[000:00:00;00] ah, ah ah, this is dw news lie from berlin, ukraine's president warrens russia could use chemical weapons against the besieged city of mighty you pull. heavy bombardment has already devastated the city, possibly killing thousands of civilians since the start of the war. also coming up despite significant losses and setbacks, russian president vladimir putin says his forces will prevail in friend against

what he sees as the antique russian enemy. a german delegation is heading to ukraine, but not the chancellor himself. olaf schultz is under pressure to lend ukraine more support. his own foreign minister contradicted him on heavy weapons, which showed has so far been reluctant to sent ah, on pablo foley, as welcome to the program. russia's assault on the besieged, ukrainian city of mighty you pull appears to be entering a decisive phase. u. s. military analysts say russian forces are nearing full control of the city, closing in on trap to ukrainian forces. russia says it killed or captured almost $100.00 ukrainian troops attempting to escape over night. matter, you pull has been pounded by russian strikes for weeks, killing up to 20000 residents. according to the local mayor. civilians are expected

to attack to evacuate by car today, along one of several negotiated humanitarian car doors. the cities full wood gave russia complete control of the sea of as of coastline, and connect its forces in ukraine, south and east. and meanwhile, ukraine and western nations are investigating allegations that russian forces may have used chemical weapons invaluable. ukraine's as of battalion, a military unit with far right allegiances made the claim. russia has denied its used chemical weapons. now earlier ukrainian president followed the matter to lansky warned of their use all these ruby, one of the russian occupiers spokesmen who said that they might use chemical weapons against the dissenters of mary paul. or the address treat this with the utmost seriousness, which i would like to remind world leaders that the possible use of chemical weapons by the russian military has already been discussed. and already at that time,

it meant that it was necessary to react to the russian aggression much harsher and faster source issue. issue h. earlier i spoke to our correspondent for a back a writers about the latest out of my tuple hello. it's really difficult to get real time information of what's happening in that received city. as you can imagine, communication has been caught from the city for more than a month. or the mayor of mario poll says at least 10000 people a believe to have been killed in that city. president lensky puts that number at much higher than that, saying tens of thousands in the multiples of 10000. and seeing the pictures and hearing the stories of people who do manage to get out of that city. unfortunately, it certainly seems that presidents are lends keys predictions. they are estimations a probably more accurate and why have spoken to some people who get out of that city who've managed to make it out of that city. and basically talking of the most horrendous tales. i mean,

if you can imagine the worst images of any war that's basically what's happening in mary paul. some $100000.00 people still believed to be tracked in that city without access to food or clean drinking water. that, excuse me, obviously we're in the main square here, levin. it's quite busy and bustling. so the truck behind you, i hope you can still hear me. um, but now of course we're hearing a ramp or you know, an escalation, a potential escalation with reports of a chemical attack. now they are of course unconfirmed. but if true, would that definitely signify an escalation? rebecca, how are you? craniums coping with these allegations of chemical weapons being used. people are understandably outraged at news of this. and as you heard, presidents at lensky, they're calling for much stronger reaction from the west to. he's been careful, of course,

because these haven't been confirmed yet. the russians have denied carrying out these a, carrying out a chemical attack, bought the spokesperson for the russian separatists, came out on monday and said that chemical weapons would be used to quote, smoke out the remaining battalion in that area protecting that city. so it is definitely plausible that chemical weapons could be used, but jalencia being very careful to, to wait, wait for confirmation, the u. k. and the us working very hard to verify those claims rebecca, readers, they're reporting from live even western ukraine. now, alexander keller, from the institute for peace research and security policy at the university of hamburg early explained to d w. what would need to happen to verify reports of chemical weapons attacks? well, ideally, an independent investigation by a team coming from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons and they would be able to visit the site of the supposed chemical weapon use

and take samples their environmental samples, but also biomedical samples, which would then have to be analyzed, alexander, if a chemical weapons attack is confirmed, what would a meaningful response from the international community look like? well, i think 1st of all, the international community should stick to the tools that are available internationally to hold the perpetrators of such terrible acts to account that is on the one hand in the disarmament area. again, the o. p. c. w in the hague, which provides a venue for, for such accountability or the un security council. well, if, for example, and there are more sanctions that could or would likely not impress ad vladimir putin, a military and for intervention is not appealing to the united states. what options

are there really all the, the options are, are not that many we have, as i indicated on the one hand disarmament instruments, arms control treaties. and then we have international criminal law to hold perpetrators of war crimes and such atrocities as chemical weapons use to account. but that is a very long law to achieve accountability and justice for, for the victims of such terrible acts. now, are the international law is to prevent the use of chemical weapons worth the pay per their action? they're written on i would say yes, absolutely. because we know about all the atrocities that happened in theory through the use of chemical weapons. only because we have these instruments and mechanisms in place, and because the o, p. c,

w has been able to go there or go to a neighboring countries of syria and, and to conduct these investigations. the fact that when the reports are down transmitter to new york to the security council and the security council is blocked because of russian vetoes, which we can assume would also happen if the supposed attack and variable would be investigated that way and reported back to new york to the security council that does not diminish the value and the validity of these mechanisms. and these tools that we have that was alexander keller, from the institute for peace research and security policy. at the university of hamburg, russian president vladimir putin has said that his military campaign in ukraine will achieve its quote, noble objectives. he made the remarks as he met better received president alexander nish ango at

a spaceport in eastern russia to mark the international day of human space. flight hootin also claimed that russia cannot be isolated from the world or held back with lamps with the order. we know that today our offices are taking part in a special military operation in dumbass in ukraine, which metal nobody's helping the dumbass people's republic. so just doing that, they are acting bravely, you professionally, that you under effectively using the most modern weapons that's have unique characteristics. you hear analogous, but a do stick. and we asked roman, gone to ranko from d. w is russia, ukraine, and eastern europe department. watch m, just a little bit more about putin's remarks. well, he made no reference to those atrocities. i would just mentioned 2 points. one, president putin appeared to be satisfied with how the war is going. so he said

everything is wine. everything is going according to the plan and he made no, no mention of the accusations over a possible chemical attack in the city of mario po, which are not confirmed yet. but there are concerns about that. but he said that russia was using some very modern weapons. we do not know what he meant. the 2nd point is, he mentioned dunbar saw the eastern region of ukraine saying that that was one of the objectives of this war. and this is something i think which points out so in the direction of a possible offensive, new russian offensive that we will see in the coming days a weeks. and because everybody's talking about him and he, he tried probably to cover up the, the, the problems the russian army encountered around here in the north of ukraine. so nash, now forces are concentrating the east from and do we know how the russian public is

reacting to the war? well, there is not much reaction that we can see because i am most to russian opposition . leaders are abroad in prison or one of them of legit cameras. i was detained early on monday. so nothing there. we see less less protests of citizens in russian cities. we've seen some in, in the beginning of this war, but we see less and less of that. so there are more and more oppressions against opposition or against those who oppose this war. and all polls show up to 3 fourths or more than more than 60 or 70 percent of the russian populations support this war actually. so there is no much protest to be seen if there is any people hold it for themselves, talk about it in private, not openly. roman, you've mentioned it just before

a we're talking at the dumbass and have president who mentioned that. but we have any indication of what lies ahead. well, i think that everybody is talking about a possible new escalation in the east. i think this is the case. i think we might see also some surprises because because there are some crucial dates coming up of the 9th of may the day of victory of soviet union over nazi germany. and of course, booting and russia would like to celebrate it with some kind of victory. i think surprises as are also possible in other regions, for example, in the south of ukraine. so in short, i think an escalation is coming. how big we will see that was roman gone to rank of from dw is russia. ukraine on eastern europe department. and here are some of the other headlines on the war in ukraine. nearly 2 thirds of ukrainian children have been forced to leave their home since russia invited 6 weeks ago, according to the un. they also expressed concerns over human trafficking and the

sexual abuse of minors. greece plans to speed up exploration for natural gas in a bait to reduce dependency on russian imports. greece currently get some 40 percent of its natural gas from russia. prime minister cutty echoes and it's attack is says he is cautiously optimistic about 6 areas in greece with possible gas reserves. german president, frank, volatile shine, maya has arrived in the polish capital war. so for talks with the countries president and redo the discussions are expected to be focused on the conflict in ukraine. shy my as office at the trip was about promoting freedom democracy and the rule of rule. and recent days, the ukrainian capital keith has played host to a succession of european leaders, eager to see the war up close for themselves and to show solidarity with the

embattled nation. one leader who is yet to travel to the besieged country is german transfer. all shots now calls are growing for him to demonstrate his support. several european leaders have visited keith since the russian invasion, while they wanted to meet ukrainian presidency landscape personally to express solidarity. the german chancellor has limited his contact to phone calls. this increasing pressure on all of shows to travel to ukraine as well. but not just for a photo op glenwood in fawn does. he only want to go there to show that he's moved by it. he or does she want to go there with solutions or proposals? georgia inform that's decisive. i don't see much point in him going in. if you're going, i have heard your shot of it. there's no harm in it. i would say he should do it. always stay in contact for that and to entice enough hours that would be assigned to the outside event to the whole of europe and the world. this am so if the german

chancellor would go to kia, to show his solidarity and his support, i think that would be very important. his anal signer but officials in berlin are still debating about what kind of support he should provide. so keith is not the chancellor, but the foreign minister who has been the most vocal about ukraine. asthma. may i slightly that the horrific pictures that we're seeing, the tara, we see daily make clear that ukraine needs further military support to defend itself. we're doing that together with our international partners hines and with our european partners. we're providing millions more via our european piece facility throughout european piece facility. about plot, what is clear? ukraine needs further military personnel and most of all heavy weapons. there's no time for excuses. now is the time for being creative and pragmatic one's got matters most. it is not clear if sholtes will also go to keith. but what is clear

is that the pressure to put words into action is growing, including within the governing coalition. earlier we asked d, w 's chief political correspondent, melinda crane. if schultz is in step with the german public. in fact, nearly half of german surveyed in a recent poll say that the government isn't doing enough for ukraine. and those calling for chance, the shelter to go to care would like to see a very clear demonstration of solidarity from a chancellor who is once again seen by many people sitting on the sidelines as he did during the brit build up. russian troops on the ukrainian border prior to the russian invasion. but a trip could actually do the chancellor more harm than good if it only resulted in more words rather than action. so for it to make a difference for both the chancellor and for germany, i think he definitely would need to take something meaningful with him. like, for example, a concrete offer to provide heavy weaponry as ukraine has now repeatedly asked for

. now at the beginning of the conflict though, the chancellor delivered a landmark speech that sounded like germany was ready to take on a new leadership role. you've touched on it there, but it's a fair to say that he hasn't really delivered on that yet. he did, and in fact, in the initial phase, after giving that speech, it did look like germany was ready to exercise the kind of leadership that would be commensurate with its economic heavy weight position within the european union. germany broke a long standing taboo on delivering weapons to conflict zones as sent ukraine. defensive weapons, including anti tank weapons, including surface to air missiles. but for the last few weeks, the chancellor appears to have reverted to a posture of stalling and equivocation, particularly on heavy weapons, but also on taking part in any form of embargo on russian fossil fuels.

and certainly, chancellor schultz is not known as a great communicator, but at times he appears to be essentially reinforcing people's fears rather than allaying them as when he recently told the bonus tug in a debate on the budget that an embargo on fossil fuels would cause enormous difficulties for the economy would lead to many, many lost jobs, which essentially is the opposite of what many people think of when they think of leadership. namely yeah, an attitude to us that would say stay calm and carry on. we're a strong country and we can master this. melinda, why is chance her shell so reluctant to be more proactive when it comes to heavy weapons and a fossil fuel embargo? well, it's different reasons. in the 2 cases on the fossil fuels embargo, it is concerned about those potential lost jobs and what that would mean for social stability,

as well as for the larger european economy and on the weapons. essentially, it seems to be in some respects, procedural in the sense that the bonus fair now has, has little left in its own stock piles. so any weapons delivered would have to be essentially delivered in a creative way, perhaps working with private industry like the defense contractor rine metallic, which is set. it has a lot of tanks that it would be willing to send to ukraine. so to some degree, there's a perception that there simply a lack of political will here to cut through bureaucratic procedures in red tape. that was t w's chief political correspondent, melinda crane, speaking to us earlier. now the wheat has been sown, but what will happen to the coming harvest from the fields of ukraine? the fertile black soil there is particularly suited for growing grain. normally ukraine supplies about 10 percent of the world's wheat exports and the biggest

buyers are egypt, indonesia, pakistan, and bangladesh. but many parts of ukraine are under attack including grain, shipment roots, the when's food and agriculture organization is warning of a wheat supply shortage. that could trigger famine, especially in africa. o, i think we already seen that and it's important to note that the ukraine war is checked on additional stress on what has been extremely difficult to in our prices sky rocketing beyond an old time. i for food prices and the war in crane this we have just heard as basically directly or factors felt the stand of the globally traded calories this and another shock wave and poor countries and wars, families, other victims. so well and when will it hit 1st?

but it already did it because the prices went up immediately and we have so many food insecure countries that are depending on in the ukraine and also russia, particularly in the middle east, the north africa region, but also in sub saharan africa and in southern africa among the countries that are most dependent on, for example level or egypt or livia, but also our operations as the world food program, a heavily affected with this or, and he was a bit more detailed. how are these countries that you just mentioned? how are they being affected already? well, look, if you are going to countries like mauritania, seneca kinney, sierra leone gun, on nigeria. they depend sometimes to 7080 percent of foreign. you know, these countries as a,

anyone else in the world are coming out of 2 years of and then the world has been staggering. $26.00 trillion dollars on them, which means that what countries are even more in there than they everywhere. additional exchange rates are melting away. and in this situation, you have globally storing prices for staple foods and a very strong goal in simple terms. they just cannot afford anymore to buy the most basic. and that is affecting the countries that cannot afford and it's affecting the poor's family that often spend already 70 percent of the family income. right. that was martin for the germany director of the u. s. world food program. speaking with my colleague had l 1st earlier today. well, here are some more stories making headlines around the world. taiwan defense ministry has released

a handbook advising the public what to do in the event of war. the publication which is available online contains information such as where to find shelters and how army reserve members should report for mobilization. authorities began drafting the guidelines last year i made a rise in publications by mainland china. at least 42 people have been killed after a tropical storm caused severe flooding ad landslides, in the central and southern philippines, a number of people are still missing. as rescue efforts continue, the flu, the floods have displaced around 30000 families. military rescue forces in india have brought to safety. the last of almost 50 people who are trapped on a cable car after a fatal collision killed one person. the accident in remote hill territory of western india happened when one of the cars became disconnected from its cable.

japan's capital tokyo has begun demolishing a space age high rise despite a campaign to save the local landmark. the neg again. capsule tower was hailed as sustainable architecture when it was completed in 1972. it featured 10 square meter living spaces that owners could take with them if they moved. but eventually many units fell into disrepair. many of the, some 300000 refugees who've come to germany from ukraine or not vaccinated against coven. 19 officials in cities across germany are trying to change that dw visited the bavarian city of nuremberg, where a roving bus is giving out shots to those who need 1. 1 place where people fleeing the war can be vaccinated. is this month in the bavarian city of nuremberg? this woman was the 1st person to turn up today. she tells us that she's scared of potential side effects,

but she's going to get the 1st job to try to make life easier for herself others to our skeptical deal. it's in don't cover because those at the moment, they're simply not enough information on the vaccines too. many open questions in general, which is why i don't really want either myself or my daughter to be vaccinated against coven 19. so got it. it's estimated only a 3rd of ukraine's population is protected. some of them with vaccines that are not recognized in the, you know, and bergs vaccination coordinator says the main goal is to inform people. that's where the bus comes in is heightens issue in ukraine. you can be sure that there are exactly the same sort of myths concerning vaccination as here. for instance, again and again, we see people arguing that fertility levels will decline off. and of course, we do try to address such fears by providing information and reliable facts about

what is really true and what not. so many refugees are housed enlarged dormitories, which makes transmission of diseases easier. the doctor responsible for the refugees. medical treatment says the situation is under control. poor cotton. that is a dog to begin with. we were very concerned. we were expecting about 30 percent to be positive. and then when the tests came back negative on a day to day basis, and there were only isolated cases, we got lesson less worried by the day. oh, fun, you log through, name was one to love. this young man fled from bella ruth and joined the large numbers of ukrainians trying to escape the war. he has no qualms about getting vaccinated from spanish hope, which i won't be vaccinated. why not? obviously, i don't see the argument against it, which if it's good for your health,

for what you may me story with. but it was another slow day at the bus. it seems word has yet to get around. that's it from me for this era. for 3 of next is d w's news, asia with melissa chime. and remember, you can always get the latest news on our website, d, w dot com. or you can follow up on our social media accounts on pablo phone, alias in berlin from the team. take care and see at martin ah,

with ah, with a thought so crazy.

with love on banning thing away, but i'm not even know how to work my own god and everyone with later holden, every day getting are you ready to meet the german can join me right. just do it on d. w for hello guys. this is the 77 percent the platform with, you know, all these channels. we are not afraid to. young people clearly have the solution, the future the 77 percent. every weekend on d. w. a frank food hot international gateway to the best connection, south road and radio,

located in the out of europe. you are connected to the whole world. experience outstanding shopping and dining. enjoy our services. be our guest at frankfurt airport city, managed by fraud lou. you're watching t w news, asia coming up today, a captive 26000000 people. that's how it seems in shanghai, where residents are endearing, their 3rd week of locked down, as pressure mounts on the government to deliver the basics to everyone trapped in their homes. and political change in pakistan will a new government bring stability or just more uncertainty for deeply divided nation