the, the, you're watching dw ne, was coming to you live from berlin, your brain, so as a controls, 1000 square kilometers of russian territory. vladimir food and orders, his army to fight off the biggest for an attack on russian soil. since the 2nd world war tanks and troop reinforcements are sent to the course region, also ahead on our ship today. emergency cruise bottle while fires threatening athens, greece asks for europe and union for help as firefighters warrant the places are spreading like lightning. thousands have been forced to flee to safety. and the

leader of a canyon at doomsday set to goes on trial. over the depths of hundreds of followers he allegedly convinced to star themselves to death. the choir richardson. thank you so much for joining us. your brain. so is it now control was around a 1000 square kilometers of russian territory gives surprise offensive the biggest attack on russian soil since the 2nd world war has prompted a swift response. president vladimir putin has sent a tank and for reinforcements to the course region, he accuses ukraine of sewing on rest and trying to gain leverage before any possible piece. talks of the thousands of people moving to say for places as ukrainian troops sees control of dozens of russian villages, the reporting to russian president vladimir putin,

the governor of curse, set ukraine had widened its area of control on the stage, showed images, thoughts of the situation in the course of agent is difficult to understand. 28 such a minutes on the enemy control was with somebody sitting on the, on the bus. the best for you. there was no clay front line. and the problem we have is understanding where the enemy combat units all around a 1000 ukranian troops runs through the russian border last week into the cortex region with tanks and armored vehicles. they have now advanced into neighboring belgrade. ukraine says it controls about a 1000 square kilometers, an area big of the new york city and cars cologne. i guess. the surprise attack, expose the weakness of russian border defenses in the area president below the meters to lensky, who only acknowledge the incursion over the weekend says ukraine will offer

humanitarian assistance to evacuate on the ukraine. inside of the border. the russian army is scrambling to contain the breach and has been forced to call in reserves. it has released images of what it says or strikes on ukrainian tags, and clerks. 14 says most goes army will prevail, suitable symbols they're giving people. i'm sure it appears that the enemy with the help of west and masters, is fulfilling the will on the west as pricing as with the hands of the ukrainians, agreeing to that. but i mean, when you see the enemy, you will get a decent response and all goes will be achieved. the russian volunteers are distributing humanitarian aid to his activities, arriving at temporary accommodations, making them painfully aware of the impact of a war. the poor team has tried to shield them from i'd like to bring in, yvonne

a stratton, or a research fellow specializing and russian security and military strategy at the foundation for defense of democracies. that's a washington based think tank. welcome to dw those. so the kremlin, as we've seen in that last report, no longer able to hide this from russians. how has bruton been trying to do damage control? the same? did they were not able to find this. as a matter of fact, telegram channels had been reporting about these extensively and they have no choice but to play. now, the victims, last week you had the numerous attempts actually to hide this situation. but now the kremlin actually has stated that you claim the, with the health of british intelligence, they're trying actually to board tonight to sort of discourage within the country and to completely destroy, you put in our regime. basically now you're playing the victim on trying to blame

the wes for plotting a new color for lucian to me. it was also very interesting to actually observed how they connect to this whole situation. we do call ups this argument union and to claim that the russia has to be non united. as matter of fact, they're now targeting specifically to use in trying also to connect this with the latest attempts to a band and then to disable you to but also what's up is signal message. so to completely prevent the information space has been claimed that is old kalani, they organize their to target the russians. not only that, actually, they also claim that ukraine has done this with the help of the west to have a better sense of when it comes to negotiation. so now they're blaming the west also for that particular for that particular i think it's coming up as from many

different angles. one thing that i think is interesting also here is that fusion has been criticized from within russia. from within his own party, one lawmaker claiming that there was intelligence about ukraine's plans well ahead of the incursion. what do you think went wrong here? or indeed, i have also noticed a couple of people within the russian government. blake and goals have put in for his failure to warn the russians of the situation and claim actually that there were numerous intelligence reports. uh, did you create was already under porter. so here is that the, uh, there is a high level of the rights and nationalism within the russia. we can, which means that the russians are not going to per diem putting his weakness. that's his biggest problem in that is they have a loaner ability. and this is precisely why he's now trying to blame the west

force owing to this court within the country, the trying to unite the russians over the situation. but make no mistake. this is putting his weakness and odd that is something that he peers more than anything else. does russia have the resources to fight ukraine on this new front? as you have just stated earlier that they are trying now to mobilize from reserves, which tells you really all you need to know death brushes performance in ukraine. it's not going well. that's pretty clean. so, um, at the moment when you start pulling people from reserves, is going to, i believe, a cause more trouble is for putting those some. so some people, you know, leaving the width as a matter of fact. we also knew the previous words, such as the warrant of damage, was in part in the large part stop also by the russians. and the rushing monitors

who protested back down to regime there were standing argued on the and then other countries to fight for. so let's see, you know, whether this is going to cause more trouble within the rock within russia. as of today, i do not believe that something like daddy's going to bring proteins raging down, but make no mistake. this definitely shows pretty is weakness. and that's something that we should be watching more closely. it is interesting to see those fractures there. i'm sure is also just looking at this one military perspective. when you look at ukraine's incursion here, whether we think this will change russia's strategy in the long term. well, they have to look at reinforcing other longer parts of the border. so russia strategies definitely in the long run, which means that putting wants to make this work attracted war. he does not need to, we need 2024, and he's totally going to be fine to me this for as long as possible to exhaust the

west, especially now we do use selections. so i would not be, i don't believe you know, that this is going to completely change what is trackage when it comes to crate. however, i do believe that this expose putting what is pulling her ability within uh, within rush. but never the less we have to perceive this warrant to put in his lenses because he strategy is a strategy in the long run. and that's why we should not relax right now that are in fact we should continue sending boulder weapons. ukraine needs to wait. okay, thank you very much for joining us on d. w. newsletters of on a strident are with the foundation for defense of democracies. thank you very much for inviting or greece has asked me your opinion for help with battling wildfires that are threatening the capital. athens, thousands of people have been forced to flee as firefighters and military personnel use helicopters to try to contain the voices which are now burning for

a 2nd. today. strong winds and april long to ground our fueling, the flames, and the attic origin. north east of the capital houses have caught fire, and hospitals and schools are closed. fire fighters, battle aggressive wild fires as they sweep across forest and suburbs. newest of athens residents are also doing that bit to help keep the plays at bay phenomena. so most of the big randy hurts as far as this, where we grew up, it makes us very sad and angry. and there are real risks to guessing to close of the site and surround it. man, i couldn't see i hit the pine tree and this happened to dry conditions and strong winds have helped the fire spread easily. it is already engulfed,

largest waves of woodland and olive groves over night. police have been helping elderly, invulnerable people evacuate from the west, effected there is a blanket of smoke from the fire as covering this aston sub where residents a toll to stay inside. with windows locked grease is currently experiencing the hot to some of the on record, creating the perfect conditions for science to spread. this week alone off of the country is on the red deluxe for wild foil hazards. let's get across to athens to speak with our correspondents, sophia class talk. he has been out all day reporting on these wildfires as of it. so if you're can you give us an update on the situation at this hour?

the situation remains extremely difficult, clear. they're called something new outbreaks, the fires spreading rapidly because of the very strong wind since yesterday. and right now the 5 forces are facing several problems, right. outside of athens. so in the, in the area and then my, the phone, us in, in release. yeah. in the, on the shows and just to give you an idea that the fire had burned about 100 square kilometers by now, according to estimates by the national him is, are logical service of athens and the local media. talk about a mega fire. tell us a little bit more about what you saw in your reporting and, and how important the wind is as a factor here. i understand that that's important to the spread of these fires. as absolutely the wind is the most important factor right now. as due to a strain, the fire spread so exceedingly rapid that the fire forces um um channels operate.

so um, so um um quick and also what i, what i saw being her there several houses, cars burned down and business is burning down also in the area. uh the moment we were there talking to people we heard explosions, we um, we found out that were businesses with uh with um, chemicals, and that's what caused the explosions. so literally everything melting in the flames. the ashes coming down covering everything. and we saw people drenching their houses, making fire breaks, holding branches in their hands, volunteers helping house owners who refused to evacuate, despite the messages from, from the government, and many complaining. also that was especially the model on us area complaining about that there were enough horses operating so many dissatisfied with the government response here you've mentioned many people are staying behind to try to

protect their own homes. it sounds like they are not taking heed of authorities urging to evacuate the area or exactly so, so many people i spoke to. they were in a, in a, they were in the state of shock. um they saw like literally behind the houses, the sink, smoke coming down from the mountain. and of course the air quality for some state indoors in there was a deep sense of anxiety as the fire came closer. so despite the orders of the authorities to, to evacuate, they uh preferred to stay and um they were telling us that they want to wait until the last moment. so the lady was literally holding her, her teeth in her hands. um having her car ready putting the docks inside and told she will wait until the last the 2nd where she cannot stay there anymore. as her house was one of the 1st ones close to to the fire and other um,

the older man was telling us that he won't leave his house behind. as she was also one of the more angry ones complaining about. there wasn't an operating enough forces that he won't leave his property. he worked so hard for me and he so live. so we saw people staying there watching the plains and, and kind of waiting for the last seconds. absolutely. nightmare scenarios for people who could be facing life or death scenarios here. greek authorities, they've, they've warranty but a full half of the country faces a high risk of fires. do these high temperatures, the strong winds? can you give us an outlook of what the conditions are looking like for the days ahead? exactly, so the, so the forecasts for the coming days is indeed very concerning. clear. the high temperatures will continue, and most importantly, the strong winds will continue, that has been fueling the situations and these fires. so it's expected to continue if not worse then. and this,

this combination of the dry weather conditions and makes the perfect conditions to, to spread. also, so rather be, which make it so extremely difficult by now. so um emergency services, i am sailor across the country and it's not just the advocate region. it's, it's free. it's part of the companies, it's in the north part of the facility. so the whole country is effective and presidents are being arch to stay on alert. well, thank you so much for your reporting on this today. that is our correspondent, associate left hockey. fortunately now to some other news, i'm oss says it's militants habit shots, and killed one male hostage being held in garza and wounded. 2 more, both of them women, intel, of the relatives and supporters gather weekly, demanding an immediate deal to secure the release of the remaining is rarely hostages. i'll send you the militants kidnapped 251 people in the cross border rates on october 7th, over a 100 have been freed,

but it is not clear how many are still being held a live. a mosque considered a terrible group by many countries, posted its statement on telegram is the 1st time the group has made such a declaration. it usually attributes hostage tax to is rarely bombardments on gaza . go on this developing story from our correspondent tanya kramer. she joins me now from jerusalem. tanya, what is the latest you can tell us? here it was for the moment we have the statement from the spokes person of the cause, some brigades us, he said, it's a bit of an unusual statement announcing earlier tonight that in 2 separate incidents, militants guarding hostages, shot and killed one hostage and also injured. 2 female hostages, a serious see the statement also said that they are currently being treated to save their lives. the statement does not identify the hostages and said that they are

looking into it and that they will give more information at a later stage. no, the, it's really military has reacted to that and said they do not have a more intelligence currently. they cannot either refute or confirmed these claims and they also will try to verify those claims getting more information. now of course, this highlights you know, the absolute need. what hosted the families of the hostages that are still held in garza police to be a $115.00. and as he said, we don't know how many of them are still alive a. so it really underlines the necessity that they will be a c store and hostage steve that would see those hostages release. and this is nowhere to be seen. again, people going out on the streets demonstrating and calling on the government to get such a deals done. and this of course has happened just days before we are expected. fresh ceasefire talks to begin. they are expected to start on thursday. do you

think this could have an effect? so i think it's a bit too early to speculate what impact this particular incident has been there already. a lot of doubts about these talks are there were scheduled late last week by the mediators, egypt kata, and the united states, so that they would meet for a new round of talks on thursday. and this one has also said that they will send a delegation. now how much on sunday night they have said that they don't want to see a new round of talks, but bother with go to agreements that were made in previous talks based on the plan that was presented by us. president joe biden late in may, and that they agreed upon on certain issues that's according to on us in july. so this a senior more as a maybe a tactical step. it doesn't mean necessarily that they're not part of the negotiations, but they put more doubts, of course, on these talks. and of course,

all of this comes when the reason is really on edge right now. them more and more warnings here been heard today again, assessments that an attack by retaliatory attack by iran has the law might be immune and you've been in that situation already a week ago, but we've just heard tonight the military spokes person saying that is rotors for pet, a peek readiness, and offense and defense. and of course, if something like that happens, then that could also do writers such as these photo talks. tanya, thank you. as always for your reporting, that is our corresponding to tanya kramer in jerusalem. now the leader of a canyon doomsday calls has gone on trial, over the death of more than $400.00 of his followers fall. mckenzie allegedly incited people to starve themselves to death so that they could supposedly meet jesus. he is now accused of multiple counts of manslaughter. dw, east africa bureau chief, mario miller reports the hundreds of 3rd bodies were found in this remote stretch

of land near the coastal city of melody. many of them stuff to some had been strangled and bludgeoned. only a few naturally survived. what happened this man, a form, a taxi driver turn, self proclaimed past the name. pul mckenzie. brainwashed people into thinking they would meet jesus if they stuff themselves. and even the children to death, believing his preaching that the world would soon come to an end. and with cold, but stoking those v as many followed his older survive us allow, marsha was pressure to pay the past is otis by our husband until monday i want to just was own go to from going to do i asked him how the kids would fast and then if there was food inside the house with them the one he said, the kids needed to fast to my bed and that they would eat once they died and met jesus from 2020 to 2023. at least 436 kaufman bus. died

in the country that counts itself among africa's most modern and stable nations. people have struggled to understand how law enforcement missed the signs. how did mackenzie had a history of extremism in classes with the law managed to keep his desk called hidden for so long? the government has been trying to regain the nations trust the government of can you will do whatever it takes to make sure such an equal, evict mr. mckenzie and all those who helped him perpetrate these heinous crimes that the pay with this if this is most painful punishment available. mackenzie and 94 of his help is now facing charges of murder, terrorism, manslow, to among other crimes. they have pleaded not guilty to old charge and while

multiple trials are expected to last them separately, is numerous. grapes are still being found. only $34.00 to $436.00 bodies has been identified so far can only now be returned to their relatives. turning out his mother news, germany's air force has been taking part in air drills in india along with natal partners including france, spain, and the u. k. is the very 1st time german forces have practiced and exercises with india to w. sandra peters man has more or the touch the sky with glory. that's the chosen motto of in the air force. many of it's tied to just refreshing and rich, and with a fleet of close to 2000 aircraft, it's the 4th largest in the wood off to the us, russia, and china. for the past week,

the indian air force has been hosting for european nato countries and the big joint address. and it's a base and sewer in the southern states of time. united amongst the guests. germany's air force, which made india the last stop it specific skies, exercises the offers chief himself to one of germany's your real fight tests from malaysia to india. from the german perspective, the joint maneuver is much more than just an ad, right. it's also a political and strategic statement. we see that this area because we think is a very, very important area for basically the whole good. and we want to work with partners to make this area safe. the area this is the 1st time german forces have participated in any maneuver in india. germany had long been has a tent about close defense cooperation with india,

mainly because of the kashmir conflict and human rights concerns. but the rest of the invasion of ukraine and china is actions in the, in the pacific have really shifted strategic thinking. i think, you know, it is a very unruly broad in between right now. you need partners across the globe, not only in europe that really with whom you share the same values and india in a weight is a democracy with the state, the democracy with the very sound constitution sounds democracy. we switch the share many, many views on the word and just like germany, india is looking at new partners as relations between russia and china. ro, noticeably wilma, india is seeking, reliable, allows to address its own china challenge and it's in the ring for the dispute. but the indian actually is quick to emphasize that the exercise is not directed against anyone. and i don't think we are training to um, operate against any one particular nation. auto redwood city is just uh,

an answering the interoperability and, you know, enhancing the, the but i mean between df was as primitive but india is also in western countries like germany, full potential stats. as it seeks to calculate distance itself from its largest supply of russia, ukraine, war and west and sanctions have made deliveries of space and munitions much more difficult. any kind of the technology transfer to joined wrenches is always welcome . we would like to partner with the industry that can offer as a model if know how better than just no way and any, any partnership is most welcome. in short, both india and germany view. the intensifying defense cooperation is crucial in the rapidly changing global order. to just before we go, let's get

a reminder of our top story. at this hour, president vladimir putin has ordered his army to fight off the biggest for an attack on russians. well, since the 2nd world war, ukraine says it has gained control of 1000 square kilometers of russian territory in the south western course region. and that is our show for now, but stay with us if you can after a short break, i'll be back to take you through the headlines in the day. i'm sorry, richardson, thank you so much for watching the

crimes of the nazis and systematically planned to atrocities towards the end of the war was also systematic noon as operation. 1005 western ukraine researchers are uncovering a lesser known chapter of the war crimes. so the victims and their families can finally find some he's in 45 minutes on d, w. the in

the flow to do you do to isolate the tenant she survived illustrates thanks to music. he was the nazi's favorite conductor, is more on the the genuine to musicians under the swastika, a documentary about this sounds of power, inspiring story about survival of the home and you go get the tennis. i was the only one, usually in nazi germany. watch now on youtube dw documentary, the sharing the experience that just came off of the to julie

zullie, the inventory, and click the ukraine says it has seized a 1000 square kilometers of russian territory in less than a week. that's a bit more than the area covered by new york city, and roughly the same area that russia has captured in ukraine since the start of this year. and the lightning strike across the border appears to have comp, moscow unaware, but president vladimir fujen has been on t v with the message that ukraine has failed in this attempt to destabilize his government. whatever ukraine is attempting to do, the operation that seems far from over. i'm clear, richardson in berlin, you are watching the day the.