Want to show you the
exclusive access
that CNN has been given
to the massive
international security operation
to keep vital infrastructure safe
from Russia's military in Ukraine.
A military,
of course, that is both reckless
and irresponsible in addition
to targeting that infrastructure,
a military that Russia continues
to celebrate.
The defense minister today
decorating the pilots
who took down
that American drone over the Black Sea,
even though it appeared to be accidental
that they hit it.
I want to start with Fred
Pleitgen and his exclusive reporting
on how
the international community is bracing
for possible new attacks by Russia.
He's OUTFRONT live tonight
in Bergen, Norway.
And Fred, what are you learning
there?
And we're learning that NATO
and the US alliance
certainly are not taking any chances
as far as that is concerned.
They saw what happened to that U.S.
drone over the Black Sea,
and they're extremely concerned
about critical infrastructure
among the US's allies here in Europe,
specifically energy infrastructure.
So what we did today is
we went on to the North Sea
on one of the biggest gas
platforms on the North Sea,
and we saw that
NATO was really beefing up
its presence there.
Here's what we learned.
As tensions
mount after the collision
between a Russian plane and a U.S.
drone over the Black Sea,
NATO's head
tells me
the alliance stands
firmly behind the U.S..
What you're seeing is a
reckless and irresponsible behavior
by Russia
that led to this incident in the
Black Sea.
The good thing
is that the United States
behaves with the utmost professionalism.
And security on the seas is a huge issue
for NADO.
We flew to one of Europe's
largest gas fields
with the secretary general
and the head of the EU commission
as NATO's warships were guarding the rig.
Watchful for possible acts of sabotage
the U.S.
and its allies understand full
well that Russia's war in
Ukraine is a threat
not just to the skies above the seas
and on the seas,
but also to critical infrastructure
under the sea as well.
That's why the NATO alliance
is beefing up its efforts
to protect this critical infrastructure.
These are
the actual
wells of the troll gas field near Norway.
Around 10% of the natural
gas supplies
for America's
European allies
come from this field alone.
After most of them stop buying gas
from Russia
last year,
the Nord Stream pipeline between Germany
and Russia was blown up.
And what the U.S.
says was an act of sabotage
While some believe Ukrainians
might be behind the explosion,
Kiev denies involvement.
And the EU commission head tells me
Europe will continue to support Ukraine.
We know in the European Union
that Ukraine is not only fighting
for its independence,
sovereignty and freedom,
but also for the wider values we share,
like the respect
for the international law.
And the Ukrainians
say they will fight off.
Kiev saying
the most intense battles
are still taking place around
Mount
where the Russians
claim they're gaining ground.
And Russian
President Vladimir Putin
is set to meet Chinese leader Xi
Jinping in Moscow next week
as the Russians are looking
to further deepen ties.
And the U.S.
believes
want Beijing to give them weapons.
NATO's leader says security in Europe
will only be guaranteed
if Putin ends the war against Ukraine.
The best way to reduce risks of incidents
like this is, of course, to end the war.
Wars are dangerous and they lead
to dangerous situations
like the instance over the.
But as long as the war
continues, NATO
says its ships will stay on alert,
shielding the alliance members
critical infrastructure
from possible attacks.
And new air.
And there are several warships
from the NATO's
alliance around that gas platform alone
just to show how important that is.
In the meantime, of course,
we know that the fighting in Ukraine
is really ferocious
and continues to be ferocious.
I got an update
from the Ukrainian military
and they say
especially on the northeastern
front in Kremlin,
and there's a lot of fighting going on.
But of course, also, as you mentioned,
in Bermuda
as well,
where the Russians
are continuing
those efforts to try to encircle
that city.
While at the same time, as you said,
some Ukrainian soldiers believe
that they might have exhausted
that Russian force
and they could see an opening
to try and launch a counterattack
there as well Erin.
All right. Thank you very much.
And let's go
now to Crystal grows out of the lead
Russia investigator for Bellingcat.
He has been put on
Russia's wanted list
for his work, uncovering
the man who poisoned
Putin, opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
And you can see all of that,
of course, in the now
Oscar winning documentary, Navalny.
Also OUTFRONT,
Phillips O'Brien,
professor of strategic studies
at the University
of St Andrews, who,
of course, has been so tirelessly
chronicling and following this war.
So thanks so much to both of you.
Let me start with you, Phil.
Fred mentioned
Putin's upcoming meeting with the Chinese
President Xi.
And the U.S.
believes that that meeting is in part
because Putin wants China
to give him more weapons.
And I know
you've been looking at a lot of this.
How bad is Putin's
weapon shortage right now?
Well,
I mean,
we have to understand,
Russia's not a great power economically.
It's really a relatively small economy.
It's not a productive economy.
It's a resource extraction economy.
It can't make nearly the amount of war
material
that it is using up at a vast rate.
I mean, before the war, say
it was making
200 tanks
a year was one of the estimates.
And yet they've lost
six to 700 tanks
that we've seen destroyed.
And there probably
could be hundreds and hundreds
more that have also been destroyed.
So if Russia is going to be left
fighting to its own devices,
it will run out of weapons.
It will run out of a lot of weapons
much sooner than anyone
anticipated a year ago.
So if Russia is going to fight a long war
and that seems to be
what Putin is saying now,
he's going to need to get a regular
and steady
supply of Chinese weapons to do that.
Well, it's pretty incredible.
And you lay that out, right?
I mean, you're talking about
knowing that they've lost an eight year
supply of tanks, as you're saying.
And that's
that's obviously a very low estimate.
So, you know, Chris,
when the context of this,
the International Criminal Court
making Putin
a formal international pariah.
Right. With this warrant. Right.
So it's not as if
anyone in the world
is going to change
how they see this based on this,
but it makes it formal.
And you've spent
a lot of time investigating
Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
So what does this mean for Putin?
Right.
He's obviously
not going to travel anywhere
that he could be arrested.
How does this impact him in Russia?
Well, it does.
And whoever
says that is going to be ignored
or maybe even hidden from the general
public is wrong or has been wrong.
We see that
leading Russian political figures
had to comment on this today
and make it even amplified in public
within Russia,
because a lot of bloggers,
a lot of people
on the Russian Telegram channel,
which is the main source of information
for most Russians
about the war
today, have started talking
about the fact that he was indicted.
And the reason
why this matters is,
first of all,
it eliminates a fantasy,
a sort of a conspiracy theory
that the Kremlin is trying
has been trying
to promulgate
among its people
that there is this global conspiracy
that protects
Putin, that protects
the big leaders,
that it's all a game that is happening
and that the West will never go
after the big wigs and like Putin.
And what happened today is literally
the top wig was was indicted
and an arrest warrant was issued.
And think about the message
that this will have
for anybody below him, because, well,
Putin will not be able to travel
or will not travel to be arrested.
I mean, a lot of people below him
who know that they're committing crimes
or they may be committing crimes
may think twice because they're younger.
They may hope to one day
have to travel
to their favorite destinations.
I mean, even the second person
who was invited, Maria Belova,
she's much younger. She will.
She has a hope for a new life
after the war.
And this acts as a deterrence to Putin's
commanders, to people
working in the system.
So to try to understand
the scope of what's happening
on the ground here.
Phil, when you look at the situation
on the ground in commute,
Ukraine is saying
Russia is slowing down their attacks.
Obviously, I was just quoting a Russian
Ukrainian soldiers saying that.
I'm sorry.
And I want to share a little bit
more about what he had to say.
He said, quote,
The enemy was in a hurry, threatening,
telling the back move, was surrounded
and sent its soldiers to be killed.
In particular, in our part of the front.
Accordingly, the fighting was as intense
as possible.
It exhausted the enemy
So, you know,
we're hearing this
from all levels
of the Ukrainian military right now,
that the Russians are exhausted.
Is that the reality?
Is that short of the way
Russians want them to see it?
And they're
they've got some kind of group coming in.
And how many Russians really are dying
right now in these battles?
Well,
I mean, there's
a few things going on here.
There seems to be, at least temporarily.
We don't know if it's a temporary
or of longer term
relenting in Russian attacks, Erin, that,
you know,
compared to last week
when they were throwing everything
in to try and take Bob Mood
and tacking on both sides
to the north
and south, trying to get over the river
and the last few days.
These offensives have stopped
and the map hasn't changed.
Now, what we don't know is
if this is the kind of thing
that is, you know, a temporary thing.
But Russia Russia's
been trying to take Bob Mood
for eight months.
Yeah, eight months.
They've been throwing troops at this town
and they still
haven't been able to take it.
So I think we can say, you know what?
The Ukrainians have done is decided.
And, you know, what we don't know is
what Ukrainian losses have been.
But the Ukrainians have made
the Russians
pay a massive price to take back mode.
And as long as the Ukrainian
losses
themselves are not is nearly as high,
then that was probably the right
strategic choice. It's a terrible battle.
It's a horrible battle,
but it's one with the Russians.
And some estimates are losing
five to one.
That was a NATO's estimate,
five to one another.
NATO's estimate was recently
the Russians in the background
area could be losing
12 to 1500 casualties a day.
Now, that's not just killed,
that's killed and wounded,
but that the Russians are losing
huge numbers of troops
to try and take this town and huge
numbers of equipment.