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Satellite Images Show Military Convoy In Eastern Ukraine; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Says Kramatorsk Attack A "War Crime"; Resources Stretched Thin At Polish Shelter For Refugees; U.S. Doctor In Poland Helping Evacuate Children With Cancer; First Round Of Voting In French Presidential Election; French Muslims React To Campaign Rhetoric; Strikes On Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Region; British Prime Minister Visits Kyiv, Pledges More Aid For Ukraine; Pope's First Mass In St. Peter's Square Since Pandemic; China Reaffirms Zero COVID Policy; Axiom's Inaugural Mission Arrives At ISS. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired April 10, 2022 - 04:00 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.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade and I want to get you straight to our breaking news.
More evidence that Russia's war on Ukraine is moving a different direction. Satellite images taken Friday show a military convoy nearly 13 kilometers long, moving south through Eastern Ukraine. This is just east of Kharkiv, not far from the Russian border.
It's another sign that Russian troops appear to be regrouping and preparing to launch a renewed assault on Eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. We've also learned that the Russian president Vladimir Putin has named a general to direct the war. Until now, it's believed Russia has not had a theater-wide commander in Ukraine.
Well, Western nations are moving to ramp up military support for Ukraine. On Saturday, the British prime minister made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, meeting with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Along with increased financial assistance and tougher sanctions on Russia, Boris Johnson promised to send dozens of armored vehicles and new anti-ship missiles. His visit also carried symbolic weight, as a show of support for Ukraine's fight against Russia.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I'm very grateful, Boris, for the visit. It's very important at this very difficult and turbulent times for our country and the same time you came here. And we are especially grateful for this to happen. This is a true
reflection of the decisive and significant support to Ukraine from the United Kingdom. And we are always grateful for that. We shall always remember that.
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KINKADE: Johnson's visit coming as we get new video, showing one of the most horrific attacks on civilians in Ukraine to date. And a warning that this video is hard to watch.
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KINKADE (voice-over): This footage captures the terror, as missiles hit a civilian train station, where thousands were gathered to evacuate. Ukrainian officials say more than 50 people were killed and nearly 100 others were injured.
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KINKADE: And this coming into CNN just a moment ago. The head of the Dnipro says that the region has been hit with a number of strikes in the past 24 hours. They say one Russian strike on the regional capital of Dnipro destroyed infrastructure without giving further details.
CNN correspondents are across the region. Christiane Amanpour is in Kyiv, Salma Abdelaziz is in Poland with the latest on the refugee situation, Arlette Saenz is at the White House. But we begin with CNN's Brianna Keilar in Lviv, with the latest on British prime minister Boris Johnson's surprise visit to the capital.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): In the middle of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kyiv, promising new sanctions against Russia and military aid for Ukraine.
Johnson follows a stream of European diplomats visiting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer, top E.U. diplomat Josep Borrell and European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen, who toured the atrocities committee in Bucha and gave Zelenskyy paperwork to begin joining the E.U.
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Ukraine belongs to the European family. It is where your path toward Europe and the European Union begins.
KEILAR (voice-over): As the European Union and Italy announced they would be resuming their diplomatic presence in Kyiv, the Russian front has shifted to the east where death, destruction and chaos are unfolding.
A day after a Russian missile struck the train station in Kramatorsk, a hub for Ukrainians trying to escape Russian-controlled areas in the region of Donetsk and Luhansk, there is a clearer sense of the carnage.
At least 50 people died and nearly 100 people, including 16 children, were injured as they waited for a train to take them to safety.
ANASTASIA RADINA, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: I can't -- I don't just -- I even don't have words to describe that. This is undescribable, unbelievable. And more importantly, this is unforgivable.
KEILAR (voice-over): President Zelenskyy demanding an international response.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We expect a firm global response to this war crime. Like the massacre in Bucha, like many other Russian war crimes, the missile strike on Kramatorsk must be one of the charges at tribunal, which is bound to happen.
KEILAR: It is likely the start of a larger assault on Eastern Ukraine. In the hardhit northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainians are evacuating and bracing for an onslaught that government officials believe is on the horizon.
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KINKADE: Our Brianna Keilar there.
After Friday's deadly strike on civilians at the Kramatorsk train station. Ukrainian officials are adjusting evacuation routes and urgently telling people to leave before Russia escalates attacks in the east.
Ukraine says more than 4,500 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors on Saturday. That is fewer than the 6,600 who managed to escape a day earlier.
Global donors, including Canada and the E.U., have now pledged nearly $10 billion to help Ukrainian refugees. The event in Warsaw, raising money for both internally displaced and those who have fled the country.
According to the United Nations, more than 4.4 million people have left Ukraine since the fighting began. Another 7 million are internally displaced.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Poland. And she's been talking to those who care for the millions crossing the border under some of the most difficult circumstances.
Salma, good to have you there for us. It has been extraordinary, watching volunteers in Poland working around the clock, helping Ukrainians fleeing this war. But five weeks into this war, there is a desperate need for more supplies. SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Lynda. There is more
than 2.5 million refugees across Poland. And they're really spread out. There's no one specific point. There's no huge refugee camp in this country. You essentially have 2.5 million nomadic people, constantly moving, shifting, trying to find the next place they can sleep.
And the Polish people have turned anything they can find, essentially, into a shelter for these fleeing families. I'm actually at a school today, that is hosting a few dozen families. But now we're into the second month of this war.
And people are asking the question, how do we support these families in the long term?
Take a look at the struggle for one volunteer to keep the doors open.
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ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): What does it take to care for just a few dozen refugee families?
Storerooms packed with food, endless hot meals, hundreds of bunk beds and lots and lots of love, says volunteer Kamil Prusinowski.
KAMIL PRUSINOWSKI, VOLUNTEER: As you saw, this women with the child on hands and they simply have nowhere to go.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): This abandoned school dormitory was in disrepair, unused for over a decade but in just three days, Kamil and his best friends turned it into a shelter for women and children fleeing Ukraine.
PRUSINOWSKI: I need to use my skills, everything what I've got, to help these people.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Now the challenge is to keep these place up and running, the organizers say.
PRUSINOWSKI: Until now, we received zero USD, zloty, pound or whatever from any NGO or government. And there are huge bills which we need to pay.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Behind each of these doors is a story of trauma.
Victoria and her grandkids arrived here only yesterday. They still feel so raw.
"It was so scary but we had to go for the children," she says.
ABDELAZIZ: I'm very, very sorry.
Do you finally feel safe?
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): "It will come," she says. "Every time we hear a loud sound, we flinch and look up at the sky. We
still feel fear."
Irina and her son, Kriyal (ph), fled from Chernihiv after spending days hiding in a cellar.
"It's getting easier," she says, "but he flinches in his sleep."
"Mom, I have nightmares," he tells her.
ABDELAZIZ: Does he still feel scared?
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): "Yes, sometimes. But I try to calm him. We go outside and breathe fresh air," she says.
And that's what is most needed here, a sense of security, stability. But Kamil doesn't know how much longer he can provide it.
ABDELAZIZ: You have zero money.
How does this work?
PRUSINOWSKI: The friends who are helping, some volunteers who are helping. But there is no sustainable support for us.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): These helpers need help to keep their doors open for the many forced out of their homes.
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ABDELAZIZ: Now Lynda, the welcome that these refugees have received in this country has been extraordinarily warm and generous. Friends of Ukrainian families opened up their doors, took them in, sometimes multiple families at a time. Good Samaritans, like Kamil, stepped up to do what they can, where they can.
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ABDELAZIZ: But they're asking for a sustainable solution here. And think about this. This is complicated.
If you have these families staying long-term, you have to find a way for these children to go to school, in a different language, of course, than Polish. You have to find jobs for these families. You have to be able to give them a more permanent sense of home -- Lynda.
KINKADE: You certainly do. Such a massive challenge. Thank you to you, Salma Abdelaziz in Poland. Thank you.
I'm joined now by Dr. Marta Salek. She's a research fellow at St. Jude's Children Hospital and joins us live from Warsaw, Poland.
You live in the U.S. But you were back home in Poland, visiting family when the war broke out. And you decided to stay and help with the evacuation of kids with cancer. Tell us about that decision and the moment you saw what was happening in Ukraine. DR. MARTA SALEK, RESEARCH FELLOW, ST. JUDE'S CHILDREN HOSPITAL: Thank
you for having us today.
Yes, you're right. I was visiting family for a family emergency when the war broke out in Ukraine. And I work for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee.
And my colleague, now my boss, called and asked, you know, "I know you speak Polish. We have these circumstances and collaborators in Ukraine and in Poland who want to act.
"Are you willing to help?"
And for me as someone with Polish-Canadian heritage, this was a great privilege, that I could do something tangible to help these children and families.
KINKADE: Incredible. And Doctor, St. Jude Global works to ensure that every child with cancer and other catastrophic disease have access to quality care and treatment.
Can you talk to us about the logistical challenges, getting kids who are really sick out of Ukraine?
SALEK: Yes, so, in general, children who are diagnosed with cancer, wherever they live in the world, are medically fragile. And they receive treatment through a particular schedule to give them the best chance of achieving cure.
And so in the time of a war, where hospitals are inaccessible or are not functioning in the same way as usual, because of lack of medications, lack of clean water, because a hospital might have been bombed, this puts the whole circumstances into a chaos.
And it puts such risk to these children and to these families. And so, they go through immense, complicated journeys to get to us. And we realize that these medically fragile children with their families needed a safe system of evacuation.
And through St. Jude Global, working very closely with the Polish and Ukrainian doctors and foundations, we rose into action to create a really safe evacuation plan for them.
KINKADE: And have you personally come across any children with cancer, who were unable to get treatment for days or weeks?
And if so, can you explain the impact that has on their quality of life?
SALEK: Of course. So we have children who come to us through Poland, from many different areas of Ukraine, those that live close to the Polish border but those also that live in the eastern part of the country or in the southern part of the country.
And we've been helping with evacuation of these children from the beginning of the war. And so, now, we have had children who have been in bomb shelters for weeks but had a glimpse of hope and were able to escape safely through our hub in Lviv.
And they really have experienced different -- many different circumstances in order to achieve safety.
KINKADE: How many kids and families are getting help through St. Jude now?
Because I understand that some Ukrainian patients actually arrived at the St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, the first hospital here in the United States to receive Ukrainian patients.
SALEK: Yes, so our system helps families in many different ways. And so we have over 800 children in our registry. And some of those went directly to hospitals in Europe, including in Poland. Some contacted us, because they needed help with translation of medical records urgently from Ukrainian to English.
And we, through our triage center that we developed, in collaboration with Ukrainian and Polish communities, we have had close to 400 children, who have directly come through our triage center.
KINKADE: Wow, that's incredible.
So for someone like you, who decided on a whim to stay in Poland and help, how do you see the next few weeks and months playing out?
Are you there for the long haul?
SALEK: Oh, goodness, that's a really good question. We have communicated really clearly and very strongly, not only as St. Jude Global but also as the Polish community, as the European community, as the North American community, that we will stand by our Ukrainian colleagues and help them for as long as possible.
And so our plans currently haven't changed. Personally, I will be here for as long as I'm needed.
KINKADE: Well, well done to you and everyone working with you at St. Jude. Thanks for your time today.
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KINKADE: And keep up the great work. Dr. Marta Salek, thank you.
Well, for information on how you can help provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, just go to cnn.com/impact. Our CNN audience has already donated nearly $7.5 million and more help is desperately needed.
Russia's war in Ukraine is one of the issues looming over today's presidential election in France. Voting is underway, with a crowded field of candidates spanning the political spectrum. We'll go live to Paris for the latest.
And also, millions of voters feel alienated, even targeted. French Muslims react to what they heard in the campaign. That story, just ahead. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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KINKADE: There is still a long day of voting ahead in the French presidential election. Incumbent Emmanuel Macron is hoping to win a second term. It's something no president has done for 20 years. CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris with more.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Voting's now underway in France's presidential election, a first round that's being held this Sunday and that will see 49 million eligible French citizens given the opportunity to choose between 12 candidates.
A vast array of political opinion represented, not just, for instance, the traditional far right as represented by Marine Le Pen but someone who outflanks her to the Right, Eric Zemmour, a television personality and author, who is also standing.
Those candidates go all the way to the far left. It is, of course, an important test for Emmanuel Macron five years in and after what was a political experiment back in 2017, standing as he did, creating his own party, brushing aside the political forces that had essentially shared power here in France since 1958.
Five years on, having so transformed France's political landscape, can he convince enough of the French electorate to get out to vote for him?
There will be a second round of voting on April 24th if none of the candidates reaches an absolute majority this time -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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KINKADE: As Melissa mentioned, the resurgence of right-wing candidates in this election, as CNN's Nada Bashir reports, the largest Muslim community in Europe found the rhetoric highly troubling.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): A quick bite to eat and some water before dawn breaks. It is the first week of Ramadan and Hiba, like so many Muslims here in Strasbourg, is fasting.
It is a busy time for the 23-year-old law student, with exams just around the corner. But her focus is also on this year's presidential election.
HIBA LATRECHE, LAW STUDENT AND ACTIVIST: The current narrative but also the potential outcome of the election is -- it is something that keeps me up at night.
BASHIR (voice-over): Hiba has long been a vocal activist against racism and discrimination in France, issues she feels have only been heightened by politicians calling for tighter restrictions on the country's Muslim population.
LATRECHE: This is quite scary, especially when, as a French Muslim woman, I am part of one of the minorities of this country, because then it makes us wonder, if no real candidates is being serious as a candidate but also about protecting our human rights, what does that leave us for a future?
BASHIR (voice-over): While polls throughout the campaign have consistently put Emmanuel Macron as the front-runner in this year's election, right-wing candidates, like Valerie Pecresse, Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour have garnered significant attention across France.
The three candidates say they are defending French values. But their campaigns have often led on rhetoric some view as Islamophobic or anti-immigrant. Zemmour has even been convicted three times for inciting racial or religious hatred.
In order to actually appear on the national ballot, each candidate is required to secure 500 signatures from elected officials.
In the village of Avolsheim, just outside of Strasbourg, local mayor Pascal Gehin decided to put the question of his signature to his constituents. They chose Zemmour.
MAYOR PASCAL GEHIN, AVOLSHEIM, FRANCE (through translator): It does make me wonder why people vote for the Right here when we don't have the problems of insecurity that can exist in the big cities.
BASHIR: The role of Islam in French society has been a key talking point in political campaigns across the spectrum.
But the use of negative rhetoric by some presidential candidates has left members of the Muslim community here in France questioning which politicians, if any, truly represent them?
BASHIR (voice-over): An estimated 5.7 million people make up France's Muslim population. But French Muslims have often found themselves the target of policies many view as discriminatory, like restrictions around wearing the hijab.
Macron's government says the measures have been enforced to protect the value of French secularism, known as laicite.
At Strasbourg's Grand Mosque, one of the largest in France, there are also concerns that Islamophobic messaging in some campaigns could pose a direct threat to France's Muslim population.
WAGNER DINO, WORSHIPPER (through translator): There are indeed some problematic candidates. They have a very, very negative view of Islam in general. And I think that's a shame. I think people stigmatize a lot but don't have a lot of knowledge. SAID AALLA, PRESIDENT, GRAND MOSQUE OF STRASBOURG (through
translator): It raises some concerns in the Muslim community, when we notice the number of anti-religious acts beginning to swell in our society. We are living today in a society which seeks to divide itself and to cultivate fear rather than social cohesion.
BASHIR (voice-over): That sense of social cohesion not only an important aspect of the French identity but also a crucial teaching of the Islamic faith.
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BASHIR (voice-over): And as the sun sets on another day of Ramadan, members of this French Muslim community gathered together with people of all faiths, from all walks of life, to share in a meal to break their fast -- Nada Bashir, CNN, in Strasbourg, France.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Australian voters will go to the polls on May 21st. That announcement coming from prime minister Scott Morrison.
It marks the kickoff of a six-week campaign period. The entire Australian House of Representatives and half of the Senate will be on the ballot. Among the top issues expected to take center stage in this election are the economy and climate change.
The U.S. is hitting Vladimir Putin and Russia hard with sanctions. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll explain how that also includes members of the Russian president's family.
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KINKADE: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
We're tracking reports of more Russian attacks in east central Ukraine. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration says that the area has seen a series of strikes in the past 24 hours.
And Ukraine says nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed to for today, including one in the Donetsk region.
New satellite images appear to capture a Russian military convoy moving near Kharkiv. The photos purport to show armored vehicle trucks, towing artillery and support equipment, stretching for eight miles. Russia is believed to be preparing for a renewed assault on Eastern Ukraine.
[04:30:00] KINKADE: Western officials say a single commander will take over the entire Russian offensive. General Alexander Dvornikov has led Russian forces in their relentless bombing of Syria in 2015. Britain's former ambassador to Russia says his track record in that conflict was "savage."
But some Western military analysts believe Russia's losses may be deeper than Moscow will admit. A European official says a quarter of Russia's army might no longer be operable.
Meanwhile, British prime minister Boris Johnson has become the latest Western leader to make the journey to Kyiv. He promised to boost financial and military aid, including armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles.
The Biden administration is hoping to hit Russia and president Vladimir Putin hard with tough new sanctions in the past week (sic). But as Arlette Saenz explains, the Russian president isn't the only Putin those sanctions are targeting.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is looking for more ways to ramp up the economic pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin, as he continues to wage his war against Ukraine.
President Biden signed two pieces of legislation that impose new sanctions on Russia, marking the first time Congress passed measures that would enact such sanctions against Russia.
One of those measures suspends normal trade relations status with Russia and Belarus, essentially allowing the U.S. to impose tariffs on goods from those two countries. Additionally, another piece of legislation the president signed bans the import of energy products from Russia. This includes oil, coal and natural gas.
Now these pieces of legislation follow additional sanctions that the U.S. imposed on Russia earlier in the week, directly in response to those atrocities seen on the ground in Bucha that were committed by Russia.
Those sanctions include full blocking sanctions on one of Russia's largest financial institutions and one of Russia's largest banks. Additionally, U.S. imposed sanctions on Russian president Vladimir Putin's adult daughters, with the thinking being, from U.S. officials, that Putin may be hiding some of his wealth and assets with his daughters.
But this all comes as the U.S. and its allies look at a coordinated response to further hold Russia accountable for its actions. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said those will be part of the discussions as the U.S. tries to figure out how to respond to the atrocities that are being carried out in Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we have done today and will continue to do is look at, unfortunately, the continued atrocities that we are seeing in the country and assess how that is going to impact sanctions, consequences and, obviously, additional security assistance.
So that is how we have been evaluating and working with our allies to date. And I'm certain, given the video footage we have seen on airwaves across the world and photos, that this will be a part of the discussion that our national security officials are having with our counterparts moving forward.
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SAENZ: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for stronger economic pressure to be placed on Russia on Saturday, calling for a full-out ban of Russian energy.
Now while the U.S. has banned Russian energy imports, European leaders have taken a much more cautious approach. European leaders this week did say they would ban the import of coal.
But the question now is whether they will go as far as banning Russian oil, since many European countries are heavily reliant on Russian energy. But all of this comes as the White House is facing questions about the effectiveness of their sanctions.
While the sanctions have had an impact on the Russian economy, so far, they have not seemed to change the calculus of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who continues to carry out this war as well as atrocities against civilians in Ukraine -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: With us now from Kyiv is Michael Bociurkiw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He's also a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
I understand you've just taken a train from Lviv to the capital.
Can you give us a sense of what you saw on that trip?
And how safe does it feel in Kyiv right now?
MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Yes, sure. Good to be with you, Lynda.
Well, my goodness, the scene at the Lviv train station was almost apocalyptic. Still a lot of people are arriving from the east. I met a large, large group of IDPs, which just fled Kramatorsk, which has been heavily bombed in the east.
And again, as usual, lots of women and children without men. But fortunately, there's a big humanitarian presence there on the ground to take care of people like that. The train was delayed about three hours because of security. And then arriving here in Kyiv, you really feel how militarized the capital is.
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BOCIURKIW: Especially the train station, lots of document checks and lots of blocked posts on the way here to the hotel, to the center of Kyiv. I'm actually right now next to the ministry of foreign affairs.
Having said all of that, though, Lynda, they do tell me that Kyiv is trying to prepare for a reopening in the next few days.
KINKADE: Michael, the British prime minister has promised armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles during this unannounced visit to the capital Friday. And he went with the Ukrainian president for what was a remarkable walk around the capital, shaking hands with residents.
And during his joint remarks, he had nothing but praise for Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine. Let's take a listen.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I want to begin, Volodymyr, by saluting once again the bravery of the people of Ukraine in defying the appalling aggression we've seen. In the last few weeks, the world has found new heroes. And those heroes are the people of Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Quite an incredible moment for Boris Johnson.
Just how significant and important is this visit?
And given Zelenskyy's call for embassies to return to the capital, is it now safe for that to happen?
BOCIURKIW: Absolutely. The E.U. has reopened their embassy here, the Turks have. And just this morning on Twitter, I called upon my own government, Canada, to reopen their embassy here in Kyiv. That group of diplomats is now in Warsaw.
So definitely, it's time. And it would have been nice for prime minister Johnson to have said we're reopening our embassy tomorrow.
The other thing, Lynda, yesterday, I spent 1.5 hours with the senior member of the National Guard of Ukraine. And he said, the feel with them is, they're still getting older Soviet-era weapons. He said the number one thing that they really need is anti-artillery, those batteries that can repel incoming Russian missiles.
So we can get to a point, I guess, where the Ukrainians can control the skies themselves. They're not asking any longer for a no-fly zone but for the modern equipment to take those missiles down before they do harm, like they did on that train station a couple of days ago.
KINKADE: Michael, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, now appears to be learning from his mistakes, appointing a notable general, Alexander Dvornikov, as the theater commander. His CV includes Russian operations in Syria.
And during his command in Syria, from September 2015 to June 2016, Russian aircraft backed the Assad regime and its allies as they laid siege to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, bombarding densely populated neighborhoods and causing major civilian casualties.
That city, of course, fell to the Syrian government forces in December 2016. This guy seems to have a fairly ruthless track record. And his appointment seems to indicate that Russia is doubling down on a strategy of war crimes, atrocities and crimes against humanity.
BOCIURKIW: Yes, well, it's hard to believe that they can do anything even more than inhumane than they've done already in places like Bucha and Mariupol and elsewhere.
But I think -- and Lynda, trust me, I hope I'm wrong on this. But I think they'll do now the same tragedy with they've had with the Donbas over the past eight years, which is to hold the areas they have but also to turn the heat up and turn the heat down wherever they want.
And by that, I mean, they will continue to use those long-range missiles to possibly strike areas like Kyiv and even Lviv in Western Ukraine. So unless the West smartens up really, really quickly and gives the Ukrainians what they ask, the Russians will have that ability.
And quickly, as you well know, those cruise missiles just do terrible, terrible damage on populated centers. So it's really important that this gets through their head. And again, I hope I'm wrong but that's what I've learned over the past eight years, spending a lot of time here in Ukraine.
KINKADE: Yes. And when it comes to military assistance for Ukraine, there has been this ongoing debate, if you would like, about escalating the conflict.
But the former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, recently said that international sanctions are an act of aggression. So in other words, Russia already sees itself as under attack.
And in a way, it seems that the West is in denial, because, as far as Moscow is concerned, it's already at war with the West.
And the longer this war goes on, the greater the global consequences will be, right?
BOCIURKIW: Correct. And you know, it's stunning, absolutely stunning to see someone who's complicit in war crimes with Mr. Putin, like foreign minister Lavrov, being welcomed like a VIP in India, places like that.
So I think one of the few levers the West actually has left is to use its leverage on supposed friends -- I mean, Canada and India have a good relationship -- to get those countries to not only stop hosting Russian officials but also to equally take part in those sanctions.
[04:40:00]
BOCIURKIW: You know, Lynda, I think we have to get to a place, where the Russians, the only place they can go is perhaps to North Korea or to those Chinese-made islands in the South China Sea for vacation or for business or whatever they do.
But stop these trips going to the Maldives, to Dubai, places like that. So there's a bit of diplomatic work to do. But I think the U.S. and its allies are capable of doing that, to tighten the noose on Russia. Otherwise, they're going to act with abandon for as long as they can.
KINKADE: Yes, more of the international community really has to come together. Michael, thanks so much and take care.
BOCIURKIW: My pleasure. Thank you.
KINKADE: Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, 25 million people in Shanghai are under lockdown this hour and many of them don't know when they'll be able to get basic necessities. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus, Pope Francis is holding Palm Sunday mass at St. Peter's Square for the first time since 2019. Those details, ahead.
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KINKADE (voice-over): A very special day at the Vatican. Just moments ago, Pope Francis said a mass in St. Peter's Square for the first time since the start of the pandemic. He'll conduct the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum.
And it couldn't come at a more significant time. Today is Palm Sunday, setting up the Easter Sunday celebrations next weekend.
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KINKADE: Well, joining me now from Rome is CNN's senior Vatican analyst, John Allen. He's also the editor of Crux, an independent website, covering Catholicism.
Good to have you with us, John. This is Palm Sunday, the first time the pope has held a mass in St. Peter's Square in three years, which is quite incredible.
What sort of measures have been taken to ensure that it's safe?
And give us a sense of what's happening right now.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, there, Lynda. Happy Palm Sunday to you. [04:45:00]
ALLEN: In terms of safety measures, all the people that were in immediate physical proximity to the pope have been vaccinated and boosted.
Other than that, there's relatively little screening that goes on, in terms of access to St. Peter's Square. People don't have to show COVID tests or green passes. But of course, this is an open air liturgy. Most of those folks won't come anywhere near Pope Francis.
And the thing of it is, this is a return to form, isn't it, Lynda?
This is how Palm Sunday always has been celebrated. It's just we haven't seen it for the last three years because of COVID. I think Pope Francis, who craves proximity to people, closeness to people, undoubtedly is very content today with this return to form -- Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Beautiful day there in Vatican City. John, just give us a sense of what we can expect, in terms of any messages for the Ukrainian people. We saw the pope meeting just a few days ago with Ukrainian refugee children.
ALLEN: Yes, well, of course, Palm Sunday is the introduction to Holy Week, Lynda. And Holy Week recalls the death of Christ on the cross and then his rising from the dead three days later. In other words, it's a message about the victory of life over death. That's a universal message.
But probably, this Holy Week, it won't be felt anywhere in the world more keenly than in Ukraine, which is facing death on a massive scale, because of this Russian war of aggression.
I think we are going to hear the pope, in his homily today -- that's the talk he gives during his mass -- probably indirectly referring the war that is unfolding. And later during his noontime angeles address, we will probably hear him address this crisis specifically.
This week, during the pope's general audience on Wednesday, he actually held a Ukrainian flag from Bucha, the site of those terrible massacres. And even as we speak, right now, Lynda, a cardinal, who is the pope's top aide for charitable activity, is driving a Vatican- donated ambulance to Ukraine to present it in Kyiv.
So what we're witnessing, really, is a sort of full-court diplomatic and moral press by Pope Francis and his team to try to stop this war, Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Good to have you with us, as always. Our senior Vatican analyst, John Allen. And happy Easter for next weekend.
Shanghai remains in the grip of a COVID outbreak. The city reached daily high in cases for the third consecutive day. Shanghai officials, however, say they may start easing the total lockdown in areas with low transmission. In the meantime, basic necessities like food and medicine are scarce,
adding to the already-high frustration level. Our Anna Coren has the details.
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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Workers deliver food and supplies to people locked down in the people of Shanghai. But this shipment was made more than a week ago. And residents say supplying China's most populous city of 25 million people is a logistical nightmare.
Much of Shanghai has been confined to their homes because of a severe COVID-19 outbreak in the city. And people are complaining that stores have run out of food and it's nearly impossible to schedule deliveries, because couriers can't keep up with the demand.
One man in Shanghai, documenting the shortages on Twitter, says, "We had three deliveries that were booked to deliver today. All three were canceled."
Public anger over the restrictions is at a boiling point. On top of the difficulty in getting food, people have been outraged by a policy separating COVID-positive children from their parents, which was modified last week to allow infected parents to join them at isolation centers.
Uninfected parents of children with special needs can now also accompany their children, if they sign an agreement saying that they understand the health risks; though the term special needs was not defined.
On Saturday, the city's vice mayor acknowledged that authorities had not met the public's expectations in their handling of the situation. And she also said the city may soon begin to ease restrictions in some areas, where transmission rates are low enough.
But that came without a timeline and coincided with yet another round of mass testing. City residents were asked to self-administer at-home COVID-19 tests and line up in their compounds for PCR tests. Despite the frustrations in Shanghai, Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday praised the country's dynamic zero-COVID strategy.
[04:50:00]
COREN (voice-over): -- calling it a great success -- Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
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KINKADE: Well, space tourism just took another giant leap. But the historic mission comes with an astronomical price tag. The details after the break, as we leave you with live images from the International Space Station, as it crosses above Asia.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ignition. Go Falcon, go Dragon. Godspeed, Axiom 1.
KINKADE (voice-over): A SpaceX capsule successfully launched Friday on a landmark moment for tourism. It's the first crew entirely comprised (sic) of private citizens. They spent about 20 minutes in orbit before arriving at the International Space Station. The first of its kind mission will last about 10 days.
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KINKADE: On board are three paying customers led by a former NASA astronaut, who's now an employee of Axiom Space, the private company behind the mission. Each of the crew members will be working on a list of research projects.
Well, Rachel Crane is near Cape Canaveral, Florida, watching this historic moment. -- Rachel.
[04:55:00]
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RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: The crew of AX-1 successfully docked at the International Space Station Saturday morning following a 20-hour journey.
Now this was a first of its kind mission. That's because all of the astronauts on board were private astronauts. And they were greeted, once they boarded the International Space Station, by the entire crew of Expedition 67, which included three NASA astronauts, a European astronaut as well as three Russian cosmonauts.
Larry Connor, the pilot of AX-1, had some words about the historic nature of this mission. Take a listen.
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LARRY CONNOR, ENTREPRENEUR, AX-1 PILOT: We're here to experience this. But we understand there's a responsibility. And the responsibility is for this first civilian crew to get it right.
And that's what we're fully committed to, with the support of everybody here at the ISS and on the ground. So it's going to be a busy week of research for us. And I'm sure it's going to fly by.
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CRANE: And it's going to fly by because they will be very busy on the station. They're not just taking in those breathtaking views. They'll be conducting over 100 hours of scientific experiments, doing 25 different experiments, one on hologram teleportation, which is essentially a fancy way of saying a two-way video dialogue.
But also doing research into aging as well as brain health and cardiac health. So a very busy eight days on station before they splash down here next week -- Rachel Crane, CNN, Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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KINKADE: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade, our breaking news coverage of the war in Ukraine continues on "NEW DAY" with Christi Paul and Boris Sanchez. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
