risking anything a month on the road, you need all jacked a mum? how could i live with myself and stay here in a stretch to play? sir gay has a wife and 2 daughters in ukraine, leaving his job in poland and returning home to ukraine to fight was not a hard choice for him. not all but i was just in shock. mow my yard, you not to which us door more. my family was home, my wife called me when you and i could hear the bombings over the phone says, telephone i your girl. she's got on the ball with patricia. he has a bullet proof vest and 2 helmets organized by his friends. i ask him if he thinks they are going to keep him safe, not unit or no cigar. i am going to put it on and i'm going to shoot russians until i find out a job watching you. tough talk to cope with the situation. sir gays scared, he tells us who would be on the platform. the train to warsaw is expected. any minutes?

here we meet katerina. she just arrived from ukraine in my city. i have mother and grandmother and they're, they're probably coming to here. my father trained to defend us well of present proud of him and of course, and hurries like most ukrainian men. her father had to stay and fight. the 21 year old is moved by the volunteers returning to ukraine to join her father's ranks. i admire their etiquette and courage, like us said, they're going from other countries to our country to defend it and that's admirable. their time has come together with his comrades. sergei makes his way to the bus. he doesn't know if he will ever come back. but for now, there's only one thing on his mind. defending the homeland from the russian invasion ukrainians,

living abroad are watching with horror as war and gulf. their country many have been involved in organizing huge peace rallies. in recent days, dw met one young ukrainian busy building support for their cause. here in the german capital, berlin. yo yo 18 year old bladder is a ukrainian living in berlin. she's a student and an actress, roger. oh. some of not his family remained trapped in a big ukrainian city. she does not want us to name to protect their safety. i got to think of them. my father and sister. my whole family is still in ukraine. we're very big family. so goes to every one of my friends, my mother that hit on my my boyfriend, my current flood, or is part of a grassroots ukrainian initiative in berlin. risha. they have mobilized thousands

of people for their course. on sunday, hundreds of thousands turned out on to the streets of berlin, protesting the war flatter, and her friends organized one of the rallies. sadly, oh, i. after their protests, the group meets in this bar to organize space. medusa is a hot spot for eastern europeans in berlin to a v create. your next rally needs to be planned, but it's also a place where everybody from the group can release their stress. good, that's good. we would. oh. 6 together they follow the news and comfort each other. sometimes as i felt and maybe still feel guilty that i am not there. busy with them right now, sometimes i just wonder, crush everything in my home,

because if i can or do anything to save my save my parents, save my friends. i'm just like, i'm, we're doing these demonstrations, but still i feel so powerless. and yeah, i can do anything and i just want to be strong for them and i hope that would contribute and what he say and what they do is the strong enough for them to few it because all of my strengths come from them. when i say that, i'm gonna come out and scream at the top of my lungs every day. and i'm going to stand until i know that the people i love are safe and i actually mean it. oh, and so they sing for peace for their friends, for their loved ones in ukraine. oh,

and for that country. oh, you are watching d. w. news from berlin. we're carrying special extended cub coverage of the war in ukraine. just recapping the latest from ukraine russian forces, or intensifying their attacks on ukraine's main cities. russia claims it has taken control of the city of cason in ukraine, south following fierce fighting. ukraine says it still holds the key administration building. there. airstrikes have had buildings and infrastructure and urban areas in the capital kiya including the cities, tv tower, elsewhere russian paratroopers have reportedly landed in the 2nd biggest city hockey, which has been devastated by days of air strikes. ukrainian president, belgium is zalinski, has accused moscow of committing war crimes by hitting residential areas. russia says it's targeting military facilities and has warned residents to flee as it

threatens new strikes. a russian missile strikes a tv tower and keys in her cave. a government building goes up in flames. both attacks killed people. russia is ramping up its assault on ukraine. as a 60 kilometer long, russian convoy of armored vehicles closes in on the capital. thousands of ukrainians still desperately trying to flee. though, staying behind a facing the horrors of war in washington. when we had a fight at 5 a. m. this the color, the bm. well we were retreating and near us a meter away from me. a mile blue of my friends,

arms and legs. little green and white. i tried to save him. i pulled him away, but he didn't make it. yeah, your demo? oh no sir. philip follows why you're warmer ukraine's president valona me. zalinski has asked nato to set up a no fly zone and has also applied to join the european union are fighting processes and just for our land. and for our freedom alicia, dis, local and might defining that at all. like cities of our country are now blocked the world. we are facing the problem all soon to be equal members of europe. he or josh, i believe that good to day me. we spoke with our showing everybody that's exactly what we are used to do. prove that you are with us,

so when do prove it, you will not let us go. it was an impassioned plea for help. as the political discussions continue, the ukranian fighting spirit remains strong. or we have a team of correspondence on the ground in ukraine. one of them is correspond mathias bellinger. he joins us now from western ukraine mathias tell us what has been going on there over night. what's the situation with the fighting in ukraine this morning? yeah, there have been continuous attacks again on the key if and harker of the most 2 most important cities of ukraine. and in another news, the russian troops are again, inside the town of have song, tests on this. one is, is we're a city close to crimea. there were, have been a incursions for irv by russian troops from several sides from the east,

from the north and from the south from crimea. and this city of hassan has been, it has been, they have, have been there before, then they were driven out. and now they are inside there again. and this would be the 1st big city in a new crane where they seemed to have taken control. although fighting is still going on, and the thing is decided yet, a massive column of russian troops and weaponry is headed toward key at the capital . is the city capable of repelling an attack by a force like that was so far we have seen that the city has been more capable of repelling attacks than previously thought, but of course it is a very significant number. we don't know what they are meant to do. are they meant to close the ring around key iv and, and create some kind of a block and, and, and, and yeah, it cut, give off the rest of the country,

or are they meant to enter the city? of course it when entering when a for, for an army enters a city, those who defended are in the better position. they know the place they can attack from several places it from and they would fight around houses. so that might be something that russia wants to avoid seeing that they are troops are not very well trained. and we have seen these columns standing there for some time. there are also questions about how long they can stand there because all the fuel and the food that they bring with them will be eaten away in the time they are standing there. so lot of questions about this column, but it truly looks impressive and frightening. now there are regular ukrainian troops that are defending the country, of course, but civilians are playing a significant role in this fight as well. tell us what they're doing to defend the country. so 1st of all, civilians have already been caught to the call to arms or before the war. there

have been these volunteer battalions being created and also key of has given out weapons to civilians. and, but in this case, we also see civilians taking their own initiatives. they do molotov cocktails and throw them on tanks on approaching times. or they just block the tanks peacefully that this has worked in several places that citizens just went out and blocked the way for the tanks and the tanks and didn't know what to do. but he has thank you very much. our correspondent mateus burning of their reporting from western ukraine . and we can now talk to sack a pet her cough. he is a former deputy minister of justice for european integration for the ukrainian government. he joins me from chia. mr. pathos. gov. thank you. first of all, for being with us, you've decided to stay in the ukrainian capital. describe the situation there for us. no, it's been, it's been again nervous nights,

not much of anything happening in key f. yesterday there was this big strike of the t tower. and we expect more strikes coming to day and later on we're seeing, you know, russians losing the battle on the ground and change in the tactics of attacking the infrastructure within the cities and doing the indiscriminate shelling. so while, while the city remains on the phone control of, of the ukrainian administration and, and on forces, we are prepared where we're, we're awaiting pretty much an attack on, on the civilians. it's just a matter of time and matter of who gets lucky and who is not so lucky. as you know, a russian military convoy some say it's 60 kilometers long is approaching key of how much does that worry you and your fellow citizens?

look, it says that he couldn't move much for the last 24 hours or even more. and that's hard to tell what's going on. but the footage that we've seen, and i've seen from, you know, the soldiers that were already taken. it seems that the russian army has no treaty changed much since ninety's or even earlier. so they were not organized at all. they have a, you know, they took people by surprise and, and some of them didn't even know that they were they going or what, what, what is their odd, what is their target? so i think that's a, partly there is no supply lines ready for this big campaign. and i, we've seen, you know, russian tanks just getting lost in ukraine and, and looking for no going around the country asking for directions and, and trying to get some food, a full in. also, we're seeing a russian soldiers, you know, just leaving their tanks to leave in their,

their detachments. some of them are, you know, or many of them are, you know, 1920 year old boys who were, you know, who just signed a contract and didn't, didn't want of, you know, fight with you trained in the want to be aggressor aggressors. but we're just fooled into that and, and they trying to, you know, you know, get out of this as soon as possible. so i think it's a combination of the low moral these organization, you know, bad planning. and the, and all that together is, is the reason why the column this huge column is moving anywhere. ok. now you were dealing very much with trying to get ukraine in to the european union. that was your official job in the government. among other things, president sal ask is asking that you now to accept ukraine as a member state. do you see any prospect for expedited accession for ukraine to the ear? look, i'm still do that just in a different capacity. it's not

a matter of the president or a government, it's the matter of what people do and, and we clearly see people conceding, they fight for the future, for the independence, and for the right of a choice to, to, to choose to become if for europe, elation so i'm, i'm doing the same thing just like, you know, 4040000000 of ukrainians are doing every day bosses now before and after that. so it's not a decision that is making by someone in the government. it's what the people want em. i think it's fair for the people to get the signal from the ear that they are heard. they are supported. they, they are part of the european family ukrainian and russian officials have held talks, as you know, to end the conflict. and so far, there's been a result from those talk. so what, what needs to happen to stop this war?

i think it's honestly, after, after watching all that, i think it's a complete look, you know, complete a lockdown and st. and stopping of all economic activity. the financial activity in russia who's in doesn't care about the lives of his soldiers. he already know we already have thousands of dead russian soldiers here. he doesn't really care about them. ah, what he cares is, is about his influence. and the only way to stop him is just physically make it impossible for russians to go on. and so i think that's the only thing, not just sanctions, but clearly much close the country. stop the country from functioning. make it in a middle ages. ah, middle ages, kingdom were no, no, no, no commitment. no, there are no communication. no modern technology, no ability to wage war. i think that's the only way. and that would make russian people think about it twice, whether they need a crazily to like that. so hey,

frederick, off the forward deputy minister of justice for european integration for the ukranian government. thank you very much for taking time to talk with us. thank you . the united states president joe biden has vowed to make russian president vladimir putin pay a very high price for what he called an unprovoked attack on ukraine. in his 1st state of the union address, biden said western countries were standing united in the face of russian aggression and pledge the us would defend its nato allies. but he again said that us forces would not get involved in the fighting in ukraine, which is not an a nato member. instead, biden promised more sanctions against russia targeting its oligarchs and a closed u. s. aerospace to russian aircraft it mad but catch up on what's happening on the ground in ukraine in the week since the invasion started, the russian military has attacked targets across the country. in the north, a large convoy of russian military vehicles remains outside the capital key of air

. heavy fighting is ongoing. in hoc heave with russian airborne troops landing in the city. after days of heavy shelling in the south, russian ports his claim. they have taken control of the city of cason close to odessa and are attempting to encircle the port city of mario pole. russia's military advances have however, been slowed by strong resistance or some analysis. now let's bring in former british general sir chris devereaux. thanks for joining us. general. it's de 7 of the invasion. the russians seem to be stepping up their assault. do you think we're about to see a major escalation in fighting? good morning. i think that's possible. i think the most likely scenario is an increase in the bloody fight for, for control of the cities. and i'm facing that on an assumption that the cranes will continue to fight. and i think they're fighting much harder than we can expect

. it's a top us of defense, official general says that the, that a large russian military con boy heading towards the capital of kia appears to have stalled. can you offer any explanation for that and why don't the ukrainians attacking it? well, i think you know what, we're all speculate the thing and it won't be till after this is over that we really understand with confidence why that convoy is as it is. but my, my guess is, i think we underestimate just how much there just to effort is required to move. and i'm a convoy of that size and distance. it's 150 miles a kilometer. sorry, from the us border to yes and, and just moving that distance with a large arm and force is logistic challenging and storage the, the russians don't have massive amounts of transport vehicles. they tend to rely on

rail, which is not available to them in ukraine yet. so, so i think it's, it's still for logistic reasons. it's also still no job because there has been ukrainian resistance. why are they attacking it more? i suspect we're not necessarily seeing all the attacks that are getting on, but they're also will be a degree of, of support to that conway. and i think it will not be easy to cause a massive disruption. well, several western countries and the e u decided in recent days that they'll be sending military equipment more military equipment to ukraine. can this still make a difference for ukraine? oh, sure. the challenge, of course, is to get that military equipment into the hands of ukraine soldiers, even if you can get it to the border. it's not a simple thing to get it into the,

into the right place. but, but you know, my assumption is that the cranes are working very hard at that. and for sure, it is evidence that the military supplies that have already been delivered in particular, antea cra, weapons, and anti tank weapons are damaging those russian forces. i spoke to a former ukranian government official just a short while ago, and he suggested that the morale of the russian forces is declining. do you get the feeling that the heart and minds of russian troops are really in this place against ukraine? a very much doubt they are. my expectation is that a lot of these russian soldiers will be very surprised to find themselves in ukraine. they would have been told that they would go on exercise and not that they were going to rule. and they will be very surprised to see themselves fighting against their slavic brothers and cousins. so, and they're obviously not winning easily either. so the combination of all,

i think will make morale in the russian forces in ukraine right now. very, less general. let me ask your final question. how do you see this war playing out? well, i think there are a range of scenarios that the most dangerous isn't we're thinking about it's it's, you know, that we are effectively in world war 3. we just haven't realized it yet. i don't think that's the most likely scenario. i think that what, what happens is alone fights for control of the cities from the russian forces and, and the, a gradual wearing down of the, of the russian economy. hopefully to the point at which the pushing regime collapses. sir chris debrel, former british general, thank you very much for taking time to talk with us today. thank you. my pleasure rushes war on ukraine is also shaking up the world of classical music,

top conductor by that the sag has been fired from his post as chief conductor of the munich philharmonic for failing to criticize his longtime ally, latimer putting across europe and the u. s. russian artists with ties to the criminal have been put on notice. speak out against hooton's invasion of ukraine or face being canceled. ah, one of the world's most visionary conductors, and a long time ally of russian president vladimir putin. for years, concert houses in the west looked past conductor. valerie gar gibbs close ties to rushes, authoritarian leader. but after putin ordered the invasion of ukraine, many are finding that impossible, and are demanding the conductor distance himself from pu team. new york's carnegie hall cancelled garr gives appearance. so has lascola opera house in milan, in germany, munich mayor gave dare give an ultimatum. denounce putins war against ukraine and

against munich sister city, kiev, or lose his job as chief conductor of the munich philharmonic. dare give didn't respond on tuesday, the mayor fired him. 6 1 of the world's top opera singers on an a trip co has also been a long time putin supporter. in 2014, she made headlines posing with a russian separatist leader and flag in eastern ukraine. last year, the russian soprano celebrated her 50th birthday with a gala, at the kremlin this past weekend under enormous pressure. no tribe go posted on social media. i am opposed to this war. i want this war to end and for people to be able to live in peace. but she stopped short of criticising, pu tim, saying artists shouldn't be forced to take political stances. that stance was not enough to save her high profile concerts in the us,

and europe after increased pressure for her to sever ties with putin trap go, cancelled all performances in the west saying it was not the right time for her to perform. you are watching t w news from berlin. here's a quick recap of what's happening in ukraine on the ground. russian forces have stepped up their attacks on ukraine's main cities. several people were killed in a strike on the main tv tower in the capitol hill on tuesday. russia now claims to have control of the city of cason in the south after fierce fighting there he was present, joe biden, his vow to make russia pay a price for launching an attack on ukraine in his 1st state of the union speech by the said, the war and ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked, and he announced further sanctions on russia, including a ban on russian aircraft from us. here's

our coverage of the russian invasion of ukraine continues in the next hours here on d w t b. i'm terry martin. i'll be back in just a couple of minutes and of course you can get full and the about what's happening, your grade on our website. it's d w dot com ah ah, with

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ah, this is dw news coming to you live from berlin. russia steps up to it's a tax on ukraine, cities, airstrikes hit the tv tower, and key f knocking out broadcast and killing several people. russian troops and tanks are reported and other key cities, but ukrainian forces continue to mount a defense. we'll hear from our correspondence on the ground. also coming in dictators do not pay a price for their aggression. they caused more chaos in his 1st state of the union address to you as president joe biden bows to punish vladimir putin for attacking ukraine. and.