writing a ukrainian nuclear power plant, europe's largest. now let that sink, yen have the reactor taken a direct hit or the electricity been knocked out. this could have become another tra, noble or fukushima. it didn't happen, but that doesn't mean that it won't hap, i'm brigade from berlin. this is the day. ah, this is tara, on an unprecedented leveled with keith nationalist regime, attempted to implement a monstrous provocation. northrop, this just demonstrates the recklessness of his war on the port was over and the name of conflict comes to us. we're ready for it and we will defend every inch of territory. it is playing with fire. that really was, is beyond anything to do with logical necessity. the message to putting has been

clear. you are isolated on a global level and the cold world. he's against you or so coming up the kids of ukraine at a time when they should be playing and going to school. children are being forced to grow up much too quickly. i went to, i'm just so scared i will to our viewers watching on p b. s in the united states and do all of you around the world. welcome. we begin the day grateful that we are not ending this week under a radioactive cloud. last night, russian forces attacked ukraine's zipper. read she a nuclear power plant. the shelling did not hit reactor or not count power. the

international atomic energy agency confirming today that there was no release of radiation. and today, workers at the power plant said that they were carrying out their duties as usual, except they were doing it at gunpoint. russian troops are in control of the power plant, which is located in southern ukraine. and that is where russian forces or advancing all of this happening just hours before an emergency meeting in brussels of us canadian, u. k. and european foreign ministers. in addition to native take a listen to what the head of native yen stoughton berg set about. that shilling of the ukrainian nuclear power plant. we condemn the attacks on civilians. an overnight we're also seeing reports about detect against the nuclear potent this just demonstrates the written, reckless vessel, this war, unimportant sofa and the 8th on the important. so rashaw, withdrawing all its troops and engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts that was

in stoughton bec, speaking, they are turkey, as offered to assist with that is foreign minister saying today in brussels, that encore a wants to bring russian and ukrainian diplomats together at an international forum, next week, it's yet unclear if that can happen. but what is clear is naida will not impose a no fly zone over ukraine. ukrainian president zalinski has repeatedly called for one to prevent further russian air strikes. we have responsibility as a laws to prevent this war pro, escalating the only thing the only way to implement the no fly zone is the sent me to planes fight to place into christmas. and then impulse that will fossil by shooting down reference nurse isn't. is the understand the desperation, but it also believe it will be that will end up with something that could end in

a full fish war in volume. many hormones are causing much more use over. now that said, nato is helping its provided weapons and move troops to secure its eastern flank. there's nearly $4000.00 in estonia and lamphier countries bordering russia. german troops have arrived in lithuanian, and french u. s. troops or in romania and bulgaria, and this just might be the beginning. but it could also be the beginning of an expansion in nato membership. exactly what president putin does not want to happen. the invasion of ukraine has dramatically swayed public opinion in sweden and finland, which are not members of nato recent polls showing in both countries that a majority are now in favor of joining the alliance. but to

talk about that tonight, i'm joined from helsinki by henry from hon. and he's a finished foreign policy analyst and advisor to the opposition national coalition party. henry, it's good to have you on the program. i think it's something like 53 percent of fins are now in favor of joining nato. tell me why this is so remarkable. thank you, brandon. good evening and thanks for having me. or i would say that these polls, they indicate that there's been a southern and historic change and finish public opinion on need some membership. you see for the last decades, the public opinion concerning nate, a membership has been remarkably stable. and now for the 1st time in history, the majority of things are in favor of nato. and i think before these polls in recent times, this report for made. so i've only been a round 24 to 28 percent. and the opposition roughly 40 to 50 percent and this was the case roughly a month ago. i think it also indicates that the public opinion is not is not seen

or will not be an obstacle for being on possible need for membership. and i think this majority support will increase the room for maneuver of being on foreign policy leadership as well. what, what about what we saw last night? russian shelling of a ukranian nuclear power plant. a radioactive catastrophe could have easily been the result. in your opinion, how will this influence public opinion regarding native well, i believe that these actions they, they fall in line with the bombing of ukrainian cities and see the civilians. and i think the more atrocities and reckless actions we witnessed by russia and ukraine. i think the more will, of course, increase russia's international isolation as we saw, for example, in the un general assembly. but i think also, i think it creates this, this consensus in finland that the security situation has radically changed. and then we need to react in

a well profound manner. and i would say that this is basically the main cause for the, for the increase, for example, on public opinion on nato. a need for now. so how close would you say is finland now to actually applying to join nato? while the public notice shifting in feeling in russia, the actions have largely backfired as nato is becoming a critical issue in finland again. and i would say that there is a clear consensus that european security has changed and perhaps even radically deteriorated. and while female is not facing direct military threats, it has become evident that we also need to re evaluate our relations with russia. and i think we should expect a via national and parliamentary discussion and pinion and out, and undoubtedly, nato is on the table as well. but we should not also forget that in practicing and is already basically more nato interoperable than many nato members. as part, isabel, nato, and other multinational activities concerning collective security. for example,

that try and juncture about the exercises and develop nato's annual crisis management exercises in which the alliance basically rehearses this point to go military decision making, the fictitious article $4.00 and $5.00 scenario. so basically we are a close partner with natal, an increasing cooperation at this time is only, i think, a lot of goal. you know, henry, in the last 10 days we have seen so many security paradigms, just shattered and think of german foreign policy. the big u turn, we've got the european union moving at lightning speed. now with economic sanctions . i want you to listen to what the us secretary of state said earlier today about this in brussels. what the european union has done over the space of a couple of weeks is quite simply remarkable. the speed with which it acted, the actions that it took, both with regard to the sanctions and also support for ukraine far. i think it's not an exaggeration to say historic and it only further validates for us the

importance of this partnership. so that you've got blink in lauding you. and now you and i, henry, are talking about your country, possibly joining native. did you ever expect such a radical shift like this? well, brand, honestly speaking, i think the speed in which the shift and if the bends unraveling in europe insecurity. you have been dramatic. and while roches mentor build up in the ukraine, i've taken place for some months now. i don't think not many expected the seriousness of the development that we are witnessing now. i think we should be also know that the finland actually never dropped the ball regarding our national defense. we have a very capable and significant defense force with the world times 280000 soldiers. and basically a state of the art material and other countries downsize, their military capabilities after the cold, warfield and the, the exact opposite. meaning the unit has always prepared to sell for conventional military threats as well. and i think it descends being a security producer,

another consumer, regardless of not being a member at this moment. let me just ask you before we run out of time, i know that has a history of standing up duration. your country fault the soviet union in 1939 and was able to largely hold soviet troops back. would you say that there are lessons from that time that war that can be applied to putins more in ukraine? now? i would raise free point. i think number one is the importance of national defense . why don't we have considered full scale war from the europe unlikely? as we see, conventional military brands still exist. this means that maintaining a credible national defense remains important in our world. and i think seamless performance during the winter war demonstrates the continued value of conscription for small and lightly populated countries that are not children by military ally instructors. and i think number 2 is partnerships in defense, cooperation, and like ukraine. fremont fault alone,

but receives the standard substantial military for a military, a significant role in war. so in practice, in, in time to think times of crisis, these partnerships can be essential in defining the outcome of a war. and i think number fries that full scale war 2, always risky for the attacker and come with a cost for tool war. so this will be a union, and many people lost their lives and been lost. a significant amount of territory, however, was able to cost him post cost on the soviet army and was never occupied and maintain its independence. so whatever the result of the war, if he does already cost russia economic and political terms, and i think any attempts to keep your brain could backfire severely. yeah, henry, find hunting, finish foreign policy analysts in the advisors, the opposition national coalition party, henry, we appreciate your time and your valuable insights. it's interesting to get the view from finland. thank thank you very much.

lou. in addition to innocent lives lost in ukraine since the invasion began, there is another casualty of putin's war, a free press, independent reporting, and freedom of expression. the russian government has introduced drastic new measures to clamp down on descent as opposition to the war. appears to be growing among russians. on friday morning, the parliament the duma pass legislation banning the spread of information critical of russia's war or of its military violations could carry up to 15 years in prison . free speech advocates or warning that this will dramatically increase censorship . how early are the countries media watchdog restricted access to d, w, this channel and other international mediate websites? and earlier this week, the popular echo of moscow ready of station and the independent dashed tv channel were both shut down a will, the russian,

people stand for total suppression. my next gifts can offer an answer. and some insight into how russians view their politics, their president and their nation. she did that in her book, bears in the streets. lisa dickie is the author of this travelogue, which is full of open and honest discussions with russians was good to have you back on the day the last time you and i talked here on the show. the circumstances, of course, were dramatically different and the view of the russian president vladimir putin, inside and outside of russia, they were still polarizing. but they certainly were nothing compared to where we are to night. what's been going through your mind these past 10 days since prudence war began? well, i had to say the 1st thing that went to my mind really was shock, which might sound strange, given the fact that so many people were talking about the fact that this invasion

was going to happen, that there was going to be a war. but i think somewhere in my mind, i just couldn't conceive that it was actually going to happen in the way that it has. and i think i've been in touch with several of the friends that i had made in, in russia, in the mid ninety's and people that i've met on my various trips there. and there's a lot of shock among them as well. although there's opinion all across the spectrum among the people i've spoken with some very much in favor and some very much not so the, the doom of the russian parliament it has passed. draconian legislation to prevent descent. what did you say when the world responds by asking, how can russians simply except this and take this you know, it's such a tricky situation for russians. i think because as you say, i mean your question sort of answered itself. there have been all kinds of restrictions past against people going out and, and gathering, and protesting. and this is not just in terms of this war, this has been for,

for decades that this has been happening. a lot of it under vladimir putin. you have to also go back a little farther, i think and understand that there's not a culture and history and tradition of people gathering in the streets to protest. certainly. and not in the past, a 100 and something years, you know, 100 well, 100 years, i guess, since the revolution, you know, this is not something that russians habitually have done more soviets ever did, because it was not allowed. it's not something that people were allowed to do. so it's not so simple as to say, for example, the united states. you can say, well, we have freedom of speech and we're going to go down and, you know, have a demonstration at the white house. this is just not something that's as easily done over there. so i think there are a lot of russians who are very frustrated, but they're not really sure what to do or where to go. there's always the fear of being arrested. there's the fear of losing your job. there's all kinds of things that can happen. and that obviously also stifles descent to june. we know he, i mean, he's said this himself driven by a desire to return russia to its former empire. he basically wants to bring back

the 19th century and the power and the glory that he believes made russia. what was in his eyes, a more respectable country. do russians do they share this desire? i'm not so sure that they share the desire to recreate the russian empire or to reconstitute the countries of the ussr. but what they do share is a desire to see russia respected on the world stage. and again, i would take you back a little bit in history where, you know, for the entire 2nd half of the 20th century, up until the collapse of the soviet union, there were 2 superpowers in the world. the soviet union and the united states, the soviet union collapsed. the economy collapsed. all of a sudden, russia was not nearly as strong as it had been. and people in the west didn't care so much what russia thought about anything. and then you see the rise of china and, you know, people are talking about china and the united states as being the 2 superpowers.

this did not sit well, particularly with russians over this period of time and vladimir putin. one of the reasons for his popularity, i think, is because he came into office following boris yeltsin and basically said, for lack of a better term, you know, we're going to make russia great again. and to a certain extent, he did the economy, got better the, you know, the rubel got stronger people started to feel good about their country again. and you can't underestimate how that affects people on a day to day basis. so that's definitely something that underpins. it's the reason why i titled my book bears in the streets. people kept saying to me, oh, you in the west all think we just have bears wandering in the streets here. and we don't, you know, they're there. they want us to know that they are a serious country and they're there, a country that matters. so, and that in that way, i think they do support what putin is trying to do. we knew, although, who would like this to be reality? he can't keep his compatriots in the dark forever about the war

in ukraine. what do you think it would take to to tip public opinion against what appears to be this silent acceptance of repression and suppression, right? now again, it's such a difficult question because, you know, thinking well can here, can't he keep people in the dark? i mean, as, as these days of war go by. he's continually shutting down more and more, as you mentioned a minute ago, more and more venues for news that's not in kremlin sanction news to get to the people of russia. so it's harder and harder for people to get information about what is actually going on in ukraine and what is actually going on. generally, between russia and the west. and so a lot of their news diet that they're getting is coming directly from the kremlin. and that's, that's a big problem that there are, it's very difficult to see how that can be overcome. here we've heard in the last couple of days, calls of, from members of the u. s. congress for the people of russia to rise up against food

there. everybody calls for the us or for another country to do that. how widely do you think it is that we're going to see the people rise up and throw putting out the door? i guess that's the $1000000.00 question, right? like i, i don't the type of sort of nation wide rallies or that, that sort of rising up. i don't really seeing that happening. i don't think that that's going to happen with this particular war. i just don't again, for all the reasons we spoke about i, i, there's too much that people have at stake. people are uncertain about what exactly is going on. some of the people that i've spoken with over there have said, i don't believe anything coming from either side. you know, there was a person that i was messaging with and she basically said, i don't trust our media and i don't trust your media. i don't, there's no way for any of us to know unless we see it with our own eyes. so the, you know, there's just a, there's, there is, and i think this is a global issue that we're gonna have to, you know,

we wrestle with in the united states. we're wrestling with it in russia. we're wrestling with it everywhere. what is true and what is not, what can you believe in what can you not believe? and there's, this is one of the biggest problems. so i don't really see some sort of big national overthrow of putin in the works. but you know, at that it's anything can happen honestly. at this point, we're surprised every day i feel like you have little as imagine that there were to be some type of change in power at the top who were to be overthrown. or even if he would it be just, you know, if you were to die or be assassinated, we've heard all these suggestions this week. what do you think the reaction among the russian people would be? i think that the russian people have a very complicated relationship with their leaders. you know, if you think about when stalin died following the 2nd world war even though stolen had been as terribly repressive leader. and so many people had been sent to the google logs and there was so much terror that was involved in his rain. you know,

so many russians and soviets just were just wept like, you know, just were so sad and sorry when he was gone. if latter mere putin were to be assassinated, if he were assassinated by somebody in his own inner circle, it might hit differently than if he were assassinated by someone else if that's even a possibility. but i think that the russian people have very strong feelings about this is our guy, even if they don't like what he's doing, i could be wrong about that. but i just, i feel like there's, it's not a simple thing. it's not a simple question. so, you know, i am really sort of feel like i'm on tenterhooks, and the whole world is on tenterhooks to see if what, what is possibly going to happen here with him. but i would not presume to assume that we can know how the russian people are going to respond to that. because that is, that would just be such an extreme situation. it would be chaotic. yeah, i think the, our inability to predict what's going to happen tomorrow in the day after tomorrow . that's one of the reasons why you have so much anxiety around the world at this

moment. unfortunately, other lisa dicky and joining us tonight from washington, lisa, it's always, it was good talking with we appreciate your insights. thank you. thank you very much. lou will meanwhile, the exodus of people fleeing the war continues. mainly women and children, as most ukrainian men are staying behind. they have to stay behind to fight. poland is receiving the biggest number of refugees, but other neighboring countries. they are also taking in people desperate to escape russia's assault w's tests evolved to report tonight from these slovakian border with you, correct? a roof over their heads. even if it's just a tent and a hot meal here envision in em, yet sca still vecchio. they found shelter from the attacks of the russian army in their homeland oksana arrived here from west and ukraine just

a few hours ago with her 2 children. ms. rationalism will. yes, i was so afraid for my children, who we had to flee. all of us had to flee horribly at that. i don't know what to do now seem made kick. i do not say asana is relieved that she saved here for the time being. but she still can't comprehend the whole catastrophe of the wall to call myself a refugee. i want to go back home where my children were happy. did the blues does live? oh, dorm. yeah, what i want to. i'm just so scared. lydia

also just made it across the border with her children. she's afraid for our husband, who can't be with his kids right now. that has to fight the russian soldiers that is alive. we are all worried. but what should we do? my husband told us to go and then we went. we may never see each other again. this is not right. if we all have to die, we want to die together. it's not right that my husband is in ukraine and we are here. you don't want to leave your home with us though, that like lydia knock sana, thousands of women and children are fleeing ukraine, the neighboring countries. the families here are trying their best to hold up, especially the mothers do, all they can to she or their children from the horrible situation they are in. but when you speak to them a little bit longer, you realize just how traumatized they are by the war and their home country. but

the day's almost done the conversation. he continues online, you'll find us on twitter either at the w news. you can follow me on twitter at brent golf t v. and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day. and if you can have a safe weekend, everybody will see you again. on monday, with with

to the point strong opinion, this is clear positions, international perspectives. russian forces continue their advance on key cities in ukraine. the onslaught has had an unexpected side effect. vladimir putin wars uniting an awful divided world. on to the point we ask for ryan putin isolated and bring to the point with d, w, making the headlines and what's behind them. dw news africa,

the show that was the issue in the continent. life is slowly getting back to normally well in the streets, to give you enough reports on the inside of our correspondence with on the ground reporting from across the continent and all the trend stuff, the mazda to you. mm. in 60 minutes on d. w, with listen carefully. don't know how do you move to the goal? ah, feel the magic discover the world around you.

subscribe to d w documentary on youtube. with russian forces continue their advance on the ukrainian capital, t of and other key cities. the onslaught has had an unexpected side effect. vladimir put ins, war seems to be uniting and often divided world. in new york, the un general assembly overwhelmingly condemned the brutal on slot. a slew of companies have closed down operations in russia or divested themselves of russian related holdings with harsh sanctions in place. joe biden says proteins more isolated than ever.