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Heavy Fighting Expected In Eastern And Southern Regions Of Ukraine; 100,000 Still Trapped In Mariupol As Red Cross Renews Attempt To Evacuate Civilians; U.S. Sending More Military Aid To Ukraine; Putin Ally Facing Tough Re-Election Fight In Hungary; Russia Increases Missile Strikes As Some Troops Pull Back; Interview With Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych Of Mykolaiv, Ukraine; Ukrainian Refugees Having Their Babies Far From Home. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 02, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:19]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to this special edition of CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Christiane Amanpour live in Kyiv.

A senior Ukrainian defense official says tonight this Kyiv region has, quote, "been liberated from Russian forces." But U.S. officials are now saying that Russia is shifting its focus to victory by early may in eastern Ukraine. All this just days after Russia said it is de- escalating around this capital city and Ukraine is bracing for heavy fighting in the east and the south.

This is new video into CNN of gunfire and explosions used to disperse a crowd of pro-Ukraine protesters in the Russian-held town of Enerhodar, that's in the east. An adviser to President Zelenskyy is warning the days ahead will, quote, "not be easy." Today Russia unleashed an attack on a major fuel refinery in central Ukraine one day after they accused Ukraine of targeting a fuel depot on Russia's side of the border. That of course was neither confirmed nor denied by Ukrainian officials.

And all of this as the fight to evacuate trapped civilians is also intensifying. Today the Red Cross is trying for the second day to reach the devastated city of Mariupol. 100,000 civilians are still trapped there. Video obtained from Twitter showed just how dire the situation is. It showed destroyed bridges and debris-filled streets.

But let's begin right here in Kyiv with these developments, and our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen, he's joining me now.

You know, this is pretty big, you know, one week after Russia said it was de-escalating, and you've been out and about like I have to see what's going on around here.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's huge. It's absolutely massive. And one of the things that we have to keep in mind is just a couple of days ago, when we were standing, you were standing here, I was standing here, we could hear the shelling going on the entire time when the Russians were hitting this place even harder than they had in the past.

Now it's fairly quiet. We've had a couple of air raid sirens I think today, but you can really tell that there is more life in the city and there seems to be a mood among the folks here in the city that they are pushing the Russians back. But as that happens, more and more things are becoming clear. And I think the two main things are that the Russians got absolutely clobbered here around the capital city.

AMANPOUR: Well, you're right about that because I spoke to the foreign minister and he said, you know, the fact that they're getting pushed back is not just because they want to, it's because our forces are pushing them back.

PLEITGEN: Yes. And I think that that seems something that the more we get into these areas that have been liberated as the Ukrainians put it, where the Russians have been pushed out, you see the amount of Russian armor that has been destroyed but also some of the wreckage and the just how destroyed some of these towns are.

We managed to get to a place called Irpin, just northwest of here. Let's have a look at some of what we saw there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukrainian authorities say this is still one of the most dangerous places in this war-torn country and we immediately see why. We are driving right towards an area engulfed in smoke from artillery shelling.

This is where Russian forces tried to push into Ukraine's capital but were stopped and beaten back by the underdog Ukrainians. The battles here are fierce. Authorities say 50 percent of the city has been destroyed. To us that number seems like an understatement.

(On-camera): We have to keep moving quickly because this place can get shelled anytime.

(Voice-over): Ukraine's national police now patrols Irpin again but their forces frequently come under fire, the chief tells me.

"Just yesterday our officers who were searching for dead bodies, they were shot at with mortars," he says. They had to lay under the bridge and wait for it to stop. But the grim task of finding and taking out the many dead continues. More than two dozen on this day alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: So an absolutely awful situation there in Irpin. And Irpin of course was a really important place because that was where the Russians tried to break through here into Kyiv. And that's really where the Ukrainian forces made that massive stand. They managed to push them back.

AMANPOUR: And, you know, we've heard lots of names that have become totemic really in the battle. So Bucha is another one.

PLEITGEN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: That also fiercely contested. Now we're hearing some pretty grim news coming out of there.

PLEITGEN: We are. We certainly are. And it's the Ukrainian government saying that they have found mass graves there and are already filling those mass graves. I think it's almost 300 bodies. So you can see just the toll that all this has taken. And I think that's something that unfortunately we're going to see a lot more of in the next couple of days, that the civilian toll is massive.

[17:05:06]

AMANPOUR: And I think extraordinary, too. I mean, I went out to a little bit further out and saw a column, an armored column including the T-90 tanks that apparently the most modern that Russian has.

PLEITGEN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: Anyway, blown to smithereens by the Ukrainians using Javelins. Those obviously unusual. But the Ukrainian officials are saying that any weaponry and armor that they find that can be fixed they're going to put it back on the road with their own troops.

PLEITGEN: Yes, they do exactly that. This is one of the things about the Ukrainian military. Obviously the Russian gears is exactly the same stuff that the Ukrainian military uses, right, all former Soviet stuff. And the T-90 tank, I mean, that is modern equipment. So for the Ukrainians to have gotten that, that was certainly a major feat. But there are -- and we visited one of these workshops.

There's a lot of workshops here where is they get stuff that they find from the Russians, they do it up, sometimes they take all the old stuff out and then reuse these vehicles. The -- I think it was President Zelenskyy, he said that the Russian army is the single largest supplier of gear to the Ukrainian army simply because they're getting so much stuff from them.

AMANPOUR: And let's just, you know, kind of refocus on what the Russians seem to be refocusing on, what the U.S. intelligence now says. They think Russia is aiming for a victory by May, but in the east.

PLEITGEN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: What do you think that means?

PLEITGEN: Well, I think that means they're moving the goal post. I mean, it's absolutely clear that at the beginning of this war that the Russians thought they were going to get a quick victory here in Kyiv. In fact, they tried to get in here through the main highway. They just drove, in some cases unarmored trucks right into the city because they thought they would be greeted as liberators. The Ukrainians told me this. They said they were surprised. And now

they realized that they're not going to make it. They have gotten absolutely beaten back here not just by the Javelins, by the way, but also by artillery. They never really had a strategy.

So now it seems as though they're moving the goal post. And one of the things that we've seen today is that there already seems to be some of this Russian military gear that's coming out of here moved to Belarus and put on trains, brought somewhere, possibly brought to the west of Russia, the east of Ukraine, to Donbas.

AMANPOUR: To come back in that way.

PLEITGEN: To possibly come back over there. So it seems as though, and I think this is something that the foreign minister actually told you.

AMANPOUR: Yes, he did.

PLEITGEN: That he believed that it was the low-hanging fruit was I think what he said.

AMANPOUR: Yes. Yes.

PLEITGEN: It was the southeast of the country where it seems as though the Russians are going to try and make a lot of headway there to then have a stronger position when these negotiations really start, you know, when they really talk about some sort of ceasefire.

AMANPOUR: Well, we'll see. But it is -- it really has been a dramatic week of change here in the Kyiv region.

So, Fred, thanks a lot.

And let's go now to the port of Odessa and the regional military governor there says three missiles struck an area in that city on Friday. And Ed Lavandera is joining me from that southern city.

So, Ed, what is the situation? Because obviously the Russians have been pounding a lot of that southern area, not yet getting to where you are but maybe aiming for it.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Right. And that's the concern that I think many people here in Odessa and in the southern part of the country have. They're watching what's happening and unfolding there in the north where you are and they're wondering what's next, what is the timing of it all.

So here when you walk around the streets of Odessa, you find this mixed sense of people trying to go about their daily lives but in the background you see a city center completely fortified, bracing for what might be coming. You know, we went to a market and we came across a group of university students drinking coffee together and talking. And I asked them, I was like, is this normal or does it just kind of appear like it's normal?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TAIMUR KRAVCHENKO, LAW STUDENT IN ODESSA: It's home, and we can, like, live a normal life. But that's for now. We don't know what's going to be tomorrow or in a week. Besides, everyone is afraid. If something is going to happen in Odessa, of course we will protect our city. But right now we can just sit and live normal life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Christiane, that's the thing, they feel like anything can change here at any moment. So you see volunteers and activists making bulletproof vests for frontline soldiers. And then 24 hours ago, you have three missile strikes here in the Odessa region. And that kind of brings everything to life once again, the dangers that they could be facing in the weeks ahead.

AMANPOUR: And of course, Odessa is again massively strategic because if they did get it, it would really cut off Ukraine from its sea and its port. Next door, practically next door, Mariupol is feeling the full brunt of a very, very brutal slaughter and a brutal attack on that civilian area. What do you know? Has any sort of -- has anybody sort of trickled out today? Because the ICRC tried again today. They weren't able to get there. What's the latest from there?

LAVANDERA: Well, there were supposed to be seven humanitarian corridors opened up throughout the country. There is a mixed bag of success according to officials today, about 4200 people were able to use these routes to escape.

[17:10:01]

There were about 6,000 people that were able to escape nationwide. But when you take a closer look at Mariupol, where people and aid organizations are desperately trying to reach here to evacuate the more than 100,000 people that still need to be evacuated, this is an area where officials have been saying that the residents and the civilians in this city have been living like mice for weeks, underground, in bunkers under the homes.

I mean, one official even said we are running out of adjectives to describe how bad the situation is. And as you mentioned, the International Red Cross tried to reach it, the city again today, it's been turned away. This has been going on for several days. We were told that about 1200 people in that city were able to escape Mariupol today, but they did so in their own cars. What they need is a massive amount of buses to be able to move the vast numbers of people that need to be evacuated from there.

AMANPOUR: Indeed. And Ed, as you're talking, we see some video from Mariupol from earlier where there are downed bridges and, you know, civilians are just trying to get across however which way they can. So we'll keep watching that. Ed, thank you so much.

And ahead, the United States has just announced new aid to Ukraine to stock up on weapons, armored vehicles and Soviet-era tanks. Could the new security assistance be a gamechanger?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:32]

AMANPOUR: Sources tell CNN the United States is now expected to help transfer Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine. It's unclear how many but we're told that they will arrive within days. This after the U.S. announced another $300 million in new military aid, including suicide drones, night vision equipment, and armored vehicles.

Joining me now to discuss is the former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker. He also served as a special representative for Ukraine negotiation. Also Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, he was the commander of all U.S. Army forces in Europe.

Gentlemen, welcome to the program. Can I first ask you, General Hodges, what you make of the fact that what we've seen around Kyiv and what the Ukrainians are now calling a liberated Kyiv region? Are you surprised to be hearing that?

LT. GEN. BEN HODGES (RET.), FORMER COMMANDER OF U.S. ARMY FORCES IN EUROPE: No, I'm thrilled about it but not surprised. Ukrainian soldiers as we've watched now for the last five weeks have demonstrated a tactical skill as well as a tenacity that has been successful.

I think now, Christiane, we're in the decisive phase of the campaign. The next three weeks are going to determine I think what happens in the future if we can give Ukraine everything that they need to go ahead and break the back of the Russians right now.

AMANPOUR: So, Ambassador Volker, I mean, I know that you're the diplomat, but nonetheless, you know, there's diplomacy and there's, you know, it's backed by some kind of force often. And so it's kind of working. The Ukrainians according to the Polish prime minister says -- you know, are fighting like lionhearts, that's what he told me. The U.S. is sending weapons. NATO is sending weapons. They're using them and they're effective. But they need more. What more would you want to see, you know, world leaders do now?

AMB. KURT VOLKER (RET.), FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Well, I think there's a short term and a long term here. And General Hodges is exactly right about the short term. This is the time to lean in. The Ukrainians have stopped the Russian offensive, they cut supply lines, they are now targeting those stranded Russian forces and the Russians are pulling them back away from Kyiv, from Kharkiv, from Mykolaiv. And so this is the time to lean in.

The Russia will re-consolidate their forces in the east and they will try to make new territorial gains, so we should be resupplying the Ukrainians with everything we can, and in particular, right now there's a shift. We need to keep giving them air defense and anti-ship systems. But we also need to be thinking about heavier armor, artillery and tanks so that they can advance and push out those Russians forces.

All that is necessary, as you say, to create the conditions on the ground where diplomacy might then be effective. As long as the Russians think they have a military card to play, there is no serious negotiation going on. But the moment they realize that the Ukrainians are actually pushing them out, then there might be a scope for talks.

AMANPOUR: OK. So that's an interesting question now to ask General Hodges because you heard just now what the U.S. intelligence seems to think that Russia is bent on an early May victory. That must mean that they have -- I mean, it has to mean that they have reduced the scope of their ambitions and that everybody here including the government believes it's all going to take place in the Donbas region. When you hear that, what do you think?

HODGES: Well, of course, you and all your viewers know, Christiane, that 9 May is Victory Day in Russia. This is when they celebrate the end of what they call the Great Patriotic War, World War II, and it's a massive parade there in Red Square. This is going to be really embarrassing for President Putin on Victory Day to not have something to show for it. So I think that's why there's a priority on the Russian side to claim some sort of victory, which means it's going to be hell for people whoever's left in Mariupol and everybody else there in the Donbas region.

And that's another reason why we have got to press -- Ambassador Volker used the phrase to lean in. I would agree with that. The Russians -- now is the time to break their backs so that they are not able to regroup because they have shown from history that they can and will regroup if given the chance.

[17:20:03]

AMANPOUR: Well, OK, so that's a really important point. And it's a military question. It's a diplomatic question, Ambassador. You've been involved in these negotiations with Ukraine in the past and in different administrations. Do you see -- I mean, just like the general said, it's time, if you're going to get a proper negotiation, to, quote-unquote, "break the back" of the Russian machine here. Do you see any hope for any kind of settlement at this pace right now?

VOLKER: I think we have to think about this in a couple different ways. Is there hope for a settlement right now? No. The Russians are intent on a military victory which they will not achieve. The Ukrainians are intent on removing Russians forces from their territory. They look at the 2014 settlement where Russians continued to occupy eastern Ukraine and say look what happened, that was a failure, it set the stages for today, no more. We have to push them out.

And so I think that that is, you know, a fundamental disconnect in their perspectives right now. And it's going to be the situation on the ground that determines where things go. As with General Hodges, however, I believe that this is already turning in Ukraine's favor, and if we look three months, four months down the road, I think we're going to see a Russia that has exhausted itself trying to defeat Ukraine, and Ukraine that survives as an independent and a European state and an E.U. and the United States, U.K., Canada, that are committed to Ukraine's reconstruction and redevelopment. So this is a real fundamental turning point in the war right now.

AMANPOUR: So, let me ask you, General, I mean, you commanded land forces in Europe for a long time. You know, you see, you know, what the battlefield is. We've just heard some news from senior Ukrainian officials here. They believe and they say that there is progress in talks with the Russians that may in the not-too-distant future lead to this, you know, direct negotiation between President Zelenskyy and Putin.

You know the Ukrainians have wanted that for a long time. The Russians have been stalling. So I guess the question for you in terms of the military landscape is, you know, can the Russians afford to hang in and even beyond May, Victory Day, and all the rest of it, you know, try to secure some kind of victory? Do the Ukrainians need to go for a proper settlement while they have what by and large seems to be the upper hand in most parts of the country?

HODGES: Well, first of all, we need to hear our administration and our allies talk about winning, to use the word win instead of so much emphasis on avoiding escalation and there's so much talk about getting a settlement. And I think that -- I take President Zelenskyy at his word, he says, you know, until Russian have left Ukrainian territory, now is the chance to correct the mistake of 2014 that Ambassador Volker referenced, to get the Russians out of Ukraine, and if we don't, then for sure the Russians are going to wait for us to lose interest in the Black Sea region for two or three years and they're going to come back.

So this has implications not only for Ukraine but for all of Russia's periphery. Our president a week ago said this is about democracy versus autocracy. This sounds to me like we need to talk about winning and achieving an objective, not rushing to get a settlement that rewards Russia in any way for the murder of thousands of innocent Ukrainians.

AMANPOUR: Interesting you should put it that way, General, because the French leaders have also said winning is a strategic necessity, not just for Ukraine but for the West as well.

General Hodges, Ambassador Volker, thank you so much for joining me.

And we are going to take a short break now and we'll be back with much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:28:38]

AMANPOUR: Putin's war in Ukraine is putting increased pressure on his political allies, especially in Europe. Hungarian President Viktor Orban is a longtime Putin supporter who's facing his toughest re- election bid in years, as his opponent argues that Orban is simply following in the Russian leader's footsteps.

Matt Rivers is joining me now from the capital Budapest. And Matt, polls are opening in just a few hours. The election is tomorrow, it's tight. What do you think? Can Orban hold on to power?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He certainly has a chance, but, you know, you said this is, you know, one of the closest races in years. Part of that is because literally every single opposition party has joined together from across the ideological spectrum in kind of a desperate attempt to defeat Orban and prevent him from staying in power another four years.

That said, Christiane, if you would have asked people two months ago what the top issue was, it certainly would not have been Ukraine. Everything has changed since Putin invaded Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS (voice-over): Viktor Orban by most measures is the E.U. leader closest to Vladimir Putin recently. Just three weeks before the war began, Orban took a trip to Moscow, welcomed by Putin across a very long table.

[17:30:00]

National elections in Hungary on Sunday will test whether Orban's 12- year run as prime minister will go another four years.

And his relationship with Putin is suddenly at the center of Hungarian politics.

(CHEERING)

RIVERS: What began as a campaign focused on local issues now has opposition leaders determined to link Orban with Putin and his bloody war in Ukraine.

With political attack ads painting Orban as Moscow's puppet, a strong- man leader determined to side with authoritarian Russia instead of the democratic West.

This ad saying, quote, "We want Hungary to be a Western country again. If you're voting for Orban, you're voting for Putin."

Or this one saying, quote, "Orban, tell your friend of 12 years, don't kill."

Orban has undeniably supported Putin, vetoing sanctions against Moscow over the years and expanding the Russia-Hungarian partnership.

GABOR TOKA, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY For Russian policies of Viktor Orban, which are a very important building block of his entire political position, are now exposed.

RIVERS: And with Putin's popularity plummeting, the opposition calculus is simple -- Orban, plus Putin, equals a winning political strategy.

But not so fast. Because Orban is fighting back. Call it a flip-flop or a pivot, but Orban is no longer Putin's best buddy. Even though he's not openly criticizing him personally, the Hungarian

leader went along with initial E.U. sanctions against Russia, describing the invasion as Russian aggression.

And despite being vehemently anti-immigrant for years now, has let in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the past few weeks.

VICTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIVERS: He says, "We are a great country, which gives everything to people who are fleeing trouble."

Since the war began, Orban has refused to let weapons pass through Hungary to Ukraine or provide military aide.

But he's deflected criticism of that by claiming he is simply a man of peace, counting on the notion that many Hungarians want nothing to do with the war.

TOKA: The gut reaction of most of the public is that, oh, oh, oh, we should not get involved with this thing, yes?

RIVERS (on camera): : And Orban has taken advantage of that.

TOKA: And that's what are trying.

RIVERS (voice-over): Whether it works remains to be seen. But polling, which isn't always reliable in Hungary, has Orban and his party out in front.

One big name the opposition hopes with will change that -

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Listen, Viktor, do you know what's on in Mariupol?

You have to decide for yourself who you are with.

RIVERS: That's Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has criticized what he calls Orban's lack of support for Ukraine's fight for its existence.

But it's not clear if that will be enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIVERS: At an anti-Orban rally on Saturday, Ukraine flags flew and the crowd pushed the Orban-Putin narrative. But not many people showed up.

Whether that's an ominous sign for the opposition or just the result of cold, rainy weather, we'll find out when the votes come in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: Orban is still trying to find ways to help out his old friend, Vladimir Putin. For example, he initially went along with the E.U. sanctions but Orban

has said he will not go along with any ban on Russian energy being imported here to Hungary.

He says that will make life harder for ordinary Hungarians, more expensive, which is true.

But at the same time, it's pretty convenient it also continues to allow Vladimir Putin access to this energy market, something that can be lucrative.

So they're trying to find some ways, I think Orban is, to help out Vladimir Putin -- Christiane?

AMANPOUR: Indeed. You heard President Zelenskyy lay into him, really.

Matt Rivers, thank you so much.

Let's not forget that Hungary defines itself as an illiberal democracy. It's practically autocratic.

And it figures very, very importantly in President Biden's attempt to win, you know, democracy versus autocracy. So it's an important election.

Now, as the war in Ukraine enters its sixth week, we're seeing more scenes of destruction.

This week, I visited a town just east of Kyiv where Ukrainian fighters pushed back Russian force earlier in the war. Now they wait in an uneasy calm for the next assault.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): The first thing you notice approaching the front northeast of Kyiv are the lines of villagers waiting for humanitarian handouts. They receive a bag of bread and basics to get them through these difficult days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

AMANPOUR: "The first week of the war a shell hit us near the greenhouse. We barely survived," says this woman. "We had help from strangers around us. They gave us bread and canned food. We wouldn't have managed otherwise."

No one here knows when this war will end or whether Russia still has designs on Kyiv.

The frontline is about a mile away. For now, an uneasy calm prevails ever since the Ukrainian defenders stop the Russian advance here. It was February 28th, they say, day four of the war.

[17:35:02]

They want to show us how they did it. But first, we have to clamber over the bridge they downed to see the armored column they managed to take out.

The riverbank is littered with their skeletons. If this was a turkey shoot, Russian armored vehicles and tanks had come off the road to avoid the anti-tank mines, only to find themselves unable to cross the bridge and unable to reverse in time.

Ukrainian forces tell us none of the soldiers inside survived.

A little further up the road, two tanks have been virtually smelted, blasted almost to smithereens.

Forty-year-old Yevgeny (ph), a veteran fighter, proudly tells us, this was his handiwork.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)(

AMANPOUR: "We all here have one role, to keep the enemy off our land," he says.

"First thing they did after seeing the village, they started to shell houses just like that. They didn't see us. They didn't know we were here. So they just started to work on houses. And so, I took the tank in my sights and I fired a rocket. And goodbye to him."

The destroyed vehicles are stamped with an "O." The Ukrainian officers here tell us this identifies them as Russian units that entered from Belarus to the north.

Oleg is the officer who commanded this operation.

UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN OFFICER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

AMANPOUR: "As for now, looking at previous fighting we've had, I can tell you that we are trained better," he tells me. We have stronger morale and spirit because we are at home. They are afraid, but they go because they're made to."

He's been battle hardened ever since the first Russian invasion in 2014.

He says his side has enough weapons, ammunition, and determination to win.

UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN OFFICER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

AMANPOUR: "I can tell you, I'm almost sure the Russians are regrouping and not retreating," he says. "Besides, we are preparing ourselves to go forward, we're not preparing just to defend here."

U.S. and British intelligence say Putin seems to have, quote, "massively misjudged the situation. And clearly, overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

AMANPOUR: And this old lady tells us, "I have seen one war and here we go again. I wish Putin would go away."

The people of this land remain stalwart and the soldiers remain dug in, hoping they can continue to withstand whatever Putin has in store for them next.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: So, as you heard, senior officials saying this whole region, they say, has been liberated.

And up next, we take you to Mykolaiv where Russia is continuing its onslaught of attacks.

And we're learning the death toll from a devastating attack on the office of the regional military governor is rising there. That town's major joins us ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:28]

AMANPOUR: A Ukrainian photojournalist missing three weeks has been found dead north of Kyiv. According to the Ukrainian attorney general, Photographer Maksym Levin was killed by Russian troops.

He was known as Maks. He worked for a number of Western outlets, including the BBC and Reuters.

One of Levin's friends described him as an energetic and tenacious reporter who often looked like he had no fear.

Reuters released a statement today saying, in part, that "Levin's death is a huge loss to the world of journalism. And at least six of our colleagues have been killed while covering this war on Ukraine."

I want to head to Mykolaiv. It's been days since a missile strike on a government building in the southern city there. But the death toll from that attack keeps rising. The number now stands at 36.

The mayor of the city, Oleksandr Senkevych, is joining me now.

Mr. Mayor, thank you and welcome to the program.

Tell me about the situation in that building that, you know, you continue to I guess pull bodies from there. Do you think the death toll will rise any further?

OLEKSANDR SENKEVYCH, MAYOR OF MYKOLAIV, UKRAINE: The operation is still going on. We got 36 people out of the ruins, 34 of them were dead and two of them died in the hospital.

We have more -- I'd say 35 people injured. But let's say eight of them in a hard situation and others left home.

(CROSSTALK)

SENKEVYCH: And we keep looking for our people.

AMANPOUR: And just to be clear, of what strategic value was that building in terms of military value? Why do you think that building was attacked?

SENKEVYCH: For sure, that building was attacked because head of a regional administration.

I would say that the missile, the guided missile, cruise missile, just hit his office. And I would say that only four armed people who were guards and on first floor died while this attack.

A lot of people were just sitting there, office workers who worked with refugees with food and everything.

So no military object, no tanks or something like that were there.

[17:45:03]

AMANPOUR: Mr. Mayor, I don't know whether you can judge from where you are right now, but you've probably heard your senior officials in the capital, Kyiv, say that the Kyiv area has been, in their words, "liberated."

We have witnessed ourselves, you know, Russian forces being pushed back or moving back. They're obviously going to be regrouping as it appears to the east.

What do you make of that when you're sitting there in Mykolaiv and under shelling? Does that give you hope?

SENKEVYCH: No. I think -- I don't believe Putin. I think the Russian troops are regrouping and they fall back just to get more force from Russia and to go to the east and to the south, where we are.

AMANPOUR: Yes.

SENKEVYCH: In previous episode of your program, someone said that Putin overestimated force or strength of his troops. I would say he underestimated the strength of Ukrainians.

And for sure, we are ready to meet him here again and fight with his troops here on the south.

AMANPOUR: In your town, do you have enough to fight back? Do you have enough weapons?

The last time I spoke to you on the air, you said you had enough. I'm wondering if that's still the case.

SENKEVYCH: Sure. Sure. We're getting more -- more weapons from the West, from the United States and NATO. We're getting more troops. We train our troops from territorial defense.

Last two days, we had fights on outskirts of the city from the Kherson area, and we won those fights, and Russians fell back. But they still gather their group of troops, of their troops, and plan

to go further I think.

AMANPOUR: You just mentioned Kherson. It's not a huge town, but it is the only town that the Russians have been able to take. No major cities.

Of course, they're pounding Mariupol, which is, again, not that far from you.

Are you receiving any -- are you seeing any of the, you know, citizens trying to get out? What do you think will be the eventual fate? Can Ukrainian forces hang on there?

SENKEVYCH: We lost Kherson because we had no -- we had less -- not too much troops there. And the start of this war was so, let's say, unexpected, so we had no ability to empower them there.

So they -- let's say they haven't got Kherson. They just moved in Kherson, and people, our people fall back to Ukraine, to the Mykolaiv. Now we don't have connection with that occupied area.

And several buses from Kherson come here with refugees. We get them here in Mykolaiv. They get food and et cetera and send them back to -- not back -- forward to the West.

AMANPOUR: Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych, thank you so much.

And still ahead, Pope Francis takes on Vladimir Putin, blasting the Russian leader for launching a, quote, "savage war in Ukraine." Could we see the pope make a trip to Kyiv? A live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:53:03]

AMANPOUR: The Russian war in Ukraine has turned more than four million Ukrainians into refugees. Now, that's just across the borders. There's another six million who are internally displaced.

About half of all the refugees are children, according to the U.N. Now, some babies are being born beyond Ukraine's borders.

And CNN's Kyung Lah has the story of one Ukrainian infant born into a family that's been torn apart by this war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Born just hours ago in Poland, Baby Adelina (ph) is already a survivor of the war in Ukraine.

(on camera): Is it -- is it hard to be happy?

KHRYSTYNA PAVLUCHENKO, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LAH (voice-over): "It is," she says.

Adelina (ph) is Khrystyna Pavluchenko's first child.

KHRYSTYNA PAVLUCHENKO, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LAH (on camera): You feel guilty? Why?

PAVLUCHENKO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LAH (voice-over): "Because I left," she says, left her home in Western Ukraine.

(EXPLOSION)

LAH: The war had begun. The bombing neared their city.

Pavluchenko escaped by bus, then walked on foot across the border. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital. She delivered Adelina (ph) a month early, separated from her family.

PAVLUCHENKO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LAH: "My mother, sister, grandparents, still in Ukraine."

"He is killing our people," she says, of Vladimir Putin. "How could anyone be so cruel?"

MAGDA DUTSCH, INFLANCKA SPECIALIST HOSPITAL: I am terrified. I'm terrified that something like this can happen.

That you can live your everyday life and, all the sudden, because of decisions that you have no influence upon, there is a war and you have to flee. It's -- it's unbelievable. It's terrifying.

LAH (voice-over): Dr. Magda Dutsch is a psychiatrist at Inflancka Specialist Hospital in Warsaw.

The hospital, focused on treating women, has seen 80 Ukrainian patients this month, delivered 11 babies, and treated cancer patients like 58-year-old Tatiana Mikhailuk.

TATIANA MIKHAILUK, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[17:55:02]

LAH: "I ran with my granddaughter in my arms," she says.

Missiles had already blown up the windows in their building. As they fled, something exploded next to their car. Her city is now occupied by Russians.

She is grateful for her doctors at the hospital and the free health care in Poland that is treating her cervical cancer.

Khrystyna is one of the doctors. We are not using her last name because she, herself, is also a refugee from Ukraine, a mother of a five-year-old and the wife of a Ukrainian military man.

(on camera): Your husband?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, DOCTOR: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LAH (voice-over): "My husband has been in the military since 2014. At the moment, he's in Lviv."

LAH (on camera): You had to leave your husband behind?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LAH (voice-over): "Yes," she says, now, in Warsaw. "I can't sit and do nothing," she says. "I have this opportunity here to help women who fled the country."

LAH: With each breath, Baby Adelina (ph) offers her mother a respite from the war.

(on camera): What will you tell your daughter about her birth?

PAVLUCHENKO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LAH (voice-over): "The truth," she says. "We will tell her everything as it was. She should know the truth."

(on camera): All of the Ukrainian patients you have seen in the story, that health care is being covered by the government of Poland, including the health care when they leave the hospital.

And they are not the only ones. The Ministry of Health here in Poland says 197 Ukrainian children have been born in Poland since the war began.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Warsaw, Poland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now, Pope Francis is taking on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. In what appears to be his sharpest comments yet, the pope has criticized Putin for what he calls "a savage war."

The pontiff did not name names but his target was clear. During a two- day trip to Malta, the pope branded Putin a, quote, "potentate sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests."

He has also shown his support for Ukrainian refugees. And he has called for an end to this war.

Earlier today, he spoke with journalists and said that a trip to Ukraine -- a trip here to Kyiv -- is quote, "on the table."

Our breaking news coverage continues after this break.

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