it was very good people keeping it who had but with it ok, did w's nick connelly reporting force live from here. thanks so much. we're going to talk to somebody else in the country, dimmer she'll jenko is in how nits in the west of the country. here is a consultant for the d. w academy, which promotes media freedom around the globe and has moved his family from kim and thanks for joining us so much. can you tell us about your day yesterday and what you experienced? hi. hi. yeah. yesterday i get to play the city of here. unfortunately, it all started around 5 am, maybe little bit there we because motions and this is the explosions that you cannot confuse was any send novice fire for work or something else. and my wife and i were to the decision that we need to take our kids

and, and get out of give as fast as possible. luckily. and my relatives, they live in west in ukraine. so we know the destination and where to go. so we just packed in 15 minutes with what we like, thought that it's most important and here are the traffic was all. and so it took us about 10 hours to drive 300 kilometers to the west. and you've mentioned that you have small children 10 hour drive. how did you explain what was going on to them? the whole situation? and it was a hard moment, i would say, because you always have the dilemma. what to tell to kid? on one hand, you don't want hand, you don't want to scare them, but on the other hand, so you don't want to lie to them. and we decided to tell them the truth. and we

tell that the word started and that we are in danger. and that's why we need to go to our granny because safe place. and there are several other people we understand who have fled their homes, staying with you in western ukraine. what are they telling you about their experiences? i was actually one of the 1st the people who managed to here, and while we were driving all the more and saying that it's happening and it's happening and we were so for the shelves to them. and so they're welcome to this will help them. and what's been doing now is basically people like you come in and come in and that journey is longer. so now it takes about 15 hours to get here because of the traffic. and because of the whole amount of people move into the west and abroad. and so all we share,

i think one emotion. it's like it's between all scared. but all of so i think that last because we don't need that is really happening. and so kids are asking questions which we are not comfortable to answer or we don't follow the answers. so now i think that when we are in a safe place and keep help in that those who are arriving all the time and many a lot of people are arriving. i think that the next step is just to understand what to do next to whether to move out of the train, whether to stay here and do what we can support, you know, army and supporting the people in need or to go know like back and fight because mobilization was announced this morning and all men 18 to 60, they're not allowed to live out of the country and i'm one of them. and so we expect it to be drafted in part of your partner. i understand sounds like you're in

a very painful sort of limbo with the decisions you have to make about safety about getting your family to safety. and part of that involves maybe you staying behind to fight for your country. this war, particularly as broadly as any other war, of course, is ruining the families and throwing in the peas because it is indeed a big dilemma. and my kids are asking if i will vote for them phase, i don't know, i'm definitely not ready for it. but this is something that i understand that this is something i have to do if i want to see new chair for my kids in this country, i'm sorry, are in such a place. thank you so much deemed for telling us about your situation and that of

your family and we wish you luck. thank you very much. and we're joined now the d. w chief political correspondent, belinda crane for more analysis on the situ powerful words we just heard there. and there are many, many, many other people like emma. but let's just focus on the politics for a moment here and, and get the helicopter high. once again, president vladimir putin is showing no signs of slowing down his invasion with russian troops reportedly. and we've seen the video entering q. where do we stand when we're told that the fighting is intensifying in and around to key f. as you know, russian force is also in control of the decommission nuclear plants, noble and we're getting some troubling reports from there as well. and, and obviously from what we just heard an enormous exodus under way out of

key as a 100000 people on the move with in ukraine, according to un authorities. and many of them expected, of course, to cross the border into neighboring countries and also to wind up here. berlin and brandenburg have said that they are getting ready to create refugee shelters and asking for clarity about whether ukrainian refugees here will be able to work. in other words, expecting that they could be here for quite some time. and then as you know, a lot of soul searching on the part of politicians soul searching. i'm glad you bring that up because i want to bring up a comment from somebody we haven't heard weren't expecting to hear from the former german chancellor anglo merkel. who said she was just going to go often to the sunset and not enter political life for this war. and ukraine has her coming back. she's spoken out. she was an office doing rushes annexation of crimea when she

insisted on keeping communication open with moscow. and in a statement to the d, p, a integer and press agency. merkel said this, this war of aggression by russia marks a profound turning point in the history of europe. after the end of the cold war. there is no justification whatsoever for this blatant breach of international law and i condemn it in the strongest possible terms or you suppress a yes or no. i'm surprised because she has been very reticent since leaving office and she made it clear she didn't plan to intervene in a day to day politics after she had left. but the, the fact is, this is obviously not day to day politics. and as you said, uncle michael was instrumental actually into a particular areas. one is that dialogue with russia that you mentioned. she is

a russian speaker, and she had no illusions about vladimir putin. but she certainly kept the lines of communication to him open. and she said herself that she was a believer, as were many, many germans, and many german politicians in change through relations in the idea that by maintaining especially good commercial ties with russia. that, that essentially insured moderation and stability. and you know, nick, that harks back to many germans experience of really bronze ost politics during the cold war. that was the idea again, that trade relations with eastern bloc countries would start to open things up and help propel change and what she's basically doing in her quote there is admitting that perhaps she misread vladimir putin. on the other hand,

she also spearheaded firm sanctions starting in 2014 and continuing after the annexation of crimea after the, the poisoning of russian diplomat service crypto in the york. after alex a nevada, yvonne, the himself was also poisoned and then treated in a german hospital one raft of sanctions after another. so she did that too. but what we're seeing is not confined to angle america. we have, she's joined a chorus, essentially of german politicians saying we were too naive. we made a mistake, not to work harder at deterring this man. and that even includes the former defense minister on a great con, conklin bower who says she's really angry and she went further than many. but there you see, we are seeing a major shift. it's a real wake up call for germany. ok. so perhaps some repentance may be a bit of a rethink, but will there be a reformulation of policy?

very good question. you know, we're told that in that meeting yesterday on sanctions that resulted in some pretty tough new sanctions. it must be said, and i think it is not yet clear how vast and how quick the impact will be. nonetheless, it is the case that germany apparently was one of the voices arguing for restraint when it came to the big bazooka amongst economic sanctions. namely banning russia from the swift payments transfer system that would have real. it repercussions not only for russia, but also for european union member state countries. and 1st and foremost, among them, italy, cyprus, and germany because of their banks have major outstanding debt in russia that they would no longer be able to get out of russia. plus, they buy more gas than many others from russia, and the payment transfers on those gas purchases would be difficult if swift were

imposed. so were reluctance there to wield that big gun amongst the economic sanctions. also on germany's part, germany would say this is also a strategic move we want to have face sanctions. we need to keep something in our quiver. i'm really sharp arrow in case there's further escalation on russia's part . that's an approach. it's true nonetheless, there's a lot of disappointment amongst many who are watching this process unfold. yeah, there. yes. i think this is to say listen just to stick with the money angle here. you finance ministers have been meeting today to discuss sanctions as you know, and that vital swift mechanism you're talking about. the international transfer system between banks is part of it. german finance minister christian lender had this to say on the subject. today, we assess the economic consequences. we will have

a discussion on how we can protect our people and our economies. they're all of calls consequences out of the energy sector for example. but we are prepared repaired. are they well at pre, also you heard him say, protecting our people's and our economies. so that is the, the, the 2 issues i just mentioned, energy dependence, and those, those big debts in russia, leading to some concern among the eeoc member states. now what we have heard is that the e u has put into place a fund that would compensate those who are most exposed, including for example, a country like a like italy. so that might assuage some of the pain. you asked if it's the best that they can do. the fact is, what they are also doing is showing up the east or flank of nato. in other words, deterrence, military, deterrents and germany is leading the you bout on the,

the nato battle group in lithuania, has sent extra force as they are. that, of course, as a message, listen, put in ok, ukraine, but you're not going further than ukraine. however, that's not much use to ukraine itself. we've also heard, there may be some rethinking here in germany about whether to send defensive weapons to ukraine. but frankly, there's not much they consent. remedies defense minister has admitted this army is not in good shape here. and therefore, it's kind of a moot, moot question at this moment. okay, i'm talking about the borders and the fighting. i just want to shift attention to, to refugees, possibility before they're already happy there already crossing the border and are of the 4 countries that, ah, neighbor, ukraine in small numbers, but possibly in much, much, much larger numbers. am, what do you think of what the you is doing now?

it says it will assist ukrainian refugees, the how prepared is europe keeping him on, you know, 2015 in the syrian in flows and iraq. a very good question and we're hearing also a huge range in potential numbers. the 1st estimates i saw were something from the 10s of thousands up to a 1000000, but other refugee experts have said it could even reach 5000000. let's not forget, ukraine is a big, populous country, and i think for weeks they've been telling us they've been planning for all contingencies. we certainly know that in the, on the, in the case of sanctions, they had a number as a phased plan. in the drawer that had been carefully coordinated with the u. s. presumably there have been preparations on refugees as well. we don't know the details on that. as i said, germany has said it is cognizant that many refugees will wind up here. we're lynn and brandenburg already now putting those shelters into place,

but this will be another big test for the, you know, if those numbers do go to the upper range. what i, what i just quoted. absolutely. yeah. well, it's taking it seriously and i've submitted what might be a very big info to w chief political correspondent melinda crane. thanks for your insight. european union leaders have agreed to impose new sanctions on russia over its war on ukraine . the held back, as we just heard from cutting russia from the global swift payment system. after resistance from some countries including germany, european co commission, president ursula vander line, says the agreed measures would have a major impact on russia's economy. nonetheless, we will hold the kremlin accountable. the package of massive and targeted sanctions . european lead is approved to night, clearly demonstrates that it will have maximum impact on the russian economy and the political elite. and it is built off 5 pillars,

the 1st that the financial sector. second, the energy sector, the 3rd is the transport sector forth, our export controls and the ban of export financing. and finally, visa policy. and for more on this we're gonna go live over to dw correspondent christine hoola in brussels, or christine another round of sanctions. how far do they really go? nick, the european council president. i shall michel ad described this latest packet of sanctions as massive and painful, and by all indications that they will be named the idea is to target the russian economy in such a way that it will frustrate industry am. and while that is happening, inflation is going to rise, which will impact ordinary russian households. but also, some small businesses are likely to succumb to the economic depression that will be as a result of this, it is expected that russia's economy will go into recession. so these are sort of

the medium term effects, but in the longer term, and as more technology becomes difficult to access for russia's industry, that economy is just not going to be able to develop in the way that a modern economy should. and that will no doubt have a massive impacts on industry. important industry are in russia. nick well, but christine the harshest sanction our would be cutting russia off from the inter banking system called swift by you know, the estimations of many analysts or here in the germany, germany forgive me in italy are holding off on that. why well, the, the, the, such as have been imposed on russia will have an impact on some european economies to, on some more than others. and in the case of germany, italy, it's not difficult to see why when you consider the fact that germany, for example, is a big guess customer of russia. it imports

a lot of gas from russia. italy is doing more and more business. and with russia over the years, and so cutting russia off from that system that effectively would make it impossible to, to send money to and from russia would, of course, directly impact these 2 big economies. and here in europe, germany and italy, those are the self interest. but there is also the strategic aspect to this as well . the fact that perhaps you should keep some ammunition, you should keep some leverage. otherwise you have nothing to go on. if you want to engage moscow at a later stage, so it's a combination of self interest on the part of countries or germany in italy, but also perhaps strategic in that. you don't want to give away all that you have. and you perhaps when to save your best measure for last. okay, talking strategy. nato member leaders will be holding an emergency meeting to do in their headquarters or so. i'll sort of brussels. what can we expect from them? while we can expect to hear from baltic states, latvia is stony, lithuania,

am expressing their increased vulnerability. we know already that these countries fear for their territorial integrity. now that this invasion of ukraine has happened, as we are witnessing it, nick, we have been hearing from these countries that they are growing fears of more cyber attacks from russia, or a dis, information campaigns, targeted ad if nick rush and communities in these countries. and so nato and has gone ahead and ramped up i, it's preparation, in terms of bolstering existing units in the states. i. it is. and has announced that war planes are or at the ready to be to be dispatched in the case that one of its members came under attack. just yesterday, more powers were given or special powers were given at the top, a commander in nato, which would allow him to effectively deploy at the rapid response force or in the

event that a nato member came under attack. so we are in and present a time and more nato members are feeling more vulnerable at this point. and that is obviously going to take up a large chunk of the conversations that will be happening in this virtual summit that's happening there today. but of course, the message was reiterated, and they will not be discussing the potential of sending troops i to, to ukraine that is completely off the table. and as we heard yesterday from the secretary general installed in burke. okay, thank you for that. and so on. you doing and the virtual summit little did correspond. christy mill were joining us from brussels. the un refugee agency has warned that up to 4000000 people may flee their homes and ukraine for other countries. traffic jams and pack train and bus stations to just tens of thousands are already on the move and neighboring poland. hundreds of ukrainian spent the night sleeping in a train station just over the border from ukraine,

some our residence in poland and were waiting for trains that would take them to their final destination. others were en route to seek refuge with family and friends in poland. only so vague works with the norwegian refugee council, an independent humanitarian organization, helping people, forced to flee. he joined me from paris. welcome all. the un says around 100000 people have fled their homes with in ukraine since rushes invasion started early thursday. what do you know about their situation? well, what the situation is extremely through it, and it's difficult to get a good overview at the moment. then we can refuge account. so we have offices in key and, but also in a city called see another yes, which is very close to the old front lines. and what we're hearing from them is aligned. what with what you and hcr is saying that a lot of people have now been fleeing their homes. they're moving from the east to

the west. and i think what is it really important to keep in mind here is that even before the latest escalation of hostilities, there were very significant humanitarian in the country. and about 3000000 people were estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance. and that is of course, gonna rice very significant. now as, as, as hundreds of thousands will be on the move and clean the house deliveries. and are these people being who are being displaced? are they being supported or things like emergency call systems and ambulances still working in ukraine? i think i think it depends a little bit on the place where you're at right now. a, you know, my, my impression is that in some places is working quite well. still, but in other places it is much more chaotic. you just heard from some of my colleagues this morning in see

a bit of the news that the night there has been calm and but that they are very much afraid of what will happen. i think another issue here to keep in mind is that the people who are caught up in this cross fire is a very vulnerable population. what is perhaps unique to the situation? ukraine? is that so many of the people in need there are elderly people, 30 percent of those 3000000 are elderly people who are particularly vulnerable. they might have difficulty moving around and they are often for, and that's what we can, we can refugee counsel has been trying to help them with. and we're now preparing to stay and continue to deliver humanitarian assistance, but also to scale up that those operations. thank you for joining us for solving of the norwegian refugee council. and here are the latest developments on the 2nd day of russia's invasion of ukraine. the ukrainian army says its forces are battling russian troops on the edge of the capital here. and

there are reports of gunfire near the government district. ah, a sirens have been sounding in other cities and apartment building. the capital was partially destroyed, apparently by shell fragments. ukraine says it shot down a russian fighter jet and 2 missiles above the capital. overnight. people are again taking shelter and metro stations today. more than a 130 people have been reported killed since russia's invasion began yesterday. united states has warned russia not to expand its military operations by attacking nato members. they are secretary of state anthony, blinking on nbc and use in the us when it comes to a threatening nato countries. we have something very powerful called article 5. an attack on one is an attack on all. russia knows that, and that's exactly why on other things, one of our responses have been to shore up nato's defenses to, to put more forces, to put more equipment on its eastern flight. the country's closest to russia,

to deter any aggression that russia might be contemplating against it. and d, w. washington bureau chief in his pole is with me for more on this in us, nato is b as in increasing its ground troops deployed in the ground and material at its eastern borders. what does this mean for relations between the west and moscow? well, it's basically in the good what is been hurrying hearing over the last days. it's just like making it crystal clear. if russia, if putting dead to a tag one, nato member nato will fight back. i mean, this is by the end of the day in the very heart of, of nato's founding treaty, right? it's, it's the idea. one ally is attacked and then a nato invokes article 5 and we'll be fighting back. so this is a kind of a show of force and as we just heard from christine in brussels, it's also really kind of to come for or to take some fear away from the baltic

states which are really in high alert. and very, very worried that president putin might take those smaller states being so close to russia. ok, in isn't tonight, there will be an emergency security council meeting at that. what can be expected of that? yes again, i mean we have seen many un meetings over the last days. i mean we will again here probably great speeches, heartbreaking speeches because people are really shocked about what is happening right now in the heart of europe. but nick, i mean, we just have to be quite frank here by the end of the day, the un is a toothless tiger. why? because countries like russia or china can veto any resolution. so we can't really expect some major outcome of this meeting. again, this coming back to american politics and the relationship of the american

president with his voters and the public there biden addressed the public in a speech. the white house yesterday is the succeeding and convincing the american public of his strategy towards russia. you think i, that's a very crucial a point here for him. you know, he, he delivered the speed and i actually happened to be in the wire towers in the same room as he was a he had to kind of puzzle a couple of task. first of all, he wanted to make clear what president putin has to expect regarding the sanctions being put out there. but he also needs to convince his own people why these sanctions are important and why what is going on in europe also matters to the united states. because by the end of the day, every country which is putting our sanctions will feel some backlash and nick, we have to be aware of the united. so the inflation here in the united states is,

is skyrocketing already in some cities lay washington, for example, it's up to 14 percent. gas is extremely expensive. many people aren't able really to pay their bills for their energy demand. and we all know that the sanctions probably will lead to higher energy prices, so biden has to convince his fellow americans that the reaction is the right thing to do. and as for now, he really didn't succeed, succeed in that regard. a lot of work had for the american president and d. w. washington correspondent, a bureau chief, forgive me in his poor. thanks so much. russia's invasion has been met with horror in many parts of the world. people have been gathering outside russian embassies to protest against hooton's actions and express their support for ukraine. but in russia, taking part in public demonstrations could result in immediate detention. still,

people took the streets in multiple russian cities to denounce the war, risking arrest even prison time to show the world that russia is not united behind president putin. thousands came out across the country, chanting no to war. they were flaunting a ban on demonstrations. police arrested over 1700 people, half of them in the capital. moscow authorities warned they could be charged with the crime with, i don't want russia to attack the crane like this. yeah, i have grandparents them and yeah, that's great. yeah. so when you find the boy that was what happened is a shame, like many of us have relatives and friends for ukraine. and this is a betrayal of them. e, with a free like you so much like russian stage,

perhaps the most daring display of opposition. but not the only one. demonstrations of solidarity sprung up in cities around the world times square and new york saw a massive ukrainian flag unfurled me. the brandenburg gate and berlin was also visited by a crowd of ukraine's yellow and blue national colors. is this because he had was many of us thought it was impossible, but it happened brighton. i woke up this morning and it brought me to tears. oh no more in touch. actually, since rakish, i think it's appalling because it's an illegal war of aggression and it has to stop . it's important that there is peace in europe, and this is a worst case scenario with us since of us, fussy and contest. a condemnation of hooton's war and a message of solidarity with those and basements and bomb shelters across ukraine. and dw correspondent, emily sure, when joins me now in the studio. emily, you've covered a lot of demonstrations,

like the ones we just saw. how significant is the opposition to putin's warranty? think i thing.