blue, fierce fighting around the mario full steel plant where ukraine says it's fighters and some 200 civilians have been sheltering for weeks. underground. russian forces are trying to finish off the last offenders of the strategic port city in what could be an attempt by president vladimir putin to present russians with a battlefield success ahead of its victory day celebrations. on monday, i'm claire richardson in berlin. we will have all of that and more on the day. ah, we are probably going through the most difficult stage of our history when the faith of our state is being decided. and i think it's a historical moment world. the history of the 25th 20 percent, who pretend they have not taken over ukraine. president putin is not going to be marching through down the street. the heath tailed along, wanted to crush,

was asked to rule, but no one there with so many politicians determined to be clocks and convenient as becomes i've told you we will win as simple as that because we have no other choice. also on the j. russia's war on ukraine is also targeting the countries identity as a nation. the defense of that heritage is existential. museums contain proof scholars proof that the ukrainian nation exists. the sample. not only do they keep tangible written sources, but also items that can be seen untouched. ah, hello and welcome to the show, ukraine's army says russia is trying to destroy the last remaining soldiers inside the as of stall steel plant. in mario poll,

moscow denies reports that its forces have storms the plant. hey, 3 de ceasefire announced by moscow is due to begin on thursday to allow the evacuation of more civilians. but the ukrainian president's address at the destruction of the steel plant has made it harder for any one to leave. he said, russian bombardments had left concrete to breed trapping civilians and underground bunkers. and if they would have to be dug out, the battle for as elf style has been relentless. this footage, released by russian backed forces shows how determined to moscow is to take these steel works. a mary, you poll, the plant has become a symbol of ukrainian resistance in the east of the country. russia wants to drive out the few ukrainian forces still here, but these soldiers are refusing to give up and appear to be fighting to the death. you do it when you grow up away, your heavy,

bloody battles of room was. i am proud of my soldiers for megan in schuman efforts to contain the enemy's onslaught in liquor. i think the whole world for the tremendous support of the modern pole garrison, our soldiers to serve it. the situation is extremely difficult and we continue to carry out the order to keep the defects, but the motto, bruno caught in the middle civilians, but the fortunate ones have been freed him from their underground prison though roberta for the me to man. yep, we're escape and be beneath the peaceful sky. is wonderful. you look at it. the blue and the bright sun. in. many though is still hiding in the bunkers and cora doors that form part of the steel plant is would you buy amish pro door to deal with it? we hope to continue rescuing people from as of style for mary paul. there are still civilians left there. women, children looking to save them, we need to continue the seas file. great ukrainian saw it is ready to provide it.

it takes time just to lift people out of those basements out of those underground shelters in zimbabwe. moscow says it will allow a 3 day cease fire to help the remaining civilians get out. but with heavily armed troops on the ground, it's unclear if the fighting will stop and whether more civilians will get out alive. and i'd like to take a closer look at the russian assault on as of stall and bring in bradley bowman from washington, d. c. he's a former u. s. army officer. now with the foundation for the defense of democracies. thinktank. thanks so much for taking the time to join us. a heavy fighting around the as ost all steel works. it has become the last remaining pocket of ukrainian resistance in the strategic port of mario paul, which has otherwise been battered. why do you think russia still hasn't managed to capture the site? thank you for the up to join. you. thank you for the question. you know,

i think the primary answer your question is the determined resistance of the ukrainian people defending their homes. and you know, as many of a fed from the beginning, you know, you should never underestimate the determination of a free people finding an aggressor and defending their homes. so i think that's a large part of it, you know, but when, when students have history, look at this, or, you know, a reminder, a bit of them awfully, where you had a small remnant of spartans defending a path against overwhelming odds are americans might think of the alamo, i mean, this is just really incredible stuff that the russians have been incredibly brutal and killed many, many there and in, in variable. and i think computing seems determined to establish an unimpeded land bridge from russia to crimea. russia occupied crimea and to secure his grasp on a warm water port there, mary paul and the c a b. and the new york times has reported that the united states has supplied intelligence to the ukrainians, which has been used to target and kill russian generals. get your reaction to that,

you know, in the early stages of the following rushes unprovoked invasion of ukraine, the united states was, was slow in providing intelligence to ukrainian forces for purposes of targeting, invading russian forces. i and others called for that. and i'm happy that over time, us has started to systematically provide just that in from intelligence can be used to target russian forces. now, given the problems that the russians have had with logistics and sustainment in combined arns operations. and frankly, the absence of a non commissioned officer corps like the ukranian tab, like americans have many russian generals and had had to come to the front lines. and when they've done that, they've often been using in secure communications, whether it be actually phones or radios. and so there are many of them have been killed, some reports say a dozen or more russian generals. and so whether we're specifically provided intelligent target generals, i've unclear to me,

but we certainly provided information intelligence to target rushing forces. and those russian forces include general officers and some of them will be killed in the process. i just wanna ask you how decisive is this ability to gain information on target and hit them during this phase of the war. i think the provision of us intelligence and intelligence from our western partners is incredibly important. it helps ukrainians react in advance of russian offences, and it helps the craniums employed their office of capabilities more effectively. we can give them the best weapons in the world, but if they don't know what to shoot out or when to shoot or where to shoot as a whole different thing. so it's really a powerful combo. when you take the bravery of the koreans, the weapons that have bought it by the west, and then you combine that with intelligence. that's a formidable combination of speaking of weapons. german press reports that the german government is preparing to send 7 self propelling howitzers to ukraine. by the end of june,

is that the kind of equipment that's needed and why isn't the u. s. a providing it for them? it absolutely is the equipment that ukraine needs and the united states is providing equipment right that we've committed to providing and much of it has already provided 90 of the self propelled 155 millimeter howitzers. and that's exactly the kind of weapons of ukrainians will need. as the battle shifts from keith, as we've seen in recent weeks to the east, and the don boss, which is which is more open, it will be more of an artillery battle. a long range fires battled dependent on chilly howitzers, counter radar intelligence, france reconnaissance. so i'm so pleased that the germans are doing not. america has done a lot already sending 90 howitzers. i hope we send more, i hope, our european allies and more because this could be a long flight in the ukrainians. going to need all the or tillery, they can get with that in mind as russia focuses on the east of ukraine in this latest phase of the war. what conditions do you think will be most important in

determining who ultimately when you know, winning a will, you know, you have to define winning, right. i mean, the russians have already taken roughly 20 percent of ukrainian territory, but they've lost 25 percent. are of the assembled forces in the process. and so i think this is a long term grand strategic disaster for vladimir. the primary victims are the ukranian people. the secondary victims, frankly, are the russian people and russia, which is more isolated and weak than ever. but i do fear that this is going to last a long time, and we're gonna have to watch that may 9 anniversary very closely to see whether de escalate or escalate. if past is prologue, i fear you'll escalate. so in your assessment, not just the invasion of ukraine, but specifically russian progress and it's renewed offensive in the don't bass should be seen as a disaster. this unprovoked invasion by russia's absolutely a disaster. so many have died. and let's not forget the russia invaded and ex

crimea in 2014 fueled a separatist movement in the dom boss. since 2014 were roughly 14000 ukrainians have been killed. and now we've seen the largest invasion in europe since world war 2. and a lot of the images that were seen of places like mary poll, remind many of us of the images from world war 2, honestly, often from nazi aggression. so it's quite ironic who is using the fraudulent argument of the knots of buying ukraine when he's doing undertaking many of the same tactics that nazi germany used against russia. bradley omen. former u. s. army officer. now the foundation for the defense of democracies. thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us on the news. thank you. ah. over 3000000 refugees from ukraine have arrived in poland since the beginning of the war. a majority are still in the country and many have found homes with poles who took them in spontaneously

. but now living space is getting scarce and many volunteers are just exhausted. the polish government is demanding more money from the you to help integrate the refugees. a small gesture of gratitude for agnes because sebastian, it's become a daily ritual ever since she took refugees from ukraine into her home. her family of 4 has been joined by 8 more people to have something buckley on that, as i said, you move, it shall. so, but i wanted to give this room to 3 people, but then a driver arrived in the middle of the night with 8 without the children were coughing and the women started crying because they didn't want to be split up. i felt weak in the knees. the post as, as a, but i said yes, i am with adult breath or spontaneous gesture has become a long term solution. her family is exhausted, ordered work machines and even work though he has not got for 2 months. i have not known what it's like to come home and just hear silence. not a minor. so maybe we need to get that slowly back to norma. but about that was that

the good at miller, her sister and a friend came from western ukraine with 5 children. boyhood being helpless makes them uncomfortable. i just don't visit their youth neza. so you can see now lizzie, her lightly, her family from it's that they're used to being together now suddenly having 8 people is very difficult. tell me that's good enough. i'm even ashamed that all of the work falls on a jessica and her husband telling you that they buy everything them or when it's the food in everything we need for the children to buy a glass lead you took set in order to help host families. the polish government wants to pay monthly grants of around $250.00 euros for refugee. but it miasca hasn't received any money yet. mila try, sir, and some extra cash cleaning houses. yes, but you cannot afford her own apartment was a dominant though and because of back i wanted to, i have 3 children. many,

even if i work as a single mom, it will still be very difficult for me because given the cost to poland, the government in warsaw is hoping for more help from the u. z o neuropathy, skilled group just over 3 year. a pin union has allocated large sums to refugees, but it's a drop in the bucket krupel from the point of view of the policy government. it would be important to set up a fund that would manage this aid for the e u and cover the costs of refugees. you're new to please keep a quote from us. so at least over it was probably quotes with acne. esco would be happy if at least some money came soon, but she doesn't regret helping. many parents feel the same way and like the ukrainian guests, they hoped that the war will end soon. ah . well, the war is also threatening, ukraine's cultural heritage un says dozens of cultural sites have been damaged

since russia invaded dw correspondent and monument chassis in the western city of la vive, where she met the people, trying to protect its monuments and artifacts from destruction. the historic center of the vive is protected as one of unesco wealth heritage sites. ukrainian authorities are working hard to ensure the centuries old monuments here are protected from as to eggs. sand bags, wooden and metal upon us. there remind every one here that they a countries at all, most of the care of the saw at least something has been done to look after a future. some one who has no history also has no future. historian, ha, my and my voice no, a lot. okay. then a messiah doesn't choose where it lands. so of course i'm one humans can also be hit. so i think that live live is facing the theme, the intellus matter. your boy may be even worse, because russia won't just stop and on bath, it will keep on going. and then i shall so long. in my opinion,

people in the viv are already used to seeing this. we don't feel the same here as people do in eastern ukraine. my pleasure, shown that we're already used to us, that's what you get used to everything law or so as archived in their city museum. ramen's melick has brought over $6000.00 objects and paintings to safety despite a constant threat of airstrikes. he wants to keep, the city is cultural. heritage accessible to the public the the walk which isn't as o'clock. her muscle at the request of our president and government to help support the economy and satisfy the cultural needs of displaced people. so we decided to partly open some exhibitions with fidelity kia, marshall, look at it just or most of the exhibition rooms are closed because of the war. but the collections remain accessible digitally. preparing for the last employees are

working around the clock to digitize as many artifacts as possible. following the russian invasion museum personnel from the west, effective wages. so chattering vive, now their work to highlight the importance of safeguarding ukrainian culture was a he was very high. the museums contain proof color proof that the ukrainian nation exists. the several general. not only do they keep tangible written sources, but also items that can be seen and touched. they prove historical facts prove the existence of the ukrainian people of the long time existence of its territory. you're rawlings were wondering that seaford authority many here say that the west is sealed to come, but by safeguarding ukraine and his 2 in identity. cultural institutions are playing a part in defeating russia's invasion. ah, let's go to the united states now where authorities in washington have fenced off

a supreme court building after a series of protest this week. the demonstrations took place after a draft opinion from the supreme court was leaked. a document indicated that the justices would overturn the landmark roe v wade decision and allow individual states to ban abortion. and workers moved in after nightfall on wednesday to put up barriers around the building. the question of abortion rights is one of the most charged in us politics. although a majority of americans say they support that, right? the roe v wade rolling, which guaranteed the right to abortions nationwide was handed down 49 years ago at the time president joe biden, a practicing roman catholic said the ro, case went too far. now he finds himself at the head of a movement to defend abortion. rights, here's the head of the pro choice group and narrow on his changing views. you know, joe biden is not alone in his evolution. i do think he's evolved. i,

i think it's hard for a lot of catholic americans. i think this is a tricky issue for a lot of americans of faith, but what it comes down to why, what's important is that joe biden has president of the united states. and the leader of the democratic party understands the fundamental freedoms and understands the difference between his personal view and what he would do in his personal life . and what he and his party stand for in terms of protecting freedoms for the american people. and i think he's been pretty clear unequivocal about that for quite some time. so over the past few days we've been speaking about the impact this will have on women's health, if ro is overturned as expected. i want to look now at where things go from here with michelle goodwin. she is a professor of law at the university of california, irvine, and the founding director of the center for biotechnology and global health policy . professor, welcome bite and now finds himself on the frontline of one of the most polarizing issues in us politics. as he promised as to defend women's right to choose when the highest court in the land looking set to overturn the right to abortion. what about

the legislature? can congress quantify protections as president biden has called for? yes, congress is able to kind of find these protections, justice congress codified protections for civil rights and voting rights in the 196964 voting rights act. 965 of voting rights. i'm 164 civil rights act. and so the congress can't quantify row through the women's health protection act. it is one such piece of legislation that is making its way through congress. if this is not the 1st time that the bill has been introduced, it's been introduced to several times before, but there's momentum that is gaining for the enact men of central law. especially in the wake of this leaked draft opinion that was circulated this week 1st by politico and now picked up by a number of news organizations. and congress can do something about this. now they

say it's when was polarizing issues in us politics and that leach draft driving a wedge. even deeper, do you think this bill will be successful? you know, i think we have to understand that actually abortion is not a wedge issue, but it's frank is that because the are willing majority of americans actually support reproductive freedom. but it has been a wedge issue for a work that originally started off as a kind of fringe minority during the 19 seventy's, and that has been able to galvanize resources. an influence within one of the leading american parties are 2 democrats and republicans. and they've made substantial leaps within the republican party. and it's possible that there would be a congress moving this bill through on the way to the president signing it. but there are some impediments along the way republicans no longer galvanized around reproductive rights. and the way in which they used to roe v wade was a 72 opinion. 5 of those justices when republican appointed prescott bush,

the father of george w bush, one of the republican president was the treasurer for planned parenthood. so that is the history of it. and there are republicans that still do care very deeply about abortion rights, whether they are in congress and insufficient numbers in congress to sign on to this legislation is another matter. so can you help us understand more about each social groups which happens so invested in seeing ro overturned at why are they so influential? this is a very good question. what we've seen is a sophisticated turn of the evangelical movement that was oppositional to reproductive rights. that movement along some ways aligned with those who are very conservative about racial rights to that, we're also discriminatory laws that oppressed people of color were also being dismantled at the same time that discriminatory laws were being dismantled. and in some ways,

you see an alignment between those were anti abortion and those that are part of white nationalist movement in the united states and they've been able to gain momentum. originally, their movement was quite violent since the night early 1970 s. we've seen 50 clinic bombings in the united states, doctors killed, et cetera. but the movement became far more sophisticated and investing in supporting economically political candidates. and those political candidates have come to deliver on the issues that concern this very far right. exaggerated stream of evangel given the influence on those candidates in the way that this does cut down partisan and religious lines. is it wise to make it an election issue going into midterms in november in the united states? well, it's not unwise in that more than half the population will be affected by whatever it is that the supreme court does. and if what the supreme court does is to

dismantle roe v wade and planned parenthood be casey and the legacy of cases that have held abortion rights, which is highly unusual for the court to shriek constitutional protections rather than to expand them. then we're talking about an obligation on the part of, of these political parties, an obligation on the part of people who are running for office to seek to protect the people in their state. and so the timing of it in some way, some articulate couldn't be better given that the majority of americans actually support a woman's right to be able to make her own reproductive determinations. and if those people come out to vote and vote on those issues than it may mean a seismic change in what we're seeing in terms of american politics, i will say this, this is the same supreme court that has helped to dismantle some level of voting rights and so that makes it a bit difficult to actually go to the polls and actually be able to do the kind of

voting that we expect for people to be able to do that kind of voting, that it's supposed to be constitutionally protected in some ways that's more illusory than real and some states in the united states. it's, of course, not just at the federal level overturning rosie wade means throwing the issue back to the states decide for themselves. and what are you expecting to see ahead in mid term battles there? well, this is less alluded to in this draft opinion that these matters should be, or its fact that explicitly stated that these matter should be in the hands of the states and their we've seen significant gerrymandering taking place in the united states drawing of maps that really helped to oppressed in some ways, the vote of black and brown people in some states and, and it has been said and it is true that those will be most effective if ro is dismantled, will be black and brown people. and so the outcome of the mid term elections,

many people have been thinking that the democrats will not fair. well. however, with the league of this draft opinion, it may actually do the work of galvanizing people to go out and vote and vote for people who would support a woman's ability to be able to make her own determinations. with regard to reproductive liberty and freedom right will remain to be seen will be covering it for you here on dw michelle good when professor of law at u. c. irvine, i want to thank you again so much for taking the time to talk to us. thank you for having me on your show. that was the day as ever the conversation continues online . you can find us on twitter at diesel units and claire richardson in berlin for me and the entire team working behind the scenes. thanks much for watching

with to the point. strong opinions, clear positions, international perspectives with russia now pushing for full control of southern eastern ukraine. western countries are ramping up military support for t. f. is the west to becoming a party to the conflict. find out on to the point to that point

next to d, w. i and my job is to go around the world and investigate different issues to see how are people ferrying with respect to the right to housing. women is fighting for the basic right to housing. house is sinking. and that's their plan for all the buildings is to give people like us. so i'm highlight your login to talk with the properties. push for a basic ride to housing in 45 minutes on d w. oh, it's question of whether the next crisis will come. but only when and how the media will deal with it. how can we stay focused on what is important?

shaping to morrow now. exploring opportunities for media professionals in times of crisis. the google media for june 2020 to your ticket. now sometimes the big jump right out at u. r. t. the highlights, free shipping books and free week not come up with russia now. pushing for full control is southern and eastern ukraine. western countries are ramping up military support for kiev supplying billions of euro's worth of artillery tanks and drones, images of suffering, death and destruction like these from maria. paul are prompting western politicians to deliver not only military, but also moral support by visiting and battled ukrainian leaders in kiev, in the face of strong pressure to do more german chancellor or lap shots now

pledges to supply heavier.