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Ukraine: At Least Seven Killed In Russian Strikes On Lviv; Ukraine: Russian Offensive In East Now Underway; Ukrainian Officials: Russian Missiles Strikes Hit Karamatorsk; Judge Voids U.S. Mask Mandate For Planes And Other Travel; Dozens Of Cities In China Under Full Or Partial Lockdown. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 19, 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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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause live in Lviv, Ukraine. And what could be the start of a definitive battle for Ukraine, the long awaited Russian military offensive in the eastern Donbass region appears to be underway with a surge in fighting across the frontline, which stretches for hundreds of miles.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Paula Newton at CNN's World Headquarters in Atlanta, where masks are now optional throughout the United States on board planes, trains and buses, after a judge strikes down a public transit mandate.

VAUSE: For weeks, Ukrainian, U.S., NATO officials have warned the Russians were preparing for a renewed military offensive in the east. Now, it seems the battle for the Donbass region has begun.

According to Ukraine's top security official, a 300-mile long frontline stretching across the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions came under attack by Russian forces Monday, for the most part, that defensive line held.

The city of Rubizhne in western Luhansk was repeatedly hit by artillery, igniting fires across the city. Heavy smoke filling the skyline.

A senior U.S. defense official says Moscow may have changed tactics after suffering humiliating defeats in the North. The Pentagon believes 76 Russian battalion tactical groups have been deployed in the south and the east. 11 added in the last few days. Each BTG consists of up to 800 Troops, which means tens of thousands of Russian soldiers.

But Ukraine's president says despite being outnumbered and outgunned, his country will not give up the fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russian forces have started the battle for Donbass for which they've been preparing for a long time and a considerable amount of the Russian forces are concentrated and focused on that offensive.

No matter how many Russian servicemen they're bringing in into that area, we will keep on fighting and defending and we will be doing this daily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And new images from Mariupol weeks of heavy fighting have decimated the port city. The Russians now in near total control. Well, the last bastions of Ukraine's defense in Mariupol is sprawling steel factory on the Azov Sea. A Ukrainian commander in the city says hundreds of civilians have been sheltering there as well. He says Russian forces are aware of their presence, and they're firing on the plant anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. DENYS PROKOPENKO, COMMANDER, AZOV REGIMENT (through translator): Right now in Mariupol at the Azov steel factory, hundreds of civilians are sheltering. Among them are children of all ages, women, the elderly, and the families of Mariupol defenders, they are sheltering in their basements and bunkers from the Russian world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And as this war enters a deadly new stage, U.S. President Joe Biden expected to hold a call with allies in the coming hours to discuss continued support for Ukraine, as well as efforts to try and hold Russia accountable.

Here in western Ukraine, the city of Lviv has been a relative safe harbor from this war, but Russian missile strike shattered that sense of security Monday.

Video captured one missile streaking across the sky on its way to its target. Ukrainian officials believe at least four struck Lviv, killing at least seven people, injuring 11 others. Details noc from CNN's Matt Rivers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lviv has largely been spared the horrors of this war which made the black smoke in Monday's skies so unusual here.

We chased one such plume until we arrived at its source. Flames shooting out two of buildings as firefighters rain water down from above.

[00:05:07] RIVERS: Ukrainian officials say at least four missile strikes across Lviv on Monday morning, three of which hit military infrastructure sites. Another hitting just across these railroad tracks behind me. Let me show you the impact crater from where Ukrainian official say that Russian missile struck.

Military and first responders on the scene quickly thereafter. The explosion destroying an auto repair shop. And a dozen or so cars lined up outside. The explosion shock waves blew out windows, more than 500 feet away.

Mariya Holovchak (PH) showed us her building's damage. I got very scared, she says, and I was scared the whole building was going to fall down. I don't know whether I should stay here in this building or if I should move to Poland and flee for my life.

Overall, the four strikes across the city killed at least seven people and injured about a dozen, including a child. Here scenes from a hospital treating victims of the strike who survived. Other victims in body bags outside the repair shop where they worked.

The owner says they were just getting ready to open up the business for the day when the missile struck. Four of his employees, he says, were killed and several others were sent to the hospital. And that what appears to be such an obvious nonmilitary target, it begs the question, was this a mistake by the Russian military, or was this place targeted on purpose?

The owner told us the only vague connection his shop had to the military was volunteering time to make sure cars being sent to soldiers at the front were in good shape. For him, this is just another example of Russian military brutality.

He says they destroy our infrastructure. They kill people. They want to kill and destroy the Ukrainian nation.

Several of those who died have families with young children. So, instead of leaving work to go home and see them, their bodies were taken to the morgue, more victims in a needless war.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me now, Daniel Davis, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. Served 21 years of active service. He's now a Senior Fellow and Military Expert for Defense Priorities, a Washington based think tank.

Colonel, good to see you again.

We have this offensive in the eastern now appears to be underway. What are the key indicators in the coming days that you'll be looking for that the Ukrainians are holding their own? What would entail perhaps they're in trouble? LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS (RET.), SENIOR FELLOW AND MILITARY EXPERT, DEFENSE PRIORITIES: Yes, what's going to -- what we can expect versus what we've started to see really today, and that is a saturation bombing, that Russia historically will saturate an area with artillery, with rocket fire and with air power. And those are the key things that they're going to use to "soften up" some of the targets.

Although, along this very long line here, Russia only known to Russia, they have selected probably several points where they're going to try to make penetrations in. And so, one of the first things that we'll see is after this softening up here, which could be anywhere from one to three days is that then, some of this Russian armor that you just referred to, will probably try to start making a breakthrough, their intent would be to break through the frontlines, then get into the rare areas and causes much havoc as they can and potentially cordoned off certain parts of the -- of the Ukraine forces and then try to destroy them in piecemeal.

What we'll look for if the Ukraine's are successful is if they will prevent those penetrations and be able to use their local counter attacks with an in depth of the defensive positions. So, if they make a penetration, they're able to hit it in the flank and cut it off quickly. And that's really going to be the key to how this battle unfolds.

VAUSE: During his nightly address, the Ukraine's president spoke about the missile strikes and the air attacks over the past 24 hours, here he us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): The Russian army is not slowing down the use of missiles against Ukraine, they are pressuring, looking for a weak spot in defense of our state to find an inner there with the main forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, essentially confirming, you know, what you've been saying. But he also added that he believed that because of international sanctions, Moscow may have some trouble resupplying those missiles and then, going through them at quite a rate. How do you see it?

DAVIS: Well, without a question, because it takes a long time, even without sanctions to replenish those missiles because it takes often months to make a new one.

So, there's no doubt that the inventory continues to go down. But that's when you're going to see an increase of use in heavy artillery, which they can make really just thousands and thousands of rounds without too much difficulty. And in the airpower with the so-called dumb bombs, just to you know, call it saturation bombings.

They'll keep those precision guided missions for the high value targets. And unfortunately, I don't think that they're that short of them right now because they've been preparing for this for quite some time.

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VAUSE: The airstrikes here in Lviv about 24 hours ago targeted military installations we're told, but also damaged rail lines. Is there any assessment of how badly damaged these rail lines are and the impact that could have on transporting heavy military aid from the U.S. and NATO allies? Because they're also claiming a shipment of U.S. weapons was destroyed during one of those strikes.

DAVIS: That's exactly right. And that is the big concern, because to really to have a good chance to hold on, Ukraine is going to have to have a lot of these heavy weapons, whether it's tanks, heavy artillery, or long range missile systems, and infantry fighting vehicles, armored vehicles, they've got to have those, we just provided a bunch, several other countries that NATO countries have provided them too.

The problem is, those things can't just be driven there, they have to be put on either rail cars, or heavy equipment transports on the road. And there's only three bridges over the Dnieper River right now that are up and if Russia takes any of those bridges out, it will make it very, very difficult to get through.

And we already know that Russia has been hitting specific spots on the rails and to disrupt those forces from getting through it.

If they continue to do that, that's going to make it very difficult, no matter how much equipment we give them for it to actually get up to the fight.

VAUSE: Very quickly, you have an op-ed out to CNN.com right now, it's worth a read. You say the main goal for Putin appears less to be the capture of geographic territory in the Donbass than it does the destruction of Ukrainian Armed Forces defending in the East.

Militarily, that looks like a far more attainable objective than the initial target of Kyiv.

We're talking about 40,000, at least to the best trained combat proven Ukrainian fighters. That's the goal for the Russian offensive, why not just pull them back to safer Ukrainian territory?

DAVIS: Well, that's what we actually argued several weeks ago, I still think that Ukraine probably needed to have a plan to where they would fight what's called a fighting withdrawal to where you continue to exact price on the -- on the attackers, but you have pre-planned fallback lines to where you have defensible positions so that you don't get flanked.

And it appears that Ukraine has chosen that they're going to stay in the defensive positions and just see if they can hold out. That's an option. I would have done it if I was in charge, but we'll see how it works out. Maybe they probably know more than I do.

VAUSE: We'll see. Colonel, thank you so much, sir, we appreciate your time. Appreciate you being with us.

DAVIS: Thank you.

VAUSE: Well, Kramatorsk, one of the cities in eastern Ukraine hit by Russian missile strike over the past 24 hours, there at the Donetsk region says at least eight residential buildings were destroyed, as well as educational infrastructure facilities. And the artillery shelling along the frontline lasted throughout the night.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has more now from this once bustling city, which is now practically deserted.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The playgrounds are empty. There no children here. The pigeons indifferent to the air raid siren and so it would seem, are the people.

I close my ears when I'm walking around, says Nicolay (PH), because it's all the time. As fighting flairs to the east, north and south, the few residents left in Kramatorsk carry on.

The train station seen ten days ago of a Russian missile strike that left almost 60 dead is closed. Trains don't come here anymore. The buses, oddly enough, still run.

A deep hole marks where overnight a Russian missile struck. There were no injuries this time. Nearby, signs of an earlier bombing.

After almost two months of war, Konstantine (PH) is fatalistic. I'm not suicidal, he says, but as long as other people stay here, I'll stay here.

Kramatorsk's Mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko is blunt about the perils his city faces.

OLEKSANDR GONCHARENKO, MAYOR OF KRAMATORSK, UKRAINE: It's not safe. It's dangerous in each part of the city. They can be attacked in every place of the city.

WEDEMAN: Alisa and her husband stroll through the city's main square.

ALISA, KRAMATORSK RESIDENT: It's very bad and terrible, but we want to live in Ukraine.

WEDEMAN: For now, they have most of their city to themselves.

Under normal circumstances on a mild spring evening here in the main square in Kramatorsk, there would be lots of people here. Now, it's just me and the pigeons.

Curfew approaches and dogs abandoned by their owners roam the empty streets of an almost empty city.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kramatorsk, Eastern Ukraine.

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VAUSE: We will take a short break. When we come back, in the United States a court has ended the mask mandate for public transportation a cause of jubilation for some, concern for others. We'll have more on the response from the White House when we come back.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, no more mask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Many are still stunned by the way that went down. U.S. airline passengers learned the mask mandate is no longer in effect.

Now, a federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration's mandate, saying the Centers for Disease Control exceeded its authority, had not sought public comment and didn't adequately explain its decisions.

Now, the mandate had applied to airlines trains and other forms of public transportation.

Several major airlines immediately made masks optional. You see a list there and some warned enforcement might be inconsistent because the announcement was unexpected.

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NEWTON: Pete Muntean picks it up from there.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This was one of the last major mask mandates to remain in place. The federal transportation mask mandate was slated to end in two weeks on May 3rd. Now, by order of a U.S. district judge in Florida, Catherine Kimball Mozelle, she says that goes beyond the CDC's authority. And now, the White House has confirmed that the transportation mask mandate is no longer in effect, pending a federal review.

This was required on planes, trains, buses, boats, and in terminal starting in February 2021. Not long after President Joe Biden took office, it was extended to March 18th, then April 18th, then an extension to May 3rd.

Now, we know that this is going away. And we have heard from airlines like Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines that they will follow through with this order, essentially making it so that passengers and employees can wear masks only if they want to.

We will see as this pans out if there is any pushback from the Biden administration or any appeal.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN Legal Analyst Areva Martin joins me now from Los Angeles, really good to see you. And have you weigh in on this? Took a lot -- a lot of people by surprise today even on flights in the air. Legally, what does it mean and why now?

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, it's really confusing, Paula, because for the last several months, you know, many months, the CDC has told us that masks were required for travel and that masks were a form of mitigation to slow the spread of COVID-19. And now all of a sudden, this judge, this one judge sitting in a federal court in Florida, judge who hasn't even been on the bench a good two years has made this sweeping ruling that literally, you know, within an instance changes the way we will travel.

And the Biden administration has said it's not clear in terms of what it's going to do if it's going to file an appeal. And I think that just creates even more confusion.

Because if we are to believe that this mask mandate was necessary to lessen the transmission of COVID-19, it's really unexplainable as to why the Biden administration won't challenge it. I recognize that it was due to expire in a couple of weeks. But I'm concerned that this ruling sets a precedent and says that the CDC and presidential administration cannot enact decisions like this mask mandate, even in the face of a public health crisis. So, I think there's some bigger issues here that need to be looked at.

NEWTON: And I'm so glad that you brought that up, because in general, they had this judge who's decided that the CDC couldn't do this. It's not like the judge had decided, well, from a public health perspective, we don't need this anymore. It was completely different in terms of the legal ruling.

MARTIN: Absolutely. She said that the basically the mask mandate in its entirety has been illegal from its inception. She said that this Procedural Act was not filed, that public comment wasn't allowed to take place. And that by violating this procedural rule, this this law, this procedural X law, that the mask mandate basically should have never gone into place.

And now, that flies in the face of what other federal courts have said, even the Supreme Court and definitely flies in the face of what the public health officials have been telling us for months and months about the need to wear mask as we travel through crowded airports and crowded train stations.

So again, I just think this, you know, just really arose the public trust in the CDC and the administration, if it does not challenge this ruling.

NEWTON: Not to mention, I just had the confusion with the legal system.

Now, Andy Slavitt, is a former adviser to President Biden on COVID had this reaction on CNN earlier, I want you to listen to it with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE SENIOR ADVISER: This is kind of a victory for mob rule. This has been a huge burden on flight attendants who've had to enforce what had been a very small number of very loud and uncivil folks who have basically said, you know, I dare you to enforce this mask mandate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, if a HIPAA is up a lot of what you were alluding to earlier, but also the other issue is with flight attendants. TSA workers have any legal grounds themselves to appeal this because it could compromise their health.

MARTIN: I think we may see lots of lawsuits. And the question is probably who files first because it's not clear, as I said that the Biden administration is going to challenge this.

But I agree with what Andy said, basically, this is a decision made for maybe the convenience of those that have to enforce this rule. Maybe it's a business decision. But it flies in the face of what we've been told in terms of what the public health experts say was the necessity of the mask mandate.

And that's what has people so confused. Are these rules being eliminated because it's in the best interest of businesses? Or is it in the best interest of the public?

And if the Biden administration again, doesn't challenge this rule, I think that just adds to that confusion and adds to the sense that we can't trust that these are rules that are being decided to keep us safe versus to promote big business.

[00:25:10]

NEWTON: Yes, and as you said, the domino effect of that could be quite profound. Areva Martin for us. Thanks so much, appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thanks, Paula.

NEWTON: Now, dozens of Chinese cities are under full or partial lockdown as authorities there are trying to curb the spread of COVID- 19 under the country's strict zero COVID strategy.

But in increasing shortage of food, medicine, other critical supplies due to disrupted supply chains, is fueling growing problems and public frustration.

CNN's Steven Jiang is following the story from Beijing. And Steven, you guys have been bringing us the story day after day with residents looking for relief being incredibly frustrated. What's the latest from there now?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Paula, the grim reality as millions of people across China including the 25 million or so residents in Shanghai, continue to be sealed in their homes, many of them facing shortage of food and supplies despite repeated government pledges to improve distribution channel.

Now, one of the latest controversies comes in the form of video showing workers dumping a large amount of perfectly looking vegetables that were intended to be sent to Shanghai residents in desperate need of groceries.

Local officials later insisted that those vegetables had rotten inside and had to be disposed of. And another rather disturbing development in Shanghai is the authorities there are now further tightening the regulations in terms of sending all positive cases and their close contacts into a government run isolation wards with no more exceptions.

So, that has meant a growing number of senior citizens, some of them in their 90s being forcibly taken out of their -- out of their homes and being sent to those facilities that are often in very crowded and primitive conditions.

But this is not just happening in Shanghai, as we mentioned, this is actually happening across China, because of the lockdown measures are being enforced in many places. Some of them only have one or several cases.

And in at least one instance, a city not far from Beijing, authorities locked down their entire city when there were no cases at all. They later explained they were doing that in preparation for city wide mass testing.

So, this is really in a way reaching a level of absurdity according to many outside observers. But the reason, of course, is also very clear, because the central leadership here has made clear zero COVID is here to stay. And this is according to them still the best way to protect people's health and to avoid all the deaths and destructions caused by COVID in the West.

And that's why for many local officials, this has become a political test of assault, if you will. The lesson they have drawn from what's going on in Shanghai is when it comes to lock downs, you have to do it early, you have to do it big instead of how almost impossible it is to contain Omicron given its highly contagious nature with those measures.

But at the end of the day, Paula, as you know, this is a country run by now an increasingly powerful leader and he has put his personal approval -- stamp of approval on this policy, so we are now going to see local officials change course anytime soon, Paula.

NEWTON: No, in fact, they seem to be doubling down on it. Steven Jiang for us in Beijing. Thanks so much. Now, we will head back to Ukraine after a short break as CNN visits an

eastern city directly in the line of fire and Russia begins the battle for the Donbass region. What the locals think of Putin there?

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Why can't they stop this one idiot? If they will send me, I will shoot him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause, live in Lviv, Ukraine. Just gone 32 minutes past the hour.

[00:33:08]

We're following breaking news from the war here, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces have started the battle for the Donbas region. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting for control of Ukraine's industrial heartland since 2014. Cities like Sloviansk are key to establishing a land corridor from the Donbas to the Crimea peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed eight years ago.

We have more now from CNN's Clarissa Ward.

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Sloviansk, an ardent prayer from worshippers under the shadow of Russia's war: "We ask for your mercy, Lord. Please hear us."

They have gathered here for Orthodox Palm Sunday, carrying willows instead of palms, per the Orthodox tradition. It's supposed to be a celebration of Jesus's return to Jerusalem. But there is little joy in this congregation.

Ukrainian officials say this city will be a decisive battleground in Russia's imminent offensive in the Donbas region. The streets are getting emptier as the fighting gets closer. Those still here are being urged to leave.

The air-raid siren is an unrelenting wail.

(on camera): You can't hear it, because the sirens are so loud, but we've heard a steady stream of booms coming from that way, in the distance.

But as you can see, people here are just used to it.

(voice-over) The children continue to play. The adults try to stay strong. This group is awaiting an evacuation bus to the safety of Western

Ukraine. Raisa (ph) tells us she's taking her grandchildren to Lviv. Their mother died three years ago.

[00:35:04]

"You hear what's happening here," she says. "My husband's still at home. His health isn't good enough to make the journey."

Her granddaughter offers some support. "Oh, Grandma," she says. "I love you." Anna Stepanova (ph) is full of anguish that the international

community has failed to rein in Putin.

"When they show the children killed, I can't. I cry," she says. Why can't they stop this one idiot? If they will send me, I will shoot

him."

Seven weeks into this ugly war, there is no end in sight. Pavel (ph) is saying goodbye to his wife Olga (ph). She doesn't want to let go of him.

Scenes of separation that have become all too familiar. "Everything will be OK," the organizer tells her, comforting words that mask a grim reality.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: That's CNN's Clarissa Ward, reporting there from Sloviansk in Ukraine.

Well, images on social media seem to support Ukraine's claim that the Russian warship Moskva was hit by two anti-ship missiles. A short video clip shows a huge plume of smoke billowing from the ship as it lists to one side.

And a photo shows large black holes on the port side of the vessel, just above the waterline. Notably, the jagged edges are pointing inwards, not outwards, which would have been indicative of an internal explosion.

All but one of the life rafts has been deployed. Russia's flag ship missile cruiser sank in the Black Sea last week.

One other point here. Moscow claims that the cruiser went down during a storm. As you can see by these images, there was no storm.

I'll have a lot more from Lviv at the top of the hour. But for now, let's head back to CNN's world headquarters and Paula -- Paula Newton.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Thanks so much, John.

Now, the Israeli military says one of its fighter jets struck a Hamas weapons manufacturing site in Gaza Monday night.

The Israeli Defense Forces say it's in response to a rocket fired from Gaza into Israel earlier in the day. The IDF say the rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.

Tensions in the region have been escalating for weeks now. Monday's rockets were the first fired toward Israel in months.

And a football superstar suffers a terrible loss. Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner issue a message about their late newborn son. We'll have the details when we come back.

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NEWTON: The president of South Africa says his government has declared a national state of disaster after floods, mudslides, and extreme weather devastated parts of the country.

A week of torrential rains have left thousands homeless, more than 440 people dead, and dozens still missing. Ten thousand troops are helping with the rescue missions and providing medical support.

CNN's Zain Asher has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rescue team on a mission to find a woman missing since torrential rains swept through parts of South Africa. These zero in on the river. It's where locals say they found the remains of other victims.

MBUKENI KHWELA, HERDSMAN (through translator): We are here looking for our neighbor, who was swept away by the river. We are sure she was swept by the river because we have found her son, but we haven't found her.

ASHER: It's just one of several sad operations underway in and around Durban, where emergency workers probe the banks of rivers, and sniffer dogs comb through piles of debris to try to find dozens of people still unaccounted for.

One relief official, who just returned from the area, says he hasn't seen this kind of flooding in decades.

DR. MICHAEL CHARLES, HEAD OF CLUSTER DELEGATION FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA, IFRC: They've lost everything. And they've seen their houses been swept away. they've seen their livelihood been swept away. And, you know, the situation is really quite dire.

ASHER: Officials say 10,000 troops have been activated to provide support for rescue missions, as well as to help clean up and bring aid to the more than 40,000 people left homeless from the floods.

Disaster management workers and volunteers are packing water and other supplies to deliver to communities without clean water and power.

Some places are already getting help, now that floodwaters have receded in some areas. But authorities in the Kwazulu-Natal province say many roads and bridges are damaged or washed away.

The devastation is so widespread South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: This is a humanitarian disaster that calls for a massive and urgent relief effort. The lives, health and well-being of thousands of people are still at risk.

ASHER: With dry weather expected, officials hope to get a better look at the scale of destruction and begin the long process of recovery.

Zain Asher, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Police in Sweden have arrested 26 people, and more arrests are expected after a weekend of violent riots and protests over Koran burnings.

Now, the clashes broke out across several cities. Forty people were injured, including police and protesters. The violence was triggered by a far-right group's burning of a Koran.

Several Arab countries condemned the burnings.

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner are mourning the loss of their newborn son. Now, they announced his death on Monday, along with the birth of his twin sister.

CNN's Don Riddell has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS: Just the most awful news coming out of England on Monday night, where the Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo announced that his baby boy had died.

The Portuguese forward, who scored the 50th hat trick of his club career at the weekend, posted a statement on social media that he cosigned with his partner, Georgina Rodriguez.

They said, quote, "It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. It is the greatest pain that any parent can feel. Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness. We would like to thank the doctors and nurses for all their expert care and support. We are devastated at this loss, and we kindly ask for privacy at this very difficult time. Our baby boy, you are our angel. We will always love you."

Ronaldo is one of the greatest football players of all time. He's one of the most marketable athletes anywhere on the planet. And there was an outpouring of emotion and support on social media immediately after the statement was posted.

His love of this family is very well known. He often poses with his son, Cristiano Jr. He currently plays for the Manchester United academy. His twins Eva and Mateo and another daughter, Alana Martina, they must all be hurting so painfully right now.

Ronaldo would have been expected to start for United on Tuesday in a crucial Premier League game against one of their biggest rivals, Liverpool.

The Liverpool Club has itself experienced terrible tragedy. They just marked another anniversary of the Hillsboro Stadium disaster.

Ronaldo's sad announcement will surely overshadow anything that happens at Anfield. Remember, football is just a game.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Just ahead here for us, one Ukrainian family was forced to go to Russian to flee the fighting in their city. Find out how a relative arranged for them to be reunited in Poland.

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[00:51:02]

NEWTON: A U.N. deputy has issued a grim assessment on the prospects for any sort of truce in Ukraine. The conflict has killed more than 2,000 civilians. That's according to the U.N. But it's, of course, believed to be that the true death toll is much higher, especially in places like the besieged city of Mariupol, where people are desperate to escape. Listen.

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MARTIN GRIFFITHS, U.N. UNDER SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: Cease-fires weren't -- they're not there -- they're not on the horizon right now, but they may be in a couple of weeks. They may be a little bit longer than that.

And it will all depend on two things. The war, of course, where that's going. Your guess is as good as mine. And the talks.

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NEWTON: OK, some 5 million people have fled the fighting in Ukraine so far, and more than 7 million others are internally displaced.

Now, as their homes and families, of course, come under attack, some Ukrainians are forced to do the unthinkable. That's flee to the country that's bombing them, Russia.

The thought of their loved ones being trapped in enemy territory can be a terrifying prospect for relatives safe in the West. Salma Abdelaziz reports on how one woman had to deal with smugglers to get her family out of Russia.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mila Turchyn does not trust the man she's about to meet. He is a smuggler. She is anxious, looking for her mom and sister, hoping they are here.

MILA TURCHYN, UKRAINIAN AMERICAN VOLUNTEER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ABDELAZIZ: It's Vida (ph), her sister. Brief joy, but there's no time to hug her mom. The smuggler wants to be paid now.

TURCHYN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ABDELAZIZ: Five hundred U.S. dollars for the pair, much more than most families fleeing war can afford.

We pull away with her mom, Luba. We don't want our presence to cause problems.

Away from our camera, Mila (ph) is extorted for more cash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Hell. It was pure hell.

ABDELAZIZ: Getting to safety is dangerous. This is the story of one family's escape into Russia after its troops bombed and occupied their city.

They are from Izium, a city under siege. Mila's (ph) phone was filled with videos like this. Living in Cleveland, Ohio, she had no way to call her family, no way to find out if they were alive.

(on camera): So this is your room.

(voice-over): We first met Mila (ph) a day earlier at this refugee shelter where she volunteers.

TURCHYN: Somebody saw that a missile actually hit my backyard, and I was crying so bad. I just didn't know, maybe they're dead or maybe there.

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): How did you deal with that?

TURCHYN: I came to Poland to take that energy and convert it into something.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): She finally got a call, but it was not from Izium.

TURCHYN: I heard them for the first time after a whole month. I was so torn. I was happy they were alive, but I was terrified that they're in Russia. And I don't know. Should I be happy, or should I be sad?

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Mila's only option, she says, was to hire a smuggler to drive her family from Russia to safety here in Poland. TURCHYN: Somebody from Poland gave me a number of people who

transport, smuggling basically. It's obviously -- it's dangerous. Dangerous activity in Russia. Very dangerous.

ABDELAZIZ: Now they are reunited, but how did the victims of Putin's war end up in Russia?

Desperate to flee, they tell us that they could only find one way out. A private driver offered a ride to the Russian border.

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TURCHYN: Now they fill me in to details, and it actually was even worse than I thought. And I already was terrified.

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Were you scared to go to Russia?

VIDA (PH): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

TURCHYN: They were more afraid to stay where we were, because it was hell, and they needed to go somewhere to escape that.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Thousands of Ukrainians have faced the same. Many say they had no choice. It was go to Russia or die.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, on the Poland-Ukraine border.

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NEWTON: Now, if you would like to safely and securely help people in Ukraine who may be in need of shelter, food and water, please go to CNN.com/impact. You will find several ways there that you can help.

I'm Paula Newton at CNN Center in Atlanta. Thanks for joining us. We will be right back with John Vause, live from Lviv, Ukraine, after a break.

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