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Putin And Lukashenko Meeting In Eastern Russia; Nehammer Pessimistic About Chances Of Diplomacy; Ukraine Expects Full Donbas Offensive To Begin Soon; Life Under COVID Lockdown In Shanghai; Russia's "Butcher Of Syria" Taking Over In Ukraine; War Crimes Investigations Underway In Ukraine; Parliament Votes For Shehbaz Sharif As Pakistan's New PM; Ukrainian Academy In U.S. Teaches Young Children About War. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 12, 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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[01:00:28]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine. Right now, an 8-mile-long convoy of Russian troops and materiel on their way to the frontlines.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And I am at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Paula Newton. I will have our other top stories in a moment including the largest lockdown in the world. We'll take you inside Shanghai, you won't want to miss this, where residents are scrambling for the most basic necessities.

VAUSE: Ukraine bracing for a full scale Russian assault in the East. There's a heavy Russian troop presence in the south and the east of the areas here marked in red. Military analysts say Russians will try to take control of the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

And there are new images of a long column of Russian military vehicles near Russia's border with Ukraine. All of them pointing towards the direction of the Donbas. Meantime, Russian -- Ukrainian officials, I should say, still defending the besieged port city of Mariupol. That's despite recent reports suggesting Russian forces have been gaining ground.

On Monday, there were unconfirmed reports of a Russian chemical attack in Mariupol. CNN cannot independently verify that claim. And to the north, Ukraine's president says Russian troops left behind thousands, thousands of minds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Invaders left mines everywhere and the houses they took over just on the streets in the fields. They mined people's property, mined cars, doors. They deliberately did everything to ensure that the return to these areas after the occupation was as dangerous as possible. Due to the actions of the Russian army, our territory today is one of the most contaminated by mines in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: An explosions have been heard in Ukraine's second biggest city, Kharkiv as well as nearby areas. Authorities say the strikes have destroyed more than 2,000 homes in the region. CNN's Nima Elbagir is there.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You can see all around us just the sheer devastation. Right here is the crater from where a bomb was dropped just two days ago. North of here, about 25 miles away, is inside Russia. That's where the Russian positions are shelling. That's where they're throwing devastation and death into places like this in Kharkiv into civilian areas.

Most of the people who have been able to evacuate have already left the city. Those that remain have told us it's because they believe that nowhere in Ukraine is safe. They wouldn't speak on camera because they're worried what will happen when and if the Russians finally arrived. And that is what U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence officials believe is about to happen. They believe that Russian troops are amassing.

That was just a motor strike as we were talking. It's about the third or fourth that we've heard. If coming from that direction over there, we're continuing to hear strikes. Imagine what it's like to live here. Imagine what it's like to be in one of these apartments to have been unable to evacuate. Hearing that every day since this war began. Knowing that you cannot evacuate, knowing that as one woman told us, there is nowhere safe here in Ukraine.

U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence officials say that they can see Russian forces amassing just the other side of the border, some 25 miles to the north of Kharkiv. They believe that they are amassing to come here and to come here as soon as they can.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Kharkiv.

VAUSE: This hour, Vladimir Putin expected to meet with the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko has been a longtime Putin ally. Meantime, Austria's Chancellor is speaking out about his meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday, which he called very direct, open and tough. Karl Nehammer says he told Putin directly about the alleged war crimes in Bucha, as well as other places in Ukraine, and he said Putin blames the Ukrainians for all of those crimes.

Nehammer also says the Russian leader is deep in preparations for the next phase of this war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL NEHAMMER, AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR (through translation): At the moment, I'm not particularly optimistic after my talks with Mr. Putin. The offensive is being prepared with determination. We need to confront the Russian president with the facts and how we see the war. There mustn't be a vacuum with regard to the consequences of this war. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:05:12]

VAUSE: Joining me now from Singapore, Parag Khanna, former senior adviser to the U.S. Defense Department. Parag, thanks so much for being with us. On Monday, we heard from the Ukrainian President as he addressed lawmakers in Seoul. And he was blunt. He said that this war will only end by force.

At this point, is there any evidence which indicate that he's wrong? Any sign that Moscow is willing to enter into good faith negotiations to bring this war to an end?

PARAG KHANNA, FMR. SENIOR ADVISER, U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: No, there isn't. And, John, it's good to hear from you and I'm glad you're safe. And President Zelenskyy's message was very clear. It's the same message that he's been delivering for months to Western leaders as well. NATO members, E.U. members United States, that they need more supplies, more ammunition. They do need it right now.

All of your previous reporting is making clear that the Russian offensive is gaining steam for a second wind, if you will, a second set of offensive. The locations, of course, that are being targeted, that are in the crosshairs right now Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk are obviously places, especially Luhansk, and Donetsk, that have already been under sort of nominal control, a Russian-backed militias for nearly a decade at this point, let's remember.

So, and as much as the -- they've stumbled considerably, as we know, in the past month, they have a greater advantage in the second offensive. So clearly, you know, Putin is not taking the lessons away from, you know, what we would have hoped in terms of, you know, cutting his losses, pulling back, you know, sort of agreeing to some kind of settlement. That's not what's going to happen right now.

VAUSE: We also heard from the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on why the Russians are pushing on with this offensive, why they're pushing on with the military offensive, which is now focusing on the east. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translation): Our special military operation is aimed at bringing an end to the reckless expansion and the reckless driving for domination of the United States and other Western countries under their influence on a global stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So for now, it's not just about the Ukraine being a member of NATO, it's not about, you know, U.S. world domination. It seems to be changing the goalposts each day?

KHANNA: He does. I don't think we have enough time to sort of, you know, disentangle all of the ironies and, you know, all statements that Minister Lavrov has been making and continues to make. At the end of the day, again, he's planning an offensive to simply cement Russian control over territories that it aggressively took going back to 2014, including its seizure, of course, of Crimea.

So this is meant to be a ratification in a way of what has been de facto territories under their control. Quite frankly, looking at the damage they've done to -- by destroying the airport in Dnipro and the -- you know, they don't yet control Moldova. But you can imagine that with this new set of operations that they're about to begin, they still have their eyes on a very large swath of Ukraine, perhaps not even just Donbas, but it's too early to speculate on how far beyond that they would go. But clearly, if they succeed in this next phase of their operations, it could well be that they have their eyes on really quite significantly dismembering the country.

VAUSE: The chancellor of Austria was in Moscow Monday, he (INAUDIBLE) talks with Putin. A very unpleasant face-to-face meeting, it seems. And he came away with this assessment, listen to this.

NEHAMMER (through translation): 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)

VAUSE: Nehammer also went to the great lengths to point out the war crimes which are being committed in places like Bucha, Borodianka, Irpin, the list goes on. Is it possible that Vladimir Putin had no idea what his soldiers were doing on the ground that he somehow was, you know, in the dark about what was happening, but the atrocities which have been going on?

KHANNA: Oh, no, I don't think so. Because there's obviously ample evidence to suggest that they had planned for and strategically, you know, sort of taken a decision to implement such atrocities, even as much as there are units within the Russian military that have been revealing that they thought they were on a training operation. They were ill-equipped. Other elements of the Russian Armed Forces very premeditatedly went into and have committed these war crimes.

So at this point, I think the broader question is, it's -- or rather statement is that it's clear that he doesn't care, that he's committed war crimes. He's now been told by multiple Western leaders and other through various other channels that all of this constitutes war crimes and in some instances, genocide, or at least attempt genocide.

So, when they're in the midst of conflict and war and these aggressive operations the way they are, it's not their first concern to deal with the legalities. He's only brought up international law or law of any kind in terms of responding to sanctions.

[01:10:08]

Because when it comes to the freezing of central bank assets and the declarations that Russia might be defaulting on its debt, he's saying that he's going to take legal actions, financial actions against it. So that's, you know, the only aspects. In other words, he's only interested in the legal dimensions of areas that will enable him to continue to prosecute this war, nothing else.

VAUSE: Just very quickly, on those sanctions, we had the virtual meeting between Joe Biden and the Indian Prime Minister, basically saying that, you know, they're all on the same page when it comes to humanitarian efforts for Ukraine, how important is it to get India on side right now, to counter the balance of China?

KHANNA: You know, I think that in terms of optics and diplomacy, the efforts will continue to try to get China even more significantly and India as well to be less of an enabler of Russian operations and Russian energy exports, such as they have been. We know about the bilateral currency deals and other efforts.

India, I don't think he's going to play along. We've had very strong statements from current and former Indian officials, that they see this as, you know, sort of -- not that it's not their war, that it's the West war and this kind of rhetoric, but simply that, you know, if you think about a country like India that pays a very high price for energy imports, this further pushes their economy into significant current account deficit, they don't really want to have to, you know, burden their economy indefinitely with this.

So I think that there's again, diplomatic optics around trying to get India to make statements and pressure Russia, but we know that that's not going to count for anything right now.

VAUSE: Parag Khanna, probably one of the smartest people I know. So thank you for being with us. We really appreciate it.

KHANNA: Thank you, John. Stay safe, John.

VAUSE: Thank you. But Ukrainian authorities say they've completed a temporary bridge near Kyiv opening around for humanitarian aid, as well as reconstruction. This is for the suburb of Irpin, where the Russian military has left behind evidence of some incredibly intense battles after they retreated.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen shows us the devastation as well as the ongoing dangers but first a warning, his report has some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 and 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 bomb that 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.

(on-camera): 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 and the process.

(voice-over): And they've devastated scores of families. At Irpin's cemetery, the newly widowed weep at funerals for the fallen.

Ala Krakki (ph), her husband Ihor (ph) fought alongside their 21-year- old son in Irpin and died in his arms on the battlefield. Yolya Ishkortina (ph), wife of Dmitro Pascoe (ph) killed by a Russian mortar shell.

[01:15:04]

And Tetyana Bliznyok (ph), her husband Alexander Lipkin (ph) promised her he'd come back in a few hours, but was killed defending this neighborhood.

I'm very proud of him, 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 lived.

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 VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: What's next, Paula Newton at World Headquarters in Atlanta. And Paula, there will be so many more funerals in this country in the days and weeks ahead. Just one point of those landmines, it is just such an ultimate act of cowardice to landmine a civilian area by retreating army. It's just -- and that's why it's a war crime.

NEWTON: Yes. And John, look, we've spoken to arms experts who say this will be the legacy of this war, not for months or years, but for decades to come yet. John, thanks so much. We'll get back to you in a little bit.

Still to come here for us, his brutality in Syria earned him the nickname, the butcher. Now he's taking over Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. And will go to Shanghai for a firsthand account, you won't want to miss this, of life during the world's largest COVID lockdown.

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[01:20:39]

NEWTON: So after two weeks of lockdown to try and contain the coronavirus in Shanghai, there are now tentative signs of life beginning to emerge from some neighborhoods. Restrictions are now being eased in some areas with lowercase counts. And as you can see from this video shot by a resident so delightful there, showing his wife celebrating an empty street though, unfortunately. But some residents are still incredibly frustrated and angry over the government's tough control measures, which they say have led to food and medicine shortages.

As CNN's David Culver is living through the lockdown was Shanghai 25 million residents. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You'd never expect to see people in Shanghai, China's most affluent and cosmopolitan city screaming for food. We are starving. We are starving, they yell. But after weeks long COVID locked down with no promised and desperation.

One community volunteer recording the home of an elderly woman. She says neighbors heard the 90-year-old shouting help for three days, pleading for food. Her fridge empty. Volunteers were finally able to get her a meal.

China's central government now in charge of managing Shanghai's COVID outbreak. In a month's time, the daily case count went from double digits to more than 26,000. A Shanghai City leader choked up at a news conference over the weekend, apologizing to Shanghai's more than 25 million residents for failing to meet expectations and promising improvements.

Those of us living here kept to our homes. CNN, the only U.S. TV network with a team living through the lockdown. In my community, we're only allowed out when summoned by workers using a megaphone and when dark out, a flashlight.

(on-camera): Get in late evening. Now request to go get a COVID test.

(voice-over): My neighbors and I line up, ready for health workers to scan our QR codes, which length the results to our ID. Night or day, the testing is constant.

(on-camera): Someone in the community tested positive so they'll test now each of us once again.

(voice-over): We can also leave the house to line up for government distributions or to get approved deliveries. Usually the most exciting part of the day.

(on-camera): The vacuum sealed pork, and then several boxes of traditional Chinese medicines. A bunch more of facemasks. A box that has a bunch of fresh fruit. On top, they have some frozen meat and then two antigen kids.

(voice-over): Food deliveries this plentiful are rare. So most of us spend our mornings trying to order groceries online. But orders sell out quickly. Not enough delivery drivers to get through the lock down barriers. Communities like mine resorting to group bys.

We come together in chat groups and try to source food directly from suppliers in bulk. Neighbors helping neighbors is a common theme across the city. We found a safe drop spot to trade, cheese for oranges.

Our communities volunteers help us source food where they can, though they too, are exhausted and hungry. From above, you see this metropolis quiet. You're really empty. But on the ground, there are tragedy shared daily online.

This man recording his father who says he's unable to get admitted to a hospital in the strained system. His dad later died, he says.

In this video, a neighbor capturing the wailing of a heartbroken woman crying out that her loved one had died because of the lockdown. And this video sparked outrage on Chinese social media. It shows a worker in a hazmat suit brutally killing a pet Corgi because local officials worried that it might have carried the virus. The owner was in government quarantine.

All of this as a result of China's zero COVID policy, a directive from the top. President Xi Jinping on Friday praising China's zero COVID approach. State media echoing a glowing narrative, showing an orderly mobilization in Shanghai, with an abundant food supply and rapid construction of more than 100 makeshift hospitals with capacity to treat more than 160,000 people infected.

But patients take into those government quarantine centers, sharing a very different reality online, posting videos of unsanitary conditions and people using isolation facilities still under construction. Some seen frantically running a distribution sites scrambling for food and blankets.

[01:25:08]

The uncertainty leaving this man broken doing the unthinkable, questioning the leadership allowed asking, where is the Communist Party.

David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, war crimes investigations are already underway in Ukraine with survivors giving detailed and often graphic and painful accounts of what happened in their towns and cities. We will have much more on that with John Vause live from Lviv when we come back.

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[01:29:51]

VAUSE: Welcome back everybody.

Well, the Russian president Vladimir Putin turning to a notorious general known as the "butcher of Syria" to lead his invasion of Ukraine after stiff resistance humiliated Russian troops trying to capture the capital of Kyiv. Many now fear that General Aleksandr Dvornikov will usher in a brutal new phase in this war.

Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The steel-eyed new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine has a reputation U.S. officials and analysts say for barbarity in war

ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We're probably turning another page in the same book of Russian brutality.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This General Aleksandr Dvornikov, his nickname is "The Butcher".

TODD: General Aleksandr Dvornikov, 60 years old, just appointed by Vladimir Putin to direct all military operations in Ukraine. As commander of Russia's southern military district, General Aleksandr Dvornikov had been overseeing Russian troops in Ukraine's southern and eastern regions.

But it's his track record during Russia's campaign in Syria, analysts say, which earned him the nickname, "The Butcher".

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: They called a general who is known to be tough. He's known to be disciplined. And he didn't care what he hurt. He didn't care what he killed.

TODD: The Syrian army under President Bashar al Assad was not doing well in its civil war against rebel force when Putin first sent Russian troops there in 2015 to back them up. General Dvornikov was the first commander of Russia's military operations in Syria when the Russians and Syrians set their sights on the northern city of Aleppo.

The Russian and Syrian offensive against Aleppo was vicious, barrel bombs and other munitions targeted densely populated neighborhoods causing widespread civilian casualty, which analysts say Dvornikov played a major role in.

TAYLOR: This was an effort to intimidate whoever was on the receiving end of that.

TODD: But the Syrian campaign was not Dvornikov's first brush with savagery.

HERTLING: He fought in this early ranks when he was a young major lieutenant colonel in the Chechen War in Grozny.

TODD: Dvornikov was a division chief of staff and then a division commander when Russian forces fought their second campaign in Chechnya and left the regional capital Grozny in ruins.

Analysts say that Putin's appointment of Dvornikov to lead the new phase of the war eastern Ukraine is a clear signal that the war hasn't gone Russia's way.

TAYLOR: He's known to be disciplined. He's known to be -- you know, no sense of humor. He's known to be business like. He's a professional soldier, there is no doubt about that, except professional soldiers don't kill civilians.

HERTLING: I would anticipate, we're going to see a lot more attempts at trying to cower and kill civilians within Ukraine.

TODD (on camera): Military analysts and U.S. officials believe Russia's generals wants to prevent Vladimir Putin with some kind of tangible military progress in Ukraine ahead of May 9th. That is when Russia celebrates Victory Day, marking its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Can general Aleksandr Dvornikov putt pull that off? Two analysts we spoke to have serious doubts saying they don't think he has the resources to do that.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, the seven-week long offensive by the Russian military, there is no shortage of evidence of war crimes being committed in Ukraine. The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany have pledged more than $2.5 million to the International Criminal Court to help investigate and prosecute any such crimes.

And Ukraine's prosecutor general already looking at thousands of cases with the number growing each and every day.

CNN's Jake Tapper has our report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): About 90 minutes outside Lviv, at this pink school up the stairs, past the pawprints, in this grade school classroom, there is a war crimes investigation underway.

Ukraine's prosecutor-general's office has deployed teams of investigators to villages and shelters nationwide with a mission. Build a case strong enough to punish Russia in international courts.

Ukrainians who have fled their homes and are willing to testify are asked to give detailed accounts of the language, uniforms, timing and actions of those who wronged them and destroyed their lives.

IRINA LEVENKO, WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATOR (through translator): The main idea then is to officially set the status of these people as crime victims, for example because they will get their rightful compensation in the future.

TAPPER: Irina Levenko was the chief ecological prosecutor in southeastern Ukraine before the invasion. But since March 28th, she has been collecting war stories from people sheltering in the west. Even as her own village remains under Russian control.

LEVENKO: After I moved here to the relative safety in western Ukraine, I heard the call from the prosecutor general's office, that this group would be created. So I went and joined. I didn't hesitate even for a second.

[01:35:00]

TAPPER: Neither did Vasyl Shevchuk (ph) a witness from Bucha.

VASYL SHEVCHUK, FLED FROM BUCHA DISTRICT (through translator): It was important for me to tell, but also hard to tell. I'm still shaking.

TAPPER: He is a longtime paramedic who says he helped the wounded back home.

SHEVCHUK: There were people watching the equipment, moving along the street, and they were shot at.

Two people were running into a cellar and one of them was killed.

TAPPER: Shevchuk, along with his family sheltered at home for ten days.

SHEVCHUK: Me, my son and my brother, were in the house. And my wife and my daughter were in the cellar.

TAPPER: He says he had a pitchfork, ready to defend his 13-year-old daughter and 25-year-old son.

SHEVCHUK: If they came into my house, I would use the pitchfork to kill them. If I was killed, it would be easier. I don't need to see my dearests suffering from the Russians. TAPPER: His friend, in a neighboring village, was not as lucky.

SHEVCHUK: She called me on the 26th or 27th of February. She has a mentally ill, disabled son who went out on the street to look at the tanks and machines and they just shot him dead.

NATALIA, TESTIFIED IN WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION (through translator): How many people died? Who knows how many will die?

TAPPER: 63-year-old Natalia is a retiree from Kharkiv, who testified today, about the brutality she witnessed by Russian soldiers.

NATALI: I can't say a good word about these people. I can't even call them people. Maybe they have no brains at all. I don't know what they're thinking and how their mothers are bring them up and giving meat (ph) to this war.

TAPPER: She says she sheltered in her basement for six days. The windows have been blown out of her house and her sister is dead.

NATALIA: She had a heart attack in the cellar, where she was hiding, because of the big stress.

TAPPER: Still, Natalia is not sure her story or any reparation for it means much.

NATALIA: How can they be punished? I don't think that they will be punished severely. Only God can punish them. What they have done, it cannot be repaid by any money.

TAPPER: By now most have seen horrific images of war crimes on CNN and other news outlets. But there is much more too horrifying to show and much more news media have not seen that is being added into evidence.

With a click, witnesses can upload videos and photos to this Web site created by the prosecutor-general's office of Ukraine. The interviews however are done in person.

LEVENKO: People often cry during their questionings and so on. And it is much easier for the person who is in the same room, to connect to the people being questioned. And to find a better line of investigation.

TAPPER: The sad truth? This part of the world has a lot of experience when it comes to such prosecutions.

(on camera): Lviv University, in fact, is the alma mater of the two lawyers who came up with the legal concept of prosecutions at Nuremberg for genocide and for crimes against humanity.

In fact, one of those former law students here (INAUDIBLE) was working with the Allied Powers in 1942 preparing for these prosecutions, at the same time members of his family here in Lviv were being rounded up and killed because they were Jewish.

(voice over): Those ideas and laws hammered out between U.S., British and Soviet powers to go after Nazi crimes, will now be used to go after the grandchildren of those Soviets.

SHEVCHUK: I call Russians cockroaches now and I want to destroy these cockroaches. I want to crush them forever.

TAPPER: Vasyl says he would join the military if he could.

SHEVCHUK: I would fight, but my eyesight is minus nine. I wouldn't see.

TAPPER: Instead he's giving the court a clearer view of what the Russians have done.

SHEVCHUK: Yes, I can't help any other way.

TAPPER: Jake Tapper, CNN -- Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'll have a lot more from Ukraine at the top of the hour, but for now, let's hand it back to Paula Newton live at CNN's World Headquarters in Atlanta.

And it's just an incredible thing how meticulous ridiculous these records are that everything that has happened here. I guess what the end result of that will be, I guess, we'll just have to wait.

NEWTON: Yes. And the fact that they are already at it though.

John, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

We are following, as well, a politically tumultuous week in Pakistan. The country's new prime minister is taking office just 24 hours after leading the campaign to oust his predecessor.

We'll take a look at the challenges facing Shehbaz Sharif.

[01:39:23]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: A struggling economy is the top priority for Pakistan's new prime minister. Shehbaz Sharif is calling for unity after an incredibly dramatic week which saw his predecessor ousted from office.

CNN's Sophia Saifi has more details on Pakistan's new leader and his challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A political whirlwind in Pakistan. On Monday, Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as the country's new prime minister just a day after his predecessor, Imran Khan, lost a no-confidence vote.

It was a dramatic start for the new leader in which more than 100 lawmakers, loyal to Khan, resigned in protest. Despite the chaos, Sharif vowed to begin his term by tackling yet another problem in the country, the economy.

SHEHBAZ SHARIF, PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: At this point in time, only the poor man is devastated and destroyed. I will provide some relief to them on behalf of this coalition government. And would like to say that at the very least, we will raise the minimum wage to 25,000 rupees.

SAIFI: Sharif blames Khan for mismanaging the economy and led calls for a no confidence vote against him after urging him to resign.

[01:44:51]

SAIFI: Just over a week ago, Khan announced, he was dissolving parliament and calling for early elections to avoid the vote. But that move was struck down by the country's highest court.

And on Sunday, there were loud cheers in parliament after Khan lost the high stakes political battle.

SARDAR AYAR SADIQ, ACTING PAKISTANI NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: The resolution for vote of no confidence against Mr. Imran Khan, the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been passed.

SAIFI: Sharif is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption charges in 2018. But later left the country for medical treatment, after serving only a brief part of his prison sentence.

The new prime minister is set to have support in the Pakistani military, which had distanced itself from Khan. Sharif also has allies in China after playing an influential role in a multi-billion dollar deal between the two countries and says he wants to improve relations with the west.

Khan remains defiant after his defeat and says the U.S. is behind his downfall which Washington denies. He also says he would not support an opposition government if it succeeded in ousting him.

IMRAN KHAN, FORMER PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I will not accept an imported (ph) government. I will go out to my people. I do not belong to a political family. Neither my father, nor any relative, was in politics.

SAIFI: Thousands of Khan's supporters have been protesting in major cities around the country. Yet another challenge for Pakistan's new leader on this dizzying first day in office.

Sophia Saifi, CNN -- Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And coming up for us, CNN visits a pre-school and daycare where children are already getting a sobering lesson on war and peace in Ukraine.

[01:46:45] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: UNICEF says, nearly two thirds of all Ukrainian children -- think about that -- two thirds have been displaced since the start of the Russian invasion. Nearly half of the more than 3 million children are believed to still be inside the country. They may not have enough food.

On Monday, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, read a letter published a few days ago. He told the Security Council, the letter was written by a nine-year-old boy to his dead mother. The ambassador says she was killed by Russian troops when they tried to escape their town by car. He says the boy stayed in that car until local residents rescued him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGIY KYSLYTSYA, UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Thank you for the best nine years of my life. Many thanks for my childhood. You are the best mother in the world. I will never forget you.

I wish you good luck in the heavens. I wish you to get to paradise. I will try to behave well to get to paradise too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: I know it was tough for him to get to that letter. And now at a private daycare and preschool here in the United States many of the children and their parents, were in fact born in Ukraine. And because of the conflict they are being taught a lesson already about war and peace.

CNN's Gary Tuchman went there to Parma Heights, Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is called the Ukrainian Academy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good afternoon everyone.

CHILDREN: Good afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So today, we are going to speak about war and peace.

TUCHMAN: In the Cleveland suburb of Parma Heights, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you raise your hands if you have grandparents in Ukraine?

TUCHMAN: Almost all of their parents were born in Ukraine and many of these children were also born there.

This is a private preschool, daycare as well as an after school program for children ages six months to 12 years. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are we in just a state of peace, or are we in a

state of war in this country?

CHILDREN: Peace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Peace. What about Ukraine?

CHILDREN: War.

TUCHMAN: The feeling here is although what's happening in Ukraine is frightening, it is important for these children to learn about it and talk about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can you say about soldiers in Ukraine? How do you feel about them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are brave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are brave, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just tell people about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If someone comes to your house and starts to destroying it, taking your stuff, you know, would you be happy about that?

CHILDREN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think this is right?

CHILDREN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When another country like come into another country and take their stuff and bombing, do you think this is right?

CHILDREN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who came to Ukraine?

CHILDREN: Russia.

TUCHMAN: The teachers ask how the children are feeling about all of this.

CHILDREN: Worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Worried?

CHILDREN: Scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scared? What other words is war? How can we describe the war?

CHILDREN: Sadness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sadness. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My family, well, are, very scared for my great grandma, my relatives that are also in war. And it's very anxious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope Ukraine wins. Because some Russia people are good and say stop to the other Russia who's being bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not all the Russian people are bad, right? There are some people who just say no war, please stop. They're asking the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It is not because of the Russian people, it is because of the president. He's greedy and trying to take over the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your dream? What would you dream about right now, if you are thinking about Ukraine?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another president of Russia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another president of Russia? Ok.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dream is that every single family has peace in it. That war has never happened.

[01:54:59]

TUCHMAN: Roman and Halyna Dutka are the owners of the academy.

(on camera): Do you think your students here are now prouder to be Ukrainian American, than even before this war?

ROMAN DUTKA, OWNER, UKRAINIAN ACADEMY: Yes. I think they are proud about their roots, that they're Ukrainians, and about Ukrainian standing strong.

HALYNA DUTKA, OWNER, UKRAINIAN ACADEMY: Standing together.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Before we say goodbye to the students, I get to talk with them a bit.

(on camera): If you have superpowers, what would you do if you had superpowers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Save the good people.

TUCHMAN: Save the good people? That's what you would do as super woman?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And like make the house fly into the air.

TUCHMAN: Make the house fly into the air?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Fly too safety?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: The laughter of children who have a lot on their minds.

(on camera): The children here are also learning about charitable giving. They and their families have donated huge amounts of food, clothing, medical supplies. The owners of the academy took the donations, flew to Poland themselves, drove to the border and those supplies are now in Ukraine.

But more supplies and donations are coming in. That is why this truck container is here. The donations are inside. As it fills up, the owners will take them out, and again take a plane to Poland, and deliver to Ukraine.

This is Gary Tuchman, CNN -- in Parma Heights, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: It's a tragedy those kids have to learn about any of that at this moment.

I am Paula Newton. I will see you right back here tomorrow.

Our breaking news coverage continues with John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine and Rosemary Church here at CNN Center.

[01:56:35]

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