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Russian President Vladimir Putin Refers To Rostov-On-Don Situation As "Armed Uprising"; Ukraine Tweets "We Are Watching"; Putin Vows Punishment For Rebels; U.S. And Canada Launch Investigations Into Submersible Implosion. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired June 24, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
We begin this hour with breaking news out of Russia. Russian president Vladimir Putin has sent a blunt warning to Wagner mercenaries as the nation is in the midst of extraordinary turmoil.
He addressed the nation a short time ago saying that anybody involved in treason or armed rebellion will be punished. He also called what is happening in southwestern Russia, amounts to an armed rebellion.
Earlier, Wagner's leader claimed his troops took control of military facilities in the Russian cities of Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don. Yevgeny Prigozhin is also threatening to move on to Moscow if Russian military leaders do not meet with him.
But Russia's defense ministry is urging his mercenaries to return to their permanent deployment, while Russian media reports that security forces have cordoned off Wagner's center in St. Petersburg.
All of this is happening after Russia opened a legal case against Prigozhin, accusing him of calling for an armed rebellion. On Friday, he claimed that Russian military struck a Wagner camp and pledged retribution for that.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Now this social media video shows the alleged strike but CNN cannot verify its authenticity. Russia's defense ministry denied his accusation. Prigozhin later claimed that military helicopters also hit his troops and civilians before two aircraft were shot down. It's not clear where the alleged incident happened.
But state security services urging Wagner troops to detain Prigozhin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: CNN's Matthew Chance has more from Kyiv and a warning; his report contains disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the chaotic scenes posted by the Wagner mercenary group, what they say is their forest camp, struck by the Russian military. In a clearing, trees appear to have been smashed, some with fabric (ph) strewn from their branches.
Through a gash in the soil, a fire burns in what appears to be a destroyed bunker. There are gruesome images, too, of a corpse in the undergrowth as well as severed body parts. The Russian defense ministry denies any role in this. But a furious Wagner leader is vowing revenge.
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, FOUNDER, WAGNER GROUP (through translator): Those who destroyed our guys today, along with tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask no one to put up any resistance. Justice for the troops will be restored and then justice for all of Russia.
CHANCE (voice-over): It's a threat of violence now posing a major challenge to the authority of President Putin. The Kremlin says all necessary measures are being taken. And now the Russian security service has opened a criminal case into what they say is a call for armed rebellion. Patience with Prigozhin appears to have finally run out.
The Wagner chief, whose mercenaries have played a key role in the Ukraine war, has long been at odds with Russia's military command, accusing them repeatedly of mishandling the conflict.
The recent weeks have seen tensions escalate after the Kremlin ordered all Russian mercenaries to sign contracts with the defense ministry in a move seen as a crackdown on Wagner.
In the hours before the alleged strike on the Wagner camp, Prigozhin stepped up his war of words, accusing the defense ministry of tricking the country into an unprovoked invasion back in February last year.
PRIGOZHIN (through translator): On February 24th, nothing extraordinary happened. But the ministry of defense was trying to deceive the public, to deceive the president and say that there was insane aggression on the part of Ukraine and that they were going to attack us, together with NATO.
The war was not needed in order to return Russian citizens to our bosom and not needed in order to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.
CHANCE (voice-over): It is a bold, even dangerous criticism of Russia's war that may be plunging the country into turmoil -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Ivan Watson has been monitoring the dramatic power struggle in Russia and he joins us from Hong Kong with more.
Ivan, first take us through Putin's strongly worded reaction to the crisis.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, he has kind of stayed on the sidelines, Kim, of the war of words between the Russian defense ministry and this mercenary chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
This has gone on for months and it has taken, quite literally, Wagner mercenaries invading Russia from Ukrainian territory to get Vladimir Putin to step up and accuse his former aide of armed mutiny and rebellion, while also framing this, saying that -- arguing that Russia is an existential battle for its future.
Here is an excerpt of the kind of rhetoric that he used.
[04:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): We are fighting for the life and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to be and remain in Russia as a state with 1,000 years of history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now he went on to compare what is happening now, this uprising by the Wagner mercenaries, to 1917, when there was a revolution during the czarist army's war with Germany in World War I and ultimately a collapse of the Russian state and military and then a civil war.
He was not mincing words here; in the end of his address, he mentioned some concrete actions that he was taking. He was adopting counterterrorism measures in Moscow and in some other regions.
He acknowledged that the situation in the southern province of Rostov is complicated. He said that the civilian and military command areas had been blockaded and, of course, he vowed punishment.
But this is basically acknowledging what we have seen unfold in social media and in claims by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, who announced that he had taken over the command headquarters in the south of Russia. Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRIGOZHIN (through translator): We are at headquarters at 7:30 am. Military facilities in Rostov, including the airfield, are under our control. Planes that leave for combat will not leave as usual. No problems.
Medical flights will leave as usual. All we did was to take control so that the attack aviation would not strike us but strike in the Ukrainian direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON: In that address, he said that his forces would continue to blockade the city and they would move on Moscow unless the defense minister of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, and the chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, came to meet him.
We have gotten reports in the last hour or so, claims by Wagner, that they have taken over military installations in that central province of Voronezh. We might have a map to show you if that is in fact true.
And we certainly have heard statements coming from the governor of that province, telling people to stay away from the main highway, because of reports of military presence there. It would indicate that Wagner forces have gotten at least half the distance between Rostov and Moscow this day alone -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: A swiftly moving situation. Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, we appreciate that.
For more on how those developments could affect Ukraine, we are joined by Ben Wedeman in Zaporizhzhya.
So Ben, one can imagine Ukrainians would be celebrating the chaos unfolding in the enemy camp.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly they are watching events with intense interest and perhaps anticipation about what it means for the war that has been raging here since February of last year, when Russia invaded the country.
Now the Ukrainian government has been relatively quiet or it really has not said much. We did hear an adviser to President Zelenskyy come out and say they are watching closely the infighting among the Russian elite. And he said that everything is just beginning.
The defense ministry last night put out a very simple tweet, saying, "We are watching."
Now the fact that Prigozhin's forces seem to have taken over this city of Rostov is critical to the war effort. Keep in mind, it is the headquarters for the southern military district of Russia. And it is an important strategic command center for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
If Prigozhin has that city under its control and the headquarters of the southern military district, it will be very interesting to see how that plays out on the battlefield. We were up near the front yesterday.
And what we saw was an incredible concentration of men, Western equipment and logistical activities. You know, the other day we were in one of those eight villages that the Ukrainian military had recently liberated.
But that was really nothing compared to what we saw yesterday. Clearly, the Ukrainians have yet to dedicate the bulk of their forces to this counteroffensive. And this is a golden moment for them, when Russia seems to be in chaos.
[04:10:00]
WEDEMAN: The Kremlin is utterly preoccupied with what Putin called an armed uprising and the armed forces is primed to launch the bulk of its troops into this offensive.
So this is a critical moment and certainly the Ukrainians are watching with intense interest and some of them with a certain amount of black humor about what is going on in Moscow, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: It will be interesting to see what implications this has on the battlefield. Ben Wedeman in Ukraine, thank you.
U.S. officials say that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation in Russia and that the White House is following developments closely. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I am told that the White House is actively monitoring this unfolding situation inside of Russia, a very delicate situation.
I am told that President Biden has indeed been briefed on that situation inside of Russia.
And I also have this statement from the National Security Council spokesperson, Adam Hodge, who says, quote, "We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments."
Two other administration officials tell me that White House officials will continue to closely monitor what is happening inside of Russia.
They are being cautious, as of Friday, not to weigh in too much on the situation until it becomes clear exactly what is happening between the Russian mercenary leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Russian ministry of defense.
But whatever the situation, there are obviously enormous implications for these tensions inside of Russia. The U.S. has long been monitoring those tensions between the Wagner mercenary group and the Russian ministry of defense.
Of course, both of those sides have been sanctioned by the United States for their role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And we do know that the Wagner mercenary group has played an increasingly key role in the Russian military war effort inside of Ukraine.
So certainly on Friday, this was a very tense and unfolding situation, that the White House is going to be continuing to be monitoring -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us from London.
Nic, I want to start with what we just saw, the international reaction. The world is watching keenly.
So what has been the reaction from other nations so far?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There is a concern being spoken about by British officials, foreign office, that the instability that has been witnessed in Russia and Rostov-on-Don and in other places could grow, could expand.
You know, I think certainly people will be looking at how the military is going to respond down to a grassroots level.
When you listen to Putin's speech, he does not address any of what Prigozhin has said, that the Russian military has been, essentially, sending young Russian conscripts into slaughter, that it has not been giving them enough ammunition, enough training, that there has been a wanton loss of soldiers and fighters.
Nowhere in Putin's speech does he address that, which leaves opens the question of how other ranks in the military are going to respond when they have to go toe to toe with Wagner's mercenary fighters, who look like them, speak the same language, hold the same weapons, firing ammunition from the same weapons depots and stores.
How is that going to shake down?
I think the other big piece that many in the international community will look for is the other assurers of power around Putin because, of course, Prigozhin was, for a long time, a trusted confidant, the Wagner mercenary group an extended arm of Russia's foreign policy, deniable until fairly recently, in many countries around the world.
But for Putin himself, having such a close confidant with such a large and capable military close to him was a reason for perhaps Putin to look upon his own security as being slightly assured.
The other place that he would look for his own security would be the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has been very loyal to the Kremlin and has put many fighters into the fight in Ukraine.
But there has been evidence over the last year or so, past number of months, that seems to point to the fact that even the Chechens are getting somewhat disturbed by their rate of losses. They pulled out of the fight at one point and by some of their high-level losses as well.
Perhaps they are not so keen on this fight and the war. This is the central question for Putin right now, that he is not addressing, which is the war in Ukraine.
Is it being fought well?
Was his initial invasion wise?
Of course, Prigozhin is putting this off on the defense chief, Gerasimov, and Shoigu, the defense minister. But the question really lands at Putin's feet. And this will be the question about the war.
[04:15:00]
ROBERTSON: So I think the international community is going to look at all of that. But I think for Putin, one of the key questions at the moment will be the loyalty of Kadyrov as things move forward.
BRUNHUBER: Nic, based on what we heard from Putin last hour, has he been painted into a corner here?
Does he have no choice but to arrest or possibly kill Prigozhin?
Or is a compromise and a climbdown possible?
ROBERTSON: I think there are some things that have been assessed about Putin in the past that may have not stood up to scrutiny. He was always assessed as being a very good strategist. That was until the invasion of Ukraine and how poorly it went in the beginning.
There has been an assessment that Putin sort of plays different factions and groups off of each other, that Prigozhin was really a useful tool for him to criticize his own military, if he needed to turn to his own military for a scapegoat for how poorly the war is going in Ukraine.
So there was an analysis, that Putin kind of had this under control. But the fact that he has not dealt with it seems, until now, that it has gotten to a literally crisis point, seems to indicate that he did not want to deal with it, was afraid of dealing with it, could not deal with it, which points to a weakness.
If by the end of the day the military and security situation is not clear in Ukraine, it is going to point to a further weakness of Putin's position. He is talking about this is important for the unity of the state and the history of the state. We have been here before in 1917; we do not need to go here again.
The people who are turning on the nation are traitors and we need to stop them. But that does not deal with the fundamental questions of why they're in this position.
And all of those who have been going through the war and those families, the thousands upon thousands of families who have lost sons, husbands, brothers, loved ones, you know, fighting in this war, who perhaps do not feel like they have had adequate answers from the Kremlin or adequate recompense or even feel that the war wasn't in their or the country's best interests.
These questions become much larger, the crisis for Putin is getting back the military control. But the crisis around the war for him has suddenly gotten much larger.
BRUNHUBER: Excellent analysis as always, Nic Robertson, thank you so much.
New investigations launched into the Titan submersible tragedy. How Canadian and U.S. authorities are spearheading the search for answers into why the craft imploded.
Plus much more on the crisis in Russia. We will have an expert on Russian politics weighing in on the feud between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the country's military. That is coming up. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Russian president Vladimir Putin has promised to punish those who have carried out what he calls armed rebellion and treason. It comes after Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed to have seized several facilities from the Russian military, which he accused of attacking and killing his own fighters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Joining me now to discuss this is Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King's College London.
Thank you so much for being here with us.
First, what did you make of Putin's reaction to this crisis, calling it a stab in the back and treason?
SAM GREENE, DIRECTOR, RUSSIA INSTITUTE, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: Well, look, it is really probably the only reaction that he could have.
You know, even though Prigozhin seemingly went out of his way to say that he was not attacking Putin himself, that this was a challenge to the defense minister and the chief of general staff, the reality is that, for somebody like Prigozhin to essentially tell the president who his defense minister can and cannot be is tantamount to a challenge to the power of the presidency itself.
It is essentially a coup, to move armed militarized formations around the country and take control of government buildings. It is a challenge to the military power and the governing power of the president.
I do not see, frankly, that Putin had much of a choice but to respond to this with some rhetorical force. We will see whether he has the actual administrative force to and the military force to put this rebellion down. But he is calling it what it is.
BRUNHUBER: From Prigozhin's point of view, he would have known the risks.
Why would he think he could pull this off?
He must think someone powerful must have his back in Moscow or among the oligarchs and elites perhaps. GREENE: I really struggle to understand exactly what Prigozhin thought he was going to achieve. Maybe as you say he thought he had allies. That does not seem to have come to the fore yet but it is still early days and hours. Maybe there are things yet to play out.
The reality is that a lot of people in the Russian system, including Prigozhin and Putin himself, have made military decisions on the basis poor analysis and have gotten themselves into situations that they struggle to manage to get out of.
So I think we have to leave room for people to simply make mistakes.
BRUNHUBER: As you say, it is really hard to divine Prigozhin's motives here.
What is your best guess in terms of his intentions?
Do you think he will roll on Moscow, do you think he will stop at the ministry of defense?
GREENE: I think that he has already not stopped at the ministry of defense, to be quite clear. And Putin himself has lined up squarely behind his defense minister. So even if formally this does stop with the defense minister, from Prigozhin's point of view, the reality is that it will be treated as a challenge to Putin.
And Prigozhin will have to overcome Putin himself and the entirety of the Russian state to get his way.
[04:25:00]
GREENE: I am again struggling to see a way in which he could possibly succeed in this. But it does put Putin in a difficult position.
The last thing that he needs the world to see and the last thing that he needs the Russian public and the rest of the Russian system to see is a armed conflict on Russian territory between the Russian military and Wagner, which, again, as Putin himself had said, has been fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Russian military in Ukraine.
It will not increase the confidence that the Russian public or the Russian elite, upon whom Putin relies for his power, have in his ability to hold things together, even if Putin does see off his challenge. It may actually only be the first of a number of challenges to come.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that is the question. And then I'm wondering if there is a way out here. The FSB, the federal security service initiated a criminal case against Prigozhin and that cannot happen without Putin's approval, if it was not done under his direct order.
All of this, with that and everything that Putin said, do you think that means the rift between Prigozhin and Putin is too wide to be repaired?
That there is no climbdown possible? GREENE: I have learned to retain the capacity for surprise over the last 1.5 years. But I think the reality seems to be that there is no way back for these two men in this situation.
Putin is gone on television, accused Prigozhin of treason, which in Putin's view, as we have seen over the last 23 years, is the highest crime of which you can be accused. He has stopped referring to Prigozhin by name, which is an honor that he reserves for some of his greatest opponents, including Alexei Navalny.
You do get the sense, at least in a political sense, that Prigozhin is very much dead to Putin.
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. says that it is monitoring the situation.
How much intel and insight do you think they have on what is happening right now?
And are there discussions taking place behind the scenes between the two countries right now?
GREENE: Well, the U.S. intelligence community does appear to have sources within the Russian security apparatus and the upper echelons of the Russian state. We have seen that throughout this war in the ability of the U.S. to predict and understand where Russia was going, where Russian decision-making was going.
So I would imagine that they are continuing to get some of that information. They are not, of course, sharing it with the rest of us. But that is the way intelligence works. I think there is likely to be some discussion through back channels and quiet channels to make sure that Russia's nuclear arsenal is under control.
That is one part of the conversation that has been maintained between the Pentagon and the Russian military establishment since before this war started, you know, on the intuition that nobody is interested in an accidental nuclear conflagration. But I doubt that there is anything much more substantial than that in terms of talks happening.
BRUNHUBER: Now honestly, this is, of course, happening as Ukraine is carrying out its offensive.
So what effect do you think this might have on the battlefield and on Russian morale, for instance?
GREENE: Well, it certainly would be confusing and disorienting, I think, for everybody involved, frankly, on both sides of the front line. I think the Ukrainians seem to be cautious and probably rightly so about not wanting to assume that this means that Russian positions are now easy targets.
And not being drawn into positions that they might not be able to maintain in the medium to long run.
But as you say, I think it will be quite disorienting for Russian troops, even Russian commanders in the field. It certainly is drawing the attention of the general staff and the Kremlin away from the management of this war.
And the longer that that persists, I think the harder it will be for Russia to maintain what is already a difficult situation in the east and south of Ukraine.
BRUNHUBER: Sam Greene, we really appreciate your expertise on this. Thank you so much.
GREENE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. We will have much more on the tense situation in Russia still ahead. We will take a deeper look at Prigozhin, the shadowy leader of the Wagner mercenary group. We will have a live report from London coming up next, please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has condemned what he calls an armed rebellion by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
In a speech to the nation, Putin promised to punish those who, quote, "deliberately went on a path of treason."
His government has also announced that it will carry out counterterrorist operations in the regions of Moscow and Voronezh. It comes hours after Prigozhin claimed to have seized several military facilities in southern Russia.
The Wagner chief says he is retaliating against the Russian defense ministry for allegedly killing many of his mercenaries in a strike, a claim the ministry denies. In an audio recording, Prigozhin further criticized the Russian military.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, FOUNDER, WAGNER GROUP (through translator): Ukrainian counter offensive is bringing us serious losses and problems, which are hushed up, which the Russian people do not know about.
When the trouble comes, I'll repeat: we may remain without an army and without Russia.
(END AUDIO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Now earlier CNN's Alisyn Camerota spoke with former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor. She asked him if Putin has any loyalty to Prigozhin. Here he is.
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WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: The understanding is that Putin changes his mind, shifts his favor from one to another, to ensure that no one gets particularly powerful that could threaten him. You're right, Putin and Prigozhin go way back but not as military.
So Prigozhin has recently come on the scene as the head of the Wagner. For a while there, he denied he was even associated with it. Now he admits and it's clear that he's involved in this thing.
[04:35:00]
TAYLOR: And Putin has got the worry that Prigozhin is mounting a coup. They're talking about a coup, an armed coup that could threaten Putin's regime.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So is that for real?
I mean, in other words, you're saying that the Wagner Group, if Prigozhin were to go ahead with this, this armed rebellion, as he's threatening, that he could pull off a coup?
TAYLOR: He has said that he's doing a march for justice. Someone earlier said that he was conducting a coup. He said, no, no, it's not a coup. This is a march for justice.
So yes, he is hoping to get support from other units, other military units. He's hoping to get support from the Russian people. He's hoping to get support from Russian soldiers who were disgruntled. General Hertling just described how they've been thrown into the meat grinder around Bakhmut, in Ukraine.
There are families that have lost soldiers, a lot of families, 200,000, probably more, 250,000 families who have lost their loved ones. There's discontent. And Prigozhin is undoubtedly trying to capitalize on that. So yes, this is a potential coup.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Prigozhin has a long history of being a thorn in the eye of Russia's military establishment. He has sometimes been called Putin's licensed disruptor, who openly bashed the Russian defense ministry without facing much blowback.
But that disruption has now snowballed into an open insurrection and clearly crossed a line with the Kremlin. For more, Salma Abdelaziz joins us live from London.
Salma, tell us more about the man at the center of the storm.
How did we get here?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is quite extraordinary. Not that it came to a head, because in so many ways, if you had followed Prigozhin over the last few months, it seemed all but inevitable.
But that Putin allowed to come to a head. Prigozhin was the head of what was once called Putin's private army, doing his bidding from Africa to the Middle East, setting up troll factories to interfere with U.S. elections. But he did it all behind a curtain.
It was not until the invasion of Ukraine that Prigozhin really stepped into the limelight and began to openly air Russia's dirty laundry, antagonize its military leaders, use the most inflammatory possible language against the Russian defense minister, saying that he should be tried, that he is failing his own people, that he is not providing ammunition on those front lines.
In those messages, he was not just addressing his own men, the Wagner mercenary group; he was talking to Russia at large.
Throughout that, there was always the question, why hasn't President Putin stepped in?
Why is he allowing this figure to grow bolder, more public and louder?
We have that answer now with Putin's address just a few hours ago, accusing Prigozhin of treason, saying that he will be held to account.
But is it too late?
Has the blow already been dealt to President Putin's standing?
Because he will not have to turn to those very same military leaders who he allowed to be antagonized and embarrassed and humiliated publicly for months to deal with the problem that is Prigozhin.
And you have a Prigozhin, who is holed up in the city, Rostov-on-Don, taking over military sites there, heavily armed and guarded by his men.
How does the Russian military extract him from that place?
What does that look like?
The question we are asking today is one of what happens at the very top of Russian leadership but in the more immediate, what happens on the ground?
Are we looking at Russians turning their guns on Russians on Russian soil?
Could this be bloody?
BRUNHUBER: That is the question. The world is watching. Salma Abdelaziz in London, thank you so much. Meanwhile, as the tense situation unfolds in Russia, residents in
Ukraine's capital are facing new airstrikes. Kyiv authorities have said at least two people were killed and eight wounded after rocket debris hit a building earlier.
Military officials say that Ukraine's air defense system destroyed more than 20 missiles in the skies around Kyiv overnight. Russia attacked several parts of Ukraine early Saturday.
In the central city of Dnipro the mayor says that several houses were destroyed. In Kharkiv, a gas pipe was destroyed, causing a fire with no casualties reported.
The doomed submersible expedition to the Titanic is drawing attention to so-called extreme adventure tourism.
So what is the appeal of risking your life to sightsee?
We will talk with someone who studied the phenomenon. That is coming up, please stay with us.
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[04:40:00]
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BRUNHUBER: New investigations are now underway into the Titan submersible tragedy. Canadian and U.S. authorities are trying to figure out what caused it to implode and kill all five people on board. Some search vessels returned to port Friday, while others continue to map the debris field and establish a timeline of what went wrong.
This has all brought renewed scrutiny of the safety practices of the company behind the submersible. CNN's Miguel Marquez takes us through what we are learning.
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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A day of mourning, flag at half-staff, a rose for each victim of the Titan.
JOHN PASCHALL, PAUL-HENRI NARGEOLET'S STEPSON: He was this big, lovable guy. He was a prankster but he cared so much about his family.
MARQUEZ: John Paschall speaking about Paul-Henri Nargeolet, his stepfather, experienced deepwater diver, known as Mr. Titanic for the number of dives he made to the ship.
PASCHALL: Honestly, when he told me he was going back out for this expedition, when I saw him in May, I really, honestly didn't think twice about it.
I said, "OK, great, have fun, be safe and I'll see you in July."
MARQUEZ: The implosion of the Titan underscoring the controversial design of the deepwater sub and the materials, carbon fiber and titanium. It had reached the Titanic several times before but the ocean at those depths, unforgiving.
TOM DETTWEILER, PRESIDENT, TKD ENTERPRISES; OCEAN OPERATIONS AND ENGINEERING CONSULTANT: This device was built much different than most deep diving submersibles.
Instead of using a sphere, which is very strong under pressure, instead, it used two hemispheres on each end and then a cylinder in between made out of carbon fiber. And it looks like it was that portion made out of carbon fiber that failed.
MARQUEZ: The world of deepwater submersibles small, very close and highly specialized, making the rounds in that community a possible last transmission from PH Nargeolet to the mother ship, the Polar Prince.
[04:45:00]
DAVID GALLO, SENIOR ADVISER FOR STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, RMS TITANIC INC.: The other thing that I heard was that PH had contacted the surfer ship and said there was a problem, we're dropping weights and surfacing immediately. Now I can't verify that but that, to me, meant something really happened very quickly.
MARQUEZ: Most of the ships participating in a massive search and rescue mission now returning to home port. Some still on the scene mapping the debris field, looking for clues in the shadow of the Titanic, trying to understand with certainty what caused this latest tragedy in this isolated corner of the Atlantic.
What they are doing now is mapping that debris field, trying to get a sense of the dynamic of that implosion and to drill down, basically into what exactly happened.
Was it the carbon fiber hull, was it the titanium, the window, a combination of some or all of those things?
They may also want to bring up pieces of the Titan. But that will be much more difficult. Back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: Some ocean explorers say the unanswered safety questions could have a chilling effect on deep sea travel. The disaster sparked a debate around extreme adventure tourism.
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BRUNHUBER: Let's bring in professor J. John Lennon, dean of the Glasgow School for Business and Society at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Thank you for being with us. Extreme travel is always a balance of pushing boundaries while trying to make things as safe as possible.
What do you make of this tragedy?
J. JOHN LENNON, GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY: So extreme travel is a very small proportion of overall adventure travel. Think of it as a scale, a continuum from the soft stuff I would do, trekking and cycling, too harder stuff like caving.
At the very end of it, you get very unique, authentic experiences, such as diving to the Titanic, traveling into space, going to the South Pole. This is a very expensive ticket obviously. And so the market is much smaller.
But it fits the bill for those seeking very something very authentic, very unusual and something that is very different from what almost anyone else can do.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, there has been a huge rise in this type of citizen explorer, extreme tourism, usually catering to the very wealthy.
So what exactly is the appeal here?
LENNON: So I think that adventure tourism generally, for a population that has been locked down in COVID, is a natural outlet. I think what is going on here is this search to do something differentiated from others, something that is very individual to you.
We are a largely urbanized population and an extreme experience that is photogenic, that is able to be captured and uploaded and shared on social media, is seen by many as a big part of a way to use your discretionary income.
I think with the Titanic it is an unusual site, because there are many wrecks on the bottom of the ocean. But this one I think has an enduring fascination because of its overrepresentation in media and television, documentaries, et cetera.
It is an icon because it was seen as unsinkable, a luxury ship, the then biggest ship of its time. So experiencing something like that is very unique. You can, of course, go much deeper; you can diver to the Mariana Trench, which is almost seven miles below the surface, and experience that.
That comes in at a price of $US 750,000. So the market is extremely small.
BRUNHUBER: Everything that we have heard in this case particularly suggests normal protocols were not necessarily followed. There were certain innovations that were made; questions around safety.
We see that with some private companies, sometimes led by tech billionaires venturing into areas that were once the domain of countries, of states -- I'm thinking of private space travel, for instance. But with that come high risks.
Is it likely that we might see more tragedies like these as these companies push further and start offering more of these types of experiences to those who can afford them?
LENNON: Well, you are asking me to predict the future, which I cannot do. But I can tell you that what we are looking at here is a natural market progression. The market absorbs experiences very quickly.
Something like bungee jumping 10 years ago was unique, unusual, special. It is almost ubiquitous now for certain travelers. Of course, it is uploaded on TikTok and other channels.
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LENNON: So people will continue to search for that differentiated and unique experience for them, so that they can capture it and share it with their friends and colleagues.
And I think what you are seeing is a progression of how a market develops. So space travel, coming in at $450,000 for Virgin Galactic, is going to be one of those experiences. Very expensive, a small proportion of the market but symptomatic of the experiential nature of tourism and travel and how that is moving.
BRUNHUBER: There has been an outpouring of grief from those who knew the victims. One can imagine what they are going through.
But also from many people in the public there is a level of anger that, when these people who engage in extreme travel run into problems, then a massive amount of resources have to be scrambled for either rescue or recovery, often at the public's expense.
LENNON: But every life is worth that expenditure. There is no price you can put on human life. I think for me it is an awful tragedy and one's heart goes out to the family and friends involved.
I am not the moral almighty (ph) to judge what is acceptable and unacceptable. All I am doing is observing a trend that I can see within a market economy, where people have liberal freedoms and can choose to undertake such pursuits. This we can do.
We are fortunate we live in such a society. I think that we are going to see that continue as long as people can afford it and as long as it is within regulatory and legislative boundaries.
BRUNHUBER: All right, we really appreciate getting your insights on this. J. John Lennon, thank you.
LENNON: Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: Still ahead, much more on the crisis unfolding in Russia. Details on Putin's response to what he called a stab in the back to the Russian people. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Russia says it will carry out counterterrorist operations in the regions of Moscow and Voronezh in response to what it calls "an armed revolt" by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
President Vladimir Putin has condemned the Wagner leader and promised to punish those who, quote, "deliberately went on a path of treason." Here he is.
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PUTIN (through translator): We are fighting for the life and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to be and remain in Russia as a state with 1,000 years of history.
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BRUNHUBER: All this comes as Prigozhin claimed to have seized several facilities from the Russian military, which he accused of killing many of his mercenaries in a strike.
That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more on the breaking news out of Russia. Please do stay with us.
