Return to Transcripts main page
First Move with Julia Chatterley
Ukrainians Prepare for Fierce Fighting with Russian Troops; Russian State TV Employee Disrupts Broadcast: "No War"; Stolichnaya Vodka Rebrands as "Stoli"; Zelenskyy to Europe: Help us to Help Yourselves; International Aid Groups Helping Refugees in Poland; Spain Seizes Russian Oligarch's $140 Million Super Yacht. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired March 15, 2022 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It must have been a beautiful--
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: We're seeing this reaction across Europe which is different reaction than we've seen in past ways but of refugees. I know
there is so much need right now it is got to be welcome to those families very nice to see there. CNN's coverage continues right now.
ANNOUNCER: CNN Breaking News.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST, FIRST MOVE: You're watching CNN. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York with you for the next hour. It is day 20 of the war
in Ukraine in a 35 hour curfew has been ordered in the capital starting tonight. As Russian forces advance on Kyiv and civilians come under fire.
Two people lost their lives as flames engulfed this apartment block shelled by Russian forces.
Yet to make the scenes of devastation, we are also hearing stories of astonishing bravery too; nearly 50 people were saved by emergency services.
In the aftermath, survivors are left to sift through the damage and what remains of their home.
At this hour Russian forces encircling at least four major cities including Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest, meanwhile, in the south destruction in
the Port City of Mariupol. Drone images show plumes of thick black smoke rising from damaged buildings as you can see there.
Ukrainian officials say more than 2500 people there have died. The Russian forces aren't the only ones approaching Kyiv today too in a show of
solidarity and at great personal risk. The Prime Ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic are aboard a train journeying to meet
President Zelenskyy in the capital. The Ukrainian President made a direct appeal earlier to Russian soldiers in his country, surrender and survive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I know that you want to survive. We hear your conversations and intercepts. We hear what you really think
about the senseless war, about this disgrace and about your state. Your conversations with each other, your calls home to your family, we hear it
all. We draw conclusions we know who you are; therefore, I offer you a choice.
On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I give you a chance, a chance to survive. If you surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people
are supposed to be treated as people decently in a way you were not treated in your own army. And in a way your army does not treat ours choose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Until the conversations talk set to resume between Russia and Ukrainian negotiators after a pause during Monday's negotiations. Now the
Russian assaults have been brutal. But as we've been showing you the Ukrainians are putting up a fierce fight. They're using what defenses they
have in anticipation of Russian advances as Ivan Watson explained to my colleague John Berman earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is a village outside of the City of Vinnytsia. And we're getting a sense during
our visit here of how the local population has been mobilized by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So all of this has been erected in the last two weeks,
and it's all homemade, just kind of concrete blocks, spare tires, sandbags, you know, just kind of metal rebar that's been kind of welded together,
netting here that locals have sewed here and we're going to spin around.
And you can get a sense of what the guys who are volunteering here they have their Molotov cocktails at the ready. And this is entirely a voluntary
effort. I've been speaking with some of the guards here. One of them is a fire man. One of them is a retired police officer. Another one is an
electrician, all an example of how the local population has mobilized here?
A local official I talked to he estimates that about 20 percent of a population of more than 12,000 people in these villages have gone into the
Ukrainian army have gone into the Ukrainian territorial defense, he estimates maybe 10 percent have fled. And the rest, he says are very active
in the volunteer effort in the war effort.
That means people who help out with humanitarian assistance that's being brought in from Europe, and that is collected here and that is then loaded
into other trucks and shipped back out to frontline cities where people are in such tremendous need right now.
You know, Vladimir Putin, one of his objectives by invading Ukraine, he said was to demilitarize this country. We are seeing the exact opposite
result, John, which is an entire population that is being mobilized in the defense of their homeland. I want to bring in a local official here that
had been talking to - thank you, who's just 23 years old, he's the district head of three villages.
You have not seen ground fighting here yet. Are you ready if the Russian military reaches this region?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you know, we already and it is also situation is - of human unity of unity in Ukraine. In Ukraine population and here we have
20 percent of mobilized people to the army to the territorial defense and local defense.
WATSON (voice over): What kind of message would you like to send the rest of the world? We were seeing the aid that was sent in humanitarian
assistance, food, clothes, what kind of message would you like to send from your region?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, the highest part of my message would be, please close the sky. This is the most important thing that we need because
here on the ground, we could fly. But on the sky, we need to close the sky.
WATSON (on camera): All right. Thank you, again, a call that we've heard from the President of Ukraine for a no fly zone, which President Biden of
course has ruled out arguing that that would be the beginning, the beginning of World War III.
Now this is just one village John. I drove in from Moldova, into Ukraine yesterday and everywhere on the side of the main road, you saw similar
fortifications, similar defenses, and a sign that communities are ready to defend themselves from this invasion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: And Scott McLean is in the City of Lviv in the west of the country with us for the latest. Scott, good to have you with us, I want to
talk to you about what we're seeing more towards the east and the Capital City of Kyiv. Not only are we seeing a 35 hour lockdown, but into the mix
the Czech, Polish and Slovenian Prime Ministers, heading for talks with presidents Zelenskyy. We're talking about three leaders of NATO nations
heading into a war zone.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is difficult to understate the significance of what they're doing because as of late Julia, Kyiv is not a
very safe place. Just this morning, we've seen four different residential structures hit by shelling there 16 storey apartment building that burst
into flames a 10 storey apartment building that also had fire afterwards a private home and then another apartment complex as well.
And so there had been fatalities, there have been people injured, there have been people having to be rescued by the fire crews there. And so Kyiv
obviously is going under this curfew. And you can understand why these authorities have put it in place. It'll begin tonight; it'll go stretch all
the way into Thursday morning.
And in the past, of course, we've seen European officials come to Poland to express their support for Ukraine and the refugee crisis there. We've seen
them come all the way to the border in some cases. It would be one thing if they were coming here to Lviv, where as you can see still relatively safe
here.
There hasn't been any bombing or shelling in this city yet. It is a whole different story. The fact that they are going there to Kyiv to meet with
President Zelenskyy directly in what will surely be an underground bunker there.
They say they're trying to send a message, strong support of Ukraine and they also plan to announce a package of support for the Ukrainian people
comes on the same day as European Finance Ministers are also unveiling a package of new sanctions that they say is historic Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it is historic. And it's also a message to the Russians, I think and the Russian Government tried bombing when their NATO leaders in
town. It'll be interesting to see how long they stay.
I want to ask you about the situation in Mariupol, as well, we know people there stuck in desperate conditions after the days of attacks and bombings
that we've seen. The Russian Ministry of Defense suggested that car convoys with humanitarian aid had been sent now into the city those corridors that
opened up, Scott, what proof do we have of any of this? Can you give us the latest from there, too?
MCLEAN: We have very little. There's been this sort of back and forth between the Ukrainians and the Russians on what has been provided what
hasn't been provided. So what I can tell you for certain is that according to Ukrainian officials, yesterday, about 160 private vehicles, possibly
more, were able to get out of an unofficial corridor back in further into Ukraine yesterday.
They were not allowing buses on that corridor according to Ukrainian officials. There were a con buses in a Ukrainian convoy, along with trucks
packed with aid that were headed into the city that that convoy was expected to arrive on Sunday. It didn't arrive then it didn't arrive
yesterday either.
So as far as we know that convoy of aid is still not in the city. At the same time, as you mentioned, Julia, you also have the Russians who are
saying we are opening up our own humanitarian corridors so that people can go to shelters not clear which side of the border those shelters may be on,
but it's clear that obviously the Russians are in control of a very large swath of territory there.
In fact, they claim to control the land bridge between the Donbas region and eastern Ukraine and Crimea there. So it may well be Russian controlled
territory but it is not clear what kind of aid has gotten into the city if any from the Russian side?
[09:10:00]
MCLEAN: If it is it will be very warmly welcomed you have to imagine because people are getting desperate and so they likely don't have the
option to say no to aid just because it is coming from Russia. We have people according to local officials, dismantling heating systems to try to
get drinking water, melting snow.
Many of the stores most of the stores have already been looted long ago for people to try to find whatever food and water they possibly can. And
remember, also, there's no power, there's no heat. And so you have people through all of this sheltering in freezing cold basement.
The estimates are that from local officials that there are some 350,000 people still trapped in this city, a city that in many places has been
leveled.
CHATTERLEY: Scott McLean, thank you for your reporting. OK, let's move on now to an incredibly brave moment captured live on Russian State TV.
Channel One Editor, Maria Ovsyannikova walked into the studio where the anchor was broadcasting live holding a sign saying no war, stop the war. Do
not believe propaganda. They tell you lie here - provided a video later that he said was taped before her protest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA OVSYANNIKOVA, HELD ANTI-WAR SIGN ON RUSSIA CHANNEL ONE: This happening now in Ukraine is a crime. And the Russia is the aggressor
country and the responsibility for this aggression lies under conscious of only one person. This man is Vladimir Putin.
My father is Ukrainian. My mother is Russian and they have never been enemies. And this necklace on my neck is a symbol of the fact that Russia
must immediately stop this fratricidal war. So our fraternal nations will still be able to reconcile, go to the rallies and to not be afraid they
cannot arrest us all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: --confirmed to CNN today that he's still unable to find her, the Kremlin calling the protest hooliganism. Nic Robertson joins us now.
Nic, I think everyone who saw this yesterday, including me held that breaths at the level of bravery. It's sort of reminiscent of Opposition
Leader Alexei Navalny style strength. What do you make of this? And what do you think Russians that saw this will make of it?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's a very powerful message coming through a very powerful medium. And it obviously took a lot
of courage to do this. And the fact that she recorded a message, essentially laying out why she had taken such bold action before she did
that she recorded the message prior to it really indicated that she knew that she was getting into a lot of trouble.
The fact her lawyer doesn't know where she is physically, I think speaks to the level of concern that people would have about her, and about what is
happening to her at the moment. The Investigative Committee in Russia, which is a body that oversees the work of journalists and journalism, says
that she is essentially being charged with one of the new laws that came into effect just within the past couple of weeks that that is spreading
false information about the Russian army.
It's not quite clear what the maximum sentence for that could be if she was just charged quite simply with that. The statute says that it could be
three years in jail. But if she is charged with using essentially being in an official position in her capacity as working at a state broadcaster,
then the sentence would go up to 10 years for that.
And Dmitry Peskov President Putin's Spokesman said that those who work at such live broadcast state institutions have a special responsibility and
perhaps is giving an indication there that they will absolutely throw the book of new laws at her, potentially, therefore, that 10 year sentence,
it's impossible to know, her message was a rallying call for further protests.
And of course, the government has been trying to stamp out the protests. Protesters arrested just this past weekend, about 15,000 protesters almost
arrested since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine, an incredibly brave act, as you say.
CHATTERLEY: Ukrainian father, Russian mother, they've never been enemies. I think everybody needs to watch the message that as you said she seemed to
pre-record because she knew what was going to happen or she had a sense of what was going to happen. And she apologized what happened in Crimea in
2014.
And so the point you made as well, which I think is very important, she said, look, they can't transplant everybody. Everybody has to stand up here
and recognize and acknowledge what's taking place. Is that the danger, Nic, that she's held up now as an example, she's made an example of in the same
way, Alexei Navalny was?
ROBERTSON: It's an interesting conundrum for the government. Because if they hold her up, then then they have to make an issue out of what she
said, and that they have to therefore state that somebody was talking about no an end to the war.
[09:15:00]
ROBERTSON: Typically what happens in Russia they'll try to cast aspersions on her you know mental state and mental well-being and write it off in some
way like that by diminishing her call. So I don't think that they will play it up.
But I do expect that they will absolutely try to give her the maximum penalty that would be absolutely fitting with the way that Russia is
behaving to anyone who speaks out about this protest. They put these laws in place, in literally a matter of a day passing them in the lower house of
parliament, the upper house of parliament, President Putin signing them later in the day.
And this legislation is what President Putin wants to absolutely control the narrative in Russia, there will be little, little quarter, if you will,
given to her little sympathy from the state authorities, they will I think tried to try to do a character assassination. That's often what they do.
CHATTERLEY: A brave, brave woman amid terrible suffering. Nic, great to have you with us Nic Robertson, thank you! The U.S. sharing information
with its NATO allies suggesting China has expressed "Openness" to providing Russia with military and financial assistance that according to at least
two sources Beijing, dismissing the claim as U.S. disinformation.
David Culver joins us now David, you and I were talking about this yesterday. And you know I look to what we're seeing in financial markets.
Again, we're seeing a shakedown in China fears, I think, and a de facto self-sanctioning risk is China of being self-sanctioned, if they put it
out, reach here to Russia and try and support them in some way.
And you combine that with Omicron, growth challenges, the crackdown on the real estate sector. These are foundational shakes that I can see for China
at this moment. How do they handle this?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, I think you're right on with that. And it's almost this balance between pragmatism, the reality of
trying to salvage and protect the economy here, Julia, and that of ideological allegiance, if you will, to their neighbor in the north to
Russia, and perhaps this goes all the way to the top.
And that's where we look at President Xi as to what direction he's going to go with all of this. We know that he considers Putin obviously to be his
best friend but at what cost? Does that mean even to sacrifice the economy here?
It's not likely because as soon as you mess with prosperity, you start to mess with social stability. And so it's not clear how far he's going to go
with it. But you and I have talked about over the past several months, that President Xi has made moves here that have rocked markets that have raised
more than a trillion dollars in some industries, and doesn't seem to be impacted by it.
He seems to move forward and think it's best for the population here and the Chinese people. Now Chinese officials, they didn't meet with U.S.
officials at that high level meeting Monday in Rome. And they say that they're not going to stand for any of the attempts to smear China over its
position amidst Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And that message came from the man who is the top foreign affairs official here in China. That's Yang Jiechi. He met Monday in Rome with U.S. National
Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan. And we're told this was an intense seven hour discussion.
And it comes as CNN has learned that U.S. cables suggest China has expressed some openness to provide Russia with requested military and
financial assistance. Now, China's dismissed this. They say its disinformation coming from the U.S.; they say the U.S. has been peddling
lies. And Yang told Sullivan that China always calls for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.
And went on to say that China is going to continue to promote peace talks, and has provided emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine but China has also
back to the Kremlin as you and I have talked about Julia in claiming that Russia has legitimate security concerns that they need to be addressed
here.
And in that high level meeting, Yang also stated that it is important to as he worded it, straighten out the historical context of the Ukraine issue,
get to the bottom of the problem's origin and respond to these legitimate concerns of all parties.
Now, it also was a moment for Chinese officials to bring up Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that obviously China considers to be part of its
sovereignty, and they believe that the U.S. is threatening that. They also brought up in that meeting - Hong Kong, Tibet, it seems to be a moment
where China was bringing forth all their concerns to dump on that table with the U.S. and say, look, these are internal matters. They're domestic
affairs. Stay out.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, a very fine line to walk at this moment. And perhaps the biggest opportunity for China here is to play mediator. We shall see David,
we'll reconvene. Thank you for that David Culver there. We're back after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back! And another extraordinary day unfolding in the commodities markets, huge moves and extreme volatility. Oil currently down
by over 6 percent as you can see there both Brent and US Crude plunging below $100 a barrel briefly in the case of Brent.
Oil losing more than a quarter of its value since hitting 14 year highs less than two weeks ago the energy move I think a combination of factors
for one thing the dissipating expectations of sanctions on Russian energy from the likes of the EU.
British Prime Minister too Boris Johnson hosting a meeting of Northern European leaders on the Ukraine crisis as we speak. He's urging everyone to
end their dependence on Russian oil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Putin over the last years has been like a pusher. Feeding an addiction in Western countries to - hydrocarbons
to oil and gas we need to get ourselves off that addiction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: So why didn't they react sooner? For the time being the UK and the EU seemingly stuck using it which means volatility plus if you add in
the impact of existing sanctions, also the risk of secondary sanctions against China as we were just discussing, all our Beijing faces ongoing
COVID lockdowns that spells trouble for the global growth outlook.
And you can also add to that the prospect that Moscow might technically default on its sovereign debt as soon as tomorrow what does that mean?
Well, European stock markets are weaker but off their worst levels. Wall Street is where are we now? Well, as you can see, we're plummeting once
again the NASDAQ off by some 2 percent pre-market the S&P 500 off by three quarters of a percent too.
And of course don't forget the Fed is ready and set to announce its first interest rate hike in more than three years tomorrow. OK a rebrand in
support of Ukraine as people started dumping vodka after Russian invaded Ukraine. Stoli Group which owns Stolichnaya Vodka, changed the drinks name
to just Stoli. While founded in Russia, the company moved production to Latvia back in 2000. Its Founder Yuri Shefler, a local critic of Vladimir
Putin left Russia in 2002.
Stoli quickly condemned Russia's attack saying "It has a long history of fighting the Russian regime". Even though Stoli has distanced itself from
Russia and has employees in Ukraine. It's still experiencing boycotts. Stoli Group CEO Damian McKinney joins us now.
[09:25:00]
CHATTERLEY: David this is not just about making a good business decision this was also about your employees I believe too saying look we need to do
something here and acknowledge that we're no longer a Russian product.
DAMIAN MCKINNEY, CEO, STOLI GROUP: Julia, thank you. You're absolutely right. It was an organic decision made by the team itself. I mean, I've
said this several times, this is deeply personal. I came off a call this morning with 32 members of my team who are directly affected, either
because they're in Ukraine or the countries around, they've got family in Ukraine, and literally all extremes too - we've got a wife and a child, we
managed to move out before the invasion, her husband is actually fighting in the moment.
And as she said, it's a roller coaster. So it's against that backdrop, that we decided that one we needed to ensure that everybody understood
factually, that we actually are a Latvian company. And that the exactly as you define the founder, has been fighting against this evil regime for 20
years.
And the team just felt honestly, it's time to drop the Stolichnaya piece. We are Stoli this is what we stand for. We actually stand in this
particular case for Ukraine, and freedom and peace. But actually, we stand as a company saying that good must overcome evil and Stoli we believe is
nice and neat, simple and clear, in terms of sending that message.
CHATTERLEY: I mean, Damian there's a lot I can talk about there. But I just want to ask you, you've got one employee, you mentioned that's actually
remained in Ukraine and is now fighting. What about the other employees? And are you doing anything to ensure the one that's remained to fight his
safety? I know it's difficult.
MCKINNEY: It's - look, it's a very - it's a very difficult one. We're doing it in multiple ways. I was actually Marine Commando in my previous life, I
did 18 years. And the comment I made to the team this morning is that if you're fighting on the front line, it's those what I call three o'clock in
the morning moments when you're tired, you're cold, you're wet, you're very lonely or you're afraid.
You know, all those sorts of all the demons come out. It's incredibly lonely. And so one of the things is I write I've been writing to him,
others I've said reach out, and he appreciates the fact that there are people out there and I share the news.
I share this news that there are people absolutely in his and their corner. And that I think is positive. I think there's a second, which is we've been
trying to help for instance, one of my employees, her mother was in a final stage of chemotherapy in the hospital in Kyiv, we've managed finally, to
quite a convoluted process, but to get her to Luxembourg.
So where we can we try to repatriate, but there's also partners, it's not just our direct employees, but we've got a lot of partners, whether
distributors or suppliers on the ground. And one of the things we're now trying to do is helped them as they're moving out of the country have gone
out of the country to move to other countries because as you know, the refugee machine, and we're helping with World Central Kitchen is pretty -
once it gets going, it's pretty impressive.
The problem is that after a couple of weeks, you almost become old news, because it's the fresh refugees coming in. And that's, again, a really
lonely, uncertain period for individuals. And so what we're trying to do is now help move them so in our case into either Latvia or one of the other
countries and actually providing pastoral care.
You know, I talked to my HR leader's morning saying, you know, its things like you move into a strange city, language, everything strange. And then
you say, by the way, here's the money but they don't know which baker shop to go to they don't know which grocer they don't know who to talk to.
So it's also about providing the right pastoral care. So we're really trying to provide a whole package as best we can. Because again, by helping
the people who have left the country that actually full circle helps the individual staying in fighting that at least we're looking after their
broader family as much as we can. So they can get and--
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, anyone that's listening to you, one of the obvious questions is, look, you're OK being Russian when it matters for the
business, but now you're making the separation when it's uncomfortable. And I watched the video on social media as well of people pouring some of your
vodka down the drain and saying that we're not buying Russian products.
And this is part of what you're fighting here is this perception that that you remain a Russian company? I think that Damian anyone listening to you
hearing about how much you care, writing letters to your employees as well, I think I don't even need to ask that question.
MCKINNEY: But Julia can I give you a view on this one?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, please do.
MCKINNEY: I have Russians in the company. I have Africans - I have - you know, I feel good representation of gender and race and so forth. But, you
know, I was involved in a number of operations but I was involved in one where, you know, I was working Kurdistan and there was a general - he and
I'd fought together.
[09:30:00]
MCKINNEY: And there was a moment where an Iraqi general came to have peace talks. And as we walked up the hill, I was 30 years old. He was he was 31,
I think. And he held the hand of this Iraqi General, he walked ahead of me. And I was shocked.
I was absolutely shocked. I thought hold on his family had suffered through genocide himself, as you know that the story and afterwards when it was all
over, I said to him, why did you do that? And he said, because he's just a soldier. It's not him. It's the regime that's done all of this.
And I think that was a big lesson for me as a 30 year of how to learn. I thought I'd learned a lot, I mean, joined up in a team. But I think as we
look at this, you know, I have a lot of Russian friends watching the lady last night on the news, jumping forward and saying, you know, this should
look, this is not about people in the broadest sense.
This is about some evil individuals. And we, as leaders have to stand up to those individuals and say, this is wrong, but recognizes all the good that
is coming from the broader people. And I've tried to maintain that as we've gone through this because it's important.
CHATTERLEY: You know, I was going to ask you is you're diversifying your wheat buying for ethanol, away from Russia to Slovakia, I believe. And I
was going to ask you about the wheat farmers in Russia and the people that are suffering as a consequence of decisions made by the government but the
example that you just gave me answered the question in a far more important way.
I'm out of time Damian, please keep in touch. We'll continue to talk to you and thank you for joining us. And thank you for your service sir too Damian
McKinney CEO of Stoli Group there. Stay with CNN, more to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back! Let me remind you of the latest developments from Ukraine. A 35 hour curfew has been ordered in the Capital Kyiv starting
tonight as Russian forces slowly approached the city. Ahead of the curfew indiscriminate shooting have residential - in Kyiv also developing this
hour.
[09:35:00]
CHATTERLEY: The White House is considering a trip to Europe for President Biden and NATO leaders discussing a possible meeting in Brussels next week
too. And an extraordinary move the Prime Ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are aboard a train to Kyiv to meet with President
Zelenskyy. Earlier the President spoke to European leaders about security and military support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: So we all are the targets of Russia and everything will go against Europe if Ukraine won't stand. So we'd like to ask you to help
yourself by helping us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATTERLEY: Now as Russian troops inch closer to the Ukrainian Capital a story of incredible courage, a group of people are risking their lives to
protect surrogate babies kept in a basement deep beneath Kyiv. Sam Kylie had the chance to meet them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KYLIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is precious cargo, not cash in transit. But a week old Baby Lawrence in
transit to a new life born to a surrogate mother, under bombardment in Kyiv, he is raced through the Ukrainian Capital to a nursery in the
southwest of the city.
It's perilously close to Russian troops and easily within range of their artillery. This is a gauntlet his new parents will have to run when or if
they come here to collect him. For now, he'll be among 20 other surrogate babies destined it's hoped for new lives in Argentina, China, Spain, Italy,
Canada, Austria and the U.S. parting from the child she carried as a surrogate Victoria is inevitably tearful, her pain intensified by
uncertainty.
VICTORIA, SURROGATE MOTHER: It has been harder that he is in a place where they're shelling and when will his parents get to take him away because of
it? It's really hard.
KYLIE (voice over): This missile struck about 500 yards from the nursery while we were there.
KYLIE (on camera): There are constant explosions we can even hear in the basement and the Russian military is reportedly consolidating and planning
to push in further into the city from the east. So the future of these children is even more in doubt. How long will it be before it's impossible,
completely impossible for the new parents to come and rescue them?
KYLIE (voice over): The nannies here cannot join the exodus of civilians from Kyiv. These babies may be tiny, but they're the heaviest of
responsibilities Antonina's husband and daughter has already traveled to safety 130 miles south.
ANTONINA YEFIMOVIC, NANNY: These babies can't be abandoned, they're defenseless. They also need care. And we really hope that the parents will
come and pick them up soon.
KYLIE (voice over): An Argentine couple collected their child the day before, but a combination of the pandemic and now war has meant that some
have been stuck here for months.
DR. IHOR PECHENOGA, PEDIATRICIAN, BIOTEXCOM: It all depends on the strength of the parent's desire. I met with parents who came to Kyiv to pick up
their baby. They had tears in their eyes. They had waited 20 years for their baby. And there are such couples who are afraid because there is a
war going on.
KYLIE (voice over): These infants are oblivious to the doubts over their future and the dangers that they've already survived. There's abundant hope
that it stays that way. Sam Kylie, CNN Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Sam Kylie making babies smile there. Coming up, a historic refugee crisis a historic global response we'll speak to an aid
organization on the ground in Poland giving crucial aid to Ukrainians in need that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back! The United Nations calls it the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II, almost 3 million Ukrainians have been
forced to flee their homeland during Russia's invasion most of them have crossed the border into Poland but Hungary Slovakia and Romania seeing
large inflows of refugees too.
Citizens of countries that border Ukraine are eager to lend a helping hand. Miguel Marquez reports from Romania.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They arrive by the hundreds normal Ukrainian citizens one day, refugees the next.
VALERIA PAVLIN, REFUGEE FROM KHARKIV, UKRAINE: This is stressful yes because we have no idea what to do, where to go and when we will be able to
return to our homes.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Pavlin is from Kharkiv Ukraine's second biggest city which has been devastated by Russian artillery and rockets. When I was
packing my clothes she says I thought it would all be over in three days. For many just arriving on Romanian soil, emotional one woman cries as a
volunteer hens are a bottle of water.
DENIS STAMATASCU, RESTAURANT OWNER AND VOLUNTEER: All the Romanian people are mobilized and are filled with people.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Romanians stepping up trying to make Ukrainians feel a little bit at home. Denis Stamatascu closed his restaurants in Costanza.
He now serves meals free to refugees.
STAMATASCU: When you close the restaurant are coming here to help these people, chicken, pork, chicken pork.
MARQUEZ (voice over): And for all those getting out a few going back in - is returning to Mykolayiv Russians have hammered this city.
MARQUEZ (on camera): And you are willing to die for Ukraine.
MARQUEZ (voice over): We all die; he says then adds I'm afraid to die. But I'm not a coward. That's - from Odessa along with her daughter - their dog
and two cats. She says they left because of what they heard was happening in places already controlled by the Russians.
I've heard about the violence she says and killings of peaceful people without any reason. She added I had to leave I was too stressed about it
happening to me and my daughter. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Romania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: More than half of Ukrainian refugee's almost 2 million people have been forced to flee to Poland so many people in need that officials in
Poland largest cities are running out of resources. Aid organizations like the International Rescue Committee are on the ground doing what they can
provide any essential sleep blankets, clothing, and food and more.
Bob Kitchen joins us now he's the Vice President of Emergencies and Humanitarian Action at the International Rescue Committee. The organization
is ramping up operations in Poland and is providing help inside Ukraine too. Bob, great to have you with us!
I think most people, including Ukrainians, we keep hearing it on a daily basis, simply caught off guard by the timing, the scale the speed at which
we're seeing and the number of refugees created your experience of what we're seeing.
BOB KITCHEN, V.P. OF EMERGENCIES AND HUMANITARIAN ACTION, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: It's the world's fastest refugee crisis we've seen in
decades. And I think it's going to be the largest over time with close to 3 million Ukrainians have now fled the country. And remember, there's also
another two million who've been forced to flee their homes and yet still displaced within the country trying to figure out how to get to the western
border to flee to safety.
[09:45:00]
KITCHEN: And then the other thing to keep in mind is there's millions more stuck in cities that are now surrounded by the Russian military. They're
unable to flee.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, that's assuming as well, if we see the violence shifting further and further west, to your point, it puts more pressure on
the bordering nations as well. I know you're giving out essential items, basics, blankets, warm clothes, groceries, but what caught my attention,
Bob was what I've seen in terms of what else you provide, and that's cash, literally cash.
KITCHEN: Yes, we're scaling up in many different ways. The most urgent needs, as you said, right now, for the very many hundreds of thousands,
we're seeing crossing every few days into Poland, is giving them warm clothes, giving them warm food, giving them information about where they
are and where they can go and what they're going to expect.
But then, in the next days and weeks, we're now doing assessments in the large Polish cities, getting ready to start distributing cash, using the
fantastic infrastructure that Poland has to give people ATM cards, to give them choice about what how to fulfill their needs. So they'll have the
money they can buy from local markets, helping Polish people as well.
CHATTERLEY: I mean that's phenomenal. How quickly can that be organized on this kind of scale because to your point, as well, it also helps the local
economies too if people spending money there as they try and rebuild their lives.
KITCHEN: Yes. I mean, we're seeing great welcome from Poland and Romania, and even countries further afield with Ukrainians arriving into Germany,
and Italy. The whole of Europe has really moved to help this population as they flee such terrible violence. We can scale up quickly. We can turn on
programs to distribute cash very quickly, especially in such a developed country like Poland.
CHATTERLEY: One thing I've seen you as an organization do as well is pressure the UK government to do more to speed up and streamline the
process of accepting refugees, what needs to change? And I think you've probably already given me the answer, which's setting the example here for
how it should be done?
KITCHEN: Yes, I mean, as a Brit, I'm somewhat disappointed where we're chasing the pack of European countries rather than leading them, which is a
shame. We need to open our borders and let in Ukrainians who are just fleeing terrible violence.
We should be welcoming instead of putting up barriers. Germany is doing fantastic work, as are many, most of the European countries extending legal
temporary status, so people can find accommodation and start working even. It's really, really very good.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, message sent. What about psychological support and counseling? It goes back to where we began the conversation for most people
this is the suddenness of this has huge psychological implications, particularly for children. I think, too. How is that taking care of? Is it
taking care of?
KITCHEN: Well, it's not just the suddenness. It's also the massive violence. The ongoing bombardment of civilian infrastructure, the cities
that people are fleeing from, it's terrifying.
So as we are receiving families coming across the border, as we start the conversation about where they are, and what services they can get access
to, we're also starting the process of extending counseling to them, trying to follow them to where they're going, so we can pick up and help them in
places like Germany, we've done this for several years now with other refugee populations.
We're also working with German schools to help them extend education opportunities, but done so in trauma informed ways so they can support the
kids as they come into wider classrooms start to recover from that trauma.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's funny, the conversation we were just having previously on the show, was someone talking about loneliness. How lonely
these moments are? Whether it's a Ukrainian soldier, Russian soldiers or someone who's been displaced in such a way for people watching, what can
they do to help? I always feel like in these moments, you want to do something to help.
KITCHEN: Yes, I mean, there's lots of ways people can help by giving funds sharing the resources to help the people who are most in need, or you can
go to rescue.org for the International Rescue Committee as we're scaling up helping our work would be greatly appreciated.
CHATTERLEY: Bob, we appreciate your time and what you're doing to help people in need.
KITCHEN: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: Bob Kitchen, the Vice President of Emergencies and Humanitarian Action at the International Rescue Committee. Still to come, the UK and the
European Union stepping up sanctions once again while another super yacht linked to a Russian oligarch has been seized in Spain the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:00]
CHATTERLEY: The UK and European Union back with more sanctions against Russia this time banning exports of luxury goods placing import tariffs on
steel and vodka and on the EU's list of over 600 Russian individuals. As the Ruble crumbles sanctions are continuing to put pressure on the Russian
economy and those closest to Putin. Anna Stewart joins me now with more details, Anna any names of recognition on this latest list?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, the latest system EU has no names listed at all but from the UK hard to sift through it. I've seen a couple pop out
Mikhail Friedman, for instance, also Dmitry Medvedev, they have had weeks since of course, the Russian invasion to shift and shed assets months if
you consider how long troops have been on Ukrainian border and years, actually, since the annexation of Crimea.
So how effective those sanctions will be in terms of Western assets. We really don't know. All sorts of you say though, announced over the last 24
hours, both from the UK but also from the EU much actually really in line with what we saw from the U.S. and Canada last week, really targeting
wealthy Russian consumers and various businesses and sectors within Russia.
I thought one of the most interesting ones actually from the EU was banning the imports of Russian steel that currently accounts for around 15 to 20
percent of all of EU's imported steel. So that could certainly have some impact on industry. And of course, we've already seen a lot of price
movement when it comes to metals.
They're of course not touching Russian energy and also not the metals that they're probably more reliant on like copper, nickel, palladium, aluminum,
and so on. Both the UK and the EU withdrawing most favored nation status from Russia, again as follows on from the U.S. and Canada, meaning they can
increase tariffs as high as they like, frankly, on Russian trade.
And it really just removes the benefit of Russia being a member of the WTO, the World Trade Organization, which as we know, is incredibly hard to eject
someone from.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, your point about steel I think it's vitally important given the tremors that we're seeing in the commodities markets already in
the inflationary pressure. I know you've also been on your - watch now for several weeks. We've got a new edition Valerie, pretty name pretty price
tag too. What more do we know about that? We've got a picture somewhere as well.
STEWART: I'm sure we have some beautiful pictures we can show you are another gigantic Super Yacht that has been seized by Spanish authorities.
There it is. The Port of Barcelona now has that one there have been a few Super Yacht not as many as you might imagine. And that is because so many
of them have been on the move for the last few weeks.
And we've been watching actually Roman Abramovich's two super yacht Solaris and Eclipse. They started moving; I think a couple of days before sanctions
were imposed on him here in the UK. And they both are now very much in international waters that look like they could be heading to Turkey who
knows.
But this is the issue really when you're looking at seizing big assets like this. Unfortunately, they do move and they have been now for weeks.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, we have one minute left Anna what happens to these assets where do they go who holds them what happens?
[09:55:00]
STEWART: And can Julia Chatterley board one of them unfortunately not. What we do know is that Russian oligarchs cannot obviously use them, they cannot
sell them.
But what's so interesting and really, really unprecedented I think, is, obviously the state doesn't own them, they could try and take ownership of
a Super Yacht if they could prove that the money is to buy it was connected to crime, that will be incredibly hard to do. In fact, it's nearly
impossible to even be able to track who owns a Super Yacht. And there have been plenty of complaints from some of the oligarchs and people that manage
these super yachts.
It's not also like planes, where you can just dump them in the desert, and they can look after themselves. These are bigger than a football pitch,
they need huge berth. And even without the fuel required, and all the staff that are normally used on them, and that normally cost millions of dollars
of upkeep a year, they're still gonna cost tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, just the general upkeep and maintenance Julia.
CHATTERLEY: The - words in my ears, blood money, buying these kinds of assets now owned by Russians Anna Stewart thank you for that. And that's it
for the show. Stay with CNN, "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:00]
END
