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Dozens Killed In Russian Strike On Railway Station In Kramatorsk; Drone Footage Shows Russians Gun Down Cyclist; Finland Will Apply To Join NATO Within Weeks; Mykolaiv Residents Recount Russian Bombardment; Turkish- Made Bayraktar Drone Helps Slow Russian Advance; At Least 50 Dead In Train Station Attack; Borodianka Mayor Says His City Is Completely Destroyed; British PM Johnson Holds Press Conference with German Chancellor Scholz In London. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 08, 2022 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:33]
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Eleni Giokos. It's 6:00 p.m. in Dubai on April 8th. Hello, and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.
It's day 44 of Russia's brutal and unprovoked war on Ukraine and more innocent civilians are falling victim to Moscow's merciless attacks.
Ukrainian police say at least 39 people have been killed in a Russian strike on a railway station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, including
children. Scores of others are wounded.
This train station has been a crucial hub for civilians fleeing the Donbas region. Here's what the crowded platform looked like just days ago. Now
we're about to show you what it looks like today, and we're warning you the images you're about to see are graphic.
Lifeless bodies of civilians, some still clutching luggage that carried all they had left of home. A local official says thousands of people were at
the station when the strike hit, and many just moments away from fleeing this horrific war.
In Borodianka, Ukraine's chief prosecutor says 26 bodies were found in the wreckage of two large houses after the village was hit by Russian air
strikes. A source tells CNN that German intelligence claims to have intercepted radio transmissions of Russian troops talking about killing
civilians. On the ground Russian forces continue to shell the city of Kharkiv as heavy fighting ramps up in the east.
Meanwhile, Luhansk's military governor says Russia's military is planning a breakthrough attempt in the Donbas region with preparations nearing
completion.
Today European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is meeting with Ukraine's president in Kyiv. The time of their meeting has not been
disclosed for security reasons.
For more on Russia's strike on the railway station filled with evacuees, let's bring in CNN's Phil Black in Lviv.
Phi, it is horrifying and alarming to see what -- you know, what we've seen at this train station. And there was a warning after Bucha that it was just
the tip of the iceberg. What is the latest in terms of the wounded and the people seeking assistance?
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we've heard from witness accounts, Eleni, is that the Kramatorsk hospital was overwhelmed in the
wake of this strike. That there are many, many injured people there and people who have been into the hospital describe it as a horrific scene. And
I think that immediate aftermath video gives a sense of what that must be like. The scale of the human cost because the terror, the screams, it is
distressing to take in I think in those initial seconds and they give a sense of just how many people were injured and killed.
The official numbers still stand around 30 or so, we understand. There is talk of 39 from one Ukraine official. It's expected to go up. Hundreds of
people are still thought to be among the injured. And what we're hearing from witnesses is that overwhelmingly, the people who were crowding in and
around that train station today were women and children, as it has been for recent days.
And that's the key point that the Ukrainian officials make is that for days now thousands of people have been gathering there to get on trains to try
and get somewhere safer, away from what is expected to be a new Russian onslaught in that region. And the Ukrainian viewers, there are simply no
way the Russians could not have had a sense of what they were striking by launching that missile at this site, and so they feel that this was
absolutely a deliberate attack.
From the Russians, well, yet another complete denial. They say that none of this is true, none of this bears any relationship with reality, they say --
Eleni.
GIOKOS: Phil, we have seen unbelievable atrocities and as the Russians were leaving Bucha, they left destruction in their wake. And we've seen
countless victims. Have we learned anything about them and have we -- do we have any information about the families and the sheer loss here?
BLACK: Well, I think what families of these people tell us is that as the Russians invaded, and their forces advanced, many people fled their homes
and communities.
[10:05:03]
But some stayed behind thinking that they could endure and survive what was to come. What they didn't realize is that it wasn't only danger in being
caught in the crossfire between the two armies, perhaps not unreasonable. Perhaps not unreasonably, I should say, it didn't occur to them that behind
Russian lines, extreme brutality would be used in a very targeted way against civilians. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLACK (voice-over): Iryna Filkina in a happier time before the Russians came. It's likely this video shows Iryna after the invasion in early March
just moments before her death. She seems cycling through Bucha, heading towards a large number of Russian vehicles. As she approaches a corner, she
dismounts. One of the vehicles fires. She moves around the corner out of sight, and it fires again and again, at least five more times. Then a large
muzzle flash from a second concealed vehicle. Moments later, smoke rises from near that corner.
A different video, geolocated by CNN, to the same corner shows a dead woman on the ground next to her bike. Other images of that body clearly show her
hand and her distinctive nails. The woman who only recently taught Iryna how to apply makeup recognize them instantly.
ANASTASIA SUBACHEVA, MAKEUP ARTIST: It showed hearts on her finger because she started to love herself. This woman was incredible.
BLACK: Olga Shchyruk didn't need to see the nails to know that was her mother's body. She tells me she doesn't know what she feels now. It's such
a void, she says. When I saw that it was my mother, the war faded away. The war ended with her and I lost the war.
Olga says her mother called her while she was cycling that day, not long before she was killed. She'd been sheltering at her workplace and decided
to go home because she thought it would be safer.
(On-camera): Tell us about your mother. How would you like the world to know her?
(Voice-over): She says Iryna had a hard life overcoming obstacles, only really starting to live in the last two years. But she could do the
impossible and inspired others to believe they could, too.
Elsewhere in Bucha, someone recorded the moment three men were found, all shot in the head. This video is how Olga Garaviluk (PH) found out her son,
Roman, and son-in-law Sergei had been killed.
She says, I don't want to live anymore. The grief, I cried day and night. I don't know how to live.
Images from Bucha have taught the world undeniable truths about the brutality of Russia's invasion. For some, that knowledge is deeply personal
and impossibly painful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACK: Eleni, those were just two families directly impacted by the atrocities committed in Bucha. They want the world to know and understand
what happened there. And more than that, they want the people they've lost to be remembered for who they were and not just as brutalized bodies
abandoned as Russia retreated from those positions. But the broader point, of course, is that behind every civilian victim in this war, there is a
much larger number of people dealing with devastating grief. And it's a distressing context when you consider today's missile attack at Kramatorsk
in the east of the country -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: Absolutely. And becoming so much harder as we see more devastation and more of these tragic losses that are coming through.
Phil, thank you so much for bringing us that story. Really appreciate it.
My next guest says in the beginning of the war that Putin's aggression would drive Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership. "And I said it
was not a matter of days or weeks, but months. Time to revise, Finland will apply within weeks, latest May, Sweden to follow or at the same time."
Alexander Stubb served as the prime minister of Finland from 2014 through 2015, and he joins us now live from Florence.
So really great to have you on. I'm sure you've been watching some of these horrific images that are coming through and we've seen incredibly alarming
incidents since the start of the war. I guess the question now is, are we starting to think about the invasion in Ukraine as a prelude to something
far more catastrophic than initially anticipated?
[10:10:03]
ALEXANDER STUBB, FORMER FINNISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, I hope not but I must say that watching the story that you just ran there is a horrible segue to
a certain extent to talk about NATO. You know, if you look at the northeastern part of Europe at the moment, I don't see an imminent threat.
You know, there will be some hybrid intimidation, we saw that today, actually. When President Zelenskyy was speaking to the Finnish parliament,
the Russians decided to shut down the home pages of the Finnish Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry. But this is, you know, small stuff in
comparison to what we just saw in your story.
GIOKOS: Yes. So really important that you mentioned NATO and, of course, President Zelenskyy addressing the Finnish parliament today. Finland is on
the cusp of joining NATO from what we understand, and this was also your prediction as well. NATO says that they would welcome Finland and Sweden,
and they would try and find ways to expedite the process. Finland has always been ready in terms of your capabilities.
Could you give me a sense of timelines here realistically?
STUBB: Yes. Sure. I mean, first observation is to say that I've been an advocate of Finnish NATO membership since 1995. I think it's the natural
democratic alliance, defense alliance where we belong. But I was in a minority. And I didn't think it was going to happen during my lifetime. But
because of the types of pictures just as we saw on your screen, you know, Finns are driven by rational fear, and that's why we will join NATO.
The timeline is the following. The government and the president are going to give a white paper on the 14th of April to the parliament. We have an
extraordinary parliamentary committee led by our spokesman, Matti Vanhanen, who is assessing the situation. And my guess is, my estimate is that we're
now weeks away from an application. It will most probably happen in the month of May and the big question is, are the Swedes going to join us? I
hope they do, but Finland will go its own way so that everything is then prepared for the NATO summit meeting at the end of June in Madrid.
GIOKOS: Yes. So let's talk about the fact that NATO's borders are going to be expanded if Finland does join by 830 miles. How important is it going to
be for Finland's overall security and to shore up E.U. security for Sweden to also join in?
STUBB: Well, it's a win-win situation I think for NATO, Finland and Sweden. You have to understand that we never toned down our military after the Cold
War. We still have reserves of 900,000 men and women. I myself am in the reserves because military service is obligatory. On top of that we can
mobilize 280,000 to 300,000 men and women within a matter of days and we have military equipment and material which is up to date and very NATO
compatible.
So I think we are a value added to NATO and NATO security around the Baltic Sea region. Much like actually the membership of the Baltic States was in
early 2000.
GIOKOS: Yes. So the reality is that, you know, and NATO moved to the east is exactly what Putin says was part of the provocation to what he says
forced him to invade Ukraine and to make a stand. Do you think that this is going to further aggravate Putin and create an even more sort of risky
security environment in Europe as a whole?
STUBB: Well, we should understand the risks, but let's not kid ourselves. This is not about NATO, the E.U. It is about way of life. A way of life and
about values. I mean, what Putin objected to in Ukraine, yes, was NATO membership and E.U. membership, but he did not want Ukraine to become
European, and it has. He doesn't believe in liberal democracy. He doesn't believe in social market economy or globalization. That's what he's
fighting.
Now we've heard from the Russians, four sources, that there will be military technical implications if and when Finland and Sweden apply for
NATO membership. We've heard them from Putin, we heard them from Lavrov, we heard them from Zakharova and we heard them from Belyayev. But the truth is
that, you know, we are very resilient and we have our hybrid defenses up.
I don't think this will cause a military escalation. You have to remember that Russia has always been against NATO membership of its neighbors. It
was like that already in 1949 with Norway.
GIOKOS: Yes. Alexander Stubb, thank you very much, sir, for your time, and great to speak to you once again. Take care.
Cleaning up after Russian bombings. Ukrainians lay flowers where people's lives were cut short in Mykolaiv. We'll have more on Russia's
indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
Plus a Turkish drone is playing a key role in Ukraine's defense against Russia.
[10:15:04]
We go behind the scenes where the drones are being made and find out why the creator says he doesn't want to brag about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Ukrainian police say the deadly rocket strike at a railway station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk earlier today is more proof Russia is
barbarically killing civilians. 50 people were killed as they waited to evacuate the war-torn city and in the southeastern port city of Mykolaiv,
nowhere is safe from Russia's brutality.
CNN's Ben Wedeman spoke with survivors after a hospital and a market were hit by Russian missiles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This has become Mykolaiv's daily routine, picking up the pieces, sweeping away the
wreckage from Russian missile attacks. Random shelling throughout the city with what appear to be cluster munitions.
Glass shards and shrapnel tore into Marina. As she lies in a hospital, her thoughts are with her teenage daughter, also injured, now in a children's
hospital.
My daughter and I were caught between two bombs, she recalls. It's a miracle we're still alive. It was terrifying.
The hospital where Marina is recovering was hit in the morning. Dirt covers the blood from one of the injured. Closed circuit television video from the
city's cancer hospital captures the moment it was struck. Earlier this week, a missile barrage killed nine people and wounded more than 40 at this
market.
(On-camera): We were able to count 23 impact points in a radius of just 100 meters. And each one of these incoming rounds sprays shrapnel in every
direction.
(Voice-over): Danilo was working in this store and rushed outside when he heard the blasts.
Over there a woman was screaming, help me, her leg was shattered, he says. Behind the store, two people were killed. Dried blood and flowers mark the
spot where people died. Last week, a bomb struck the regional governor's office, killing 36 people.
Every day in Mykolaiv, this relentless bombardment shatters any semblance of normal life. Mid-afternoon and people line up to escape the danger, this
bus bound for Poland.
Victoria cradles her 1-year-old daughter Ivana. Her husband stays behind.
Soon, we'll be back home, says Victoria. Everything will be all right. How soon that will be, nobody knows.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Mykolaiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:20:03]
GIOKOS: And those who remain in Ukraine are putting up a strong fight against Russia's invasion. Drones are playing a key role in Ukraine's
counter offensive. One from Turkey is proven so effective that Ukrainian forces singing its praises.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This Ukrainian song has gone viral in Ukraine and beyond. It's an ode to a drone.
The Bayraktar, the Turkish made weapon Ukrainian officials are touting as one of the most effective in their arsenal that's played a part in slowing
down the Russian advance. The Bayraktar TB2 has been operational for years, described as a game changer in recent conflicts like Libya and Nagorno-
Karabakh. But it is Ukraine that has catapulted it to worldwide fame. Its success not only on the battlefield.
Videos of strikes against Russian military targets like this one released by Ukraine's Ministry of Defense on social media have also made it a key
part of Ukraine's information war.
(On-camera): We've gotten rare access to this production facility here in Turkey. But because of the nature of this industry, we are very restricted
in what we can film and what we can show.
(Voice-over): Selcuk Bayraktar, the drone's creator, gives us a mostly off camera tour of the Baykar Defense Company's headquarters in Istanbul. The
company's pride, Kizilelma, Turkey's first unmanned fighter jet, has just hit the production line. But the centerpiece here is the drone everyone is
talking about.
SELCUK BAYRAKTAR, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, BAYKAR: Bayraktar TB2 is a tactical mail class UAV. And it's doing what it was designed to do and what
it was upgraded to do.
KARADSHEH: In this exclusive CNN interview, Bayraktar measures his words carefully. He's also the son-in-law of the Turkish president who maintains
close ties with both Russia and Ukraine and has emerged as a key mediator.
BAYRAKTAR: You know, I don't want to be brag about the technology. People are giving their lives up, people are risking and defending their homeland
from an illegal occupation. That's what brave people of Ukraine and its leadership has done. Just at the same time, of course, you need technology,
you need, you know, high-tech, and you need your own indigenous defense capacity. But when people's lives are on the line, and when children are --
even children are dying and civilians are dying, I don't want to compare that to any sort of technology.
KARADSHEH: Turkey's drone sales to Kyiv have been a major irritant for Russia long before this war. Ukraine got its first Bayraktar TB2's in 2019.
It's ordered at least 36 of those drones so far. But it's not only a client. It produces engines for the more advanced Akinci drone and was
about to begin co-producing Turkish drones. Plans that were disrupted by the invasion.
Bayraktar has heard the song dedicated to his namesake drone. He knows well the phenomenon it has become in Ukraine.
BAYRAKTAR: I think it's one of the symbols of resistance. It gives them hope, I think.
KARADSHEH: Hope in a battle Ukrainians are fighting on all fronts.
SAMUEL BENDETT, ADVISER, CNA RUSSIA STUDIES PROGRAM: The drones are part of the larger social media campaign that is executed very well by the
Ukrainian military and civilians. And they are creating the impression that the Russian military is, in fact, losing and that the Russian military is
vulnerable. Again, Bayraktar is not the only solution out there, and it isn't necessarily a solution that is going to save the Ukrainian military
because after all this is a ground war.
But having a drone like Bayraktar in the sky that can conduct surveillance, that can launch strikes and having the videos of those strikes multiply on
social media is a great morale booster. It is also a great tactical victory as well.
KARADSHEH: This social media video shows civilians in the city of Kherson protesting against Russian forces. They played them the Bayraktar song.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Bayraktar.
KARADSHEH: One of the countless moments of resistance by a nation using all its got to stand up to the invader.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: And Jomana Karadsheh joins us now live from Istanbul, Turkey.
Jomana, really fascinating story there. You were at the factory. Give me a sense whether they're upping the manufacturing process because clearly
technology is an absolutely vital part in firstly understanding what is going on on the ground and then secondly playing a role in terms of defense
and, of course, understanding visually what is happening.
[10:25:07]
KARADSHEH: Absolutely. I mean, Eleni, this facility was really quite buzzing and busy. You had thousands of young Turkish engineers, software
developers, technicians. You had them working row after row after row on these various drones. And it really gives you a sense of what a growing
industry this is. Whether it is defense or technology or the use of technology in defense.
You know, this one company alone Bayraktar in the past 18 months they signed the majority of their contracts with new countries. So far 19
countries have signed up to buy their drones, including one of the most recent was Poland, the first E.U. and NATO country to acquire these drones.
Now, you know, while the focus really is on defense, they also really want people to see that these drones can do more than just that.
That they have actually been a game changer in other fields as well including response to natural disasters, something that they really want to
point out saying, you know, look at the forest fires in Turkey here last year where they were used by authorities that really were a game changer
and helped them in a faster response giving them that sort of surveillance and reconnaissance and real-time images that were coming in helping them
move to these sites.
And, you know, Eleni, we were talking to several industry experts who was saying one of the biggest selling points, what makes the drones so
attractive to so many different countries is the price tag as well. You know, it's actually a very effective drone, they say, quite successful at
what it does but at the same time it is much cheaper than other drones in that, you know, same range. It does what these other drones do but at a
lower cost and it also has this combat-proven record that also makes them appealing.
And the drone creator, Selcuk Bayraktar, who we talked to, says that this is not just about technology and engineering, about a family, his family
business and passion for the past 50 years, this is, for them, about Turkey's independence as well. Turkey not relying on other countries for
technology and that is a big thing for Turkey.
GIOKOS: All right, Jomana, great to see you. Thank you so much.
Ahead on the show, people in Ukraine describe intense terror living under Russian occupation. We'll have more from our Ivan Watson who was aboard a
train bringing people to safety.
And we'll hear from the mayor of what used to be a town outside of Kyiv that is now little more than piles of rubble.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:17]
GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai and you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
Swift international condemnation pouring in after Russian air strikes hits a train station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. The region's military
governor says at least 50 people were killed, including five children. At least 98 people have been taken to hospitals. President Zelenskyy had said
nearly 300 were hurt in the wake of the attack. He is set to meet with the European Commission chief.
And since Russian troops have withdrawn from the Kyiv region, we are seeing the trail of cruelty they left behind. Ukraine's prosecutor general says
law enforcement is collecting evidence from Borodianka for both local and international courts. On Thursday, 26 bodies were pulled from the rubble of
two destroyed homes there. President Zelenskyy says what happened in this town is much scarier than what happened in Bucha. And he said similar
atrocities were seen in Mariupol.
Our CNN international correspondent Ivan Watson has been bringing us the latest on the attacks targeting Ukraine's transportation system. He joins
me now live from Vinnytsia in west central Ukraine.
And Ivan, we've been seeing your reporting from trains where people are taking very difficult and risky decisions to leave homes, and now seeing
these indiscriminate attacks on train stations, surely must be changing the security dynamics of these people that already have been -- their lives
have been up ended.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And, you know, just this week we heard different Ukrainian governors from different
regions, from the eastern city of Dnipro and from the Luhansk region, urging the civilian population to leave. Urging women, children and the
elderly to go in anticipation of Russian military ground offensive.
And so, we were expecting the numbers of people who many rely on the rail network in this country to start to pick up and, in fact, Kramatorsk, the
train station there, there were accounts that there were perhaps 8,000 people a day waiting for evacuation trains to leave from there. Just
yesterday, Thursday, we had a top Ukrainian official accusing the Russian military of striking the nearby city, town of Barvinkove, of hitting a
railway overpass and cutting a rail line, stranding some 500 evacuees at a train station there.
That's only 60 kilometers west of Kramatorsk. So we had seen a pattern of railroads, of rail lines, of train stations being hit by the Russian
military over the course of the past week and a half. And then this strike where the Ukrainians are claiming it was a Tochka-U missile, surface-to-
surface missile with the words (INAUDIBLE) spray painted on that.
Now that's up to interpretation for the people who launched this missile. Did they want to -- did they mean for the children as in revenge or for the
children as in targeting children? And certainly, children were killed in this attack and maimed and wounded in this attack. Of course, the Russian
military is denying that this missile was fired by their forces, and they're accusing the Ukrainians of organizing a provocation, as they have
with every other allegation of war crimes hurled against the Russian military in this terrible war -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: You know, Ivan, when you say that there's a pattern that have already started to emerge and you're seeing the Russian denial, it is
absolutely interesting to hear the narrative but it is shameful and it is absolutely disturbing to see these attacks. What is the message that had
been written on the missiles that we saw on screen just a moment ago? Is that something we should pay attention to?
WATSON: I do think we should pay attention to it. As I mentioned before, it's written on there (INAUDIBLE), that can be interpreted in two different
ways. For the children, as in revenge for the children, or for the children as if they are the targets. Now what's even personally more disturbing
about this is that I spent a big part of yesterday on one of these evacuation trains.
Not one that went through the town of Kramatorsk but through another part of eastern Ukraine, and I just deliberately did not identify the towns and
the cities that we passed through because there was sensitivity that perhaps the Russians would target these train stations and the very train
that was carrying more than 1100 evacuees on them, people who were fleeing from different parts of eastern Ukraine.
[10:35:12]
I spoke with one of these women who had lived for a month, she said, under Russian military occupation in the south of Ukraine. Listen to an excerpt
of our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The flags on they -- on our building, main building.
WATSON: Which flags did they put?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Russia flags. Just like that.
WATSON: On the police station?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everywhere. They just love this, I think. And they think that flag can change our minds. Our Ukrainian minds but it's not work
like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: This woman said that after the Russian military occupied her town, they cut off the links to Ukrainian television channels. That they also --
she described the Russian troops themselves as being filthy and often drunk and coming up to residents asking for things like food and toilet paper.
She said she did not want to live like this and she made several attempts to leave that town but she and other evacuees that I interviewed said they
were blocked by the Russian military several times from leaving.
And when they finally escaped and made it to Ukrainian-controlled territory, they wept and embraced Ukrainian soldiers when they saw them --
Eleni.
GIOKOS: Ivan Watson, thank you so very much for being on the ground and sharing these stories with us. So important to understand the plights of
Ukrainians right now.
European Union President Ursula von der Leyen says she's appalled by the Russian strike on the railway station in Kramatorsk. She's visiting Ukraine
and is expected to meet with President Zelenskyy. Earlier she toured the Kyiv suburb Bucha in the wake of the massacre that took place there. And
here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: It is the unthinkable has happened here. We have seen the cruel face of Putin's army. We have
seen the recklessness and the cold heartedness with which they have been occupying the city. Here in Bucha we saw our humanity being shattered. And
it is the whole world is mourning with the people of Bucha. And they are the ones who are, as you said, defending the border of Europe, defending
humanity, defending democracy, and therefore we stand with them in this important fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: More now on Borodianka, the town that appears to have been all but flattened by Russian shelling and bombs. CNN spoke to the acting mayor and
he told us his city has been bombed back to the Stone Age.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Mayor, thank you so much for being with us. President Zelenskyy says that Borodianka is more disastrous than Bucha
even. Can you tell us what it's like there?
GEORGII YERKO, BORODIANKA ACTING MAYOR (through translator) The situation in Borodianka is very complicated.
KEILAR: Can you tell us what you're dealing with there?
YERKO: (through translator): The multistory buildings in Borodianka were damaged and some of them were destroyed through artillery fire, from tanks
and personal carrier vehicles, from rifle fire and mortar. So the city suffered air bombardment where Russian airplanes used unguided bombs to
destroy entire streets and some buildings completely collapsed if they had a direct hit from said bombs.
So the day before yesterday they unearthed 16 bodies and yesterday they managed to extract another eight bodies. All those bodies are in mortuaries
now, and they need to identify killed citizens.
KEILAR: How many people, Mayor, do you worry are missing under the ruble, and do you have any hope of rescuing anyone alive?
YERKO (through translator): I'm afraid that there is no possibility to extract any people alive because of the bombardment basically destroyed the
buildings, and it's unlikely that anyone would be still alive under the rubbles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right. We're taking you now to a press conference. We've got Boris Johnson and Olaf Scholz speaking to the media. Let's listen in.
[10:40:03]
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Putin's army had some at least 39 people killed and dozens wounded on a train platform crowded with women and
children. It is a war crime indiscriminately to attack civilians and Russia's crimes will not go unnoticed or unpunished. Germany and the U.K.
also share exactly the same conviction that Putin must fail in Ukraine which is why we're working together in the G7 to toughen our sanctions and
target every pillar of the Russian economy in order to cut off funds from his war machine.
The U.K. and the E.U. have announced new sanctions this week and just today we in the U.K. have imposed new asset freezes and travel bans. We will also
agree on the importance of weaning ourselves off dependence on Russian oil and gas and ensuring that our energy security cannot be threatened by a
rogue state. This is not easy for any of us. And I applaud the seismic decisions taken by Olaf's government to move Germany away from Russian
hydrocarbons.
Today we have agreed to maximize the potential of the North Sea and collaborate on energy security and on renewables where Germany and the U.K.
lead the way in new technology. We cannot transform our respective energy systems overnight but we also know that Putin's war will not end overnight.
That's why Britain and Germany have joined dozens of allies to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons.
Last week the U.K. convened a conference which raised weapons and equipment for Ukraine worth at 1.5 billion pounds or 2.5 million items of military
kit. Today I can announce that the U.K. will send a further 100 million pounds worth of hybrid military equipment to Ukraine's armed forces,
including more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles which fly three times the speed of sound, another 800 anti-tank missiles and precision munitions
capable of lingering in the sky until directed to their target.
We will also send more helmets, night vision and body armor on top of the 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment the U.K. has already
dispatched. But Olaf and I agree that our two countries and our allies must go further and provide more help to Ukraine. The Europe we knew just six
weeks ago no longer exists. Putin's invasion strikes at the very foundation of the security of our continent. But his ambition to divide us has
demonstrably failed.
On the contrary, he has succeeded in uniting Europe and the whole Trans- Atlantic alliance in support of Ukraine and in strong solidarity with each other. Putin has steeled our resolve, sharpened our focus and he has forced
Europe to begin (INAUDIBLE) to ensure that our armed forces are fit. Britain and Germany will work together to ensure that our armed forces are
fit for the future, including with our joint effort to manufacture state- of-the-art Boxer armored vehicles.
We will hold a joint cabinet meeting between our two governments within the next year. Our defensive ministers will meet before the NATO summit in
June, and I look forward to joining you, Olaf Scholz at Schloss Elmau for the next G7 summit.
We face the new reality created by Putin's invasion. I know that Britain and Germany will meet this challenge together as passionate advocates of
democracy and freedom and both committed friends of Ukraine. Thank you. Thank you.
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: Thank you, Boris, thank you for having me at 10 Downing Street. We've met quite often the last days and weeks. Hope
we have fun much more, The last time we met was in Brussels and NATO and G7, and I'm very happy that we now have the chance to discuss the weather
here.
[10:45:05]
SCHOLZ (through translator): And we had a lot of phone and video links before, so now we have a meeting together. This is a good progress. We are
friends and partners and we will remain so. And we are pleased that you are also there in the circle of the European Union. We have tasks in front of
us. We look towards the east, the attack on the Ukraine, the killing and the destruction is unspeakable suffering, the images we have seen this
morning, the dramatic attack today.
This all shocks us, and we have to express this clearly. This is horrible. The destruction. What Ukrainian civilians have to suffer, they're victims.
Boris Johnson and I agree on this assessment. And we agree comprehensively and jointly and have a valid standard. All the options we have -- in 2014
we were a major provider of money. The situation has changed since then. This is a crisis raging in Europe.
We, together, will do this and also talk about this. Naturally we have to do everything possible that this senseless act end. So that we reach a
cease-fire. We need humanitarian corridors, people who want to leave the country need to be able to do this and we know about the military acts. One
of the strategies we have in terms of Russia is clear. And this is why we have an impact on all the structures that we can have an impact.
We discussed this during various phone calls. In the framework of NATO sanctions against the Russian finance industry, the Central Bank of Russia,
and we have never done this in this way against such a large country. These sanctions are valid. Indeed Russia relies on technologies on ports, and
they cannot simply replace it on the word market. It's Europe not -- or the America, Japan, all these countries come together and we have the artful
technologies there.
And we also need to hit at the oligarchs, for example, and I would say -- like to say I'm grateful that these sanctions have been widened to people
who are part of this. We have a fifth sanction package now. It includes decisions that target on coal. That this will not be imported anymore. I
would like to say quite clearly that Germany is part of it, to get free of this dependency. We do everything possible to find other partners and we
invest quite largely in order to have the infrastructure established that are necessary for gas, for example, in order, then, to be able to move the
pipes.
[10:50:08]
We also will make sure that legally we will not fail and so that we have progress there. We have sanctions on banks, on technologies, on oligarchs,
and we will continue to do so. We have already done this by way of other decisions.
The unity of the European Union is important. The unity within G7, within NATO, within the Trans-Atlantic alliance, and this important. And Putin did
not expect it. He was sure that we would not act in unity. And he will experience our unity and resolve. Consequences of our -- of this horrid war
is that a lot of people flee, these are millions of refugees. Many countries in Europe have initially -- as the first countries welcomed
refugees, Poland, Hungary, Romania were the first ones and we are grateful to them.
We know that other countries like the Czech Republic has received refugees. Germany as well. And Poland, there were over two million refugees. In
Germany over 300,000 refugees. So we are really happy if many countries would also want to get involved in this. This is a major task. None of us
know what will happen in case of this migration, refugee movement. It's a different situation. We have seen children, mothers, the elderly, the
disabled, those who are ill and need help.
We, together, will need to give security. However, we can't forecast in terms of the war situation if many more will come, whether these families
go back. Whether their husbands who are now in war will follow them. We cannot say that now. But what I can say is we show solidarity. We will help
to those who seek protection. The United Kingdom will give their contributions. Boris already mentioned it, we will intensify our
cooperation on all levels.
We have a government consolidation and we will have a meeting in the beginning of next year and we will prepare various work sessions and
groups. And we'll continue to do so. We have a lot of topics in connection with the Russian attack on Ukraine. Issues of defense, energy, climate,
exchange of trade, mobility, and, of course, as mentioned, migration.
We have a good relationship. We want to make progress between our governments and countries. We have a friendship for years. It's important
that both of us are convinced that not only us as leaders of government have a good relationship, but also our citizens and we are sure that is the
case. Thank you.
JOHNSON: Thank you very much, Olaf. Let's take some questions from the media. We've got six of them. Nick of BBC.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thanks, Prime Minister. And Chancellor Scholz first. How do you defend the fact that the European Union has sent 35 billion
euros to Russia for energy since the start of the war but only a billion need? Do you really think that Germany has gone far enough, fast enough to
move away from Russian energy?
And Prime Minister, how far are you prepared to go in sending weapons to Ukraine without escalating the conflict further? And if I can ask a quick
domestic question, this week you put up taxes of millions of working people. Will you be telling the chancellor that everyone in his household
should be paying all the taxes here in the U.K.?
JOHNSON: Olaf, on the --
SCHOLZ (through translator): Many thanks for your questions. Just to give you a clear answer, we are doing all we can and we are doing a lot.
[10:55:05]
I think it is a very strong decision that we took to go away from the use of fossil resources. We invest into becoming the country that will be just
using renewables for the electricity we know and for the energy supply we know -- we need. And this will be with offshore wind craft. This will be
with wind on land, on shore, this will be the solar and we will invest into our grid. This will take place in approximately 20 years. And this is
really a very tough agenda to make clear and right this week we have had a decision in our Cabinet on the first legislation projects that are linked
to that because we will increase the velocity of all these activities and this also means to change a lot of legal restraints we have today.
On the other hand it is absolutely necessary that we understand that for the time in between it will be important to get the supply of fossil
resources from other places than from Russia. And this is why we prepare for being successful. In the question of coal and oil since December of
last year, and we are doing so and working very hard to make this happen. This is why we could act align -- according to the decisions that we
proposed and made together with our friends in European Union on how to get out of the use and import of coal from Russia.
We are actively working to get independent from the import of oil and we think that we will be able to make it during this year. And we are actively
working to get independent from the necessity of importing gas from Russia. This is, as you may imagine, not that easy because it means infrastructure
that has to be built first, so pipelines to the northern shore of Germany. Regasification ports that make it possible that, for instance, LNG ships
could take if they're supplied to the gas grid in Germany.
But we are doing and we already started preparing this before the war began because we knew that this problem will come up and this is why I can give
you the very clear answer. We are doing the strongest investments and we are doing the hardest activities feasible to get independent and we will be
successful.
JOHNSON: Thank you very much. And Nick, just look on your domestic, you know, political point. I would just stress that the chancellor is doing an
absolutely outstanding job. And as far as possible I think I said yesterday, I don't think people's families should be brought -- should be
dragged into things.
But on your question about arms and how far we're willing to go, and the risk of escalation. I just want to say that I think Putin has already
escalated the conflict. He's already inflicting systematic slaughter on innocent people. Olaf has rightly described what's going on in Mariupol and
elsewhere. It is utterly horrific, and all we are seeking to do is to help the Ukrainians to protect themselves, to protect their families and their
homes.
Now that seems to me, morally, an entirely reasonable thing to do. Now, as you know, the U.K. has been mainly so far supplying anti-tank weaponry,
anti-aircraft weaponry. What we're now looking at doing is finding ways that we can support friends and partners who want to send other types of
equipment that may be useful to them and to the Ukrainians. And I think it's important in these discussions, always to be mindful of what is
genuinely useful for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his army.
And sometimes I think that some of the stuff that -- some of the kit that NATO has simply wouldn't be appropriate. It may be more useful to support
the Ukrainians by back filling and aligning some of the former Warsaw pact countries to supply some of their own armor in the way that you've been
seeing. And I think that may be something we'll want to consider doing more of.
But clearly the boundary, the limit is that there is no intention, I don't think, certainly I don't believe that the German chancellor or any NATO
leader has any intention of engaging in direct confrontation between our countries and Vladimir Putin. That's how Putin wants to portray this. That
is not what this is about. This is about an illegal barbaric attack by Russia.
END
