appeal from ukraine's foreign minister to western allies, demitra calais bus as the fight for eastern ukraine is about to get much worse and his country desperately needs arms to defend its people. nato says it to expect a major battle in the don boss, and it's committed to providing a wide range of weapons for a conflict at the alliance. believes may dragon for years. i'm abby cor dawson and this is the day. ah, weatherford almost will remind you. was 2nd world war you, cree needs weapons in order to force russian troops to leave our country. we agree, the 3 most further strengthen and sustain our support to, to ukraine. we're not going to let anything stand in the way of getting ukrainians what they need. i think it's an open question right now, how this ends either you help us now and i'm speaking about days,

not weeks or you help will come too late. also on the day, after a month of heavy fighting near keith, the russian army has withdrawn and the survivors civilians are emerging from their hiding places. blessed him, he said, we didn't used to understand what it was to people and on boss had been going through all these years stuck in their sellers. the last month has taught us what war is, is names with that that ah, welcome to the program. as the warren ukraine enters its 7th week, the please for assistance are getting more urgent. ukrainian foreign minister demitra, who lay by has met with nato counterparts in brussels and says, keep needs more weapons deliveries now. or it will be too late. calais by as ukraine is facing a military assault from russia on a scale not seen since the 2nd world war. and actually, as we speak,

the battle for douglas is underway. it has not reached its maximum scale, but every day the heaviest fighting takes place in that part of ukraine. and more is to come unfortunately, the battle for don't boss, will remind you. and i regret the said, but this is through the battle for don't boss will remind you was 2nd world war with large operations, mueller's involvement of thousands of tanks armored wiggles claims, artillery. ah, this will not be a local operation, based on what we see in russia's preparations to eat kremlin spokesperson dmitri pash. gov has acknowledged russia has sustained significant losses of troops in ukraine, and he's called it a huge tragedy for russia,

but pash. gov still says that russia hopes to reach its military goals. in the coming days, the country's defense ministry reports that between one and 2000 russian soldiers have been killed, but independent estimates put the number closer to 10000. our next guest is stephanie bob's. she's a former deputy assistant secretary general of nato. ms. bobs. welcome to the w. thank for being with us. i want to start by asking you to your reaction to what the spokesperson there has said. well, i guess the russia leadership that doesn't have much choice of it and admitting that it has really suffered losses. much more significant losses in fact. but i guess it's part of the overall gay play of the kremlin to prepare the ground for a longer term war and ukraine. and meanwhile, neo foreign ministers have been meeting in brussels. the korean foreign minister was also there and do me triple a bus as he needs 3 things. weapons, weapons, weapons. that was all that was on the agenda and he wants them quickly. it's not

exactly clear what nato has been providing. has there been any kind of shift in the type of weapons of the alliance has been sending ukraine from day one to now, for one nature as an organization has not provided any weapons, you know, it's out. the allies is to 30 member countries that provide about weapons and military equipment and they to doesn't even have an coordinating role. so what the secretary general has actually asked for is to, for the allies to consider providing more of the heavy military equipment that is really needed to counter a massive lend offensive. and i think this is what we're talking about in the days and weeks to come. as russia has started to regroup, and we enforce its military troops in the done bus and south of ukraine, we heard from the secretary general in stoughton berg a short while ago. let's have a quick listen to what he had to say. hello, so been doing a lot and are determined to do more. now on for me, do

a term to help the brave ukrainians defend their homes on their country and pushed back the invading forces. all ours, also supporting and stepping up. are you going to turn in aid on financial support? we discussed what more we will do, including cyber security assistance on provide the equipment to help ukraine protect against the chemical and biological fits. now he mentioned chemical and biological threats. if there were to be that type of an attack on ukraine, would nato's position change in any ways that the red line for nato? is there a red line for nato? well it so i personally think very wise of the allies not to identify any read lies in advance. i mean, we used to have had stories in the past for a red lines remarked and then nothing really happened. so we went away. this is time. but at the same time,

it's very important to do what we call the native contingency planning to prepare for case scenarios to prepare for what if scenarios. and i think this is what the allies have started to do already with regard to chemical weapons that rusher eventually may use, but also for a potential eventual, of application or deployment, rather of tactical nukes. we'd hear quite a bit about not provoking vladimir putin. it's nito western allies have repeatedly said we can't do anything that might make the situation worse, or that this would spill over into nato territory. but it's become very clear that the criteria for what is considered provocation is very different in moscow than it is in the west. so why are the countries that are part of the alliance, comfortable with applying weapons to ukraine, but not doing much more? well, i think it's indeed very, very important to consider the potential consequences of any action. and this is

what the eyes are doing collectively. and they have collectively decided, personally, i think, wisely. so to not push it too hard to not give, putting that much of a potential excuse to say see, i told you so nate horace egg entering a war so named her is becoming a, an active member and a party of this operation in ukraine. so let's go for it in order to avoid that, they have kept this defensive line. however, personally, i believe it's very, very wise not to always look at what mr. putin has in line, but to really focus on the way we define in our own strategies and policy goals in support of ukraine in terms of nato expansion. putin has repeatedly said that this is something that has aggravated him, but this war on ukraine has actually pushed some countries to consider nato membership. and perhaps they wouldn't have. we're talking about finland and sweden

. right. and i personally believe that we're going to see a formal application of finland, most likely also sweden and any time soon i'm not talking about was days but, but rather weeks. but i think it's remarkable how these 2 countries have changed their minds, both in terms of public opinion, but also parliamentary support for nato membership. in many ways, it's a logical step that these countries would take if they put an application, a form filled out on the table because they have been partners of, of ne, to, for so long, very valuable partners to have provided. so 1st class support for nato operations. they participated in exercises, and indeed they would really, really be 1st class assets, if admitted by the allies. stephanie bob's former deputy assistant secretary general of nato. thank you very much for being with us and your insights yet. and with wicca,

ukrainians are searching through the rubble and the liberated town of world the younger hoping to find the bodies of their loved ones for the young guy is just 70 kilometers northwest to keep. it was one of the 1st towns hit by russian shelling after the invasion began. local authorities have estimated that $200.00 civilians have been killed and locals are coming out of hiding and taking stock after nearly a month under russian occupation in the areas around keith dw. nick connelly visited the small town of booth give, which found itself in the middle of intense fighting between russian and ukrainian forces. since late february, he spoke to resident struggling to make sense of what happened to them. this is we give the small town, it's just emerging from a month and a russian occupation month in which it was on the front lines. she, russian and ukrainian forces. toys was sometimes just the woods. people were

children. it's as much as many residents of this ukrainian town could think of a plea to the russian troops to leave them and their families alone, as they hid in their homes. who disagree with, let's assume new people in this village spent 27 days without water on the 27 days without bread. we grew up. when you, i thought was a demon his wife held out for 3 weeks until the shelling became too much to bear. and they were finally able to leave for a neighboring village of them up when they got back of the cranium military had retaken the town. the home would be ransacked by retreating russian troops with they've got it. everything carried everything out. all that's laughter, the walls and the sofa soccer. the only, you know, they've taken all the electronics. i don't even know where they put it all the remote over the months they were here, the russians really changed for the worse go me thing is, i'm just disgusted at the thought that they were moving around and eating in my

house. at least they didn't sleep here with the food doesn't look dollars to put in the was goodness qual, uh, they just destroyed things for the sake of it. the ceiling. even if the the impact on this community goes far beyond looted homes, locals, phyllis, they were kidnapped and detained in sellers for days on end. accused by the russians of helping the ukrainian military. several residents still missing, fear killed. a priest arrived from the neighboring village with supplies for those who have lost almost everything. yeah, but it's not food or money that the locals are asking for us. who am i and what was we were looking for to have the people here need tranquilizers with many of them have lost everything with me that they spent a lifetime saving $4.00 with this, with their houses, thought their cars. it's all gone into separate from what you both shows is the damp seller where she her husband and her neighbors spent some of the coldest

nights of the you know, to go national yogurt. linda, we weren't just hearing the shelling, we could feel it. everything was shaking openly and all we could do is pray that it wouldn't hit us. we just kept praying loose supplies like these people above and husband going during the weeks. andrew occupation, where for the shop stood shut, leaving home would have meant running a gauntlet or was it that he has got off by the time you've been up and down these steps a few times, you'll lose the will to do anything else. you both tells us she and every one she knows has exhausted her washington, always waiting for something. they can't quite define unable to ever let go mercy him. he said, we didn't used to understand what it was that people and on boss have been going through all these years stuck in their sellers. the last month has taught us what war is, is name certificate. for now, the russian army has been pushed back more than a 100 kilometers, but the fear they might return suddenly, as they appeared, was never far away. german news magazine dash beagle says it has uncovered

more evidence that war. crimes were carried out by russian troops in the northern ukrainian town of boucher beagle says, germans warren intelligence service. the bmc has monitored russian military communications in which russian troops can be heard discussing civilian killings and ukraine. the magazine says the german intelligence office has intercepted radio messages that suggest systematic targeting of civilians. it didn't provide a source for the information. joining us now, is he not? nina juergen sent you the professor of public law at the university of south hampton, in the united kingdom. she's also a judge at the kosovo specialist chambers as you're going to and thank you for joining us on the day. now the u. s. president joe biden and other say the killings of civilians in boucher are clear evidence of war crimes committed by russian forces. but there are different classifications of such crimes. how do you view the

future killings? well, if you say that different classifications possible for these crimes, so therefore cool categories of international crime have well, crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and then also the kind of aggression these at events seem to bear the hallmarks of a war crime war crime is a serious violation of international humanitarian law. so the, the law that applies them during an armed conflict and is designed to protect m civilians are those are not fighting prisoners of war and examples of possible war crimes include a murder, torture, and ill treatment of civilians are intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects such as some hospitals, some buildings,

and also act such as ray, even starvation use of human shields, looting or otherwise terrorizing civilian population. so these acts do seem to fit that description of possible war crime and should be investigated as such, caused crime against humanity. these can occur also during piece time, but they involve widespread or systematic attack against thermos civilian population. and increasingly that does appear to be evidence that that may amount to those sorts of crimes this discussion or said perhaps of that genocide or is, is even ongoing. and genocide is a very specific crime. it requires a very, it's a narrow definition. it requires a very specific intent to, to destroy a national ethnic racial,

religious group. there appears as this evidence seems to mount and that there, there is a risk certainly of that, that genocide could, could occur that these, these events could escalate to the the crime of genocide. ukraine has called this a genocide. what's the level of evidence that is needed for accusations of that magnitude to lead to charges? as you said, it's a very narrow definition. it is a very difficult to claim to prove because it is, it has it and our definition. and the challenge is to prove that specific intent to, to eradicate one of one of those groups through the series of underlying acts. so they need to be a lot of evidence gathered to, to prove that that, that intent is there, that it is a type of extreme discrimination that,

that then leads to actually a desire to, to eliminate a group. and so that's a difficult crime to, to prove, because there are instances where it has been proven in court, for example, in relation to events in the land, in $1094.00, it's river nature in bosnia. so it's a high standard, but there have been cases where genocide has been proven. we've heard from the cranium president vladimir zalinski, his bow that those behind the slaughter of ukrainians must be brought to justice. and the one person were all looking at and wondering about as vladimir putin. he's the one sitting in moscow giving the orders, but what kind of evidence is required to link him to the crimes being committed in ukraine today. so again that, that's the challenge to am, to find the evidence that will link him, said to link that of events through the chain of command. so i'm someone in that

position of a rather remote perpetrate potential and perpetrator who is not physically there and sort of involved in events on, on the ground. so it's necessary to find the evidence to, to build up that, that link, or course there are different ways of doing that. the different modes of liability to, to hold perpetrators, to, to account. so it, it could involve and the notion such as a known as a command responsibility of superior responsibility and where someone can be held to account for failing to prevent or punish the crimes that that occur. and if that person seemed to have effective control of the forces, are there other other methods? so responsibility for actually ordering such such conduct or, or being part of a, a group of people with a common name. so a common enterprise to,

to carry out these crimes. but it's, it's proving all the stages. so to link someone at the, at the very top and to those events on that, on the ground that, that it's challenging. again, not, not impossible. it has been done in international criminal proceedings before it has been done before. so what is the likelihood then that the russian president is brought or for the i c. c said that it's more likely if he's not in power and it, well, it would be yes more and more likely. um if it, if he is no longer in power. so former former head of state, it's challenging, of course to, to bring her a serving, had a state before a course at the i c c. so it's it, there's there, presidents where serving heads of state have been an indicted or there's been an arrest warrant term out for them. but the for it, for example,

of the case of charles taylor who was liberian former president, charged with crimes committed in neighboring sierra leone. and it was after he was no longer empower that he was then brought to trial. and of course it to, to actually apprehend and someone in such a leadership position is, again, very, very challenging. so it is not, not certain, even if someone is no longer in power in this a change of regime that, that, that person would end up be before a court such as the i c, c. and certainly it could take a very long time. it sometimes takes a long time for, for justice to, to catch up with those 2 words and wanted by an international tribunal the length of time that these types of cases require a certainly a top of mind right now as we watch these are atrocities unfold in the ukraine in

a organ, then a professor of public law in the united kingdom. thank you very much for your time . the united nations general assembly has voted to suspend russia from its human rights council. the resolution was brought forward by the united states and it condemned the gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights by russian troops and ukraine. russia called the decision politically motivated and illegal. moscow continues to claim without proof that evidence of a massacre of civilians in the keeps suburb of boucher was stage 2 mahogany of muslim as invading russian forces regroup for an expected, renewed campaign and eastern ukraine. nato is warning of possible escalation in the kind of weaponry used. secretary general yen stroke berg has warned that any use of chemical weapons in russia's war on ukraine could have far reaching consequences.

as devastating as russia's military assault on ukraine has been. the west is warning the kremlin, that waging war with chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons, would be a game changer, potentially drawing nato territory into the conflict zone. it will affect the people in ukraine, but there's also a roost that will have a daughter effect on people living and make the congress recalls her. oh, we can see contamination. we come through the spreads of and chemical agents or biological weapons. moscow pledged not to do this under the chemical weapons convention. it ratified in 1997, which also required russia to destroy it stockpile. but since then, kremlin agents have poisoned at least 2 critics. with nova took a soviet era nerve agent banned under that agreement. but that doesn't require

large quantities of the substance. so today whether or not he would, could, russian president vladimir putin use such weapons to stage a significant attack. and so do we really think that there's widespread ability to chemical warfare bellville? don't think so. dan casita is a prominent expert in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear substances and agents called c, b r n. he says moscow did verifiably eliminate virtually all its chemical weapons capability under the chemical weapons convention and has probably not invested in rebuilding it in part because it's not that useful. there might be one hour or less on a particular day at a particular time, you know, in a spot where chemical worker actually is more useful than a conventional weapon. but that hasn't stopped denito from supplying ukraine with detection kits and protective gear. and for the 1st time ever activating special rapid response units to combat possible c, v r n attacks on alliance territory,

but is not the only entity doing contingency planning. the european union has reportedly agreed to stock pile equipment and medicines throughout the block. and here in belgium, even local hospitals are preparing for the worst case scenario, about an hour from nato headquarters gant university hospital, just held a refresher session on treating victims of c, b r n attacks. we do not know if at some point we could be under a deck and we, we could have a victims in belgium, had emergency nurse steve dugger says procedures for potential mass casualties from c, b r n were initially intensified in the wake of the islamic state linked terrorist attacks on belgium and 2016. now there being fine tuned to potentially treat patients evacuated from ukraine's war zone. or in case belgium becomes one docker says the teen takes the threats in stride. what would really rickety mouth is that

if you were to say, hey guys, in half an hour we are getting someone who has a been involved in a dirty bomb. we don't know what it is yet, but i've got a suit here. you have to take it on and we'll just go ahead with it. we think it's best to be to be prepared. trying to be ready for every possibility in vladimir putin's playbook. that was the day and as ever the conversation continues online. you'll find us on twitter. i dw news, i'm abby, cwa boston, on behalf of our producers, paul hurst and ryan. alan, thanks for being with us. bye for now. ah. with ah,

with to the point. strong opinions, clear positions, international perspectives. brushes pulled back north of care has brought relief but horror as indications of a civilian bath the car come to light. will the apparent war crimes convinced germany to embargo brush and fossil fuels? find out on to the point. to get point d, w,

it's history less in time and the subject seen far away teaching the holocaust to germany's generation. seeing how the young people learn to remember, we've got something they did not experience. we accompany them for 5 years, a time that moves and triggers. new questions are in 45 minutes on d, w. ah. the mountain is increasing every year in many im gonna working on lunch with my favorite holiday destinations drowning in plastic weiss, we, we wine and that we can look at the causes every year, year of exports are 1000000 tons of plastic with there.

another way, after all, the environment isn't to recyclable. make up your own mind. d. w. made for mines. ah, russia is pulling back its forces north of ukraine's capital, but that has brought horror rather than relief as indications of a civilian massacre come to light. the devastating images from the town of butcher indicate that proteins forces murdered hundreds of civilians before withdrawing that sparking new calls for harsher sanctions, including an embargo on russian fossil fuels. so far, germany's been resisting, fearing massive harm to an economy high.