THE SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS PRESSES ON.
THIS AFTER A RUSSIAN MISSILE SLAMMED INTO AN APARTMENT
BUILDING OVER THE WEEKEND, AT LEAST 30 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND
DOZENS OF OTHERS ARE STILL MISSING.
MANY ARE HOLDING OUT HOPE FOR MORE SCENES LIKE THIS.
THE RESCUE OF A WOMAN FROM THE RUBBLE FOLLOWING SATURDAY'S
STRIKE DNIPRO'S MAYOR IS ACKNOWLEDGING A HARSH REALITY.
>> I THINK THE CHANCES OF SAVING PEOPLE NOW ARE MINIMAL.
MY VERSION IS THAT THE MISSILE HIT THE BUILDING BECAUSE THERE
IS A THERMAL STATION ACROSS THE RIVER MEANING THEY TRIED TO HIT
THE THERMAL STATION. THE MISSILE FLEW BY AND HIT
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS. >> UKRAINE'S PRESIDENT SAYS THE
SEARCH WILL GO ON AS LONG AS THERE IS A CHANCE TO SAVE
LIVES. HE HAD THIS MESSAGE OR RUSSIANS
REMAINING SILENT AMID THE VIOLENCE.
>> I WANT TO SAY TO ALL THOSE IN RUSSIA AND FROM RUSSIA WILL
EVEN KNOW COULD UTTER A FEW WORDS OF CONDEMNATION OF THIS
TERROR, ALTHOUGH THEY SEE AND COMPREHEND EVERYTHING PERFECTLY,
YOUR COWARDLY SILENCE, YOUR ATTEMPT TO WEED OUT WHAT IS
HAPPENING WILL ONLY END WITH THE FACT THAT ONE DAY, THESE
SAME TERRORISTS WILL COME FOR YOU.
>> WELL CNN'S FRED PLEITGEN TRAVELED TO THE DEVASTATION
LEFT BEHIND WITH THE DESPERATE SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS.
. >> THIS SCENE, APOCALYPTIC AS
RESCUES FRENETICALLY SIFT THROUGH THE DEBRIS SEARCHING
FOR SURVIVORS, THE HOPE OF FINDING ANY FADING BY THE
SECOND AS THE COLD NIGHT PROGRESSES.
FOR SOME, THE GRIEF IS TOO MUCH TO HANDLE.
>> SHE SAYS SHE PASSED BY THIS BUILDING ABOUT ONLY HALF AN
HOUR BEFORE IT WAS HIT. THERE ARE MANY FRIENDS AND
FAMILIES CLOSE TO HERE, SHE SAYS.
-- STUNNED BY THE SCALE OF THE
DESTRUCTION, VERSUS THE RUSSIANS.
I SIMPLY HATE THEM, CHILDREN, PEOPLE DIED HERE, AND SHE CAN'T
SPEAK ANYMORE. ON TOP OF THE MANY, KILLED
DOZENS WERE INJURED, AND MANY MORE REMAIN MISSING THAN JUST
THIS ONE LOCATION IN DNIPRO AFTER RUSSIA HIT SITES ACROSS
UKRAINE WITH BRUSHES OF MISSILES THIS WEEKEND.
UKRAINIANS SAY THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THE MISSILE
THAT HIT THIS BUILDING WAS A SO-CALLED KH-22, THAT IS A
CRUISE MISSILE ONLY DESIGNED TO DESTROY AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, A
WARHEAD OF MORE THAN 2000 POUNDS.
AS YOU CAN, SEE IT ABSOLUTELY ANNIHILATED THE BUILDING,
BURYING DOZENS OF PEOPLE UNDERNEATH.
RUSSIA HAS NOT DIRECTLY COMMENTED ON THE THAT LEE
STRIKE IN DNIPRO, BUT THE PATH MOSCOW HAS DENIED FORCES
RESIDENTIAL AREAS. THE UKRAINIANS CALLED THE
ATTACK STATE TERRORISM, AND THE PRESIDENT SAYS RESCUERS WILL
CONTINUE TO TRY AND SAFE ANYONE TRAPPED HERE.
LET'S FIGHT FOR EVERY PERSON, PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY SAYS, THE
RESCUE OPERATION WILL LAST AS LONG AS THERE IS EVEN THE
SLIGHTEST CHANCE TO SAVE A LIFE.
BUT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST HOPE IS FADING FAST, AND THIS COULD
SOON TURN FROM A RESCUE INTO A RECOVERY OPERATION.
CREWS SEARCHING FOR BODIES WHERE SO MANY LIVES OR
VIOLENTLY ENDED IN AN INSTANT. FRED PLEITGEN, CNN, DNIPRO,
UKRAINE. >> [SOUND OF ARTILLERY]
UKRAINE'S ARMY ON SUNDAY SAID IT FIRED ROCKETS TOWARDS
RUSSIAN TROOPS AS THEY TRIED TO STORM UKRAINIAN POSITIONS
AROUND BAKHMUT. THIS COMES DAYS AFTER RUSSIA
CLAIMED TO HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF THE NEARBY TOWN OF SOLEDAR.
MOSCOW'S DEFENSE MINISTRY SAYS IT DID SO WITH THE HELP OF THE
PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANY WAGNER.
THE GROUP'S BOSS INSISTS, HIS MERCENARIES DESERVE ALL THE
CREDIT. >> FIRSTLY, FACT THE
MERCENARIES HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR MANY YEARS, THE MOST
EXPERIENCED ONLY OTHERS TODAY IN THE WORLD.
SECONDLY, THEY FULFILL ALL THE TASKS ON THEIR OWN, THEY HAVE
-- THEY ARE HEROIC PILOTS WHO DO
NOT FEAR TO PERISH. THEY HAVE MULTIPLE LAUNCH
ROCKET SYSTEMS OF ALL TYPES. THEY'RE A DEFENSE SYSTEMS WHICH
HAVE -- THEY HAVE TO RE-SYSTEMS ON ALL
COLORS, THANKS, INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES.
>> JOINING ME NOW TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC IS --
A DIRECTOR OF THE GRAND STRATEGY PROGRAM AND DEFENSE --
AND PROFESSOR EMERITA'S OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FOR
CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK. SIR, THANK YOU FOR TAKING OUR
QUESTIONS. LET'S START WITH THE ROLE THAT
THE WAGNER GROUP PLACE IN THE WAR.
WHAT DOES THE PROMINENCE TELL YOU ABOUT THE FITNESS OF
RUSSIA'S OWN MILITARY IN THE SLIGHT?
>> WELL RUSSIA'S PROBLEM IS THAT --
SETTING ASIDE RUSSIA'S THE LARGEST COUNTRY IN UKRAINE.
IT IS ABOUT THE FIFTH OR SIXTH LARGEST.
THEY HAD THE ARMOR AND THE MISSILES AND THE HOWITZERS TO
DO IT, BUT NOT THE NECESSARY NUMBER OF TROOPS --
SO THEY RAN INTO -- SO WE HAVE THE WAGNER GROUP AND
LATELY THEY HAVE BEEN IN TWO PLACES, THE
UKRAINIAN-CONTROLLED AREA OF THE REPUBLIC OF DONETSK,
SOLEDAR, AND BAKHMUT. AND THEY HAVE BEEN PROMINENT IN
THAT BATTLE BUT THEY ARE FIGHTING WITH THE REGULAR ARMED
FORCES REALLY IS DOING MOST OF THE FIGHTING AND WINNING?
>> WHO IS THE MAN BEHIND THE WAGNER GROUP?
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RUSSIAN
ARMY AND WITH LATTIMER POND HIM HOME SELF?
>> HIS NAME -- IS HE IS 61 YEARS OLD AND HE
SPENT SOME TIME IN THE PRISON AFTER THE FALL OF THE --
RESTAURANT BUSINESS MADE A LOT OF MONEY AND BECAME A CLOSE
ASSOCIATE OF PUTIN WHICH HE STILL IS AND ALTHOUGH HE DID
NOT COUNT THE WAGNER GROUP, THE WAGNER GROUP --
IS ESSENTIALLY HIS PRIVATE ARMY THAT HE RUNS IN VARIOUS WAYS,
INCLUDING BY USING THE GROUP OF MERCENARIES FROM DIFFERENT
PARTS OF THE WORLD, SYRIA, LIBYA, --
TO NAME BUT A FEW. BUT THEY ARE NOW ACTIVE IN THE
FIGHT IN EASTERN UKRAINE, BUT THEY WILL ALSO FIRST INVOLVED
IN UKRAINE IN 2014. >> AND HIS STAR IS ON THE RISE
RIGHT NOW. >> WELL HE CERTAINLY --
-- OF A POST-PUTIN POLITICAL --
HE IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THOSE POSITIONING HIMSELF TO
DEMONSTRATE THE PATRIOTIC LEADER THAT HE'S A MILITARY,
LEADER THAT HE HAS WON FOR RUSSIA, THAT IS PARTLY WHAT THE
WAGNER OPERATION IN UKRAINE IS ALL ABOUT.
>> SO WOULD YOU SAY THAT THE, ACT AND HE ACTS WITH THE
BLESSING OF PUTIN? >> YOU KNOW, THAT IS A VERY
INTERESTING QUESTION. LINES OF COMMUNICATION ARE --
YOU CERTAINLY WOULDN'T BE DISAPPROVED, ONE DOES NOT DO
THAT IN RUSSIA, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES AND THE PROFESSIONAL ARMY AND
THE WAGNER GROUP ARE SOMEWHAT --
BECAUSE ON THE ONE HAND, THE -- ON THE OTHER HAND LATELY THEY
HAVE CLEARLY MADE IT CLEAR THAT THEY ARE NOT ALLIES AND IN FACT
TO THEMSELVES RIVALS. >> NOW, YOU HAVE JUST POINTED
OUT, I, MEAN THE OFFICIAL, ON ONE HAND YOU HAVE AN OFFICIAL
ARMY, AND THIS PRIVATE FOR HIRE ARMY, THE WAGNER GROUP, IT IS
NOT ALWAYS CLEAR WHETHER THEY ARE ALWAYS IN COMPETITION, OR
WHETHER THEY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER.
ARE THEY ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENT ACTORS, JUST BOTH VYING FOR
PUTIN'S FAVOR AT THE STAGE? >> WELL, BOTH ARE TRUE.
IN THE BATTLES IN SOLEDAR AND IN PARTS OF --
THEY HAVE TRIED TO ACHIEVE THE SAME MISSION THAT IS --
BUT, WHEN IT COMES TO THE QUESTION WHO IS DOING BETTER
AND WHO DESERVES CREDIT IN THE RECENT GAINS IN SOLEDAR AND
BOND WITH THEY HAVE NOT TAKEN, THEN CLEARLY --
WANTS TO CLAIM CREDIT, THE MILITARY DOES NOT WANT TO CLAIM
CREDIT BECAUSE AFTER ALL THEY ARE PROFESSIONAL MILITARY AND
THEY SEE FIGHTING FOR RUSSIA IF THEIR BUSINESS.
>> SO, YOU KNOW, TO TURN THE FOCUS BACK TO THE RUSSIAN ARMY,
NOT ABLE TO DELIVER A VICTORY BECAUSE THE OBJECTIVE WAS NEVER
BEEN CLEARLY DEFINED, IS NOT THE PROBLEM?
>> WELL, ONE THING IS CLEAR, THAT IS THAT MR. PUTIN DID NOT
SET OUT TO HUNKER ALL OF UKRAINE, MY BEST SENSE IS THAT
HE WANTED TO -- JIVE TO KYIV, TAKE OVER THE
CAPITOL, CHANGE THE NORTHERN PART OF UKRAINE, AND --
MUCH MORE OF THE EAST AS HE COULD.
THE TERRITORY BY VIRTUE OF -- AND THE SOUTH.
AND EVEN ACHIEVING THAT REQUIRES THE RUSSIAN ARMY BUT
TO HAVE. THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE PRIVATE
ARMY SUCH AS THE WAGNER GROUP, AND ALSO THE CHECHEN LEADER OF
-- WHO FIGHTERS HAVE ALSO BEEN
ACTIVE IN THE WAR IN UKRAINE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR
TIME.