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Senior Ukrainian Defense Official Says Kyiv Region "Liberated"; Putin Aiming To Control Donbas By Early May; Crimea Main Sticking Point In Peace Talks; Hundreds Of Ukrainians Waiting In Mexico For U.S. Asylum; Former Ukrainian POWs Speak On Russian Custody; Russian Strike In Odessa Sets Fuel Depot On Fire; Sri Lankan Police Arrest Over 600 For Curfew Violations; Hungary's PM And Putin Ally Viktor Orban Faces United Opposition. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired April 03, 2022 - 02:00   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, welcome to our viewers in to the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, reporting live from Lviv in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces are rapidly expanding battlefield gains. Ukraine's deputy defense minister on Saturday declared the Kyiv region liberated. An advisor to president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says another 30 settlements are back under Ukrainian control.

As the Russians retreat, the true horror of the invasion is on full display. This is the recaptured town of Bucha in the northern part of Kyiv. Journalists report at least 20 bodies, men, were found dead in the streets, all wearing civilian clothes.

U.S. intelligence suggests Moscow has set a goal of controlling the eastern region of Donbas by early May. And Ukrainian officials in the port city of Odessa say Russian missiles were fired on the city early this morning.

A CNN team there reports a fuel depot on fire. Witnesses report multiple explosions at that site. Others say they saw drones in the region over the past two days. Ukraine is now asking for heavy weapons as it prepares for battle in the renewed Russian offensive in the east. More details from CNN's Phil Black.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Zelenskyy says Russian forces are leaving the north. In some cases, he says they are pulling pack voluntarily. From other areas, he says they have been expelled by Ukrainian counterattacks.

You do see it near the capital. Satellite images show there are positions that Russia claimed very early on in the invasion, then held, as it sought to surround Kyiv and which have now been abandoned; notably, the town of Bucha and the Antonov airfield.

An adviser to President Zelenskyy says there are some 30 settlements near the capital, which have been reclaimed from Russian control. Further north, Ukraine's flag flies again over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after Russian forces suddenly departed that site and the surrounding area.

But none of this is cause for celebration, because the Ukrainian government believes that these forces will simply replenish and then rejoin the fight in the east, where Russia will seek to expand and consolidate control over the Donbas region.

An adviser to President Zelenskyy says, if Russia gets a strong foothold in the east and the south, it will dig in, fortify those positions and Russia will be very difficult to dislodge, unless Western allies provide the Ukrainian military with more heavy weapons -- Phil Black, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

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VAUSE: Earlier, we spoke with CNN military analyst General Wesley Clark. He put it this way, giving Ukraine the firepower it needs now is essential to keep Moscow from advancing on Europe. Here's General Clark.

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GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: We're not dealing with a third world country here. But we are dealing with a country that doesn't have its own defense establishment. And it's critically reliant on us.

They believe they're fighting for us and I believe it, too. Ukraine is the toughest opponent Russia will have to fight. If it gets through Ukraine, NATO, these countries in the front line, don't have the experience. They don't have the size of the forces. They don't have the same population.

This is for all the marbles here in Ukraine. This is the future of the international system. I think the United States has come to realize this. We've just got to break the logjam in getting them the full array of equipment they need and not prejudging it and thinking we know better than they do. We probably don't.

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VAUSE: General Wesley Clark there.

Now with the offensive on Kyiv stalled, the Russian president Vladimir Putin is changing his goals here in Ukraine and his timeframe. It could be a day that holds an important place in many Russians' hearts and minds. Details now from CNN's Arlette Saenz.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Russia is starting to shift its war strategy in Ukraine, trying to focus on taking control of the Donbas and other regions in Eastern Ukraine with the possible target date of May 9th. That is according to U.S. officials familiar with the latest intelligence.

And those officials say that Russian president Vladimir Putin is starting to feel the pressure to show some type of victory in Ukraine, as his fighters had a hard time keeping control in the areas where they've been fighting.

Now that May 9th date also has some historical significance. In Russia, it is considered a victory day when they celebrate the Nazis surrendering during World War II.

[02:05:00]

SAENZ: But there are also some tactical concerns when it comes to that May 9th date. With winter starting to fade away and the ground softening there, the Russians are trying to get their units in as quickly as possible. That's according to an intelligence assessment from the U.S.

Additionally, in that Eastern Ukraine area, there have been, for years now, Russian-backed fighters with a strong presence there. One other thing that CNN has learned is that the U.S. believes that Russia soon may announce and name an overall commander for their war in Ukraine.

This follows previous reporting that Russia did not have an on-the- ground, theater-wide commander running the operation in Ukraine, which has contributed to some of the disorganization and dysfunction seen among Russian troops.

Now as the Russians are starting to shift their focus toward Eastern Ukraine, the U.S. and allies are really stepping up their support militarily and defense wise to the Ukrainian fighters.

Just this weekend, the U.S. authorized sending over $300 million worth of security assistance to Ukraine. This would include suicide drones, night vision equipment, as well as anti-drone systems, really bringing the total that's been contributed to Ukraine to more than $2.3 billion.

Now additionally, sources have told CNN that the U.S. is working to help facilitate the transfer of Soviet-made tanks from allied countries into Ukraine. It's unclear just now where those tanks will be coming from or how many will be sent.

But these tanks, one source says, would be T-72 tanks, which the Ukrainians know how to operate. And this one source also said they would be sent over in a matter of days, not weeks.

But clearly, the next five weeks of this war will be pivotal, as Russia is trying to make a point, trying to show some type of victory. But U.S. officials say, even if there is a Russian celebration, that does not mean that an absolute victory is at hand, especially as Ukrainians continue to put up a fight.

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VAUSE: Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you for that report.

Now the expected repositioning of Russian forces to the east and south is now opening a new chapter in this war. Earlier, CNN spoke with the mayor of the embattled coastal city of Mykolaiv to get his assessment. Here he is.

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MAYOR OLEKSANDR SYENKEVYCH, MYKOLAIV: I don't believe to Putin, I think the Russian troops are removing. And they fall back just to get more force from Russia and to go to the east and to the south where we are.

And in the previous episode of your program, someone said that Putin overestimated the force or strength of his troops. What I would say he underestimated is the strength of Ukrainians. And for sure, we are ready to meet him here again and fight with his troops here on the south.

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VAUSE: There are developments as well on the diplomatic front with the possibility, a very slim possibility, of direct talks between the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian president Vladimir Putin. That coming from a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team.

Now these talks, if they happen, they've not been confirmed and details are still very scarce at this point, but they could happen some time this week possibly. And it could happen in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to this one negotiator, the issue of Crimea, which Russia annexed back in 2014, continues to be one of the sticking points during these negotiations. Let's get a little more now on the diplomacy. We're joined now by Matthew Bryza, the former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, which, like Ukraine, is a former Soviet republic.

Ambassador, thank you for being with us. The word from Ukrainian negotiators, that they they've laid out their conditions. The Russians have no objections except for Crimea. They can deal with that later on.

But then that negotiator added this. Listen to this.

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DAVID ARAKHAMIA, MEMBER, UKRAINE'S NEGOTIATING TEAM (through translator): Ukraine's foreign minister said that there was no official confirmation in writing. But as of yesterday in a videoconference, we heard that the Russian side does not object to such positions.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: So nothing in writing; it's all a verbal agreement.

Is a verbal agreement with the Russians not worth the paper it's written on?

MATTHEW BRYZA, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Of course it's not worth the paper it's written on.

Even agreements with the Russians that are written on paper are often not worth it when it comes to Ukraine, as we see from the 1994 Budapest memorandum, where Russia, along with the U.S. and U.K., pledged support and guarantees of Ukraine's territorial integrity if Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons.

So I think the Russians here are using the prospect of an agreement as a way to buy time and to keep the pressure on and shift the offensive to Donbas.

[02:10:00]

BRYZA: And if Russia is able to consolidate its hold on Donbas and convince the world it is now a legitimate, if you will, owner of the Donbas, then it can claim a victory for the big May 9th victory parade and Putin can live to fight another day.

VAUSE: He can claim a victory in the east; that does not mean the war will come to an end, though, right?

BRYZA: I definitely agree with that. Yes, I've worried all along the goal was to do the consolidation in the east. He got greedy. Maybe he thought he could decapitate the Ukrainian leadership and take over the entire country.

But ultimately his first step is to consolidate in the east, gain that land bridge from Donbas and from Russia down to Mariupol. That will cripple Ukraine's economy even if he stops just there. And Russia will be rewarded for unprovoked military progression by territorial gains.

And by the way, those gains, as we see now, in reports of civilian massacres, will lead to the deaths of civilians under occupation. So I think that Putin will want to do this consolidation and then, in perpetuity, he can threaten over time to do the same thing again and wait to see how the rest of the world reacts.

VAUSE: We should note, we had a Ukrainian lawmaker on one of our previous hours, who basically said there were mass graves in Bucha, with as many as 300 civilians, hands tied behind their back, and they're shot in the back of their heads. These are war crimes.

If Putin gets hold of the Donbas region, is that what's in store for them?

BRYZA: That's what I really fear. Russia has so much history of doing these things. During their occupation of regions in Eastern Europe during World War II, they did this. Right now, they're doing it again. And so there's no reason to believe they would stop if they're able to hang on to these territories.

That's what's going on right now. That's what Mariupol is all about. It's all about destroying civilians, physically and spiritually, by using massive military force.

What happens I think with these troops, whether from the north Caucasus, some are Chechens or just ethnic Russians, they get emotional, they get angry. There's poor discipline, low morale.

So when they're defeated or pushed back on the battlefield, they take it out on the civilians. And I think that's going to continue.

VAUSE: As far as diplomacy goes, we've heard a lot about this concept of a neutral Ukraine. President Zelenskyy has talked about this in the past week, essentially giving up any claim or any hope of joining NATO and being this neutral nation on the doorstep of Russia.

But at the same time wanting these security guarantee, like an Article 5 of the NATO treaty but not actually being a member of NATO, which seems to be NATO lite. Ukraine gets the benefit of Western protection but doesn't have to reciprocate. That hardly seems to be something Putin will be willing to accept.

BRYZA: Yes, I agree. It's also hardly something those three guarantor powers, Israel, France and Turkey, would be willing to accept. It's pulling those countries into a fighting war with Russia, if and when Russia continues these sorts of operations.

So I actually think this is a shrewd tactic by Zelenskyy. He is under pressure by those three countries that would be the guarantors, to accept a cease-fire. Zelenskyy doesn't want to accept a cease-fire because it will reward Russia's unprovoked invasion with the loss of Ukrainian territory.

So he's saying, OK, countries pressing me to give up Ukrainian territory by agreeing to a cease-fire, OK, I'm going to pass the ball back to you. It's on you then if you want me to say yes to guarantee we'll have the same security guarantees as we would under NATO membership.

He knows they're going to say now and therefore he's cleverly rejecting these demands for a cease-fire without overtly doing so.

VAUSE: I guess the question is, how long can he hold out and where is the off-ramp here for Putin?

BRYZA: Yes, how long he can hold out?

Of course, it depends on the depth of humanitarian and human suffering in Ukraine. But it also depends on how much support he gets from the rest of the world.

If he receives the Javelin missiles, the air defense systems, now the armor that the Biden administration is talking about sending to Ukraine, the Soviet-era armor and all the support he needs, maybe not talking about an actual enforcement of a no-fly zone, not only can he hold out, he's pushing Russia back.

And Putin is losing now. So I think Putin is going to have to make a compromise if that sort of Western support continues because the resolve of Ukraine to keep up the fight is, it seems, boundless. Off- ramps for Putin -- Putin totally controls the information landscape in Russia.

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BRYZA: So he can define victory any way he wants. And going back to the beginning of this interview, he may decide victory is going to be consolidated control on Luhansk and Donetsk, say this is a great victory for Russia, look what we've done, we've liberated these people from Ukrainian Nazis, which is of course absurd, and then again live to fight another day and calculate how much pressure he can put on Ukraine, based on the resistance he feels from the rest of the world.

VAUSE: How do you see the best outcome here for not just for Ukraine but for Europe and the rest of the Western world?

BRYZA: The best outcome I think would be that Ukraine says, OK, we're going to remain neutral; Donetsk, Luhansk, OK, we can settle their legal status in the future. Russian troops will remain there but otherwise Russian troops must withdraw from all of Ukraine.

That's a tough thing to convince Putin of. But if there's enough pressure from the West, I think he'll have no choice.

VAUSE: From your lips to God's ear, we'll see what happens. Ambassador Bryza, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time.

BRYZA: Thank you. It's an honor.

VAUSE: Russia's war on Ukraine has claimed the life of yet another journalist. Maksym Levin was killed by Russian forces in Kyiv, according to the office of Ukraine's attorney general.

The photojournalist was found unarmed, two gunshot wounds. He worked for a number of major Western news outlets, including Reuters and the BBC.

In a statement, Reuters said it is deeply saddened by his loss, called his death a huge loss to the world of journalism. In his bio he described himself as a documentary photographer, videographer, a father and a human being.

Coming up next here on CNN, even as the Ukrainian military takes back more areas from Russia, aid groups struggling to free thousands of civilians trapped behind the front lines. More on that when we return.

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VAUSE: The refugee crisis sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine is now reaching across the Atlantic to America's southern border. Mexican officials say hundreds of Ukrainians fleeing Russian violence have arrived in the Mexican border city of Tijuana; 1,500 refugees are seeking asylum in the U.S. More are on their way.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will allow Ukrainians to be exempt from Trump-era border restrictions on a case by case basis. Mexican officials expect all migrants to enter the U.S. But authorities have been slow with the processing.

Even as Russia pulls back in some parts of the country, aid groups are still struggling to get Ukrainians out of harm's way. According to the U.N., more than 4.1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the fighting began. Nearly 6.5 million are internally displaced.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has managed to reach Irpin in recent days, treating the wounded, delivering food, hoping to return next week with more essential supplies.

Now for many Ukrainians, there is a choice, stay and face the dangers or try and escape and face the risks. CNN spoke with a Ukrainian man, who escaped Russian soldiers, who nearly killed him twice. He described that harrowing experience to CNN's Jim Acosta.

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ANDREI MARUSOV, MARIUPOL ESCAPEE: I decided to leave just because, like, two days before I was detained, arrested, and searched and actually almost led to the execution by Russian military police.

And the last moment, they cancelled it and led me back to kind of like underground and said, OK, next morning, we will come back and we will decide what to do with you. So next morning, I just fled and decided, OK, as soon as they go to the community, I will go away.

And that's what I did. And I just went by feet. I didn't have a car. But luckily, many people, they gave me a ride while I was moving through Zaporizhzhya.

The main reason was that they searched and they found my smartphone. And I took pictures of buildings destroyed by them throughout the city. And so it became the reason for them to, I don't know, to think that I am a kind of nationalist, Nazi or something like that, you know?

And it should actually be emphasized that, for them, I don't know, they were always asking, looking, OK, where are those Nazis?

Where are those nationalist forces?

Something like that. And so they searched almost all males and asked them, do you have any nationalist tattoos, et cetera, et cetera.

And so I suspect that actually, before that, they already killed two civilians on the same grounds. So I overheard the soldiers, who were like speaking behind me. And one of them told, OK, this is not a problem. We already killed two civilians. So, let's -- let's execute another one.

Just for, OK, he might be a spy or something like that. And then so they led me.

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VAUSE (voice-over): Wow. OK, so if you would like to help the people of Ukraine, please go to cnn.com/impact. CNN viewers like you have helped raise over $7 million to help Ukraine and neighboring countries with shelter, food, water and much needed other essential supplies. Please help if you can.

We'll be right back.

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VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Time to get up to speed with the latest developments here in Ukraine.

Ukraine's deputy defense minister says the entire Kyiv region has been liberated, cleared of Russian forces. CNN cannot independently confirm that. Still, Ukrainian troops have been gaining ground around the capital, as the Russian military says it's de-escalating.

Also in the capital, we're hearing from two former Ukrainian POWs, who were swapped in a prisoner exchange. They exclusively spoke with CNN about what they endured during Russian captivity.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): At first, they took us very aggressively and made us shout, "Glory to Russia."

And whoever didn't want to do that, they used physical measures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They hit me in the face with machine gun butts and kicked me. My front teeth were also chipped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Officials in Odessa say critical infrastructure was hit just a few hours ago. A CNN crew saw a massive fire at a local fuel depot, which created smoke visible from miles away. Ed Lavandera is there.

Ed, what can you tell us?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, John. Well, this morning, we were jolted awake by multiple airstrikes here inside Odessa. We were at the scene a short while ago.

And the strikes, multiple strikes hitting another infrastructure target here in the city, a fuel depot. There are firefighters at the scene. They're trying to continue working for the last several hours to contain the blaze.

But it was a rather strong jolt we felt here in the city of Odessa this morning, with those blasts hitting -- striking just before sunrise. We spoke with multiple residents. This is an area that is an industrial area of the city, not residential. But there are a small number of apartments in the immediate area around this fuel depot.

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LAVANDERA: We spoke with several residents, who described the shock of hearing those blasts so close to where they live, one woman that we spoke with was actually working in a building and had been cooking meals, was part of a team cooking meals for Ukrainian soldiers until about 4:00 in the morning.

So she'd only been asleep a few hours when the missile strikes hit there at that fuel depot. She talked to us with tears in her eyes about experiencing something so close to where she lived.

We've spoken also to three people in that area, who also told us interestingly enough that in the last couple of nights they had noticed that there were drones flying over the fuel depot area. So they believe those to be reconnaissance drones gathering information to carry out this strike.

So that is the scene here now in Odessa, where crews are continuing to work the scene. Officially, local officials are saying there are no injuries to report. But the fire and the smoke still rages there at that scene here this morning.

VAUSE: Interesting to note this strike on a fuel depot comes about two days after there was a strike on a Russian fuel depot just across the border. Ed, we appreciate the update.

Ed Lavandera there live from Odessa.

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VAUSE: Joining me now from Kyiv is a member of Ukraine's parliament, Kira Rudik. She's the leader of the Holos party or the Voice party.

Thank you for taking time to speak with CNN. As we see these Russian forces withdraw, especially from around the capital, we're seeing this trail of destruction and death left behind. In one city, Bucha, bodies left on the streets. And you recently tweeted this.

"This is Bucha, the outskirts of Kyiv. Russians were killing people with their hands tied behind their back and left the bodies near the road. I am shaking. Stop Putin now."

There had been reports of extrajudicial killings in Bucha.

Did you see those bodies with their hands tied behind their backs first-hand or are you hearing this from residents who were there during the weeks-long occupation?

And do you think those scenes will be repeated in towns and villages elsewhere?

KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN MP: Hello, thank you so much for having me.

Yes, I have seen these bodies with my own eyes. I have seen the destruction. And this is something I have never seen before in my life.

There were so many bodies; we have found a grave of 300 people, who were killed right there, women, children and men. And it's just unspeakable what happened there. And I cannot mention what is happening right now in occupied territories, in occupied cities, where Russians are still holding.

We will work on fixing the destruction but we cannot possibly return people who were killed. And we are extremely frustrated. Everybody who was there, I think, will not be able to forget what we have seen.

Many, they were killed, were shot in the back with their hands tied behind their backs. It's like since Second World War, when Nazis committed the same crimes. I cannot imagine who gave this order and why. They were civilian people. They were not military.

VAUSE: Just to be clear, you're saying there are mass graves in Bucha, with hundreds of civilians who've essentially being executed or murdered, their hands tied behind their back and shot in the back of the head.

This is compelling evidence that Russians have committed war crimes during this invasion of Ukraine. You want Putin to be held not only accountable but to stand trial in Ukraine.

Is that even in any way possible?

RUDIK: I think the international tribunal is possible. This is the point where we as politicians, members of parliament, are working. We are gathering evidence. We are creating the judicial baseline for that.

So at some point, not only Putin but everybody who gave the word, who executed on the orders, will be able to come to trial and be prosecuted and then executed. We want a Nuremburg process, not less.

This is something that would need to happen. Because what we have seen, it's not war crimes, it's just crimes against humanity. It's a devastation.

How is it possible that people would do something like that? And here in the peaceful outskirts of the capital. You know, like more than a month ago, these people were alive. They were living their normal lives. They were, like, creating well known (INAUDIBLE). They were living like Europeans.

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RUDIK: Everything was just normal.

And now it is -- it is like in the movies from the Second World War but it is worse because you can see it in your own eyes.

VAUSE: It is horrific what has been happening. There are also reports, too, that the Russian soldiers have been using children as human shields, placing them on tanks, holding them hostage so that their parents would not give away the position of the Russian soldiers, you know, to the enemy, if you like.

What do you know about that?

RUDIK: Yes, we had evidences of Russian soldiers using children. We know the children had been taken back with Russian army, again, as hostages, to make sure that Ukrainian army wouldn't be following them.

We have also seen Ukrainian women being burned alive and raped or taken away for the same reason. This is all being documented so we can then present it to the world and show what Ukrainian nation is suffering.

VAUSE: Oh, my God. That is horrendous. There's now talk from Ukraine negotiators that maybe negotiations will allow for a meeting between President Zelenskyy and Putin.

Do you know if that's likely in the coming days?

How do you trust a leader like Putin, who's a proven liar?

RUDIK: We cannot be trusting Putin and this is definite that all the agreements, if any, needs to start with the security guarantees that would come from Putin, that would be in the security guarantees from Turkey, from United States, from United Kingdom and some European countries probably.

That should be point one from all the negotiations. Then we can think of talking to Putin and having some agreements with him because, so far, everything that we have seen from him was just simple breaking his word and bringing more and more death and devastation to Ukrainian land, to Ukrainian people.

We cannot trust him. We can only gather all the powers from the world to make sure that, at some point, we are all standing against him.

VAUSE: You have some horrific stories that you've shared with us over the last few moments. But we thank you for that and wish you all the best.

RUDIK: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: My colleague, Kim Brunhuber, is standing by with some of the day's other news.

Kim, the big concern now is, as these Russian troops pull back and these Ukrainian towns and villages are once again taken over by the Ukrainian forces that come under their control.

But this is just the very tip of the iceberg and there's a lot more of these horrendous stories that will come out.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John, a very powerful interview you did there. And moving to hear her heartbreaking testimony about these atrocities, as you say, are threatening to become more commonplace. Thank you so much. We'll come back to you in the next hour, John.

Sri Lankan police are cracking down as protesters defy a weekend curfew. We'll have the latest on the economic crisis fueling the unrest coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Police in Sri Lanka say they've arrested more than 600 people for violating a weekend curfew. The curfew was launched amid unrest over a struggling economy and as anti-government demonstrations grow. Vedika Sud joins me from New Delhi.

So much unrest in that country.

What's the latest there?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So despite that 26-hour curfew imposed by the Sri Lankan government that came into effect, people have been out on the roads protesting across Sri Lanka.

The government has also gone ahead and imposed a social media ban, an attempt to crack down on the protesters to ensure they cannot collect in different spots in and outside the capital.

But people are determined to raise their voice. They've been chanting, protesting and they want this government to resign. This is by far the biggest economic crisis Sri Lanka has seen ever since its independence in 1948.

What do these protesters want, other than this government to resign?

They've actually been standing in long queues for the last week. They've been needing fuel. They've been needing food, they've been needing medicines and they've been standing in long queues, waiting to get commodities. And there's been a shortage of all these things in Sri Lanka.

And we believe there's been a power crisis, a 13-hour power outage. Just imagine in the searing heat in Sri Lanka, people standing in those queues, trying to cook in darkness. They're frustrated, they're angry and they want a change from the top establishment in Sri Lanka.

COVID hasn't really helped the country. Sri Lanka depends highly on tourism and the revenues really haven't been going up, because people haven't been visiting this country.

Now according to the prime minister of Sri Lanka, the reason behind the economic crisis is essentially COVID. People on the ground have been saying the problems are deep rooted, the corruption, the nepotism and authoritarianism because of which the protesters are out on the streets.

We're expecting a massive protest today and the call for this protest was from yesterday. It is expected in the afternoon. But because of the curfew and public emergency that's been imposed by this government, we're yet to see if people are going to gather.

Analysts say things will only get worse before they get better in the island nation -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll keep covering that story. Vedika Sud, thank you so much.

Voters in Hungary are headed to the polls right now in a closely watched election.

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BRUNHUBER: Prime minister Viktor Orban faces a rare challenge from the united coalition of opposition parties. He has drawn international criticism over the erosion of democratic rights during his time in office and his close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin have also come under renewed scrutiny.

The prime minister accuses his opponents of wanting to drag Hungary into the war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The Left thinks that Ukraine fights our war. This is what the leader of our opponents said, word by word, that Ukraine fights our war. This is a mistake. This is not our war and this war we cannot gain anything but can lose everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Leading the united opposition is Peter Marki-Zay, a small town mayor, who's painted Orban as a budding authoritarian, following in Putin's footsteps.

Snow is not just something fun for skiers and snowmobilers it's a valuable resource and a lack of it spells trouble for parts of the U.S. We'll have more when we come back. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: America's most populous state is already experiencing its driest year in nearly a century. New evidence shows the dry spell may be worsening. In California's last snowpack survey this season, just 2.5 inches of snow were measured. The total should be around 5 feet.

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BRUNHUBER: At least 14 people are dead, including seven children, after landslides in Brazil. Days of heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides in Rio de Janeiro state. Firefighters and civil defense authorities have responded to affected areas to help rescue people.

They say they brought more than 140 people to safety in the last 24 hours.

Parts of the Middle East and North Africa are hugely dependent on wheat from Ukraine and Russia. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is beginning. And many are finding the price of food becoming unbearably high.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Baskets of colorful grain for sale at a market in Iraq. But for many families, the price of buying bread and other staples this holy month of Ramadan is just too high.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Everything is expensive. Meat is expensive. We will not buy it. Other things like sweets, we will not make them. They are expensive. The same with the oil. We can't even use it anymore.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): During Ramadan, Muslims fast during the day, then gather with friends and family to eat traditional foods when the sun goes down at night.

But the World Food Programme warns, this year, that meal will be a costly one. Food prices were already high in some countries because of weak economies, global supply shortages and security concerns. Well now, they're rising even more because of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Energy and food prices have gone up. That has had a broader impact on many developing countries, especially those that are import dependent on wheat from Ukraine and Russia and where the wheat is their staple food. So those are countries like Egypt, like Tunisia, as well as Yemen, Lebanon.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Ukraine and Russia are both major exporters of wheat and sunflower oil. And though this supermarket in war-torn Yemen looks well stocked, customers say they can no longer afford many of the items on the shelves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The people are living in a state of distress and cannot take it anymore. Prices have now increased by 50 percent to 70 percent.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The U.N. says, since the war in Ukraine began, cooking oil is up 36 percent in Yemen and 39 percent in Syria. Wheat flour is up 47 percent in Lebanon and 15 percent in Libya.

Tunisia was suffering from a political and economic crisis before supplies imported from Ukraine and Russia were disrupted. Now some bakeries say they have had to close because they can't find any flour. And many shoppers face long lines for bread if supplies haven't already run out.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Stores in Lebanon are also cutting back. This shop, which has been in business for 100 years, says it's just too expensive this year to make some of its traditional Ramadan sweets.

Before the invasion, Lebanon's economy was already spiraling out of control. And since then, prices have only risen, because the country imported some 60 percent of its wheat from Ukraine. The sticker shock for some is just too much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I've never experienced a year like this before.

Where is the joy of Ramadan?

Before, we used to look forward to it. But not this year.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): For many, who were already struggling, the shortages caused by the war in Ukraine are making a bad situation worse. This Ramadan, there will be even less on the table.

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BRUNHUBER: The Ukrainian government is raising money through the sale of digital art through nonfungible tokens or NFTs. According to the META History Museum of War, which is organizing the sale, the proceeds will support the Ukrainian military as well as civilians. The auction was announced on Wednesday.

Within 24 hours, they sold more than 1,000 pieces of art, raising more than half a million dollars. The digital art pieces were made by Ukrainian and foreign artists, depicting various moments and aspects since this conflict began on February 24th. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks so much for watching. John Vause is back

live in Lviv with more coverage on Russia's war in Ukraine after a short break.