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Russian Retreat Reveals Evidence Of Fierce Fighting; Growing Fears Russia May Use Chemical Weapons In Ukraine; Ukrainian Villages Now Free But Devastated; Vladimir Putin And Aleksandr Lukashenko To Meet In Eastern Russia; Joe Biden Meets Virtually With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi; Shanghai Begins Easing Lockdown; People in Georgia Rally in Support of Ukraine. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 12, 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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[23:59:43]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine at the outset of what is likely to be a bloody new phase of this war as Russia prepares to go on the offensive in the Donbass region.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Paula Newton here in Atlanta following Russian President Vladimir Putin's tough first meeting with a Western leader since this invasion began.

[00:00:11]

VAUSE: The U.S. says Russia continues to deploy weapons and material into Eastern Ukraine as it looks to resupply, reinforce and rearm troops in the Donbass.

And for days, we've seen this Russian military convoy via satellite images. But now, here it is on the ground not far from Ukraine's border, notably pointing northwest towards the Eastern Donbass region.

And there are new images of Ukrainian troops preparing for a fight in eastern Ukraine.

On Monday, local officials say they destroyed a Russian weapons depot in Luhansk. Moscow backed leaders in that area deny that claim, saying the strike destroyed homes as well as a fertilizer warehouse.

Meantime, Ukrainian officials say they are still defending the besiege port city of Mariupol, despite recent reports suggesting Russian forces have been gaining ground.

And on Monday, came unconfirmed reports of a chemical attack in that city. CNN cannot verify that claim. But Ukraine's president says they're taking that report and that threat seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, we heard a statement from the occupiers confirming they are preparing for a new stage in their terror against us and our defenders. One of the spokespeople of the invaders said they are considering using chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol. We take it very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Zelenskyy also accused Russian forces of planting tens if not hundreds of thousands of mines and ordnance in Northern Ukraine, a move he calls a war crime. That's after the Russian military's retreat from the Kyiv region.

As the Russians ramp up their efforts in areas here in red, they continue to leave behind evidence where the bitter (PH) battles were near that capital.

And a warning, our next report includes graphic images. CNN's Fred Pleitgen shows us the devastation and the ongoing dangers now in the suburb of Irpin.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The tour is a sad routine for the body collectors in the outskirts of Kyiv. Finding corpses has become eerily normal here.

A house destroyed by an artillery strike, a body burned beyond recognition.

A mangled car wreck, two bodies burned beyond recognition.

A house that was occupied by Russian troops, an elderly lady dead in the bedroom.

These bodies evidence of a brutal Russian occupation and then, a fierce fight by the underdog Ukrainians to drive them out.

A fight 81-year-old Kataryna Bareshvolets witnessed up close in her village.

There were explosions. Explosions from all sides. It was scary, she tells me. I am in my house. I cross myself and lie down and then, I hear how it thundered and all the windows in the house were broken.

The Ukrainians tell us the Russian troops didn't even bother collecting most of their own dead. More than a week after Vladimir Putin's army was pushed out of here, they showed us the body of what they say was a Russian soldier still laying in the woods.

And that's not all they've left behind, this demining unit says they found hundreds of tons of unexploded ordnance in just a matter of days, including cluster munitions like this bomblet, even though the Russians deny using them. These weapons are extremely dangerous for civilians who might accidentally touch them, the commander says. There are about 50 such elements in one bomb, he says. This is a high explosive fragmentation bomb to kill people designed just to kill people.

They blow up the cluster bomblet on the spot and then move the heavier bombs to a different location for a massive controlled explosion.

The body collecting, the mind-sweeping and the clearing up of wreckage are just starting in this area. And yet, this pile of demolished vehicles, both military and civilian already towers in the key of suburb of Irpin.

If you had to picture Russia's attempt to try and take the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, it would probably look a lot like this. Destruction on a massive scale and absolutely nothing to show for it. Russia's military was humiliated by the Ukrainians and caused a lot of harm in the process.

And they've devastated scores of families. At Irpin's cemetery, the newly widowed weep at funerals for the fallen.

Ala Krutkiv (PH), her husband Ihor (PH) fought alongside their 21- year-old son in Irpin and died in his arms on the battlefield. Yulia Ishkutina (PH), wife of Dymitro Pasko (PH) killed by a Russian mortar shell. And Tetyana Lytkina, her husband Olexander Lytkina (PH) promised her he'd come back in a few hours, but was killed defending this neighborhood.

[00:05:17]

I'm very proud of them, Tetyana says. He's a hero. We have many people in Ukraine who have not fled and are defending their homes. Sasha (PH) died just 200 meters from our house where we live.

Laying the dead to rest, another sad task, they'd become all too efficient at performing in this area. Close by, the next funeral is already underway.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Irpin, Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There'll be a lot more funerals to come. Well, joining me now from Yonkers, New York, retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons. He's currently a senior fellow with the Truman National Security Project.

Major, thank you for being with us. There has long been this fear that Russians would use chemical weapons in this conflict. I want you to listen to what a member of the Ukrainian parliament told CNN on Monday.

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DMYTRO GURIN, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: The last I know, that hour ago, that information from Azov (PH) official channel on Telegram, Russian troops used chemical weapons in Mariupol, from the dropped unknown substance from drone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We should stress, CNN cannot confirm that but according to Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol, the victims there were suffering from respiratory failure, and something called vestibule-atactic syndrome, essentially problems with their nervous system controlling the movements of various body parts, inability to walk, that kind of thing.

I guess the question is what type of chemical weapon would cause those symptoms and even though it appears they may have jumped the gun there in that claim, given the general who's now appointed the overall field commander for this war, would you just suspect it's only a matter of time before chemical weapons are deployed?

MAJ. MIKE LYONS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, I'd like to think not. And the thing about chemical weapons are they don't work to Russia's advantage actually. This is a non-persistent agent, if they use something, it would hurt the soldiers that were there at that point, but they don't want to go then back into an area for example if they use a persistent chemical weapons.

So, I just don't think it makes any sense for them to do this at this point. This new general officer they have Dvornikov, you know, he's -- this reputation of being a butcher or so. But I don't think that matters. There's no such thing as a humane Russian general officer, this is an army that leaves its dead on the battlefield.

I think he was put in that place in order to consolidate Russian forces and to make sure that they start fighting in a way that they haven't proved that they've been fighting yet.

So, again, chemical weapons are a very slippery slope for Russia to use, knowing full well that they'll have a challenge to go into those areas, if they decide to use them, they could potentially hurt their own soldiers.

VAUSE: Well, the debate amongst the U.S. and the allies now on sending heavy and more lethal weapons and tanks and artillery, APCs, that seems to be settled. The question now comes down to logistics, right? Can they be delivered where and when they needed the most?

LYONS: Right. And so, you see this Russian general goes after the train station there. And it's not necessarily to kill those civilians, I'm sure that was -- from his perspective, that's what -- you know, he doesn't care to do. But that's to take out the railheads.

Because if we're going to take tanks and APCs, and bring them in from Poland, and from Romania in those other borders that are 400 or 500 miles away, they only get there on railheads, they only get there in a manner that would make a difference.

So, I think you're going to see the Russian general officers decide to go after the trains and the arteries that exist that allow that those logistics to pass. We don't have enough trucks to move those vehicles. And that's the only way they do it.

So, I think that's where the tactics have changed. They're finally getting smart. And again, we watch this overall, and we wait for Russia to start doing things that we expect them to do. They haven't been doing that.

But by attacking the train station like they did, that's what they're sending a signal is that they're going to -- they're going to cut off the logistical supplies that's going to come on rail heads from the west.

VAUSE: Just to follow up on that. Is it really necessary, though, to have a missile strike on a crowded train platform with civilians, moms and dads and kids? Could there be another part of the rail infrastructure that could be hit that would have the same effect from a military point of view without killing, I think at this point, almost 60 people and wounding more than 100?

LYONS: Right. Well, that's where again, Russian general officers don't act humanely. We should have not expectation that they will. Maybe they felt that that was a choke point that they had to take it out.

And if it's U.S., if we decided to take a target like that, its 2:00 in the morning, we'd minimize casualties. Russia goes to war like it's World War II from their perspective, they look at five square miles, they destroy everything that's in there, doesn't matter if there are civilians in there or not.

Again, we're projecting our value sets on these people that just don't have -- they don't share our values with regard to human life. They don't do it for their own soldiers on the battlefield.

VAUSE: That's a good point. We're not getting a close up look at some of the material the Russians are sending into eastern Ukraine into this Donbass region, its convoy, eight-mile long convoy of heavy artillery it looks like.

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VAUSE: And now, there is this unity of command structure. So, instead of attacking on seven different fronts, this Russian offensive will be much more coordinated, a lot more effective. What will Ukrainian forces need to do to sustain an effective resistance? How can they fight back?

LYONS: That's right. Yes, I think that's right. Vladimir Putin wants this general officer to fight, you know, unity of command, and coordinate fires between maneuver, they always leave with artillery, but now, bring tanks and infantry behind them.

I think the Ukraine forces are going to need to get down in defensive positions, use the javelins and use what tanks and what they've even taken from the Russian military, and pick and choose the places they want to defend, bring the Russian offense into different kill zones and choke points. And it's going to be a good, you know, a World War II type operation that's been predicted. I kind of see that happening.

The question is whether Russia can synchronize the fires and maneuvers that we expected them to do 40 days ago, they just haven't done yet. But the unity of command is going to try to bring that.

If they can -- if they can capitalize on the airspace, as well as what they have on the ground with much shorter supply lines that are going to exist back to Russia, I'm afraid Russia could be successful, but I wouldn't bet against the Ukraine military.

VAUSE: Major Mike Lyons, thank you so much, sir, we appreciate your time.

LYONS: Thanks.

VAUSE: Well, as Russia shifts its focus to these villages once occupied by Russian troops are now finally seeing some relief. But as CNN's Clarissa Ward reports, that freedom comes at a tragically high price.

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front, jubilant after a humiliating defeat for Russian forces in the north. In the neighboring villages of Staryi and Novyi Bykiv, exhausted residents are emerging from their homes after five weeks of Russian occupation and the horrors that came with it.

On day four of the war, this peaceful community became a front line. And nowhere was off limits.

Russian forces transformed the local school into their base. The principal Natalya Volek (PH) shows us the carnage that was left behind. She's saying that they were using this as a toilet as well.

The main entrance is now spattered with blood, the scene of heavy fighting. Russian soldiers took cover in classrooms and treated the wounded with whatever they could find.

So, you can see they were eating here. These are some Russian -- military Russian armia razi (PH), it says.

Walking the ravaged hallways, Volek says she is still in a state of shock. What wasn't destroyed was looted.

We are for education. Education is the future, our students, she says. It's such a shame that our occupiers didn't understand this. Why steal everything? This is a school.

In several classrooms, there are signs that some of the Russian soldiers felt ashamed of their actions. A message on a chalk board.

So, it says, forgive us, we didn't want this war.

But forgiveness will be hard to come by here. At the local cemetery, Valentina (PH) takes us to the graves of six men who authorities say were executed by Russian forces on the day they arrived.

It's so hard to get over this, she says, they murdered them.

Valentina says the Russians held on to the bodies for nine days before dumping them at the end of the village with instructions to bury them quickly.

We dug very fast so they wouldn't shoot us, she says, but there was shooting over there and heavy shelling.

Among the dead, her neighbors, brothers, Igor and Oleg Yavon (PH).

Outside the family home, we meet their mother, Olga (PH). For days, she thought her sons were in hiding until a neighbor called her with the devastating news.

The agony and the grief are still very raw.

They were very good boys, she says. How I want to see them again.

Do you have any idea why the Russians would kill your sons?

Who knows? There was a bridge that was blown up and somebody shot at a Russian drone, she says. The Russians were searching the village and rounded them up on the street, six boys. I don't know anything else.

[00:15:07]

WARD: A few streets away, Katarina Androsha (PH) is also looking for answers. Her daughter, Victoria (PH), a schoolteacher, was taken by Russian soldiers on March 25th.

They said they found information on her phone about their forces, she says. They told me she was in a warm house, that she was working with them and she would be home soon. But Victoria never came home. We hope that she will get in touch, Katarina says, with somebody, somewhere.

In this small community of 2,000, it seems no street has been spared. The invaders marked their newly seized territory with crude graffiti and battle markings.

Another Z on their fridge.

But brave residents like Tamera (PH) carried out quiet acts of resistance. We kept it, we kept it, she says, showing us a Ukrainian flag given to her husband for his military service. We hid it.

A bold risk in anticipation of this moment, when Russian troops would be forced to retreat.

And the villages would finally be free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And thanks to CNN's Chief International Correspondent there Clarissa Ward reporting from Northern Ukraine. We'll take a short break. When we come back, Austria's chancellor has

met with the Russian president in Moscow. Not a friendly visit it seems, but it may have been a reality check for Vladimir Putin.

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NEWTON: President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet his Belarussian counterpart Aleksandr Lukashenko in eastern Russia. Now, Mr. Lukashenko has been an ally of Mr. Putin throughout Russia's war on Ukraine.

Russian media reports the leaders will discuss the conflict and in fact, possibly hold a press conference after those talks.

Meantime, Austria's Chancellor is now speaking out about his meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday, which he calls very direct, open and tough.

Karl Nehammer says he addressed the alleged war crimes in Bucha and other places with the Russian president, but says Mr. Putin blames the Ukrainians for those crimes.

Mr. Nehammer also said the Russian leader is preparing the next part of the offensive in Ukraine with "determination".

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KARL NEHAMMER, AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): I made it absolutely clear to him that his attitude, his view of the war is not shared in the slightest. He sees it as a kind of self-defense operation of the Russian Federation, he calls it a special military operation. But I call it war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining us from Washington is Josh Rogin. He's a Washington Post columnist and CNN Political Analyst.

Josh, good to have you weigh in here. You know, we had the chancellor's description of this meeting with Putin, it was not comforting. Putin was as defined as ever.

But also, of course, denying even responsibility for the massacre in Bucha, accusing in fact, the Ukrainians of being responsible for what happened there. It's of course, chilling, but more to the point, it seems obvious now, right, that there is no path to diplomacy here.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, not at this moment, to be sure. Don't get me wrong, I think there is some value in having somebody in Europe who can go see Putin and at least speak to the man face-to-face and, you know, war and diplomacy will have to continue both at the same time.

But there's this crazy idea here in Washington that somehow by telling Putin to his face what's going on at Bucha that he -- maybe he didn't know about it, or maybe he's not getting best information. And if you just knew about it, then maybe he would think twice.

Well, I think we can tell from Putin's reaction here that that's nonsense because Putin, of course, knows what's going on in Bucha. And it's almost certain that he's the one who ordered it. And he's been committing these war crimes for 20 years. It's part of the way that he wages war.

NEWTON: At this point, Putin and Lukashenko from Belarus are meeting at this point, I've actually been surprised that Belarus has not been more involved in this campaign. What significance does this meeting take on? And what kind of involvement could they have in the future?

ROGIN: Well, for one, Putin is trying to show the world that he's not completely bereft of allies. And yes, Lukashenko is not exactly the greatest ally to prove that you're not diplomatically isolated, being that he's one of the most diplomatically isolated leaders in the world.

But it's better than nothing. But I think this is really also a check in because it's true that even though Belarus has been the staging ground for attacks, they haven't committed troops, they're facing their own domestic pressures. Now, they're facing a food crisis. Now, they're facing an economic crisis.

And this is all because of Putin's war. Lukashenko has a lot to be angry with Putin about and one would think that Putin would want to make Lukashenko happy since he's saying he's one of the only allies left.

On the other hand, Putin being Putin, you could imagine a scenario where he goes to Lukashenko and he says, hey, listen, we're going to need your army after all, and if you don't like it, lump it.

So, I think we have to watch for signs that Putin may be trying to push Lukashenko into a deeper involvement, which could spell doom, not just for Ukraine, but also for the people of Belarus.

NEWTON: Yes, and it's a very good point you make that they don't -- Belarus doesn't have the economic buffer that Russia does. And for that reason, there are people who really suffer through this.

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NEWTON: You know, those economic sanctions. You know, it was -- many people said it was like declaring war -- economic war on Russia. And yet, I have always said that they're the long game, they're not going to change what's happening on the ground right now, especially for Ukrainians.

Given this, have you heard, do you see any recognition on the part of the Biden administration that show (PH) their boots on the ground, that there is more that can be done?

And I guess I'm not just talking about, you know, in terms of arming Ukraine, with perhaps even long range defense -- missile defense opportunities there. I mean, more than that, covertly or otherwise?

ROGIN: Well, I totally agree with you that sanctions were never and are never going to force Putin to back down. They're punishment, they're not deterrence.

And since we heard conflicting messages about that from the Biden administration, it's understandable why everyone's confused. First, they said it was deterrence, then they said it's punishment. It's only punishment. And that's not to say they're not good for punishment, we should punish Putin as much and his cohorts as much as possible.

And also, the point of the sanctions is to drain the Russian coffers. But without German and European acquiescence to really cutting off Russian gas and coal and oil, that's never going to happen.

So, yes, we have to look for other things. I do see a recognition, frankly, in the Biden administration, that the situation on the ground has changed. And all of a sudden, a lot of -- they're fumbling around trying to figure out why not to send this weapon or that weapon to the Ukrainian forces to some advantage (PH), and the bureaucratic hurdles have somehow been surpassed. So, a lot of weapons are going in now.

One thing is about the offensive weapons that you mentioned, which is, you know, giving them the ability to actually take back land. The other thing is the anti-ship weapons and the air defense weapons. We see that coming from the Brits, but not from the Americans yet, which is a problem.

And the last thing that you mentioned, the covert piece is really important because we've had intelligence sharing, but not intelligence sharing that the Ukrainians want, they're not enough. And I think that's the biggest change is that in the last week, the Biden administration turned up the volume on the intelligence sharing a bit by a lot.

NEWTON: And as you've pointed out, as well, Josh, this is a bit of a calm before a storm that could be in the coming hours or days. Josh, thanks so much, really appreciate it.

ROGIN: Anytime.

NEWTON: And this just in to CNN, Japan is unveiling additional sanctions against Russia. Japan's foreign ministry says it's freezing the assets of nearly 400 Russian citizens and that includes President Vladimir Putin's two adult daughters, and the new sanctions also target the wife and daughter of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

White House official says there was in fact a candid exchange of views about India's neutral stance on Mr. Putin's war.

Now, in a virtual meeting between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, you see it went on there but Mr. Biden did not specifically ask the Indian leader to take a side nor apparently did he receive any firm commitment from Mr. Modi to back off energy purchases from Russia. CNN's Vedika Sud is following the story for us from New Delhi. And good have you there to see the Indian perspective on all of this.

Now, India, we've said it before is the buyer of Russia's energy, but significantly also of military hardware. Is there any indication that Modi is -- that Mr. Modi is considering any change in his stand in Russia when it comes to those purchases?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Good to be with you, Paula. But let me just put that into perspective. When you talk about fuel imports, oil imports from Russia, it's less than one percent according to India.

And when it comes to military hardware purchases, it's over 50 percent that India depends on Russia for its military equipment. So, there's a huge difference really in the imports of military purchases versus that of oil.

But to sum up, the meeting between Narendra Modi and U.S. President Biden on Monday, I think the U.S. senior White House official put it very eloquently. He said there was no concrete ask and there was no concrete answer.

And that I think will be the status quo for months to come. Because India does rely on Russia, like you said, on military equipment. It does have an adversary right at its border, and that's China. And India does not want to see Russia cozying up to China any further and that's one reason it has been very neutral when it comes to its stance.

However, there has been a lot of pressure from the west when it comes to India because of the discounts reportedly offered by Russia when it comes to oil imports for India, U.S. and Europe have been asking India to stop the oil imports. But India has been very firm on its stand. And that's something that was reiterated by India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar.

Yesterday, while at the press briefing along with his U.S. counterparts and India's Defense Minister, here's what he had to say.

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SUBRAHMANYAM JAISHANKAR, INDIAN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER: If you're looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe, which probably we do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security.

But I suspect looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month will be less than what Europe does in an afternoon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:30:21]

SUD: Our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. That sums it up when it comes to India's stand on importing fuel, like I said, just less than 1 percent from Russia. America has understood that there is a line they really can't cross

with India when it comes to the relations with Russia, something that Blinken also mentioned in the press conference. They understand the deep relations that Russia and India share. They can only ask for India to go ahead and condemn the aggression of Russia and Ukraine. But can't do more than that -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, and that comment was definitely quite blunt, to put that back into perspective, in terms of where India might go in the future on all of this.

Vedika, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Still ahead for us this hour, cleaning up after the train station attack in Eastern Ukraine. People forced to find another way out before the Russian onslaught gets worse.

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[00:35:28]

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Thirty-five minutes past the hour. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv.

Now Ukraine is expecting Moscow's full-scale offensive in the Donbas region to begin anytime soon. The British defense ministry reporting continued artillery shelling by Russian forces, as Ukrainian troops repelling a number of Russian assaults.

New video shows a large column of Russian military vehicles moving towards Donbas. Ukrainian and western officials say Russian forces pulled from northern Ukraine are now re-supplying and heading east.

And the devastated port city of Mariupol is clearly in the Russian crosshairs, in an effort to link separatist-held areas with Crimea and getting civilians out of the cities in the east is proving to be difficult and deadly.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The air raid siren rings out over a scene of carnage past. In Kramatorsk's railway station, a ripped tube, discarded hat, a cane left behind.

They came to this station with only what they could carry, hoping to reach safer ground, but nearly 60 never left. Lives cut short by a missile. On it, someone scrawled in Russian, "For the children."

Four thousand people were here, waiting for a train West when the strike happened. The massacre accelerating the exodus.

(on camera): Most of the residents of Kramatorsk have left the city, having been urged to do so by local authorities. As this part of the country, the entirety of Eastern Ukraine braces for what could be a massive Russian offensive.

At the city's bus station, Nikolay, a volunteer, has been helping with the evacuation. For him, news of the pullback of Russian forces around the capital, Kyiv, was bittersweet.

NIKOLAY, VOLUNTEER (through translator): When I heard about Kyiv, that they were leaving Kyiv, I was happy. You know? But then I realized a couple seconds later that they're moving into Donbas, all their forces. I can't say that I'm scared, but I'm worrying about -- about my people, about people, about mothers, about grandparents.

WEDEMAN: Some are heading West. Others north to the town of Sloviansk, where trains still run. Oksana (ph) and a friend and their children are bound for Lviv in the far West.

"There's a lot of bombing here," says Oksana (ph). "I'm afraid for the children." The children, thankfully, still children.

A handful of adult relatives stay behind, far more aware of the danger ahead.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Sloviansk, Eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And I'll have a lot more, live from Lviv, at the top of the hour. For now, let's go back to Paula Newton, CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.

NEWTON: Thanks, John.

The U.S. believes Vladimir Putin may escalate his attempts to interfere with American elections, in response to Washington's support for Ukraine. Sources say that could mean direct attacks on election infrastructure.

So far, Russia has mainly used influence campaigns to create doubt about election legitimacy. And intelligence officials believe Mr. Putin might be willing to go further.

One official says these assessments aren't based on direct intelligence, necessarily, but on the signs of Mr. Putin's increasingly unpredictable behavior.

Just ahead here for us, one of China's largest cities begins to ease its COVID lockdown, but certain conditions remain. And it comes amid a new warning from the U.S. State Department for Americans in the region.

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[00:43:14]

NEWTON: A big jump in COVID cases is prompting Philadelphia to reinstate its indoor mask mandates starting next Monday. Now, it is the first major U.S. city to bring back the requirement. The public health commissioner says Monday's cases were more than 50

percent higher than just ten days ago.

Meantime, the Centers for Disease Control is expected to decide in the next few days whether to extend mask mandates for public transportation. New infections are up in 26 states, compared to last week.

The U.S. State Department is now ordering nonemergency personnel to lead the consulate in Shanghai, due to the surge in COVID cases and China's tough restrictions.

The city of 25 million has begun easing its COVID lockdown, dividing Shanghai into three categories. And that would be based on recent infections in each.

But frustrations there are certainly growing, with residents complaining of food, and medicine shortages because of the strict control measures.

CNN's Anna Coren is with us now from Hong Kong and has been following all of this for us for days. And you and I have discussed it, right, Anna? Perhaps they might ease up a bit.

Will this make a pronounced difference, though, in terms of the residents that are still going through so much?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, Paula, for those who have been COVID-free in neighborhoods that have been COVID- free for the last 14 days, I mean, they would be celebrating.

They are finally allowed outside their homes, out into their compounds, perhaps even out into their neighborhoods. I mean, look at this video of this woman practically dancing in the streets, celebrating her newfound freedom after being cooped up in her home for the -- for the last two weeks.

[00:45:02]

That is the case, Paula, for seven and a half thousand neighborhoods. Because officials have divided the city into three categories. So, if you've been COVID-free, the neighborhood COVID-free for 14 days, you're allowed to leave.

This partial lifting of restrictions for 2,400 neighborhoods that have been COVID-free for the past seven days. Those residents are allowed to leave their homes just to go to the grocery store.

Remember, there's been a severe shortage of food and medicine. And once they return from the grocery store, they are confined to their homes and not allowed to leave their homes.

So, only visits to the grocery stores until they are COVID-free for 14 days.

And then, of course, you have 7,600 neighborhoods, Paula, who have recorded, you know, cases. As we're saying, 23,000 cases in Shanghai today, a slight drop from yesterday. But they have recorded cases in the last seven days. That means they are not going anywhere. They are stuck in their homes.

And I spoke to a local resident from Shanghai in Pudong (ph), which is one of the hardest-hit suburbs in Shanghai. And she does not see an end in sight whatsoever. She says, "I feel like a caged animal."

I think the catch is, as well, Paula, which we really need to point out to -- to viewers, even though there might be thousands of people who might be able to go outside, might be able to go to the grocery store, if there is one positive case in that neighborhood, it goes into snap lockdown again for another 14 days until they're clear for 14 days.

I mean, we can anticipate that this cycle is just going to continue and continue and continue until they eliminate COVID in Shanghai with 25 million people.

NEWTON: Incredible, Anna. I mean, you have been warning us that there is no sign that China is ready to move along at all from its zero- COVID policy.

Anna Cohen for us, live. Appreciate it.

To France now, where the two remaining presidential candidates kicked off the final leg of their campaigns by attacking each other's economic plans.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday told potential voters in Denain, a stronghold of his rival, Marine Le Pen, that he's hurt the concerns of the rising cost of living.

And he slammed the right, to the far-right, Le Pen as a demagogue who is lying to voters.

Le Pen didn't mince words either. She blamed the centrist president for inflation and its dark clouds looming over France. Le Pen repeated her attacks, painting Mr. Macron as a member of the elite, detached from the struggles of everyday life.

People in the country of Georgia are rallying behind Ukraine, while worried that they could be Russia's next target. Why one father says the war in Ukraine made him leave Russia with this family and return to Georgia.

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NEWTON: The Russian invasion is putting Ukrainian women and children at greater risk of sexual violence and human trafficking. The head of the United Nations gender equity unit, U.N. Women, is calling for thorough investigations into these reports, as well as a gender- sensitive humanitarian response, which includes services to help with the trauma. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMA BAHOUS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, U.N. WOMEN: We are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence. These allegations must be independently investigated to ensure justice and accountability. The combination of mass displacement with the large presence of conscripts and mercenaries, and the brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians has raised all red flags.

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NEWTON: And that mass displacement she speaks of is growing larger by the day. According to the U.N., more than four and a half million refugees have now fled Ukraine.

Now, the nation of Georgia, meantime, has a lot in common with Ukraine. It, too, was ruled by the Soviet Union for decades; too has fought a war with Russia and Russian-backed separatists. And it, too, has looked at joining NATO.

CNN's Matt Rivers spoke with several people in Georgia who see the war in Ukraine and fear their country could be Moscow's next target.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gia was born in Georgia. He just didn't think he'd be back here quite yet. His family moved to Russia 30 years ago, fleeing the Georgian civil war.

It was in Moscow that they built a life, where he met his wife, Anya (ph), and where his kids were born. He has told them the truth about the horrors of the current war in Ukraine and says he worried about what would happen if one of their teachers in Russia echoed Putin's propaganda that this war is just.

GIA, RECENTLY LEFT RUSSIA WITH HIS FAMILY: He knows what's really going. And he always said, No, you are not right. And it could be trouble for him.

RIVERS (on camera): You are worried that your son would have problems?

GIA: Yes. Yes.

RIVERS: Wow.

(voice-over): So the family left for Georgia, just a few days after the war began. Although Anna isn't completely convinced that they will be safe here either.

"If no one stops Putin," she says, "he could easily go both to Georgia and to the West." And she is not alone in her fears.

Georgians have a long, brutal history with Russia. Russian troops invaded in 2008, and thousands of troops remain in two breakaway provinces of Georgia. And in 1989, in the capital of Tbilisi, nearly two dozen protesters

were killed and hundreds were injured by Soviet troops as they advocated for independence.

People gathered over the weekend outside the Parliament building in Tbilisi, to mark the anniversary of that massacre. Georgian flags this year joined by those from Ukraine, for what's now called National Unity Day.

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(on camera): It's a big day each year in Georgia, but this year, it's made even more important, given what we're seeing Russian troops do in Ukraine.

(voice-over): Decades of Russian aggression here have left deep scars, and many now see parallels between Putin's invasion of Ukraine and what they fear could happen in Georgia.

IRAKLI PAVLENISHVILI, GEORGIAN POLITICAL ACTIVIST: Russia posed a deadly threat for Georgian independence, for our territorial integrity.

RIVERS (on camera): Do you think that there's a chance that Russia could invade Georgia again?

PAVLENISHVILI: Yes. This threat is always. Every country, across Europe. Not only Georgia, is under threat.

RIVERS: Back in their apartment, Gia and his family wholeheartedly agree. They told us they don't want their children and grandchildren to grow up in what they call North Korea 2.0.

And for that, grandmother Galena (ph) says people must understand a crucial point. She says the whole world must understand that Ukraine is now really not fighting just for itself. It's fighting for everyone, and the whole world must unite and stop Putin because he won't stop with Ukraine.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Tbilisi, Georgia.

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NEWTON: And thanks for joining us. I'm Paula Newton here at CNN Center in Atlanta. We will be back with John Vause, live from Lviv, Ukraine, right after the break.

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