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Yulia Navalny Continues Husband's Fight; Avdiivka Falls, Ukraine Conflict Intensifies; International Calls for Gaza Ceasefire; ICJ Case on Israel-Palestine Policies; Navalny's Widow Vows to Continue Husband's Cause; Venezuelan Security Forces Detain High- Profile Activist. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 20, 2024 - 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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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN. Yulia Navalny steps out of the shadows promising to continue her late husband's crusade against Vladimir Putin. The direct battlefield impact from Republicans stalling U.S. military aid for Ukraine. An escaping Rafah, a desperate scramble by Palestinians with nowhere to go ahead of an Israeli military offensive now 19 days away.

For three days now, the mother of the now-dead Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny says she has tried to retrieve her son's body from a hospital morgue in northern Russia, only to be refused each time. Navalny's spokesperson says officials want 14 days for a chemical examination to determine cause of death, sparking accusations of a Kremlin cover-up. Yulia Navalnaya has released a video statement on Monday saying she will step in and lead her late husband's crusade against Putin, promising to fight for a peaceful, happy Russia. Forty-seven-year-old Navalny died suddenly on Friday in an Arctic penal colony, seemingly in good spirits just one day earlier in a video court appearance. More details now from CNN's Matthew Chance reporting in from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite the risks, Russians are publicly grieving at Alexei Navalny's death. In Moscow, a steady stream of mourners laying flowers for the late opposition leader. Across Russia, rights activists say hundreds have been detained for just this. My hero has died, this man told us. I grew up watching and learning from him, so it feels like a personal loss, he says. This woman tells us she desperately wants Russia to change, but now we're at a dead end, she says, with sorrow, grief, and pain.

You feel that pain more than Navalny's own family and his widow, Yulia, here meeting outraged European leaders, is vowing to expose what she says are her husband's killers and to assume his opposition mantle.

YULIA NAVALNAYA, ALEXEY NAVALNY'S WIDOW (through translator): I will continue Alexei Navalny's work. I will keep fighting for our country, and I encourage you to stand by my side, to share not only grief and the endless pain that has enveloped us and does not let go. I'm asking you to share my rage, anger, hatred for those who dared to kill our future.

CHANCE: Meanwhile, the Russian president, expected to be re-elected next month, has yet to mention the unexplained death of his fiercest critic. The Kremlin refusing to comment while it says investigations are underway. Even recovering Navalny's remains in Russia is proving painstaking. His elderly mother, Lyudmila (ph), who's travelled nearly 2,000 miles to the remote Arctic region where he died in prison, has been told, according to Navalny's spokeswoman, that post-mortem tests mean the body won't be released for at least another two weeks. Plenty of time, say Navalny supporters deeply suspicious of the Kremlin, for the real cause of this sudden, tragic death to be hidden. Matthew Chance, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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(AUDIO GAP)

VAUSE: ...surrounding Navalny's death.

EVGENIA KARA-MURZA, WIFE OF JAILED PUTIN CRITIC VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA: I believe that it is a political assassination, and that is a tool that Vladimir Putin has been using for many years in our country, both on the Russian soil and on foreign soil as well. And I believe that Vladimir Putin is responsible for Alexei's murder, and the fact that his body will not be released to his family for two weeks, and the authorities actually don't even try to find a different explanation for this. They are saying that they're conducting a chemical analysis. Meanwhile, the two causes put forward by the Russian authorities, the two causes of Alexei's death were the sudden death syndrome and thrombosis, which, according to Alexei's doctors, was unlikely because Alexei was not suffering from any condition that would make it likely.

So this was obviously a murder, and they themselves are not giving out the body to the family. But, you know, had they done this, wouldn't it be a great opportunity for them to prove that they had nothing to do with Alexei's death? Had they allowed the family to conduct an independent expertise to find that blood clot that they claim was the cause of his death? Would that not be the best option for them? Well, apparently not, because they know that they have to hide something, and they're doing it, and they're going to take two weeks to hide that.

I believe that the fact that Vladimir Putin eliminates every single of his opponents is indeed a sign of weakness, because no strong leader would have to do anything like this. A leader who enjoys the support of his population, truly enjoys the support of his population. A true leader who knows that the country stands behind him will not use repression, will not use political assassination, will not subject people to torture in jails. Vladimir Putin is not a leader. He's a usurper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joseph Scott Morgan is a distinguished professor of applied forensics at Alabama's Jacksonville State University. It's good to have you with us, sir. Thank you for being with us.

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, PROFESSOR OF APPLIED FORENSICS AT ALABAMA'S JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me, John. Good to be here.

VAUSE: Okay, so, Navalny's widow has no doubt about why authorities in Russia have not released the body of her late husband. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVALNAYA: In a cowardly way, they're hiding his body, not showing to his mother, not giving to his mother. They're lying, and they're waiting for the traces of another, of Putin's Novichok, to disappear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Novichok is a reference to the, you know, weapons-grade chemical, which the Russians used to poison Navalny with. Now, is there a timeline here, though, for how long poison stays in someone's system? We don't know if it's Novichok. It could be anything. I guess, is this a bit like asking how long is a piece of string?

MORGAN: Yeah, that's a great analogy. It certainly is. It's dependent upon the agent itself. And let's keep in mind, this term Novichok is kind of an odd term to apply. It essentially means newbie, or new substance. It really means nothing. What it comes down to is the substance they're referencing is an organophosphate, which was applied to this gentleman, I guess, lo these many three years ago. And, you know, to some effect with him, he was greatly, greatly injured by exposure to that substance at that particular time.

So, yeah, I mean, you would think that perhaps that could be in the running. The trick, though, is where do you go to look for it during the autopsy? What elements are there going to be available to resource in order to study for this toxin in the system? And, you know, do they have the will to look for this for the substance?

VAUSE: Well, I want you to listen to Russia's ambassador to the United Nations who was asked directly about where is Navalny's body? Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): Why are the Russian authorities not handing over his body? Do you have something to hide?

VASSILY NEBENZIA, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Well, I think that the reason is simple because the forensic medical investigation is not over yet. The exact cause of the death was not yet disclosed while our Western colleagues rushed, rushed to claim 15 minutes after it happened after the news were published that this was the responsibility of the Putin's regime, et cetera, et cetera.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Totally unfair accusation he's saying it sounds like. Moscow, they're saying they need 14 days for a medical examination of forensic examination. Also, including a chemical examination. I just by way of comparison here in the US state of Georgia, the majority of cases, the cause and manner of death are determined immediately upon completion of the autopsy and the autopsy report will be issued in about four weeks. So how long does a typical autopsy take and are there any circumstances when 14 days may be needed in all?

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MORGAN: Yes, certainly. Let's take that first bit. So, if we're talking about the autopsy itself, the autopsy can be done in a matter of hours, John. And a lot of that is dependent upon the nature of the death. They have this man in a controlled environment. I would assume that he is being watched regularly. So, they have those kind of histrionics that come along with the events leading up to his death. The assessment itself, the physical assessment, can be accomplished, like I said, within a couple of hours.

Now, as it applies to the testing that comes afterwards, that can take up to 14 days. If you start to get off into the area of these kind of exotic poisons or these agents, like a nerve agent, perhaps, it's going to take a bit longer because the testing has to be very, very specific. And you kind of have to know what physical characteristics that you're looking at an autopsy that might marry up with a symptomology that would correlate with a particular type of agent and then dig deeper at that point in time.

VAUSE: At this point, we're making the assumption here that the Russians actually do want to carry out an authentic autopsy and actually determine what the real cause of death will. That doesn't seem to be the case here.

MORGAN: No, it doesn't. And I got to tell you, John, one of the things that's kind of troubling about this is the following. When the family get the remains back, if they get the remains back, I would keep a very close eye on if there are any missing elements with the body. And I'm going to be very specific and blunt here. You have to think about these things. As far as the organ systems, will the body be returned with the lungs, with the heart, with the brain, because if you're talking about this organophosphate poisoning, you're going to want to look at the brain tissue microscopically. That's going to be important.

But here's the big one. What is kind of attached to this particular agent in particular is the liver. It sends the individual into a hepatic failure or liver failure. Could that original exposure that occurred back in, I guess it was 2020, I think, could that have led to maybe liver failure? And let's keep in mind, he's in a penal colony, John, north of the Arctic Circle. What kind of medical treatment was he being given, even as a follow-up to that event back in 2020? VAUSE: Yeah, there were a lot of questions about the standard of care that he was or was not receiving, first in the prison outside Moscow, and now there's Gulag north of the Arctic Circle. Professor Morgan, some good information there, some good insight. We really appreciate you being with us.

MORGAN: Have a great evening. Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: The fall of the eastern Ukrainian city of Advika to Russian forces is now raising fears the war might just be turning in Putin's favor. Ukrainian defenders outgunned and outnumbered held off a brutal Russian offensive for four months, ultimately a huge loss, though, for Ukraine, which U.S. President Joe Biden is blaming on Republicans in Congress for stalling billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance. And the fall of Avdiivka has put more pressure on other pressure points along the front lines. Like near Kupyansk, where the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops Monday to try and boost morale. He thanked them for their service and told them, quote, I am confident in you. CNN's Nick Payton-Walsh has more on Zelenskyy's visit and the Ukrainian withdrawal from Avdiivka. Warning, some images in his report are disturbing.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sight not seen for a while, a Russian flag going up over Ukraine. But Ukraine's withdrawal announced on Saturday from Adviika means more than just a few days. More than the loss of a town bitterly fought over since Russia first invaded a decade ago. It is perhaps the first sign a delay in U.S. aid spells death and loss here. These images released of their last defenses rushing into support. Under fire from a resurgent Russia who President Zelenskyy says sent seven Russian troops to die for every dead Ukrainian.

This is what it was like in the basement defending. Down to the last, treating the injured in the darkness, yet aware their options, their ammo, their chances were ebbing. Shelling endless. It spoiled my drink, this soldier complains. A commander clear Monday why this happened.

ANDRIL TEREN, 110th MECHANIZED BRIGADE COMMANDER (through translator): We didn't have enough people, he says. We didn't have enough shells. We didn't have enough possibilities to throw them back.

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PATON WALSH (voice-over): Russia's Ministry of Defence released images of their final onslaught on that coke plant and what they claimed were the casualties inflicted on Ukrainians as they tried to flee in the dark. Other images and reports emerged Monday in Ukraine of the fate of their wounded, one of whom called home in his last moments. Allegations that, in the horrifying rubble here, both the wounded were left behind by Ukraine but also shot dead in cold blood by Russian forces. Russian drone images of their spoils released, again displaying their odd pride over the rubble. Zelenskyy may have to get used to more of this, putting on a brave

face as he visited troops in the likely next Russian target, Kupyansk, just outside Kharkiv. Although there are different political sentiments in the world, he said, different flashes of problems that distract attention. We still, all together do our utmost to have the world with us, with Ukraine. Words no longer enough, not in Avdiivka and certainly not in the West, where $60 billion in missing aid now means Putin can slowly edge further and further west. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kherson, southern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To Brisbane, Australia now, Major General Mick Ryan, former commander of the Australian Defence College, as well as author of War Transformed, the Future of 21st Century Great Power Competition. General, good to see you.

MAJOR. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Good to see you, John.

VAUSE: So, I want you to listen to the Ukrainian president with an overall assessment of the impact that the long-delayed U.S. military and financial support is having on the front lines and on the battlefield.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Right now, the situation is extremely difficult in several parts of the front line, where Russian troops have amassed maximum reserves. They're taking advantage of the delays in aid to Ukraine, and these are very tangible issues. There is a deficit of artillery. There's a need for frontline air defense and for a longer range of our weapons.

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VAUSE: He doesn't specifically refer to Avdiivka, and he doesn't actually say it out loud. But would that city be under Russian occupation right now if U.S. military assistance had continued to flow uninterrupted?

RYAN: Well, it's hard to tell, but it may not be, or it might still be occupied for a few more weeks. But the shortfall in artillery and the shortfall in air defense in particular hastened the Russian capture of that town.

VAUSE: So, in a lot of ways, if you look at what happened in Avdiivka, it's a replay of the battle for Bakhmut. Russia sent in a lot of men to die, ultimately gaining control of almost a totally destroyed city. Bakhmut, though, was all about symbolic value. There seems to be more to Avdiivka than symbolic value. There seems to be some strategy here, some real gains for the Russians.

RYAN: Well, absolutely. In a tactical sense, they get to straighten their front lines and redeploy forces to other areas. Whether it's around Bakhmut, Rovoknya (ph), or in Kupiansk. But strategically, it gives them confidence. This is very important in war. The Russians have had an important victory here, and that will give them confidence for other offenses they're likely to take into the square.

VAUSE: The Institute for the Study of War described the offensive on Avdiivka as an example of how Russian forces pursue offensive operations that do not necessarily set conditions for wider operational gains. But still force Ukraine to commit manpower and materiel to defensive operations. So, are they describing these gains as simply tactical and isolated, or is there a bigger picture here, one that would show the tide turning back towards Russia in this war?

RYAN: Well, I think at the moment we could say that the Russians do have the strategic initiative. They are able to attack where and when they want, whether it's in the south or at multiple locations in the east. That alone suggests an overall operational or even the strategic plan, like an anaconda, to slowly strangle the Ukrainians throughout this year on the battlefield.

VAUSE: You know, the Ukrainians, though, they've been down this road before. If you remember back to the first six months of the war, they were forced to pull back as Russian forces encircled a number of Ukrainian cities. But then the difference is then there was a surge of Western military equipment and Ukrainian troops went on to liberate areas around Kherson and Kharkiv. Can they do that again? Assuming U.S. military support restarts some time soon?

RYAN: Well, absolutely. It's a grim situation, but we shouldn't be too much into doom and gloom. The Ukrainians have surprised us multiple times throughout this war. They have a new commander that has a new mandate from the president, the development strategy. And I expect they should be able to hold should that new support (inaudible).

VAUSE: I guess the question, though, let's assume it does happen because it looks like it may get through at some point. What has been lost, though in this delay? What has been the cost of the political games being played in Congress in the U.S. to the Ukrainians on the battlefield?

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RYAN: Well, I think there's a matter of losing territory. They've lost a lot of lives because of this. That is absolutely undoubted. But I think, too, the Ukrainians have lost confidence in the American system to support them. Up until this point, they believed America was with them with Biden's visit and these kind of things. Now, they have a lack of confidence in that system to support them in the long run.

VAUSE: Yeah, it's a good point to finish on. General McBride, thank you, sir. As always, good to have you with us. Thank you.

RYAN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Well, the U.S. calls for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and a proposed U.N. draft resolution, which falls short of wishes of most other Security Council members. We'll have all of those details in a moment. Also, several killed, including children, as Israeli strikes hit a building housing dozens of Palestinians trying to flee Rafah. Details on the deadly aftermath in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Now proposing their own draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council, it also warns against an Israeli ground operation in Gaza. But it falls short of urging an immediate ceasefire and instead calls for one as soon as practical. An official with the Biden administration says they do not plan to rush to a vote. This all comes after the U.S. vow to veto an Algerian draft proposal, which is set to come up for a vote Tuesday morning. Meantime, European countries are pushing for urgent action. Twenty-six out of 27 EU countries call for an immediate humanitarian pause, which would lead to a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.

The senior EU diplomat, Joseph Burrell, says the statement also calls for the unconditional release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance. Despite calls for a ceasefire, there's been no let-up in the war or the push to save the wounded. Palestine Red Crescent Society says it has now evacuated more patients from Nasser Hospital in a car units. A source inside that has transferred to the American and Indonesia field hospitals in Rafah. The WHO says the evacuations come amid an acute shortage of food, oxygen, and basic medical supplies, adding the hospital has neither tap water nor electricity and is relying on backup generators.

The WHO says it has evacuated 14 critically ill patients since Sunday as Israel set a deadline for its proposed ground offensive in Rafah 19 days from now. Many Palestinians are fleeing from that southern Gaza City only to realize they are in this besieged territory. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports the situation is especially dire and dangerous for children right now, and a warning Jeremy's report contains some disturbing images:

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One after another after another after another, the victims of the latest Israeli airstrike flood into this hospital in central Gaza. They're mostly children, some of them still clinging to life, others bloodied and limp, without a pulse, the life gone from their eyes. Here, children comfort children, even as they are still trembling from the shock.

MAYAS, INJURED IN AIRSTRIKE (through translator): I was on the rooftop and suddenly I heard an explosion. I flew away and fell down. My back hurts. I saw smoke and stones falling. Then I heard people screaming.

DIAMOND (voice-over): A hospital spokesman said at least 18 people were killed and dozens of others injured Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on a home in Deir el-Balah. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment about the strike. Witnesses say many of the victims had just arrived from Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, where fear and confusion have set in, as Israel threatens a conflict.

But central Gaza is no haven, a reality revealed in the cruelest of ways. UNKNOWN: I can't speak. Innocent children we received, they killed

them all. They didn't leave a child alive.

DIAMOND (voice-over): In the ruins of the al-Baraka family home, the target of Sunday's airstrike, the desperate search for survivors is under way. As one man dives into the rubble, another shouts... Get out of there. You'll die down there.

IBRAHIM, GAZA RESIDENT: We could only pull two alive from under the rubble, and the rest are all missing. We don't see safety in a mosque or in an UNRWA school or in a hospital. The word safety is not something that exists anymore. They evacuated us from place to place claiming it's safe. There is nowhere safe.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Shouts praising God rise as a girl is pulled from the rubble. But her body is lifeless. Added to the list of more than 12,000 children killed in Gaza. Bystanders try and cover her body, but the man carrying her throws the blanket off. He wants the world to see what this war has wrought. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: At the International Court of Justice, the second day will soon begin in this historic case on the legal consequences of Israel's practices and policies in the Palestinian territories. On Monday, Palestinian and Israeli officials laid out very contrasting views over the role of the court in addressing the long-running conflict. The Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister advocated for the ICJ to recognize the Palestinian people's right to self-determination. The Israeli representative criticized the Palestinian Authority for, quote, distorting reality and avoiding direct negotiations by seeking a ruling from the court. A non-binding decision that is now expected to come down for months. Well, not expected for months, rather.

Still ahead Alexei Navalny's widow accuses Russian authorities of hiding her husband's body and lying pathetically about his death. What's next for Yulia Navalnaya?

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VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause, and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:33]

Julian Assange may soon be out of options in his legal fight to avoid trial in the U.S. London's high court will hear the WikiLeaks founder's last appeal later today against extradition to the United States, where he faces multiple counts of espionage and a sentence of up to 175 years in prison.

It's unclear if Assange will attend the hearing.

His long-running legal battle comes 14 years after Assange's WikiLeaks began publishing thousands of classified files and diplomatic cables. Alexy Navalny's widow is accusing Russian authorities of hiding her

husband's body, trying to disguise his cause of death. She blames Vladimir Putin and says she will soon find out exactly who killed Navalny and how they did it.

More now from CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's been through at all with him, from marching in the streets, getting arrested herself; to his final seconds of freedom three years ago, before he was taken into custody for the final time. But she has never been out front until now.

YULIA NAVALNAYA, ALEXEI NAVALNY'S WIDOW (through translator): By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me: half of my heart and half of my soul. But I still have the other half. And it tells me that I have no right to give up. I will continue Alexei Navalny's cause.

TODD (voice-over): Forty-seven-year-old Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny's widow. Can she now effectively lead Russia's opposition?

JULIA IOFFE, FOUNDING PARTNER AND WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: Now that he is gone, I think the only person who could potentially carry on his legacy is his wife.

TODD (voice-over): She has long avoided the spotlight, supporting her husband's campaigns but not leading rallies or making videos.

IOFFE: The fact that she has now affirmatively picked up the mantle is a remarkable turnaround from where she has stood for the last 15 years.

TODD (voice-over): In the days since his death, she has recorded the video address, made public appearances, and met with world leaders in Europe.

SUSAN GLASSER, CO-AUTHOR, "KREMLIN RISING": She was intimately involved in her husband's worksheet, was a very close partner with him. I think she understands what it was that Alexei Navalny did as well, if not better, than anyone.

TODD (voice-over): She certainly knows the dangers of the job. And during her husband being poisoned and almost killed in 2020, getting him flown out of the country for treatment, at his bedside during their 20th anniversary and flying back with him to Russia, knowing that he would surely face arrest or worse.

After police took him away in 2021, with the crowd chanting her name, she was defiant.

NAVALNY (through translator): I am not afraid, and I call on you to not be afraid.

TODD (voice-over): Shortly after that, at a court hearing, Alexei Navalny looked at his wife and drew the shape of a heart on the glass of the dock. When her husband died, she hadn't seen him in two years.

His last message to the world was this Valentine to her: quote, "I feel that you are with me every second."

Her first post after his death: "I love you."

But after years of living in Europe, would she dare go back to Putin's Russia?

ALEXEI LEVINSON, RUSSIAN POLLSTER, LEVADA CENTER (through translator): If she does this in Russia, she will have a high chance of ending up where her late husband ended up.

TODD (voice-over): Others say Putin could come after her, even if she stays abroad.

GLASSER: Look, I think if you are going to be a strong voice of opposition to the Kremlin right now, you have to consider yourself a target.

TODD: Yulia Navalnaya is already seemingly taking up some of her husband's calculations on how to pressure Vladimir Putin. According to "The Washington Post," she asked European leaders to sanction hundreds of Russian oligarchs who support Putin's reelection and to help prevent Russia's elites from evading sanctions.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: It's good to have friends, especially when most people either won't talk to you or want you in jail.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a car, according to Korean state media, North Korean state media, which also reports that Kim Jong-un said thank you.

And the gift, it seems to reflect that special personal relations between these two leaders.

When we come back, human rights activists sounding the alarm after a new arrest by the Maduro government in Venezuela. Ahead, concerns there may be a new era of repression on the horizon for Venezuela.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:48]

VAUSE: Police in Spain are investigating the disappearance of an American woman who's been missing for more than two weeks.

A 40-year-old Florida woman was reported missing February 2. Her brother told CNN she planned to take a train from Madrid to Barcelona but never arrived at the train station.

The superintendent at her Madrid apartment building says someone painted over the lenses of two security cameras around the same time that she went missing.

Images have been released by the IDF, which are said to show Israeli hostages being held in Gaza after their kidnapping on October 7. The Israeli military says Shira Bibas and her two young children can be seen in the video, which was obtained, they say, during an operation in Khan Yunis over the last few weeks.

According to an IDF spokesperson, Bibas and her children were taken to the Eastern part of that city to an outpost belonging to the Kataib Mujahideen terror group and were then forced into a car and taken elsewhere.

Late last year, Hamas claimed that Bibas's youngest child had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, but there's no word on IDF's investigation into that claim.

Diplomatic tensions have escalated between Israel and Brazil over the ongoing war in Gaza. Brazil's foreign ministry recalled its ambassador to Israel Monday and summoned the Israeli ambassador for a meeting in Rio Janeiro.

It comes hours after Israel declared Brazilian President Lula as persona non grata over his comments comparing Israel's operation in Gaza to the Holocaust.

Israel foreign minister says Lula would not be welcome in the country until he apologizes and retracts those comments.

A senior Brazilian official has defended Lula's statement, saying there's nothing to apologize for.

Russia's foreign minister is getting ready to meet with Venezuelan leaders in the coming day, during his tour of Latin America. Sergei Lavrov is expected to hold talks with President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, as well as the Venezuelan foreign minister.

Russia's influence with the Venezuelan government has been growing as tensions mount between Venezuela and the United States.

Meantime, human rights activists accuse the Maduro regime of reverting to repressive policies, including the detention of high-profile activists. Details now from Stefano Pozzebon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yahara Cabrejo learned on social media that her son had been detained. In the video she saw, taken from the security cameras of a shop nearby, her son, Juan Freites, is manhandled into a car by two men and driven away. She hasn't seen him since.

YAHARA CABREJO, MOTHER OF JUAN FREITES (through translator): Today is 25 days that I don't know anything about him. Why was he detained? I don't know. What he's accused of, I don't know.

What I know is from the media, that he's supposedly involved in some conspiracy. But I have no idea what that is about. We're left in the dark.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Three days after the detention, Venezuela's attorney general confirmed that Freites had been arrested as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to kill President Nicolas Maduro.

Cabrejo and her lawyer deny Freites was involved in any plot. And so far, no proof has been presented by Venezuelan authorities.

Freites is a member of opposition party Vente Venezuela, and he and two other party members were detained in January.

The party leader, Maria Corina Machado, who's the frontrunner opposition candidate to challenge Maduro, has been barred by the supreme court from running in this year's presidential election.

[00:40:03]

In total, 19 people have been arrested, including Rocio San Miguel, a Spanish Venezuelan citizen and security analyst, who was picked up by the intelligence service as she was trying to leave the country. San Miguel is also accused of participating in a conspiracy. Again, without any evidence.

And when the U.N. human rights team protested her detention last week, Venezuela expelled the local staff.

The Venezuelan government claims to have uncovered several plots to murder Maduro and blames the U.S. and the U.N. of colonialism. Maduro himself vowed to unleash a campaign of Bolivarian fury against these opponents.

And someone wrote exactly those words, "Bolivarian fury" on the wall of Cabrejo's house shortly after her son's arrest.

The United States have threatened to re-impose oil sanctions in retaliation for Venezuela's authoritarian action. But less than six months ago, the two countries had reached an agreement that included free and fair elections in Venezuela this year.

JUANITA GOEBERTUS, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Those of us who are democrats understand that, that's how elections take place, and that you face elections knowing that you could potentially lose. But when you are an autocrat, there's -- there's huge existential threats in losing power.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Renewed tensions between Washington and Caracas could also have consequences in the U.S.

Venezuelans are one of the largest migrant groups at the U.S. Southern border, and activists fear migrations will continue as long as they don't feel safe in their home country.

Cabrejo has already seen a daughter leave her country to look for better opportunities. Now, her son behind bars, she pleads for justice, as well as safety.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.

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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be back with a lot more news at the top of the hour. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break.

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