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Ukraine: Russia's Onslaught In East Has Already Started; Putin Appoints Butcher of Syria To Lead Russian Attacks; Zelenskyy Urges South Korea To Send Weapons. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired April 11, 2022 - 10:00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:46]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Becky Anderson in London where it is 3:00 p.m. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. Russia's

unprovoked war on Ukraine appears to be entering a brutal new phase as officials warn Moscow is preparing a concentrated assault on the Eastern

front. A senior Ukrainian official says the onslaught on the Donbas region has already begun with Russia continuing to amass forces there.

And Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to lead those troops hoping he will be the one to deliver victory after all attempts to capture Kyiv

failed. Alexander Dvornikov, known as the Butcher of Syria has a reputation of inflicting ruthless attacks on civilians.

Meanwhile, new satellite images show a nearly 13-kilometre Russian military convoy east of Kharkiv. We'll hear from the city's mayor later this hour.

And a morning the images you are about to see are graphic. The death toll from Friday's missile strike on a railway station in Kramatorsk has risen

to at least 57 innocent victims just desperately trying to escape this war.

On the diplomatic front, Austria's Chancellor met with Vladimir Putin today becoming the first European leader to do so since Russia's invasion began.

Karl Nehammer is expected to speak later this hour. And just a short time ago, Ukraine's president addressed South Korea's parliament and urged

lawmakers there to send weapons to help fight Russia's aggression. Well, CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Kramatorsk with more on the aftermath of what

was Friday's deadly missiles strike there.

First, let's bring in our Phil Black who is live for us in Lviv. We are hearing about what is a renewed assault in eastern Ukraine. Can you just

set out what we know at this point the details, Phil, if you will?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky. Much of the analysis at the moment points to a coming or imminent Russian offensive. But one senior

Ukrainian official made the point that from Ukraine's point of view, this is already very much underway. They are already seeing a notable escalation

in bombardment and attacks along key battle fronts, particularly strikes against residential areas.

They're already seeing every day, large numbers of troops and hardware, new troops, new forces joining the areas surrounding these key points of

contested territory. We've got recent satellite images that show a long convoy near the Russian border, some eight miles long traveling to join the

fight. So, for all of these reasons, the point is made that really this is something that is already begun.

What they are waiting for yet is a final noticeable push. What they're expecting is some sort of movement, some sort of attempted advance at scale

with the Russian firepower concentrated in very specific areas that would seek to break Ukraine's defensive lines. That's what hasn't happened yet.

But that is what is expected to happen in the coming weeks. Given that the overall analysis suggests that Russia is working to a tight timetable and

wants to see tangible results on the ground in that Donbas region in the coming weeks. Becky,

ANDERSON: What are the tangible results look like? Is it clear at this point?

BLACK: I think the expectation is the tangible results would be Russia and Vladimir Putin being able to say we have taken the Donbas region or in

their words, liberated the Donbas region. The reason why there is this speculation about a deadline, it's because May 9th is such a crucial,

important public holiday for Russia. Victory Day, traditionally, the day that Russia marks the defeat of Nazi Germany it has in more recent years

morphed into a broader celebration of Russian military glory and might.

And so, the suspicion is that Vladimir Putin wants to have something that he can point to on that day, as a clear, as I say, tangible result.

[10:05:00]

BLACK: Something that clearly indicates success and value from everything that has been invested in this Russian operation so far, Becky.

ANDERSON: Phil Black is in Lviv. Ben, I want to bring you in at this point. Innocent victims just desperately trying to escape this war, killed in

Kramatorsk at a railway station in eastern Ukraine, hit by Russian shelling. What do you have?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, I'm just going to go ahead and talk to you because I've lost the connection. But here we

go. So, we're at the railway station where it's been cleaned up to a certain extent. You can still see the impact point that is where one of the

rounds hit and they've cleaned it up a bit. Now, this other railway station has -- that was, according to Ukrainian officials, it was hit overnight.

There were five locomotion -- locomotives, damaged the power lines and tracks, but in that case, there were no injuries. In this case, however,

given the death toll, we're talking about at least 57 people killed, it can be described only as a massacre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice over): The air raid siren rings out over a scene of carnage passed. In Kramatorsk railway station or ripped shoe, a discarded hat. A

cane left behind. They came to the station with only what they could carry. Hoping to reach safer ground, but nearly 60 never left. Lives cut short by

a missile on it someone scrawled in Russian for the children. 4000 people were here waiting for a train west when the strike happened. The massacre

accelerating the exodus.

WEDEMAN (on camera): Most of the residents of Kramatorsk have left the city having been urged to do so by local authorities as this part of the

country, the entirety of eastern Ukraine, braces for what could be a massive Russian offensive.

WEDEMAN (voice over): At the city's bus station Nikolay, a volunteer, has been helping with the evacuation. For him news of the pullback of Russian

forces around the capital Kyiv was bittersweet.

NIKOLAY, VOLUNTEER: When I heard about Kyiv, since I live Kyiv, I was happy, you know, but then I realized a couple of seconds later they move in

to Donbas all their forces. I'm a little bit -- I'm not -- I can't say that I'm scared but I'm worrying about my people, about people, both mothers and

grandparents.

WEDEMAN (voice over): Some are heading west, others north to the town of Slavyansk, where trains still run. Oksana (ph) and a friend and their

children are bound for Lviv in the far west.

There's a lot of bombing here says Oksana, I'm afraid for the children. The children thankfully still children. A handful of adult relatives stay

behind. Far more aware of the danger ahead.

WEDEMAN (on camera): And here just behind me you can see people have left flowers, dolls, to mark where so many people died. Now the worry in this

town and in fact, not just Kramatorsk but the entire eastern Ukraine is that the Russians are coming. This is a city that sits almost equidistant

between Russian positions in the north, Russian positions in the South. Today we asked the mayor of the city if he is expecting the Russians to

come.

Mr. Mayor, are you worried that this city is going to be surrounded by the Russians? Are the Russians looking at Kramatorsk?

MAYOR OLEKSANDR HONCHARENKO, KRAMATORSK, UKRAINE, MAYOR: Look, we're thinking about this probable -- this probable case but we are -- I'm not

saying -- I do not hope -- I do -- sorry. I don't believe that it will happen. But it can be. I -- my personal means that it will not happen

because our army and military are strong enough. We are hard protected. But we have to prepare ourselves for such case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And we've seen the preparations that are going on. They are collecting food, spreading it around town in the event that there is a

siege. The worry here is Becky, that if the Russians surround this city, you could have a repeat of this -- that medieval seeds that we've seen in

Mariupol down on the Sea of Azov that the Russians will cut it off, cut it off from all communications.

Water, fuel food everything. So, they are preparing for the absolute worst which unfortunately in this war only gets worse.

[10:10:09]

ANDERSON: Yes.

WEDEMAN: Becky?

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman. Thank you, Ben. Well, as we mentioned earlier, Russia's president hosted a European leader for the first time since the

start of the war. Vladimir Putin as we speak meeting with the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer who is set to talk to reporters at some point

after this meeting. Austria has neutral status in Europe, of course, and it's not a member of NATO.

Its foreign minister says the chancellor traveled to Moscow to tell President Putin that he has, "de facto lost the war morally." Well, our

international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson connecting today from Brussels. Nehammer tweeting that Austria is militarily neutral, but as a

clear position on the Russian war, it must stop, he says. The Austrian Chancellor wants to play bridge builder. What chance, Nic, at this point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Limited. But he goes in with a strong hand. The moral high ground for sure because he was in Bucha

over the weekend, and was able to witness what has described as war crimes and he says those responsible for the war crimes must be brought to

account. He was able to hear from Ukrainian government officials about those crimes, war crimes in Bucha.

He was able to -- be able to see witnesses to those war crimes while he was in Bucha. And we know from his foreign minister, the Austrian Foreign

Minister, that Nehammer will look Putin in the eye, go eye to eye with him and tell him the truth. Tell him the truth about what his troops are doing

on the ground. And as you say, Nehammer says that President Putin has lost the moral -- the moral authority, if you will, or lost the moral war here.

His aim, his realistic aim is to try to get a ceasefire, but at a minimum, try to establish those humanitarian corridors that are so important to help

get the beleaguered civilians out of cities like Mariupol and other places where not only are they being bombarded, but they're being starved as well.

So, that's a high priority. But we know from the Kremlin and I think this is where we can take a read of the likelihood of a productive outcome from

a European point of view.

The Kremlin has said they're not putting a camera in the room for the meeting. We know that the meeting has just started in the past few minutes.

The Kremlin say they're not expecting any joint comments, following this meeting. So, it is being very, very carefully controlled. The Kremlin is

clearly concerned that while the Austrian Chancellor is there to -- is there to present to President Putin the horrors that his troops are

committing.

The Kremlin's narrative is entirely different. So, they don't want any part of that to be able to leak out in any way. So, they're very heavily

controlling this meeting. So, a maximum position it would be to have President Putin recognize the error of his ways. But of course, he's going

to tell the Austrian Chancellor why he believes he's in the right. And he has to continue. And I think that's a realistic expectation.

ANDERSON: So, as that goes on, we are hearing that there is a slight a raft of further sanctions expected from the Europeans. Oil, possibly, front and

center. We know that President Zelenskyy has been leaning heavily on a number of European countries, not least the Irish for example. He spoke to

lawmakers last week, imploring Europeans to get oil and gas under sanction. What can we expect at this point?

ROBERTSON: Further discussion, the foreign ministers went into their meeting in Luxembourg this morning. We know that oil and gas but its oil

sort of front and center at the moment is a contentious and difficult issue within the European Union. Some nations are more dependent on Russian oil

than others, but it is on the agenda. It is up for discussion, and there certainly are plenty of nations there that want to see all that revenue

that goes from the European Union.

People are calling it blood money that goes to the Kremlin that's funding and fueling the war in Ukraine. They want to see it stopped. How far these

European Union foreign ministers are from reaching agreement isn't clear. But I think listening to all of them when they're going in, they're

motivated. They know there's a lot of pressure on them to do this. But it is difficult for some of the -- for some of the nations.

There's sort of no easy way around it and the European Union officials have said that. But I think -- I would just add in one other thought here,

you've had the European Parliament president, you've had the European Commission president, you've had the European Union's top diplomat all in

Kyiv over the past few days.

[10:15:10]

ROBERTSON: That adds a huge impetus to what the foreign ministers need to achieve. And the European Parliament has been very clear. Oil -- Russian

oil and gas should be cut off. So, there's huge pressure on the foreign ministers to find a way to do this sixth round of sanctions.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. It's a question of whether Europeans can stick together on this, isn't it? Whether everybody is going to sign up for what

Zelenskyy clearly believes is the only option going forward. But that sense of unity could be fractured should countries decide to go their own way.

All right, Nic. Thank you.

Just had an election showdown looms in France as voters there gear up to choose their next president. Why the stakes are so high.

And some reprieve after weeks in COVID lockdown. How some Shanghai residents are finally getting to leave their homes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: As Russian forces wage war on European soil in Ukraine, a sympathizer of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin is closer than ever to the

top job in France Marine Le Pen, the familiar face of the French far-right movement trying for a third time to become the president of France. She and

the current president Emmanuel Macron have advanced to the second and final round of the presidential election.

And that is setting up a rematch of the 2017 contest. Mr. Macron is in first place following results from Sunday's first ballot. The Interior

Ministry says Le Pen came in second and they will each -- face each other in a runoff on April the 24th. CNN's Jim Bittermann is live for us from

Paris. You've probably forgotten how many of these presidential elections that you have covered.

But I wonder what you make of this first round given the current climate in Europe and what you believe the main takeout from Sunday's first round was.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Becky, just my eighth, by the way. That's my eighth presidential campaign

in France. In any case, I think that the main takeaways were that Emmanuel Macron remains strong. There was some doubt about that going into the

election. Some of the polling seemed to indicate that Macron's polling numbers were trending downward.

In fact, he did very well last night. I think probably better than the Macron people suspected he would. The second main takeaway is that Eric

Melenchon -- Jean-Luc Melenchon rather, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the far left candidate did far better than I think anybody expected him to do and it

kind of indicates to the cleavage within France, kind of cleavage that we might see in the United States.

[10:20:10]

BITTERMANN: And that you have Marine Le Pen very attractive to rural voters, and you have Macron very attractive to urban voters. In any case,

they're going to go head to head. And it started even last night because Macron in his victory speech last night said this, aimed directly at Marine

Le Pen. He said, I don't want France which having left Europe would have as its only allies, the international populist and xenophobes.

And that was referring to Marine Le Pen's positions which have, as you said, been very much a pro-Russian and pro-Putin in the past. She modified

some during the campaign, but they're still on the Web site, there's still the belief that France should come out of the integrated -- the integrated

command posts of NATO and the no peace in Europe without Russia and (INAUDIBLE) brought aboard. So, it's kind of a tough sell with Ukraine war

going on, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Fascinating. Well, listen, you and I will speak between now and the 24th. Certainly, that setting up quite the showdown for the second

round, Jim. Thank you.

Eight presidential elections is managed forgotten more about French politics and most of us will ever know.

COVID restrictions in Shanghai and China will begin to ease today. Authorities say lockdown measures will be partially lifted in thousands of

neighborhoods that have not reported any new COVID infections in the past 14 days. Now, during the past two weeks, China is normally bustling

financial hub has been a virtual ghost town with the city's 25 million residents stuck at home. There have been food medical shortages as the

number of new infections has skyrocketed.

We'll, CNN Correspondent David Culver joining us now live from Shanghai. I just wonder, given the images that we've seen over the past weeks, what

will the easing of lockdown restrictions mean? What the -- will they look like for Shanghai residents today?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when you're living in lockdown, like we're here, Becky, you have a lot of time to read the fine print. And we've

gone through a lot of that. And I think a lot of folks who are saying will believe it when we see it. And the parameters that are set here are really

hard to hit, because you're talking about not having one case in your community for 14 days straight.

And then your community will be lifted out of lockdown. Well, that is very rare in this day and age when we're now seeing thousands of cases more than

26,000 in the most recent reported for one day. And so, it sounds really promising and it sounds hopeful. But it's just going to be very difficult

to meet. Now we are seeing some communities, some here in Shanghai have actually made that threshold.

And the farthest they can go is step out their door. So, that's progress and of itself because we can't leave our apartments. And they can stroll

around their neighborhood, but they can't go into other districts. And if there's one case, they're back inside. So, all of this, you know, Becky,

when I think about just how bad it is in comparison, well if you thought Wuhan 2020 was bad. You've not seen Shanghai 2022.

This has been like no other lockdown. And the country's cosmopolitan, most affluent financial hub of all places. The door behind me is my exit to the

alleyway to freedom. And I heard late last night that they were unraveling tape and putting it on my door along with my neighbor's doors, and they put

up a paper seal to keep it closed. Some buildings with positive cases, they're going a step further.

They're locking shut from the outside using bicycle locks and padlocks. The biggest issue has been of course, food shortages. It's really difficult to

source food with stores closed and you've got delivery drivers who are just like us and locked down. So, neighbors, mine included now coming together

trying to source directly from suppliers were buying in bulk. And there have been for some a few government handouts but just not enough.

It's led to residents under lockdown demanding supplies, as the food shortages here have worsened. Some shouting, we are starving. We are

starving. This is Shanghai, folks. Now a city leader over the weekend actually choked up at a news conference apologizing to the city's more than

25 million residents for failing to meet expectations. And she promised improvements.

But Becky, I think what folks are waiting to see is that inaction. So, the rhetoric today is promising. But again, you want to see it in place.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. We'll check back in with you, David. I was going to say stay safe, but you've got nowhere to go at this point. So, carry on the

good work. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

CULVER: Nowhere to go. Yes. Exactly.

ANDERSON: Yes. The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv seeing non-stop shelling according to the mayor who tells CNN that Russia is using a new type of

weapon there. That conversation is just ahead.

And the U.S. warns the situation could now turn even worse for civilians in Ukraine. Meet the man Russia has just put in charge of its war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:27:32]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in London. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Well, the time is 27 minutes past 3:00 in the afternoon.

Right now, Austria's Chancellor is meeting with Vladimir Putin. The first European leader to do so and to visit Moscow since Russia began its war on

Ukraine. Chancellor Karl Nehammer expected to be blunt and to tell Mr. Putin that Russia has already morally lost the war.

Well, this as a Ukrainian official says that Russia has effectively started its offensive in Donbas. In the upper part of this map, you see Kharkiv,

Ukraine's second largest city. Ominous new satellite images show Russian military convoys stretching for nearly 13 kilometers east of kharkiv. Well,

my colleague, Brianna Keilar spoke to the mayor of that city earlier. She started by asking him to describe the situation there over the weekend.

Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR IHOR TEREKHOV, KHARKIV, UKRAINE (through translator): There was nonstop shelling over the weekend. By the end of the day, we also had

cruise missile strikes. We have a lot of damage to the infrastructure. And also, we have casualties. We have people with injuries. The situation is

quite difficult.

We also have new types of weapons being used against us. We have seen ammunition that has a time delay. So, it's -- it strikes and then it waits

a while before it explodes. Also, we have quite lethal ammunition being used where we have specific civilian targets aimed at.

I can also say that the Russian aggressor is bombing residential districts in Kharkiv and as of today, we've had a thousand, 617 residential buildings

destroyed.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Mayor, you're talking about those mines that actually scatter. This kind of bomb that lands and it throws out many, even

up to a couple dozen mines that are on a time delay. And these are things that have been seen in civilian areas?

TEREKHOV: Yes, they land on the ground and then they can explode at any moment.

KEILAR: We are seeing this eight-mile-long convoys of Russian military vehicles that is stretching outside of Kharkiv. What are you expecting from

this and what are you preparing for?

[10:30:10]

TEREKHOV: I can't talk in detail about this because this is really a military question. But I know that our military are preparing to defend the

city. Thanks to their heroic efforts, the city as well defended, and also thanks to Great Britain which supplied us with weapons which enables us to

effectively defend ourselves.

KEILAR: Mayor, what do you need from Ukraine's allies?

TEREKHOV: First of all, weapons of course, because without weapons, no army can effectively conduct defense. Second, is political support. And third is

humanitarian aid, which we do receive and we're very grateful for it. But we need -- we constantly need food, medication and basic necessities.

That's what Ukraine needs at the moment.

KEILAR: Are people able to evacuate from Kharkiv if they want to, Mayor?

TEREKHOV: Yes, indeed, people can evacuate and everybody who wants to has this opportunity but many people don't want to evacuate. They were born

here. They've had their lives here and they want to continue living here. So, a lot of people are not evacuating.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That's CNN's Brianna Keilar talking with the mayor of kharkiv. Well, Vladimir Putin has picked a new commander to lead his war in Ukraine.

CNN's Nima Elbagir tells us he is accused of brutal acts against civilians.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: We all remember those images, men, women and children screaming burn out apartment

buildings. Devastated cities and towns. And now that Russian general responsible for that devastation has been assigned by President Vladimir

Putin with turning the tide of his devastating defeats here in Ukraine.

General Aleksandr Dvornikov has been put in charge of Russian forces pushing to advance through Ukrainian cities and towns. It tells us a number

of things. One is that Vladimir Putin is looking both to disinformation abroad and disinformation at home. This is the man who is believed to have

delivered the victories so to speak of Russia in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

He's also the man whose impunity lives on in the collective global memory. The hope we are told by President Putin is that he will deliver a victory

before May 9th, the anniversary of the Nazi surrender to Soviet forces so that there can be a victory parade in Russia's Red Square. Whether it will

be quite that simple, given what has happened here to Russian forces, remains to be seen.

Ukraine is a very different terrain, not only have Ukrainian forces been able to push back Russia's offensive here in Kyiv and in the surrounding

territories, but they are also very differently supported by the international community. They have been given a -- an arsenal of anti-

aircraft capabilities. And that was what helped General Dvornikov to win in Syria. The superior aerial capacity that his forces have.

Whatever happens in the coming days and weeks, the message that President Putin is sending to -- sending to the world is chilling, that the man

responsible for what Syrian human rights organizations believe was the death of over 5600 men, women and children is now in charge of what happens

here on the ground in Ukraine. Nima Elbagir, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

ANDERSON: Ukraine's president telling South Korean lawmakers that the besieged city of Mariupol is destroyed, claiming tens of thousands of

people have died there. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also making an appeal in front of those lawmakers for weapons in what was his latest video addressed to a

national parliament. My colleague, Paula Hancocks has more.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to South Korean lawmakers this Monday and asked for the one thing

that the administration has already said that they are unprepared to give. He asked specifically from South Korea for weapons systems and for military

hardware, something which Seoul has been reticent to give.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Ukraine needs support for its military, including planes and tanks, South Korea can

help Ukraine. South Korea has various defense systems that could help defend against Russian tanks, ships and missiles. We would be grateful if

South Korea could help us to fight Russia. If Ukraine can have these weapons, they will not only save the lives of ordinary people, but they'll

save Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:02]

HANCOCKS: President Zelenskyy also said that many economic sanctions have been adopted which South Korea as well has signed up for. But the impact is

not strong enough to stop Russia's invasion. Now, we did hear from the defense ministry here in Seoul earlier on Monday saying that they have

already been asked by Ukraine to give anti-aircraft weapons that specific request coming last Friday.

But they had rejected that request saying it was a matter of national security and also, they could not because of their military readiness

posture. Now this is a red line that we have been hearing about for Seoul that they do not want to give any lethal military aid. They have given non-

lethal military aid up to about $800,000. Things like medical supplies, first aid kits, helmets, blankets, tents, but they don't want to cross that

line into -- to lethal aid.

We also know that they have pledged about $10 million in humanitarian aid. But clearly this is something that President Zelenskyy does need. He has

spoken to many Parliaments around the world. South Korea being the 20th that he has addressed virtually at this point. And time and time again, we

are hearing this request for more military hardware. But up until now, it appears that that is one step too far for South Korea.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

ANDERSON: Well, Moscow speaking through a pro-Kremlin newspaper says it will sue after ratings agency S&P downgraded Russia's credit rating on

foreign debt. Now, S&P made the move after Moscow attempts to make bond payments in rubles not dollar. The Kremlin can't touch roughly $315 billion

of its foreign currency reserves because of Western sanctions over its war on Ukraine.

Let's dig into this. CNN's Anna Stewart is with me here in London studio. It's good to be here. It's good to be with you. S&P says that Russia has

effectively selectively defaulted on its debt. Just explain what we mean.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: So, Russia has attempted to make the payment. But they've done it in rubles. And that is just a very simple breach of a

contract. This was dollar denominated debt, it needs to be repaid in dollars and Russia are very unhappy by this downgrade and by the fact that

it's being called a selective default. So, as you said, the finance minister wants to sue and also halting all bond sales for the rest of the

year.

Unsurprising because this means borrowing any kind of money, even if they couldn't increase new they can't, will be exorbitantly expensive.

ANDERSON: Interesting. So, that's what's going on there. The World Bank meantime says that Ukraine needs and I quote them here, "massive financial

support" immediately as it struggles to keep its economy going. This will come as no surprise to either you or me or any of our viewers. But the

report is extensive, isn't it? What does it say?

STEWART: This is war in the region. This looks at the impact this war is having on Ukraine, Russia and the surrounding economies. And the picture of

Ukraine, of course, is the most stark and it's really a moment to just consider what's going on on the ground. The impact that will have for

people, the impact that will have Ukraine, for many years to come the fact that we'll need so much support.

So, this report says they expect Ukraine's economy to shrink by 45 percent this year. And a worst-case scenario, if the wall were to escalate, shrinks

the economy by 75 percent. Looking at all our reporting on the ground, you can see the massive disruption. The fact that no economic activity could

possibly go on in areas of bombardment, you look at the supply chain disruption, the impact on agriculture, exports, shipping out of the Black

Sea has been all but halted.

And then the real facts that four million people have left Ukraine, 6-1/2 million additional have been internally displaced. So, you just gather that

all together and consider the impact that will have now but also rebuilding Ukraine. How much financial aid will be needed.

ANDERSON: This has echoes of Syria all over again. I mean, those sort of numbers that you've just suggested which are absolutely crippling, and the

sort of numbers we saw out of then, of course, we know 10 years on that war. One, the conflict continues and two, the reconstruction hasn't started

at this point. That's really worrying stuff. War in the region as the IMF - - sorry, the World Bank's reports. It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.

Still ahead, a young American phenom wins one of golf's most prestigious tournament. Details on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:40]

ANDERSON: The run up to and the start of the Masters in Augusta dominated by one name, Tiger Woods. But in the end, the glory went to this man.

Scottie Scheffler who kept his cool and walked away with the coveted green jacket. I'm delighted. I've got World Sport's Amanda Davies in the studio

with me. It was an incredible win. It's been an incredible year for this young man.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Yes, no wonder he said afterwards, his head was spinning. Two months ago, he hadn't ever won a PGA Tour title.

And now he's sitting here as the world's number one, a masters champion. And he's won four out of the last six events that he's played. And the way

he dealt with the emotion and the pressure. He was just supreme. He led the way from Friday and despite an incredible challenge from Rory McIlroy, from

-- Cam Smith who was playing alongside.

He kept his cool. He did go with that double bogey on the 18 but at that point --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: -- give him.

DAVIES: Yes. And he admitted afterwards that he'd actually been bawling his eyes out on Sunday morning ahead of his final rounds. As he said, he

started to realize, you know, having received that first invitation to play at this event which has so much history and meaning. And it was just an

incredibly emotional few days not only for him, you mentioned Tiger as well. It was a really, really special event.

And, you know, what is so lovely after so much politics dominating sport and hard news dominating sport, this was a fantastic sporting drive.

ANDERSON: You've just summed up how I felt as I was watching it. I was like, it's so good that we're just seeing why we love sports so much. These

wonderful, wonderful stories and it's great after such a long period of time with COVID. You see people back on the course and enjoying it and keep

(INAUDIBLE) World Sports after this. Stay with us.

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(WORLD SPORT)

END sports so much. These wonderful, wonderful stories and it's great after such a long period of time with COVID. You see people back on the course

and enjoying it and keep (INAUDIBLE) World Sports after this. Stay with us.

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(WORLD SPORT)

END