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Mariupol Evacuations Paused, to Resume Monday; Ukrainian Soldier Dies after Being Captured by Russians; Shanghai Reports Dip in Daily COVID Deaths and Cases; Long COVID May Remain a Chronic Condition for Millions; India's Modi and Germany's Scholz Set to Meet in Berlin; Ballet Dancers Return to the Stage in Lviv. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 02, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[00:00:38]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I want to welcome everyone. I am Paula Newton at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

Hope arrives at last for hundreds of Ukrainian civilians trapped inside a bombed-out steel plant in Mariupol. Now, many have been stranded, as we've been saying, there for weeks under Russian attacks that have decimated the city.

Food and water have been running dangerously low, but on Sunday, Ukraine's president announced that more than 100 people finally managed to escape. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): For the first time, there were two days of real cease-fire. More than 100 civilians have already been evacuated. Women and children fleeing hostilities there. It is at Azovstal. Given all the complexities of the process, the first evacuees will arrive in Zaporizhzhia tomorrow morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, meantime, another round of evacuations is expected to begin shortly, but only if the fragile ceasefire agreement can hold. And that future remains unclear, with one Ukrainian commander saying Russian forces began firing on the plant as soon as Sunday's evacuations were done.

To the West, meantime, a CNN team on the ground witnessed hundreds of people fleeing their homes in now Russian-occupied Kherson. Now, they spotted a convoy of at least 120 vehicles making their way North to Ukrainian-held territory. Meantime, Russian shelling has been hampering towns in Eastern Ukraine. Drone video shows one village near the front lines coming under heavy fire. On Sunday, local officials in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions said at least seven people were killed by Russian shelling.

Russia's defense ministry released this video. You see it here. They say it shows a high-precision missile, the same kind of weapon, Russian says, it used to destroy a hanger full of U.S. and European weapons at a military airfield near Odessa.

Ukraine said Saturday Russian missiles knocked out a runway at Odessa's airport, but it's unclear if Russia is referring to the same attack.

All right. A lot to get to here. We want to turn to our Is Soares, there for us in Lviv, Ukraine, for more.

And Isa, I know how closely you've been following the situation in Mariupol, and perhaps finally some good news there. And maybe more to come within the next hour.

IS SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Good morning, Paula.

Yes, a glimmer of hope, isn't it, for so many civilians trapped inside that Azovstal Steel plant. And it cannot be overstated just how dire the situation has been in Mariupol and not just inside the steel plant.

We are expecting, like you said, Paula, more evacuations in the coming hours.

And to give you a sense of really what they've been facing, the new satellite images coming into CNN show almost every building at the Azovstal Steel plant has been destroyed. In the city, overall, Ukraine estimates a hundred thousand people are still trapped.

Our Scott McLean has more on the efforts, really, to get everyone out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Broad daylight and a row of buses wait for these war-weary Ukrainian civilians. The long-awaited humanitarian corridor to evacuate shell- shocked people stranded in the city of Mariupol, opened briefly Sunday.

About 100 people left the ruins of the Azovstal Steel plant before the operation was paused. It could be a lifeline for those wanting to escape the besieged city, which has been pulverized by Russian artillery in recent weeks.

It's estimated that hundreds of civilians are still stuck in bunkers under the steel plant, enduring days and nights of relentless bombing, trapped with little food, water, or medicine. Red Cross and the United Nations say they are coordinating a safe

passage operation, which will transport evacuees to Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it took moving heaven and earth to make this day happen after talks to open the corridor repeatedly broke down.

ZELENSKYY (through translator): After many weeks of negotiations, after many attempts, among them meetings, calls in countries (ph), proposals, finally. There was not a day that we could not try to find a solution that would save our people. Today for the first time of all the days of the war, this vital corridor has started working.

[00:05:10]

MCLEAN: This evacuee, part of the Red Cross and U.N. convoy, says she is glad to be above ground again. She says she spent weeks in an Azovstal bomb shelter, and the attacks were terrifying.

NATALIA USMANOVA, EVACUEE (through translator): The shelling was so strong. It kept hitting near us. At the exit of the bomb shelter, on the top few steps, you could breathe, as there is not enough oxygen. I was afraid to even walk out and breathe some fresh air.

MCLEAN: Russia's defense ministry also says evacuations are taking place in Mariupol. It says 80 civilians were transported from the complex to a Russian-controlled area.

Ukraine says there are hopes more evacuations will continue Monday. But there are reports of shelling, once again, in the city.

Scott McLean, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, let's get get more on what's happening here in Ukraine. Joining me now from Los Angeles, retired U.S. Army Major General Mark MacCarley.

General, very -- good morning, good evening to you. Let me start right there where Scott McLean left off in Mariupol.

We did see that breakthrough, that glimmer of hope for those civilians inside the Azovstal Steel plant. But as he as outlined after a period of quiet that allowed for those evacuations, the complex obviously coming under fire.

Do you think, General, that this this will jeopardize the evacuations expected today, at some point this morning?

MAJ. GEN. MARK MACCARLEY (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, first, I have to say, as you have described, it is a glimmer of hope, the expectation being that tomorrow and in the days that are coming ahead of us, that Russia will allow further civilians and, hopefully, the Ukrainian soldiers who are, as well, bunkered down, hunkered down in that steel mill, to leave. I hope to be an optimist. I hope that this one glimmer of hope

suggests much more, perhaps, a broader cease-fire again. It's anybody's guess.

SOARES: And like you are saying, General, what we don't know at this stage, what is not clear -- and I've been speaking to several members of Parliament, as well, about this here -- is whether the 600 or so wounded soldiers, whether they'll be part of the evacuation that is being led by the U.N. and by the Red Cross?

The remainder of Azov soldiers, they have said they won't surrender. What are the options, if they're not part of this plan here?

MACCARLEY: Presumptively, those that are injured are entitled to be escorted out of that city, that hell-hole, and return to Ukraine.

However, those soldiers who decide to stand tall and fight to the end, as we have discussed before, there's not a substantial glimmer of hope, meaning there's not a unit out there, a Ukrainian brigade coming to the rescue of those who are sheltering and hunkering down in that steel mill. I just don't see it.

I think it's going to be a fight to the death. And most of the fighting is represented by artillery and rocket shelling from the Russians.

SOARES: Yes, and we are seeing what that artillery and that shelling has done to Mariupol, and -- and what it's done to that steel plant in the last few days.

Let's talk, General, about the Russian offensive in the East. According to the Ukrainians, Russian airstrikes and artillery both have pounded large swathes of territory from Kharkiv in the North all the way to Zaporizhzhia in the South.

How effective, General, are they being? Are they more organized, in your view?

MACCARLEY: The answer, at least from my perspective and based upon the information I have, it is -- it's absolutely a reflection of the revised strategy of Putin.

As his forces retreated from Kyiv, he reorganized. And now Russia's fighting is what some would call siege warfare, or another way of describing it is warfare by attrition, meaning that Russia is engaged in bombing, rockets, artillery, drones, obliterating what remains of the Donbas region. It's going to turn it into an arid swath of land.

And then once that's accomplished, once his forces -- what we call prepares the battlefield, sets the conditions -- these are sort of technical terms, then his armored forces, followed by his infantry, will then move in slowly but surely, seizing one village after another.

[00:10:09] Now, that's his strategy. I'm not saying that at this point, we should raise our hands or Ukraine should raise its hands and capitulate. It just happens to be the strategy.

SOARES: Yes.

MACCARLEY: On Ukraine's part, it's a huge challenge to put the necessary forces with the equipment that is flowing in from the United States and our Western allies, use it do its best advantage and hold the line against this Russian siege warfare.

SOARES: And the challenges on that point, General, I mean, you've outlined -- we know from the Ukrainian side, they've been pushing back. They're been regaining some territory. We've seen that push and pull of battle.

But we've also seen Russian forces targeting key infrastructure, targeting supply lines, and that is incredibly critical at this juncture.

MACCARLEY: No question about it, I was going to mention that the one big vulnerability Ukrainian -- Ukraine has right now is the supply lines, the logistical supply lines. We're beginning to say -- see a significant amount of military hardware, I mean, not only from the United States. The Ukrainians are incredibly grateful. But as well from some of our Western allies.

That said, if Russia continues on the path of interdicting these logistic staging bases where our equipment that comes across the border or in the convoys that move that equipment forward to the Donbas region, that is a huge vulnerability for the Ukrainians right now and could influence the outcome of the war.

SOARES: General Mark MacCarley, always great to get your insights there. Thank you very much. General there, speaking to us from Los Angeles.

Well, Russia has promised those soldiers who do remain in the Azovstal Steel plant will be treated humanely. That's what they're promising.

CNN's Matt Rivers found evidence to the contrary. He has the exclusive story of one Ukrainian fighter, apparently captured and later killed by the Russians. And a warning here: this story contains disturbing images, as well as content.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian propaganda with a clear message to the last remaining defenders of Mariupol.

The video says, "We guarantee that we will save your lives, and we will follow international laws to guarantee humane treatment. Such will be the case," says the voice-over, "with this man," a captured Ukrainian soldier, Dan Zvonyk. The 25-year-old member of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Force was

captured at the Azovstal Steel complex, the last remaining pocket of resistance in the city.

CNN has geolocated the building behind them to an area just Northwest of the plans, a Russian soldier detailing how they'll be treated. "As you are captured," he says, "we will treat you with honor and with understanding."

These videos were published on April 20. Five days later, Dan Zvonyk was dead. This picture of his face, hauntingly lifeless, was sent to his mother by officials in Russian-held Donetsk, she told us.

We riddled the numbers and were hung up on once we identified as journalists. To confirm who he was, they also sent a picture of his chest with a tattoo on the body clearly matching the once seen on Zvonyk when he was still alive in Russian propaganda videos.

(on camera): When you first saw that message, what went through your mind?

ANNA ZVONYK, MOTHER OF KILLED UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Nothing. I just screamed. There was nothing. No thoughts.

RIVERS (voice-over): We met his mother near where she's staying in Kyiv. She fled Mariupol herself just two weeks ago, alongside the rest of her family. Her sister-in-law also reeling from the photo of her nephew.

LUDMILA ZAGURSKA, AUNT OF KILLED UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): I still have that photograph in front of my eyes. It's constantly in front of my eyes.

RIVERS: The morgue in Donetsk confirmed to CNN that Zvonyk was dead and that his body was picked up on Sunday. CNN can't confirm how he died, but we know he died after being taken into custody, either by Russian or Russian-backed separatist forces.

(on camera): Do you think that the Russians killed your son?

ZVONYK: Yes. I'm sure.

RIVERS (voice-over): Russia's Ministry of Defense did not return a request for comment about how Zvonyk died.

For weeks, CNN has heard directly from soldiers inside the steel plant complex, who have told us they will not surrender to the Russians for fear of being executed. Within their ranks, Zvonyk's death only hardened that sentiment.

(on camera): Does what happened to him only reinforce the notion that the soldiers that are there are not going to surrender to the Russians?

GEORGE KUPARSHVILI, DEPUTY COMMANDER, AZOV REGIMENT: Matt, don't you think it confirms their fear and actually their expectations, what Russia did today? This is a -- this is a war crime.

RIVERS (voice-over): We asked Zvonyk's mother, Anna, if she is angry with the Russians. Her answer honest, and gutting.

ZVONYK (through translator): For now I only feel enormous pain. Pain and emptiness, that's it.

RIVERS: Matt Rivers, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And I spoke to one mayor just outside of Lviv yesterday, who told me that many of the young man fighting the frontlines, many of them are missing, along that lines from what we heard in that exclusive piece from Matt Rivers. We're still on top of this story, of course.

In the meantime, a new fire has broken out at a Russian military site near the Ukrainian border. The governor of the Belgorod region confirmed the news to us on Sunday. Video from social media shows thick smoke rising into the sky, as you can see there, as well as a burst of flame.

The police were seen redirecting traffic away from the area.

Now this isn't the first time Russian military and fuel sites have caught fire near Belgorod, but the Ukrainians have been cryptic about whether they were involved.

An aide to President Zelenskyy said after explosions, you can remember last week, he said that karma is a cruel thing.

And that does it for me for this hour. In the meantime, I want to send it back to Paula.

NEWTON: And thank you for that, Isa, as we continue to stay up to date on whether or not there will be more evacuations from Mariupol.

But for us, just ahead, we will bring you the latest COVID numbers from China as the country races to control its current COVID-19 outbreak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: So the daily number of COVID deaths and new local cases in Shanghai declined ever so slightly for the third consecutive day. And that's according to the latest government numbers. Shanghai reported 32 deaths and more than 7,300 new local cases on Sunday.

Meantime, the Chinese capital city of Beijing reported 41 new cases on Sunday. Nationwide, there were more than 7,700 new cases reported. That's according to the National Health Commission.

CNN's Anna Coren joins me now, live from Hong Kong, as she continues to follow these lockdowns in China. Now apparently, Shanghai will move to ease restrictions on six

districts. What -- what do you think that will look like, and how many people may be getting some relief? I mean, about 25 million people live in Shanghai. I'm wondering if this will affect the majority of them or just a small fraction?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a fraction. I mean, you're talking about 7 million people in those six districts, Paula, although we spoke to some residents in those districts, and they say they are yet to be released from their -- their apartment buildings, despite this announcement from the Shanghai local government. So they are still waiting to be freed.

Once they are allowed out, they're only allowed to travel around their neighborhood and their district, so it's a really -- it's going to be quite limited.

[00:20:08]

But after a month of being locked in your home, the freedom will be switched. There is no doubt about it. But as I say, that only really amounts to 7 million people.

Paula, over the past month, we've been reporting on the food and medicine shortages, the frustration from the people in Shanghai who've really taken it out on social media. And censors have scrubbed it out within minutes. So -- so that was really their only form of protest.

I spoke to one resident this morning, Paula, who -- who's in a hard- hit area. She won't be out any time soon. And she said she really feels she's in a state of depression now. She's stopped monitoring the news, social media feeds. She's even stopped counting the days.

And she has been locked up now for more than a month. Because her neighborhood went into lockdown before the official lockdown. She said that the small joys in her life are receiving food deliveries.

She said there are restaurants that have reopened in her neighborhood, so she can now make -- make those orders, and she enjoys that. But otherwise, she said that her empathy, her tears have dried up, that she really is feeling quite numb.

And of course, there is no end in sight. You know, compare that to Beijing, the capital, 22 million people, which is still, you know, functioning pretty much as normal. Yes, there are particular residential houses, compounds that might be in lockdown, but they have just announced that restaurants will be closed, schools have been closed. Universal Studios, the amusement park, is also being closed. This is also the Labor Day holiday, I should add.

And so for people now to go into public venues, they need to prevent sent a negative COVID test. But it would seem that Beijing authorities have really learned their lesson from Shanghai, and you know, they've done these multiple rounds of mass testing, doing everything in their power to avoid a citywide lockdown.

NEWTON: Yes. And as I said, cold comfort for the people in Shanghai. At this point, it must feel like a form of imprisonment.

Anna, I always appreciate you bringing us up to date and especially letting us know what those residents are still going through.

Now South Korea, meantime, will mostly lift its outdoor mask mandates starting Monday, but it will stay in place for rallies, concerts, and sporting events with more than 50 people.

Now the prime minister, Kim Boo-kyum made the announcement Friday, saying the government could no longer ignore the inconveniences of its citizens, in their words, but the country's newly-elected president, Yoon Suk-yeol, opposes the move, saying it's premature.

South Kore's case count is well below its peak from mid-March.

Now, this is new, though. New Zealand is also relaxing some of its COVID restrictions. The country updated its travel policies on Sunday, opening borders for travelers from about 60 countries.

Now, vaccinated visitors from visa-waiver countries and visitors from other countries who already hold a valid visitor visa, can finally enter New Zealand. They will still need to self-test upon arrival.

A reminder: two years now since New Zealand has actually accepted visitors.

The U.S. should be preparing for what one health expert calls a now predictable summer surge of COVID-19 cases right around the Southern United States.

Former White House coronavirus response task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, says health officials need to make it clear to the public that protection against the COVID virus wanes over time and precautions should be taken with vulnerable or compromised individuals.

Birx says she closely followed the data out of Africa, which she says is currently indicating an upward trend in cases. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Each of these surges are about four to six months apart. That tells me that natural immunity wanes enough in the general population after four to six months that a significant surge is going to occur again.

And this is what we have to be prepared for in this country. We should be preparing right now for a potential surge in the summer across the Southern United States, because we saw it in 2020, and we saw it in 2021.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: OK. Meantime, scientists are trying to learn more about long COVID and how to treat it. The symptoms are wide-ranging and can last weeks, even months after a patient's acute COVID symptoms fade. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nitza Rochez felt her best when she was moving. In March 2020, the New Yorker got COVID. Just 43 years old, Nitza was young and healthy and wasn't too worried until one night in April.

NITZA ROCHEZ, LONG COVID PATIENT: I woke up in the middle of the night because of, like, a drumming or pounding sound. It was literally the sound of my heart. And I went to the emergency room.

GUPTA: What unfolded next is the story of long COVID, a story that has now been repeated millions of times in the United States. An odyssey of doctor's visits, almost all of them resulting in normal test results, despite her feeling otherwise.

ROCHEZ: I just had a lot of odd and bizarre symptoms for the next month that got progressively worse and then escalated to tremors.

GUPTA (on camera): Do you believe we're dealing with a new, sort of, disease here?

DR. ZIJIAN CHEN, MUSICAL DIRECTOR, MOUNT SINAI CENTER FOR POST-COVID CARE: I think so.

GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Zijian Chen is medical director for Mt. Sinai's Center for Post-COVID care, the first such center established in the country.

(on camera): Are you able to predict who is most likely to develop long COVID?

CHEN: Those patients committed to hospitals with the most severe symptoms during their initial illness, the risk of them having long- lasting symptoms is higher. But that doesn't mean that, you know, if you have a small fever, or mild symptoms at home, that you're immune to it.

GUPTA (voice-over): COVID's lingering impacts are vast, from the brain to our hearts. A study of patients from the V.A. who had COVID early on in the pandemic were 60 percent more likely to develop any cardiac issues, including heart disease and cardiac arrest a full year out.

(on camera): But the idea that even if I didn't get that sick, that I can have long-lasting symptoms -- I don't want to overstate this. But how -- how frightening is that?

CHEN: It's very frightening. I mean, it's like stepping up to a gambling table at Vegas and risking losing everything.

GUPTA (voice-over): And that's what makes it all the more puzzling. It's not clear who develops long COVID, who recovers, or why it happens in the first place.

Best estimates, around 30 percent of people who had COVID still have symptoms at least three months after infection.

CHEN: I think the thing that surprised us the most is really just the breadth of disease. Like, why so many different symptoms?

GUPTA: So far, there are just theories. An overly active immune system still trying to fight the virus, despite not being infected anymore. Or perhaps, bits of the virus still hidden in our bodies. Or, simply the wreckage from the virus that can cause things like blood clots, choking off blood supply to everything from our nose to our toes.

ROCHEZ: I had all of these bizarre symptoms, including trembling legs and arms. Could not move my legs. I started walking with a cane.

GUPTA: She saw multiple neurologists and cardiologists. Dozens of visits with everyone, trying to address a specific organ of her body. None of it really made a difference, until she got to Mt. Sinai, a place, she says, finally focused on her as a whole patient.

ROCHEZ: Instead of being dismissed, my doctor actually could finish sentences for me on how the symptoms were affecting me.

GUPTA: Even here, though, there are no easy answers. And long COVID does remain a mystery.

For Nitza, she did find some relief with steroids and over a year's worth of physical therapy. She still has brain fog at times, and her movement is still limited, but she's back to work. And on her feet.

ROCHEZ: I can exercise. Compared to a year ago, I would say I'm running a marathon right now.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: So, the 1st of May brought May Day marchers to the streets of cities right around the world Sunday to celebrate workers' rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(DRUMMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: All right. That was a drum corps, providing a snappy rhythm for demonstrators in Mexico City. Authorities say some 20,000 people marched in Paris, meantime, to mark the day, also known as International Workers Day.

Most participants were peaceful, but there was some violence. Police say 45 people were -- were arrested.

And our coverage of Russia's war on Ukraine resumes after a short break. India's prime minister is set to meet with another leader, facing pressure to ramp up support for Ukraine. We will look at Narendra Modi's visit to Berlin. That's straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:54]

NEWTON: And welcome back. I'm Paula Newton in CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

Evacuations of civilians are expected to resume shortly from the besieged city of Mariupol after being paused for security reasons. On Sunday, Ukraine's president says more than 100 people, including women and children, were evacuated from the Azovstal Steel plant after a period of calm allowed the U.N. finally, and the Red Cross, to move forward with the evacuation operation.

On Sunday night, shelling had resumed at the plant where it's estimated hundreds of civilians are still trapped.

In the meantime, Ukraine's prosecutor general says new cases have been opened in connection with alleged war crimes by Russian forces. She says today there are more than 9,000 criminal cases, and at least 15 suspects have now been identified. That's including ten in Bucha.

Now we've just learned, in fact, that U.S. first lady Jill Biden is set to travel to Romania and Slovakia this week in a show of support for Ukrainian families displaced by Russia's invasion.

She's also expected to meet with members of the U.S. military and government officials in both countries. That news comes as new details emerge about the meeting between a U.S. congressional delegation and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led that delegation of Democrats, becoming the most senior U.S. official to meet with Ukraine's leader since Russia's unprovoked invasion began.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, who was also on that trip, says he believes it's only a matter of time before President Joe Biden visits Ukraine.

Schiff also said they talked to President Zelenskyy about what he hopes to see from Mr. Biden's request for another $33 billion in aid for Ukraine.

Schiff says they've also discussed enduring -- during that meeting that Mr. Zelenskyy is getting the military equipment he needs quickly, and that is, of course, in addition to the humanitarian crisis and the aid that is needed for refugees.

In the coming hours, leaders of Germany and India are expected to meet in Berlin and discuss Russia's war on Ukraine. Both countries are, of course, under pressure to take more action to address this crisis.

For more on this now, we want to bring in CNN's Vedika Sud, who's in New Delhi for us and has been following this visit.

Now, India in particular has come under some pressure, given it has not condemned and continues to do business with Kremlin. So where does Germany come in? And let's put a focus on what it's calling G-7 diplomacy.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And currently, holds the presidency of G-7, isn't it, Paula. But I'm going to come to you on that in a moment. I just want our viewers to know that the Indian prime minister has just landed in Berlin. He's on a very busy trip to Europe, and he starts with Germany.

And just to tell you more about the ties between the two countries, the very strong bilateral ties, India sees Germany as a key partner, especially given its role in Europe.

Now, what the prime minister said before leaving India is that his visit to Europe comes at a time when the region faces many challenges and choices.

So like you said, Ukraine is going to be on top of the agenda for Modi and the new leader that Germany has. And these dialogues will take place to the inter-governmental consultations, which is the dialogue mechanism that Germany only chooses a few countries to hold these dialogues with.

[00:35:16]

Now like you mentioned, India has not directly condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine. It has condemned the Bucha killings, but it has not really Russia directly at the U.N. And it has been condemned for not doing this by a lot of European nations.

But also, one needs to realize, and a lot of Western countries have realized over the years -- weeks, that India is highly dependent on Russia for its defense equipment, just like Germany is highly dependent on Russia for its oil imports.

So it's going to be very interesting to see both the leaders talk across the table about this dependency on Russia -- the defense equipment or oil -- and what they can really work out in terms of an alternative.

And like I said, all eyes will be on whether the German chancellor will be in writing in the prime minister, Narendra Modi, for the G-7 summit later this year -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, trying to appeal to him, to put him in that club of nations, hoping to persuade him a little bit.

Now you just touched on it. Energy is a big preoccupation for both countries, given the scarce resources. How will that feature in discussions?

SUD: Well, that will -- will be on top of the agenda, clearly, but like I said, India has been getting discounted oil from Russia in the recent past. That hasn't really sat down well with Western nations.

It has also seen a lot of diplomats, top leaders from Western nations coming in over the last one month for talks with the top leadership in India, trying to convince them to take a stronger stand against Russia when it comes to the Ukraine war.

But India has been very clear on its stand. It chooses to remain nonaligned. As of now, the pressure has been building, but for now, India has just dug in its heels. Let's see what comes from these talks, Paula.

Are there going to be any new discussions on these lines? Yes, because the Indian government, ahead of this meeting between the two leaders, has said that Ukraine will top the agenda, but all eyes will be on what Germany and India can really do while they do depend on Russia for equipment and oil -- Paula.

NEWTON: And it -- it seems that even U.S. officials do realize India's dependency on Russia at this point in time, and want this go-slow approach. We'll see what Europe is able to do in the coming days.

Vedika Sud for us in New Delhi. Thanks so much/ Appreciate it.

In Ukraine, the Lviv National Opera is a place of solace amid the raging war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: It's just so gorgeous, isn't it? Ahead, how ballet dancers are trying to help mend their nation's relief, and of course reclaim a sense of normalcy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Lviv National Opera was forced to close its doors in February when Russia launched its violent assault on Ukraine. On Friday, though, it reopened its doors for a ballet performance.

[00:40:06]

Our Isa Soares was there and shows us how art can help heal in the shadow of war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES (voice-over): Away from the front lines, an army of artists begin the process of mending this nation's grief, gently repairing the hurt brought on by war. At Lviv's National Opera, everyone has a part to play.

Tonight's "Giselle" ballet will be the first full performance since the theater closed its doors almost two months ago.

As musicians dust off their instruments, and as the audience starts to trickle in. "For us coming to the theater is returning to a small part of our life, which was there before the war. We are internally displaced from Kyiv," says this Julia Daniklieva (ph). "We had to come to Lviv while there are hostilities."

The artistic director tells me why they decided to open now.

"We understand that light must defeat darkness, that life must defeat death, and the mission of the theater is to assert this."

But the reminders of war are never too far away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dear guests, our event will be suspended in case of an air raid siren.

SOARES: Only 300 seats were allowed to be sold tonight, the capacity of the opera's bomb shelter. Still, it sold out.

(on camera): It's only minutes now until that curtain opens, and you can feel the tension, because this performance this extra special.

(voice-over): For a few hours, nothing else matters, as the audience and I are transported to a world of love and beauty.

Playing Giselle tonight is 21-year-old Daryna.

"It feels great," she tells me back in her dressing room, "because dancing helps to distract from what's happening."

Like many here, her life has been shaken by war and the horrors of Bucha, where mass graves were recently found. "My mom and my grandmother and her sister survived occupation in Bucha," she tells me. Now she's in safety in Poland, restoring her nerves.

Daryna finds solace on the stage, throwing herself behind her character. "All the negative emotions which accumulate for a long time flow out," she tells me."

A cathartic performance for those both on and offstage, offering comfort to those who need it most, in the hope they can lift, if only just briefly, this nation's aching soul.

Isa Soares, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And we hope that can be truly restorative for so many in Ukraine right now.

I want to thank you for spending some time with us. I'm Paula Newton. Stay with us. WORLD SPORT is coming up next.

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