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a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. announcer: 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" ♪ anchor: this is bbc world news america. nato leaders gathering in washington for a summit designed to boost support for ukraine. with level conflicts at the forefront of the summit, we take a closer look at how they disproportionately impact women and girls. and dozens of people reportedly killed in an airstrike at a

school in gaza, shattering displaced families. ♪ hello and welcome to world news america, i am caitríona perry. the ukrainian president among the world leaders convening here in washington for a major nato summit. the war in ukraine expected to take center stage. president zelenskyy said he would press stern arrow -- allies for more air defenses to help cancer -- counter russia's increasingly brazen airstrikes and reduce civilian casualties. on the eve of the gathering, a barrage of strikes across ukraine killed more than 40 people and left a children's hospital in ruins. president zelenskyy says moscow must be held accountable for the attack. our ukrainian correspondent has more. a warning, you may find some of

the images in his report of setting. reporter: a view you wouldn't have seen yesterday. for a ukrainian emergency worker , demolition is part of the job description. this was a russian missile that has left a mark because of who and what it hit -- a children's hospital full of patients. dimitri leads a team of volunteers that help clear missile debris created with the full-scale invasion and easier than ever. >> it is not ordinary work. but yesterday we were desperate because it is a hospital for children. it is very terrible. reporter: kyiv has strongly rejected moscow's claim that this was caused by ukrainian

missile, saying it was russia and liberally launched. the attack has posed difficult cushions for ukraine, several missiles hit the target in the center of the city. as far ask kyiv is concerned the need for missiles is even greater. if the risk to life increases it could only impact morale. valentina, a nurse, was working on the ward when the attack happened. she tells us some of the hospital's 600 or so patients are being denied critical care. >> here we help children with complicated diseases. it's an important place for the whole country. i cannot believe my eyes that such tragedy happened here. it's a horror for ukraine and everyone. we ask the world to stop this war and stop this nightmare, for our children not to suffer.

reporter: cleanups like this have been replicated across kyiv with bodies still being found in other districts. this is one of the worst strikes since the start of the full-scale invasion, now 2.5 years ago. for ukrainians it feels longer. james waterhouse, bbc news. anchor: nato is expected to offer ukraine a bridged membership. they most recently extended membership to finland and sweden last year and this year. both finland and sweden had maintained military neutrality for decades but applied for nato ever ship shortly after russia invaded ukraine in 2022. nato was formed a few years after world war ii by 12 countries originally including the u.s. at that time the purpose was to block the expansion of the soviet union in europe. under article five, members are

bound by a pledge to defend each other. if one memory state is attacked it is cute as an attack on all. they are also expected to spend at least 2% of the value of your economies on defense each year. the nato secretary-general said this years a summit aims to increase that defense spending as well as other key goals as outlined by the u.s. national security advisor jake sullivan. >> in the coming days nato will announce robust new measures of support, including a new nato military command in germany led by a three star general that will launch a train, equipping and force developing program for ukrainian troops. a pledge from all i lies to collectively provide -- all allies to collectively provide at least 40 billion euros of assistance this year and a new nato senior representative in kyiv, f appointed by the

secretary-general, that will deepen the alliance and serve as the focal point for nato engagement with senior craney and officials. anchor: joining me from the summit is the bbc's helena humphrey. what are we expecting to happen tonight, president biden is expected to make remarks. reporter: it will be a high-stakes address it is fair to say. you might be able to hear the marine orchestra playing behind me as we wait for president biden to arrive at the auditorium. this was somewhere witness to history in 1949 when the nato treaty was signed in the ashes of world war ii and i think it's fair to say that democrats hope history won't be made here for the wrong reason. we are hoping for a smooth performance from president biden amid concerns following his debate performance some 12 days ago. in terms of what president biden will try to do, he will emphasize the strength of the

nato alliance at a time when it is larger than ever before, 32 member states including sweden and finland and also speak about the fact that there are more countries paying a greater share of their gdp for defense, now standing at two thirds. during the trump administration, they were trying to say they are in a strong position. also we want the smooth performance, we know today on capitol hill, congressional democrats were having the serious conversation about the way forward for president biden's candidacy. anchor: as the summit gets underway on a grand scale tomorrow, ukraine will be a particular focus. no membership invitation to issue but what will be discussed as we know at this time? reporter: absolutely, front and

center will be shoring up further support for ukraine and president zelenskyy arrived in washington today with a devastating case study in his pocket. speaking about what we saw with those strikes in ukraine including on the children's hospital in kyiv, making the call for more air defenses. the secretary of state has already been speaking with his ukrainian counterpart and saying there will be a strong package of air defense. on top of that we want to hear more about the bridge to joining nato. it won't be automatic but hoping to see more measures to get ukraine on board as whitley as possible when the war has ended -- as swiftly as possible when the war has ended. anchor: the program is about to get underway there. we will bring you remarks from president joe biden as soon as he makes them. my calling has been speaking

with the deputy press secretary about ukraine's need for more air defense systems. >> we spoke to the chairs of the house foreign affairs committee yesterday and they said ukraine success has been held up by the fact that certain long-range artillery systems, there are restrictions on those systems, being able to fire in russian territory. that ukrainians are fighting with their hands tied behind their backs. what is your response? >> i would push back on that notion. what ukrainians have is other long-range capabilities provided by other nations get i think we have to remember that while there is a focus on certain things, there are other capabilities like scout missiles and other capabilities. in terms of what the united states has put conditions around, there is a cross-border come across fires we have permitted the ukrainians to use, especially when russians are firing from positions within

russia toward ukraine. we are seeing ukraine being incredibly successful and effective on the battlefield and i think it's important to remember that during the entire time we were not able to provide ukraine presidential drawdown packages or military assistance due to the fact that congress did not give us supplemental funding, russia made very incremental gains, very small gains. ukraine has been very successful on the battlefield and continues to push russian forces back in the south and east. anchor: i'm joined by a retired lieutenant general, former commander of the u.s. army in europe. thank you for joining us. looking at what's happened in ukraine in recent days, the attack on the children's hospital and other sites, what is your assessment of ukraine's capability to counter that offensive? >> it is true that russia made

almost zero progress during this dreadfully long window when there was no u.s. aid coming into ukraine. that speaks to the tenacity and skill of ukraine's defenders and the many weaknesses of russia -- or their lack of capability to knock ukraine out of the war. but just listening to the spokesman from the department of defense on furious by what i heard. what she was describing is not connected at all to the reality of what's happening on the ground and what we didn't hear from her or jake sullivan was anything about a commitment to helping ukraine win. we heard they did ok without our help so kudos to the ukrainians and that's been a problem all along. we have ridiculous policies not anchored in any strategic outcome in the interest of the united states, u.k., germany,

any of the allies. instead it is drip, drip, drip. you can finally have these but you cannot use them against the place from which planes and missiles are taking off that destroyed a hospital. it makes no sense to me. i think we are missing a gigantic opportunity to achieve our strategic interest. anchor: president zelenskyy has been at pains to ask for the ability to take out some of these missiles and drones coming from russia. we believe there will be an announcement on air defense systems tomorrow. what does ukraine actually need? >> first of all, it's always better to kill the archer rather than try to intercept all of the arrows if you know what i mean. if ukraine can hit the airfields from which the aircraft are departing or launching and delivering bombs for example against civilian infrastructure, or if we can hit the places from which they are launching these

missiles for example, that is much more effective and efficient rather than trying to intercept these things moving at high speed in the air. ukraine needs the capability to kill the archer. they also still need the ability to protect civilian infrastructure, power generation, hospitals, transportation network spared it's a mix of killing the archer but you still need to intercept some errors. anchor: why the hesitancy as you see it to do that? >> i think -- russia has thousands of nuclear weapons and they clearly don't care how many innocent people they kill, even their own. so the president and germany in particular, they both understandably are concerned about that but i think they have an excessive fear that russia might use a nuclear weapon. i don't think russia will use a nuclear weapon because there's no advantage for russia to use a nuclear weapon. their advantage comes from the

threat of using a nuclear weapon, that's when you get jake sullivan saying we want them to be able to survive, but we won't let them shoot targets inside russia because they are terrified russia might use a nuclear weapon. they are not, if they did, there are zero positive outcomes for russia because president biden had said catastrophic consequences if you use a nuclear weapon. china and india have such a pressure, do not use nuclear weapons. not for moral reasons but because they don't want any disruption to the gas and oil they are getting from russia. that's why i think is extremely unlikely. anchor: nobody wants to see nuclear weapons use. you mentioned china. president putin, what he's -- who he's been meeting with, the prime minister of india, hungary, xi jinping, the leader

of north korea. do you think he seeking to build a counterbalance to the u.s.? >> yes. luster there was a massive russian strike to civilian targets last year during the nato meeting. they murdered alexei navalny. they just struck a children's hospital in the nato meeting was getting underway and i don't think that was an accident. it is prudent sing i'm not intimidated by the west. -- this is putin saying i'm not intimidated by the west. this is who we are talking about, he uses weapons to hit a children's cancer hospital. anchor: how does nato, the u.s., allies like the eu respond to that. >> that's what this week is about and i worry the summit --

of course they will emphasize unity and cohesion as they should, that's got to be the number one priority for any alliance, especially us, i think we are not going to get something really strong -- i hope i am wrong -- where all of the nations say this is enough, it is in our interest not because we love ukraine, it's in our interest we help ukraine defeat russia should russia will not stop what they are doing until they are defeated. it's a very short list of times they lived up to any agreements they signed unless they were forced to. this is where i think the nations should say no more. we are not even trying. think about the shadow fleet, ships carrying russian oil out of the baltic sea and the black sea that goes to their big customers, china and india, the income that generates is how russia pays for the weapons they get from iran, north korea and components from china.

we have not been able to stop their export of oil to these two countries. and some other customers in europe. this is how the alliance should react, use all of our economic tools to isolate russia, give ukraine everything they need not just to defend themselves but defeat russia and inject russia back to the 1991 border. anchor: we will see what comes out of the summit discussions. thank you for joining us. israel continued its military offensive in gaza on tuesday on the eve of renewed truce talks in qatar. sources told the bbc at least 29 people, mostly women and children, were killed after an israeli airstrike on a school sheltering families in southern gaza. the number of those killed is expected to rise. the strike hit the gate at a school.

israel says it's looking into the incident. is the fourth attack on a school in four days. it is a day before cease-fire and aggressions continue in doha. it's reported that the u.s. century -- the u.s. central intelligence director will be in attendance. attention continues to be directed to the impact on women and children and gaza. the u.n. says about 52% of the people killed are women and children. shelters for those internally displaced are often crowded and they also have limited access to clean water, hygiene products and toilets, which are necessities for the nearly 700,000 men straining women and girls and gaza. without them, women and girls are more likely to contract infections. as conflict continue across the globe, the importance of women's

rights and security was highlighted by nato on. . tuesday -- on a tuesday. officials were briefed on the state of women's peace and security. they were later welcomed by the u.s. secretary of state who announced nato allies will commit more than $7 million in protective gear, uniforms and boots for female ukrainian soldiers. shortly before coming on air, i spoke with the ambassador about the role gender equality place in global conflicts. thank you for joining us on bbc news. we are speaking as the nato allies have just committed extra funding for protective gear for female soldiers in ukraine. why specifically is this needed? >> thank you for asking me that question because i don't think many people are aware women soldiers in ukraine and many other countries around the world

have actually worn battle gear that is being made to the proportions of men's bodies, not women's and so this is the first time the nato special representative for women, peace and security commissioned body armor, military uniforms made for women's bodies and that's not just more comfortable for women soldiers but also more protective. anchor: is this potentially an initiative that could be rolled out even further? >> absolutely. many of the nato allies today committed to treating further to expand the initiative and make it available more broadly. anchor: we know women and children are particularly vulnerable in conflicts. the u.n. secretary-general said the verified cases of conflict

related sexual violence had risen 60% year on year. what can be done to stop that? >> is a horrific statistic and it is true that women and children bear a disproportionate impact of conflicts and violence, which is why we promote women, peace and security as an agenda to be advanced as part of the central component of peace and security. one of the issues we talked about this morning in the discussion we held with nato allies was around gender-based violence and conflict related sexual violence, both of which seem to be an inevitable part of war increasingly and it is something that can in fact be prevented and response and recovery sort of services can be offered for survivors of gender-based violence, which is what the u.s. is doing in ukraine right now.

we have supported ukraine in being able to provide psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence and conflict related sexual violence, including psychosocial support for service providers who help the women who have been affected by conflict related sexual violence. they are traumatized as well. this is an incredibly important focus of our work here at the secretary's office for global women's issues and with our allies in nato. i should mention that is gender-based violence in all of its forms, because there is online violence and physical violence. online violence is a new form of violence that is perpetrated against women, particularly women in political office or public facing roles. we call it technology facilitated gender-based violence and it was a big part

of our discussion today on how advances in technology are creating new threats for women in leadership positions and in the armed forces and how we need to come together to think of solutions for that as well. anchor: speaking about gender-based violence, physical violence in a conflict setting, do you think, do to -- do defense forces investigate and prosecute enough when they find out it is soldiers who have carried out these acts? >> we certainly hope they will. documenting conflict related sexual violence is complicated to do although i have to say ukraine is doing an incredible job in real time being able to gather that evidence and the prosecutor in ukraine is gathering the evidence to hold perpetrators accountable. it's very important to do that in real time but to do that in a

survivor centered way because it is traumatizing for women to have to tell the story repeatedly so there are particular ways in which the evidence can be gathered and the perpetrators have to be held accountable. anchor: if we talk about ending conflict in finding peace in the women's role, often women are absent or not adequately represented at peace negotiations. almost a quarter of a century since the u.s. resolution called for equal representation at negotiations. how can the provisions be implemented? it's been such a long time. >> we have spent a lot of time discussing just that this morning because nato has just updated its women, peace and security policy and we discussed that it is urgent to begin to implement that policy and a key component of that policy is full

, equal and meaningful participation of women in prevention of conflict, in response and recovery efforts, as well as peace processes. anchor: you can keep up-to-date with all of the days news on bbc.com/news. that's it for world news america. goodbye to our announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: 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.

>> good evening. >> on the newshour tonight, the aftermath of hurricane beryl. millions of texans are left without power amid dangerous scorching heat. >> he just has to step down. >> democratic lawmakers navigate the divisive party politics around president biden's