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Russian Commander Vows to "Level Everything to the Ground" around Mariupol Steel Plant; European Council President: History Will Not Forget War Crimes in Ukraine; U.S. Prepping Another $800 Million Military Aid Package; U.K. Prime Minister Grilled Again over Lockdown Fine; French Voters to Decide in Sunday's Runoff; Morgues around Kyiv Overwhelmed; Russia Hasn't Made Any Big Gains in Eastern Offensive. Aired 10-10:40a ET
Aired April 20, 2022 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): To be honest, we are not well. I have mental problems after airstrikes, that's for sure. I'm really scared.
When I hear a plane, I just run away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): The trauma of war as the battle for Mariupol and for survival continues.
And --
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "My sister had to step over her husband's body for two weeks. She had to go through it to get to food
or water. The room is still covered in blood.
ANDERSON (voice-over): The lingering tragedy of death in Ukraine in areas Russian troops have now withdrawn from. A powerful report from CNN's Phil
Black.
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ANDERSON: Plus, President Zelenskyy asks for extra military aid. What the White House is working to deliver.
I'm Becky Anderson in London, where it is 3:00 pm. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.
This hour, the latest Russian deadline for Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender has passed, as the city's mayor urges civilians still there to
leave through a new evacuation corridor.
Russia warning Ukrainian troops holed up in the giant steel plant there that they must lay down their arms or face destruction. That shelter also
said to be housing women and children, who have been hiding out there for weeks to avoid relentless Russian attacks on the southern port city.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): You can see that destruction in this video from Reuters. I want to be quite clear, CNN is not in Mariupol. Despite weeks of
indiscriminate attacks, British intelligence says that Russia has failed to stamp out Ukrainian resistance there.
Russian missiles, bombs and artillery have killed thousands of civilians, something Ukraine's president says should never be forgotten.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Forever, the Russian army will be written in history as the most barbaric and
inhumane army in the world.
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ANDERSON: Ukrainian forces inside the steel plant in Mariupol are not laying down their weapons. But they are appealing for help. An officer from
the Marine brigade that joined forces with the Azov Battalion says everyone there could be facing their final hours. Here is some of his video message
released from inside that steel plant.
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MAJOR SERHII VOLYNA, COMMANDER, UKRAINE'S 36TH SEPARATE MARINE BRIGADE (through translator): We appeal to the world leaders to help us. We appeal
with the request to carry out the extraction procedure and transfer us to the territory of a third country.
The Mariupol military garrison has over 500 wounded soldiers and hundreds of civilians. Among them, there are children and women.
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ANDERSON: Ukraine says an intercepted radio communication contains what is an ominous warning from Russia's military about Mariupol's future. Matt
Rivers has that.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the battered and desperate citizens of Mariupol, a chilling new threat has
emerged.
The Security Service of Ukraine or SBU released a purported communications intercept of a Russian ground unit commander who said Russian aircraft
we're planning to "level everything to the ground around Azovstal."
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Will there be some kind of explosion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They said to level everything to the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Ooh...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They are being bombed and bombed. They are knocking them out.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
RIVERS: CNN cannot vouch for the authenticity of the recording but the SBU has previously released audio from intercepted radio traffic revealing
Russian soldiers discussing killing and raping civilians --
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RIVERS (voice-over): -- bolstering allegations of war crimes by Russian troops.
Military observers have also noted a tendency of Russian troops to use unsecured communications in Ukraine.
For now, a Ukrainian commander says Russian forces are "willingly bombing and shelling the plant," a sprawling complex in Mariupol's southeast that
once employed more than 10,000 people.
It's unclear how many Ukrainian forces are at the site but one commander says the Russians are using freefall bombs, rockets, bunker buster bombs
and other artillery at the facility.
Video posted on government social media, which CNN cannot verify, shows dozens of women and children, who say they'd been staying under the
facility for weeks, holding out against Russian attacks.
The surrender deadline Russian forces issued to Ukrainian troops has now expired but the Russian military official in charge of the operation say
they will allow the civilians safe passage out of the area.
COL. GEN. MIKHAIL MIZINTSEV, DIRECTOR, RUSSIAN NATIONAL AND DEFENSE CONTROL CENTER (through translator): Russian leadership will guarantee safe
evacuation of each and every civilian as well as the safety of humanitarian convoy's movement in any direction they choose.
RIVERS: It's unclear if the Ukrainians will take the word of the Russian general who has himself been accused of excesses during the Mariupol
campaign. Not all of Mariupol civilians are in the steel factory.
Tens of thousands are trying to survive in other parts of the city. CNN is not in Mariupol but the Reuters News Agency found these people cooking
outside a residential building on Monday. They're chopping wood to make a fire to boil water, some soup and even cook some pancakes.
This woman cutting a boy's hair says, "They need to quickly fix the water supply problem.
"How can we live without water?
"It's horrible."
And this woman says of the bombardment --
OLGA, MARIUPOL RESIDENT (through interpreter): To be honest, we are not well, I have mental problems after airstrikes. That's for sure. I'm really
scared. When I hear a plane. I just run away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Matt Rivers joining me now from Lviv in Western Ukraine.
You are speaking to sources on the ground. We are concentrating our efforts and trying to find out what is happening in Mariupol this hour. Another
deadline from Russian forces to Ukrainian military on the ground to surrender.
As we understand it, has that happened?
RIVERS: Well, I mean, in terms of the surrender, no. This is now the third such ultimatum from Russian forces. And I'm really not sure what each
ultimatum ultimately means, because the Russians have constantly shelled this facility, where the Ukrainian fighters are.
It is not like they've had a cease-fire involved while they wait for the ultimatum deadlines to come and go. We had on Sunday and on Tuesday; we've
had three since the weekend. And yet the Ukrainian resistance continues.
What we do know, in having spoken to the Marine commander, the Ukrainian Marine commander inside that steel plant complex right now, is that time is
running out. He says he has hundreds of wounded military members in there. He's taking care of hundreds of civilians that are in there. He's calling
for a third party evacuation.
Basically he's saying that a country other than Ukraine or Russia should be facilitating an evacuation route out of Mariupol. He said that's really the
only way that you can guarantee the safety of all those people involved in that steel plant and in the surrounding area to get out.
What I think that speaks to is a fundamental mistrust of Russia. What we know is going on right now is that the mayor of Mariupol has urged
civilians in that city to take advantage of an evacuation corridor that was apparently agreed upon between Ukraine and Russia. That was to start three
hours ago.
But he's making that call publicly, the mayor of Mariupol, because he knows his citizens fundamentally mistrust the Russians when they say they'll
respect this humanitarian corridor.
Imagine if you're a Mariupol resident, you have no food, water, medical supplies for weeks now, no power, anything like that, no heating or you
take the word of the Russians, a military that has systematically slaughtered civilians over the past two months during this war.
But now you're supposed to trust the Russian military when they say you'll be safe when you go through that corridor on your way to another Ukrainian
city.
I don't know, if it were me, the choice that I would make. And I think that is an impossible choice for people in that city to decide.
Do they stay or do they go?
ANDERSON: Yes. Very well laid out, sir, thank you.
Matt's on the ground for you in Lviv.
European Council president Charles Michel made an unannounced visit to the country in Kyiv. He tweeted he was, quote, "in the heart of a free and
democratic Europe." The visit comes a day after the U.S. and Western allies promised more assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Michel also toured the devastated town of Borodyanka and said history will not forget the war crimes committed there.
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ANDERSON: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joining us live from Brussels in Belgium.
I understand what Charles Michel meant by his tweet when he talked about a free and democratic Ukraine but, quite frankly, the people of Ukraine,
certainly in the south and east, will not feel free at present.
His visit, of course, comes on the heels of Western allies promising to provide more military and economic assistance to Ukraine, as Russia enters
this new assault in Eastern Ukraine. Given our reporting, given what Matt has been talking about, this effort is now heavily focused on the east and
south.
What can Ukraine expect from its friends at this point?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Continued support, solidarity, an unwavering view that they are going to, whenever peace comes
around, to support Ukraine's position, to support the security.
Quite what that will look like, the security guarantees, that Ukraine was not perhaps formulated around the NATO Article 5, where an attack on one is
an attack on all. But perhaps articulated under the auspices of the European Union rather than NATO.
None of that is clear. But what he will also be assuring them of is the -- is, as he has said there, that there will be accountability for the war
crimes, which means, when peace comes, that Russia will be held accountable for the war crimes.
And as we have heard from European Union leaders so many times, this means not conceding territory to Russia. Whatever territory Russia takes now in
Ukraine, it should not be allowed to hold on to.
So the reassurance of that message, helping with the -- the forensics that goes into producing the hard evidence of war crimes, that can be used in a
court to hold Russia accountable, all of these things are likely to be part of the discussion.
But as you rightly say, the Ukrainians will be looking for tangible heavy military hardware. And there is no doubt President Zelenskyy will be
lobbying hard for that, for Charles Michel to communicate to the European Union leaders, who he regularly sits around the table with.
ANDERSON: Yes, Nic Robertson in Brussels. That is the heart of decision- making in Europe.
Meantime, the United States preparing another major weapons package for Ukraine.
Thank you, Nic.
As the battle for the east ramps up, details of what is an $800 million military aid package are still being privately discussed. This is second
package of that ilk in the past couple of weeks.
But on Tuesday, President Joe Biden confirmed that his administration plans to send more artillery. This comes as one Defense official says that Russia
may target supply routes used to get those weapons to the country. Let's get the latest from CNN's Kylie Atwood, live in Washington.
I think a couple of questions that our viewers really need answering. If approved, this latest package would mean the U.S. has committed $3.5
billion in assistance to Ukraine since the war began.
What this latest package looks like is really important at this point, isn't it?
Do we have any details?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that's the key question here. Most folks expected that the United States would
continue giving military support to Ukraine. The Biden administration has said they will do that.
But we do not know right now exactly what is going to be in this package. Our understanding, according to sources familiar with the planning here, is
that they have the general idea for what they're going to be giving. But the details are still being determined in these coming hours.
And so we're going to watch for that, because, as you said, the Ukrainians have been very explicit about their need for heavy weaponry, for more anti-
tank, anti-ship weapons.
And the United States has provided some of that. But listen to what the undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department, Tory Nuland,
said earlier this morning on CNN, when describing why the United States has given certain weapons to Ukraine at different points throughout this
conflict.
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VICTORIA NULAND, ASST. SECRETARY OF STATE: When we worried that Putin could take Kyiv in five days, what the Ukrainians needed then was what we
were sending them: Stinger weapons, Javelin anti-tank systems.
Now as Putin changes his tactics, as he fails to take the capital city and has to moderate his expectations and just come in from the east, what
Ukraine needs is different. They need these long-range fires. They need this anti-tank weaponry that we're sending now. And they need the anti-ship
weapons.
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ATWOOD: So there are critics, who said the U.S. intelligence saw that this invasion was going to happen.
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ATWOOD: And the United States should have given all of this weaponry to Ukraine in advance.
But what you hear there is this top Biden administration official, saying we're giving them what they need at the time that they need it and sort of
making a commitment there that the Biden administration is going to be giving more to Ukraine in terms of what they need on this heavy weaponry
side.
ANDERSON: Kylie, Nuland also telling CNN that NATO allies could be involved in safe passage of civilians in Mariupol.
Do we have any more detail on that?
ATWOOD: Yes, it was a striking comment from the undersecretary for political affairs, because, thus far, we have not seen NATO at all involved
on the ground in this conflict, right?
And we have heard very, very clearly from NATO countries, from the United States, that they don't want anyone involved on the ground. And, if you're
going to evacuate Ukrainians from Mariupol and NATO is going to be involved, you would think there would be some sort of on the ground
involvement.
We're trying to learn some more details about this. Significantly this morning, the Ukrainians said they reached an agreement for a humanitarian
corridor for safe passage out of the city with the Russians.
But of course, there are questions from the Ukrainians about how they can trust safe passage being provided, a humanitarian corridor, when the
Russians have this history of not actually respecting those humanitarian corridors. But we'll bring you more as we learn it as to any NATO
involvement there could be.
ANDERSON: Yes, no, that is really important stuff. Thank you.
Just ahead, the insults were flying, as the British prime minister once again faced his critics. We'll look ahead to a major vote this week in
Parliament that could play a part in deciding Boris Johnson's political fate.
And France's far-right presidential contender, Marine Le Pen is about to go head to head with Emmanuel Macron. How Sunday's runoff will shape the
future of France and of a wider Europe. We'll discuss that after this.
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ANDERSON: Boris Johnson once again taking heat from some U.K. lawmakers over his police fine for breaking lockdown rules. Today's fiery exchanges
in Parliament come a day ahead of a critical vote for the British prime minister.
MPs will decide on Thursday whether Mr. Johnson should be investigated for allegedly misleading Parliament over what has come to be known as the
Partygate scandal. On the heels of his act of contrition, if you would call it that, in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the prime minister today vowed
to get on with the job. Have a listen.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: We're going to get on with delivering for the British people, making sure -- making sure that we power out of the
problems that COVID has left us.
And more people in work than there were before the pandemic, Mr. Speaker, fixing our energy problems and leading the world in standing up to the
aggression of Vladimir Putin.
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ANDERSON: Nada Bashir has been watching all of this.
It was a raucous PMQs in the U.K., Prime Minister's Questions, insults flying. It would be -- it would be important if we heard his own members of
Parliament attacking him. Opposition members, we would expect.
Is he getting attacked by his own lawmakers?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, there is a small portion of Conservative MPs, who have already publicly expressed their concerns over
the prime minister. We heard some MPs already expressing that they want the prime minister to step down, others suggesting there should be a vote of
confidence.
But there are those Conservative MPs still waiting to see the full impact of this scandal. As you mentioned, there was a fiery PMQs session. Keir
Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, questioning the prime minister and pushing back on his claim that he didn't know he was breaking his own
rules.
And also putting the question to him why his former press secretary was forced to resign after she seemingly made light of COVID regulations in a
leaked video. And also his former health secretary Matt Hancock, who breached social distancing guidelines.
As for the prime minister, the first sitting prime minister to have been issued a criminal sanction, Keir Starmer asking why he isn't offering his
resignation.
ANDERSON: Well, tomorrow is a big day and a big vote on whether to launch an investigation of the prime minister.
What can we expect?
BASHIR: Yes, it is a big day. This has gained support not only from the Labour Party but across the opposition parties. They will be debating
whether or not parliamentary inquiries should be launched into whether the prime minister knowingly misled Parliament.
We repeatedly heard him telling MPs in Parliament that there were no such parties; no rules were broken. Clearly we now know he did at least attend
one social gathering in breach of those restrictions. We're expecting more. We have already seen photos of those.
And there could still be more fines to come. But the key here is that the Conservative Party still has the majority and it is unlikely that this will
pass but it could have a certainly damaging impact on the party, particularly as we head over to local elections in the next few weeks.
ANDERSON: Absolutely. Thank you.
Nada Bashir for us.
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ANDERSON: Well, in a few hours, France's top presidential contenders will go head to head in a televised debate. It is the voters' only chance to see
them face off before Sunday's runoff.
Polling on Tuesday showed president Emmanuel Macron widening his lead over the far right challenger Marine Le Pen. But there is still a lot of
uncertainty. Paris correspondent Melissa Bell joining me now live.
Which issues are likely to be most prescient for voters, who will be listening out during today's -- tonight's debate?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we expect, Becky, is for this debate to be extremely closely followed, not least because Emmanuel Macron
has so far avoided debating with any of the other candidates at all, spending more of his time on the global stage.
We expect Marine Le Pen to go hard on what she has focused her campaign on, which is cost of living issues, inflation, really attacking Emmanuel Macron
where it hurts. You'll remember all of that economic hardship that had seen so many come out on the streets of France over the course of the last five
years.
But I think what is so interesting, going into this second round of the presidential election on Sunday and looking ahead to tonight's debate, is
that, this time, there is an incumbent, Becky, who is not so much standing on his record, as he is on the promise of change.
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BELL (voice-over): A show of determination and dismay: on Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets of France to call for a vote
against the far right but with little enthusiasm for the alternative.
On Sunday, voters will choose once again between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. In 2017, the globalist centrist newcomer had seen off the
nationalist far right candidate, winning by a big margin after sweeping aside the traditional Right and Left.
This time, Le Pen has Macron's record to attack and anger over inflation and the cost of living.
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MARINE LE PEN, FAR RIGHT FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): It is not just the cost of things, of goods, it is also
employment. There are companies that are in trouble and that may go bust.
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BELL (voice-over): The far right candidate is hoping to tap into some of the rage --
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BELL (voice-over): -- that exploded on to the streets of France early on in Macron's first term: the Yellow Vest protests, sparked by a fuel tax
hike, but focused on Macron's reforming presidency.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He's seen with real hatred. He's done a lot of damage. He's hurt very badly a section of the French
population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL (voice-over): The French president's proposed reform of France's pension system, including pushing back the retirement age, also led to
angry protests, which forced him to put it on hold.
The pandemic then quieted the streets of France but only momentarily, with protests picking up again over COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
The presidential campaign kicked off without the president, who was focused on global issues; specifically, the war in Ukraine, adding to the sense
that Macron can seem out of touch with the concerns of ordinary French people.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn't look like your friend next door. You basically never met a guy like him before you meet him. So it is an effort
but it is also a liability for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL (voice-over): But after the first round of voting on April 11th saw more than 50 percent of votes go either to the extreme Right or the extreme
Left, ahead of the second round Macron's now campaigning not so much on his record as on the changes that he plans to make.
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EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): I have no desire to do five more years. No, I don't want to redo them. I want to
revamp something. I want it to be five years of complete renewal.
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BELL: One of the most interesting things about Emmanuel Macron, Becky, is how well liked, how popular, how ubiquitous he's been on the world stage
these last few years and yet how deeply divisive he's been in France.
The big question for Sunday is what proportion of those nearly 21 percent of voters for the far left candidate will bring themselves to vote Macron.
It is expected many will abstain and it could make all the difference, although, as you say, the polls have been widening in Emmanuel Macron's
favor.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Melissa, thank you.
Melissa Bell is in Paris for you folks.
Still ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, heartbreaking stories from the Ukrainian town of Bucha, reeling from what many say are Russian war crimes.
And I speak to the head of a regional government in Luhansk, in Eastern Ukraine. The warning he gives me ahead of Easter Sunday there.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in London. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
A Russian deadline has now come and gone for Ukrainian forces to give up in Mariupol. They are making their last stand right here at this steel
complex, a commander saying they could have just left -- they could have just hours left, the port city battered and besieged after nearly two
months of fighting and bombardment.
Ukraine has set up a new evacuation corridor. And the mayor of Mariupol is urging people to get out using it. U.S. indicating NATO allies could help
with that.
Meantime, the U.S. says Russia hasn't made any big gains since it began its offensive in Eastern Ukraine a couple of days ago.
Well, nowhere are the horrors of this war more evident than in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. That is where, as they were leaving, Russian
forces allegedly tortured and executed civilians.
Well, now crews are turning to the grim task of identifying and burying the many victims. My colleague, CNN's Phil Black, was there. And a warning:
you may, quite possibly will find his report unsettling.
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BLACK (voice-over): Morgues aren't supposed to be busy. Or so overcapacity that you need a team of volunteers to move bodies around and large mobile
refrigerators to accommodate them.
This is one of seven sites in and around Kyiv, working to cope with the tide of death left behind by Russia's retreating forces.
BLACK: Now there's still more bodies coming.
ANDRII BILYAKOV, FORENSIC MEDICINE PROFESSOR, BOGOMOLETS NATIONAL MEDICAL UNIVERSITY: Coming, yes, a lot. Every day at morning.
BLACK (voice-over): Andrii Bilyakov normally teaches forensic medicine. Now he's a full-time volunteer, performing endless autopsies.
BLACK: How many murders have you seen?
BILYAKOV: Murders, I think near to 30 percent is executed.
BLACK (voice-over): By his definition, that means 30 percent of the people in these bags have deliberate gunshot wounds to the head.
We witnessed a continuous cycle. Shuffling bodies from vehicles to storage, to autopsy, to storage and ultimately, preparation for burial.
Usually, it will be their second. Most have been exhumed from temporary graves. Families buying new clothes for those they've lost as a gesture of
love and respect. But they often go unworn. They can only be laid inside the coffin. The condition of the bodies means dressing them is impossible.
Among those lying here, waiting to be collected, is Roman Lieper (ph). His family says he was killed when munitions struck his home in a small remote
village. Roman's wife, Victoria, survived, only to endure a form of hell. Intense fighting when she couldn't escape the house.
Victoria's brother, Ihov (ph), says, "My sister had to step over her husband's body for two weeks. She had to go through it to get to food or
water. The room is still covered in blood. She is very bad now. Very bad. I don't know how she will live with this loss."
Others who grieve are living through a different form of hell. They can't find the body of the person they love.
Volodymyr (ph) is searching for his brother, Leonid (ph). He shows us where he was shot and killed, where he was buried in a shallow makeshift grave
before officials exhumed the body and took it away.
So Volodymyr (ph) has taken leave from active duty to travel through devastated communities, going from morgue to morgue but no one can help.
Eventually, he's directed to a police office with a central list of the dead. He's told his brother probably hasn't been processed yet.
Volodymyr (ph) must return to the war. He doesn't know when he'll be able to come back, even if Leonid's (ph) body is found.
"It hurts a lot," he says. "It hurts a lot but we don't give up."
Russia has left so much death behind in areas near Kyiv some people must wait their turn to grieve -- Phil Black, CNN, Bucha, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
700 kilometers to the east from Bucha.
[10:35:00]
ANDERSON: CNN's Ben Wedeman is in the city of Kramatorsk.
And U.K. intelligence, Ben, says that Ukraine is holding back Russia's advances.
Is that what you are witnessing on the ground?
And if that's the case, how long can this last?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, we just have come back from an area just behind the front line to the north of here, in
a town called Barvinkove. We spoke with an officer we have been in fairly constant touch with over the last week or so.
He told us they have been able, despite Russian forces trying to push forward, they've been able to push them back and in fact retake towns that
have been under Russian occupation from the very early phases of the war.
This officer said that, according to their intelligence, there are about 15,000 Russian troops in that area. There has been intense combat. But what
they have seen is that the Russians are in that area -- and I must stress this is that area only -- are suffering from poor morale, poor
communications, poor coordination between units.
And also that, even though the Ukrainian forces in one particular area, where there has been intense combat, he said, are outnumbered by the
Russians 7:1, they have managed to, as I said, stop them in some areas, push them back.
So there has been a lot of questions about whether all the shortcomings of the Russian forces, that were so blatantly apparent in the area around
Kyiv, would have been corrected: logistics, communications and so on. It appears that perhaps, at least in this area, that is not the case -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman on the ground for you. Ben, appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, a bit farther east from where Ben is sits the region of Luhansk. Heavy fighting has been reported in several cities there.
The head of the region's military administration now warning of possible Russian provocations during upcoming Easter services. This is Orthodox
Easter, of course, in the region. He says churches in the region there have been destroyed and he is urging people who have not left to stay home and
celebrate online.
I spoke with him earlier and I asked him what would the end of the war mean for him, whether one side is victorious over the other or whether he
believes there could still be a political agreement. This is what he told me.
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SERHIY HAYDAY, HEAD OF LUHANSK REGION MILITARY ADMINISTRATION (through translator): Well, I think it is very probable that there may be a
cessation of hostilities and an agreement is possible.
But you can't believe in Russia. They're lying all the time. Everybody knows about that. Nobody believes in them. So everybody knows that an
agreement with Russia is not worth the paper it is printed on. Russia is the enemy of the entire world today, not just Ukraine. Their ambitions
spread much further than Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That full interview in about 30 minutes' time, right here on CONNECT THE WORLD on CNN.
Still to come, this half hour, the mighty Manchester United football team saw red last night. We'll tell you why when we get you a sports update.
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