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Horrifying Images Unfolds in Bordoyanka; Russia Sticks with Their Lies; United Nations Isn't Doing Enough; U.S. and E.U. Allies to Impose New Sanctions on Russia; Children's Hospital Targeted by Russian Troops; Tornado Hits Southern U.S.; Shanghai to Lengthen its Lockdowns. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 06, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.
This hour we begin with Russia's war on Ukraine appearing to enter a new phase with the top U.S. military General says, could last potentially for years. The U.S. and its allies are now preparing new sanctions on Russia, their response to the horrors which have been witnessed in places like Bucha.
And about an hour from now, E.U. ambassadors will meet to discuss those next steps. But Russia continues to step up attacks. Leaders in the Kharkiv region, right next to Russia's border, say more than 50 Russian airstrikes have hit that area in the past 24 hours alone. Ukrainian officials say at least six people were killed in those attacks.
Meantime, new horrors are coming to light in the town of Borodyanka and in the outskirts of Kyiv, like Bucha, it spent weeks under Russian occupation and was just recently taken back by Ukraine's military. We'll have a report from that city a little later this hour.
We have this in Bucha, a heartbreaking image, a little boy six years old, standing in his backyard near his mother's grave. She died, according to a number of reports, from stress and starvation.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's President demanded the United Nations to do more to end Russia's invasion. Questioning the security council's very mandate. During an address to the council, Zelenskyy described some of the gruesome scenes he has witnessed during a visit to Bucha.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road, just for their pleasure. They cut off limbs, slashed their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them. This is not different from other terrorists, such as ISIS. And here, it is done by a member of the United Nations Security Council.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: On Tuesday, Russia said its missiles struck an area of western and northeastern Ukraine and we just learned of another missile strike in the central part of this country which had a fuel depot. But Russia's ambassador to the U.N. says, quote, not a single civilian suffered from violence whilst under Russian control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VASILY NEBENZYA, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. (through translator): Once again, without any evidence based on the presumption of guilt, Russian -- the Russian army is being accused of some kind of evil deeds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, while Russia continues to deny killing Ukrainian civilians CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in the city of Bordoyanka where he has a firsthand look at the widespread destruction there after Russian troops retreated. A warning, some of the images and some of the details in his report and disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine, few places has suffered more than Borodyanka. Occupied by Vladimir Putin's troops since late February, recently taken back by Ukraine's army.
Borodyanka was held by the Russians for a very long time. And just to give you an idea of the scale of destruction, you have houses like these that were completely destroyed. But if we look over here, you can see that even large residential buildings have been flattened. This entire building was flattened. It was connected with this one before, but now there's absolutely nothing left of it.
And the Russians made sure to show they owned this town, painting the letter V on occupied buildings, even defacing Borodyanka's city administration. V is the letter the Russians use to help identify their forces that invaded this part of Ukraine.
Oksana Kostychenko and her husband just returned here and found Russian soldiers had been staying in their house. She says they ransacked the place. "Alcohol is everywhere," she says, "empty bottles in the hallway under things. They smoked a lot, put out cigarettes on the table."
They also showed us the corpse of a man they found in their backyard. His hands and feet tied, severe bruises on his body, a shell casing still nearby. Russia claims its forces don't target civilians, calling reports of
atrocities fake and provocations. But these body collectors are the ones who have to remove the carnage Russia's military leaves in its wake.
In a span of less than an hour, they found a person gunned down while riding a bicycle. A body burned beyond recognition. And a man still stuck in his car gunned down with bullet holes in his head and chest. He was believed to be transporting medical supplies, now strewn near this road.
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"The most awful thing is those are not soldiers laying there, just people, innocent people," Gennadiy says. For no reason? I asked. "Yes, for no reason killed and tortured for no reason," he says.
The road from Kyiv to Borodyanka is lined with villages heavily damaged after Russia's occupation. Destroyed tanks and armored vehicles left behind, but also indications of just how much fire power they unleashed on this area.
The Russians say this is a special operation, not a war, and that they don't harm civilians. But look how much ammunition they left behind simply in this one single firing position here. This is ammunition for heavy weapons with devastating effects on civilian areas.
That devastation cuts through the towns and villages north of Kyiv where the number of dead continues to rise. Now that Vladimir Putin's armies have withdrawn, Ukraine's leaders still believe many more bodies could be buried beneath the rubble.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Borodyanka, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Millions of Ukrainians have escaped this war, and they have fled to other countries. But many others are staying behind, some because they can't leave, some out of necessity, some because they just refused to go. Others are documenting what's happening to their country.
Our next guest was manage -- managed to flee Bucha but he remains in the country posting videos on social media.
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ALEX DAYRABEKOV, UKRAINIAN CITIZEN: Day 39, I came out for a walk with my son. But I am so shocked, the places where we lived in Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, these places are now worldwide known. For the past two days, there's number of photos and videos, and real facts, that confirm that this is actually not a war. What is happening in Ukraine is special slaughter operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Alex Dayrabekov joins me now for more on this. Alex, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
How difficult has it been to look at these images from Bucha? Not only are the images of war crimes, but for you the images of home. I'm sure you can recognize some of the places where these atrocities happened. These aren't strangers in a foreign country, these are your neighbors and friends.
DAYRABEKOV: Exactly, when I first heard of my neighbor, who was killed at the attempt to evacuate from Irpin, he was driving in a car with his son and his wife. And he was killed by the Russians. You know, I couldn't sleep at night on that day, the next day I learned about another case, and the next day I learned about another case.
You know, for a week I learned about like a dozen of different cases. And then for the past two or three days, the whole world finds out how many more such horrible atrocities happened. And of course, we are all shocked, I can't sleep at night, I took sleeping pill last night, just to take a bit of sleep.
VAUSE: I guess the worst part about all of this, is that this isn't over, there's much worse to come.
DAYRABEKOV: Exactly, this is -- this is just the beginning, we have to be prepared for a lot more horrific stories, and facts, and photos, and videos from our -- like Hostomel, Irpin, Bucha, Bordoyanka, and also from Mariupol, and from Chernihiv, from Kharkiv, there's -- there should be thousands of cases like this.
VAUSE: And the Kremlin turns around, says people like you, this is fake, this whole thing is staged, it never happened. What's your response?
DAYRABEKOV: My response is -- I am fake then. The world around me is fake. The kid that is here is fake, this kid is fake, that's my response to them. If they think this is fake --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: They are real people.
DAYRABEKOV: -- they just created a huge fake empire and make sure that the world believes that this is not real. This is real, our emotions are real, our tears are real. The people who were killed were real people, that they do not exist anymore.
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VAUSE: Yes. This is always so difficult for everybody, and you know, my heart -- my sympathies are with you. You also I understand have family in Russia. Have you not spoken to them? Do they know what happened?
DAYRABEKOV: Excuse me?
VAUSE: Alex, I'll just -- I will repeat the question one more time. I understand that you have relatives, you have family in Russia? DAYRABEKOV: Well, I do. I have a family. But I stopped communicating
with them. After the first weeks that I tried to show them what I see around and they replied with absolute silence. They also thought it was fake. They still think it is fake.
VAUSE: How do you -- you say you've stopped communicating altogether? You feel that there is no way to get through them. That they are brainwashed by the Russian media and the state-controlled news there.
DAYRABEKOV: Yes. Yes. Not just them, the entire country is brainwashed from the videos that we get from Russia. They just simply believe that they believe in the propaganda they are given, the -- sorry, the shit that they are given and they just -- they just -- don't compare it to objective information.
And this whole propaganda machine was built on blood, on money, on the resources on oil and gas, that this corrupt elite from the country took from their own people and now use them against their neighboring country. And again, they use this money to --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. But I was just going to say, now that we know, now that the west knows, now that all has been revealed what is happening and what will be happening in these towns across Ukraine, is this response that we have seen so far by NATO countries and the United States, increased sanctions, what more needs to be done, because that doesn't seem to cut it right now.
DAYRABEKOV: We need three things. We need more weapons, we get weapons from the west, and we are -- we are very thankful for them, but we need more, especially aircraft and long-range air defense. We need sanctions, and we need energy embargo. Just three things.
VAUSE: As far as the energy is concerned, right now the European countries are essentially sending billions of dollars to Russia so that Russia can pay for this war, it's blood money.
DAYRABEKOV: Exactly. Exactly. This is -- this is what the regime gets and then pays for killing Ukrainians, they need to -- they need to be cut for finance, so that they have a lot less finance and then they can only finance the repressive regime inside the country and that is how they will stop financing this war and this is how it will probably end.
VAUSE: The world said after World War II never again, what does that mean today?
DAYRABEKOV: This is all lies. The world, we just see that all of these bureaucratic organizations like the security council, the U.N. Security Council, they do not, they just simply do not work. You know, all of these words never again, it is happening now in our eyes, in our lives, the people suffer, the people die, people I know, people that many people in Ukraine are dying now and the west just says never again. It is happening, the world needs to open their eyes, it is happening
right now as we speak. And it is not just about Ukraine, it is not just about some country in the east of Europe, it's about the entire world, about human values, about humanity. They -- they are destroying humanity. Humans like me. That is what they came to destroy.
VAUSE: Alex Dayrabekov, thank you for being with us. Please stay safe.
DAYRABEKOV: Thank you.
VAUSE: Thank you. The carnage in Bucha is adding momentum for efforts to punish Russia. The U.S. is expected to post new sanctions later today and some of them could target members of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin's family.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins has details.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On Wednesday, the White House will announce a new sanctions package on Russia after those horrifying images emerged from Bucha and other places in Ukraine of these atrocities committed by Russia. And we are told that this new package will be done in conjunction with the European Union and G7 allies with the United States.
[03:14:59]
But for the United States part, this is going to include a ban on all new investments in Russia. A tightening of the sanctions that are already in place on these Russian financial institutions and state- owned enterprises. And also, more sanctions on Russian government officials and their family members.
And that latter part has raised some concerns about whether or not some questions about whether or not that would also include two of Putin's daughters who the European Union has discussed sanctioning, and of course people have asked the White House whether or not that is something that they are also considering doing. But the White House has not yet disclosed that.
We should note that as the White House is continuing to tighten the screws, apply more sanctions and more pressure on Russia, Putin has continued with this brutal assault. And according to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who was testifying on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, he had warned that this invasion, this protracted battle could go on for potentially years.
That comes after the national security adviser Jake Sullivan had said that he believes this next phase, where Russia is re-positioning its forces around Ukraine, after not achieving their initial objectives, could take months.
And now Chairman Milley saying that this is something that could last for years. As he talked about the increased instability across the globe. Of course, all caused by Russia's invasion.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
VAUSE: In less than one hour from now, E.U. ambassadors are expected to begin discussing a fifth round of sanctions on Russia. The European Commission is taking aim at Russia's financial institutions. Proposing a ban on everything from seafood, to spirits, to coal. That's right, coal, but not oil and gas, at least not yet.
CNN's Clare Sebastian following this live from London. So, until they get to the point where the oil and the gas are actually sanctioned. And they stop sending billions of dollars to Moscow every year, then the Europeans will get to a point where they actually stopped funding this war. Is that on -- is that on the table for discussion, at least at this point?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, they have said that coal is set to be part of this latest fifth round of sanctions. And that they will move to intensify debate around oil. So far, they are not talking about gas. As you know, gas is the area where Europe is most dependent on Russia, dependent for about 40 percent of its gas imports. But they are willing to at least discuss oil and coal is on the table.
And while coal is a relatively small part of what the Europe imports from Russia, and certainly it's not as big a deal when it comes to Russian state revenues as the other oil and gas is, it's still a start, this is the first time that we've seen Europe even consider an embargo on Russian energy. Even consider sort of imposing potential disruption, potential higher prices on its citizens.
So that is definitely a start, as I said oil, a debate on oil is on the table. So, they are moving slowly towards this driven, of course by the atrocities that we have seen a rise from Bucha and other previously occupied towns in Ukraine.
VAUSE: Yes. I know a dad in Ukraine that they should be speaking to about buying Russian oil and gas, we just spoke to him. Clare, thank you. Clare Sebastian live for us in London.
Still ahead this hour, Russia's brazen denial, how the Kremlin is explaining those horrific scenes from Bucha and other cities across Ukraine.
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VAUSE: Bucha, Borodyanka, Irpin, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, just places now known for cruelty and death. All part of this Russian invasion of Ukraine. And Mykolaiv local officials say Russian troops have shelled a children's hospital. That happened Monday. Security footage appeared to show the moment an air strike hit an ambulance parked outside.
A team from Doctors Without Borders was at a nearby hospital confirmed a strike there as well as that children's hospital.
Ukraine army is out on the streets of Bucha collecting discarded weapons as well as unexploded ordinance. Many of the dead have now been taken away now that the Russian forces have withdrawn.
Human high -- human rights commissioner says the horrific images show all the signs that civilians have been directly targeted and killed. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov calls the video from Bucha artificial. Meant to derail peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. But what he failed to mention was satellite images that help prove the atrocities are real.
A warning, our report from CNN's Matthew Chance again contains graphic and disturbing content.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you think Russian soldiers are human, he says, just look at this. The sharp words of a Ukrainian driver recording these appalling scenes on the road into Bucha. But what took place here is beyond words. Beyond outrage.
Ukrainian officials say the bodies being retrieved are of civilians killed by Russian forces in the town. Some with their hands tied behind their backs before being shot dead. Evidence of war crimes. A charged the Kremlin and propaganda machine is categorically denying.
This is how one of the top anchors on Russian state television explained the massacre.
"It must have been the work of British specialists, he says. Because the town of Bucha and the English word butcher sound so similar."
[03:25:06]
Maybe it's a joke. But no one is laughing. Certainly not the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov who has dubbed these killings a well-staged tragic show and a forgery to try to denigrate the Russian army.
A huge amount of data, he told journalists, clearly indicates this is fake, staged, say Russian officials after their troops had left. But satellite images of Bucha first published by the New York Times show bodies had been strewn across the streets there for weeks, at least from March the 18th when the town was under Russian control. Photographic evidence that contradicts the Kremlin's claims.
It's also raising concerns that more killings will be unearthed as Russian forces withdraw. The Ukrainian president seen here visiting Bucha, accusing Russia of trying to hide the traces of their crimes in other parts of Ukraine that remain under Russian control. It makes a peace deal even harder.
"Every day we find people in barrels, strangled or tortured in basements," President Zelenskyy says, "it's very difficult to negotiate when you see what they have done here," he adds.
It is sickening to accept that the sacrifice of these people may have actually push backed the chances of peace in Ukraine instead of bringing this appalling conflict to an end. Matthew Chance, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave this country by Vladimir Putin's war of choice. By far, the greatest number are heading to Poland. When we come back, we're live at a train station near the border, they just keep coming.
[03:30:00]
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. Thirty-one minutes past the hour. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine.
And it seems the humanitarian crisis in the besieged city of Mariupol continues to get worse according to a new report from the British ministry of defense. And now, a civilian ship reportedly on fire and sinking on Mariupol's port. That comes from Ukraine's interior ministry, which says the ship was under a Dominican Republic flag and was hit by a shelling.
Weeks of intense fighting has devastated the city. Drone footage taken Tuesday shows Mariupol's residents waiting in long lines to receive humanitarian aid from Russians.
That aid, according to the Ukrainians had been stolen from groups like the International Committee for the Red Cross. And according to U.K.'s latest report, around 160,000 people are still trapped inside that city. Most without running water, without food, no medicine, no electricity.
Across the country, Russia's unprovoked war has forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homes, more than 7.1 million have now been internally displaced, that's a 10 percent increase since the first survey by the International Organizations for Migration three weeks ago. More than 50 percent of displaced households have children, 57 percent include elderly family members.
On Tuesday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister said more than 3,800 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors and the U.N. reports more than 4.2 million people have now actually fled the country.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from a train station just across the border in Poland. And, Salma, I guess, you know, these refugees keep coming, the numbers may have slowed a little, but it is a steady stream of traffic.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. We are actually expecting the next train to come from Ukraine into this train station in just, really the next few minutes. But you have to remember, John, these train times are not regular because of the situation on the ground.
I just want to show you this train station and introduce you to someone. We are just going to start walking here because, you have to get a sense that when you arrive at this train station, it's a halfway point, it's not just a transport hub. It's a medical area as well.
Like just take a look here, if you need to get checked out when you arrive, if you need help, there are medics here to do that, there's food here as well and volunteers trying to offer you assistance. And it is also a place where families get to be reunited.
We have been talking to Sasha (Ph), she is 17 years old and she was in university when the invasion began and you are here today waiting for your mom, she's supposed to arrive shortly on the train.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
ABDELAZIZ: Tell me about that moment, you had to leave from your university dorm, from your university hostel, that's where you had to run from. Tell me about that moment you decided you had to leave.
UNKNOWN: OK. I was sleeping in this moment like 5 a.m. and I heard a -- a loud, so loud in the street and don't understand anything and I sleep again. But after five minutes my friend is knocking in the door so loud--
(CROSSTALK)
[03:35:05]
ABDELAZIZ: They were banging on the door?
UNKNOWN: Yes. And say that I can get my passport and some clothes and go to the university. The whole students from the hostel go to the university. We stand here like three hours and I called my mom. And she does not understand everything, like I --
(CROSSTALK)
ABDELAZIZ: It must have been so chaotic. Crazy.
UNKNOWN: Yes, yes.
ABDELAZIZ: How are you feeling, were you scared, were you stressed?
UNKNOWN: I don't understand anything, I was so scared. I was so nervous, I don't understand what I need to do in this moment.
ABDELAZIZ: That must have been very scary.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
ABDELAZIZ: And now you've been in Poland here for a month, you are only 17 years old.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
ABDELAZIZ: You are doing your school online, what is your hope, are you hoping that you had to go back to Kyiv? UNKNOWN: Yes.
ABDELAZIZ: Back to school?
UNKNOWN: Yes. Yes. I hope that in my birthday, I will go to Kyiv. I will celebrate this with my friends with my family, with my grandparents.
ABDELAZIZ: I hope so too for you, Sacha.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much for telling me.
UNKNOWN: Thank you.
ABDELAZIZ: Thank you.
UNKNOWN: Thank you.
ABDELAZIZ: John, these stories are everywhere. And again, it's this place of so many moments, people fleeing home for the first time, realizing that they are safe, but they don't have a plan they don't know where they are going to go next. We meet people like Sacha (Ph) who she's finally going to get to see her mother for the first time in a month. Her mother has been in Odessa, concerned about her safety of course, worried about what happens next for them.
And really, it's a moment where everybody has to deal with that realization that they don't know what their future holds.
VAUSE: There are more than two million of those unique and sad stories in Poland alone. Salma, thank you. Some Abdelaziz, live at the Poland and Ukrainian border train station. I appreciate that.
If you would like to help those impacted by this war in Ukraine, please visit cnn.com/impact to find more information. And there you can be guaranteed that your donations go to where they are needed the most.
We'll continue to follow the breaking news out of Ukraine. There's much more ahead here on CNN. But for now, let's head back to Rosemary Church at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta. Rosie?
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And John, another horrifying day in Ukraine and we thank you, my friend, for being there on the ground to shine a light and bring the truth to everyone about what is happening there, it's so important. Thank you so much.
VAUSE: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Well, the U.S. and the E.U. are getting ready to impose new sanctions on Russia. Ahead, the likely targets. And whether they could include members of the Putin family. Back in just a moment.
[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, western powers are escalating efforts to hurt the Russian economy. A Biden administration official says that U.S. will impose new sanctions in the coming hours. It's expected to ban any new investment in Russia and take aim at its financial institutions. The U.S. is also going after Kremlin officials and their families. And that could include president Putin's adult children according to one western official.
Meantime, the European Commission is pushing for a fifth sanctions package against Moscow. This time it's proposing everything from a ban on Russian coal and seafood, to kicking Russian ships out of E.U. ports. The E.U. has also designated a group of Russian diplomats as persona non grata. And Russia has warned it will reciprocate.
In the last hour I spoke with Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at the European economic think tank Bruegel, and I asked if the E.U. will eventually ban, not just coal, but all Russian energy imports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIMONE TAGLIAPIETRA, SENIOR FELLOW, BRUEGEL: It is clear that to be effective, energy sanctions must target natural gas and oil. Of course, that's difficult for Europe because while the United States imports less than 5 percent of its oil from Russia. So, it was easy to put a ban. For Europe it's difficult because we import 40 percent of our natural gas and 25 percent of our oil from Russia.
CHURCH: Right.
TAGLIAPIETRA: But this is necessary.
CHURCH: So, we know E.U. officials are working on a sanctions package. But will it include a ban on all imports of Russian oil, and will it be sweeping enough and bring Germany on board, because Germany is really stopping all of this movement forward on this, isn't it?
TAGLIAPIETRA: Germany and other countries that are more dependent on Russian energy are certainly slowing down the process, even if there is momentum building also in these countries towards action on energy. The action on oil and gas doesn't necessarily need to be a full- fledged embargo.
Europe can start by imposing a tariff on Russian oil and gas exports to Europe. This tariff would limit Putin and his energy rent, while ensuring that the flows of oil and gas to Europe keeps going. This idea could be the one that represents the best compromise to have all countries on board.
[03:44:57]
CHURCH: Right. Of course, Germany may consider. I mean, I think that's a very interesting idea, the tariffs. But Germany may consider cutting Russian oil. But it's less likely to stop purchasing Russian gas. So, what needs to be done to perhaps help Germany find alternative gas supplies. Because that's really the stumbling block here, isn't it?
TAGLIAPIETRA: You are right, Germany imports more than 50 percent of its gas from Russia, so it will be extremely challenging for the country to move forward. But we have done analysis at Bruegel showing that this is possible. It will have to be a mix of options. On the one hand, increase the LNG imports in Europe and also in Germany in particular. And that's why Germany now is planning to build LNG plants and the floating regasification storage units.
Then, there will be the need to open up again the coal fired power plants that currently sit idle in order to produce electricity with coal for a certain period of time, rather than gas. And then Germany needs to double down on renewable energy, energy savings and all of these options are important to get rid of Russian gas as quickly as possible. This is viable. We can do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Simone Tagliapietra went on to say that Germany has acknowledged its major investment in Russian energy was a mistake and now Europe of course is paying the price.
Well, Russia has destroyed in another fuel depot in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian military official in the Dnipropetrovsk region says a fuel site was destroyed in Russian strike and emergency crews have been fighting the flames. He says there were no casualties.
Well deadly storms and tornadoes strike across the southern United States. What we are learning about extreme weather in Texas, Georgia, and the Carolinas. That is coming up.
[03:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: You are looking at video of an apparent tornado that hit just outside of Savannah, Georgia. This twister was one of many across the southeastern U.S. this week. In nearby Bryan County, at least one person is dead and officials said earlier that people were trapped in their homes.
The National Weather Service says that at least three tornadoes hit Texas. There are reports of at least one death. And state officials in South Carolina say at least three people were injured during storms there. One county there suffered, quote, "significant damage after being hit by a possible tornado."
Well, to China now, and authorities in Shanghai say the lockdown in the city will continue until further notice amid yet a now they're round of citywide COVID testing. More than 17,000 new cases were reported in the city on Tuesday. Officials are building makeshift hospitals to hold thousands of newly infected COVID patients.
Meantime, authorities are amending the policy for separating COVID positive children from their families. Parents who test negative can now apply for special permission to be with children who have tested positive.
And CNN's Selina wang joins me now live from Tokyo with more on all of this. Always good to see you, Selina. So, what is going on in Shanghai where authorities seem to be struggling to contain this outbreak, while failing to provide sufficient supplies to millions of people forced into lockdown.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Great to be with you again, Rosemary. I mean, the scale of this lockdown is just staggering. We're talking about 25 million residents in Shanghai locked in indefinitely and emotions there are running high, people are feeling frustrated. They are feeling helpless. So many are struggling to get food, daily essentials, some even struggling to get urgent medical care.
We spoke to the family of a man who is dealing with late-stage stomach cancer, he is supposed to be in the hospital now, hospitalized for chemotherapy but he is unable to leave his apartment. The family tells us they've been trying to do everything to get him to the hospital because he is in such extreme pain. But they are telling us that they aren't having any luck.
And there have been several heartbreaking stories like that, some which have even resulted in death. There have also been numerous complaints online of people who've had to go to these quarantine facilities and some of them have documented these unsanitary conditions.
Because every single COVID case in China, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms have to either go to the hospital or to a quarantine center. This comes on top of the fact that cases in Shanghai continue to reach record highs. And people are really questioning just how long can they continue this harsh lockdown for.
Rosemary, there have even been videos posted online of protests breaking out in some residential compounds. That is a rare sight in authoritarian China.
CHURCH: Yes, I mean, those videos have been just horrifying. It's an incredible story. Selina Wang, thank you so much for bringing us up to date from your vantage point there in Tokyo.
Well legendary golfer Tiger Woods is returning to the Masters tournament 14 months after a car crash that almost ended his career. He has played a few practice rounds at Augusta National this week with fans and the media in tow.
[03:55:04]
He is set to tee off in the tournaments opening round on Thursday. And he spoke to reporters about his chances in the tournament. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: As of right now I feel like I am going to play as of right now. I'm going to play nine more holes tomorrow. And my recovery has been good.
UNKNOWN: Do you think you can win the Masters this week?
WOODS: I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: If he wins, it will be Woods's sixth Masters title and his 16th major tournament win. This week actually marks 25 years since his first Masters win back in 1997.
And thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. Our breaking news coverage continues next with Max Foster.
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