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Civilian Evacuation Underway in One City Amid Russia Deal; U.S. Considers Supplying Air Defense to NATO Allies. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 08, 2022 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:21]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Tuesday, March 8th. I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman.

We are following breaking news this morning. Evacuations for Ukrainian civilians leaving the northeastern city of Sumy this morning are underway -- if Russia stops attacking for a few hours, that is.

The Ukrainian government agreeing to an offer from Russia to set up a humanitarian corridor. Russia originally offered humanitarian corridors in five cities. None of the other four have been agreed to at this point. Sumy has seen heavy fighting in recent days. Just last night, nine people were killed by an airstrike including two children.

A defiant President Zelenskyy seen in his office in Kyiv for the first time since the invasion started. He says he will not hide. He is not afraid and he does not trust any offer from the Kremlin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): There was an agreement on humanitarian corridor. Did it work? Russian tanks worked instead. Russian grads. They even mined the road which was agreed to transport food and medicine for people and children in Mariupol. They even destroyed the buses they have to take people out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: While the Russians are promising safe passage in the newly proposed corridors, they're releasing video of their tanks barreling through the Kyiv area. Not exactly reassuring.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New suffering this morning for Ukrainian civilians. In Chernihiv, a school and residential buildings just pummeled. And in Zavorychi, a devastating fire at St. George's church. It was hit by a Russian military strike.

That video you were looking at was from Kherson. You can hear them chanting, go home, go home. You did hear gunshots but it appears no one was hurt. The refugee situation in Ukraine getting worse by the day. At this

point, 1.7 million people have already fled over the border to neighboring countries. That's according to the United Nations. They say that number could swell to as high as 5 million.

This comes as the U.S. embassy has issued a new warning to Americans who are still in Ukraine. Don't attempt to cross into Belarus in the north there. They say it's too dangerous and unpredictable.

KEILAR: CNN's Scott McLean live for us in Lviv in the west.

Can you just give us the latest?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna. The negotiations that took place yesterday made very little progress, but now there is this glimmer of hope with this corridor that has been agreed to from the city of Sumy where an airstrike overnight killed nine people including two children. That corridor will go to another city in Ukraine. The Russians are proposing a city of another corridors from a handful of cities. Many routes lead to Russia. Something that the Ukrainian president says would only aid in the Russian propaganda efforts.

The Red Cross that is on the ground sort of mediating these corridors says that the sides have to agree on the very fine details of where and when and that seems to be the holdup here. Now, in the meantime, people are flooding for the exits of Ukraine by train, by bus, on foot, at the border where the lines are very long to get out. Many are also attempting to crossing by car.

We were at the border with Poland yesterday where we met one family who had already waited 27 hours in line to get out. They had a long way to go. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEKHTIARENKO VALENTINA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): I am afraid I won't have a place to come back to. I don't want to be somewhere out there. I'm comfortable here in my motherland. My worst fear is that there my worst fear is that there won't be an opportunity to come back here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: And, Brianna, that woman there was speaking Russian. By motherland she meant Ukraine, of course.

Now, here in Lviv, the city has taken in some 200,000 people fleeing war and the mayor says the city has reached its capacity to help. There are already hundreds of schools and churches and cultural centers that are being used to house and feed people. Now the mayor is calling on international aid organizations to not only send aid but to send foreign volunteers to help as well.

KEILAR: Just looking at the little faces there in the cars at the border really drives home what this is -- what's happening there on the ground.

[05:05:07]

Scott McLean live for us in Lviv, thank you.

BERMAN: We're talking about this humanitarian corridor, this is the city we're talking about, Sumy, right here near the Russian border. They did suffer an airstrike last night. The corridor, we don't have the city on the map down here, a place called Poltava.

You can see, there are Russian forces that bisect that, that proposed area there. But that's where they hope to get people to safety over the next few hours.

In the meantime, the Biden administration is planning to supply NATO allies with critical air systems as the concern grows to member states bordering the Russian territory.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand live in Brussels with the details of this -- Natasha.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, John. So this is essentially a precautionary measure that they are considering in case a Russian missile or Russian aircraft were to kind of stray into that NATO European air space. Russia, of course, has fired over 600 missiles already. And so, those eastern flanked NATO countries are very concerned that there could be an unintended escalation here.

So, what the air defense systems would do is essentially provide a degree of reassurance that if a missile were to stray into their air space, that it would be shot down. One of the systems that they are considering sending over there is a patriot missile system which is capable of shooting down missiles.

So, this is all, you know, coming together with Antony Blinken, the secretary of state's visit over the last few days to these Eastern European countries, reiterating the United States' support for them in the face of the Russian aggression. They are very nervous because of Russia's attack against the Ukraine. They fear that Russia might not stop there, right? There is a real concern that whether intentionally or not, Russia could end up moving further West into some of those countries.

And so, this is all an attempt to kind of shore up support for them. Another thing that they announced yesterday is that the United States will be sending an additional 500 troops to Germany, Romania, Poland and Greece, and this is, again, more of an attempt to show unity against this Russian aggression and demonstrate that when it comes to NATO, the U.S. is prepared to defend every inch of that territory. That's another message that Blinken has been driving home. If there is an attack or even an unintentional escalation against one of these NATO countries, then the United States and NATO have an obligation to defend those countries.

So, they're really sending a strong message to Russia here and these air defense systems are unlikely to be greeted warmly by Russia but the U.S. has, again, emphasized that these are defensive in nature and not offensive, John.

BERMAN: All right. Natasha Bertrand for us in Brussels -- Natasha, thank you very much.

KELAR: Overnight, the mayor of Irpin, a Kyiv suburb, refusing demand from Russian forces to surrender the town. The mayor issuing a defiant respond, said, quote, I'm surprised these monsters still haven't understood Irpin doesn't give up, Irpin can't be bought, Irpin.

Joining us now is Wladimir Klitschko. He's a former Ukrainian world champion boxer. He's also a member of the Kyiv territorial defense, where he joins his brother, the mayor of Kyiv as well.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Can you give us a sense of what things are like there on the ground and what you've been seeing as part of the territorial defense force?

WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO, KYIV BRIGADE OF UKRAINIAN DEFENSE FORCE, BROTHER OF KYIV MAYOR: On the ground, it's clear that Russian army is trying to attack and planning to attack on the capitol of Ukraine, city of Kyiv. Obviously, territorial defense, as well as military are standing together against this Russian aggression and senseless war where children, civilians are getting killed.

And not to forget, Ukraine is under huge threat and the world under huge threat. Not to forget that those missiles that are flying on to Ukrainian side, Russian missiles, could destroy one of the multiple nuclear power plants that we have, one where there was a fire two days ago. There is no leakage yet, but we still have multiple reactors.

And just to know, this war needs to be stopped as soon as possible. We cannot count days, weeks, not even hours, minutes.

So the shooting is constant. In city of Kyiv, when you go to bed, you hear the explosions and launching of the rockets to defend -- to defend the city as well as landing from bullets to rockets here on the territory of city of Kyiv.

So this pressure is enormous and gigantic.

[05:10:03]

Pressure on us, Ukrainians, but we stand together against this Russian aggression.

KEILAR: Wladimir, what do you make of this inability so far to come to a more broad agreement on humanitarian corridors and also what we've seen, you know, just outside of Kyiv where you saw Ukrainians using a well-known route to evacuate and they were killed in an artillery strike?

KLITSCHKO: You just said this keyword, agreement with Russia, and in this case, this agreements were broken multiple times since the country of Ukraine became independent, with the sovereignty of its borders. That agreement is not functioning as you can see. So there is nothing to rely on, and honestly speaking, Russia and the

whole situation is pretty much in suit swamp. It doesn't matter what you do. What's matter is peace (ph) that civilians, children, women, Ukrainians in this case are going to be stopped, be killed by the Russian forces.

KEILAR: You are a hall of fame boxer. You're a favorite among many people, including a lot of Russians. I wonder if you think that they're getting information and knowing what side you're on and if that is raising questions for some Russians about what their country is doing.

KLITSCHKO: It's not about sides, it's about peace because Ukraine is the most peaceful country which never started any attacks and if we're talking about any military equipment that Russia doesn't like us to receive, that is to defend ourselves, so our children, women, men will be stopped to be killed by the Russian army.

And there is -- one more time, there is no sides to choose. We're on the right side. This is our home. This is our country and I am proud to be Ukrainian, and that's my right and the right of all people.

KEILAR: Do you hope it's giving some of your fans, some of your Russian fans pause to see -- to see where you are?

KLITSCHKO: Yes. They should see where I'm at and, yes, they should know that their country, and in this case the politics of the president, Putin, in this case, is aggression, killing the innocent. This is not a key.

The truth is on our side and we stand for our right for freedom and choice to be part of the European Union and the Western world.

KEILAR: Your twin brother is the mayor of Kyiv, also a hall of fame boxer, well-known certainly before he got into politics. How is he dealing with his city being under siege?

KLITSCHKO: It's stressful, unexpected. We were not prepared for this war to be started, an attack of Russia. And we learn every day and mobilize every day. And I could feel the spirit of the Ukrainians that they're coming back from the other countries, from the Western world, doesn't matter where they are in the world, coming back home to defend their homes, defend their families.

I am proud of my countrymen and women. Today's International Women Day, not to forget, and I've seen a lot of territorial defense as well as in the army, a lot of Ukrainian women stand in arms with the men to defend this country.

KEILAR: You said that Russians are plotting a direct attack on the city. Do you have any idea how soon?

KLITSCHKO: As I said, there are no weeks, no dates, no hours, but minutes are counting.

KEILAR: Do you think that will happen today? Is that what you are saying or are you just saying it could happen very soon?

KLITSCHKO: It's happening now. It's happening now. In the past days, that's their goal, to conquer the capital of Ukraine. It's happening now.

Every second, they're moving, mobilizing their activity on the military with military equipment and aiming the city of Kyiv. That's the Russian side and is the plan from the Russian side and the war obviously to conquer the whole country.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: And so, with that in mind, what is your message to the U.S. and Western countries?

KLITSCHKO: It is very important in this challenging times of war to stand together for our principles, for our choice for freedom and democratic values.

[05:15:12]

Don't let it fall. Don't let us alone. Support us on the humanitarian side, medical side, with military equipment, with anything that's possible.

Our men, women, and children are dying daily and as I said, minutes are counting. Minutes are important. It's happening now and today.

KEILAR: Wladimir, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us this morning. Wladimir Klitschko, we do appreciate it.

KLITSCHKO: Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: Russian fighters are going up against a stronger than expected Ukrainian resistance. Who the Russians are now turning to for help? The Russians, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:19]

KEILAR: U.S. officials say the Russian military is trying to recruit foreign fighters, including Syrians, to supplement their force against Ukraine. This is coming as Russian efforts outside of Kyiv and other cities have been stalled by stiffer than expected resistance from the Ukrainians.

CNN's Katie Bo Lillis is joining us now.

This is telling they're looking for freshen energy to inject into the fight which is telling that things aren't going as well as they planned.

LILLIS: Yeah, it certainly could be a signal that the Russians are looking for more bodies, essentially, to be able to throw at the fight. It is important to note that at this point we don't know how many fighters the Russians are trying to recruit here or even if they've been successful. Asking is not getting if you are asking for people to come to your war in Ukraine.

I think one of the things that's interesting to ask here is how effective would Syrian fighters be in Ukraine? I mean, this is a completely different operating environment than they have spent, you know, the last decade operating in in Syria. They don't speak the language. It's a completely different physical environment. Do they have the right kit? Do they have the right gear? Is Russia going to have to supply all that have?

There are a lot of big unanswered questions. This is a big moment because it could represent a potential unpredictable new dynamic in this conflict. It comes as we know from our sources that Russia has already introduced mercenaries into the conflict in Ukraine with plans to introduce as many as 1,000 more including our colleague Natasha Bertrand.

There are Chechen fighters operating inside of Ukraine already. Even on the Ukrainian side, there are foreign fighters coming in to help Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that 16,000 people have volunteered to fight on their behalf.

So, we are at this moment watching a potential internationalization of this conflict that would have a very unpredictable outcome. Difficult to say what that's going to mean.

KEILAR: Yeah, that's a very good point.

Katie Bo, thank you so much for the reporting. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: Our new video just into CNN. According to Ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs, this is a fire, two of them, at oil depots in Zhytomyr region. The country's state emergency region says these were caused by Russian airstrikes. Let me show you where this is on the map. Zhytomyr roughly due west of Kyiv, it's right there.

Joining me now to talk more, retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, former assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs.

General, I want to pick up on what Katie Bo was talking about there, the notion of bringing Syrian fighters in. If the Russians did that, and you say, if they did, we don't know how many would be coming in, they could be effective in urban combat around Kyiv. Explain.

BRIGADIER GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): A couple of things, first of all, let me explain, the army coming in from Russia right now is a bunch of conscripts. They have seen little or no combat -- they have no combat experience under their belt. Those that fought in Grozny are gone from years and years ago.

These Syrian fighters have been fighting since 2015 in places such as Aleppo. Now, you learn a lot about urban combat in places like that. So, it could be that they're bringing them in for their capabilities. First of all, seasoned combat veterans, and number two, perhaps their capability to fight inside the city.

BERMAN: The other news that we were talking about is Sumy. There have been airstrikes up here near the city of Sumy. Now there is this humanitarian corridor that they've tried to open up south, Poltava right there. From a military standpoint, what are the conversations around this?

KIMMITT: Well, for a military organization that follows the Geneva Convention, that's a no fly no go zone. You don't go anywhere near it. You don't shoot anywhere near it.

In my view the Russians are using that as a way to bring their spies in. Let the refugees go out, let them bring their logistics in, human shields.

BERMAN: So, you're worried about the Russians capitalizing on that.

Ukrainians, how much do they need it in order to save lives?

KIMMITT: Yeah, exactly. They don't want to go to Russia. The only thing that's going to happen, they're going to have pictures taken of being liberated from Ukraine.

BERMAN: Again, these are the proposed Russian humanitarian corridors they were asking for. They go out to Russian controlled areas, Belarus right there. Ukrainians, they want the corridors to remain internal.

[05:25:02]

I've been talking to you about Ukrainian military effort. To the extent it has been successful, we don't have a lot of visibility on the ground here. Where the Ukrainians have had success, how have they done it?

KIMMITT: Well, I think, primarily, it's been part of partisan warfare. They've been smart enough not to fight the Russians on their turf -- tank-to-tank artillery conventional battles. They are setting up ambushes. They're using those javelins to great effect.

This is Ukrainian video of them practicing with the javelins.

KIMMITT: Can you imagine what it's like to be driving a tank down the road, can't see anything for 150, 200 meters and all of a sudden you see a javelin start coming towards you? Small groups, partisan warfare going against selected targets, getting in, getting out.

Don't fight them the way they want to fight, fight them the way you want to fight.

BERMAN: Now, we learned yesterday that the United States and NATO members have delivered some 17,000 anti-tank weapons including javelins and 2,000 stingers. This is the video of stingers. The same idea as the javelins except you're hitting a plane or helicopter there.

The supply of these had come in from the air before the conflict and now -- and I'm not telling the Russians something they don't know, presumably over the border from these other nations. How would the Russians target this supply route if they were going to?

KIMMITT: Well, I think first they would put drones in the air, intelligence collectors try to get as much visibility on the western part of the country as possible. Try to identify these supply convoys. I would suspect the Ukrainians are doing them in small, two, three, four trucks at a time. If they start using 40 mile logistics trains the way the Russians have done, that would be a great target.

BERMAN: The Russians would need to hit them before they come into the country otherwise they would get an Article 5 violation.

KIMMITT: By definition.

BERMAN: All right. General Kimmitt, thank you so much for being with us.

So, a group of mothers and wives left behind in Lviv as their husbands and children have gone off the fight. We'll show you how they're making a difference in the war effort.

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