South korean lawmakers in the coming hours. This comes as satellite images taken friday show a military convoy eight miles long east of kharkiv that appears to be moving south. Ukraines president says victory on the battlefield will not be possible without increased international support. Translator we think this will be a new wave of this war. We dont know how much russian weaponry there will be, but we understand there will be many times more than there is now. It all depends on how fast we will be helped by the United States. To be honest, whether we will be able to survive depends on this. I have 100 confidence in our people and in our armed forces, but unfortunately, i dont have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need. Meantime, ukrainians trying to escape this conflict are increasingly at risk. As we saw with the russian strike in a traintation in kramatorsk, Officials Say the death toll has risen to 57. Almost 100 have been hurt. U. S. National security adviser Jake Sullivan says the attack look, in my opinion, the label is less important than the fact that these acts are cruel and criminal and wrong and evil and need to be responded to decisively. Cnn correspondents have spread out across the world covering this conflict from every angle. Paula hancocks in seoul, south korea. First, here is ed lavandera reporting in from the port city of odesa. Reporter on monday, we expect to see a significant meeting between the chancellor of austria, karl nehammer, and Vladimir Putin in moscow. The austrian chancellor announcing this visit on sunday, and he also says that as the country remains militarily neutral, that they that the chancellor is calling for a ceasefire and a full investigation of war crimes. So that is a significant meeting. And this comes on a day where we see continued and sustained attacks in various parts of ukraine. First we heard about the military strikes at the airport in the city of dnipro, which is close to the front lines in Eastern Ukraine. Regional official theres in dnipro say the airport has essentially been decimated. The airstrip was struck by a missile several weeks ago, but the air strikes today apparently making ate total loss in that area. And were also hearing of significant attacks and explosions and bombings in the city of mykolaiv, which is just about 85 miles east of where we are here along the coast of the black sea and the city of odesa. And all of this really comes at a really significant time in this war in ukraine, where we are seeing Russian Forces regrouping, remobilizing as they begin what is expected to be a serious assault into ukraine from the east in the donbas region. And also, one other Significant Development today. Weve learned that the Russian Military has called on general alexander dvornikov, who was known as the butcher of syria who led a Ruthless Campaign of attacking civilians and bombings of civilian neighborhoods in that war in syria. Hes expected to continue leading the forces, Russian Forces into ukraine. And by all accounts, the concern here is that we will see a dramatic escalation of targeting civilians here in this country. And that is why youre seeing so many ukrainian officials urging civilians to evacuate some of these areas in Eastern Ukraine where the worst of the fighting is expected to take place in the weeks ahead. Ed lavandera, cnn, odesa, ukraine. Well, as much of this country braces for that major assault, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly calling on World Leaders to come and support his country. The u. S. Has provided money as well as military aid and other critical resources. But some top lawmakers on capitol hill remain divided on whether thats enough. We have to be moving much faster, much more quickly, recognizing that the ukrainians now, given what theyve been able to do and how long theyve been able to fight and what theyve been able to inflict upon the Russian Forces, they need advanced weaponry. Well over a billion and a half dollars of military equipment, and thats flowing in day by day. All of the stingers and javelins and now the air defense stuff. All of that is happening. Were joined now by cnn military analyst colonel clayton. He is with us here in washington. Thank you for being with us again. We appreciate your time. I want to ask about this new field commander, Alexander Alexander dvornikov, his track record in particular, dropping barrels filled with chlorine, specializing in a scorched earth policy. It seems clear that putin has appointed a war criminal to take command of this war now here in ukraine and an already brutal conflict is about to get a lot worse. How does that play into a nay 9 deadline for russia to claim some sort of victory . Well, john, good to be with you again. This is a clear going for broke at this point. To do is to meet that may 9th deadline, they are appointing one of their most effective commanders, effective of course does not mean nice. It means somebody who has committed acts that many would consider to be war crimes, as you mention. Alexander dvornikov is somebody who has grown up in the tank business. He is a career army officer. About 60 years old, and he spent time not only in syria, but also in chechnya. And both of those areas are of course marked by a very brutal response to local conditions to local military situations. And its very clear that general dvornikov has no compunctions when it comes to exercising the power of our might. And that is what i think were going to see. Were going to see a very brutal campaign. And he is going to not stop at anything until he is directed by the Higher Authority to do so. A word of dvornikovs appointment as field commander came shortly after or around the same time as that missile strike on the train station in kramatorsk. Is it possible to know if he ordered that attack on defenseless civilians . Or is there now the expectation there will be a lot more attacks similar to that one . I think the expectation is that there will be similar attacks to the done in kramatorsk that we saw. But, john, its possible that he ordered it already because he is actually the commander of the Southern Military district in russia, and that is the military district that borders on the ukrainian border. So its possible that he was already in the chain of command for this strike on the train station. But if he wasnt, he certainly would have approved of it. Right. Just as a reminder, innocent men, women and children waiting for a train to leave the worst of the fighting, cut down and murdered. The russian attacks on the city of dnipro intensified on monday. The airport, one of the biggest in ukraine, has now been destroyed. How does that play into focusing their firepower in this area in kharkiv in the north to kerson in the south. It is kind of in the middle between kerson and kharkiv. I always thought that dnipro was a goal of the russians when they started this invasion, and now it seems that it is pretty clear that that is the case in fact. What theyre trying to do here, john, theyre trying to soften up the target. One of the things that dnipro was known for in military circles was a logistical staging area for Ukrainian Forces in the east. And the very fact that they went after the airport means that theyre going as much of the logistical infrastructure in dnipro as they possibly can. What that also means is that they are setting their sights on that city as a possible junction for forces to come in from the south as well as from the north. If they do that, if they meet in dnipro, they then would in essence cut the country in half right at that point. And that may very well be the russian war aim at this particular point in time. At least 16 russian commanders, four Lieutenant Colonels, five commanders, seven generals have been killed in this war, according to ukrainian sources. Is that an unusually high number . And what does it say . Well, for a western military, it would be an unusually high number. I also think its high for the Russian Military. Now the Russian Military has a bit of a different philosophy when it comes to putting their troops and their officers out front, especially their commanding officers. They tend to lead from the front, not that ours dont, but they end up doing things a little bit differently and tend to protect our troops and especially our commanders a bit more than they do. What is unusual about this is the fact that this loss of commanders seems very high considering the period of time that were dealing with. Its only been since february 24th and we already have a very high degree of loss in the Lieutenant Colonel and above ranks. And that very fact shows that the Russian Military believes that it needs these kinds of officers to lead their troops at the tactical level. It shows a lack of planning on their part, and it also shows an inability to use and trust their subordinate commanders. And that very fact makes it i think very difficult for them to continue these kinds of assaults. Theyll do it. Theyll continue to move forward, but at extremely high cost to their major to the main officers that they have, especially the battalion commanders and higher. And that very fact will hurt their leadership abilities and will also hurt their ability to maneuver in the field. Theyll be able to move, but they will be doing that at great cost to themselves. Colonel, thank you so much. We appreciate you being with us. You bet, john, absolutely. Lets go out now to paula. Always a pleasure, sir. Lets go back to paula in atlanta. Paula . Thanks for that. Ill pick it up from here. French voters have narrowed down their president ial candidates, and the incumbents are current president Emmanuel Macron and his far right rival Marine Le Pen. Frances interior Ministry Reports the current president won about 27 of sundays first round of voting, putting him in first place in what was a crowded field of about a dozen candidates. Le pen is in second with around 23 . The second round of voting in two weeks is set to be a rematch of the 2017 election. After the polls closed, centrist macron made his pitch, while the far right le pen made appeals to the mainstream. I want a france which inscribes itself in a strong europe, which continues to form alliances with great democracies to defend itself, not a france that exited from europe but have for its only allies the International Pop liss and xenophobes. Thats not us. People have spoken and gave me the honor to be qualified in the second round against the incumbent president Emmanuel Macron. Let me express to the millions of voters who expressed their trust in mimi sincerest gratitude. I acknowledge with humility all the responsibility that comes with it. So a repeat contest in france. Earlier i spoke with dominic thomas. He is the cnn and european news commentator and professor at ucla. He says both macron and le pen will need to overcome a few hurdles to win over the majority of the french public. You have to the right of macron, to the left of macron, over 30 of the vote. The big question is where does Emmanuel Macron turn, and where does Marine Le Pen turn. We already know that Emmanuel Macron has been endorsed by every candidate and with a relative number of votes, except for jeanluc, and mention him in a minute. And extreme right candidate who has already endorsed Marine Le Pen. Thats the great uncertainty along with the number of absentee voters. He got over 20 of the vote. What is so extraordinary about this, if you just put together one of the left wing candidates alongside him, you make up that million and vote shortfall. So in theory, he should have really made to it the second round. A and the conversation would have been very different. So the question moving ahead is who does Emmanuel Macron appeal to . Jeanluc has already told his followers not a single vote for le pen. So there is an uproad struggle for le pen trying to make those up. But the question will be for the incumbent. After five years in office, how deep can he go, and who is going to transfer his vote to him . And because those questions are being asked this time around, there is much more uncertainty over the outcome of this runoff stage. And, you know, its unclear how much this will feature into the election in terms of whats going on between ukraine and russia right now. But i am reminded that during the last election, le pen lobbied for putins support. She got it, along with a loan from russian financiers. They bankrolled a good portion of her campaign. How do you think this will feature in a vote right now, if at all . Its two sides of the coin. What we hope is there will be a debate between macron and between le pen there was no vote debate between them in the first round stage. Emmanuel macron is exceptionally strong on foreign policy. France is currently heading the european union. He has played a leadership role in a conflict around ukraine. And on other issues that have to with europe, whereas Marine Le Pen is lukewarm on europe, is absolutely determined to withdraw from nato, which seems absolutely extraordinary and seriously tainted by her longstanding relationships with russia, especially around russian finance and her refusal to back, for example, a ruschel energy embargo. Its on domestic issues that she can do very well, even though she does not have a reputation as being a great debater. That is where Emmanuel Macron now has to stand with the yellowjackets grievances, the gross mishandling as far as Public Opinion goes of the covid pandemic, his desire to increase the retirement age, cut back on social services and so on and so forth. Thats where he is exposed. And he is going to have to turn things around and convince the electorate that somehow or another over the next five years, he is the person to trust. There is one other person on foreign policy. Its deeply ironic that at this very moment in europe where we have this horrendous conflict playing out with discussions over democracy and autocracy, no matter what Marine Le Pen has tried to do to clear up her image, the fact nevertheless remains this is a far right xenophobic candidate. You vote for her, you get brexit. You vote for her, you get trumplike policies. This is not what europe needs right now. Dominic thomas, theyre setting the table for the upcoming second round of the french election. He said the big question is whether voters who sat out the first round will show up for the second. Sundays elections are significant abstentions with Voter Participation falling to a two decade low for a first round vote. It may be a sign of the french publics widespread d dissatisfaction in general with the current state of politics. Reporter sunday in paris. For many people in paris it was a laissez faire kind of day to lounge or get a drink at a cafe. There was one activity many people around the country decided to skip, voting in the first round of the countrys president ial elections. The candidates voted. 12 were in the running. But turnout for the rest of the country was less impressive. A french polling groups estimates less than 75 of voters cast their ballots, which would be the lowest turnout for a first round vote in 20 years. Some voters say they just couldnt relate to any of the candidates or their policies. No one who represents me. I think theyre disconnected and i think france is tired of this. And for those who did vote, some say it boiled down to a choice between consistency and change. This woman says she voted for incumbent president Emmanuel Macron. Im relatively satisfied with what he has done up until now. Were never 100 happy, but i think he has done a lot of good things. Reporter macrons high profile role as a mediator between russia and ukraine was a plus future some of his supporters. Well really need to have somebody who is wellpositioned in the International Landscape and the international discussions. Reporter but this woman says she wasnt satisfied with how the government handled the covid19 pandemic. Translator it is very important for me to vote because we want change. I want change because it has been two very difficult years. Reporter other issues like immigration and identity were major platforms for far right candidates like Marine Le Pen and hit home with some voters. With all these immigrants who come, france is now no longer us. Its them. Reporter others say it wasnt so much the issues that brought them out as much as it was their duty. Translator because there is see much people who fought for us to have the right to vote. So what does it take to wake up a little earlier to vote on time and express ones opinion . Reporter exit polls show macron and le pen will head to the second round of voting in two weeks. To have a shot at victory, both will need to convince the people who didnt show up sunday to not only vote on april 24th, but to vote for them. Shanghai Officials Say more covid testing is needed to help slow a surging outbreak, but residents there are clearly growing frustrated with the government lockdowns, and now a food shortage as well. A live report when we come back. Lets go on the open road with a safe stay now get double best western rewards points on every stay. And with rewards points that never expire, you get free nights fast book now at bestwestern. Com. I brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. Those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks sighs wearily here ill take that excited yell wo