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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i am caitriona perry in washington. this is bbc world news america. as ukraine prepares to mark the second anniversary of russia's invasion, we had to the front line. israeli prime minister presents his first official day after plan for the gaza strip once the war is over. as cease-fire talks are underway in paris. republicans in the u.s. come out in defense of infertility treatments after a state court in alabama classifies embryos as children. ♪

>> hello and welcome to world news america. i'm caitriona perry. washington sanctioning more than 500 people and entities it has are helping moscow invade -- evade existing sanctions. they were announced a day before the russian invasion of ukraine and followed the death of alexei navalny. among the targets announced by the u.s. department of treasury, russia's main payment card network, which the u.s. says is helping russia stay connected to the global financial system. a manufacturing hub where the u.s. says russia is assembling uranium built drones. and three german nationals said they help evade sanctions on precious gems. they are also aimed at firms involved in 3d printing. the u.s. claims russia is using that technology to build planes and weapons. in a statement, the u.s. treasury secretary said russia's

economy and military industrial base are showing clear signs of weakness. but we must sustain our support for ukraine even as we we can russia's war machine. the support she is referring to is u.s. military aid which has been held up in congress for months. a bipartisan group of u.s. senators marked the war's forthcoming second anniversary in kyiv, meeting president volodymyr zelenskyy and the minister of defense. ukraine warns it will be unable to hold back russian invasion forces without enough military aid. as andrew hiding our reports from ukraine's eastern front, two years of war have already taken an enormous toll on the nation. >> two years of war seen through the struggles of one ukrainian doctor. this was the first time we met him back in 2022. in the besieged town. he had just joined ukraine's army as a volunteer medic.

he drove us to his unit near the front lines. >> from russia, a bomb. >> in those early days, he was full of confidence, smiling. but the russians are pushing now. coming a lot. >> may be 1.5 months and we will shoot every russian. >> you push them out? you think you are winning this? >> yes. >> but within weeks, the russians have destroyed and captured the town. >> nice to meet you. >> it would be a year before we met him again. his medical team is now working in another frontline town. lots of casualties from ukraine's struggling counteroffensive. the dangers growing. >> i'm still alive. >> you are still alive, yes.

>> but it has been a difficult year. >> what a difficult. >> as if to prove the point, incoming fire. you are not worried about your safety? >> my faith is -- i don't know. >> and now two years into the war, we have come to meet his team once again. as usual, they are in the thick of it. this time in another furious battle underway. russia now inching forwards. the gunfire is ukrainian troops trying to shoot down a suspected russian drone they heard

overhead. we have taken cover under some trees. not sure if they have hit it. the ukrainians have found a new russian target. but what of him? we lost touch with him for several months. but now hear news of an attack last october. a russian rocket hit the field hospital he was working in. three medics were killed. but he survived. his leg badly mangled. >> my friend died. it is difficult for me and my mind has changed after that. >> you are hopeful ukraine could win. when we met, you were tired and worried. very tired. and now how do you feel about the war? can ukraine win? >> yes, of course.

i hope. but i think it is where we belong -- i think it will be long. >> medals and an early retirement for him after two years that have transformed every life in this country. andrew harding, bbc news. >> as the united states targets those who it says were responsible for alexei navalny's death, a spokesperson for the late opposition leader says there threatening to bury him at the arctic prison where he died last week. his mother has reportedly been given the choice between accepting that arrangement or agreeing to a secret burial without mourners. the kremlin denies allegations it was involved in mr. navalny's death. those denials from the crime are getting short drift in washington, hence the sanctions. but the question being asked is a simple one, will they work?

let's talk more about that with daniel friede, a retired u.s. diplomat who served as the coordination for sanctions policy under president obama and former ambassador to poland. thank you for joining us. you drafted that first set of sanctions following the original incursion in 2014 of russia into ukraine. what do you make of what you have seen today? >> it is an extensive list. it is a big one. you have covered the highlights. i wish it had been sharper in some places. i really wish we had made progress ongoing after the russian sovereign assets that we in the g7 locked down two years ago. that is $300 billion of perfectly good money we should be using to help ukraine. not much progress, that is not the american's fault, i think the holdup is in europe. but i would like to see progress there. i would also like to see progress going after the evaders

networks. we know a lot of goods now get into russia through third countries. there was some of that in today's package. i wish there had been more. it is a good package. but to answer your larger question, does it work? yes, it is having an effect, it is hitting the russian economy. the bad news, it will not hit it fast enough to save ukraine unless we provide -- the americans -- provide them the ammunition and give them the money. >> we are two years into this russian invasion into ukraine. we have seen many sanctions from the u.s., the eu, the u.k. yet we are at a point where we see russia making advancements in ukraine. we've heard president zelenskyy talk about how treacherous things are on the front lines. the death in prison of alexei navalny. have they had an impact on president putin and what he's planning?

>> sanctions alone are not going to win the war for ukraine. that was clear to us in 2014. sanctions are only part of the picture. right now, we need to get ukraine the weapons it needs, the artillery it needs to defend itself, the longer-range it needs to take the fight to the russians. that is what we need. can sanctions work? yes. they can help accelerate the decline of the russian economy. now we are putting everything into the military. the civilian economy will decline. we have seen this before, it is called the decline and fall of the soviet union. i'm so old i was around then, i know what happened. the economic pressure then and today can have similar results. we have to mean it. that will not help ukraine because it may not happen fast enough. we have to do what we can for ukraine and keep the pressure on russia. >> why do you think president

biden did not go as far enough as you would have liked to see him go? >> on the russian sovereign assets, the united states shouldn't move alone. and i think some of the europeans are still reluctant to move. we need to move together on this. i think the biden people are trying. but we are not there yet. we need to get there. the sooner the better. >> do you expect a follow-up to this that will include that, more sanctions on companies operating those so-called third countries? >> i hope so. sure. we need to dry up the evaders networks. there was some of that in today's package, so i'm not complaining. but we need to make it hot and expensive to evade sanctions. and we need to take seriously the russian sovereign assets we have immobilized. i don't want to hear from the international lawyers it is a violation of this or that.

we are dealing with a war. legally we can do this. now we need to go on and take the step. >> what is your view of the coordination between the u.s., u.k., and eu when it comes to the sanctions? >> it is excellent. early on, the u.s. made the decision we were not going to go unilateral. we were going to work with the eu especially in those days before brexit. i have to say the u.k. really helped us a lot. the british did what the british are good at, guiding the americans and helping us walk through the maze of european politics. now i think the coordination continues to be good. it is g7, it is solid. but solid coordination isn't enough. we need to keep pushing ahead. >> we will wait to see what u.s. congress does on the funding bill. >> it is on them. it is a shameful period. we need to take this seriously. we cannot abandon ukraine and

abandon our own leadership role. it is as bad now as it was in the late 1930's when the isolationist -- the america first crowd of those days, was indifferent to british and french security. how did that end up for you, the french, for us? poland? no. been there, done that. don't want to do it again. >> daniel friede, former u.s. ambassador to poland and many other things, thank you for joining us on bbc news. >> thanks for having me. >> negotiations in paris are working to broker a temporary cease-fire between israel and hamas and the release of israeli hostages before the monthly holy month -- the muslim holy month of ramadan begins. qatar, egypt, and the u.s. met with the head of israel's mossad intelligence agency on friday. the leader of hamas wrapped up talks in cairo. the u.s. secretary of state called israel's expansion into

new settlements in the occupied west bank inconsistent with international law. the comments signal a return to long-standing u.s. policy on the issue, which had been reversed under the previous administration of donald trump. we can talk about all of this now with our state department correspondent tom bateman. talk us through the background to this policy. it is not new, what anthony black and has announced. >> it is not new because since 1978, it is a legal opinion by the state department the u.s. has regarded jewish sediment to the occupied west bank as inconsistent with international law. what changed was under the trump administration. in 2019, then secretary of state mike pompeo declared that policy effectively, it was no longer enforced. the u.s. did not regard the building of settlements, israeli settlements in the west bank, as a breach of international law. now since present a biden came to power, the administration has

asked repeatedly about the issue. does it regard settlements as inconsistent with international law or not? it has always fudged that answer and never said whether or not it was overturning the trump position. what we got today was a very clear line from antony blinken when he was asked the question by a reporter. he said the u.s. regards settlements in the occupied west bank as inconsistent with international law. returning to the original u.s. position and reversing president trump's era pronouncement. >> given all that is going on, what is the significance of the u.s. making this move at this time? >> ever since the hamas attacks of october 7, you have seen the u.s. continue to give backing to israel in the form of weapons transfers and in the forms of providing protection of the united nations. which now you have the security council, a vote having called for an immediate cease-fire. the u.s. is the single country vetoing that.

continuing its isolation. it is giving israel the space to carry on in gaza. that has put president biden under considerable pressure from those who believe this catastrophically high civilian death toll of palestinians in gaza should not be taking place. they want a cease-fire. you see the administration trying to increasingly callout the israelis about activities in the west bank, sanctioning violent settlers, and also the pronouncement reversing the trump era position on settlements. i think it is a sign of the great frustration and irritation by mr. biden of some of the policies benjamin netanyahu has enacted. >> tom bateman, thank you. all of this comes as israel's prime minister shared his postwar plans with his cabinet ministers. benjamin netanyahu is facing pressure to end the war set off by hamas' october 7 attacks. the u.s., israel's major ally, once the west bank-based palestinian authority to govern gaza after the war.

but the plan mr. netanyahu presented on thursday night makes no mention of the palestinian authority. under his plan, israel would maintain security control over the entire area west of jordan, from land, sea, and air indefinitely. meanwhile, approved palestinians with no links hostile to israel would be allowed on the territory. he maintains his stance against any unilateral recognition by western countries of palestinian state. his vision includes the radicalization programs that would be promoted in allred religious, educational, and welfare institutions. there would be a southern closure on the territory's board or with egypt to prevent smuggling both under and over ground. under the scheme, the prime minister aims to shut the u.n. body responsible for palestinian refugees and replace it with international aid organizations. a correspondent -- our correspondent has more. >> in benjamin netanyahu's vision of the future, a demilitarized gaza would be run

by a local palestinian -- by local palestinian officials. israel would maintain security control over the territory indefinitely. a spokesperson described his plan as doomed to fail. mr. netanyahu has been under some pressure almost since the war began to come up with a proposal for how he sees gaza looking after that war finishes. i think you can read into some of his proposals. the fact he is trying to perhaps appeal to some of the right-wing coalition partners he has. but also to right-wing voters and try and restore a crumbling reputation as a leader who can keep israel safe. >> ahead of the u.n. body response for palestinian refugees, warning gaza reached a breaking point. unicef has 90% of children under the age of two and 95% of

pregnant and breast-feeding women face severe food poverty. two thirds of the population eat only once a day. the central kitchen is becoming a key resource as owners operations dwindle following the suspension of funds from several countries pending an investigation that a small number of employees had links to hamas and the october 7 attacks. since the conflict began, teams have served more than 30 million meals in gaza by establishing a flagship relief kitchen in rafa and more than 60 community kitchens. nearly 400 palestinians work in these kitchens, making over 170,000 hot meals every day. currently, world central kitchen accounts for 62% of all nongovernmental aid that is coming into gaza. we spoke to its founder and chief feeding officer. thank you for being with us again on bbc news. we saw earlier this week the world food program saying it was having to pull out of northern gaza because of the security situation.

how are your operations in that region? >> the world food program, the different u.n. organizations are saying about security inside gaza, it is true. it is very difficult for the humanitarian organizations. not only just the u.n., but organizations like world central kitchen used to be delivering the food in a safe way to the different warehouses, different kitchens, different schools, hospitals, temporary refugee camps, because the need is so huge. when we are trying to go to the north, you will have roadblocks in the middle of the streets where hundreds, if not thousands of people will try to get the food we are trying to deliver to places that are in more need. so the situation is as bad as everyone is describing. especially anything north.

all of these areas are in desperate need of food, water, and medical aid right now. >> have you managed to get any of your supplies into northern gaza? recently i saw you have been doing air drops. >> yes. at the moment, we have 61 kitchens. we have five warehouses. we have been able to put over 1100 trucks. but this is only a drop of water in an ocean of need. sometimes once in a while, we are able to reach some locations in the north. different hospitals. like the jordanian hospital and others. but sometimes we are not able to do this with consistency. because of the situation, we are in the middle of a war zone. that is why everyone is asking for a cease-fire. sometimes our bombings right and

left. sometimes there are roadblocks. etc. but the entire community needs to be supporting, especially aid to the north. like the airdrop you are mentioning. this was only a little mission in partnership with the jordanian air force and the dutch air force to deliver food to these jordanian hospitals. food and medicine. i think it is a great idea that we do a massive airdrop in the northern part of gaza so hundreds of thousands can receive food. not in a week, not in a month, but today. we need to be creative, including arriving to the beaches of the northern part of gaza to try and bring food. until we are able to use more than one entry point into gaza. because right now that is not enough.

if we can have three or four points of entry, all everything becomes easier. especially if we achieve a cease-fire, or the hostages are released, where peace goes back to the places should be, where people have time for negotiations, and where civilians stop dying, where hospitals get the aid they need, and where civilians can have your access to food and water everything will day. >> i want to ask about rafa. you have some kitchens set up. there are still airstrikes. and we hear from the idf israel is resolute in its plans for a grand operation in rafa in the coming weeks. what is your operation like and can you continue to operate their? >> we continue to operate there. when i was there in december, sometimes you would see bombings here and there. and we are worried for everyone in rafa. let's hope today -- we saw

president biden doing a tweet saying one thing is to be fighting hamas, and the other is to be fighting the more than 2.1 million palestinians in gaza. so i do believe everyone will agree with this. civilians cannot be suffering the consequences of a terrorist group. so far, more needs to be done to protect every single life of every single civilian. even some people will argue israel had the right to defend themselves. but one thing is clear, food and water is a universal right. not children, not women, not elderly should be going anymore looking for food and going hungry. right now, the situation, especially in the northern part of gaza is starting to be a problem. it is desperate. people are going hungry. the international community needs to do more to make sure

every single palestinian is fed today. >> we wish you the best with your efforts to feed so many people in need. jose andres, chef and founder of world central kitchen. thank you for joining us. on friday, alabama's attorney general declared he will not prosecute ibf providers or families. his statement follows a controversial supreme court ruling last week that embryos should be considered children and individuals can be held liable for their destruction. at least three providers in the state have halted the fertility procedure out of concern that mishandling the fertilized eggs could lead to lawsuits preyed several republicans have come out against the ruling and spoke in support of ibf, including alabama's governor, kay ivey, who said "we were to foster a culture of life. this certainly includes some couples hoping and praying to be parents who utilize ibf." she said "republican colleagues are working on a solution to protect these families and life itself."

former president trump also declared his support for the treatment, calling on the state legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to reserve the availability of ibf in alabama. that is it for narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ amna: good evening. geoff: on the newshour tonight, on the eve of of the two-year anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine, you speak to a top state department official and a ukrainian soldier about the state of the war. >> we have nothing to lose. if we lose the war, we will lose everything. amna: the boyfriend of the dual russian american citizen speaks out after she was arrested in russia on charges of treason. geoff: