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Russian Missiles Hit Power Plants, Bridges, Playground; Ukraine Reports 84 Russian Cruise Missile Attacks; Iran's Violent Clashes Erupt in 4th Week Of Anti Government Protests; North Korea Breaks Silence On Flurry Of Missile Tests. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 11, 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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[00:00:53]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, a grinding stalemate no more. The war in Ukraine has fast escalated after a sweeping Ukrainian counter offensive, followed now by Russian airstrikes on civilian targets.

Unrest in Iran spreads to the critical oil sector with a labor strike at one petro chemical plant in support of anti government protests now into their fourth week.

And how Vladimir Putin's loose talk of first strike use of nuclear weapons may have emboldened other dictators like Kim Jong-un to do likewise.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: It's 7:00 a.m. across Ukraine the beginning of a new day which may be the beginning of a dramatic escalation in the war with Russia. Across Ukraine, they're still counting the cost of dozens of Russian missile strikes, mostly targeting civilian infrastructure in nearly a dozen cities. One of the most destructive attacks since Vladimir Putin's forces invaded seven months ago.

So far, at least 14 Ukrainians confirmed dead, close to 100 others wounded. Many of the missile strikes like this one caught on video. Russia launched more than 84 cruise missiles, with Ukrainian defense officials saying despite their Soviet era air defense, over half of the Russian missiles were intercepted.

Almost every major city in Ukraine including the capital Kyiv was targeted. Civilian infrastructure bridges, residential buildings, power plants, even a children's playground or were hit and the Russian President Vladimir Putin warns the missile attacks will continue in response to what he described as a terrorist attack on a key bridge linking Russia and the illegally occupied territory of Crimea.

Across Ukraine, thousands took cover in subway stations like this one in Kyiv. While the missile strikes knocked out electricity and other basic services to millions of Ukrainians. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country will not be intimidated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The occupiers cannot oppose us on the battlefield. And that is why they resort to this tear. Well, let's make the battlefield even more painful for the enemy. And we will restore everything that was destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For months, the front lines in the war in Ukraine had barely moved, both sides seem bogged down in a slow grinding battle in the east. Then almost a month ago came a sweeping Ukrainian counter offensive, which continues to retake Russian occupied land in the East. And now, Russian airstrikes mostly targeting civilian infrastructure in towns and cities across the country. And for more on that, here's Nick Paton Walsh.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was the day the war came back to all of Ukraine. The capital Kyiv, like many cities for months, edging towards a normal, hit by multiple missiles strikes. Carnage at rush hour, central streets hit.

The target, unclear. The aim utter horror over a hundred missiles and drones. The civilian death toll rising along with global fury that there was nothing the Kremlin would not hit.

Even this Kyiv walkway to save face from endless losses and the weekend blast that hit another bridge between Russia and Crimea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gloating at his precision strikes, disconnected it seems from who really gets hurt in this war, yet promising more ahead if Ukraine replied.

In terms of the further act of terrorism or territory of Russia, he said, the Russian reply will be harsh and corresponding to the level of threat to the Russian Federation have no doubt about it.

For a few hours this morning, almost all of Ukraine cities seemed under attack. The bus next to this crater caught by one of two missiles, critically injuring five.

While you can see the utter ferocity of the explosion here by the hole, one of the two rockets made but it's also a curious question as to why this was indeed the target. It seems like this telecoms facility was unused at the time it was struck, but also to the callous disregard for human life being shown all these apartment blocks just within the blast radius.

[00:05:21]

This woman said she ran her two children back into the kitchen in the minutes between the two missiles. Homes here gone and winter ahead, made worse by the power cuts the missiles caused, however faster recovery is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is terrible. It is a crime against civilians.

Anger here, some fear but also resilience echoed by Ukraine's president.

There may be temporary blackouts, he said. But our competence, the confidence in our victory will never have a blackout. Why these particular strikes? The enemy wants us to get scared, wants us to run. We can only run forward and demonstrate that at the battlefield.

Russia's brutality was always a known quantity. But Ukraine stubborn resistance still surprises. This day, sharing a video of a soldier shooting down a missile with a shoulder launch rocket.

A David who wants more advanced arms to defend itself from a weakened Goliath, a call that this rare and chilling moment of terror across the country will only amplify.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Dnipro, Ukraine.

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VAUSE: Live to Kyiv now, Alexander Query, a reporter for The Kyiv Independent. Alexander, thanks for being with us. One thing which was notable during these airstrikes in the capitol there and many others -- many other places, thousands took shelter in the subway, I want you to look at what happened in the capitol in a show to fight with many just singing the national anthem, here they are.

Life has now dramatically changed because the past few months the fighting has been focused in the East. And in Kyiv there's been this sort of relative calm. So, how has the mood changed there now? How are the people feeling after Monday's attack and are there concerns that this is just the start of what could be increased hostilities?

ALEXANDER QUERY, REPORTER, THE KYIV INDEPENDENT: Well, I would say that compared to February 24, people are ready. And that's actually that makes a massive difference compared to the beginning of the full scale invasion. Some people compared the attitude of Ukrainians with Londoner's during the -- during the Blitz in 1940.

I would simply say that, now Ukrainians are ready and they're not -- and for most of them, they're not afraid anymore, or that kind of massive missile strike because I mean, the war the large scale division has been undergoing for eight months now. And without saying that they're used to it at least there's a certain atmosphere of calm and quietness, so to speak in the city, even in the face of such danger as these mass missile strike. And that in that was actually what was striking yesterday the way that, you know, Ukrainians actually behaved in front of such a danger.

VAUSE: On Monday, President Zelenskyy and Biden spoke by phone. Here's part of the readout from the White House, President Biden expressed his condemnation of Russia's missile strikes across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, conveyed his condolences. President Biden pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems.

That's what has been on Ukraine's wish list for a very, very long time. If those air defense systems arrived as promise, I guess they'll bring a feeling of relief, which may be a bit bittersweet in a way since so many have died already.

QUERY: Well, it is true, it would be -- it will be bittersweet, because, as you said Ukraine has been calling for such defense system for a while, not only from the U.S. actually, also from from Germany and all the countries including Israel.

And the issue here for Ukrainian is how many you know -- how many Ukrainians, how many Kyivans (PH) have to die for West states, Western partners to understand that the country needs such a -- such systems basically.

So, indeed, the Ukrainian will receive -- if they're right we'll receive that kind of very defense system will be a relief but we're still waiting for this system to actually arrive on the Ukrainian ground.

VAUSE: What we saw on Monday was a deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, playgrounds, schools, that kind of stuff. The chief prosecutor with the International Criminal Court said on CNN that essentially, all those responsible for this sort of attack will be held accountable, here he is.

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KARIM AHMAD KHAN, CHIEF PROSECUTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: The law is going to, I think ensure that there will be a day of reckoning in Ukraine and in other situations where any bully, any individual with a gun or with a missile, or the capacity to inflict terror on the most vulnerable of our next generations will realize that the law is that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He's talking about a process which will likely take years and quite possibly never happen. When Ukrainians hear that though, what do they think? Is there some kind of solace in that? Or is it just too busy struggling to survive day to day?

QUERY: Well, what's interesting here is that right after Bucha and between Mariupol, I'm not even only talking about the missile strikes here. But right after Bucha and Mariupol, Ukraine already began sending up some sort of courts, we saw the soldier who was -- who was accused of war crimes against civilians being condemned, being sentenced in Ukraine.

So, Ukrainian is already actually trying to put up sort of, let's say court system to begin -- to try and begin to judge people in Russians responsible for (INAUDIBLE). So, you have to take into account that Ukrainians have in mind that there will be a time of reckoning, there will be a time of taking people -- of holding people accountable for their war crimes, and they're already working on it. And that's on the parallel of while fighting for Ukraine's freedom and complete independence as on the parallel of rebuilding the country because they also need every time there's a struggle, so we need to rebuild the country.

And also of course, it's also a show that well, you know, international law and the law itself and the rule of law itself, which is a sign of a healthy democracy can actually work in Ukraine.

So, symbolically is extremely important for Ukraine to create the parameters for Russian, for the repeal preconditions where crimes will be held responsible.

VAUSE: You made that day of reckoning happening sooner rather than later. Alexander, thanks for being with us.

A government unrest in Iran appears to have spread to the oil sector, workers from at least one petrochemical complex in the south, joining widespread protests now into their fourth week. Video posted to social media shows the workers demonstrating chanting slogans like death to the dictator, some blocked a highway outside their oil plant.

The protests began with students and women demanding justice for a young woman who died after being detained by the so called morality police.

Over the weekend, violent clashes also erupted between protesters and police in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj. Human rights group says security forces used live fire to break up the crowd.

That group also added at least five people killed in the clashes that included a 7-year-old child. CNN though cannot verify that death toll.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has more than one the going unrest in this report, which we must warn you contains graphic and disturbing images.

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is how the fourth week of Iran's uprising started. The wails of one more families forever farewell. Another young life taken too soon.

One of several lives lost in a day of rage, a day of carnage in Iran's Kurdish region. These are the images the regime doesn't want the world to see. They cut off the internet (INAUDIBLE) making it hard for us to tell the stories of the dead and those left to mourn.

The little video trickling out only a glimpse into the repressive republic and its vicious force to crush the growing dissent. The savagery caught on camera and scenes like this in Tehran. And this man pleads with police to leave his wife alone.

We're not protesting. She's pregnant, he says, but to no avail. Both appear to have been forcefully dragged away.

It is that tyranny that feeds the anger of those on the streets defiant and determined seemingly unstoppable chasing the riot police.

An at all women's university this weekend, President Ebrahim Raisi who's dismissed the thousands on the streets as rioters, praised students for seeing through what he claims as the foreign conspiracy to weaken Iran.

At that same university, an extraordinary moment of rebellion as young women chant Raisi, get lost. Unclear if this happened while he was there, what's clear is the wall of fear in Iran has come down.

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Even the regime's attempt to control the narrative also briefly disrupted. Hackers interrupted state T.V. Saturday evening newscast with this video, a target superimposed on the face of the Supreme Leader. And at the bottom of the screen, the faces of Mahsa Jina Amini and three of the young women who've died in the protests. Nika Shakarami, Hadis Najafi and Serena Ismailzade (PH) with a message that reads, join us and rise up.

The streets of Tehran were already rising up that night with some of the largest protests in the capitol so far, seems replicated across the country has the government claims calm has been restored, and the so called riots are mostly over.

Daytime brought more students back out and force protesting on campuses across the country. And young school girls waiving their forced head scarves joining in the daring chants.

Their fearless cries for women, life, freedom, reverberating louder than ever through the streets of Iran.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

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VAUSE: When we come back mystery solved, North Korea reveals what's behind an unprecedented number of missile tests this year, it's no about the actual missiles.

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VAUSE: Welcome back. Volunteers have been building funeral prize in Thailand to cremate the bodies some of the victims of a massacre at a daycare center. By tradition, the bodies will be burned outside of Buddhist temple.

Last week, 36 people were killed, most of them young children by a former police officer with a gun and a knife. He also killed his wife and stepson before taking his own life.

Taiwan celebrated National Day, the mainland had a not so subtle message. Taiwan's defense Ministry says Beijing sent dozens of military aircraft to the surrounding region, along with several naval ships. Taiwan says it monitored the situation, mobilize some of its own forces.

During National Day festivities in Taipei, the president said there's no room for compromise on sovereignty, but she is willing to work with Beijing to find mutually acceptable ways to maintain peace. Chinese foreign ministry responded by calling Taiwan a "Inseparable part of its territory".

And after North Korea announced it can strike South Korea anywhere, anytime with short range tactical nuclear weapons, the new president of South Korea has promised a robust response to counter the threat from the north and added this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOON SUK-YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): North Korea is advancing its nuclear developments and threatening not only the Republic of Korea but the world. I believe it has nothing to gain from nuclear weapons.

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VAUSE: This year has seen a record number of missile tests by Pyongyang and our CNN Will Ripley reports. We now know why.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): North Korea's missile testing blitz, a staggering seven tests since September 25th. CNN's tally, 25 launch events this year, an unprecedented barrage and ballistic and cruise missiles.

Last week, North Korea's most powerful missile test since 2017, triggering a rare national emergency alert. Tensions skyrocketing to five year highs. No mention of mass missile testing on North Korean state media until now, breaking six months of silence Monday, calling the testing binge practice for tactical nuclear strikes on South Korea.

ANDREI LANKOV, PROFESSOR, KOOKMIN UNIVERSITY: North Koreans' final goal is sort of clear. The ASA (PH) wants to have full scale tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.

RIPLEY: A growing arsenal experts say could be used as leverage to lift crippling sanctions. State media quoting leader Kim Jong-un, nuclear combat forces are fully ready to hit and wipe out South Korean targets including airports and potentially U.S. military bases, threatening tens of thousands of American lives.

LEE SANG-YONG, STUDENT (through translator): I'm concerned that these continuous threats might take away our happy and safe life.

RIPLEY: Experts predict the most provocative test in half a decade may be imminent, the U.S. and allies monitoring a flurry of activity at North Korea's known nuclear test site. I travelled there in 2018 for a staged demolition, North Korea made the questionable claim all nuclear tunnels were destroyed. The secretive site now apparently restored, ready for a seventh underground nuclear test, potentially pushing a rattled region and weary world back to the brink of nuclear crisis.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei, Taiwan.

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VAUSE: Joe Cirincione is an expert on nuclear proliferation and the former president of the Ploughshares Fund. It's good to have you with us. It's been a while.

JOE CIRINCIONE, NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT: Thank you, John. Nice to be back.

VAUSE: OK, so it seems we have moved from this idea of using nuclear weapons and the first strike capacity has been unthinkable. So, now it's becoming sort of acceptable, at least for some countries. I want you to listen to Sue Terry former CIA analyst with an assessment of what's happening in Pyongyang, specifically referred to Kim Jong-un and his sister, listen to this.

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SUE TERRY, ASIA PROGRAM DIRECTOR, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: In addition to Kim Jong-un's focus on tactical nuclear weapons, and these missile tests, both Kim Jong-un and Kim yo Jong had been threatening pre- emptive use, taking a page out of Putin's playbook.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So with that in mind, a recent survey found supporting South Korea for developing its own nuclear weapons, now just over 70 percent, and there are calls from southern Taiwan to have its own nuclear deterrence, Saudis as well, this list goes on. So, big picture first up here, are the days of living under the security of America's nuclear umbrella coming to an end?

CIRINCIONE: I wouldn't call it over yet, but it's definitely fraying at the edges. And part of that is because of what Vladimir Putin is doing. He's trying to normalize the use of tactical nuclear weapons, talking about this as a reasonable step that he might take in a conventional war to use nuclear weapons first. The North Koreans don't need any lessons from this from Vladimir Putin. Of course, they've been making nuclear threats like this for a very long time.

We are -- I agree with your analysts, they are seeing a little bit of a defense of using them first. So, not using them in response to a U.S. nuclear strike, but using them first to try to intimidate South Korea and North Korea. And as you get these this cascade of loose talk about nukes, you do start to get governments seriously thinking about breaking their commitments to the United States. South Korea has promised it would not develop nuclear weapons. But you see this kind of rising sentiment in Japan, in South Korea, in Taiwan. So yes, it's a sign that the global regime that we set up to stop states from getting these nuclear weapons is weakening, is fraying at the edges and is in need of urgent repair.

VAUSE: And with regard to North Korea, specifically, Jeffrey Lewis is an arms control expert tweeted. What I found notable is that these launches are not framed as tests of the missiles themselves, but rather of the units that launched them that suggest these systems are deployed. So specifically, what does he mean by that?

CIRINCIONE: Yes, that's a key point. You do military test for two reasons, developmental to test a system. For example, the intermediate range ballistic missile that they flew over Japan was a new configuration of a missile they had to their testing, it doesn't work, what can it -- because we entry vehicle work.

But there was another series of tests, seven missile test together that were using well tested missiles. But they weren't testing the delivery vehicle, they were testing the ability of the units to have a coordinated execution of a strike. And then they bragged about it. So, you saw North Korean media say this was an exercise of tactical nuclear weapons strikes, they were sending a clear message to South Korea, to the United States that we're ready to use this, if we're pushed.

[00:25:11]

VAUSE: And if Russia is to use a nuclear weapon, most believe it would be a tactical nuclear weapon. And under the all the treaties, Moscow is not required to make public how many non strategic nuclear warheads it has. The Federation of American Scientists believes the number is just shy of 2000, which is incredible when you think.

How effective though are these weapons in a practical sense? What would be the response from the U.S. and NATO if Moscow did use this kind of weapon?

CIRINCIONE: You know, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev started us down the road of eliminating these weapons, they tried to do it all at once. They couldn't. But they started steady reductions over the last 30, 35 years. But those reductions have stopped, we never finished the job.

So, Vladimir Putin does have somewhere between 1,000 2,000 so called tactical weapons, weapons that can be fitted to short range Medium Range Systems like the Iskender missile, these are not small weapons. These are Hiroshima size, two, three, five times the size of Hiroshima. These are major weapons of mass destruction.

So, there's nothing trivial about their use. It isn't like you could use this thing. And it'd be like a conventional explosion. No, even the smallest one of these is still many times larger than any conventional looks explosive force. So, this is serious. I think the probability of their use is low, but it is not zero. And that should worry all of us.

VAUSE: Because when Putin has said he will do something, in the past, he's done it.

CIRINCIONE: Yes. You know, he's got several purposes here. Mainly, it's a terror tactic. Mainly, he's trying to weaken European support for Ukraine, split American support for Ukraine, try to convince the Ukrainians to surrender and let him occupy the land he's occupied.

But beneath that is also the very real threat. He has the means to do it. He has a method to do it. Russian doctrine calls for the first use of nuclear weapons if they are losing a conventional war. And he certainly has the motive. He is losing this war, both in Ukraine and now in Russia, where more men are leaving the country than surging into the armed forces.

So yes, this is a real risk, we have to take it seriously. We have to do all we can to convince him that this is a losing move, that this will not win the war for him. And if he takes this move, if he crosses this line, there will be as the national security adviser has said catastrophic consequences.

VAUSE: Joe Cirincione, thank you so much, sir, for being with us. We really appreciate it.

CIRINCIONE: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: If Putin's war of choice was meant to reassert Moscow's power over former Soviet states, well, looks like a swing and a miss after Russia's military falls like a cheap suit in Ukraine. More on that when we come back.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone, I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:27]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country will not be intimidated after Russia unleashed an unprecedented number of missile and air strikes on Ukrainian cities far from the front lines.

At least 14 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in the attacks that rocked several population centers, including the capital of Kyiv. And video from that city recorded this explosion, which was knocking out a pedestrian bridge.

Further to the South, in the city of Dnipro, the moment of impact on a major road. Ukraine says Russia lost at least 84 missiles on Monday but was able to neutralize more than half.

Russia's assault targeted civilian infrastructure, caused power outages. It came two days after damage to a bridge linking Crimea to Russia, the illegally occupied Crimea, dealt a major blow to the Kremlin, which is vowing more strikes.

The Europe Commission president, speaking near the Russian border in Estonia, condemned the latest actions by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: I am shocked and appalled by the vicious attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for. It is terror and brutality. Those who are responsible have to be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The U.N. secretary-general called Russia's attacks quote, "another unacceptable escalation of the war." His comments coming as the U.N. General Assembly met on Monday in New York, where he voted to reject Russia's call for a secret ballot on a resolution denouncing Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions. A vote on that resolution is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Ukrainian ambassador had this to say to the U.N.

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SERGIY KYSLYTSYA, UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: You can hardly hope for a stable and sane peace, as long as an unstable and insane dictatorship exists in your vicinity. A dictatorship that actively uses missile terror against the civilian population and infrastructure of another state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ukraine's ambassador received applause. There was silence from Moscow's diplomat, who accused countries of ganging up on Russia.

A look at how this completely unprovoked war is hurting Russia's brand, not just internationally, but within central Asia, even among some allies.

CNN's Ivan Watson has been following that side of the story. He joins us now, live from Hong Kong -- Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John.

We know, and we are accustomed to hearing criticism of Russia coming from Western countries, and certainly from Ukraine. What is remarkable is how uncomfortable this war is for Russia's traditional closest security and economic allies, within its traditional sphere of influence.

So I traveled to Kazakhstan and have been looking at the complete lack of enthusiasm from this war coming from Russia's closest partners.

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WATSON (voice-over): On his 70th birthday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the leaders of other former Soviet republics. And he called for the resolution of conflicts that erupt in the region. Of course, Putin is directly responsible for launching the biggest war

in recent history in this part of the world.

WATSON: Russia's invasion of Ukraine was aimed at reasserting Moscow's control over part of the former Soviet Union. Instead, this increasingly disastrous war has weakened Russia's influence across the region, including here, in Central Asia.

KADYR TOKTOGULOV, FORMER KYRGYZSTAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Unless something changes dramatically and Russia rebounds, we'll see Russia's role, certainly, diminishing in Central Asia, for sure.

WATSON (voice-over): Kadyr Toktogulov is a former ambassador to Washington from Kyrgyzstan, a small former Soviet republic with close economic and security ties to Moscow.

TOKTOGULOV: To see this kind of attack by Russia against Ukraine was certainly disorienting, because it sort of showed the things -- terrible things that Russia is capable of.

WATSON (voice-over): Of the leaders of the former Soviet republics, only Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus has publicly supported Russia's war in Ukraine.

Russia conducted joint military exercises with its other four mutual defense treaty allies. But when it comes to the Ukraine war, they have all stayed publicly neutral. And that includes Kazakhstan.

[00:30:10]

In January, the authorities here used deadly force to crush a violent uprising that left dozens dead.

Moscow answered an urgent call for help from the Kazakh government, leading a deployment of troops here on a brief peacekeeping mission.

WATSON: You can still see burn marks on some buildings after the violence last January. Russia came to the Kazakh government's help in its time of need. But the Kazakh president has made it clear he will not be getting involved in Moscow's war in Ukraine.

WATSON (voice-over): As Russia's military faces more and more setbacks in Ukraine, tensions have exploded in other areas, long seen as Russia's backyard.

Deadly fighting raged across the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in September. Meanwhile, hundreds died in separate cross- border clashes last month between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Moscow refused to call for military assistance from its treaty ally, Armenia. And now the Armenian government is working with the European Union to negotiate a settlement.

Moscow is on the back foot, due to its destructive war of choice. And that's leaving a growing power vacuum across the former Soviet Union.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: So John, there are a number of reasons why, for example, the central Asian states are really uncomfortable with this war.

No. 1, the Western sanctions on Russia have a trickle-down effect on countries like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who rely on trade with Russia as Russia's economy has shrunk. That hits their economies, as well.

They don't want to be seen as siding with Russia, because then they, too, could be sanctioned by the West. So that's another reason to keep a distance.

And then there is Russia's justification for attacking Ukraine, which was ostensibly to protect Russian speakers and ethnic Russians in Ukraine.

Well, guess what other countries have large communities of Russian speakers and ethnic Russians? Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which then fear that they could potentially be a target down the road.

And we're seeing some of the impact here already. The members of the collective security treaty organization, which came from the ashes of the Soviet Union, includes some six countries. They were supposed to be conducting this week, as we speak, joint military exercises in Kyrgyzstan.

That country, its government canceled the exercises it was supposed to host just a couple of days ago, likely showing its anger at the border conflict with Tajikistan. In which dozens of people have died. It's leading some observers to say that this treaty organization that Russia leads is on its last gasp right now -- John.

VAUSE: But apart from that, the war in Ukraine has been a complete success for Vladimir Putin.

Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson there for us in Ukraine.

Well, the clock is ticking for dozens of people still missing after a massive landslide in Venezuela. And when we come back, a desperate search in hope of finding survivors.

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VAUSE: Twenty minutes before the top of the hour, welcome back. The Venezuelan president on Monday surveyed the damage from a deadly mudslide as the search continues for survivors.

The landslide on Sunday came after days of heavy rain. At least 35 are confirmed dead, more than 50 people unaccounted for. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed.

Tropical Storm Julia has left a trail of destruction across Central America. A number of deaths have been reported in El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Honduras. But the storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday.

About 1 million people lost power in Nicaragua. More than 13,000 families were forced to evacuate. Schools closed across the region on Monday.

In France, a trial began Monday for Air France and Airbus, charged with involuntary manslaughter after a deadly 2009 plane crash. Relatives of the victims are demanding justice. Many are upset at the maximum fine the companies face if actually convicted, only $219,000 each.

CNN's Jim Bittermann has our report from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thirteen years after a crash that killed 228 people, two giants of French aviation, Airbus and Air France, are back in court, charged with involuntary manslaughter.

BITTERMANN (voice-over): They already were put under judicial investigation after 2011, but the charges were dismissed in 2019.

Now, though, the families and friends of those who died on Air France Flight 447, traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, pressured prosecutors to take up the case once again, in order, they hope, to put the blame on the two companies, rather than the two pilots, who are now dead.

After years of ocean searches and analysis of the flight reports, BEA (ph), the French agency which investigates air crashes, concluded the accident occurred because an air speed sensor failure that had occurred on the same type of aircraft before. And because the pilots incorrectly handled the situation which evolved.

The plaintiff of the case maintain that the sensor problem should have been corrected. And that the pilots should have been trained how to handle such circumstances.

The vice president of the association which represents the families of the victims and who lost his brother in the crash, said that this is the first time the families will be able to confront the two companies directly.

PHILIPPE LINGUET, VICE PRESIDENT, VICTIMS ASSOCIATION: I would say to them that they need to have some empathy with -- to us. They need to understand the feeling we lose 228 passengers. They are still in our hearts. We miss them. They miss us, and we will never forget them.

BITTERMANN: Airbus and Air France deny any responsibility for the crash and say the charges against them should be dropped. With nearly 500 interested parties taking part in the trial, it's expected it will last until early December.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break. See you soon.

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