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Russia Attacks Ukraine's Railways As Antony Blinken And Lloyd Austin Visits; U.N. Chief To Meet With Vladimir Putin And Sergey Lavrov; Ukrainian Volunteer Tries To Convince Residents To Flee Ukraine; Elon Musk To Buy Twitter In $44 Billion Deal. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 26, 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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[00:00:32]

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and thanks so much for joining us. I'm Anna Coren live in Hong Kong. We begin with explosions in Transnistria. A separatist region in Moldova bordering Ukraine.

The Ukrainian defense ministry says the blasts on Monday were a planned provocation by Russia meant to instill panic, an anti- Ukrainian sentiment. The region state security ministry was damaged in the explosions. Russia has maintained a contingent of troops in that region since the early 1990s.

And last week, a top Russian general said Moscow wants full control over southern Ukraine to gain access to Transnistria.

Well, meanwhile, heavy fighting continues in eastern Ukraine. Nonstop Russians shelling has been reported in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and the Luhansk administrator says the Russians are raising everything to the ground.

Well, he referred specifically to this tiny village on the frontlines, which has seen intense fighting over the past week and now lies in ruins. Ukrainian forces and Russian backed separatists blame each other for the destruction.

Well, for more let's bring in my colleague Isa Soares in Lviv, Ukraine. Isa, over to you.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much Anna and good morning to you. Ukraine says Russia is trying to disrupt arm supplies from Kyiv's allies by bombing its rail infrastructure. This was the scene on Monday after Russian forces struck five railway stations in central as well as Western Ukraine.

Now, Russia's Defense Ministry claims it destroyed railway facilities that were being used to deliver foreign weapons to Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbass region where we've seen that major offensive.

CNN's Scott McLean has the details now on those attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We took a train into Kyiv from Southwestern Poland. So, didn't see a lot except looking at the train windows on our way in. And in Kyiv itself, we went right to the presidential palace.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just hours after the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense left Ukraine by rail, air raid siren sounded in western Ukraine. The head of Ukrainian railways says that within one hour, rail infrastructure in five places was hit by Russian strikes.

The farthest west was near the town of Khrustalnyi. Natalia Rudak was working in this building next to the tracks, which we heard the explosions.

NATALIA RUDAK, HEAR AIRSTRIKE RAILWAY STATION (through translator): From this side, air defense shot down a missile, then silenced. The second explosion was on that side. We've seen black smoke.

MCLEAN: How loud was it?

RUDAK (through translator): Very loud. Windows rang and we panicked. We were afraid.

MCLEAN: The governor's office released this video showing fire and heavy smoke near the tracks. They say an electrical substation was hit. Though on the ground, we weren't allowed to get close.

In several places scattered throughout this area, police and military are finding what they say are remnants of a Russian rocket and this is one of them. A twisted pile of melted charred metal. They're finding these all over the place.

What they have not found though is a large crater and so, they think that this one was shot down.

In the Vinnytsia region, the governor there said that two separate strikes killed five and injured 18. Ukraine's military command said in an online post that Russia is targeting vital railway supply routes in order to disrupt arm shipments from Ukraine's partner states.

Just across the border, Russia reported that a fire broke out in an oil storage facility on Russian soil. Russian officials say the cause of the fire is unclear. But it comes not long after the Kremlin accused Ukraine of striking another Russian oil depot in the City of Belgorod.

Scott McLean, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

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SOARES: Well, Russia's Foreign Minister is warning the world not to underestimate the threat of nuclear war. In an interview with Russian state T.V. Sergey Lavrov said the danger of nuclear conflict is "serious". But he insisted Russia is doing everything it can to lower those risks, have a listen.

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SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The danger is serious and real and it should not be underestimated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, those comments there coming as Lavrov prepares to meet with you U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres happening in the coming hours. The U.N. chief is also expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

[00:05:09]

SOARES: After that, he's (INAUDIBLE) in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and that's supposed to happen on Thursday.

Well, before traveling to Moscow, Guterres meeting with the President of Turkey, the U.N. says he expressed his support for Turkey's diplomatic efforts to help end the war. And both men stressed the urgent need for humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.

Let's get more on all of this. Joining me now, a well- known face on CNN, David Sanger, CNN political and U.S. National Security Analyst and White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times. He is also the author of the book, The Perfect Weapon. And he joins us now live from Washington, D.C.

David, thank you very much for staying up for us. Really appreciate it.

I want to start really by getting your thoughts, David, on those comments that we just heard from Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who says that the danger of nuclear war is real and cannot be underestimated. Is this just hot air, David?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, I think that moments the Russians have been using the fact that they are a major nuclear armed state for diplomatic advantage here.

Basically, their argument is, don't push Russia too far. And I think that that statement that you heard from Foreign Minister Lavrov is all the more interesting, since it came just a day after we heard the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, U.S. Defense Secretary make the argument that he wanted to make sure and the United States wanted to make sure that Russia's military was so weakened, they could never do an invasion, like the Ukraine one, again, anytime in the near future.

Well, of course, if you're the Russian military, and you think that your conventional capability is going to be degraded by the United States, it's no particular wonder that they are coming out and beginning to wave the flag of nuclear capabilities. SOARES: How much then would you say that, you know, that the U.S. presence here on Sunday meeting face to face with President Zelenskyy? How much is the president's support as well as those military deliveries that have been promised ruffling their feathers?

SANGER: Well, I think that they knew that sooner or later, the United States was going to show up in Kyiv, after the Russians left.

And of course, their mere arrival was meant to drive home to the world the fact that the Zelenskyy government stands, that Kyiv stands and that the Russians are gone because they couldn't figure out how to hold the city.

So, it's an embarrassment to have them there. But of course, we had seen Boris Johnson and many European leaders there in days beforehand.

But I think the real question for the Russians at this point is, can they make their stand in the east and south work? And if the United States' bet, and Ukraine's bet is right, that they may also be able to drive them from parts of that region, what would be the effects of basically a double retreat?

SOARES: Yes, and you know, that press conference that we heard from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday, and the secretary NATO -- Antony Blinken, you know, it happened during my hour, and I was actually quite surprised, David, listen to Lloyd Austin, how open and clear he was about the U.S. position.

He said, we want to see Russia weakened. Who was that directed at? And how -- and how exactly do you think they would weaken Russia from a diplomatic standpoint here?

SANGER: Well, you've seen a couple of elements of this come into place. The first and biggest one is the export controls that the United States has, and its allies have put in place, because many of them are aimed at components, microchips and other components that the Russians need to produce their weapons.

And, in fact, if you go back about a month or so in announcing those export controls, President Biden himself said that the goal was over time to weaken the Russian military. He didn't say what Austin said, which was, we want them so weak that they could never do this again.

I think that probably Secretary Austin went a beat beyond where everybody else in the administration had been. And while the United States has said before that its strategic objective is that Russia exit this entire incident weaker than it came in. They haven't really talked about weakening the military before in such a way that President Putin would never be able to order something like this and I think now they've got to begin to define how do you do that with a nuclear power? Because export controls alone, while effective are not going to do that.

[00:10:16]

SOARES: And on the diplomatic front, we stay with that, as we mentioned before, we came to you, David really heard that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is traveling to Russia. He is then going to meet President Putin, but he's also facing criticism, to be completely honest, for not coming here first. Should we expect -- should we be optimistic about any sort of breakthrough?

SANGER: I don't think so. I mean, it doesn't feel right now, like it's in either side's interest to enter negotiations, both sides believe that they are winning, or at least state that they are winning.

If that's the case, they'll want to let the battle for the south and the east play out some and hope that one or the other has some leverage in the resulting negotiations.

You know, it was only three or four weeks ago that we were hearing this flurry of phone calls and visits as President Macron and the Prime Ministers of Turkey and Israel, other nations were all making visits convinced that they could get diplomatic negotiations going.

There haven't even been low level talks in three or four weeks. And it was President Putin himself who said that the diplomatic negotiations are dead for now. That's because neither side believes that it's to their advantage at this point to negotiate.

SOARES: I mean, at this point, they can't even agree on humanitarian corridors. So, that says a lot of what's happening on the ground.

David Sanger, always great to get your analysis and context, really appreciate it. David Sanger joining us there from Washington. Thank you, David.

SANGER: Thank you.

SOARES: Well, life is becoming increasingly more difficult for Ukrainians who have stayed behind as Russian forces really continue spreading terror across parts of the country.

Our Sam Kiley spoke with one woman putting her life on the line, re- trying to convince others to leave and do what she can to help those who say leaving really isn't an option. Have a look.

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At 21, Maria Shtern is a war veteran. She's been a volunteer on Ukraine's frontlines in the Donbass for five years.

Today, she's delivering medicine and food to villages within range of Russian artillery. A new phase in Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is underway and it's sometimes hard to understand why people stay in frontline villages.

MARIA SHTERN, UKRAINIAN VOLUNTEER (through interpreter): I'm asking people this specific question. Are you ready to hear children crying and saying, mom, I'm scared to die? It gives me the creeps to hear them say that to myself. KILEY: Russian forces have captured Izium, a few miles to the north, pounding nearby towns with artillery and rockets. They're slowly advancing south towards Sloviansk and the city of Kramatorsk. Russia's aim is to capture this territory.

To do so, it needs to overrun this landscape.

Maria is heading towards them about three miles from the latest reported Russian forces and heavy shelling. She ignores the air raid sirens. A family who've become friends are hanging on in their home and she's bringing them food.

On arrival, good news, they've agreed to pull out. A last run in the springtime garden for Yevgena (PH) and Alexandra (PH) who ignore the town's sirens.

NATALIA MALIGON, RESIDENT OF MYKOLAIV, UKRAINE (through interpreter): My sister woke up this morning and said we have to leave, so we packed up. We didn't want to leave until the last minute. But then, something made her want to, so we have to.

KILEY: It's an emotional wrench, but it's a relief.

The importance of groups like Maria, a part of a volunteer army right across Ukraine here in the frontline villages is not just humanitarian, it's political. It's about trying to hold on to as much Ukrainian government territory as it's possible for as long as it's possible.

The lessons from Bucha and other towns captured by Russia is that many civilians may not survive occupation. A neighbor herself, frightened and confused, still refuses to go. She's got a job at the local power plant. Joining Ukraine's millions of refugees risks a life of deeper poverty.

SHTERN (through interpreter): It's simply a genocide of the Ukrainian people. I don't know how else to explain it to you, you just ask for what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through interpreter): We're not planning to leave here. This is my homeland and my relatives are here, I cannot leave anyone here. My elderly grandmother is 80 and can hardly walk. I can't leave her, do you understand?

[00:15:09]

KILEY: There's no joy in escape for grandmother, Luba (PH), not for anyone in this family. Tens of thousands of people are staying on in their homes across this region.

In a nearby church, Orthodox Easter services are dominated by prayers for peace. But the unholy ghost of war looms heavily here.

Sam Kiley, CNN, in Mykolaiv.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SOARES: So much despair. And I'll be back with more from the Lviv next hour. For now, I want to send it back to my colleague Anna Coren in Hong Kong, Anna.

COREN: Isa, much appreciated. Well, still to come this hour, Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. A look at the deal between the world's richest man and one of the world's top social media platforms.

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COREN: Welcome back. Well, billionaire Elon Musk is one step closer to becoming a social media mogul. The Tesla CEO is now set to buy Twitter in a deal worth $44 billion. Musk says his goal is to bolster free speech and unlock the company's tremendous potential.

CNN's Rahel Solomon has the details from New York.

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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It has been a remarkable turn of events for Twitter and Elon Musk. If the deal is approved, the richest man in the world will own one of the most influential platforms in the world. But how did we get here?

Just weeks ago, the idea of Elon Musk owning Twitter seemed far- fetched, the odds incredibly low according to one analyst I spoke to today, but then, Musk said that he secured financing from Wall Street heavyweights like Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

And at this point, the board had a duty to shareholders to at least consider the offer and when no other offers appear to come through, well, that may have sealed the deal.

54.20 for each share that he did not already own was Elon Musk's offer, and that's what the board accepted. That is a 38 percent premium from Twitter's closing price on April 1st. That's the last trading day before Musk disclosed his nine percent stake in Twitter.

There are questions though and concerns about how Elon Musk can effectively lead Twitter while also running Tesla and SpaceX. Similar concerns were also raised about former Twitter CEO and founder Jack Dorsey who also founded Square. There are also questions about what does the Twitter run by Elon Musk even look like?

After the offer was accepted. He tweeted in part, free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy and Twitter is the digital town square where matters are vital to humanity are debated. Adding, I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.

Rahel Solomon, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COREN: And we're now getting reaction from Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey. He tweeted this: "Elon's goal of creating a platform that is maximally trusted, and broadly inclusive is the right one". He went on to say he believes this is the right path for the company.

Well, joining us now is Mike Isaac, technology correspondent with The New York Times. Mike, great to have you with us. What do we know about Elon Musk's plans to monetize Twitter, a company that hasn't made a profit for eight of the past 10 years? And what does he plan to do with the social media platform?

MIKE ISAAC, TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, thanks for having me. One of the things we know is that he actually doesn't care or seem to care that much about the financials and monetizing it.

You know, one of the consistent issues that Twitter has had for a very long time has been making this company consistently profitable. And for a very long time, that hasn't been the case.

But I think this is really more about ideology for Elon and his idea that, you know, truth above all else, free speech above all else, or at least his conception of free speech is the most important thing.

And now, you know, taking the company private, if the deal succeeds, and goes through, he won't have Wall Street sort of watching every move and any major product changes he might want to take, won't have the scrutiny of scaring off shareholders at least immediately.

COREN: Yes, some critics are saying this is a slippery slope. I mean, Musk, as you say, is pushing for more free speech, less censorship, stating that free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy and Twitter is the digital town square.

I mean, a lot of people as you know, are genuinely concerned about what this could mean for the dissemination of hate speech, lies and misinformation. What's your feeling on all this?

ISAAC: Yes, 100 percent I think there are very legitimate concerns from folks who think that his view on free speech is a little too simplistic for one -- for one thing, you know -- you know, speech looks very different -- laws around speech are very different in different parts of the world. And, you know, Americans sort of views on First Amendment rights, don't -- you know, sort of travel everywhere in the same capacity, there are different laws on what you can say in different countries that Twitter has long abided by.

In Germany, for example, you can only say -- you can't say certain things about around World War II and the Holocaust. And so, I think the idea that just bringing a sort of anything goes except for, let's say things that commit a crime on Twitter, you know, really aren't widely applicable, you have to sort of reevaluate how you're going to abide by international laws.

So, and I think those concerns around hate speech and harassment are very legitimate and something that Twitter had been working on for a long time. So, it's really a question of what the product roadmap looks like. And when Elon decides to either install a new CEO, or have the current CEO lay that roadmap out for people.

[00:25:02]

COREN: Well, speaking of misinformation, I mean, tell me, is it likely that Donald Trump's account would be reinstated which was obviously permanently banned after January 6th last year?

ISAAC: Yes, I mean, that is the question that even Twitter employees inside of the company don't know right now. And we're asking.

Earlier, we were listening in on internal all hands at Twitter H.Q. with employees essentially asking is Elon going to reinstate Donald Trump? The CEO dodged the question.

Parag Agrawal, who's currently leading the company, essentially said he wasn't sure and is trying to glean that information from Musk.

So, I think the next 90 to 180 days, which is around the time they expect it will take the transaction to close will be the time we figure out what is Elon thinking? And does he want sort of all the bandit figures to come back? Or is that going to be more nuanced than what he said so far?

COREN: Mike, there are currently about four court cases against Elon Musk for a variety of reasons. Some analysts say that he is buying Twitter to distract attention from his legal woes. I mean, how much truth is there to these claims?

COREN: I think it's -- I think it's really important to take into context the things that are going on with Elon right now around, you know, his critics who he thinks are people that, you know, would oppose him or should or should not be speaking out against him.

And look, you know, it's easy to sort of triumph free speech as a sort of rule, or right all the time. And that seems to be the sort of platform that Elon is going for.

But at the same time, I think you need to look at some of his history around what speeches is available, or what speed should be allowable from the people who work for him. Or, you know, for example, the guy who was sort of tracking the movements of his private jet and him sort of DMing the guy and saying he didn't want that sort of those tweets out there because of safety concerns, or because of you know, privacy concerns.

So, I think it's -- you know, it's fully legitimate to question how, what types of free speech Elon wants and is it just the types that are convenient for him or convenient or inconvenient for him should be allowed on the platform?

COREN: Mike Isaac from the New York Times, it's great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for joining us.

ISAAC: Thank you for having me. COREN: Well, still ahead, watching waiting and worrying. A Ukrainian woman is forced to watch from afar as her husband fights on the front lines of Ukraine's final stand in Mariupol.

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COREN: An increasingly desperate situation seems to be unfolding inside a steel plant in the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

[00:32:08]

On Monday, Ukraine said it was unable to establish humanitarian corridors to evacuate the plant. Hundreds of civilians are still sheltering there alongside Ukrainian soldiers.

CNN's Matt Rivers spoke with the wife of one of those soldiers, who says he will keep fighting, even if it costs him his life.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) Before Mariupol became a hellscape, before Russian military depravity turned a city into a cemetery, there was love here.

Just two weeks before the war began, Natalka Zarytska spent Valentine's Day with her boyfriend in the city. They took this picture at a cafe and this one after eating. And a few days later, she snapped this one of him from her window seat on the train that would take her back to Kyiv.

NATALKA ZARYTSKA, BOYFRIEND FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE: He kissed me and told, "Natalka, I don't know when I will see you again."

RIVERS: Resignation from a man who understood the realities of the war to come. Natalka's boyfriend, who we are not naming or showing for security reasons, is a soldier in the Azov Battalion, a unit that has fought the Russians in Mariupol for months.

We went to see Natalka at her home in Kyiv, where she told us her boyfriend was given a command to, quote, "fight until the last drop of blood."

(on camera): What did you think when he told you that?

ZARYTSKA: I recommended him to save his life, but he answered no. I should keep on the comment (ph). I'm a soldier, and I have to be here.

RIVERS (voice-over): She says her boyfriend lost cell service on March 3. His silence was as deafening as the bombs that by then had started to fall around Kyiv, forcing her and her family down into this cellar. It was in here that, after two weeks, she heard from him.

ZARYTSKA: Then he called. It could be ten or 15 seconds. There was bombing and no connections. RIVERS: But with what connection he did have, he would send her videos of the utter destruction that surrounded him. We can't show you those for security reasons.

(on camera): What do you think when you watch these videos?

ZARYTSKA: I think that empty. I feel the empty. Absolute empty.

RIVERS (voice-over): Along with the videos were selfies and texts, and on his birthday, a particularly special message.

ZARYTSKA: He gave me a proposition that I couldn't --

RIVERS (on camera): Say no to.

ZARYTSKA: -- say no, yes.

RIVERS: What did he write to you?

ZARYTSKA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) So -- "I love you. And do you want to be my wife?"

RIVERS (voice-over): A few days later, a marriage certificate made it official. Now a wife, she says she refuses to cry. Her husband is stoic in the face of death, so she will be, too. How else to describe her reaction to the last message he sent?

[00:35:05]

ZARYTSKA: My husband told me that, "Natalka, please, be glad, because very soon it will finish."

RIVERS (on camera): When you say it's going to finish very soon, what are the two options?

ZARYTSKA: Very simple. They will arrive or they will be killed. Just two options.

RIVERS (voice-over): Matt Rivers, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: "The Wall Street Journal" reports that the U.S. is holding off on sanctions against Vladimir Putin's rumored girlfriend. Alina Kabaeva is a Russian gymnast turned lawmaker, now the chair of the pro-Putin New Media Group.

She's also allegedly the mother of at least three children fathered by Putin.

The White House tells the "Wall Street Journal" they're not imposing sanctions, because they feel it would be too much of a personal escalation.

Kabaeva made a rare public appearance over the weekend at a gymnastics event she hosts in Moscow. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says his country will strengthen and

develop its nuclear force, quote, "at the fastest possible speed." He made the comment during a military parade on Monday to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean public's People's Revolutionary Army.

This all comes after a flurry of missile hits by North Korea this year and warnings from South Korea and the U.S. that Pyongyang could resume nuclear weapons tests for the first time in five years.

CNN's Blake Essig joins us now from Tokyo with more on this. And Blake, I understand that Kim Jong-un, obviously, was at the parade. Tell us the significance of this event.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anna. North Korea's highly anticipated military parade, celebrating the founding of its army, was held late last night, according to North Korean state-run television KCNA.

Both Kim Jong-un and his wife were in attendance. KCNA also reports that, as you mentioned, Kim Jong-un delivered a speech saying that North Korea's armed forces are fully prepared for any fight, and that North Korea will continue to strengthen and develop its nuclear force as quickly as possible.

A South Korean military official told CNN that the festivities began around 10 p.m. local time, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang.

In the past, these parades have been used to unveil updates to its missile arsenal. North Korea watchers expected last night's parade would likely feature weapons from Kim Jong-un's weapons wish list that he had laid out at the Eighth Party Congress back at the beginning of last year. That list includes items like hypersonic light vehicles, underwater launched nuclear weapons, and a 15,000-kilometer intercontinental ballistic missile.

All of those weapons, Anna, have either been tested or are in development.

COREN: Blake, as we said, there has been a flurry of missile tests recently, and obviously, from what Kim Jong-un said at the event, we can anticipate that there will be more testing in the weeks ahead.

ESSIG: Yes, absolutely. You know, in regards to last night, well, it is still unclear exactly what kind of military hardware was displayed. KCNA is reporting that the Hwasong-7, its longest-range developmental ICBM and super-large multiple rocket launchers were on display.

But as you mentioned, so far this year, Pyongyang has conducted about a dozen weapons tests and showed no signs of slowing down its military development.

In fact, South Korea military officials have reported for weeks that the North has been working to restore tunnels at its main nuclear test site, particularly at the secondary entrance to tunnel three. It's a sign that North Korea could be preparing for its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.

COREN: Blake Essig, joining us from Tokyo. We appreciate the update. Thank you.

Ahead on CNN, a growing number of social media posts unveil a grim picture of life, and intensifying dissent under Shanghai's strict COVID lockdown.

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[00:43:17]

COREN: Keeping a close eye on oil prices amid concerns that growing COVID cases and lockdowns in China will reduce energy demand in the world's second largest economy.

On Monday U.S. oil dropped to a two-week low, falling below $100 a barrel.

Speaking of COVID concerns, Beijing is rolling out mass testing for another 16 million residents this week. It's in addition to the 3.5 million people already being tested in the capital.

It's part of a bid to contain a COVID outbreak described as urgent and grim. And it has led to panic buying, with Beijing residents rushing to stock up on food and essential supplies amid lockdown concerns.

Well, now to Shanghai, where many of the city's 25 million residents have been under a strict lockdown for weeks, as China doubles down on it zero-COVID policy. The lockdown has sparked widespread anger and, as CNN's David Culver reports, the government censors are struggling to silence the complaints.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the video Chinese censors do not want you to see or share, as it sparked a rare digital uprising on social media this weekend, highlighting a shared misery and helplessness felt across Shanghai.

The video points to dysfunction, mismanagement, a study in chaos, struggling to cope with a surge in COVID cases. It resonates with so many of Shanghai's 25 million residents, feeling trapped, turning to the most popular Chinese communication platforms Weibo and WeChat to vent.

Amidst what is government-controlled Internet, with any dissent quickly suppressed and erased, China's censors over the weekend struggled to keep up.

No sooner would they block one version of the video, did another resurface. Rapidly multiplying, flooding China's cyberspace. Some versions even disguised as QR codes to throw off the censors.

The online rattling of social stability was a growing rejection of China's harsh COVID containment measures. Some even sharing this clip from the 2012 movie "Les Mis," referencing

a 19th Century uprising in Paris. The censors swiftly clamped down, extinguishing the spread.

But the users also taking aim at the obvious censorship itself, sharing clips of their own officials proclaiming China's citizens have a right to freely express themselves. Seemingly ironic, given even the first line of China's own national anthem is now blocked online. The words "Rise, those who don't want to be enslaved," now used as a veiled reference to criticize their own government.

For some, Shanghai feels like the world's largest prison, CNN witnessing it firsthand.

(on camera): The extent of my freedom is all the way to my terrace door here. We're lucky enough to at least get some fresh air outside.

Our community volunteer sending me this image of what's on the other side of our door, a freshly-taped paper seal, a reminder not to leave.

(voice-over): And if I managed to get out, there's now a COVID guard posted day and night.

Outside several apartment compounds, fences going up, neighbors sharing shocking images of new barriers on social media. Listen to them howl from their balconies as they're further caged in.

Some finding work-arounds, buying their groceries through the added layer, others desperately rattling locks, hoping to escape.

And then there are those who managed to tear down the walls.

For folks locked into their homes, scenes like this are a terrifying reality. An apartment fire over the weekend in Shanghai's business district, state media quick to report that everyone got out safely. But it raises questions: might these COVID barriers be more of a danger than the virus itself?

And if you thought the city might be near reopening or easing lockdowns, images from the streets of Shanghai show giant containers, not bringing in much-needed supplies, but rather helping to build more blockades.

This as more positive cases and close contacts are rounded up and sent to government quarantine facilities, some left to sleep in tents in the middle of deserted streets as their dormitories are disinfected.

As the rising tune of discontent echoes throughout the eerily empty metropolis, for many, Shanghai has fallen.

David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Coming up, an election impacts the global response to the war in Ukraine. Marine Le Pen is viewed by many as pro-Putin, and she's vowing to stay in the political fight, even after losing Sunday's French election to Emmanuel Macron.

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[00:52:21]

COREN: Opponents of Emmanuel Macron are calling on voters to deny the French president a parliamentary majority in upcoming legislative elections. Another strong showing for the far-right party could scuttle Mr. Macron's domestic agenda and French support for Ukraine.

CNN's Melissa Bell has this report.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Emmanuel Macron became the first French president in 20 years to win a second term, the European flag served as a reminder of what had been at stake.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: Merci!

BELL: His far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, had promised to define Europe's institutions, turning the E.U. into a much looser alliance of sovereign nations, a position apparently backed by 42 percent of voters.

MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): To our French leaders, as for the European leaders, this result bears witness to the great mistrust of the French people towards them, which they cannot ignore, and to the widely shared aspiration for a great change.

BELL: It's a change Vladimir Putin has been backing for years, receiving the far-right candidate just ahead of the 2017 French election.

And last week, the jailed Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, weighed in, urging the French to back Macron and describing the Russian bank that lent Le Pen's party nearly $10 million in 2014 as a well-known money-laundering agency, created at the instigation of Putin, in a tweet just hours ahead of the French candidates' debate.

MACRON (through translator) You depend on Russian power. You depend on Mr. Putin.

LE PEN (through translator): I am a completely free woman.

BELL: Marine Le Pen insists the loan was strictly a financial arrangement that her party is reimbursing in full. But she remains cautious about further sanctions against Moscow.

LE PEN (through translator): To pretend that the French or other European peoples could absorb the consequences of a total cut-off of Russian gas, oil, or raw materials is simply irresponsible.

BELL: But Macron's gone much further than just sanctions, sending 100 million euros of weaponry to Kyiv. Something Le Pen had said she would be prudent about.

She also announced that she wanted a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia.

(on camera): In the end, neither her positions on NATO and the E.U., nor her proximity to Moscow prevented Marine Le Pen from achieving a historic score, coming within five and a half million votes of Emmanuel Macron.

She's now looking to choose legislative elections to try and deprive him of his governing majority, which could present challenges for Franc's continued support to Ukraine.

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(voice-over): And Le Pen is far from alone in Europe, with allies amongst the bloc's far-right and Euro-skeptic parties. Many of them also historically close to Moscow.

By Monday morning, she arrived at her headquarters defeated, but unbowed, vowing to start a fresh fight for her own vision of the future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BELL: Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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COREN: Well, seven Greenpeace activists were arrested in Norway after chaining themselves to a Russian oil tanker to stop it from docking.

A Greenpeace spokesperson says the ship was carrying $116 million worth of Russian jet fuel. It was headed for a port owned by a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

The oil company says it's fulfilling contracts that were put in place before Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has not made any new purchases of Russian products since the war began.

Well, I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Thanks for your company, I'll be back with more news after this short break.

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