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Chaos Erupts in Kyiv as Russian Forces Advance, Launch Strikes; Ukrainian Capital Under Fire on Second Day of Russian Attack. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 25, 2022 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:21]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All around the world, so you can see how shutting Russia out of that can be very impactful if they choose that route. It seems like there's a lot of resistance.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah.

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I want to bring in CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. Christiane, thank you so much for being with us. I just want to bring people up to speed here. Within the last several minutes we have received word that the capital city of Kyiv is under siege right now, fighting, going on in the northern part of the city and the Obolon jurisdiction. You see how close it is to the city center, Christiane, and the government there, telling people to arm themselves with Molotov cocktails. This is a major European capital in 2022, where the citizenry is being told to arm themselves with Molotov cocktails, put that in context for us?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, John is someone who spent most of the 90s in a European city under siege by Russian-backed separatists. That was Sarajevo. I -- all I can do is empathize and say I understand what is actually happening. And who would have thought that some 20 plus years later, you would have a city under siege in the middle of Europe by Russia this time. Obviously, Sarajevo was much, much smaller in terms of effect and consequence. And here you have the citizens, you just had the MP from Kyiv, sitting there telling you bravely that she was going to stay, that he was armed with a Kalashnikov. And as you said, the President has instructed his people to try to resist with Molotov cocktails. This is against a Russian army, they're coming in with tanks, they have forces on the ground, they own the airspace, which is why we're hearing from defense ministers in Europe that there is no question of an air, no fly zone that NATO will put up right now.

The Russians dominate it. And if that was to happen, and if the U.S. or NATO put up planes now, they would be in direct conflict with Russian planes. And that would be a Europe wide war. So Ukraine is on its own, despite the fact that it's had support and help and defense and training. It is not enough. And yet they are putting up a resistance. The President himself Zelensky, who I spoke to in Munich, and he came to plead for more help. And he said last night that the sound you hear is the sound of an Iron Curtain descending across Europe again, and this is not just about Ukraine. This is about the entire world order. And this is what he said in his opening address, about his personal security right now.

KEILAR: Christiane, Berman has been showing us just how close the Russian forces are there in Kyiv, on the outskirts of it moving into the downtown area, we just spoke with the Wall Street Journal Correspondent who is there and says that urban warfare could begin in a matter of hours. What is your expectation for what this looks like?

AMANPOUR: Well, it's going to be interesting to see whether that does actually happen. I mean, it's a huge urban warfare, it's a huge concept. And it means having had forces and civilians and resistance brigades ready to face off and I'm not sure that that's happened. I would say that if this lasts a long time, you will get resistance and insurgency. I'm not sure that and yet we're being told that whatever forces are on the ground Ukrainian forces right now are putting up the maximum resistance they can. You just reported from near Dnieper River that our Nick Paton Walsh has said that one unit or two was pushed back.

We understand that the Russian push from the east from the Donbass area did not go as quickly and as effectively and as efficiently as possible. Right now in Moscow, a press conference by the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is telling the Ukrainians to lay down their weapons and surrender. And they keep repeating this obscene charge that they are going to be denazifying Ukraine.

Remember the president of Ukraine is a Jew. This is what he said, let me play the soundbite about his personal safety at this level right now. And he is staying with his people while they are in this in battle situation.

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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINE (through translation): According to our information, the enemy has marked me as target number one, my family is target number two, they want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. We have information that enemy sabotage groups have entered Kyiv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So this obviously was earlier than the latest troop movements, your reporting, but nonetheless, that is him staying in Ukraine and facing what is about to come. It is extraordinarily brave, it's extraordinarily brave. What these Ukrainians are doing right now. And it appears that what Russia wants to do is to install a puppet government inside Kyiv. So what will that mean for the Zelensky and his people and his family? The British Defense Secretary has said that they have called in the Russian ambassador here in the U.K. to insist that they will be held account eligible for war crimes, for crimes against civilians. [05:35:03]

Can you imagine in 2022 that a major European Western city is under cruise and ballistic missile attacks? This is unimaginable. I spoke to Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General last night, and he said what we all know that what is underway is a full scale invasion. And he said, it is not just an attack on Ukraine, it's an attack on the entire security order that we've had in Europe for many years. It's an attack on the idea of a sovereign and independent nation choosing its own path. And therefore, what we are in right now is a new kind of normal, he said, one in which power depend -- power decides what's happening and open blatant way contesting core values about security and demonstrating the Russians right now, their use of you know, their will to use force. This is an extraordinary situation. And if we're not up to resisting, they're going to keep going.

BERMAN: Christiane, you use the word unimaginable, which I think is so appropriate here, because it's impossible to wrap your head around, what might happen in the next few days. Is this entire nation of 44 million people going to be under occupation? Is the world just going to sit and watch Vladimir Putin take over an entire country here? And if you can get your head around that, then the issue is, what happens next? Is it possible that some of these other nations, these other NATO nations, the -- well the Ukraine, is not NATO, but the Baltic nations, which are part of NATO? Could they be at any kind of risk from Russia? If Putin's willing to go into Ukraine, why not there?

AMANPOUR: So let me play the second part first, because I've been talking to Baltic leaders and they are worried, they are very worried. It is true that NATO has upped its military assistance, including very advanced fighter jets, Apache helicopters, U.S. has sent troops, other NATO nations have as well, that they are worried one of them sits right there. I'm just pointing at your map, you know, Estonia, or Lithuania rather, and Latvia on the border of Belarus.

This weekend, Belarus will have a referendum, "in which it may simply basically see that sovereignty to Russia and become de facto annexed by Russia." If that happens, that is a very big threat to the countries that are on the border right now. And including to Poland and others. Yes, the United States and NATO are pushing more forces. And they claim that this is their red line. This has to be, they claim that Putin will recognize Article Five and will not dare to mess with the entire arrayed 30 plus NATO countries. You know, one would hope so, but he has proven that he is irrational, not rational. He is now a pariah under international definition, and he is a tyrant. And he is making up history in order to allow himself to continue this.

Already you see on the streets of Russia, in 53 cities, you had nearly 2000 people arrested, it may not seem a lot that people have come out on the streets in Russia to saying no, and the Russian government has criminalized protesters, anti-war protesters, and they're sweeping them off the streets. And they're putting them in whatever detention they're doing right now.

What military analysts believe is the military objective is to neutralize Ukraine by potentially occupying the Eastern two-thirds of the country and putting a puppet regime into the western parts of the country. And that's what they think right now, we understand that the French President Macron, who did the most he possibly could to shuffle back and forth, to engage with Putin, to try to get him to change course, he's still willing to try to mediate, but Putin has shown that he will not just lie and distort, but he will lie in the face of the very politicians and world leaders who he's been telling you won't do this. He's talked about the Minsk agreements, he unilaterally violated them. He talks about international law and sovereignty, he's unilaterally violated that. And he's making a history that Ukraine does not exist. Well, it does. It is internationally recognized by the United Nations, and Vladimir Putin has violated every single article of international law right now. And the very possibility of war crimes when you use those kinds of weapons in highly populated dense civilian cities that will produce casualties if they carry that out.

KEILAR: Christiane, really appreciate you being with us this morning and walking us through what is this attempted Russian expansion that will affect countries in Europe and also in the U.S. Thank you so much.

We do have some more in our breaking news. We have CNN's Jim Sciutto who's reporting that air sirens in Lviv are going off right now in the western part, this is the far west part of the nation. We're going to take you down.

[05:40:03]

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BERMAN: All right, you hear that air raid sirens moments ago in the far western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Let me show you where that is on the map that's all the way in the western part of the country right here. That's where we have many of our resources including CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto, who Jim, I understand you're on the phone right now taking cover, tell me what's happening.

[05:45:08]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: So we've been hearing these air raid sirens for the last several hours really all night into the morning. And some you take more seriously than others because of the distance, the presumed distance from the threat but this is one where the hotel we're staying in has just set an alarm and send everybody down to the basement, which is a I mean, it's a shelter because it's a basement. It's not a formal bomb shelter, but obviously better to be underground and above ground when you have -- when you have alerts like this.

Principally, the attacks in Lviv have been rocket attacks that there are military installations around the city. So far, we haven't seen targets hit in the city. But as I've said many times, John, the aim of some of these systems and the forces firing them it's not perfect. So you have to take precautions, and this one seems to be, this one seems to be closer.

And again, given where we are, it just reiterates that the whole country right is under attack. These attacks from the air have ranged from north to south, east to west and that gives you an indication of Russian ambitions here.

BERMAN: Yeah, look, we can see on the map where you are here in the far western city of Lviv, far from the capital of Kyiv even further, obviously, from the far eastern region where allegedly this fighting really was to begin there. So Jim, why, why would the Russians target this city of Lviv. What's the purpose?

SCIUTTO: Because they want to take over the whole country? You know, I think that, you know, that there's been a slowness, maybe reluctance to recognize just how far Russian ambitions span, you know, from four weeks now, we've been talking about how the U.S. Intel assessment was that Russia intends to control at least the Eastern two-thirds of the country. So if you look at that map, again, from the capital Kyiv, heading out east, but as much as the entire country, and the fact is, even if you control two-thirds from the Capitol east, you basically control the entire country. But as we've seen Russian military operations unfold with attacks across the country, including here in the West. You know, we have to look at Putin, listen to what he says, look at the military operations on the ground and understand this is not a partial operation or an attempt to slice off a piece of the country, it is -- he has ambitions expanding the extent of Ukraine.

BERMAN: Look, that's why I asked the question, Jim, because I think it's obvious at this point, he is trying to take over the entire country. You and your team in Lviv, please stay safe. Please keep us posted. Hopefully, you'll be able to come up from cover and talk to us again soon. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: We'll do. Thanks.

BERMAN: We'll get more from the ground in Kyiv as the fighting intensifies in the streets. This is CNN Special Live Coverage.

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[05:52:12]

KEILAR: Following our breaking news, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv right now under attack, Russian forces are advancing there and across major cities in Ukraine. Joining us now is a retired -- is retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges. He commanded army troops in Europe from 2014 to 2017. He's intensely familiar with this area, and certainly with what is going on with U.S. troops in the area as well. General, what do you make of this moment where we see these Russian forces so close to Kyiv?

LT. GEN. BEN HODGES, (Ret.), FORMER COMMANDER, U.S. ARMY FORCES IN EUROPE: Hey, Brianna, thank you. First of all, I'm impressed that how well Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting and with the determination I've heard from civilians, both with whom I've spoken over the last 48 hours, but also who I've heard on your program. There have been a lot of examples actually, where Ukrainian forces have inflicted severe losses on Russian forces. And so, you know, trying to understand what's actually happening on the ground is difficult when you've got reports coming in from multiple directions. This is the nature of war, bargain friction. So trying to figure out what's really happening is a challenge. But there's no doubt that the Russians own the airspace, helicopters are flying around without too much fear. And so this is something that we've got to help Ukrainians address.

BERMAN: General, we did get word to your point that down here in Kherson, the city, not far from Crimea, on the Dnieper River, we did get word that Ukrainians have pushed the Russians back across the bridge there that is one sign of the resistance. And up here in Kyiv in the capital city, that may be the area of greatest concern right now because there is word that there is fighting that there are Russian troops or forces in the all Obolon District, which is just not that far from the city center. We talked to one member of parliament who said she's got a Kalashnikov that the people have been given weapons and they're ready to fight. But realistically, how long can they hold out?

HODGES: Well, I know your previous guests Ms. Riddick (ph), from the from the Ukrainian Rada. Her with an AK-47 is a formidable force. Look, a city of three and a half million people can absorb a lot of Russian troops. This is going to be a terrible fight. Fighting in the city we know from Iraq is terrible. We know from history, it's terrible. But it's important that we give Ukrainians all the tools that they need as fast as possible. We should be having convoys going from Poland into Ukraine, carrying anything weapons but especially the number one need that they have is for Stinger or some sort of shoulder fired air defense system that can knock down helicopters. These helicopters are able to move Russian special forces around the country a will that's why they need this capability.

[05:55:10]

KEILAR: All right, General Hodges, thank you so much for being with us. We do appreciate it.

HODGES: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, we're just getting new word in that a Russian airfield has been targeted by Ukrainian forces about 16 kilometers from the border. Stay with us.

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