ah, ah ah, this is dw news live from rural land. on the brink, russia analysis new drills for its nuclear weaponry. moscow says the exercises are planned and denies stoking tensions with ukraine. each side blames the other for artillery attacks in eastern ukraine, while this, as russia snobs a major international security conference for the 1st time in decades, leaving western leaders scrambling in munich to find a diplomatic way forward on ukraine. also coming up african leaders asked the

european union to lift patterns on coven 19 vaccines leaders counter. they are already sending hundreds of millions of doses through the continent. ah, on my life, thank you so much for joining us. we open our coverage with the latest developments in the crisis over ukraine. russia's military has announced extensive drills of its strategic nuclear forces. moscow says the exercises are planned and denies stoking tensions claim and counter claim continue as russia ins. this is forces are we're drawing from the, from the border region and a simmering conflict has flared up. now in easton ukraine. each side is blaming the other for artillery, showing some months. these tanks signals the threat of

a russian invasion to ukraine. now some of them are retreating from ukraine's bordeaux, rochelle, defense ministry, seeds, military drills. and these places are oval. and that's all it ever was. ukraine doesn't believe it. when it was on was liter not conformed the russian claim of troop withdrawals. this is not happening. that is only a movement of forces and equipment. we are watching the russian troops divisions which number 129001. and if we add naval an air truly, this figure reaches $149000.00 will not be figured useful. dad whiskers thought sort of david, these tensions are storing more rapidly in east on ukraine for yours. the don bus region has been a fighting ground between government forces and russia backed rebels. they blame each other for the damage of the conflict. caught in between many ukrainians have migrated to say 4 places. this village, for instance, has only 5 residence left. and this kinda garden was the target of

a recent shelling. the char new born you'll, i was knocked backwards. i immediately understood, there was smoke and windows breaking everywhere, but from yells upon your lot, bustled them through. all of this, russia has announced for the military drews, starting saturday, they will be testing their ballistics and crews messiah with president putin overseeing the operation. russia again says, these are just regular drills and not a threat to ukraine. did have your correspondence, mathias billing or is in east and ukraine in the town if is there a don't ask that's near the front line. in the conflict between government forces and russia backed separatist o mathias, we just aired a reporter where shelling has intensified in recent days in that region. he took us

through the situation there all along the line all along the contact line. shelling has intensified through it. within the last 48 hours shelling at night and also in day time, um we have a lot of reports on shelling from the separate separatist side on to ukrainian villages on this side. that's what term is more or less confirmed. we do not know what's the situation on the other side. the ukrainian army is saying it is restraining itself. it is refraining from answering the fire. the separatist saw these rebels in this, in these are areas are saying that there is shelling with, they failed to provide any proof. they have also now announced that there will evacuate the civilian population from the whole territory. also here, we don't know what's really behind is this isn't information war 1st and foremost. so all these announcements are meant to create to certain situation favorable to

the, to the goals that each side tries to achieve. what are these goals is the most difficult question? what are they trying to do? and just so we do not really know what, what to think about. or there's what we see is an intensification of fighting. the always see confirms that there was a lot more shelling them for them than a long time ago. actually if you, a few months, even years ago, the u. s. but she has said, war is that russia could use these clashes that you're describing right now as a potential to plant a flag, a pretext to launch an invasion. this is also something that the ukrainian government thinks is possible. he has the u. s. has one for, for this, for a long time, and the ukranian leadership, the ukranian yesterday. the general who is in charge of this eastern front of the, or the, of this part of ukraine, where the fighting is happening. said that this is exactly what they are thinking

is happening. the shelling from the other side is, is to provoke the ukrainians into a response which would then be used as the pretext for an incursion. this is what the general said. this is what the, the ukranian official ukrainian read out of the situation. and in a few words, if you can up, there are conflicting reports. i mean, on the one hand, at the russian to build up at the border with ukraine. moscow saying we're actually pulling back some of our trips nursing? no, no, you're not. that's not what you're doing. so what's the state of play right now? while you don't escalate and pull back the, the units at the same time? so it's quite plausible that this is not really happening. be western some western intelligence says that they have even reinforced the troops there. we don't to have of course, reliable information on that. it's all, again, a lot of intelligence work,

a lot of satellite imagery that have also been some flights over the border zone by american reconnaissance and others. um, but at the moment it does not look like they're pulling back their troops on this exercise. this nuclear exercise in belarus also tells us a different story. the pressure is and remains high. did over your correspondence mathias brinninger reporting from eastern ukraine. but yes, thank you for your coverage or for the 1st time in decades, russia has snubbed a major international summit in southern germany. the ukraine crisis is dominating them. unit security conference, an foreign minister on alina burbock and her u. s. counterparts. antony lincoln have called for solidarity in the face of russian demands the to stress that moscow would suffer unprecedented sanctions in the event of an invasion of russia has sent no official delegation. it was last absent in 1991 for lauren

esperanza is an expert on transatlantic defense and security at the center for european policy analysis. and she is at the munich security conference where she joins us from so good to have you. with us. this crisis is not going away. there has been no meaningful de escalation, according to were us intelligence with tensions surging back up. has this crisis laid bare on the west powerlessness in the face of russia? well i think you're right, that the crisis is sort of escalating and i think trust is at such a low point between the west and russia right now, which is why i am very skeptical of some of the calls that we hear coming from the us hoping that russia would make a formal declaration or sign some kind of statement that it will not invade ukraine . the kremlin does not have a good, a strong record of upholding its international commitments. and so i think i please

for that are just not the best way for it. and i am very skeptical of the possibility for a diplomatic solution. i think despite what the kremlin has been saying about it, not wanting a war, its actions are suggesting exactly the opposite. it is not withdrawing forces. it is reinforcing at the equipment in the forest pasture that it has add new ukraine, but also in ballard. and i think putin has very clearly, i decided not to take what he can get from the current negotiations and package that as a wind to the russian people. i. instead, he has chosen to continue to demand maxima list things that he knows are non starters for the west. i, he has an exported a u. s. diplomats from russia. i continuing to plant these false flag operations to create a pretext for invasion. and i think he's clearly chosen not to take out the diplomatic pap so far. it's really interesting here is a couple of really interesting points,

especially that on skepticism. because there seems to be a dissonance. i mean, a couple of dignitaries who opened of the security conference where you are, we're talking about values and our values. but mr. prudent is not interested in the west values. so do you think there's a disconnect there? yes, i mean, i think this is fundamentally about so much more than just ukraine or even the question of nato membership. really, this is a struggle between the way we organize our societies. it's a fight between democracy and authoritarianism. and clearly russia is forcing this agenda because of its authoritarian aggression that it wants to roll back at the current in shall liberal order and the security architecture that's created by nieto and the united states. and i, it's, it's very difficult to talk about values because that is not in putin's interests. and so i think there is a disconnect between what we're trying to achieve through negotiations and what mr

. brewton is realistically willing to entertain before they go. final question, if a russian invasion takes place in the next couple of days, and depending on the conditions on the ground, do you foresee a scenario where allies in the people who are there now at the munich security conference would reconsider maybe revisit, coming to ukraine's aid militarily so i think at the west has put up a very impressive set of plans contingency plans so that they are prepared to add to to assist ukraine, even if that's not necessarily with boots on the grounds inside ukrainian territory . i think there's a very serious sanctions package and that is ready to go. and the has been sort of pre negotiated among allies that we can act very quickly. i think there is a lot of training and security assistance weapons,

other things that western allies and partners are providing to ukraine already and will continue to do so. i think that it's an unlikely that we will see kind of us or nato troops inside ukraine. but i do think there is a possibility for an escalation or spill over from something that could happen. any grain that could potentially involve nato allies. and if that is the case, then we certainly will see a more swift and robust response from, from the nato alliance. lauren, speranza transatlantic defense and security expert at the center for european policy analysis. so good to have you with us. thank you for your time. thank you so much for having me. let's take a look now at the other stories in the headlines right now. hundreds of people were rescued from the ferry that caught fire while traveling between greece and italy around 290 passengers and crew were on board report say 2 people are still trapped in the ships cardex. the rescue operation is i'm going

lawmakers in ecuador have voted to allow abortions in cases of rape girls under the age of 18. indigenous women and women from remote rural areas will be allowed to terminate pregnancies up to the 18th week. others will have up to 12 weeks. anti abortion activists demonstrated outside the courts. as the vote took place. a courts in india has sentence 38 people to death for a series of bomb blasts in 2008 more than 50 victims were killed in the explosions that rocked the city of alma. but in the western states of gujarat. the world health organization says it will help 6 african countries to set up facilities to produce m. r n. a vaccines against coven. 19. the news was welcomed at a summit between the african and european unions in brussels area. the w h o program

was created to help poor countries produce m r n a vaccines, and domestically during the crew on a virus pandemic. and after high income countries bought up most available vaccines, while south africa is the only country in the group already producing em. ernie jobs in the president of the african union. the mackey sal said that to producing vaccines in africa is a big step. but it's not enough lew brookwood loma one real challenge is we need to be able to buy vaccines that are being produced in africa because there will be other parts of the world that will produce much cheaper vaccines. so it is important that over and beyond technology transfer, we also purchase the vaccines vishal. obviously, intellectual property is an issue as well, but i think the urgency now is this technology transferred to exploit. and our colleague did of you, christine wound. why isn't brussels where she's covering this all important

gathering, christine, how significant is this announcement of a vaccine technology transfer project to the continent? let, in a context where little more than 10 percent of africans are fully vaccinated compared to around 70 percent in europe. this is not going to bring an end to the pandemic on the continent, so to say, but it's meaningful. i in the sense that it is allowing for some local production of vaccines to take place that something that a countries in africa have been calling for, especially because it's really been a struggle as they have been at lamenting the vaccine hoarding that we've seen in the pandemic, so it's meaningful. also beyond the pandemic, because this very technology is going to be used to create vaccines for diseases on the continent like malaria and down the line i cancer. but it's not at what the demand at that african countries, according for i, it's not the answer to that. and they still want a wavering off the patients. and in fact,

that south african president went as far as saying that that gesture, lifting the patterns would be former colonial powers giving back to the continent. so it's meaningful, but it doesn't address the immediate challenge of the need to ramp up vaccination on the continent of africa right now. well, so that makes the question. i mean, this meeting i understand was meant to be kind of a reset, a fresh start with a bright, with ties between e. u and african leaders. has it at all, lived up to that in a sense, it has, i mean, the fact that the summit was pushed back by 2 years because of the pandemic. we with this and that the souring of relations between these 2 geopolitical neighbors . in that time, much of it was, of course, around how the pandemic had been handled, that the travel bands, the vaccine hoarding. and so there was a lot of disgruntlement, particularly on the side of, of the african counterpart. so coming to brussels was really important for

everybody involved, these photo ops, these face to face meetings at being able to engage because much of that hadn't been happening in the pandemic. and of course, many had criticize that, that europe had left africa out in the cold. and so you keep hearing it from both sides that there is this need to reset the engagements to make this partnership. more of one of equals whether or not the senate actually does that. probably not because african leaders are going back empty handed in terms of some of the demands that they came to brussels with. of course, they are taking back some promises some more financial commitments. but it's not exactly what they were asking for. if you speak to some african presidents, we caught them along as they were coming into the summit, asking them how they feeling, thumbs up, a smile here and there. but they didn't get everything they came for in short. christine while reporting from brussels, christine, thank you. while while the debate over vaccine supplies continues, germany's banter has unveiled plans for new scale down manufacturing plants about

the size of a shipping container. they could produce millions of doses of corona, virus vaccine in africa. or the diseases could also be targeted. these containers could help advance the global fight against covered 19 tiny vaccine factories. model a units developed by german farm affirmed by on tech. to produce m are in a vic scenes, you can build it on stock for example, and you can deploy very quickly and use kayla to a new sites. you want them to become very clear. um that this is the perfect case actually for africa. at the moment, only about 12 percent of the african population has received 2 vaccine shots by aren't access it's by on tanner's could initially produce up to $50000000.00 doses per year, making africa less dependent on imparts. at the same time, the company's c e o. over shaheen made it clear by on, sag wont suspended,

succeed patient. but he also said the company won't challenge vaccine copying and africa. you got, i got nice that that vaccine vaccine equity is not given at the moment. we had a wonderful meeting, was our partner from africa and, and one of the most impressive statements our was laws that vaccine equity is not about the past is about the future. shaheen well, come some african leaders on wednesday at the company's projection site in my book to present the new project while some criticized bound tax initiative. saying the european build solution is not local enough. senegalese president mackey sell says it's historic for jewel. my birthday finally puts an end to vaccine and justice during a pandemic that has affected the world. yeah, mark to lamond, on a we have experience that the african continent was left alone because africa only

produces around one percent of the vaccines that are administered on the continent to look wanted in the future by anti also wants to use the bi on toners to produce vaccines against malaria are typically uses. the 1st prototypes will be implemented in render, senegal, or south africa. by the end of this, here, authorities in brazil are warning that the death toll from the worst flooding in decades is likely to rise. at least 117 people are confirmed dead, and dozens more are missing destruction in centers on the historic city of metropolis in the hills above rio de janeiro. the floods have set off devastating mountain landslides and more rain is hampering the recovery operation. the hills of protest, willis swept away by massive rainfall in the city. residents are trying as best

they can to remove the mud. in addition to the rising number of dead, hundreds of people have been forced from their homes. many have taken refuge in makeshift shelters. in churches and schools, you'll fight this one woman i left on the 1st day. the rain started because i have 5 children and i live in an area considered to be high risk. in the meantime, further, landslide warnings have been issued throughout the mountainous region of rio de janeiro where a patropolis is located. rescuers are working around the clock or jazel door on him, although must he day. we helped rescue a woman whose son told us that she still had 7 relatives buried under the rubble. yeah. i nothing sachi bodies. so the hardest as authorities warn of dangers from damaged buildings, live electrical wires and fallen trees. several and deos have moved into the area

with ambulances. they're helping with rescue work and organizing distribution points for basic supplies, such as water, powdered milk, and clothing. in the town center, the clean up is progressing slowly, but the areas at risk are still not habitable. many residents are still waiting to find a place to live until normalcy returns. i know where to go. remember, i have relatives who could take me in the list, but it's just going from one high risk area to another. you know, more does a site before easy authority say the weather has not yet stabilized, and that already accumulated water could trigger new landslides when, as i now, but the other stories in the headlines right now, severe storms are battering much of europe. no one was hurt when a wave swamp this very in the german court of hamburg. but several people were

killed by falling trees as storm elaina swept through and then moved on to poland and the czech republic. a boy trapped in a well in a remote village in southern afghanistan has died. the child slipped into a well being dug in the village of so cock. earlier this week, rescuers managed to free the 5 year old, but he died before he could be taken to the hospital. i helicopter at the beijing winter olympics in beijing, china as freestyle skier, eileen grew, has won her 2nd gold medal. the san francisco born skier was part of the u. s. team when she was younger than switched to china in 2090 in the half pipe final goose sword higher than any other skier. as she completed back to back ariel tricks are sick and run was the best of the day and secured gold. and norway has claimed it's

15 gold metal in beijing to set a new winter olympics record. johan assert thing is sit boating at one the mens at 15 kilometer mass start by a flaw to claim his 4th gold medal at the games bow dominated from the start and howled his composure to send his country into the history books on norway, canada, and germany previously shared the record or 14 gold medals at a single games, but now the new agents are out on their own. u. s. air force pilot galle halverson, who became famous for his role in the berlin airlift has died at the age of a 1013 years after he and fellow servicemen dropped bombs on the german capital in the final stages of world war 2. halverson was part of efforts to keep berliners from starving during a soviet blockade of the city and became known as the candy bomber.

he was a beloved figure in postwar berlin, and kept coming back for special events. gil halverson won berliners hearts for giving them candy. when they didn't have much of anything at all, halverson was a u. s. air force pilot, during the berlin airlift from 1948 to 1949. when the soviets blockaded west berlin, the u. s. air lifted vital supplies to a city that it had been at war with only 3 years before there did glut. halverson himself later said he had mixed feelings about the mission. bershard dropped, but his attitude changed and he even started giving his own candy rations to children. eventually dropping the sweets by parachute from the air, got a picture of it. and i am the one the startled. yeah. one they didn't bag i gave me load gum. i had to stick with them and they got so excited. i promised to draw it

enough for everybody to this. and so i started dropping chocolate american confectioners to have me all a county we could draw. and the berlin airlift helped change germans attitudes toward the united states. there war time enemy elverson became a lifelong ambassador for german american friendship. his name will lavonne in a berlin park dedicated in his honor. you're watching you devin years. here's a reminder of the top story that we're following right now. russia has announced new drills of its nuclear missile weapons. moscow says the exercises are plant and the nice stoking tensions with ukraine. each side has waived the other for artillery shelling in easton ukraine. watching the de we news up next in news asia. will the taliban budge on women's rights to release foreign aid? tough, honest afghans who worked for foreigners live in hiding while waiting to hear whether

the governments they worked for will them with those stories and a whole lot more coming up in just a moment in the w news asia with your strategy, i'm way of i rock in front of the entire team here. thanks for watching. with ah, with

to the point. strong opinions. positions international perspective is the threat of war in the middle of europe receding. russia says it's drawing down the troops mask that ukraine border. the west is skeptical, protein poker. everybody loses find out on to the point. to the

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around you. subscribe to d w documentary on youtube. wow . they set it up in yours, aisha coming up to date, making their case for cash. i've gone to sounds new rulers meet diplomats to demand funds for the country. some aid has been promised, but you and gulf diplomats in doha se, respecting women's rights. he's a must. what will the poly bag do so? meanwhile, i've gone to walk for foreign countries. now in hiding, they say they being hunted by the thought of bond. what's happened with promises from the west to get.