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CNN Visits Decimated Ukrainian Town Of Borodyanka; U.S.: Russians Completely Gone From Kyiv, Chernihiv; Moscow Faces Possible Removal From Human Rights Council; Millions Of Ukrainian Refugees Straining Poland's Resources; Lviv Opens New Cemetery To Bury Ukraine's Combat Dead. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 07, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:01:04]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Thank you for joining us as we report day 43 of Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine.

And on this day, cities and towns in the Donbass region and across Eastern Ukraine, bracing for what they expect will be a renewed Russian onslaught.

Putin's goal now appears to be take and hold a large part (PH) of Ukraine to (INAUDIBLE) control by Russian backed separatists.

Already, residential districts in the Luhansk region reporting heavy shelling and the local official in Donetsk claims a humanitarian aid distribution center came under attack by Russian firepower, killing two people, wounding five others.

And busloads of civilians now making that heart wrenching decision to evacuate from around Kharkiv, where Russia has attacked a fuel depot, as well as a railway station, which was used to supply Ukraine's military with weapons. Ukraine official says Russian forces are deliberately aiming at civilian targets.

Counter offensive by Russian -- Ukrainian fighters, I should say, have now pushed Russian troops from areas in the North. And Ukraine's president says Moscow shifting course now that atrocities like those in the town of Bucha have been exposed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It seems the Russian leadership really got scared of the world's wrath. That what we saw in Bucha may repeat because of what we may see in other cities from where we will inevitably kick out the occupiers. We have the information that the Russian military has changed its

tactics and is trying to hide killed people from the streets in basements in occupied territory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: New drone video released by Ukraine appears to show the location of trenches in the highly radioactive forest around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Apparently, the work of Russian soldiers who took control of the site of the world's worst nuclear accident in late February (INAUDIBLE) since left with the defunct plant now back under Ukrainian control.

The Pentagon says the fighting in Ukraine will likely intensify in coming weeks. And Ukraine's military though still has a chance of mounting a successful counter offensive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PRESS SECRETARY, PENTAGON: Of course, they can win this. And if you look at what they've been able to do thus far, Mr. Putin has achieved exactly zero of his strategic objectives inside Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The latest U.S. assessment shows Russian forces have completely withdrawn from areas near Kyiv and Chernihiv, but in their wake, those Russian troops have left behind miles and miles of devastation, destruction and misery.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour visited one town where very little remains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Welcome to Sasha's restaurant, it says. Only Sasha's is no more. Nor are any of the apartments in this block above. A dining table and chairs, a jacket blowing in the wind still intact, the only visible reminders of the families who lived here.

The crows call above the city of Borodyanka, perhaps they sense the death here. It is clear that the heavy destruction is mostly along the main street. It appears the Russian armored columns simply opened up with heavy machine guns and artillery as they rumbled through town.

Brick by brick, today, the digging starts, trying to find civilians or their bodies buried beneath the rubble, when even their basement shelters were turned into graveyards.

On this corner, they're looking for at least four missing from this block alone, says Victoria Ruban (PH), who is with the rescue team.

We have never seen anything like this. It is very difficult for us, she says. And not only for us but for the residents of Borodyanka. It is a great tragedy because of an ill-disciplined force with a license to kill. [00:05:11]

AMANPOUR: So, this is Vladimir Putin's idea of liberating a fraternal brotherly nation. So, either he's done all this because he loves Ukrainians or as many believe, because he's motivated by a rising hatred and anger, at their westward loving democracy, at their resistance, and at their refusal to come under Russian control.

And as afterthought, a bullet to the head of Ukraine's cultural hero, the great poet Taras Shevchenko, not even statues are immune.

Amid all this distraction, the summary executions, the Ukrainian flag flies proudly in the central square. For good measure, these Ukrainian soldiers are pulling out a captured Russian tank that was dug in. They say they'll use this and anything else the invaders have left behind to fight them in the villages, in the towns, in the fields, and all the way back to the Russian border.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Borodyanka.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me now from Yonkers in New York, retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons. Major, thank you for being with us.

So far, the Russian record is not looking especially good. They underestimated Ukrainian resistance, have been incapable of adjusting to setbacks, fail to effectively combine air and land operations, have still not yet reached air superiority. They haven't been able to defend their supply lines, they have problem with logistics.

So, what does that now mean for the next stage of this conflict with the focus on the East on the Donbass region? How will this phase be different?

MAJ. MIKE LYONS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, no question. They've been out fought, out thought. We thought the Russian military would have learned and adjusted but they totally haven't. Those troops that now that they've withdrawn from the North are going to have to go a long way to reinforce that battle that they think is going to take place in the East.

And at the same token, the Ukraine military can now reinforce itself on interior lines inside the country, get there a lot quicker, and start the guerrilla attacks and continue to probe and continue counter attacks.

So, Russia does not have any momentum. And I don't see how they're going to gain any momentum by doing that over the next few weeks. He needs to -- Vladimir Putin needs to find victory someplace, Ukraine wins by not losing. And it's just again, a small miracle from a military perspective that without any really additional troops that the Ukraine military was able to eject the Russians from those areas around Kyiv.

So, next phase, Russia thinks it's going to try to dictate because it brings mass, it brings a lot of tactical kit, it brings a lot of tanks and embattled tactical battalions to the formations.

However, I don't think the war is going to get fought that way. The Ukraine military is going to have a big say and all the equipment that the West has poured in is also going to be a difference maker.

VAUSE: Well, that's the thing, right now, the Czech Republic had provided tanks to the Ukrainian military. There was also the armored vehicles which are coming in from other countries as well, long range artillery.

Also, how will that change the battlefield in the -- in the favor of the Ukrainians?

LYONS: Well, the javelins that the West has sent I think are the most important element, it's going to be challenging for those tanks to kind of get to the battlefield, they're going to have to put them on railheads.

I think that we've got to see how that goes. And the APCs, the armored personnel carriers at the Czech Republic is also there. You know, they've got to take -- they've got to have the Soviet equipment. When we bring those more difficult weapon systems in from a logistical perspective, Ukraine's got to figure out how it supports them, how it re-arms them and the like. I think it's going to be the individual weapons, it's going to be the stingers, the javelins, the switchblades, those drones.

You see, the fact that the Ukraine military is able to use drone technology to show the attacks, they're literally coordinating small unit tactics with the drones that they're getting, as well, as with the equipment that's coming from the West on the ground. I think that's where they're going to be successful in the small unit elements. The days of maneuver of those tanks are over, and I'm just not sure they're going to make it their way to the battlefield.

VAUSE: Well, the Ukrainian fighters continue to hamper the Russian from gaining total control of the city in Mariupol. The mess is 90 percent of buildings there have either been destroyed or damaged. At this point, what's left to fight over?

LYONS: Well, it's about real estate and boundaries, I think. And this is very similar to what I saw in 1973, with the Arab-Israeli wars there, and its likely there's going to be a redrawing of Ukraine.

And so, what the Ukraine Government wants to do is hold out as much as long as possible. If it does end up falling, it's going to be Grozny (PH), it's going to have -- there's going to be nothing there, there's going to be a complete rebuild. And there'll be an unfortunate escape for the -- for the people that are currently living there.

But the Ukraine military has to hold Odessa, they've got to keep at least one port there. But again, I think that what we're going to see here, if there's going to be some kind of victory that Russia wants, it's that land bridge that goes from Crimea, right to the Donbass region and unfortunately, Mariupol is right in the middle of it.

[00:10:11]

LYONS: So, they have to -- from their perspective for their clean victory, they have to have that town.

VAUSE: It's hard to see how this will be negotiated to settlement at this point, given everything that has happened, but we will see how this all plays out.

Major Mike Lyons in New York, thank you so much, sir, we appreciate it.

LYONS: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Well, the U.S. has announced new sanctions on Russia to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin for this unprovoked war, as well as for atrocities committed by his military in towns and cities across Ukraine.

Among them, full blocking sanctions on Russia's Sberbank and Alfa Bank, which will freeze assets held by the banks in the U.S. and prohibit transactions with U.S. financial institutions. And there'll be new sanctions on Russians elite, including Putin's two adult daughters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Bodies left in streets as Russian troops withdrew. Some shot in the back of the head with their hands tied behind their backs. Civilians executed with cold blood bodies dumped into mass graves, a sense of brutality in humanity, left for all the world to see unapologetically.

There's nothing less happening than major war crimes. Responsible nations have to come together to hold these perpetrators accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: U.S. President Joe Biden there explaining why these sanctions had been put in place.

NATO Secretary General thanked the U.S. for the continued support for Ukraine, the sanctions and for "tireless efforts in consulting and sharing intelligence with NATO allies". Those comments come ahead of a high stakes NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels set to begin in the coming hours.

We have more now from CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (on camera): So, the focus for NATO's foreign ministers is in two parts, one is sustain and continue their commitment, the military commitment, the javelin missiles that have been so effective at targeting Russian tanks and the surface, the air missile systems that have targeted helicopters, been fired at jets as well to continue the supply of those. But there's a recognition here that the war could go long.

JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: We have seen no indication that President Putin has changed his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine, and also, to rewrite the international order. So, we need to be prepared for the long haul.

But at the same time, we have to be realistic and realize that this may last for a long time for many months or even years.

ROBERTSON: And so, the second point here is making sure that Ukrainian forces have the sustainability, capacity, logistical supply lines, the fuel, the helmets, the flak jackets, the medical equipment that they need, and recognize as well that the fight that has to come may be different, maybe fought, needing tanks, needing armored personnel vehicles, these sorts of things. That's the second phase.

In parallel to that, the other important part, the sanctions. The European Union, finalizing their position on sanctions targeting coal, saying that they will no longer buy Russian coal value about $4.3 billion a year.

But as we heard from the European Union's foreign policy chief, they're sort of top diplomat if you will, Josep Borrell. The European Union really could be doing a lot more to cut back on oil and gas because they are giving Russia so much money.

JOSEP BORRELL, FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF, EUROPEAN UNION (through translator): We have given Ukraine one billion euros, it might seem a lot but one billion euros is what we pay Putin every day for the energy he provides us.

Since the beginning of the war, we have given him 35 billion euros. Compare that to the one billion euros that we have given to Ukraine in arms and weapons.

ROBERTSON: And the E.U. targeting Russian banks, Russian vessels, Russian operated vessels, not allowing them to use E.U. ports. But that energy issue is the issue perhaps that really European Union has the most difficulty finding unity for.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The U.S. believes there is enough support at the U.N. to expel Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council. A vote is expected to take place Thursday when the General Assembly resumed its emergency session. It will take at least a two thirds vote to remove Moscow from the council. But the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations believes votes will be there.

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We have been working very, very hard since this war started to build a coalition of countries who are prepared to condemn Russia.

We got 141 votes the first time we went into the General Assembly. The second time we got 140 and I have no doubt that we can defeat Russia here on the Human Rights Council.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:15:00]

VAUSE: The U.S. is also moving to have Russia expelled from the G20. Washington says it will boycott any meetings if Russian officials are there.

Just outside of Ukraine, a different kind of war is being waged, a war of mass migration. When we come back, we'll look at how Poland is coping with a huge influx of Ukrainian refugees.

And later this hour, new sanctions from the U.S. targeting the Russian president's daughters. Why officials say Vladimir Putin maybe hiding his wealth with other family members.

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VAUSE: The mayor of Mariupol says Russia attacks have decimated at least 40 percent of the city and destroyed most of its infrastructure. He also believes about 5,000 residents have died during the blockade.

CNN cannot verify that number which is significantly higher than the U.S. nationwide death toll of nearly 1,600.

[00:20:03]

VAUSE: Meantime, the Red Cross says the humanitarian crisis in Mariupol is only getting worse. But around 500 civilians were evacuated to Zaporizhzhia.

A Ukrainian deputy prime minister puts the number of evacuees at about 1,200 but many in Mariupol remain trapped. A Red Cross spokesperson describe the situation there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCILE MARBEAU, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS SPOKESPERSON: We were hearing really tragic stories. People who had fled walking, leaving also part of the family behind in Mariupol right now. There's nothing. No water, no electricity, barely any connection, so no way to be able to say also to the family that they are safe, no medication and the humanitarian situation is really growing worse and worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ukraine's president says Russia is using hunger as a weapon. Food shortages have seen millions of people flee the country. Now refugees themselves are also becoming a weapon that's being used against Poland.

CNN's Kyung Lah explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Poland is already waging a war with Russia. It's just not the kind you imagine. Nearly 2-1/2 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed into the safety of Poland as war ravages their country. Packing Poland's arenas, lining up for government benefits and sending their children to public schools. These innocent faces are part of Vladimir Putin's war of mass migration.

LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN (RET.), U.S. ARMY: It's a kind of a callousness that we just don't understand here.

LAH: Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman is known as a crucial witness in former President Trump's first impeachment proceedings. But he was also a child refugee from Ukraine, whose family moved to the U.S. in 1979.

VINDMAN: Refugees have been a weapon for a long time. Russia uses refugees as a weapon for years.

LAH: How do you deploy refugees as weapons?

VINDMAN: Where you bomb cities and those cities result in civilian populations are women and children in particular.

LAH: What is the theory behind that?

VINDMAN: Well, they're weaponized just by the mere fact that they're -- these are large numbers of people flowing into a country that is not prepared to handle refugee camps that has to now spend funds on those refugees.

LAH: The alleged goal, destabilized Poland, a NATO country from within. But that hasn't happened yet.

VINDMAN: Poland, which was having a mixed record with regards to their democratic activities and democratic backsliding, has actually, you know, kind of gone back to its roots. It has been extremely welcoming to the Ukrainian population, welcoming Ukrainians into their homes as members of the family, that's to Putin probably unexpected.

LAH: But Warsaw's mayor says the pressure on his country grows by the day.

RAFAL TRZASKOWSKI, MAYOR, WARSAW, POLAND: Putin wants to destabilize Europe and the whole Western world. I mean, he miscalculated because he thought that he's going to divide the Ukraine society, he lost. He wanted to divide us in the West, he lost. We are also waging a war against his effort to destabilize us. And we have to prove to him that we stand united, that we share the burden.

LAH: We're just so thankful to Poland, says Marina Lesyk, something we hear again and again from Ukrainians. Nearly six weeks into this war, they hope that goodwill last.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Warsaw, Poland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: If you would like to help the people of Ukraine who may be in need of shelter, food and water, please go to CNN.com/Impact and there you'll find a lot of ways that you can help.

When we come back, Russia's attack on Ukraine now entering a seventh week with mounting casualties on both sides.

Just ahead, Ukrainian soldiers killed in battle being laid to rest at a new military cemetery here in Lviv.

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[00:28:25]

VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. Newly released drone footage from Bucha shows Russian forces shooting civilians. The video is graphic and it is hard to watch.

The footage was shot about a month ago, it shows a man on a bicycle turning onto a street when a Russian armored vehicle opened fire with a high caliber weapon. The man's body and the bicycle were found weeks later in that same spot after Ukrainian troops retook that town.

U.S. official tells CNN the U.S. now believes it will be able to identify the Russian troops responsible for the atrocities and the official adds: U.S. intelligence have given the matter an extremely high priority.

But Ukraine's military has not released any combat figures about the number of Ukrainian troops who have died here. But clearly, they are paying a high price and now they're opening a new cemetery to bury their dead here in Lviv.

CNN's Jake Tapper has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Grave diggers at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Western Ukraine, today had to break ground in a fresh field to make room for the new war dead, repurposing the cemeteries adjacent World War II Memorial to find space for the influx.

Today, it's Ukrainian Army Sergeant Olvivokya Czeslav (PH), 43, killed March 28th and Private Hodsilak Lubamer (PH), 33, killed on April 1st, both killed in Luhansk in the Donbass region. Both men called to service after the Russians invaded.

The soldier's family started this grim day at the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in Lviv.

As their caskets passed the crowds on the way into the church, their loved ones wept for those whom they lost to Putin's invading army.

[00:30:20] The sounds of grief, combined with that of prayer. Inside the formerly Jesuit church, built in the 1600s, locals have wrapped historic statues to protect them from debris, in case of expected Russian shelling.

After the service, a military tribute, as mourners paid respects and gave flowers to the families. Flowers always even numbers.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the presiding officer of the Ukrainian Parliament, basically the speaker the House, stopped by to honor the fallen.

RUSLAN STEFANCHUK, PRESIDING OFFICER OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: I come here and with all my honor and all my heart, I put there. The Russians will be everything, crimes, for everything, genocide, which they do in my land. I want the whole world knows that we never forget for nobody.

TAPPER (on ): The church is right next to this monument to famous and beloved Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, who was exiled by Russia's czar in the 1800s for advocating for Ukrainian independence from Russia and for human rights.

One of Shevchenko's most famous poems, "Zapovit," or "Testament," reads, "When I am dead, bury me in my beloved Ukraine. My tomb upon a grave mound high, amid the spreading plain."

(voice-over): Cars, vans, and buses full of mourners traveled the short distance to the cemetery. Caskets were unloaded, prayers offered.

YEVHEN BOIKO, REPRESENTATIVE FOR LVIV MAYOR'S OFFICER (through translator): The atrocity and the ceremony of burial has been simplified and made shorter in order not to decrease the morale and the spirit of our other military. Every day we have two, three burials here in Lviv. That is the price for our victory.

TAPPER: And the military paid tribute with instruments of both art and instruments of war.

BOIKO (through translator): We say, heroes never die. We buried the body, but the glory of these people will live forever in our hearts and in our history.

TAPPER: A spokesman for the city would only say, dozens, when asked how many locals have been killed fighting to defend their homeland from the latest Russian threat.

The spreading plane here, next to Lychakiv Cemetery, spreading now, in order to make room for the dead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: CNN's Jake Tapper with that report. I'll have more from Ukraine later this hour, but for now, let's go back to CNN's world headquarters, Lynda Kinkade.

And Lynda, there is one certainty. There will be many, many more funerals to come before this conflict is over.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, it's sure, to be certain. Our thanks to you, John, there and the team in Lviv. We will come back to you at the top of the hour. Thanks very much.

Well, we want to move to Yemen now, where the president has announced the establishment of a presidential leadership council. He dismissed the vice president, transferred both his and the V.P.'s power to the council on Thursday.

The leadership council will be responsible for political, military, and security affairs during a transitional period.

And it comes after the Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement announced a two-month truce last week, the first since 2016.

Still to come here on CNN, Russia is stumbling under the weight of international sanctions. But is it enough to end the war? What one official says will make the difference, when we return.

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[00:38:03]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.

Well, on Wednesday, the U.S. announced sanctions targeting Vladimir Putin's family and any secret stashes they have hidden outside of Russia. Not much is known about Putin's family, especially his two grown daughters.

CNN's Brian Todd investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're amongst the most closely guarded of the Kremlin's secrets, Vladimir Putin's two adult daughters from his first wife, both believed to be in their mid- thirties, now the subject of U.S. sanctions.

A senior Biden administration official confirms their names are Mariya Putina, who is believed to be the older daughter, and also goes by the name of Maria Vorontsova, and Katerina Tikhonova, shown here, once speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Putin spoke about his daughters in 2017.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): My daughters work in science and education. They're not involved anywhere in politics or somewhere else. They have ordinary lives.

TODD: Putin is so secretive about his daughters that analysts have been left to fill in some of the gaps in the mystery.

HOWARD STOFFER, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: Mariya is now in health care in Moscow. The younger daughter, Katerina, is now working in an A.I. institute at the Moscow State University.

CASEY MICHEL, ADJUNCT FELLOW, HUDSON INSTITUTE: We know they've traveled widely, especially in the West. We know one of them, Katerina, was married to Russia's youngest billionaire. And we know that she also tried to pursue a career in acrobatic rock and roll.

The other one, Mariya, we don't know quite as much about. We know she has pursued, or at least reportedly, pursued a career in medical sciences.

TODD: The younger of the two adult daughters, Katerina Tikhonova, was married to Russian billionaire Kirill Shamalov, who is also under sanction, but they're now divorced.

Putin's discomfort with speaking about his children was exposed in a series of interviews he did with American director Oliver Stone, where he acknowledged he has grandchildren.

OLIVER STONE, FILM DIRECTOR: Are you a grandfather yet?

PUTIN Yes.

STONE: How do you like your grandchildren? So are you a good grandfather? Do you play with them in the garden?

PUTIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very seldom, unfortunately.

STONE: Very seldom. You're a very lucky man.

[00:40:07]

Two good children.

PUTIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I am proud of them.

RONALD MARKS, FORMER CIA OFFICIAL: It would have been a lot happier if we were under deposition, you acknowledge you're a good family man. But he's more interested in appearing with the Russian orthodox church, or in military situations, or riding shirtless on the back of a horse, to project his power. That's power. Family, in many ways, is weakness.

TODD: But one analyst says Putin has a darker reason for keeping his family details secret.

STOFFER: He doesn't want to be vulnerable to anybody else doing something to him, if a lot is known about his family.

TODD: A senior administration official says the U.S. is targeting Putin's adult daughters for sanctions, because officials believe many of Putin's assets -- his money, his luxury possessions -- are hidden with family members. MICHEL: He's keeping bank accounts. He's keeping shell companies. He's

keeping large-scale purchases in the names of not himself but those around him.

TODD (on camera) Experts say there's also Putin's ex-wife, Lyudmila, the mother of Mariya and Katerina, who also may have accounts in other places where Putin is hiding his assets.

One expert who tracks Putin's finances says he doesn't believe Lyudmila has been placed under any sanctions yet, but he says that could be coming, as the U.S. tries to ratchet up the personal pressure on Vladimir Putin.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Many are asking if sanctions are enough to really deal a blow to Russia. Despite efforts to starve the Russian economy, the E.U. has paid at least 35 billion euros to Russia for energy since the invasion of Ukraine began.

The E.U. pumps about one billion euros every day into the Russian economy for energy payments. That's according to an E.U. representative.

One official says the energy sector is exactly where Russia needs to be hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABRIELIUS LANDSBERGIS, LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: If we're serious about our sanctions, if we're serious about our reaction to massacres of Bucha and other -- other cities that are being uncovered, then we have to be serious with our sanctions. And oil, I think, is the next logical step that has to be taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Let's talk more about this with Danny Glaser. He served as assistant secretary for terrorist financing in the U.S. Department of Treasury during the Obama administration.

Good to have you with us.

DANNY GLASER, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT TREASURY SECRETARY FOR TERRORIST FINANCING AND FINANCIAL CRIME: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So new sanctions by the U.S., in coordination with the E.U. and the G-7, were announced, targeting Putin's daughters, along with top Russian security officials and Russian banks. And the measures include a ban on all new U.S. investment in Russia.

What's your response to these latest sanctions, and how much impact would they have? GLASER: Well, I think that the latest sanctions are a significant

tightening of an already fairly tough set of measures that the U.S. and the G-7, the E.U., and their allies, have put on Russia.

It's -- it's not a massive increase. There's -- there's still plenty of room for the U.S. and the E.U. to continue to escalate, but the ban on investments is going to be damaging to the Russian economy. Continuing to put pressure on the Russian financial sector is going to continue to make it difficult for Russia to make payments for its imports. And it's going to continue the financial isolation of Russia more generally.

KINKADE: And of course, Ukraine's president wants all Russian energy sanctioned. Several European countries rely heavily on Russian energy, Germany is sending an estimated 200 million euros -- that's about 220 million U.S. dollars -- to Russia in energy payments every single day.

Could Putin use oil and gas as a political weapon?

GLASER: He could use it as a political weapon. I think he is using it as a political weapon. The -- the fear of losing access to Russian oil, and really in particular, liquid natural gas, I think is what's holding the West back from -- from really taking the measures that would cause a collapse of the Russian economy.

And that is -- and that is measures that would fully cut the Russian financial sector from the Western financial sector; and measures that would -- would deprive Russia of any of its -- its gas and oil income.

The United States and the West has the ability to do that, but they're holding that back for now. They're holding that back, because Europe is -- is dependent on this.

KINKADE: After seeing the horror in Bucha, a city on the outskirts of the Ukraine capital, the U.S. said it would announce further sanctions this week. What could that entail?

GLASER: There's -- there's many banks, and there's a lot of connectivity that the -- that the West -- that the West could target.

[00:45:05]

I think the most significant thing that they could do -- and I do not think they're going to do it yet -- as you said, is to target Russian oil and to target Russian gas. And another significant thing they could do is to impose secondary sanctions. That would be a major step that they haven't taken yet.

Secondary sanctions would require countries around the world, and entities, and banks, and companies around the world, have to choose between doing business with Russia and doing business with the United States and Europe.

That would be an awesome measure for the West to take. Because it would -- it would suddenly make Chinese banks, Indian banks, banks in Asia, banks in Africa, really have to question whether they were going to do business with Russia or not.

KINKADE: In terms of Russia's central bank being sanctioned, how much impact does that have? How much of Russia's reserves are likely to be affected?

GLASER: It's -- it's an -- it's an enormous impact, and that was -- that was the most important measure that the United States and the European Union took in the early days of the invasion.

What it essentially does is it prohibits countries, companies, and banks in the United States and in Europe from conducting financial transactions with the Russian central bank, which essentially prevents the Russian central bank from taking measures that would -- taking measures that would allow it to protect the ruble.

The -- the sanctions on the Russian bank are really -- it's an example of economic warfare being waged on Russia, and an example of an attempt by the United States and the European Union to crash the ruble.

Now, the ruble hasn't completely crashed yet, but the ruble can't -- can't maintain its value for very long if these measures are maintained on the Russian central bank.

KINKADE: Exactly, Danny Glaser, great to get your perspective. Appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

GLASER: No, thank you very much.

KINKADE: Well, Russia's invasion and the West's retaliatory sanctions are driving up costs everywhere, and they are impossible to avoid.

A bushel of wheat is now up 12 percent. Global inflation now stands at 8.6 percent, and oil prices have gone up 7 percent since the invasion began.

Nonetheless, oil company CEOs are refusing to take steps to lower gas prices for American consumers. During a hearing on Wednesday, none of the big oil bosses from companies including ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and BP, would commit to reducing dividends and share buybacks instead and use those profits to ramp up production.

Democratic lawmakers accused the CEOs of padding shareholders' pockets at the expense of the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RAUL RUIZ (D-CA): While American families are struggling with high gas prices, you and your big oil corporations are making record profits choosing to keep supply low.

During this Russian war, you are ripping the American people off, and it must end. Gas prices need to go down, and while the rest of America is trying to make this happen, you all are trying to increase your record profits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, U.S. oil production remains lower than it was before COVID, even though oil prices have nearly doubled.

Well, China is pulling out all the stops to get to zero COVID cases, but so far it's not working. We'll look at their latest efforts after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:52:54]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

China is trying desperately to get a handle on the coronavirus pandemic, particularly in the city of Shanghai. People are lining up for the city's mass COVID testing, where 25 million of the city's residents are now under lockdown.

City officials are also easing a policy that separated families. One of Shanghai's expo centers is being used as a parent-child quarantine area.

Kristie Lu Stout is following the story and joins us now from Hong Kong.

Good to have you with us, Kristie. So Chinese authorities have extended the lockdown in Shanghai. What's been the reaction?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, anger and frustration is rising in Shanghai, with all of the city's 25 million residents under this extended lockdown with no end in sight.

In fact, the outbreak is worsening there. Earlier today, Shanghai posted around 20,000 new cases of COVID-19.

And anger is rising over the crowded and unsanitary conditions in quarantine facilities. Anger is rising over disruptions in medical care.

Anger is also riding [SIC] -- rising in terms of the food supply, with more and more families saying that they're finding it increasingly difficult to source food or order groceries online; which is remarkable for a city like Shanghai, a modern metropolis that is very tech savvy.

I want to share this tweet with you. This was shared yesterday by a Shanghai-based analyst and also mother, Mattie Bekink. And in her tweet she shares a photograph of what she was able to receive in terms of fresh groceries.

She said, "We managed to get some fresh food delivered, not exactly on our wish list, but we'll take it. Is eating only jam to save bread for your children nutritionally sound?"

Just a few weeks ago, Lynda, authorities insisted that Shanghai would never enter a citywide lockdown. A citywide lockdown is indeed underway, with no end in sight, as cases continue to rise.

This is a test for China's zero-COVID policy. It's also testing the patience of residents in Shanghai, including Mattie Bekink. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTIE BEKINK, CHINA DIRECTOR, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT: We're using 2020 tools for a 2022 virus. I think that the government is really committed to this, and that we will be living with varying levels of lockdown until we're back to zero, which frankly, feels daunting.

[00:55:04]

I do think there are some high levels of anger and frustration, because people are hungry or they can't get medicine that they need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Anger is rising in Shanghai, and yet China remains committed to the zero-COVID policy. It has sent the military. It's also dispatched tens of thousands of medical workers from other provinces to Shanghai, to help handle the growing outbreak there.

Back to you.

KINKADE: All right. Kristie Lu Stout for us in Hong Kong. We will stay on this story. We will speak to you very soon. Thanks so much.

STOUT: You got it.

KINKADE: I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back with more news next hour, and breaking news coverage from Ukraine continues at the top of the hour with John Vause live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

VAUSE: Day 43 of Russia's war on Ukraine. Hello, I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine.

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