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Thousands Of Foreign Nationals Evacuated From Sudan; Russia's Sergey Lavrov Chairs U.N. Security Council Meeting; Fox News Severs Ties With Host Tucker Carlson; Silence Fuels Speculation of Ukrainian Counteroffensive; Corruption Fuels Lavish Life of Russian Minister's Family; 73 Bodies Recovered from Mass Graves in Kenya. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired April 25, 2023 - 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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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, a three-day nationwide ceasefire now in effect across Sudan, with both warring factions agreeing to a truce, but for how long?

Bizarro world comes to the U.N. Security Council with the Russian Foreign Minister and serial liar, Sergey Lavrov chairing a meeting on international peace.

And one of the loudest mouths on cable news fall silent. Why did Fox fire Tucker Carlson? And is this just the beginning?

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

VAUSE: A new three day truce between Sudan warring factions has now been in place for six hours. Multiple other ceasefire attempts collapsed almost as soon as they came into effect last week. This latest pause was brokered by the U.S. Secretary of State who is also working with regional partners to try and implement a permanent end to the fighting.

Before the midnight deadline local time, clashes erupted around the capital Khartoum. Thick plumes of smoke rose from charred buildings covering entire city blocks.

Over the past 10 days, fighting has been reported across the country, leaving more than 400 people dead and countless without basic needs like food, water, and medicine. USA says the warring factions must restore calm immediately.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've also continued to engage directly with General Burhan and General Hemedti to press them, to extend and expand the ceasefire to a sustainable cessation of hostilities that prevents further violence and upholds humanitarian obligations. The Sudanese people are not giving up on their aspirations for a

secure, free and democratic future, neither will we.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Sudan's paramilitary forces say the new ceasefire will help efforts to make it safer for foreign nationals to leave. So far, thousands have been evacuated by various governments around the world, many more are expected to leave in the coming days.

Sudan's own people also fleeing the violence seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Others are trying to get out through the port of Sudan including hundreds of U.N. workers who reached the city after three days on the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLKER PERTHES, U.N. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR SUDAN: I'm glad we are all here safe coming from Khartoum in a very, very long journey. But we did it together. We had some challenges on the road. It wasn't first class airlift. But I think it was good that we all together moved out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The U.S. is among many countries who evacuated their diplomatic missions from Sudan, but thousands of private American citizens have been left behind. CNN's Sam Kiley has our report.

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Relief for the few evacuated to safety. Misery for the many left behind. A multinational rescue efforts involving Special Forces from across the world is underway with a focus on rescuing diplomats and their families from the horror of Sudan's new civil war.

BLINKEN: My first priority is the safety of our people. And I determined that the deteriorating security conditions in Khartoum poses an unacceptable risk to keeping our team there at this time.

KILEY: But an estimated 16,000 Americans, thousands of other foreigners, and of course, countless Sudanese remain. They're engulfed in mayhem amid growing violence.

JOHN KIRBY, PRESS SECRETARY, PENTAGON: But quite frankly, the situation is not conducive and not safe to try to conduct some kind of a larger military evacuation of American citizens.

KILEY: France has evacuated around 500 people, the U.S. less than a hundred.

So, you've got WFP, MSF, ICRC.

Rescue missions use this modest airport as a military hub. Do you feel that you're in the kind of center of a storm here?

DAOUD ALI ABDOU, GENERAL MANAGER, DJIBOUTI CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY: Exactly. Yes, exactly. And we're proud -- we're proud of this, because we -- for the size of our airports, we can manage all the western countries or the Asian countries, the African countries, Djibouti became the center of this war.

[00:05:09]

KILEY: A mass evacuation by air of foreigners from Sudan like Muna Daoud's parents would be a gigantic operation of the sort scene in Kabul, but it's an unlikely prospect.

MUNA DAOUD, PARENTS STRANDED IN SUDAN: I wrote a letter to the White House. I don't know what more we can do. Because we simply just want to get them out. And it seems like there's simply no communication, no care whatsoever given to anybody, any American Sudanese citizens currently in Sudan.

KILEY: With prisons emptying, and violence spreading, there's no immediate prospect of rescue, much less of peace.

Sam Kiley, CNN in Djibouti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Jacqueline Burns is a senior policy analyst with the RAND Corporation, a former advisor to the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. Thanks for being with us, Jacqueline.

JACQUELINE BURNS, SENIOR POLICY ANALYST, RAND CORPORATION (on camera): Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: OK. So, the European countries they manage to evacuate just over a thousand of their nationals, other countries have also carried out evacuations. As far as the U.S. is concerned, here's the former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaking to CNN, here he is.

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LEON PANETTA, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our mission right now is to protect U.S. citizens who were there in Sudan, we ought to try to make use of the ceasefire to try to develop routes of departure so that those who want to leave the country are able to leave in a secure fashion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Would you expect that to be happening right now? And why is the U.S. moving so slowly, at least compared to other countries here?

BURNS: I think there's a lot of factors at play here. One of them is United States was one of the first countries to embark on the evacuation of its embassy personnel. And we were not sure how well that was going to go, we were not sure if they were going to be able to get in without incidents, they had an AC 130 gunship, in case they did receive fire.

And so, I think at that point, they were just interested in a very limited operation to make sure that we could get those U.S. diplomatic personnel out of the country.

Since then, again, the situation has been very dynamic. And the U.S. has been focused, as they said, on providing information to help U.S. citizens find other ways out of Sudan through overland routes, and then providing assistance once they get to Port Sudan to go on for further travels.

But I do think that there were a lot of risky factors at play when the U.S. first began planning and then executed its evacuation of the embassy staff.

VAUSE: So, as far as Panetta's concern, this is a good time to organize meeting points for those American citizens who are there and want to leave, and this will be the time to get them out. Do you think that's going to happen?

BURNS: Yes, I think that the State Department, the Department of Defense are working really hard to provide information to U.S. citizens. And it's hard to say exactly how the things are going to unfold over the next three days if the ceasefire does indeed hold, I think there will be a lot more efforts on the part of all organizations and states to get people out while they can in case the violence does resume.

But I think there will be a period of waiting to see how things go while again, also providing as much information to those who are trying to get out of the country on ways that they can do so right now.

VAUSE: As bad as the conflict is already, the evacuation of diplomatic personnel as well as foreign nationals seems to bring a whole new level of fear for those left behind. I want you to listen to this man. His name is Achmed (ph), here he is.

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ACHMED (through translator): Sudanese people are afraid that there might be unethical practices in the war against civilians and using civilians as human shields. These are our fears after the evacuation of expats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Are his concerns justified? Do you think that could happen?

BURNS: Sure, I think they're absolutely justified. It's heartbreaking what is happening. And it was heartbreaking, I'm sure for all of the diplomatic personnel to be evacuating, leaving behind their Sudanese friends and contacts with people that they care very deeply about.

And there is some truth to the fact when there are less foreign nationals president, there are less people to witness the violence, to witness possible atrocities, and there's also less chance for engagement in a productive way.

I think that's why you saw so many countries wait so long. The violence was bad from the beginning, but they waited nine days before they started evacuating their personnel. But I think the situation got so bad and they were so worried about it getting worse, that countries felt like they didn't have a choice, but I do think it is a major concern and I understand why Sudanese people feel left behind.

VAUSE: And concern after the civil war in Sudan was expressed by the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, as well as the White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. This is on Monday. Listen to them both. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECURITY-GENERAL: I strongly condemn the indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas, including healthcare facilities.

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms. The violence between the SAF and the RSF.

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VAUSE: Is that the equivalent of thoughts and prayers?

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BURNS: This is a critique that diplomats and diplomacy gets all the time that condemnations aren't really doing anything. They are important, but more is needed than just condemnation, right? We have to be out there. We have to be saying something, we have to be public. But we also have to follow that up with actions.

VAUSE: Absolutely. Jacqueline, thank you so much for being with us. Your insight and your experience is great, so we appreciate it a lot. Thank you.

BURNS: Thank you.

VAUSE: And the U.N. rules that position of chair at the Security Council has a rotating position. Every month, another member of the council takes over, 15 members, which means every 15 months, Russia chairs the most powerful body of the United Nations.

And so, it's been all this month. Only on Monday, the irony seemed to go into hyperdrive with the Russian Foreign Minister, the ones who respected now serial liar, Sergey Lavrov, who flew to New York to chair a session on international peace and security -- international peace and security. One official was quoted as saying they're trolling us. CNN's Richard Roth has details.

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RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (on camera): At the United Nations once again, a meeting on Ukraine but this time the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was not only in the room, he was chairing the meeting since Russia is the president of the Security Council for April.

Harsh words lobbying at the big powers such as the United States, U.K. and France by Russia's envoy. Sergey Lavrov said the countries are crossing a threshold perhaps soon.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The situation has been worsened by the loss of and faith in multilateralism, as the financial and economic aggression of the West is destroying the benefits of globalization, when the United States and its allies are abandoning diplomacy and demanding relations to be clarified on the battlefield.

ROTH: Despite opposition to Russia's policies, the U.S. ambassador and colleagues did attend before the meeting. The U.S. ambassador said there's something big in this room.

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It's impossible to ignore the giant elephant in the room, Russia. Russia the convener of today's meeting, invaded his neighbors in Ukraine, and struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter. And Russia, time and time again has violated universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, both outside and inside its own borders.

ROTH: Western nations had a whole list of things they could complain about directly to the foreign minister. Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of imprisoned American, Paul Whelan was on hand, she watched the meeting from inside the council chamber, she again pleaded for Russia to release her brother and other American hostages.

ELIZABETH WHELAN, SISTER OF PAUL WHELAN: And who will be their next victim? It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to see that Russia will continue to push the boundaries.

I am here today to tell the global community that one way to engage in effective multilateralism is to confront those countries that resort to hostage diplomacy.

ROTH: Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov was also here to work on improving the Black Sea Grain deal as he met with the U.N. Secretary General.

Richard Roth, CNN United Nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Peter Yeo is Senior Vice President of the United Nations Foundation, and President of the Better World Campaign. Thanks for being with us, Peter.

PETER YEO, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION (on camera): Thanks for having me, John.

VAUSE: OK, so this was kind of the month of -- the Department of R&D got burned to the ground at the U.N. Security Council under Russia's leadership on April 5, they held an informal briefing on Ukrainian children being kidnapped to take into Russia with the woman who is in charge of the scheme Maria Lvova-Belova address the meeting remotely.

The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for her arrest, many diplomat stages just simply walked out of the room in protest.

A few days after that came a session on arms control, with Russia accusing the west of endangering the world by supplying weapons to Ukraine.

So, to have Lavrov chair of meeting of the Security Council, the man who repeatedly told the world Russia would not invade Ukraine, and when it did, repeatedly said it hadn't. It seems to confirm a one U.S. official told Politico which is this. They're trying to troll us. They're picking topics where they know some of the most egregious actions in this war are centered. And they're trying to flip the narrative on its head.

Not exactly what the U.N. Security Council was established to do, is it?

YEO: No, certainly not. I think today is certainly a nasty bit of diplomacy to the whole month with Russian presidency of the U.N. Security Council has been a nasty bit of diplomacy, to watch the foreign minister today preside over the U.N. Security Council, while Russia has engaged in illegal war that violates the UN Charter against Ukraine. It's all a little bit too much.

But I think that you have to look at what also happened today was Linda Thomas-Greenfield representing the United States, the Secretary General of the U.N., and most of the permanent members of the Security Council lined up and forcefully denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine in front of the foreign minister.

[00:15:10]

So, I think they were successful at least today in turning this a bit on its head.

VAUSE: So, with that in mind, Sergey Lavrov really stuck to that bizarro world created by the Kremlin, up is down, night as day, black as white. He really never deviated from that. Here's part of what he said today.

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LAVROV (through translator): Western countries not only preserved NATO, but contrary to their pledges, they moved towards arrogantly absorbing spaces, including those territories where vital interests of the Russian Federation existed, and will always continue to exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Diplomacy has been described as the patriot -- as patriotic lying for one's country. So, as liberals sort of taken that mix in a bit of Joseph Goebbels (ph), if you tell a big lie enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually believe you. Is that the strategy here? Lie enough to at least muddy the international waters?

YEO: For sure, I would say that there's two goals, which is again, one is the domestic audience to make sure that the foreign minister is viewed as doing his job back in Moscow. But putting that aside, there is a battle for sure to the -- for the hearts and minds of a lot of developing countries that have been very affected by the global food shortages and other insecurity caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

And so, certainly, they're trying to reach that audience as well. And convince them that the U.S. is wrong, the Europeans are wrong, and the Russians are right.

But we need to remember as well that the U.N. is the place where 141 countries voted right after the Russian invasion of Ukraine to oppose the invasion to declare it illegal against the U.N. Charter.

So, the U.N. has really been the center point for a lot of the global coalition building against the Russians from day one, including with those countries in the Global South that are most affected by the Russian invasion.

VAUSE: As you said earlier on, Lavrov was a diplomatic punching bag on this day. And here's sort of part of the attacks like this one from the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: This illegal, unprovoked an unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most shared principles, that a war of aggression and territorial conquest is never ever acceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, but two words that Iraq War and the words territorial conquest, that's not a get out of jail free card. There were warnings before the 2003 invasion that there will be irreparable harm to the United States, in moments, especially like this.

How much credibility does the U.S. have given its history with Iraq when it goes after Russia for what some compare as something similar?

YEO: There's no doubt that other countries when they view the charges being made by the U.S. and the Europeans, as it relates to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have Iraq in their minds, how could they not?

That said, it's important to remember that this is not just the U.S. that is making the case against the Russian invasion. It's our colleagues in Europe, the Brits and the French were incredibly forceful today in their denunciations of Russia. 27 E.U. ambassadors signed a letter today indicating the strong united European opposition to the Russian invasion.

And, as I said, 141 countries and then voted in the U.N. General Assembly to oppose the Russian invasion.

So, it's certainly part of the backdrop. But this invasion is so egregious, and it's the issue that we're dealing with now. And it seems that the global community is very much united (INAUDIBLE).

VAUSE: Yes, let's have the war come end soon. We don't have to put up with Lavrov again in another 15 months from now as chair of the Security Council.

YEO: Indeed, it's a rotating -- it's a rotating chairmanship. We're very much hopeful that the 15 months from now that this war will be over.

VAUSE: Absolutely. Peter, thanks so much for being with us.

YEO: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China has tried to portray itself as an honest broker. But it seems Beijing's ambassador of France may not have received the memo.

The ambassador Lu Shaye was asked during a television interview if Crimea was still part of Ukraine. Despite its illegal annexation by Moscow in 2014.

He said former Soviet republics don't have "effective status in international law". Not exactly the type of pro-Russia, Pro-Putin statement, which we expected from an honest broker. Criticism across Europe was quick and widespread. Here's how Beijing responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China has always adhered to the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment to develop bilateral friendly and cooperative relations. The Chinese side respects the status of the member states as sovereign states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

[00:20:11]

VAUSE: The Chinese embassy in France later said the ambassador's comments reflected his personal views, not the official position of Chinese government.

After the break, what could be the calm before the counter offensive? An eerie silence falls over southern Ukraine, fueling speculation that the long awaited push by Ukrainian forces might not be far away.

Plus, Fox News parts ways with its highest rated host. What may be the straw that broke Tucker Carlson's back?

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VAUSE: Two of the biggest names in cable news have lost their jobs. Fox News Channel has abruptly severed ties with its highest rated hosts Tucker Carlson, so far, no explanation why.

Carlson was known for pushing conspiracy theories about the COVID pandemic, the 2020 presidential election, and the January 6th Capital insurrection.

Text messages revealed by a lawsuit brought by Dominion voting systems showed Carlson made disparaging comments about senior Fox executives, as well as former President Donald Trump.

And CNN has parted ways with longtime anchor Don Lemon. Earlier this year, he was widely criticized for inappropriate on air comments about women's age. Lemon apologized while also denying more reports about troubling behavior in the workplace.

Tucker Carlson was reportedly blindsided. The Wall Street Journal reports he was told just 10 minutes before the official announcement was made. His staff were reportedly planning a show for Monday night. More details down from CNN's Brian Todd.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A stunning and sudden break between Tucker Carlson and the network that had embraced him at his most outrageous moments. Carlson abruptly pushed out at Fox News.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, NPR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: This was an action taken from the top levels of the network with the assent of its corporate parent at minimum.

TODD: So, ends one of the most controversial runs in cable television history. Carlson's show one of the highest rated ever on cable, but often full of xenophobic, anti-immigrant, conspiratorial rhetoric, much of it propelled by the host himself.

TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: The outcome of our presidential election was seized from the hands of voters where of course it rightly belongs.

FOLKENFLIK: He will be part of a chapter of Fox News where the hosts in the Trump era were unbridled and at times uncontrolled, defining their own direction.

TODD: During the COVID pandemic, Carlson often railed on the idea of encouraging people to get vaccinated.

CARLSON: The idea that you would force people to take medicine they don't want or need. Is there a precedent for that in our -- in our lifetime?

I honestly think it's the greatest scandal of my lifetime by far.

TODD: Some of his more disquieting moments came in the immediate aftermath of the January 6th attack on the Capitol when Carlson repeatedly defended insurrectionists. Then, laid out a baseless theory that it was all an FBI false flag operation.

[00:25:01]

CARLSON: FBI operatives were organizing the attack on the Capitol.

FOLKENFLIK: That was something that really shocked many of his colleagues at Fox News. It led to objections from Chris Wallace and Bret Baier, both of whom were perhaps the top figures on the news side.

TODD: In the end, some pieces of litigation could have been instrumental in pushing Carlson out. The Dominion lawsuit settled for more than three quarters of a billion dollars were texts from Carlson were revealed, showing he believed differently from what he said on air, saying about Donald Trump, I hate him passionately. There isn't really an upside to Trump.

And lawsuits filed by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg against the network, claiming Carlson's show team engaged in rampant sexism, including texts she said were from Carlson using the C word to refer to former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. Fox has said Grossberg lawsuits were "riddled with false allegations".

ERIK WEMPLE, WASHINGTON POST MEDIA CRITIC: This has been a tremendously, I think, painful, even traumatic experience for Fox News to see all their inner communications get splayed out in public. They are one of the most opaque institutions in American society for a very good reason, and that is they don't want people seeing in.

TODD: Tucker Carlson has not responded to CNN's repeated requests for comment on his ouster. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN he was informed of it on Monday. He will not have a final farewell show.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Sanctions? They're for the little people it seems. When we come back, one of the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed by the E.U., a Kremlin connected socialite living la vida loca in Paris. CNN investigation is coming up.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How was it possible that she can continue to do this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a very simple trick that they played.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

Homes, schools, commercial buildings, infrastructure all being reduced to rubble around the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister calls Russia's military assaults Syria like tactics.

The military says Russia has mounted almost 50 airstrikes in the region in the past day, more than 30 grand assaults which were repelled, but they still did damage, a lot of damage.

North of Bakhmut, a Russian missiles slammed into a school in Kramatorsk, leaving behind a gigantic crater.

Ukraine says Russian focus in the region appears to have shifted slightly but Bakhmut and the surrounding towns are still being pummeled. Despite that, Ukrainian forces defensive lines are said to be holding.

A new require has settled over southern Ukraine and with it, speculation about a possible upcoming Ukrainian counter offensive. It would likely be focused around Zaporizhzhia where Ukrainian pushed to the Sea of Azov could divide Russian forces and cut off land access to Crimea.

[00:30:09]

This report from Nick Paton Walsh.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, one Russian official in occupied parts of Ukraine has suggested not saying what evidence he has that maybe 10,000 Ukrainian troops are massing around the Southern town of Hulyaipole, not far from where I'm standing.

WALSH (voice-over): That's essentially on the front lines between Ukrainian-held territory and Russian-held territory.

And an important frontline, too, because most analysts think that, if Ukraine is to attain the strategic success it clearly needs during this long-heralded counteroffensive in the spring and summer, it essentially needs to try and cut off the Crimean Peninsula held by Russia since 2014, occupied by them since then to the rest of occupied Ukraine and the Russian mainland, too.

That could be a significant blow to the Kremlin's plans for Ukraine. Now we don't know exactly how far advanced Ukraine's military maneuvers are here, and there are some restrictions as to what we are allowed to tell you without ramifications.

But at the same time, it's important to point out that we've also heard Ukrainian officials suggesting the reallocation of Russian troops, one official suggesting that perhaps they've moved in greater number towards the coast of the Azov Sea, out on the outskirts of the town of Melitapol, a key place that Ukraine is going to have to recapture, if indeed it has -- success in this counter offensive.

And growing suggestions, information from various pro-Russian sources of increased shelling along parts of the West of occupied areas of Kherson, Russia controls. And also along the front line in Zaporizhzhia, too. WALSH: So a lot of suggestions that things may be afoot. Very little conclusive evidence that territory has permanently changed hands. But above all, enormous expectations, I think, from the Western backers and armors of Kyiv and Ukraine that they will be able to affect some sort of strategic change in this forthcoming summer, because, frankly, the unity we're seeing from Ukraine's Western backers is something they can't guarantee on seeing a year from now.

So a lot of pressure for results but quite as these begin to occur, what evidence we'll see, exceptionally hard at the moment.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Lifestyles of the rich and shameless. The ex-wife of a Russian deputy defense minister is living the good life in France, spending lavishly and partying at elite resorts, despite some tough E.U. and U.S. sanctions.

CNN's Clarissa Ward investigates how she's actually getting away with it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Svetlana Maniovich is a woman of expensive tastes. Diamonds and couture, extravagant parties and European vacations.

Just last month, she was seen shopping and dancing in the elite French ski resort of Courchevel.

But Maniovich is no ordinary Russians socialite. She is the other half of Russia's deputy minister of defense, Timur Ivanov, one of the most senior architects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

And, according to a shocking investigation, Maniovich continues to gallivant around France more than a year into Russia's bloody war, despite the fact that Ivanov was sanctioned by the E.U. in October.

The explosive report, put out by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, an investigative outfit founded by Russia's jailed opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, is based, they say, on a leaked archive of more than 8,000 of Maniovich's emails over the last 12 years and has racked up more than six million views on YouTube.

It claims that on March 25, 2022, as dozens of missiles rained down on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Maniovich spent more than $100,000 in a top Paris jewelry store on the Place Vendome.

WARD: How is it possible that she can continue to do this?

MARIA PEVCHIKH, HEAD OF INVESTIGATIONS, ANTI-CORRUPTION FOUNDATION: It's a very simple trick that they played. Point number one, Svetlana has an Israeli passport through her first -- with her first husband. And second of all, six months into the war, they have filed for divorce. They haven't -- they haven't split any assets. Nothing has changed in terms of like, you know, daily life. Whatever they owned, they keep owning together, but technically, they're not legally married anymore.

WARD (voice-over): Equally shocking are the opulent lifestyle and lavish spending that the leaked emails document. According to Russian business publication "RBC," Ivanov's official income was once declared to be around 14.2 million rubles a year, less than $175,000.

[00:35:02]

Yet, the Navalny group's report calculated that the couple spent more than a quarter of a million dollars in just one summer. CNN has not been able to independently verify those numbers.

WARD: How is he funding this lifestyle?

PEVCHIKH: Well, the answer is corruption. Corruption and specifically kickbacks.

WARD (voice-over): According to the Russian government, Ivanov oversees construction for Russia's Ministry of Defense, including what the Anti-Corruption Foundation describes as lucrative contracts to rebuild the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which fell to Russian forces under punishing bombardment last May.

PEVCHIKH: Russian army has destroyed, demolished 70 percent of the apartment blocks in town. They had to build new ones, and they did. So that company that built those displace houses in Mariupol, it is the same company that pays for Timur Ivanov's' personal bills.

WARD (voice-over): Despite claims of such brazen corruption, Putin toured the construction project last month, a request for comment on the investigation from the Russian ministry of defense received no reply.

In France, though, the pressure may be mounting. On Sunday afternoon, the Anti-Corruption Foundation organized a small protest outside the Paris apartment it claims Maniovich still rents, demanding to know how she is allowed to spend the profits of Russia's war in the heart of France. A question so far without any satisfactory answer.

WARD: CNN has reached out to the French foreign ministry, who responded, saying, "We do not comment on individual situations. France, with its E.U. partners, has ended visa facilitation for Russian citizens and has also adopted targeted individual sanctions against 1,499 Russian officials and their supporters."

We also attempted, of course, to reach out to Svetlana Maniovich, sending her an email. But as of yet, we have not received a reply.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come. The Italian Coast Guard rescuing thousands of migrants on a dangerous route through the Mediterranean Sea. An update on how many lives have been saved this year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Five people were injured when a car rammed into pedestrians near a popular market in central Jerusalem.

Israeli police say the driver was a Palestinian man in his thirties who was shot dead by a passerby.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says the incident was a terrorist attack.

Police in Kenya have now exhumed 73 emaciated bodies from a mass grave and fear they may have only scratched the surface of what appears to be a starvation cult.

All the dead appeared to be members of the Good News International Church, which allegedly persuaded them to starve to death to reach heaven before the end of the world.

[00:40:08]

CNN's Stephanie Busari has more.

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STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kenyan police have recovered dozens of bodies --

BUSARI (voice-over): -- from shallow graves in a forest in Eastern Kenya.

They are thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves, the state broadcaster reports.

Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the leader of the cult, known as the Good News International Church, was arrested after police received a tip-off that his vast land on the Shakahohla forest contained mass graves.

BUSARI: For over a week, police clad in overalls have been scouring the site in the coastal town of Malindi, and they have found an increasing number of bodies each day.

There are fears the numbers could rise as the Kenyan Red Cross said 112 people had been reported missing in the area.

Kenya's President Ruto branded Mackenzie a, quote, "terrible criminal," whose actions were, quote, "akin to terrorists."

The case has sent shockwaves Kenya, and the government has vowed tighter regulations on religious bodies and organizations. Kenya is a deeply religious country and has had problems in the past with unregulated churches and cults.

Stephanie Busari, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Italy says it has rescued 1,200 migrants arriving from Tunisia in just one day.

The Coast Guard released dramatic video of migrants swimming to them, calling for help after their boat sank in the Mediterranean.

And they say there are still migrant boats at sea and in distress.

The Italian government says more than 36,000 migrants have arrived on their shores so far this year, more than triple the number compared to the same time last year.

I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM, but first, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. See you back here in about 18 minutes.

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