an unstoppable wave of nationalism.

President Putin, the victor of Crimea, had for many Russians restored a sense of pride.

PUTIN: We understand that it is not about the territory which we have enough of. It is about historical roots, of our spirituality, and statehood. It is about what makes us a nation, and a united, unified nation. CHANCE: Soon, Putin unleashed his growing military swagger even

further afield.

The shock and awe of Russian airstrikes in Syria propped up the regime of Bashar al Assad -- each missile helping to change the course of the Syrian conflict and sending a potent message of Russian resurgence.

(on camera): This really does feel like the center of a massive Russian military operation. The air is filled with the smell of jet fuel. And the ground shudders with the roar of those warplanes returning from their bombing missions.

(voice over): Now the missiles and the roars are being heard once again. And Putin's destruction in Chechnya, then Georgia, then Syria is now being visited on Ukraine.

Of course, he has ridden out tough sanctions and international condemnation before, but this time it is unclear how much support Putin has at home.

(on camera): This is one of those Russian Soviet era vehicles which is completely burned out.

(voice over): And given painful Russian losses on the battlefield, it's unclear too whether he will now double down as he has in the past, or back down like never before.

Matthew Chance, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: The United Nations now says Russia's indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian civilians may constitute war crimes. According to the head of the U.N. Human Rights Council at least 24 instances of suspected Russian cluster bombs are being investigated.

[01:39:57]

GORANI: Now those munitions are specifically banned under international treaties. Here's what she said on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE BACHELET, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: For more than one month now, the entire population of Ukraine has been enduring a living nightmare. I echo the Secretary General words that, and I will quote him, "Continuing the war in Ukraine Is morally unacceptable, politically indefensible, and military nonsensical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: The head of the U.N.'s Human Rights Council speaking Wednesday in Geneva.

I will have more from Lviv at the top of the next hour.

First, let's go to Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta for more, Kim.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Hala.

Still to come on our program, Ukraine's president is expected to speak to Australia's parliament in the next hour as he continues to appeal for more assistance from the west amid Russia's relentless attacks.

We are live in Sydney ahead. Stay with us.

[01:44:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: In the coming hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to speak via video link to lawmakers in the Netherlands and Australia. And his address to the Australian parliament is expected next hour.

That's why we go to CNN's Angus Watson, who joins us now from Sydney with more. So Angus, what are we expecting to hear from Zelenskyy and what is he hoping to get from his audience?

ANGUS WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kim, of course, Australia is a very long way away from Ukraine where Russia's unprovoked invasion has brought such misery. But Ukrainians will be firmly in the minds of Australians today as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is set to address Australian lawmakers in just about an hour from now.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia prefaced that address by saying just how Australia has already helped Ukraine in its hour of need. And by saying just how President Zelenskyy has inspired Australians as Ukraine has fought its war against Russia.

And I will get that quote up for you now. He said "Australians have been inspired by President Zelenskyy's resilience and courage. As he, his government, and the people of Ukraine defend their homeland against Russia's brutality, illegal and unjustified invasion. Australia stands with Ukraine against Russia's aggression."

Now Prime Minister Scott Morrison also says he believes President Zelenskyy will ask Australia to do more to help Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia.

Australia has already offered some hundred million U.S. dollars worth of aid to Ukraine, both in the form of lethal military assistance and humanitarian aid. Ukraine will also receive 17,000 tons of Australian coal in an effort to help Ukraine through its energy needs.

Australia has also added some 500 individuals and entities to its sanctions list. Russian individuals and entities who now will no longer be able to do business in Australia including Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.

Now Australia does expect some backlash from Russia for all of this, potentially in the form of a cyber attack. The Australian government stated that this week when it poured an extra $10 billion Australian into its defense against such a cyber attack.

That will potentially help buttress itself against an attack from China to Australia. Has grown closer to the U.S. as both countries have sought to defend against China in the Indo-Pacific in recent years, Australia's help for Ukraine may draw Canberra and Washington even closer together, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: We will be monitoring that speech in about one hour as I said earlier.

Angus Watson in Sydney, thank you so much.

The warning from German officials, save your gas, that prompted by a payment dispute with Russia. Moscow wants all energy payments in rubles not dollars or euros, but in a phone call Wednesday Germany says Chancellor Olaf Scholz was told by the Russian president that the ruble demand does not apply to European partners, meaning euros would still be accepted, but they'd have to go through a Russian bank that is not under sanctions then converted into rubles. Germany says that Chancellor Scholz hasn't agreed to that but is seeking more clarity on the plan.

Soaring COVID numbers prompt officials to effectively lockdown Shanghai. It's the latest effort to contain a dangerous outbreak sweeping through China.

We're live in Beijing with the latest. Stay with us.

[01:48:40]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Shanghai is directing all of its residents to stay home effectively putting the city of 25 million people under lockdown. It comes as the city tries to contain the worst COVID-19 outbreak that China has seen in two years.

Shanghai has reported more than 30,000 new infections since the start of March, more than 5,000 cases on Wednesday alone.

CNN's Steven Jiang joins me from Beijing with more.

So Steven this massive lockdown, I saw some workers are even being asked to live at the office? I mean take us through the extent of the lockdown and the effect that it is likely to have on the city.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Kim, the situation in Shanghai has become so dire and local officials actually just a few hours apologized for being ill prepared for this surge of infections, acknowledging problems in dealing with mass testing and quarantine, as well as providing medical care and supplies of daily necessities to millions of residents.

Now that kind of delayed mea culpa really came after days of confusion and chaos. Remember, initially they were denying they would impose a citywide lockdown. Then, of course, it was a very flawed rollout and enforcement leading to a lot of panic buying on the streets which some experts have blamed for further spreading this highly contagious omicron variant.

And then of course, you've seen pictures of thousands of people who tested positive being crammed into a hastily constructed, makeshift isolation facilities in very crowded and primitive conditions.

And then of course, now we have harrowing tales emerge in terms of people seeking medical care for non COVID causes being turned away by hospitals that were either closed or have been dedicated to treating COVID patients and some people have died as a result.

Last week it was a local nurse. And yesterday it was a man suffering from a severe asthma attack. He was unable to serve receive emergency care even though an ambulance was parked just wait outside his apartment complex.

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JIANG: The government here has now acknowledged this tragedy and saying they have suspended the emergency doctor. But all of this, of course, is happening in Shanghai, the country's biggest, wealthiest and long-considered best managed city. So just imagine the situation elsewhere in this country.

And all of this has also generated, for the first-time, a lot of fierce debates about the science and the cost of zero COVID policy, with a lot of people questioning why China is still sticking to it as the rest of the world starts to reopen and move on.

But Kim, one thing is clear, amid all the confusion and controversy, that this continuation of the zero COVID policy is ordered by Chinese Leader Xi Jinping himself as state media has made clear. So we are very unlikely to see officials change course anytime soon, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right.

All right. We will keep following that situation. Steven Jiang in Beijing, appreciate it.

Disciplinary proceedings against actor Will Smith are under way over his actions at Sunday's Oscars. The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts, Sciences says its board will meet April 18th to consider suspension, expulsion or other sanctions. The Academy also now says Smith was asked to leave the Oscars ceremony after slapping comedian Chris Rock, but he refused.

Rock address the incident for the first time Wednesday night at a sold out show in Boston. He said he's still processing what happened and will talk about it more at some point.

I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. We'll go back to Hala Gorani live in Ukraine in just a moment.

Please do stay with us.

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