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CNN International: Spanish PM in Kyiv to Mark First Anniversary of War; Ukraine Steps up Security ahead of Invasion Anniversary; Child & Reporter among Three Killed in Florida Shooting Spree; The Mood in Ukraine ahead of First Anniversary of War; "Body Collector" Returns Soldier's Remains to Families. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 23, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNNI HOST: Hello and welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, on the eve of the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, CNN is the first inside the village of Vuhledar which has injured heavy Russian shelling.

Also ahead, Vladimir Putin pledges to strengthen Russia's nuclear capabilities days after suspending a key nuclear treaty with the U.S. And a 9-year-old girl and a TV reporter are amongst three people killed in a series of shootings in Florida. More details just ahead.

Extra security measures are in place in cities and towns across Ukraine with the first anniversary of Russia's invasion less than 24 hours away. The Spanish Prime Minister is in Kyiv, where he's expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and make a speech to the country's parliament.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is back in Washington after an historic 3-day European trip meant to showcase Western unity. It comes as Vladimir Putin is promising to strengthen Russia's ability to launch nuclear missiles from land, sea and air. On the ground, the battles are particularly intense along Ukraine's Eastern front lines. CNN's Alex Marquardt has this exclusive look at a small coal mining town that has emerged as a critical hotspot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This fight for Vuhledar right now is one of the most important and difficult in the country. While the fight for a Bakhmut is largely symbolic. This is a very strategic fight for both sides. Vuhledar is unique in that it sits at the intersection of the two main active fronts in Ukraine, the Southern and the Eastern Front.

That is why Russia wants to try to push through here to launch an offensive into Donbas. It is believed that this is one of their shaping operations, the beginning of a larger offensive to come in the next few weeks. But they are struggling very badly right now.

They've lost a huge amount of men and armored vehicles as they tried to cross open fields, including minefields, where the Ukrainians have been able to inflict a huge amount of damage on their troops. At the same time, the Russians are absolutely pummeling this town.

You can see all around me, these are Soviet era, apartment blocks now largely empty, the residents have fled, and almost every single one destroyed in varying degrees. All of the windows have been blown out. Craters here in the ground where children used to play.

Ukrainians have the benefit of the higher ground here and these buildings to use in the fighting. But as with so many of the battles here in Eastern Ukraine, it is a fight of attrition, who can hold out the longest and Ukrainian side saying they need more ammunition to be able to keep the Russians at bay to keep them from advancing. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Vuhledar in Eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: CNN's Melissa Bell joins us live in Kyiv it's fascinating to see inside that town, isn't it? Also horribly depressing, but very impressive, really, that the Ukrainians have managed to hold it all this time?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is remarkable also to see to what extent really, Max, what we're talking about of the two sides fighting over cities that have essentially been turned to rubble. The residents forced to flee and that force of attrition that Alex was just talking about, that grinding war of attrition that continues with on the Russian side, as we've seen over the course of the last few days and weeks, increased firepower, increased manpower.

The Ukrainian saying for the time being, they're continuing to defend cities like Bakhmut, because of their strategic and symbolic importance, but that they will not do so at any cost.

[08:05:00]

BELL: Signaling that at some point it may be worth considering retreat. That is not the case for the time being that line holding for now precisely because as we approach that one-year anniversary tomorrow. The determination of both sides on the Russian to capture Bakhmut on the Ukrainian to defend it is equally strong because of the symbolism.

Elsewhere people really hoping that tomorrow will not bring more violence with people pretty divided about whether or not Russia really has the ability at this stage to upscale their efforts, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa, thank you. President Vladimir Putin says he's committed to boosting Russia's nuclear forces and an address on Russia's Fatherland Day. Mr. Putin also said the government will prioritize investments and military equipment to support those fighting in what he calls a special military operation in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: As before we will pay increased attention to strengthening the nuclear triad. We will continue to inundate our forces with advanced technology. There are new strike team, intelligence gathering and communications equipment, drones and artillery systems. Our industry is now rapidly boosting production of all types of conventional weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, the Head of the Wagner mercenary group says that a shipment of ammunition is on its way to his fighters. This comes only a day after Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of Treason, saying it was failing to provide weapons to his troops. Let's bring in CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen, who's in Moscow, it has been extraordinary to see this route play out so publicly.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that certainly hasn't. It certainly seems like a major route between the Yevgeny Prigozhin and the leadership of the Russian military.

And the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry and you're absolutely right; Yevgeny Prigozhin did make some of those comments, essentially accusing the Russian Defense Ministry of starving his forces around the Bakhmut area of ammunition.

Now, the Russian Defense Ministry shot back, if you will, at Yevgeny Prigozhin with a statement obviously, saying that, that was not true. They say that there were gains that had been made around Bakhmut over the past couple of days. And that alone showed that there was ammunition in that area.

And so therefore, statements saying that ammunition were not arriving in the Bakhmut area to the forces that are fighting there, whether they are with Prigozhin or whether they are direct Russian Military forces that that simply isn't true. Now, Prigozhin seems to have come out this morning, as you just pointed out, Max, and said that it seems as though the issue is resolved.

He said right now that's still something that's going on. On paper, it seems as though a train has left a train station, possibly with ammunition on it. But this really is you're absolutely right, a remarkable back and forth that has been going on between the Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Military.

And all of it, of course, we've resolved revolves around that key City of Bakhmut where some of the heaviest fighting is going on so definitely something that I think for the Russian public and also, of course, Russian politics kind of took away from the fact that they really wanted to take that city by the first anniversary of the war.

However, right now that blame game seems to be over and it seems as though right now at least Yevgeny Prigozhin is saying that that ammunition is now on its way again, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Fred in Moscow, thank you. Turning now to the U.S. where a shooting spree near Orlando, Florida has left three people dead including a 9-year-old girl and a television journalist. Please say a 19-year-old gunman shot and killed a woman inside a car on Wednesday. A few hours later, they believe he killed a reporter covering that shooting and then went into a home nearby and shot the child and her mother. The girl later died. The suspect was arrested a short time later. CNN's Leyla Santiago is in Orlando. Leyla, Police think this one man responsible for all of these shootings. And have they got any idea of the motive?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that still remains a very big question here in the investigation, trying to figure out exactly why these individuals were shot and killed if they were targeted in any way. But let me give you some more details. I know you laid out sort of the sequence of events.

But let me tell you the details that the Sheriff of this county gave us yesterday. During a press conference, he was asked if he believed that the individuals who were shot in this shooting spree were targeted. He said it was hard to tell. The first person who was shot was a woman in her 20s.

He told us that she was an acquaintance of the alleged gunman and then when the suspect went back to the scene of the crime. That is when two individuals from a news team were shot. One of them died and then as you mentioned, then the suspect went to a home where a 9-year-old and her mother were also shot that 9-year-old girl died.

The mother we're told is still in critical condition this morning. As for the photographer of the news team, he is also still in critical condition. Now we have also learned the identities of those in that news team.

[08:10:00]

SANTIAGO: It was a pretty young reporter at 24-year-old Dylan Lyons and the photographer was Jesse Walden his teammates calling Dylan Lyons the reporter who died a motivated and talented professional who was living his dream in Orlando. I want you to hear what else the Sheriff said during that press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MINA, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA SHERIFF: No one in our community, not a mother none a 9-year-old and certainly not news professionals should become the victim of gun violence in our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: And so the suspect at this point in custody 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses, the Sheriff did point out that he has an extensive criminal history that does include some gun charges. We expect him to be in court today and the Sheriff said additional charges could be pending here.

FOSTER: OK, Leyla Santiago, thank you for joining us. Israel today launched airstrikes targeting what it says was weapons manufacturing site in Gaza operated by Hamas militants. Earlier six rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel. The rocket fire comes after an Israeli military raid in the West Bank on Wednesday.

Israel says it was targeting Palestinian militants in Nablus, Palestinian authorities say at least 11 people were killed nearly 500 others were wounded. CNN's Hadas Gold joins us live from Jerusalem, Hadas.

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Max, this overnight rock exchange of rockets and then airstrike was expected because of what happened in the West Bank yesterday. The Israeli military in a rare mid-day almost raid into the old City of Nablus going after what they said was intelligence that said that militants were planning in immediate attack.

And when their forces converged upon this house in the old City of Nablus, the IDF saying that they came under heavy fire not only from the house itself, but they said also from surrounding cars and people on the streets. We do know that military groups are claiming something like 6 of the 11 Palestinians who were killed, and we are hearing have extensive injuries, just the numbers the sheer numbers or numbers.

Many people here have not seen since the days of the Second Intifada in the early 2000s. At least 100 were injured by live ammunition that's according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. And then several 100 more were injured by things like tear gas inhalation or shrapnel. That's according to Health Officials in Nablus.

And part of the reason for these numbers is just because of the time of day and the location of where this raid took place. Typically, these really military will raid in the middle of the night to try to avoid bystanders being involved try to avoid a lot of attention. And as you can see from the footage right there, obviously this read caused a lot of attention a lot of people were out on the street already at the market in the old city.

It's very crowded place the old City of Nablus, lots of winding alleys, pack homes packed tightly together. And as you can see people on the street there, especially young men, throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails at the Israeli military there were told us was an hour's long operation, very heavy firefight really astounding numbers.

We also know the Islamic Jihad militant group saying at least two of its commanders was killed as well as a member of Hamas. The militant groups in Gaza threatening that they were going to react and they did last night with six rockets. Israeli Military responding with those airstrikes on what they said was a weapons manufacturing site.

No injuries on either side. We do know there are efforts today to try to restore some sort of calm. We know that the U.N. mid-East Envoy tour when Aslan (ph) was in Gaza today for a few hours, no information yet though, on who he met with or what was potentially discussed. But obviously, this is a very tense situation and Israeli Authorities Palestinians are all on very much high alert, Max.

FOSTER: Hadas Gold, thank you very much indeed. Now still to come. Nearly one year ago, Kyiv woke up to the sound of air raid sirens triggering Europe's largest land war in more than seven decades. We'll take a look back.

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[08:15:00]

FOSTER: As the world prepares to mark one year since the start of the war in Ukraine, some crucial events have unfolded in the lead up to the anniversary. CNN's Christiane Amanpour has been following all of them for us. Just last week, she interviewed Olaf Scholz at the Munich Security Conference that was followed by another interview she had with the Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.

Currently, she's in Kyiv exactly where nearly a year ago a CNN team heard the first explosions hitting the Ukrainian Capitol. You've got a real sense, haven't you from European world leaders Christiane about the trepidation leading up to tomorrow? How would you describe the mood in Ukraine right now?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, in Ukraine, obviously, the government has ordered security around many of the sensitive sites and the important sites, in case there is some kind of massive offensive by Russians on the actual day. So far, it's quite quiet, but one never wants to, you know, put the cart before the horse.

But it's very different obviously here certainly in the Capitol than it was a year ago. This Capitol was one of the first to be attacked, Putin believed and so his people believed that they could encircle and capture Kyiv and decapitate the government within just a few hours or days. That is what they believe.

And of course, that did not happen nowhere close Russians never got close to this Capitol at least not close enough to get the Presidential Palace. They were repelled after about five weeks. And that is set the tone of the last year President Zelenskyy who came into office, let's face it, with a history of being an entertainer, a comedian who ran on an anti-corruption platform has in this last year generally been acclaimed as one of the great war leaders of our time.

And he has addressed his people every single night to keep their resolve and their spirit up. He does that every night from here. He's addressed the international community practically on a daily basis. In the last few weeks and months leading up to this one-year mark.

He has traveled outside of Ukraine for the first time since he was in Munich just a few days before the war when I interviewed him then, at a time when many people didn't believe U.S. intelligence, that there would be a full scale invasion. And his lobbying and the resistance of his people and the success of his troops on the battlefield, have really engaged the world.

And have helped leaders in NATO to get the support to him that he needs in terms of weapons systems, financial and other support in defense of this invasion, Max.

FOSTER: We did have this extraordinary day, didn't we? Where we had two worldviews effectively presented to us, one from President Putin in a big speech and another one from President Biden last years in Poland. What did you make of that? And what do you make of the rhetoric we've had since from Putin, where he keeps referencing nuclear weapons?

AMANPOUR: Yes, I mean, look, he's saying it in a very certain manner. He's not saying that he has engaged or put them on high alert or anything like that. What he's done is he's suspended Russian participation in the latest arms control, which is the START treaty. He talks about reinforcing his nuclear triad.

But then again, even after he said that his Foreign Ministry and others quickly explained that actually, they could go back into the treaty. So many people believe that it's typical Putin that it is his version of public diplomacy, public attempts to frighten not just Ukraine, but Ukraine's Military backers who are working obviously very hard to maintain Ukraine support but one never again wants to say never.

[08:20:00]

AMANPOUR: But according to U.S. intelligence, the idea of a nuclear strike at this moment has receded quite considerably from this time last year when everybody got very, very afraid of that. What we also know is that President Putin, in his address to his people, on Tuesday, talked about Russia's historical claim to these, what he called historic frontiers.

That's what he's been saying over the last couple of days. And this war, I'm not sure whether he calls it a war yet, but anyway, is on behalf of his people's historic rights is what he's saying. Of course, President Biden when he was in Poland, which is the coalface of the NATO alliance, now, defending against Russia.

He said that Putin when his tanks rolled in, expected us to roll over, we did not, and he spoke about the strong spine of democracy. How democracy far from being weak and corrupt and soft, like the Russians, and maybe even the Chinese thing have actually shown they to be strong and stalwart in support of their worldview.

And certainly in support of the international world order, which is a United Nations prescribed world order. It's not a west, it's not an east it's not a north and a south. It's an international U.N. prescribed world order that fundamentally operates around the sanctity of borders, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States.

And that is what is at stake here in Europe, as you said, for the first time in a major way after the Bosnian war. For the first time since World War Two, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Christiane in Kyiv thank you so much. Helping us mark this very grim milestone, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Well, its unclear how many Ukrainian troops have been killed in battle but for every dead soldier there are loved ones at home, grieving and mourning their loss. One small group of Ukrainian volunteers has been trying to provide some comfort to them by collecting the bodies of the fallen and bringing them home for a final goodbye. Our Clarissa Ward has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On most days, Oleg Repno (ph) sets out before dawn. Part of a volunteer group called bulldozer that transports the remains of Ukraine's fallen soldiers back to their families. At a morgue in the Kyiv suburb of burial, a group of servicemen are waiting to meet the body of private Alexei lead funnel.

Its somber work and the men move quickly. Deploy hands over the soldier's personal effects. At the moment we have 18 bodies he tells us and each family wants to get them as soon as possible.

WARD (on camera): So why do you do this work?

WARD (voice over): Few people are willing to do this work for free, he says. Not everyone has the psyche for it. They are lonely seemingly endless hours on the road as he crisscrosses the country. Emblazoned across the side of his truck is the number 200. A military term for the transport of dead bodies the dates back to Soviet time.

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WARD (voice over): On occasion processions of people line up on their knees to greet the truck mark of respect for the dead. At a morgue in the City of Dnipro, Repno stops to pick up more bodies overwhelmed by the number of casualties. The hospital has taken to storing them in a shipping container in the parking lot as the men work mourning relatives file past.

Ukraine does not release information on how many of its soldiers have been killed in action. But Repno says that his daily load has soared in recent weeks, as fighting has raged in Eastern Ukraine.

WARD: Do you have any idea how many bodies you have taken back to their hometowns at this stage?

WARD (voice over): In this van, he says around 1000.

WARD: And now we're at a stage in the war where more and more Ukrainian soldiers are being killed. Are you seeing that?

WARD (voice over): At the moment, yes, he tells us. Right now it's a large amount. 36 hours after a Repno drops off his body, private Litvinov is given a proper funeral in burial killed in the Donbas region on February 11. His mother Marina can finally say goodbye to her son.

WARD: How important was it to you to have his body returned so that you could give him this beautiful funeral today? WARD (voice over): The main thing is to have him at home not lying somewhere eaten by birds. You understand how awful it is when people just disappear, she says. We cannot change anything, but thank God he is here and I can come to visit him. This is the reason Repno does this work? But seeing the family's grief is also incredibly painful.

The hardest part is when you drop them off. He says when there are relatives present to look them in the eye. It's very hard, he says. There's so much emotion, so many tears. But there's no time for tears tonight. Repno is still has more bodies to deliver. And across Ukraine, many families are still waiting. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom". "World Sport" with Andy Scholes is up next.

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