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Transcript/Script
Washington Week Ahead (TV)
HEADLINE: Russia Suffers Biggest Loss Yet in War on Ukraine
TEASER: Sinking of Russian cruiser seen as victory for Kyiv; embarrassment for Moscow
PUBLISHED AT: 4/17/2022 2:40 p.m.
BYLINE: Arash Arabasadi
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: AP/ VATICAN MEDIA/ ABC “THIS WEEK”/ “FACE THE NATION”/TWITTER/ RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY/ RU-RTR
PRODUCER: Arash Arabasadi
SCRIPT EDITORS: SV, caw, MPage Sr
NOTE:
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP/ VATICAN MEDIA/ ABC “THIS WEEK”/ “FACE THE NATION”/TWITTER/ RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY/ RU-RTR
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:54
VID APPROVED BY: MPage
TYPE:
UPDATE: ))
((INTRO))
[[Ukrainian officials say their forces in the besieged city of Mariupol will not adhere to Russian demands to surrender. They are also calling for more help from Western allies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.]]
((mandatory cg VATICAN MEDIA))
((NARRATOR))
Easter Sunday at the Vatican. On what should be Christianity’s most joyful day, Pope Francis instead expressed painful solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
[RADIO TRACK: The pontiff addressed a crowd of some 50-thousand people as carried by Vatican Media.]
((mandatory cg VATICAN MEDIA))
((Pope Francis ((MAN, ITALIAN))))
“I hold in my heart all the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the divided families, the elderly left to themselves, the lives broken and the cities razed to the ground. I see the faces of the orphaned children fleeing from the war.”
((mandatory cg VATICAN MEDIA))
((NARRATOR))
Pope Francis continued by saying the victims of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine share in the suffering of those around the world dying of hunger or lack of medical care.
((NARRATOR))
Meanwhile, fighting continues in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Russian forces have reduced much of it to rubble after weeks of bombardment. Ukrainian officials say as many as 20-thousand civilians died in Mariupol, alone. The capture of Mariupol would give Russian forces a strategic victory to fully link with troops in the Donbas region.
[RADIO TRACK: Sunday, on ABC’s “This Week,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal ((DENISE SHMEE-UHL)) said soldiers in Mariupol will fight to the end, adding that civilians have borne the brunt.]
((mandatory cg ABC “This Week”))
((Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine))
“Civilians, which are suffering for more than 40 days, of this humanitarian crisis in this besieged city, and they have no water, no food, no heat, no electricity. And we ask all of our partners to support and help to stop this humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol.”
((NARRATOR))
The devastation in cities like Mariupol underscores the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid to an active war zone.
[RADIO TRACK: Sunday on CBS “Face the Nation” the U.N.’s World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley said he’s not at all confident the program can maintain food supply lines.]
((mandatory cg “Face the Nation” / Twitter))
((David Beasley, WFP Executive Director))
“We’re reaching millions of people – us and all the partners in the international community – here, inside Ukraine. But there are places that we can’t reach like in Mariupol and other places where Russian forces have besieged the city and are not allowing us the access we need. If we get the access, if we de-conflict these access points, we can reach every single person that is suffering and struggling for food.”
((mandatory cg RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY))
((NARRATOR))
The Russian Defense Ministry – labeling Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol as mercenaries from Europe and Canada – says most of the resistance is either dead or fleeing the country.
((mandatory cg RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY))
((NARRATOR))
A representative said remaining fighters, believed to be cornered in a steel mill there, were given the option to lay down their arms and surrender, an offer the fighters refused.
((mandatory cg RU-RTR))
((NARRATOR))
Russia has recently ramped-up attacks on Ukrainian military targets as likely retaliation for the sinking of Russia’s flagship of the Black Sea fleet, the Moskva, seen here in archival footage. Russia claimed a fire onboard caused the ship’s sinking, but the U.S. backs Ukraine’s claim for credit of sending the guided-missile cruiser to the sea floor. Ukraine’s leader asked for U.S. President Joe Biden to visit the embattled nation. Arash Arabasadi, VOA News.
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington D. C.
Embargo DateApril 17, 2022 15:26 EDT
Byline
Arash Arabasadi, VOA News.
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
