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Russian Forces Abandon Positions At Key Airbase; Ukraine Won't Confirm Or Deny Attack On Russian Fuel Depot; Pentagon To Provide Another $300 Million In Military Aid; Sanctions On Russia Unlikely To Prompt Change; Odessa Tries To Hold On To Normalcy Amid War; Bucha Streets Littered With Bodies; Moscow Pushes For Trade With India; U.S. To Nix Controversial Pandemic Border Rule; Sri Lanka President Declares Public Emergency After Protest; Academy Accepts Will Smith's Resignation. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 02, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.
Russia's offensive in Ukraine appears to be shifting into reverse in some places. They face an increasingly assertive Ukrainian military. With the conflict into the second month, Ukrainians are seizing back territory lost in the early days of the invasion. The Kremlin says the main goal now is control of the Donbas region.
Russian troops are notably being redeployed from northern Ukraine. But the Ukrainian president says the areas retaken from the Russians remain too dangerous for residents to return.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are moving forward, moving carefully. And everyone who returns to this area must also be very careful.
It is still impossible to return to normal life as it was. Even in the areas we returned after the fighting, you will have to wait, wait for our land to be cleared, wait until you can be assured that the new shelling is impossible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Satellite images show Russian armor and artillery have abandoned the Antonov airbase near Kyiv. The airfield was captured on the first day of the invasion. Russian forces back then were well dug in. It's unclear where they went.
Now to some disturbing video; just a few miles south of the airbase, Ukrainian forces report retaking the town of Bucha. Images from there show widespread damage from shelling as well as dead bodies left in the streets.
Across the border in Russia, Ukraine will neither confirm nor deny it attacked a large fuel depot in the city of Belgorod. Russia says two Ukrainian helicopters flying at low altitude struck the facility early Friday, causing a massive fire.
And the U.S. has announced another $300 million in military assistance for Ukraine, including so-called suicide drones and night vision equipment.
CNN correspondents are covering the conflict from multiple angles. We have Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv, Ed Lavandera in Odessa. Eleni Giokos is in Dubai and Matthew Chance is in London. But we will begin with Fred Pleitgen in Kyiv, with the latest on that Ukrainian strike or alleged Ukrainian strike on a Russian fuel depot.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It could be a brazen and bold counterattack by the Ukrainians.
This social media video seeming to show two attack helicopters penetrating Russian territory and firing at an oil depot, setting the facility ablaze. The Russian military publicly acknowledging the incident.
On April 1 at around 5:00 am Moscow time, two Ukrainian MI-24 helicopters entered the airspace of the Russian Federation at extremely low altitude, the spokesman says.
Ukrainian helicopters launched a missile attack on a civilian oil storage facility located on the outskirts of Belgorod. As a result of the missile hit, individual tanks were damaged and caught fire.
Video from the aftermath shows the facility engulfed in massive flames, with firefighters struggling to put out the blaze.
Belgorod is a highly militarized city right across the border from Kharkiv in Ukraine. It was from here that Russian forces crossed the border and attacked Kharkiv, moving large amounts of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks towards Ukrainian territory.
But the Russians also have massive military support facilities in this area. But Ukrainians so far have not acknowledged they've hit the depot.
DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I can neither confirm nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this simply because I do not possess all the military information.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The strike comes as Russian forces have been suffering setbacks in their invasion of Ukraine, withdrawing some forces from the area around the capital, Kyiv, after failing to storm the city. The Russians now saying they want to focus their offensive on the east of the country, which includes Kharkiv, where authorities report a major uptick in shelling in recent days.
All this as talks between Russia and Ukraine to try and end the fighting continue. But Moscow now saying Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the chopper attack and it could have a negative impact on the talks.
Of course, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for continuing negotiations, the Kremlin spokesman said.
The strike on the oil facility will probably do little to hold up Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): But if the Ukrainians are behind it, it would show they are not afraid to strike back at the country that is attacking them -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
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VAUSE: In the coming hours, a convoy of buses will again try to reach the besieged city of Mariupol to evacuate civilians, who have endured weeks of a brutal Russian military assault. An estimated 100,000 people are still trapped there.
On Friday, an evacuation organized by the Red Cross was denied access, preventing thousands from leaving. Those who have been able to leave were taken to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhya.
It took 11 hours for the buses to pass through Russian military checkpoints for what would normally be a journey of less than three hours.
Malcolm Davis is a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and is joining me now live from Canberra with more on the conflict and how it's turning out.
We're hearing from "The New York Times" that the U.S. will work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine. In some cases the tanks are superior to the ones the Russians are using.
How does this change the ground game for Ukraine?
MALCOLM DAVIS, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: I think what you have is Russian forces that essentially are redeploying and withdrawing from the Kyiv region in effort to regroup around the eastern area of Ukraine in the Donbas.
And I think that Ukrainians are doing these counteroffensives to try and attack those Russian forces as they withdraw. But the Ukrainians are equipped with light weapons only. So they're doing damage and killing Russians and destroying systems. But they can't really seize a decisive advantage. And I think what the
tanks will do, once they arrive in Ukraine, will be to allow the Ukrainians not only to launch a sustained counteroffensive to the north of Kyiv but have some chance of disrupting any Russian attempt in the east, in Donbas, to attack Ukrainian forces there.
So it's really vital that the West move decisively now to shift heavy weapons, including tanks and armored fighting vehicles to the Ukrainians.
VAUSE: The big question, when it comes to equipment, are the Ukrainians familiar with how they operate?
They won't need a lot of time to learn to operate the vehicles?
DAVIS: Exactly. The tanks that we are sending them are essentially ex-Soviet tanks in many cases. And the Ukrainians will be well able to rapidly convert and exploit and use the tanks and armored fighting vehicles rather than having to train up on the very latest Western military capabilities.
VAUSE: Also Ukrainians are going on the offensive in places like what we believe at least, the city of Belgorod, which was where the fuel depot was hit.
Why is it such a high value target?
What message does it send to Moscow?
DAVIS: It sends a message that the Ukrainians can do deep strikes. Basically they can send forces in to generate strategic impacts. If this facility is taken out, then suddenly logistics ability of the forces in the east are undermined.
So although it's a tactical action attacking a fuel facility, it generates operational and strategic results that slow down Russia's ability to undertake offensive operations in the east of Ukraine, in the Donbas area.
It sends a very strong political message to Moscow, that Ukrainians are not going to back down. They will extend this fight into Russia if necessary.
VAUSE: We're seeing new satellite images from Antonov airport, which shows it has essentially been abandoned by the Russian forces. This was a key strategic asset for the Russians for supplies and as well as to launch an attack on Kyiv. They have now abandoned it.
What does it now mean for the Ukrainian side, especially when it comes to supplies and getting logistic support?
DAVIS: Well, the Ukrainians would have to secure that site. So even though the Russians have abandoned, it it's not a safe site. It's probably land mines scattered all over the place, the potential for Russian forces to bombard it from a distance. So Ukrainians have to secure that site. But once they have it secured,
then certainly they could use it to move troops around more rapidly and once again, I think it's indicative that the Russians are repositioning their forces and regrouping for an extended war rather than a dash to Kyiv, which they now recognize they can't do.
VAUSE: Also there's $300 million in security aid coming from the United States to Ukraine. That includes suicide drones, night vision equipment and antidrone systems.
Again, in the grand scheme of things, what does it all mean?
DAVIS: Well, the suicide drones you're talking about are the sort of drones that can be deployed autonomously to hunt out targets.
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DAVIS: And they're called the Switchblade. And they're designed to -- really to kill soft skin vehicles and troops on the ground. They're not so much designed to kill tanks. But if the Ukrainians can exploit this system alongside reconnaissance drones, then suddenly they can launch airstrikes using these systems against Russian forces deep in the rear.
And that is important. Night vision goggles, I think everyone understands that gives them the ability to fight more effectively at night. And all sorts of other capabilities coming from the United States.
And I have to say, speaking from Australia, we're sending Bushmaster armored vehicles to Ukraine as well. So I think that every country in the Western liberal democratic world is stepping up and realizing, now is the time to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
VAUSE: It does seem to be a decisive moment we're heading toward. Malcolm Davis, as always, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.
DAVIS: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: Well, it seems those international sanctions are now starting to bite across Russia. Video on social media shows people scrambling for access to essential foods, like sugar, echoing bread lines of the country's Soviet past. Matthew Chance has details.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Russia, they're calling it the sugar panic. As Western sanctions on the country bite, ordinary people have been snapping up essentials. They're jostling with each other in the Russian city of Saratov to buy sugar off the back of a truck.
"God bless you," the voice says, as a supermarket worker pushes a trolley of sugar toward anxious shoppers, who scramble to grab as much as they can before supplies run out. Pleas from Russian officials for the public not to panic buy are going unheard.
But now a prominent Russian economist tells CNN this economic pain is set to deepen.
CHANCE: We're seeing the shortages now and that's bad enough for some people in Russia. But what you're saying is that soon we could see a much bigger, much more serious economic impact because of these sanctions.
RUBEN ENIKOLOPOV, NEW ECONOMIC SCHOOL: Yes. Most of the shortages are a temporary problem, so that will be solved and these goods will appear. There will be a very acute phase and everything is fine. With the quality of life, actual real income, that is not that apparent yet.
But that will be -- this problem will be accumulating and becoming more and more apparent in the coming months.
CHANCE (voice-over): In fact, that impact on quality of life is already being felt. These are the crowds that flocked to an IKEA superstore in Moscow the day before it closed down last month.
Across Russia, Western brands have suspended production or simply pulled out over the invasion of Ukraine. Jobs may soon go permanently. Even more seriously, there are concerns a shortage of Western medicines is starting to have a real impact on people's health, people like Anastasia in Moscow and her father, who she says has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.
"We asked everywhere but no one had his medicine," she says, "now he feels sick."
Russian officials say they are aware of the shortages and are trying to address them. But if sanctions persist, Russia faces being cut off from medical advances and other technologies that may set it back, even cause harm.
Many Russians accustomed to hardship remain unshaken by the economic doom threatening their nation.
"I was born in Soviet times," says Larisa in the Russian town of Pokrov.
She then speaks of the challenges since then like economic restructuring and food stamps.
"We got over it all," she says.
Valentina, also in Pokrov, says she doesn't mind that prices have gone up at all.
"In a month, it will straighten out," she hopes.
After years of navigating Western sanctions, there is a belief -- perhaps misplaced -- things will work out this time, too. ENIKOLOPOV: When Russians are seeing this, I mean, yes, psychologically, they are used to sanctions. But in terms of the effect on the economy, it is much more damaging than the sanctions that were previously implemented.
CHANCE: Well, previously as well, the sanctions haven't really worked in terms of changing Russian policy, changing the Kremlin's policy.
Do you think there is a chance that these sanctions in that case will work?
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CHANCE: And they will force the Kremlin to change course?
ENIKOLOPOV: Honestly, I doubt it. Just with the logic of the current regime in Russia, they -- it's a thing about Putin, that he doesn't give up under pressure. It makes him even more persistent, at the expense of the country.
CHANCE (voice-over): Economic pain, it seems, is a price the Kremlin is willing to let its own people pay -- Matthew Chance, CNN.
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VAUSE: When we come back, we'll head to Odessa, a city trying to maintain life as normal while preparing for war.
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VAUSE: A meeting between the pope and the president of Poland on Friday, the Vatican says these private talks were focused on Ukraine, mainly on the humanitarian assistance for Ukrainian refugees.
Poland has taken in around 2 million Ukrainians since the war started. The U.N. is reporting now more than 4.1 million people have fled Ukraine since the fighting began more than a month ago.
Many who have been left behind or have been unable to escape have felt the full force of Russia's aggression.
A hospital in the Kharkiv region says it's been overrun with patients. They say they have admitted more than 100 civilians and that includes 15 children. The injuries they describe are horrific.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Windows started to shake. Then I saw something that looked like holes. Then, bullets started to fly above, powder, smoke. I was screaming and my mouth was full of it. Mostly, my legs were wounded. I have got one open fracture on one leg,
one more perforating wound on another leg and I have another perforating wound on my hip.
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VAUSE: Nearly 6.5 million people inside Ukraine have been forced from their homes and have been forced to seek safety.
At least three missiles hit the southern port city of Odessa on Friday. The regional military governor says they were launched from Russian annexed Crimea and people were hurt. This comes as the city tries to maintain a sense of normalcy while knowing war is coming. CNN's Ed Lavandera is there.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Knizhka market is where you come to trade gossip and rumors, for Ukrainian cash or hunt down underground rare books. It's also where a group of college friends come for coffee and a sense of peace.
LAVANDERA: I want to ask you with everything going on in Ukraine, everything here seems so normal.
TAIMUR KRAVCHENKO, LAW STUDENT: Now 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.
LAVANDERA: It looks normal.
But is it really normal?
KRAVCHENKO: Inside everyone is afraid. If something's going to happen Odessa, of course, we'll protect our city. But right now, we can just sit and live normal life.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): To navigate the streets of Odessa, you see the remaining residents, trying to go about their daily lives. But a large part of the city's historic center is transformed into a fortified zone, with anti-tank barricades, bracing for an amphibious attack by Russian troops from the Black Sea. It's a ghost town.
The residents of Odessa would normally be preparing to hold what is known as the April Fool's parade on this street in the heart of the city. It's a parade that started years ago in response to Soviet censorship.
But now, this area of Odessa is completely fortified. And this year, there will be no parade. Instead, civilian volunteers and activists are mobilizing to support the war effort.
LAVANDERA: So we're in a bomb shelter in Odessa. And this is where they're making bulletproof vests.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): We meet this man, sealing the steel plates of homemade armored vests for front line soldiers. He asked that we call him Martin (ph).
LAVANDERA: We've heard that Russian forces are leaving Kyiv.
Are you concerned?
And do you think that they're going to start coming back toward Odessa?
"We've already beat their ass. We will do it again," he tells me.
Russian naval ships remained stationed off the coast of Odessa in the Black Sea. The concern here is the war will intensify in the south.
Before the war, Martin (ph) worked as a professional scuba diver. He defiantly says he looks forward to exploring the underwater wreckage of those sunken Russian ships as a diver when the war is over.
On a street corner, we find dozens of displaced families, who have escaped to Odessa. They're from the worst war zones, hoping to find food and clothing.
Olga Petkovich is waiting with five of her six children.
LAVANDERA: So you come from a village that was surrounded by Russian soldiers. You're in the crossfire. How frightening was that?
LAVANDERA (voice-over): "I was scared for the children most of all," she tells me.
Olga says her family had to walk through a forest to escape shelling. Tears well up in her eyes as her husband tells us Russian soldiers broke into their homes, taking everything they could from the families in their village.
OLGA PETKOVICH, DISPLACED WAR VICTIM (through translator): When we came here, the volunteers told us to say what we need. But I'm ashamed. I've worked all my life and never asked anyone for anything.
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PETKOVICH (through translator): And now I have to ask.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Her little girl wipes away her mother's tears.
"Mother, why are you crying?" the girl asks.
"Because they were shelling us a lot," Olga tells her.
Not far from where we met Olga's family, we notice a father teaching his daughter how to ride a bike, a poignant moment in the midst of a surreal world -- Ed Lavandera, CNN, Odessa, Ukraine.
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VAUSE: Elsewhere in Ukraine, at least some Russian troops now pulling away from the capital, Kyiv. When we come back, we will have the latest satellite imagery.
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VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers around the world. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.
There is more evidence that Russian troops are pulling back from some areas around the Ukrainian capital. New satellite images show troops around the Antonov airport just outside Kyiv have pretty much disappeared.
Earlier, images showed military vehicles, artillery positions, protective berms dug into the ground. Now the berms are what remain.
New disturbing images, though, from the town of Bucha, also near Kyiv. It shows a number of bodies along the roadway, including one person, who appears to have been riding a bicycle.
It is unclear whether the dead are civilians or troops, Ukrainian or Russian.
Germany's foreign minister has called out Russia for its hypocrisy of talking peace at the negotiating table while continuing to commit blatant war crimes on the battlefield in Ukraine. And she spoke exclusively to CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
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ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Unfortunately, I would say nobody knows, because nobody could have imagined that a president from a European country would attack so brutally its neighbor, because it's not only a neighbor; there are so many families, friends, relationships between Ukraine and Russia.
We have also seen that this is not only an attack on Ukraine but it's also an attack on the European peace order.
So that's why we have answered as we did, together with the United States, together with Canada, together with many other countries aboard, but especially together as the European Union, with the strongest sanction package we have ever had, to make sure that this breach of fundamental international law and of the European peace and security order is not being tolerated in any way and that we will stop Putin with whatever we can do.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Let me ask you about that, then, because the French prime minister, your counterpart, has said that winning this is a strategic necessity for the West. That's a big, big aim, a strategic necessity.
If that's the case and whether you agree if that's the case, do you believe you're doing enough to actually achieve your strategic ends?
Your Polish compatriot, the prime minister opponent, I spoke to yesterday and he said, look, the Russian ruble has -- is doing fairly well against the dollar. It's not really yet impacting Putin. He is getting oil revenue.
How do you expect to influence him going forward?
BAERBOCK: Well, I think we have to be very honest in this so difficult situation, because we are all humans. And everybody from us is a mother, is a grandmother, is a sister, is a father, is a nephew.
And everybody from us wishes that peace would be there tomorrow. But the brutal reality is that Putin himself has chosen to do the opposite, to fight a war against civilians and to fight a war against the European peace order.
And this is why we have answered with the sanction package. But we have to face reality also that we are in a situation that NATO is standing there, in solidarity with Ukraine and, on the other hand, Russia, which has made clear that there are no red lines for themselves.
So this is why we support military-wise with weapons as Europeans. We are supporting also from Germany with weapons, which we haven't done in the past, because the reality has changed so brutally. We have set up this sanction package but it is in Putin's hands, because he's the one who started the war without any region -- reason.
And this is now his responsibility to end the war. And we pressure the system of Putin by the sanctions, so that he's being isolated. And we, as an international community, are making very, very clear that these are heavy costs on his own society, on his own citizens.
But, unfortunately, in this world, in the 21st century, we are all in dependence -- we are all connected to each other.
So, therefore, the question you were raising about fossil fuels, oil and energy, Europe is connected with Russia.
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BAERBOCK: And, therefore, we are working every day to phase out also with regard to our fossil dependency on Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: It now appears Vladimir Putin might have been bluffing when he threatened to shut off gas supplies to Europe Friday unless payment was made in rubles. One European country gave in at least for now and Putin backed down. Now about the blowback from the economic sanctions.
Russia is pushing for more trade with India as it looks for an economic lifeline. Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was in New Delhi Friday, meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi and other officials. Lavrov said Russia is ready to sell India whatever it wants to buy. He
also said the two countries will increase the use of their own currencies for trade. And during meetings, Lavrov thanked India for what he described as seeing the full picture.
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SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: This day, our Western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine. You know our position. We do not fight anything and we appreciate that India is taking the situation in the entirety, not just in a one-sided way.
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VAUSE: Before his trip to India, Lavrov visited China. Both India and China are refusing to directly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Precisely because of that stance, Beijing took heat from the E.U. during a virtual summit on Friday.
After the talks, the E.U. leaders said China cannot look the other way while Russia violates international law. The head of the European Commission said she had an open and frank exchange with China's president.
Her message on sanctions was, if you are not part of the solution, don't be part of the problem.
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URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We expect China, as a member of the Security Council of the United Nations, to take its responsibilities. There are few members only and they have a vast responsibility.
And China has an influence on Russia and, therefore, we expect China to take its responsibility to end this war and to come back -- that Russia comes back to a peaceful negotiations solution.
We expect China, if not supporting the sanctions, at least to do everything not to interfere in any kind. Also on that point we were very clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Von der Leyen also told China that no European would understand any support for Russia's war effort.
Let's go over to Atlanta, Kim Brunhuber standing by.
Some pretty tough words from the E.U. leader to the Beijing leadership.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. China playing such a huge role and so much hangs in the balance. John, thanks so much. Sri Lanka's president declares a public emergency. How the economic
crisis in the country is becoming dire -- straight ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A U.S. pandemic rule that prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexican border will end next month. The Trump administration invoked the so-called Title 42 in the early days of the pandemic, which many saw as politically motivated.
But the Biden White House says the rule will be scrapped on May 23rd because the CDC says it's no longer needed.
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ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The CDC, in its expertise -- we are not public health experts -- in its public health expertise, decided that the use of Title 42 should come to an end when we, in the Department of Homeland Security, have ramped up our public health protocols sufficient to address migration at the southern border.
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BRUNHUBER: But some lawmakers aren't on board with that. Democratic senator Joe Manchin says it has been essential during the pandemic and its removal could worsen what he said will be an unprecedented increase in migrants this year.
An Afghan American Naval Reservist and his brother are free after over 100 days in Taliban captivity. After months of negotiation, the Biden administration secured the release of Safi Rauf and his brother, Anees Khalil.
They started a group that helps those who were trying to flee Afghanistan after Taliban took control. Rauf himself was born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan and then came to the U.S. He was a linguist with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan and joined the Navy Reserves when he returned to the States.
The State Department says they're still trying to secure the release of Mark Frerichs, who has been Taliban custody since January of 2020. His family released a proof of life video to "The New Yorker," which they say was shot in November.
The Sri Lankan president has declared a national public emergency. This coming a day after demonstrators clashed with police near his home to protest the country's current economic crisis. CNN's Vedika Sud explains. [03:45:00]
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VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What began as a peaceful protest in Sri Lanka's capital Thursday ended in violent confrontation, police firing tear gas and striking demonstrators after imposing and then lifting an overnight curfew; protesters storming barricades, throwing rocks and torching a bus.
Dozens injured and arrested near the home of Sri Lanka's president, who demonstrators blame for a devastating economic crisis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think this is the darkest period in this country. We can't do anything with our money. What our leaders are doing is killing us without killing us.
SUD (voice-over): Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis in modern history is becoming increasingly dire. The island nation of 22 million is struggling to pay for vital imports, like food, medicine and fuel, due to an extreme shortage of foreign currency.
To cut energy costs, the government has imposed power cuts for up to 13 hours a day, leaving cities in the dark and forcing shops to close, some hospitals reporting having to suspend routine surgeries.
Prices for basic goods have skyrocketed and shortages leave residents queueing for hours. At fuel stations (ph) soldiers were deployed after some people died waiting for hours in the sweltering heat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): People are dying, waiting in queues for petrol, for gas, for kerosene. Three people fainted in this very queue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are standing here on the streets begging, while our children have been left alone at home like orphans.
SUD (voice-over): Sri Lanka's foreign exchange reserves have dropped 70 percent since January of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic ravaged its tourism dependent economy; that, combined with other factors, like natural disasters.
In the coming days, Sri Lankan officials plan to meet with the International Monetary Fund in hope of working out a loan program. Authorities trying to find a way out of a deepening economic crisis as desperation and anger grow in Sri Lanka -- Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.
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BRUNHUBER: Two Ukrainian filmmakers accidently predicted the war in Russia. How the fictional movie turned into an uncanny reality and what they're doing now. That's ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says it accepts Will Smith's resignation after the actor slapped the presenter, Chris Rock, on stage last weekend during the Oscars.
In a statement, Smith apologized for his actions, saying, quote, "I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct. My actions at the 94th Awards presentation was shocking, painful and inexcusable.
"I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken."
And Smith finished with, quote, "I'm resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and will accept any further consequences."
Now the Academy says it will continue with disciplinary proceedings against Smith.
When two Ukrainian filmmakers made a movie about war between Ukraine and Russia, they didn't know how eerily accurate their predictions would be. Three years after creating "Atlantis," reality is mirroring their art.
And now they are turning their cameras to document this conflict. CNN's Eleni Giokos has more.
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ELENI GIOKOS, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Russian bombs hit the first Ukrainian cities, it was a shock but not a surprise to Ukrainian filmmakers Valentyn Vasyanovych and Vladimir Yatsenko.
In fact, they spent months of their lives imagining it. Set in 2025, their film, "Atlantis," depicts a desolate Ukraine, ravaged by a brutal Russian invasion. They imagine a remarkable victory but at a huge cost. The Ukraine they knew torn to pieces, graveyards stretching for miles.
VALENTYN VASYANOVYCH, UKRAINIAN FILMMAKER: (Speaking foreign language).
GIOKOS (voice-over): Most of the actors you see on screen are veterans themselves, who know the violence of war all too well.
VASYANOVYCH: (Speaking foreign language).
GIOKOS (voice-over): As cities they know become war zones, Valentyn and Vladimir have been on the ground, documenting the experience of ordinary people.
VLADIMIR YATSENKO, UKRAINIAN FILMMAKER: We shot several days for evacuation of the -- some suburbs nearby Kyiv, which called Irpin.
[03:55:00]
YATSENKO: And it was just time when we (INAUDIBLE) the cruelty of the war because the -- while the Russian people bomb shelling us during the -- during this air creation (ph) of the just of (ph) civilians.
And we tried to do it as best as we can because it's going to be kind of historical document, what's happened with all of us.
GIOKOS (voice-over): And if the time comes to fight, both say they'll be ready.
YATSENKO: We still fighting for our right to exist and just to understand that we -- we -- I mean, it's not -- it -- it's not something which we can negotiate. I mean, all we survive and be a separate nation or we going to be enslaved.
Don't be afraid to fight for -- for -- for your own future because we have a common future, all of us. All the world now is connected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM and the latest developments in Russia's war on Ukraine right after the break. Stay with us.
