Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Ukraine's Capital Kyiv Under Attack As Russians Advance; Ukraine Tells Citizens to Make Molotov Cocktails to Fight Russians; Russians Protest Against Attack in Ukraine Despite Arrest Risk. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 25, 2022 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right, good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, February 25th, I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar. And the breaking news. Ukrainian capital Kyiv is under siege with major developments within just the last few minutes. Moments ago, the Ukrainian defense ministry said Russian reconnaissance troops entered the Obolon District of northern Kyiv just a few miles from the city center.

The ministry tweeted out a request for citizens to make Molotov cocktails and take down the occupiers. And history here, those devices received that name from the Finnish resistance to the Soviet prior to World War II, history going full circle now. CNN witnessed a group of Ukrainian security forces leave the city police headquarters with weapons and ammunition. Overnight, the capital city, Kyiv, was hit by missile fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SIREN BLARING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Ukraine's foreign minister calls it the worst attack on its country since the Nazis invaded in 1941. Ukraine's President Zelensky says he is Russia's number one target. Number two, he says is his family. Overnight, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down over Kyiv, setting an apartment building on fire. Ukraine says it has inflicted 800 casualties among Russian forces, however, CNN cannot independently confirm that.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The Ukrainian Defense Ministry says that it blew up -- or defense forces blew up a bridge north of Kyiv to keep a column of Russian forces from advancing towards the capital. And listen to this audio clip. Russia ordered 13 Ukrainian guards to surrender on a strategic island, but they refused with some choice words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All of those Ukrainian soldiers who were defending Snake Island were reportedly killed. Russian forces have also seized control of the Chernobyl Power Plant in northern Ukraine, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster. They're reportedly holding staff there hostage, and so far, President Zelensky says 137 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, 316 injured since the invasion began. He is banning Ukrainian males from the ages of 18 to 60 from leaving the country, urging them to take up arms and fight.

President Biden is imposing sweeping new sanctions on the Kremlin, declaring Putin -- declaring that Putin chose this war. Secretary of State Tony Blinken convinced that Putin will try to overthrow Ukraine, he says it will take a long time for the conflict to play out, and it will ultimately be a bloody mess for Russia. Thousands of protests in support of Ukraine and against Russia's aggressions on the streets of Israel, Paris, Berlin and London, and perhaps most importantly in cities across Russia.

Police cracking down, making hundreds of arrests in a rare show of dissent. And joining us now from Kyiv is Yaroslav Trofimov; he is the chief foreign affairs correspondent for the "Wall Street Journal". Yaroslav, thank you for being with us this morning. Can you just tell us what happened overnight in Kyiv? We understand that it was targeted with cruise and ballistic missiles.

YAROSLAV TROFIMOV, CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, so, the -- sorry, the airstrikes and the missile strikes began around 4 O'clock in the morning and they hit a number of targets around the city. A residential building on the -- on the western side -- on the eastern side of the city was also hit, and at the same time there was a movement of Russian armor towards the northwestern edge of the city where Russian airports secured a military airfield the previous day.

And by late morning, Russian troops were at the very outskirts of Kyiv pushing in from the northwest. Ukrainian defenders will be digging in, getting ready to fight and there were only firefights in the northern --

KEILAR: Jaroslav, I'm going to have you stand by just for a moment. I want to go to Nick Paton Walsh, I understand that he's hearing some air raid sirens. Can you tell us what you're experiencing, Nick?

[05:05:00]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, absolutely. We are in the southern town of Kherson, the bridge, where essentially land bridge up to main Ukraine from Crimea controlled by the Russians into which they've poured many troops. And we've been here for 24 hours, this is the first time we've heard an air raid siren. I don't know if you can pick it up on the microphone --

KEILAR: We can --

WALSH: There's some wind here. But -- yes, so, look, there's been an intense fight on the east of the city yesterday. We heard it as we came in. We saw the damage ourselves this morning, big craters there. It appears Ukrainian forces did successfully push the Russians back over the river. Now, why is this river so important? Well, it splits Ukraine in half, and some say it could have been a kind of natural demarcation between the Russian part of Ukraine if they move that way in the European side.

That's essentially what it does, it splits the country in two. And the bridge here, one of the key ways to cross it, there was intense fighting around it, we've seen bodies lying on the ground there, about a dozen or so discarded Ukrainian army vehicles. But Ukrainians have pushed back the Russians to the other side of the river.

And there was eerily, civilians still driving up and down that road, going about through necessity. But this is a town where last night locals were turning off the lights, closing the curtains, trying to install a blackout, and we heard low-flying jets sweeping in over here and airstrikes in the distance. Clearly, airstrikes that hit some of the buildings, we could see they're being collapsed by explosions over there to one side.

So, it is unclear what this air raid siren heralds. We were told by a local official here that they've received warnings that there would be what they call replying response -- the replying attack, sorry from the Russians about the timing in which they're talking. So, this may herald the start of that, and the question really is, how much Russia feels it needs to move into towns like this. This -- the Ukrainian flag is flying pretty much wherever I see. People do not want them here and they are terrified for their children.

The owner of this hotel where we are, absolutely terrified about what may come next. Do they choose to come into places like this in force, you know, it's not massively defended, I should say, or do they just simply move on through? There have been suggestions that yesterday, the Russians simply drove past here after they crossed the bridge and went off to the east and the west. East towards separatist territories and west towards Odesa.

But they don't control that bridge, and frankly, they have to if they want free passage for their forces from Crimea, which presumably are still down there in some degree. This is also when you're talking about Kyiv, too, guys, a separate possible destructive move that the Russians could play to attack Kyiv from the south and draw Ukrainian military out as well --

BERMAN: I think it's what people see --

WALSH: Have stopped at this point --

BERMAN: Oh, sorry --

WALSH: Yes -- BERMAN: I didn't mean to interrupt you, Nick, I thought you were

done. I just want people to see where you are so they can get a geographic, you know, center here. This is Crimea, this is Kherson where Nick is right now. You can see this was one of the fronts where the Russians made their initial push, up from Crimea which they've occupied for years now into this region. And Nick, I am very interested in what you're saying, though, that the Ukrainian forces at least, here were able to push them back. Do you have any sense of how and in what kind of numbers?

WALSH: Yes, look, I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? Because a lot of time, Ukrainian military statements we end up having to treat with a degree of skepticism. But it's absolutely clear from what we saw when we came in last night, the fighting was on this side, the Ukrainian held side of the river, and now, the Russians are on the other side. I spoke to a driver who came in from the other side over the river, and he said he's seen them in hidden positions there, that they weren't really messing with the civilian population and were driving freely back and forth.

So, clearly, taking up positions in the village across the river, probably waiting for some other moment. Now, they do have air power on their side. We've seen the damage that does enormous craters, we've seen deadlines still in the middle of that bridge. Bizarre to see civilians driving up and down past corpses, still laying in their place.

But the damage being done to this town on its outskirts on that eastern bid just gives you an idea as to how everyone is going to lose, frankly, in this kind of conflict. But towns like this, strategically -- there's the air raid sirens starting up again, don't know if you can hear them.

KEILAR: Yes, we can.

WALSH: Which does make it seem like we're not talking about some kind of drill here. Thank you.

KEILAR: Right, Nick, we want to make sure that you're safe. If you can just stand by for us, we're going to come back to you as you monitor the situation there in southern Ukraine with air raid sirens going off behind you in the city of Kherson. I do want to go back to Yaroslav Trofimov in Kyiv. Yaroslav, I'm sorry, we were -- we were interrupted as we were listening to those air raid sirens going off in the south.

[05:10:00]

Tell us a little bit about what it was like overnight with the missiles, the cruise missiles and the ballistic missiles targeting Kyiv, and what kind of damage was done.

TROFIMOV: Well, you know, it's the second day, the second morning of Russian airstrikes and attacks in Kyiv. You know, lots of people were spending the night in the undergrounds, in the subways. You know, they're both deeply in Kyiv, lots of other people are trying to leave. I'm standing now by a roadside that is blocked of traffic of people

trying to escape the city because of the skirmishes that are already within the city limits. But the biggest threat is that Russian tanks are really close to the city edge and Ukrainians are deploying the tanks' artillery on the ring roads and the battle, the real urban battle for Kyiv, maybe just hours away.

KEILAR: The urban battle for Kyiv may just be hours away, you say. And we're hearing the president of Ukraine, Zelensky, the mayor of Kyiv, they're saying that Russia is targeting civilians, residential areas. What can you tell us about that claim?

TROFIMOV: Well, we have seen a civilian building, apartment block with maybe a 100 apartments, that was devastated by Russian fire. It's unclear what actually happened there. But people were injured, officials in the city say people have been killed there. And it's a civilian residential block in a normal -- in urban neighborhoods.

BERMAN: Yaroslav, stand by, I want to show people where you are right now. This is Kyiv right now, the capital city of Ukraine. This is what you were mentioning. This is the airport yesterday, Matthew Chance was there, our reporter, and said the Russians had seized this as sort of an air bridge into the Kyiv region. This is the district we're talking about now. This is the district. They're clearly moving from this airport towards the city center, and now, they are in or near or there is fighting going on in the Obolon District. Yaroslav, what can you tell us in terms of what the Ukrainians are putting there in resistance?

TROFIMOV: Well, I went to the bridge separating that airfield from Kyiv this morning. And the Ukrainian troops already just blew it up because the Russians were in, and besides, overnight, a Russian army columns managed to make their way from Belarus towards the airfield linking up with the airborne commandos. And you know, there were big preparations for defending their approach to Kyiv.

I think that's separate from what was happening in Obolon, we understand, there were Russian saboteurs, some of them dressed in Ukrainian uniforms, they tried to infiltrate the city, and you know, we've seen videos of some of them being killed. And Ukraine's government claims that, that area for now has been cleared.

BERMAN: Is there any kind of sign of a popular uprising, of normal citizens taking to the streets to help or at this point, is it Ukrainian law enforcement reservist soldiers?

TROFIMOV: Oh, no, the people that we saw digging in and getting ready to fight, they were mostly people in civilian uniforms. So, volunteers were given weapons probably yesterday, and they were there, you know, ready to die, you know, under what would likely be, you know, Russian bombardments and Russian artillery strikes on their positions if the Russians were to know where exactly they are.

KEILAR: All right, Yaroslav, we're going to stay in touch with you. As you said, you think that the -- basically urban warfare in Kyiv could just be hours away here. It seems peaceful where you are now, but this entirely can change here very soon, and we appreciate you being with us this morning and we do hope that you stay save, Yaroslav, thank you --

TROFIMOV: Thank you.

KEILAR: So, the fighting that is underway there in the capital city of Kyiv, we're keeping our eye on this, we're going to stay there. We're going to speak to a member of the Ukrainian parliament, so stand by for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, this is CNN's special live coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We do have important breaking news. Just moments ago, we got word here in the southern city of Kherson that Ukrainian forces have pushed back a Russian invasion across a bridge over the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian forces have pushed the Russians back more now from here. That was Nick Paton Walsh and his team observing this with their own eyes.

That's happening in the south. Meanwhile, the capital, the city of Kyiv under siege right now. We are getting word that the Russians are moving ever closer to the city center. Yesterday, we knew they established an air bridge here at this airport. This morning, we understand there is a push into the Obolon District in the northern outskirts of the city. You can see the city center just here getting ever closer.

Joining us is Kira Rudyk; she is a member of the Ukrainian parliament, a leader of the Golos Party, thank you so much for being with us. Please tell us what you are observing this morning.

KIRA RUDYK, MEMBER, UKRAINE PARLIAMENT: Hi, so I'm at the center of Kyiv and I will remain here. We here are really -- disturbing news right now regarding what's happening in the north. As of today, there were three sets of airstrikes and three times when the siren was on, and we had to go down to the bomb shelter and hide there with the families. So there has been like a couple of airstrikes near my house, however, we haven't seen any people killed.

So we've prepared to bear arms, and yesterday we were given (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) so we'll be able to resist if Russian forces will come to Kyiv. I don't know if you can hear it right now or not, but there are strikes right behind me, and I hear the blasts trembling a little bit.

[05:20:00]

And so this happens really because for three months, we were saying that we need protection from air and we never got it from any of the countries that promised us support. Right now, we see that there is not too much damage from the air side, however, there is a lot of stress, and it is not really helping the morale of the people being under the airstrikes all the time.

BERMAN: Again, please stay safe. If you need to take cover, please do, if there are things exploding behind you and the windows are rattling, we do understand that. While we have you, in the meantime, if the Russians are in fact pushing in here from the north to where you are in the city center, how long do you think you and the city can resist?

RUDYK: Look, I really do believe in Ukrainian army. I've been supporting it for eight years, and I'm a member of parliament and the leader of the party. It is my duty to be here. I understand it's like -- the events are happening very close to where I am right now, but I'm armed and I have my crew armed, and we have a couple of set of people with territorial defense who are also armed and who will -- who will fight for every inch of Ukrainian soil right now, of Kyiv soil, not to let the Russians in.

There is lots of disinformation coming in and out, so we are very careful with what we hear now and what we can or cannot confirm. I know that there are fights right now at the north of the city and members of my team are going in there right now to support our troops and help them fight, help them not to let Russians into the center of the city.

BERMAN: Again, we understand some 18,000 small arms have been handed out in just the last few days, so people like you can join in, in the defense if it does come to that. Has the world done enough? President Biden here in the United States introduced a new round of sanctions yesterday. Is the world doing enough to help you?

RUDYK: We are very thankful for all the help and support that we are getting. However, you see the sanctions do not stop Putin, and it's not that he attacked us unexpectedly. He has been saying that he will declare war on Ukraine for the last six months. So right now, we are acting as a shield to the whole democratic world, and we need not only sanctions, we need physical support.

We need money. We need military support, and we need the no-fly zone over Ukraine. This is something that we have been asking for the last three months. We have been asking all the NATO countries. We have been asking all our partners, saying we know you cannot fight for us, but you can give our army at least the coverage from the air. This is the most important thing right now. Give us the coverage from the air, the rest we will do ourselves.

We have been killing Russians on our soils for the last eight years when they were trying get in, and we will do it right now as well. However, some -- there is something that you can really help us with, so close the air for us. Close the sky.

BERMAN: Member of parliament, Kira Rudyk, please stay safe. Thank you for being with us this morning. All right, we're going to go back to some of the other locations around the country right now. Air sirens sounding, Christiane Amanpour joins us live on what's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:00] KEILAR: We're following our breaking news. The Ukrainian capital

right now under attack by Russian forces, moving in from multiple sides. Officials are telling citizens how to make Molotov cocktails to help in the fight. And here in the U.S., President Biden hitting Russia with additional sanctions aimed at making Vladimir Putin an international pariah for his invasion of Ukraine, but he stopped short of punishing Putin himself.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is joining us now on this. You know, when you listen to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, these sanctions mean nothing to him. He is accusing the U.S. of standing idly by essentially.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, he really is. And he was in that address this morning, the -- Zelensky was really clear. He wants the United States to do more. He's calling for the United States to pull Russia off of the SWIFT financial system. That has been considered a kind of nuclear option of sanctions. President Biden was pretty frank yesterday that he couldn't get European allies on board with that.

And of course, European countries have a much tighter economic relationship with Russia than the United States. So that was really something they weren't willing to do. But this morning, the defense minister in the United Kingdom, he told the "BBC" that he is willing to push these European allies to try and get Russia off SWIFT. So, that's still a topic of conversation that's ongoing. Now, this morning, the president is going to talk to NATO allies.

He'll be in the Situation Room to virtual meeting. But that's evidence that these conversations about how to move forward now that this invasion has begun, they're still ongoing. And these allies are still trying to figure out a way to deter Putin. Clearly, the sanctions aren't going to be enough.

KEILAR: And let's just be clear, SWIFT is essentially the infrastructure for all financial transactions between banks all around the world. So you can see how shutting Russia out of that could be very impactful. if they choose that route, it seems that there's a lot of resistance.

LIPTAK: Yes.

KEILAR: Kevin, really appreciate the report. Thank you.