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Fighting Escalates As Russians Face Pushback from Ukraine; Expectations Low in Talks Between Ukraine and Russia; CNN: Belarus Expected to Join Russia's Invasion of Ukraine. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 28, 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.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and around the world, it is Monday, February 28th and I am Brianna Keilar with John Berman. We are beginning with breaking news. Day five of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Kremlin forces are encountering stiff resistance from not only the Ukrainian military, but from ordinary citizens as well.

Ukraine says the intensity of the Russian offensive may be slowing. In the last hour, a meeting of delegations from Russia and Ukraine got underway on the border between Ukraine and Belarus. Ukraine is calling for an immediate ceasefire and CNN is monitoring these talks. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy making it clear that he doesn't expect too much to come of these talks, but he says they have to try.

And there are growing fears this morning that Belarus is prepared to send soldiers into Ukraine in support of Russia's invasion. That is according to Ukrainian Intelligence. Meanwhile, President Putin also increasing tensions, he is placing his nuclear deterrence forces on high alert. The White House calling it another manufactured threat.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: There are visible signs of Russian setbacks this morning. In Kharkiv, Russian military vehicles going in reverse, retreating from Ukrainian forces, and we have video of a drone attack that the Ukrainians claim hit a column of Russian military vehicles north of the city of Kherson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Also historic in the conflict, the largest aircraft in the world, Ukraine's Antonov An-225, it was blown up in a Russian attack on an airport near Kyiv. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry says more than 350 civilians have been killed since the start of the invasion including at least 14 children, more than 1,400 people have been injured. According to the United Nation, more than 368,000 Ukrainians have fled the country with more than half of them seeking refuge in Poland.

KEILAR: Protests against the war are intensifying around the world and most significantly, that is happening inside of Russia where police have detained nearly 6,000 demonstrators. The world is pretty much with Ukraine, landmarks in New York, Paris, London, elsewhere, glowing blue and yellow in a show of support with many European countries closing their air space to Russian planes.

And later this morning, President Biden is going to hold a call with U.S. allies to discuss the response to Russia's invasion going forward. Our coverage begins with CNN's Scott McLean, he is live from a train station in Lviv, Ukraine. Scott, what are you seeing?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna, just a couple of minutes ago, we were on the platform opposite that train just because that's where everyone seemed to believe that there was going to be the next train to Poland. Just a few minutes ago, there was an announcement, they were told that actually they were going to be on a different platform. So, everybody walked across these tracks.

And now, they're trying to get on this platform here which is a train that is supposed to be leaving for Poland. So, the reason you don't see a lot of people is because everyone is down underneath trying to get up the stairs. But police are actually only letting people up one by one, and they are prioritizing women and children to make sure that they get on that train first. Some people have been left stranded here, I spoke to one woman last night who said that she didn't know where she was going to go.

She wasn't able to get on a train. She wasn't able to get on a bus. She wasn't able to get a taxi either. Apologies, Brianna, we're just being asked to move over here. But the bottom line is, even if you manage to get on one of these trains, and people are certainly desperate to do that, you are going to be facing extremely tight conditions. We saw one of those trains, I think we have video of it, that was headed toward Poland when we were headed into Ukraine on a basically empty train.

And people were shoulder-to-shoulder, standing in the aisle, standing in the ends near the doors, any bit of free space that they could find, they were in there. And as I said, it was mostly women, mostly children, and they were there for hours for their passport control. As a result, some people, especially foreign men, have found it very difficult to get out of the country because it's very difficult to get on these trains.

Some of them even told us last night that they found it difficult to get across the border once they've been there because of the sheer volume of people and because they seem to be prioritizing women and children as well.

[05:05:00] The border, the Polish authorities say that there is only one line.

They're letting everyone through. The problem seems to be on the Ukrainian side. But again, they also say that no one is being discriminated against, that they are letting everyone through as quickly as they can, Brianna.

BERMAN: Scott, I'll take it here, just so people know where Scott McLean is, he's in a train station right here in Lviv. You can see the long border between Ukraine and Poland, so many people trying to get out on these trains, you can either go to Krakow or up here to Warsaw. What is usually a 5-hour trip is taking 5, 10, 15, sometimes 20 hours, a long way even to get on that first train. Scott McLean, thank you very much for that.

I want to move now, we're going to go over to Russia where our Frederik Pleitgen has been right here up near Belgorod, that is where Russian troops have been passing him moving into Ukraine. The latest from there, Fred, including this new heightened state of nuclear alert that Vladimir Putin has ordered.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly, that's something that's of great concern obviously to a lot of people here in Russia. And John, as we speak, we can actually see another convoy of Russian military vehicles. Those are actually going out of the front line area, it's really obviously impossible for us to really tell whether or not that means that some forces might be moving out. It certainly seems as though, it's access, the Russians have sort of been rotating forces in and out of that area today and obviously in the days passed as well.

It's quite interesting because of course, right now, you have those negotiations going on between the Ukrainian side and the Russian side. And certainly, as we've always sort of been able to get a little bit of a feel of what's going on, on the ground here, it certainly seems to us as there is all this less activity this morning than we've seen in the past couple of days. It's unclear whether or not there might be some sort of lull in fighting certainly.

The Ukrainian side have said that the Russians have slowed down their offensive. But it certainly also seemed to us that there could be indications that the Russians might be having problems, especially around the Kharkiv area. One of the things that we've seen, especially yesterday was Russian military vehicles moving out of that combat zone which, again, is actually right over into that direction, not very far from where we are right now.

As they had flag vests hanging in the windows of the trucks. So, the bulletproof, let's say normally put on, were hanging in the windows of the trucks which could indicate that they might have been taking sniper fire or were afraid of taking sniper fire as they move into the Kharkiv area. Again, those negotiations going on right now, at the same time, for the first time, the Russians now acknowledging that they have taken casualties in this operation.

I want you to listen into a little bit of what the Russian main general in charge of PR work had to say about this yesterday. Let's listen in. Dallas, I think we don't have that sound bite ready. But they have -- the Russians now for the first time are acknowledging they have taken casualties. They still claim those casualties are a lot fewer than the Ukrainian side is taking, but certainly, it seems to us as though the Russians at least from what we're seeing down here, constantly replenishing their forces. The other thing that we've also seen on the ground here is a lot of broken down Russian --

BERMAN: Yes --

PLEITGEN: Military vehicles as well. Again, too early to tell whether or how significant that is, but certainly, from what we've seen this morning, less movement on the part of the Russians as these negotiations are going on right now. But again, of course, the Ukrainians for their part have said that they are not very confident that those negotiations will necessarily lead to any breakthrough, at least not today, John.

BERMAN: Fred, just to remind people again where you are, you're just over the Russian border right here in the Belgorod region, Kharkiv is --

PLEITGEN: Yes --

BERMAN: The city that's been under siege from most of the troops you've been seeing. But right now, you're actually seeing troops leave Kharkiv into Russia, maybe there is a rotation there. You mentioned the negotiations, I just want to show people where that is. That's up here in Belarus, just over the Ukrainian border here in the Gomel area. As you said, the Ukrainians aren't holding out high hopes for these negotiations, but what do we know about what's going on?

PLEITGEN: Well, certainly, but the Ukrainians are definitely still saying that obviously they believe that this is significant and they certainly are making an effort. The Ukrainians sent in there their defense minister, they also sent in high level of representatives of their presidential administration and the foreign ministry as well. The Russians also sending people from their presidential administration, also from the Russian foreign ministry and the defense ministry.

And they're meeting there on the Pripyat River, which is quite interesting because it's right in the border area between Ukraine and Belarus. That was what the Ukrainians then finally agreed to. It was originally -- the Russians had said they want these negotiations to take place in Belarus. The Ukrainians said absolutely, not because obviously it's from Belarus also that Russians are moving into Ukraine, and also not unclear whether Belarusians might join that effort soon as well.

The Ukrainians have come in, and they have said they unequivocally want an immediate ceasefire, and all Russian forces to leave their territory immediately. The Russians for their part are saying no pre- conditions. It's really not clear what exactly Moscow wants to achieve there, whether or not Moscow is negotiating in good faith.

[05:10:00] And what some sort of outcome of this could be. Again, the Ukrainians

are saying they're not holding out very much hope that this could lead to some sort of breakthrough. But President Zelensky of Ukraine obviously saying, they need to try because, of course, right now, the situation on the ground in so many places in Ukraine is actually catastrophic. Now, I want to show you one more thing if I may, John, if we have one second.

Because there is a really big rocket launcher coming past us right now, that I believe -- I don't know if you guys have a military expert somewhere. I think that's a Smerch multiple rocket launcher or Ruragan(ph), I'm not sure, but that is certainly a weapon that can fire very hard, and that is moving past us right now. Again, as you've noted, we are in that area very close to the front line, so we're going to wait and see.

They sometimes move them laterally along the front line, sometimes also move them obviously into the front line area. But we have seen, John, in the past couple of days that we've been here, some extremely heavy weaponry moving around this front line area, obviously, some of that moving in towards Ukrainian territory as well, including Thermal Barrett rocket launchers. So, still, a lot of very heavy equipment here as -- yes, we can see that rocket launcher now taking a turn as we've noted in the past, moving towards the front line area towards Kharkiv.

And of course, as we've been pointing out, John, we're not sure whether or not that's troop rotations, whether that's additional stuff moving -- being moved into that front line area, but that is certainly a very heavy and very dangerous weapon that you're seeing being moved towards the city of Kharkiv towards Ukraine right now, John.

BERMAN: Even as talks go on. Now, Frederik Pleitgen, remarkable sight to see that roll past you as you're speaking to us. Please stay safe, we'll check back in with you in a bit.

KEILAR: All right, we do have a military expert. Let's bring in CNN military analyst and the head of geopolitical strategy at Academy Securities, retired Major General James Spider Marks. First, what did Fred see rolling by there?

JAMES SPIDER MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, that was a multiple rocket launcher, and it was an independent multiple rocket launcher. Which means it wasn't moving with anything else, it wasn't moving with a guidance capability, it wasn't moving with other MRLs, it was probably a reinforcement joining up to an existing -- what we call a firing battery. So it was a reinforcement.

KEILAR: OK, so reinforcement --

MARKS: Yes, coming in -- coming in, in this direction to reinforce what's taking place in Kharkiv.

KEILAR: So, can you tell us -- and look, here we are on day five of this --

MARKS: Right --

KEILAR: Invasion, and we're still here. Ukraine is still in this fight --

MARKS: Very much so --

KEILAR: And we're still talking about it. Where are Russian forces succeeding, where are they having a difficult time here?

MARKS: Well, they've achieved some success, in that they penetrated into Ukraine. Let's be frank, they've killed some Ukrainian forces they've engaged. What's happening is the toughest fights are in this area, I don't want to circle Kyiv completely because that would -- the connotation is, it's completely surrounded. It's not.

This is an incredibly difficult target to surround, especially because of the river that comes down. And most of the forces are on this side of the river. If they came on this side, they would have been separated. It would have been very difficult to conduct an operation. So, they came in, achieved some success at the air field, that became an air head, if you will, where they could then fly in additional forces and reinforce the activity in Kyiv.

So, this is where the preponderance of the fighting is taking place. Now, over in Kharkiv, we've got some really good imagery that has come in, that has indicated some hand-held videos as well as some imagery, that indicates there's some really significant resistance on the part of the Ukrainians. But the Russians have also had some success down here. It's important to acknowledge that because anything down there cuts Ukraine off from the Black Sea. That's a significant economic as well as military problem.

KEILAR: And so, let's take a look at Belarus because right now, Ukrainian officials say their Intel is telling them that Belarus may be joining the fight in support of Russia. What will that do and what is that an indication of?

MARKS: Well, clearly, what that means is Putin wants Lukashenko, leader here in Belarus, to provide some additional forces. Number one, which indicates I wasn't -- I, Putin wasn't able to get my initial objectives accomplished, so I need some additional reinforcements. Number two, realize that up here, they were conducting exercises in advance of the invasion, remember, Brianna? So, they have some recent scar tissue, if you will, in terms of working together.

They've worked through some problems, they've worked through on their command and control capabilities, et cetera. So, it's a recent exercise where their readiness was enhanced. He now wants these forces to come down into this area, and I'm not sure exactly where they would go, but it would most likely reinforce Kyiv.

KEILAR: And now, yes --

MARKS: And what I was going to say is, once you start getting into Kyiv and you start getting into the real tactics and the clearance of fires and units bumping into each other, and you're shooting live bullets, that becomes really testy.

[05:15:00]

So, the training is one thing. The movement is another thing. The fighting is an entirely different thing.

KEILAR: They may have some muscle memory that some of these other Russian forces may not have, right?

MARKS: True --

KEILAR: From the training.

MARKS: True.

KEILAR: I do want to ask you about this image that we're seeing of a convoy --

MARKS: Right --

KEILAR: Outside of Kyiv. What can you tell us about this?

MARKS: What this shows is, this is a reinforcement of logistics convoy. A lot of trucks with fuel and food, additional spare parts, they probably have troops inside some of these vehicles. They're also being escorted by infantry fighting vehicles and tanks. That means, this is a reinforcement for what exists in the Kyiv area right now. It could mean we're bringing in additional forces, and it probably means kind of the same thing.

Additional forces and a reinforcement for what's taking place in Kyiv to ensure that they've got some -- they need to achieve some -- the Russians need to achieve some momentum. This helps that. But that it also tells me, hey, we're looking at this incredible image. What are the Ukrainians doing to disrupt this? I don't know.

KEILAR: We don't know.

MARKS: I don't know.

KEILAR: All right, we'll keep an eye on that. General Marks, thank you so much --

MARKS: You bet --

KEILAR: And we'll be revisiting all of this too with you throughout the hour as --

MARKS: Thanks Brianna --

KEILAR: Appreciate it. So, a strategic Ukrainian city on the Black Sea, this is what we were just talking about, under siege, but refusing to let Russian invaders take control. We're going there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:00]

BERMAN: Welcome back. This is CNN special live coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As we speak, there are negotiations happening up here in Belarus, in the city of Gomel, in the Gomel region between the Russians and Ukrainians. The Ukrainians are demanding unconditional ceasefire and the removal of Russian troops. We are waiting for updates as to how these discussions, these negotiations are going.

In the meantime, we are getting reports all over Ukraine of fierce Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion. In one such city where they saw fighting right here, a place called Mykolaiv. Our Nick Paton Walsh who now is in Odessa can give us a sense of what happened there, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: John, extraordinary to see this vital town holding on with such grit and determination. And the kind of shelling that Russia is using often on the outskirts, but sometimes, the center of places like that, battling to think how they believe that sort of game plan, those kind of indiscriminate tactics might eventually lead to the local population anyway, accepting a long-term Russian presence there.

Here's what we saw over 24 hours in Mykolaiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WASLH (voice-over): The bridge here hasn't been raised for as long as they can remember, but neither has the sleepy port town of Mykolaiv been invaded. The clack-clack is likely exchanges with Russian paratroopers who we're told landed nearby. Locals struggling to keep up with their world here collapsing and soldiers edgy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: The fear here, Russian saboteurs like these two suspects thrown to the ground by soldiers.

(SIREN BLARING)

Then the sirens go off. And it is back in the basement for mothers and cats. Here, the noise of what Russia would do to these towns in the name of subjugation and geopolitical gain. Police try to turn lights off, it seems, in businesses that closed in a hurry. Life persisting, caught between hoping this is short lived and wondering if it may go on forever. Behind it all, and empty streets, the fear they may be overrun.

And whether each huge blast will be the decisive strike that lets Putin's troops enter. The shelling just went on and on. The next morning, we saw where it hit. It's likely a missile tore off these Ukrainian tanks, but nobody left. It was broken. How do you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE), good --

WALSH (on camera): Good? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good.

WALSH: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --

WALSH: Have they tried to come into the town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Mykolaiv.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE): He's saying the Russians tried to come in last night, but the town of Mykolaiv beat them. And you can see what that looks like here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saying, look around here --

WALSH: I'm asking him, how do you feel living here looking at all this? This is where you live, right? If I look at this -- look at these windows that are blown out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: Yes, so the words of Russian ministers who have been saying that they're not going to hit civilian infrastructure here. He's repeating them back to me saying, look at this. They say they're not hitting civilian infrastructure. Look at this damage around here.

(voice-over): Putin's rockets may have shattered glass, but not dented the anger here. As they take stock, you have to ask yourself, why Moscow ever thought these towns would gladly be occupied, and what Russia's end goal is. Tempers fray here, blood has been spilled.

[05:25:00]

But despite Russia's overwhelming firepower, they did not pass.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now, just to give people at home, John, an idea of the sort of things that are being thrown into these areas, this is a ball-bearing here, kind of the size of my eyeball. Heavy to hold. We retrieved it from the scene that you saw just there. It may have come in on the Russian rocket or it may have been flung out of the Ukrainian tank that was hit.

All the same, the decision to fire into that civilian area caused us to find a couple of these flung all over the area with civilians all around. That's what's happening in towns across Ukraine. Now, we went through three on our way to get here to Odessa, all experiencing this sort of firepower on the outskirts. Extraordinary to imagine quite what Russia's game plan is as I say, to try and rule they think over civilians like this in the future. Mykolaiv itself, its mayor called people to the circle of defense of

the city with Molotov cocktails last night. This morning, they seemed to say that things were quieter. Here in Odessa, the third largest city in Ukraine, it is deeply tensed, troops taking up positions on all the streets. The occasional explosion in the sky keeping people on edge and in real fear, I think too that some sort of larger assault for this economically vital city may occur soon. John?

BERMAN: Nick, just to give people a sense again of where Mykolaiv is, this is the Black Sea, you can see Crimea right here, Mykolaiv right here. What is it the Russians want in theory?

WALSH: Yes, I mean, look, with all these port cities, if you have a presence there, then you could potentially sail in with an awful lot more supplies, equipment, troops. So, obviously, the difficulties with the Russians getting around and in the Black Sea, but through the Kerch Strait near Crimea is a possibility. So, these ports are vital, Berdyans'k seems to be one which was taken yesterday in the sea of Azov. But it is utterly vital because really it's enormously important role in the maritime access for Ukraine to the rest of the world.

Somewhere like Mykolaiv, it's -- you know, it is amazing to go into a place as that populated, that big, that busy. And understand that a Russian-armed convoy on the outskirts of town is trying to break its way in. You just don't really understand what they're really going to do when they get there unless they come in enormous numbers. And that's I think what's confusing, when we see this erratic lurch across the Black Sea area that we've been driving across into some towns that push back.

Another attempt in Mykolaiv, the bridge near Kherson fought over all the time. It doesn't seem like they have decisive moments of victory, the Russian forces here. They just try something and get kicked back. But in that attempt, a vast amount of explosive power is being used. And I say, still, it haunts me frankly, that we were able to pick something like this up next to the super market in a densely-populated town, quite startling.

BERMAN: Yes, terror and destruction all along the Black Sea coast right now. Nick Paton Wash, thank you for being there for us, we'll come back to you in a second. So, the Ukrainian lawmaker in Kyiv will join us to talk about the threat there, plus, major economic implications that the sanctions been in place against Russia right now, the currency there crashing. We have a live update next.

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