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Ukraine Braces For A Renewed Russian Offensive On Its Eastern Front; Russia Appoints General With Cruel History To Oversee Ukraine Offensive; Macron, Le Pen Set For Rematch In French Presidential Election; NYC Mayor Eric Adams Tests Positive For COVID-19; China's COVID Zero Policy Defended As Shanghai Struggles To Contain Virus; Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 11, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:14]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Hello, I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine.

Coming up this hour, a new threat looming here in Ukraine, as atrocities are uncovered around the capital Kyiv another Russian military convoy see moving around Ukraine second biggest city for what could be an even more devastating stage in the Kremlin invasion.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Paula Newton here live at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. Coming up for us, deja vu in the French presidential race, Emmanuel Macron look set to take on far right rival Marine Le Pen as they prepare to face off in a second round of voting.

VAUSE: We begin with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, bracing this country to prepare for a new phase of the war, as Russia is expected to shift its offensive to the east. This comes as satellite images show a long military convoy east of Kharkiv that appears to be moving south. Ukraine's president says victory on the battlefield will not be possible without increased international support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We think this will be a new wave of this war. We don't know how much Russian weaponry there will be. But we understand there'll be many times more than there is now.

All depends on how fast we will be helped by the United States. To be honest, whether we will be able to survive depends on this. I have 100 percent confidence in our people and in our armed forces. But unfortunately, I don't have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meantime, those trying to escape the conflict are increasingly at risk, as we saw with the Russian missile strike on a train station, and Kramatorsk. Ukrainian officials say the death toll there has now risen at least 57 dead, almost 100 now still hurt. In all the UN says it's confirmed nearly 1,800 civilian deaths during this war but once the actual toll is likely much higher.

The White House National Security Adviser is warning of increased attacks on civilians now that Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to lead the war in Ukraine. CNN's Nima Elbagir has details now about the Russian General Alexander Dvornikov.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We all remember those images men, women and children screaming burnt out apartment buildings, devastated cities and towns. And now the Russian general responsible for that devastation has been assigned by President Vladimir Putin with turning the tide of his devastating defeats here in Ukraine.

General Alexander Dvornikov has been put in charge of Russian forces pushing to advance through Ukrainian cities and towns. It tells us a number of things. One is that Vladimir Putin is looking both to disinformation abroad and disinformation at home. This is the man who is believed to have delivered the victories so to speak of Russia in Syria in support of President Bashar Al Assad's forces. He's also the man whose impunity lives on in the collective global memory.

The hope we are told by President Putin is that he will deliver a victory before May 9, the anniversary as the Nazi surrender to Soviet forces so that there can be a victory parade in Russia's Red Square, whether it will be quite that simple, given what has happened here to Russian forces remains to be seen.

Ukraine is a very different terrain, not only have Ukrainian forces been able to push back Russia's offensive here and here and then the surrounding territories, but they are also very differently supported by the International compute community. They have been given an arsenal of anti-aircraft capabilities. And that was what helped General Dvornikov win in Syria, the superior aerial capacity that his forces have.

Whatever happens in the coming days and weeks, the message that President Putin is sending to the world is chilling, that the man responsible for what Syrian human rights organizations believe was the deaths of over 5,600 men, women and children is now in charge of what happens here on the ground in Ukraine. Nima Elbagir, CNN, Kyiv Ukraine.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: French voters have narrowed down their presidential candidates and the finalists are incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and his far right rival Merine Le Pen. France's interior ministry reports the current president one about 27 percent of Sunday's first round of voting putting him in first place in a crowded field of about a dozen candidates.

[01:05:06]

Le Pen meantime is in second place with around 23 percent.

Now the next round of voting in two weeks is set to be a rematch in fact of the 2017 election. After the polls close, the centrist Macron made his pitch while the far-right Le Pen made appeals to the mainstream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUAL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): At this turning point for the future of our nation, nothing will ever be the same. This is why I want to reach out to all those who wants to work for France. I am ready to invent something new to gather different convictions and leanings in order to build with them a common action for our nation for the coming years. It is our duty.

MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): The France people have spoken and gave me the honor to be qualified in the second round against incumbent president Emmanuel Macron. Let me express to the millions of voters who expressed their trust in me my sincerest gratitude. I acknowledge with humility, all the responsibility that comes with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So this year was marked by significant voter apathy that occurred with many voter participation was estimated to be about 73 percent. Although the final figures aren't in yet, that would be the lowest in the first round in 20 years. CNN's Jim Bittermann has the election night reaction from the pens campaign celebration in Paris.

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JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Marine Le Pen supporters were nothing if not enthusiastic, they stayed long after the vote counts were announced at least the projection of vote counts and did it look like it's a pretty close race for the second round, they clean Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron.

But as the evening wore on the other 10 candidates who in fact lost in this race started specifying who they thought that their voters, their supporters should support in the second round. And Marine Le Pen was not winning much support. And that in fact, is very difficult to see what her path to victory will be.

HERVE JUVIN, FRENCH NATIONAL RALLY PARTY MEMBER: The voters have the choice. And this choice is of great concern for the future of France. This concern will be between the -- these guys who are very comfortable with globalization, anywhere against the somewhere the AVS (ph) against the AVnots (ph). These guys from (INAUDIBLE) say Blackwork (ph) and so on, on this guy forms a small businesses from family companies or things or gangs locally on there as the citizens of France. And I think that Marine Le Pen is deeply concerned and deeply in phase with all the citizens.

BITTERMANN: That of course remains to be seen when the voters go to the polls two weeks from now for the runoff election. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: Dominic Thomas is a CNN European Affairs commentator and professor at UCLA. And he joins me now live from Los Angeles and good to see you to weigh in on everything that's gone on.

I want to drill down a little bit more on what happened with Marine Le Pen momentarily. But first, the contest itself and how it's shaping up. How much of a role do you think so many of those thorny issues that we've seen come to the fore in France will feature and I'm speaking specifically about the culture wars, the issue of immigration? Certainly, it has grabbed a lot of headlines in France in the last few years.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: They certainly Paula and what they are is they're just indicative of these culture and identity walls that you refer to and Marine Le Pen has been particularly astute at exploiting those. That's why ultimately discussions of policies are really kind of secondary.

She's somebody who's building on the dissatisfaction that we saw, for example, with a yellow jacket, she's building on the idea of the President being disconnected from the simple demands of the French people, while at the same time appealing to people's fears around immigration. This is a long standing issue that she has around globalization around the European Union.

The problem that she has, with all of these arguments right now are related to the global context, and particularly to the conflict in Ukraine and the fact that on domestic policies, she can hurt Emmanuel Macron on debate that when it comes to foreign policy issues, she's extraordinarily weak and extraordinarily vulnerable, particularly given her long standing relations with Russia, Russian financing and so on.

NEWTON: Yes, and I want to talk a little bit more about that. I mean, I still remember the pictures of her going to see Vladimir Putin shaking his hand. She certainly hasn't done much to denounce him in recent days, even continuing to say that she does not support sanctions, that doesn't have a measure of discomfort for the French?

THOMAS: It does. It's an important issue there's no doubt about it.

[01:10:03]

I mean the bigger context, of course, where there's so much discussion about the crucial importance of voting of democracy of the difference between democracy and autocracy. And the fact is that Marine Le Pen is a profoundly autocratic character.

The fact that she wants to withdraw from NATO seems like a complete disconnect with the political situation. And the conflict in Ukraine right now. The fact that she's lukewarm on the European Union is also a major issue.

So in that regard, she's diametrically opposed to Emmanuel Macron. But at the same time, that foreign policy and aspect of Macron, his credentials around the European Union and globalization, or what potentially weakens him in her kind of campaign, and what she's trying to sort of to show is that the other side of that, the underbelly side of that are the grievances of the (INAUDIBLE) and of those that feel left behind in French society.

But as I've said before, she doesn't provide solutions to those. She just simply appears and appeals to people's fears and anxieties. And that's why this election is so incredibly important as we juxtapose these two characters yet again.

NEWTON: Yes, certainly a completely different set of realities really at stake here than there was in 2017. Dominic, can you please game this out for us, where at 27 and 23 percent. Obviously, this was against a field of candidates. How do you see this playing, especially when we have to factor in as well? The apathy and the fact that we don't know how turn it -- turn out may go?

THOMAS: YEs. That's the biggest factor. I mean, of course, is this sort of dramatic sort of seismic change in the French political system, right, where we've gone from major parties and getting about, you know, well over 50 percent in the first round, and then going against each other, to the socialists, for example, and the Republicans getting just 6 percent this time around. So people are an off campus.

The big factors here, I think there are really three of them. The first is what happens to the supporters of Jean-Luc Melenchon, the far left character, we know that to the right of Macron, to the left of Macron there about 30 percent of voters and the extreme right candidate Zemmour is supporting Le Pen. So that leaves them roughly at the level that Macron is up right now.

The other factor is abstentions. Can any of these characters appeal to this remarkable 25 percent of the electorate that did not vote in the first round and try to get votes from them and anything 5, 6, 7, 10 percent from that would be absolutely remarkable.

Now, although Melenchon has said to his followers, not a single vote for Le Pen, the question is whether or not supporting Le Pen is sufficient or whether in fact, they need to have some of those shift over and transfer their votes to Emmanuel Macron. If not, there's an uphill struggle for him as well. And that's where that kind of unpredictability lies as we go into the next round. And thus, the debate, which I hope will take place between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will hopefully allow voters to clarify that issue.

And the final point is really the issue around personal responsibility. There is a radical difference between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, whatever your political views may be, at this particular moment in history, and it's whether those people who didn't vote or who voted for Melenchon will find it in their hearts to be able to go and vote for Emmanuel Macron in the second round. That's the big question in the two weeks to come. And those are the people to whom the manual and my column must appeal at this stage.

NEWTON: And it will be interesting as well, and we see everything going on in Europe and how things have been so transformed in six or seven weeks. The first major election, sorry, pardon me, another major election. We just had one in Hungary. It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out as well. Dominic, thanks, as always, really appreciate it.

THOMAS: Thank you, Paula.

NEWTON: Still to come. Shanghai officials are sticking to their zero COVID plan as new infections continue to surge but frustrations over the city's lock downs are clearly starting to grow.

And CNN returns to the site of one of those horrific massacres yet in Russia's war in Ukraine as the death toll continues to rise.

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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians continue to flee this country. According to the United Nations, more than 4.5 million refugees have now crossed into neighboring countries since the fighting began. Nearly 700,000 have fled to Romania, most of them women and children, all of them though welcomed by volunteers, and those who remain especially in the eastern part of Ukraine, in some of the worst hit areas. They've described horrific scenes of Russian aggression.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The shelling went through our house, my husband, children and my daughter-in-law were all in the basement. We all ran out of the basement and started running in different directions to the road, all the while they were shooting at the neighbor's houses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, for every Ukrainian fighter on the front lines, as you see a family home left behind to support them. CNN's Brianna Keilar speaks to those families, but the risks and the threats to those left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: What is on your mind?

LIUBA, HUSBAND FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE (through translator): I feel angry. Sometimes I'm angry at him that he rejoined the army again. But more often I'm angry at the very fact that this war is happening. My son was waiting for his dad to come back from the war eight years ago. Now my daughter has to wait.

KEILAR (voice-over): Back in 2014 after Russian forces first invaded eastern Ukraine, Luba held down the home front as well. While her husband Mikhail served for more than a year in the Ukrainian military.

LIUBA (through translator): He's a veteran of war. He is on the shortlist of reserves that goes in the first wave.

KEILAR: Mikhail received a call from his old unit she says, asking him to join immediately. Liuba who is pregnant with the couple's third child had been hoping that she would weather this war with her husband. Instead he deployed the day after Russia invaded, and she moved nine-year-old Semen, and five-year-old Yustyna out of their home in the center of Lviv to her sister's on the outskirts of the city where they are safer.

(on camera): How are the kids doing? How did they make sense of it?

LIUBA (through translator): My kids they know that the war is happening. They know that their father is in the military. Semen is going through this as an adult. He understands everything. Yustyna will sometimes run to me and cry and say that she's afraid her dad will be killed but I always explain to her that our dad is big and strong.

[01:20:09]

KEILAR: Uliana, Liuba's sister isn't just hosting her niece and nephew. She's running supplies to the front line to their father's military unit, just like she did for him back in 2014.

ULIANA, BRINGS SUPPLIES TO TROOPS (through translator): It was a really funny story. I had to bring washing machines to the military unit because they didn't have a way to wash their clothes.

KEILAR: This time, Uliana trek 1,000 kilometers to deliver night vision goggles, long underwear, even a car and a drone to Mikhail's unit. She only saw him for a few minutes long enough to snap these pictures. The front line was too dangerous to stay any longer.

LIUBA (through translator): I was very worried when she went there the first time a couple of weeks ago. Because the front line right now is not a clear line because the airstrikes can happen anywhere. So the front line is very blurred.

KEILAR: Even Poufa, the family dog is a veteran of war. In 2014, Uliana took Poufa then a puppy to serve with Mikhail's reconnaissance unit she's seen here sleeping with him on a personnel carrier. Now Poufa comfort hischildren while he is away fighting.

SEMEN, FATHER FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE (through translator): I think our dad is protecting all of us very much. And they know I think that he didn't want to do this. But that's what he had to do. YSTYNA, FATHER FIGHITING FOR UKRAINE (through translator): When he comes back, I want to buy a big cotton candy. And I don't want him to go to the war. And I want all of us to stay together.

KEILAR (voice-over): It's all they hope for. It's what they fear this war may take from them.

(on camera): What do you worry about?

LIUBA (through translator): That he will not come back.

KEILAR: Liuba, what are your hopes for the future?

LIUBA (through translator): First of all, I hope that when it's time for the third child to see this world, that my husband will be back from the war, that the war will end by that time and that the war will end with our victory. Because if we don't win this war, then probably in 15 to 20 years, my son will have to go to the next war and defend our country.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: New York Mayor Eric Adams has tested positive for COVID 19. Now spokesperson says Adams has no major symptoms and is now isolating. Now it's unclear where he contracted the virus. But he's attended several public events recently including the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington on April 2.

More than 60 people who were at that dinner, have since tested positive for the virus. Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says he's not surprised cases are srising right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, obviously there is concern that we are seeing an uptick in cases as I've mentioned over the last couple of weeks. This is not unexpected that you're going to see an uptick when you pull back on the mitigation methods. This is not going to be eradicated and it's not going to be eliminated. And what's going to happen is that we're going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Anytime in China, officials say the best way to fight surging COVID infections is to stay the course with a strict zero COVID policy. So far, that's meant multiple rounds of testing and restrictions on movement for the entire city of Shanghai as well as mandatory quarantine in government centers for anyone testing positive. Residents aren't happy with the measures of course with reports of protests and food shortages right around the city. Despite this, officials are ordering additional COVID testing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SUN XIAODONG, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (through translator): Because of the severity of Shanghai's COVID outbreak, we've already conducted several rounds of mass testing at this stage. Now it's necessary to improve our strategy. We have a general overview of the situation, but we cannot say it is crystal clear. So further testing is needed until the situation gains more clarity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN's Anna Coren joins me now from Hong Kong with more and Anna, we were speaking earlier I naively assume that perhaps lightening up some of these restrictions might mean that China might be backing off ever so slightly from zero COVID policy clearly not the case.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's not the case. Paula. The Chinese government is doubling down on its dynamic, zero COVID strategy and that is really troubling residents in Shanghai.

I just got off the phone with one of those residents and she is absolutely exhausted. She says I spend my entire day trying to source food. They haven't had fresh vegetables, fruit, meat for days now and she's been under lockdown with her family for the past month.

She said they're having to rely on these WeChat immunity groups to do these bulk buying. She said it's hit and miss as to whether these deliveries are made.

[01:25:07]

Initially, the government obviously shut down the delivery apps because they thought that it was the delivery drivers that were spreading COVID but now it's a case of these delivery drivers actually getting COVID themselves, and they're being shipped off to quarantine centers.

So, she said it, you know, it went from shock, to anger to now utter hopelessness. She says there is no end in sight as to when this is going to resolve itself. And we are talking about Shanghai, 25 million people, the economic engine of China that contributes 4 percent of the country's GDP.

You know, officials had been running their own race over the past two years prior to this, this way of heating, they would have these targeted lockdowns, which meant that, you know, the entire city wasn't locked down, only individual places and they will commend it. They were proud of the fact that this was how they operated, whereas other cities were having these snap complete lock downs for weeks on end.

Now it's Shanghai's turn, and people are just in bewilderment that this is actually taking place. I mean, her words were this is madness. But we know the government is doubling down on this.

We heard from Xi Jinping last Friday saying that the strategy is a great success. There are these commentaries, you know, almost daily from the state run news media outlets, saying that they have to stay the course. There is no alternative. So, for the people in Shanghai at the moment, Paula, no end in sight.

NEWTON: Yes. And it's so telling if the conversation that you had with that woman I mean, many of us have been in lockdown, but to have to source food, not to mention the toll that takes on everybody's mental health but the fact that they literally scavenging for food, extraordinary the scope of this story.

Anna Coren, thanks so much for the update. Appreciate it.

Just ahead here for us. The Ukrainian president prepares for yet another appeal for international support. This time he'll address the South Korean parliament that'll be in the coming hours. We will have report live from Seoul as John Vause picks up our coverage live in Ukraine after a break.

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[01:31:01]

VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine. It's just gone 30 minutes past the hour.

Russian forces, striking targets in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian civilians being warned to evacuate that area ahead of a major assault.

A retail (ph) military governor, says a Russian strike has destroyed the airport in the city of Dnipro. But he says the airport, a nearby infrastructure, have been demolished, and the rockets continue to fly.

The latest satellite images show a nearly eight-mile long Russian convoy, heading towards of east of Kharkiv. Ukraine's defense intelligence chief said Friday, Russian troops are regrouping for an expected attack on the city.

Meantime, the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, says he will meet with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin in Moscow in the coming hours, the first European leader to meet with Putin, since the invasion began. The chancellor organized the trip during his stay in Ukraine. On Saturday, he visited Bucha where dozens of civilian bodies have been discovered after the withdrawal of Russian troops.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will address the South Korean parliament in just a few hours from now. This will be the 20th foreign legislative body he has addressed since March 8th as he tries to drum up international support, as well as military aid, and tougher sanctions on Russia.

CNN's Paula Hancocks live for us this hour in Seoul, on what we can expect from Zelenskyy's speech.

And I guess, he has a lot of convincing to do, because the South Koreans haven't exactly been full supporters up until this point.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John, I think what many are expecting, and probably what lawmakers fear, is that President Zelenskyy will be asking for weapons. Now this is something that up until now, the South Korean Moon Jae-in administration has said is simply not possible.

We heard from the defense ministry today that when the South Korean defense minister was speaking to his Ukrainian counterpart, last week, last Friday, he was asked to send anti aircraft weapons. But said that that simply wasn't possible at this point because of national security reasons, and also because they need to have a state of readiness.

It is something that the right since February, the Blue House here in Seoul has said that they do not want to be giving any lethal weapons to Ukraine.

Now we have seen non lethal assistance. We know that around $800,000 worth of non lethal, humanitarian aid has been sent to Ukraine. The likes of helmets, tents, blankets, MREs and medical aid. And also, they have pledged $10 million in humanitarian aid.

But it really seems at this point that Seoul is drawing the line when it comes to lethal aid. Now, as you mentioned there, that there was some international criticism at the beginning of this invasion and in the run up to this invasion that South Korea was not signing up for the sanctions and for the support that the U.S., for example, and many others were signing up for.

They did eventually decide that they would also sanction Russian banks, that they would follow the international sanctions. But there were certainly some criticism at the beginning.

So it will be interesting to hear, exactly, what President Zelenskyy asks for, John.

VAUSE: Absolutely, Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live in Seoul with that.

We'll have more from you throughout the day. Thank you Paula.

Well, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is asking Ukrainians to prepare for a new phase of this war, as Russia expected to shift its offensive to the east. New satellite images show a long military convoy east of Kharkiv that appears to be moving south.

Let's get more on this now from Maria Mezentseva. She's a member of the Ukrainian parliament. She joins us now from the capital of Kyiv. Thank you for being with us.

If we look at these images from the satellites we can see a lot of Russian hardware, artillery, support vehicles, tanks -- that sort of thing, being moved around. Clearly this is a military offensive which is ramping up.

[01:34:55]

VAUSE: What are your expectations here in terms of timing. When do you expect this full onslaught to actually begin in earnest? MARIA MEZENTSEVA, MEMBER, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Well, you know, the

eastern part of Ukraine has always been a very hot spot for the exercises and for the advances that are taking place for more than eight years already.

And Kharkiv was centered in a way that it firstly received more than 300,000 IDPs -- internally-displaced persons from 2014 when the war started in the east with an occupation of parts of territories in Donbas and of course, the illegal annexation of Crimea.

So we have been always as a city -- second largest city in Ukraine, with 2 million inhabitants, for second largest budget (ph) with amazing infrastructure. We were always under the threat.

And you know, recently, we have marked seven years after we overthrew the (INAUDIBLE) occupation when there were Russian flags in the regional administration which you've seen at these (INAUDIBLE) being bombarded severely.

And this is another example of a war crime because so many -- so many people died on that day.

But I would like to talk right now that the shift of this tactic, from the recent liberation of the smaller towns across Kyiv where I am right now, around Kyiv was the number of the war crimes that are about to be still registered, and about to be told about because some of the victims were under sexual (ph) violence for numerous days. And they are just, you know, finding power and strength to talk about these crimes.

We will be witnessing some difficulties possibly in the eastern flank as you've mentioned around Kharkiv. There are already small towns which we cannot access. They are under occupation for a couple of weeks. We are trying to get there with humanitarian aid, medication, drinking water. But that has been blocked by the Russian soldiers.

I am very definite that we will withstand and will not let the Russians proceed further to Dnipro or the southern part, which is, still, standing strong. Even though, for instance, the Kherson area, next to the Black Sea is blocked, the people are protesting, every day.

And that is what Russians do not understand. Why they receive the support? Well, they will not receive any support. They should not count on it and all of their fake videos, that they are trying to produce, they do not work.

Overthrowing local powers also don't work. So, let's put it clear. Neither of the tactics they are using is working. You have mentioned a very important information. The need of Ukraine in (INAUDIBLE) anti tank systems, anti missile systems, for low and middle ranges.

And everything that can help us stand strong, survive, and look into the bright future. That is for the U.S., and other partners, to help us. Because the blitzkrieg did not work. We are standing strong. And we will proceed in this matter further. Moreover, many, many international soldiers are joining us. That is what we also highly appreciate. I would also like to point the issue of the humanitarian corridors and extra pressure on the International Red Cross and on the Russian side so that these corridors, actually, work.

VAUSE: I just want to ask you about those humanitarian corridors, right now because how dangerous is it for Ukrainians to use those corridors, even though they are meant to be areas which are free of fighting, and mean to be safe passage out of so many places.

The Russians continue to shell many of those passages out of them and it seems like, in many ways, it is funneling Ukrainians into Russia.

MEZENTSEVA: It does. It did and it does sometimes turn into the red (ph) corridors because of the blood. But not only that, I have given examples on CNN before. Imagine my team in Kharkiv is delivering aid, everyday. Exceptions are the curfew hours. When there is an emergency they still reach out to the people. But imagine people are queuing next to hospitals, next to post offices, and they are being shot.

[01:39:50]

MEZENTSEVA: What kind of rule of conduct of war is that? The absolute, absolutely bloody attitude to the civilians, that is what makes this war disgusting really.

That didn't happen even during the Second World War, the First World War. There no even comparison within the history, and it is a level of brutality with which it's done.

So the corridors, only those corridors that are confirmed by the authorities of Ukraine, by the Red Cross in Russia are working. Even though please believe me, there is so much work being done behind the scenes because up until now, (INAUDIBLE) Ukraine and Russia sending differently.

Russia is never happy with them. Russia is trying to send Ukrainians, our people to Russia, to occupy Donbas, to Crimea, and to Belarus. What kind of safety places are these?

And this is called forcible displacement, and you know, for some people, it is turning into forceable disappearances like it happened to the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov, who was released, but there are 29 people, like Ivan right now who we are searching for. They are representatives of the local powers. They're civil activists, doctors, and well-known people.

So, there are a number of the breach of human rights which we are facing right now. and we will bring these people to be responsible for that because Ukraine keeps to the international law, the Geneva Conventions, and everything, which is leading to actually the rule of conduct.

VAUSE: Maria Mezentseva, we'll have to leave it there, but thank you so much. We really appreciate your time. We thank you for being with us there talking to us from the capital of Kyiv. Thank you.

With that, we'll take a short break here. You're watching CNN. Back in a moment.

[01:41:48]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Pope Francis is calling for an Easter truce in Ukraine. In his Palm Sunday service in St. Peters Square, he condemned the war and the Pope appealed for a ceasefire. Now this address came during the Vatican's first open air mass since the COVID pandemic began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Put down the weapons, start an Easter truce, but not then picking up the weapons again and resuming fighting, no.

A truce to reach peace for real negotiations, open to any sacrifice for the good of the people. The fact -- what kind of victory will be the one that props flags on top of a pile of rubble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Horrific scenes are still emerging from areas around Ukraine's capital. Ukrainian officials say they found hundreds of victims who appear to be civilians along with evidence of torture and mass killings in the days since Russian forces retreated. And that evidence continues to mount.

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VOLODYMYR OMELYAN, FORMER UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER: As of today we discovered more than 1,200 dead bodies. Almost all of them were tortured before the death.

So it is not about occasional deaths. It's because of artillery strikes or missile hits of Russian army, but those people were kept or killed by Russian soldiers on purpose.

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NEWTON: Now earlier I spoke with Bonnie Docherty. she is a senior researcher at the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch. I asked her about reports that Russia has been using weapons of terror.

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BONNIE DOCHERTY, SENIOR RESEARCHER, ARMS DIVISION, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Russia has been using a host of weapons that cause -- that are banned by international law and they cause indiscriminate effects. And you named several of them -- cluster munitions, land minds and also just broadly what we call explosive weapons in populated areas with general bombing and shelling of cities. And all of these have caused horrific, immediate civilian casualties and they're also going to cause a long term effect on Ukraine for years to come.

NEWTON: And I want to get to those long term implications, because it isn't just the immediate tragedies. What can we expect even if we had a peace deal today which is certainly not in the cards right now?

DOCHERTY: Right, well first of all there is the issue of actually clearing the remnants of the weapons left behind.

Land mines obviously are intended to linger behind. That is their purpose. And that's why they are so dangerous to soldiers as well, civilians.

Cluster munitions are large weapons that spread hundreds, dozens of hundreds of smaller weapons called submunitions across an area. And one problem is that when used in populated areas as they have they endanger -- you know, can't distinguish between civilians and soldiers.

But another problem is that large numbers don't explode on impact, so they also lay a round for months, years, even decades. So both of those are going to create an unexploded ordnance problem.

But here's also the problem of -- and they're going to create a problem for refugees returning to their homes, which is, you know, another huge issue that Ukraine has faced.

Another issue though of the bombing and shelling of cities are just leveling of communities, is the infrastructure destruction. Damage to power plants, bridges, communication networks, so on and so forth are going to cause -- have interfered with basic services like health care, schools, and so forth. And those are going to take years to rebuild.

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NEWTON: Our thanks to Bonnie Docherty there.

Coming up for us the top rank golfer in the world is now a Masters champion. Scottie Scheffler dominated the competition at Augusta.

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NEWTON: Elon Musk will no longer join Twitter's board of directors. That is according to a tweet from the company's CEO. Musk who is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX sparked a deluge of headlines after disclosing that he'd become Twitter's largest shareholder.

Now after that announcement, Twitter said they would add him to its board of directors for a two-year term. But apparently, that no longer is going to happen. Now the hottest player in golf right now has his first major victory and his first ever green jacket. American Scottie Scheffler won the Masters on Sunday -- what a great watch this was -- and the 25-year- old world number one did so in dominant fashion.

CNN's WORLD SPORT Patrick Snell was there at Augusta for us.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: It is the stuff that dreams are made of for Scottie Scheffler. Prior to February the 13th of this year he didn't even have one single PGA tour victory to his name.

Now eight weeks on after a remarkable run, the world number one has four wins in his last six starts -- including his first major title.

On the biggest day of his career, if Scheffler was feeling any nerves, he certainly wasn't showing it. Starting Sunday with a three shot lead, Scheffler responding in style with a sublime chip in at three for birdie after playing partner Cameron Smith had briefly closed to within one shot.

There then followed a stunning approach at 14 setting up another birdie opportunity which Scheffler was all too happy to capitalize on.

In the end though, despite a nervy finish on the final green, it would be victory by three shots as Scheffler ended the tournament at ten under par. The green jacket proudly his -- a life changing moment to savor with those who matter most.

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SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, 2022 MASTERS CHAMPION: This is such a fun golf course, it's such a fun piece of property. I mean it is Augusta National. It is about as cool as it gets. It is so fun to play.

You know, I just can't believe that I can come back for a lifetime and get to enjoy this golf course.

SNELL: Meantime, an emotional week for Tiger Woods ending with a highly emotional Sunday.

The 15-time major winner given a really poignant standing ovation at the final hole. Woods finishing at 13 over par overall after a second consecutive round of 78. And this, just 14 months on from suffering serious leg and foot injuries in a California car crash.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: This tournament has meant so much to me and my family. You know, this entire tournament. I mean a lot of different things could have happened, but 14 months and I'm able to tee it up and play the Masters.

SNELL: Tiger Woods who says he will play at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland in July won his first Masters in 1997 as the 21-year-old.

Back then, Scottie Scheffler was just nine months old. 25 years on, he can now call himself a major champion too.

Patrick Snell, CNN -- Augusta, Georgia.

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NEWTON: And that does it for me. I'm Paula Newton.

Thanks for watching. We will be right back with more of our breaking news coverage from Ukraine right after a break.

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