[000:00:00;00] ah ah this is the w news. life from berlin. villains leaders announced they will apply for nato membership. move would and decades of military non olaja, non allegiance, but popular opinion swung in favor of joining the alliance following russia's invasion. if you crank the brain office of prisoners swap to get seriously wounded, find his out of it in battle. ill plant in return, russian prisoners of war would be handed over an activist from the anti credit pro pussy right, makes

a daring escape from house arrest. now she's in berlin. will hear how she got away . and hills korea confirmed an outbreak of coven 19 for the 1st time. the national lockdown is ordered up to the fast spreading army chrome variant is reported in the capital pyongyang. how dangerous could this outbreak b ah, i'm painful and welcome philip has formerly announced its intention to join nato. the decision marks a monumental shift from a long held position of military not alignment, d, w. 's. you report shadow reports on the dramatic turnaround in popular opinion. a came off the neighboring. russia invaded u wargames to secure the

peace. more than 3000 finished troops and 700 the to fought in the arrow 22 military exercises in western finland. the exercises were conducted to with nature as plant last autumn. armed forces from 5 countries are taking part of this military exercises the host. finland is not a later member yet, but that could change soon. for the 1st time in their history, the majority of fence wants to join nato, at turning point in history, keenly felt by people in law, pandora, on the border with russia. for decades that they have benefited from living in peace within the boss. welcoming a steady stream of russian tourists from near by st. petersburg says social worker, linda brandt up in my opinion. i never saw russia as a threat, but now i'm constantly thinking about our common border. it's over

a 1000 kilometers. this nearby border crossing is seeing little traffic from either side at the moment. this is partly due to corona virus or late that restrictions, but it's also a direct consequence of russia's invasion of ukraine. the war has dramatically changed to the fence attitude towards joining nato in just a few weeks. my, i got, i mean, at 1st i thought we shouldn't get involved and military alliances, but, and, but now i think we should have made the decision a long time ago. that my eyes have been opened and i no longer see nato as some kind of war association. but as a defense alliance, the lovely donavon for the defense through deterrence has been the principle behind the latest reinforcement of its eastern flank in recent months. the idea being

a strong defense whom not to be attacked. nato says it will benefit from the finish our miss military capabilities. i think we are ready ready to, to entertain a to if, if this is the will be made. we have been training to get her with her with a good partners which are basically made apart as you know, exercises for, for, for yes. so that shouldn't be a problem. at the moment finland isn't the to partner, but not a member of the block source to my be promoting. nevertheless, finish forces have worked closely with nato for decades. ah, this deployment maritally, the da, so i met formulate them. i was, i hope that we'll join nato as soon as possible, or crime asa softball, and that the war in ukraine will end soon and that europe will live in peace and stability. i thought of a little buckle while ly offer for you know, you. linda brant asked, the believe joining nature would help people, even the small, bold,

a town of lump and raw data feel safe. now she says that that now at be school and stay both in london is only possible as in may to member of the w reporter on a saturday is from finland. and it, did you ever think it would come to this that a film would have these ambitions? well i and i did not think so, and most people in finland did not. there has been a dramatic change in opinion, both from the political leadership and, and public opinion. so as they were before it were in your train only 20 percent since really a support it a finland, joining nato. and now the most recent poll from this week puts nato membership support at 76 percent on this just in the, in the time frame of a couple of months. i mean, the finished government had always kept this option open over the years of finland had also built a good neighborhood policy with russia. there was trade,

there was tourism across the border. and now that's fins are seeing that this is even possible that russia could attack a neighboring country. it has really shifted opinions for many. but are they not worried that they could then be put in stakes target? i mean, russia has several times threatened finland with consequences. sure to. it's a join nato. i mean, just finland, joining will already increase nature's border to russia. with, with a 100 percent will be double of what it is at the moment. and so finland is also expecting that there will be consequences. a quite recent security report from the government from april already laid out. some of the options that could happen in finland is expecting similar situations to that of the what we saw at the polish routine border, basically with scores of record geez arriving there. so finland, us thinking that similar hybrid warfare could,

could also take place in finland or cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. is this a done deal though? now that the leadership is supported, this, i would say it is we are expecting to see in finland now, a sort of snowball effect now that the president on prime minister, publicly back nato membership, most likely different political parties, parliamentary groups. well today under the coming days also announce favoring they to membership. and after that still at the end of this week, finland will officially decide on also are submitting in this application. the finished president saline is the, is visiting sweden next week. and this could also be the occasion for the 2 countries to announce together that they will submit their applications. but of course, also what has been happening over the past couple of weeks is that the political leadership of these 2 countries have been meeting with with other statesman and

trying to get security guarantees for that application process. well, thanks for coming in on that breaking news on a status. the thank you very much. ukraine is proposing a prisoner swap to resolve a stand off at the as all star still planted money on the plan would see would it ukrainian soldiers evacuated in exchange? ukraine would release more russian prisoners of wal mart, ukrainian forces, say they've successfully pushed back russian troops around the northeastern city of her keith. some residents who fled the fighting have begun returning to their villages. a home at last, tatiana has returned to her village for the 1st time in 2 months. but there's not much left of her house. her garden is littered with the aftermath of russia's invasion, touch on his goats, at least survived the honestly, you know, with them here,

russians are brothers. i could never imagined anything like this, this aggression and destruction. when i came home, i kissed the ground. now i have nothing more where am i supposed to live and what should i do with your neighbors in the village weren't spared either. and also came back to find a piles of rubble where their homes one stood but perhaps no. where are the ruins greater than mar you, paul? after weeks of relentless bombardment, russian forces and their separatist allies are now in control of almost all of the strategic port city. before rebuilding can begin, cruise must 1st clear massive amounts of rubble. i used to have 3 rooms now only half of one. when i came up from the shelter,

i opened the door and there was no apartment any more. that was scary. residents who have remained behind are now trying to get on with their lives. and in many cases, that means improvising the loan hold out of resistance remains the as of style steel plant where fighters trapped under ground have been withstanding russian pounding the ukrainian government has proposed swapping them in exchange for russian soldiers captured during their invasion of ukraine. i spoke with the w correspondent, army, and asif, and of if about the possibility of a swamp of russian prisoners or injured ukrainian soldiers. it looks unlikely at this point, ben, because russia has so far said it will only swap prisoners of war for prisoners of war. if you look at it, this is an unusual ask to swap a pris prisoners of war from the russian side for on the ukrainian side combatants who have

a so far refused to submit to the russian forces to give up the as of style steel. platt, now they would be suggesting to swap wounded prisoners, but russia does not see them as captives and says that that's not playing by the rules of so far, not a yes from the russian side. and keep in mind that russia is very fixated on a victory here at the as of style steel plant because of the regiment that is defending it. now these are from a, they have far right roots, this battalion, a lot of them where nazi insignia on their clothing. so this lend some weight to the false russian claim that there did not defying ukraine and in russia, this would be a big victory if they were able to capture that plant and either take them captive or essentially kill the people who are defending a plant. as us, as of battalion, but russia has also swapped ukrainian heroes of war, including the defenders of snake island, who once told a russian warship,

it gave that an expletive until it to go away before they were captured. and now the president has praised ukraine's latest counter offensive in the east, claiming that some towns have been recaptured at the tables turning their now this would be a big victory for ukraine if it could secure heartier, which is the 2nd largest city we saw that happened with the 1st largest city, the capital key of where russian forces were pushed out of villages and eventually gave up trying to capture the capital. and that's what they're hoping to see. and harkey right now, because these villages have been liberated russian tanks and artillery are not in range of firing on that city, which is a godsend for a lot of people living there. but russia remains entrenched in the area so in the east of ukraine. and what you don't hear a lot on ukrainian media is the victories of russia, a severe done yet, which is the largest city in the east that it has not been captured by russia has been completely surrounded. and a lot of analysts are saying of that battle is loss of that city will fall to russia,

and russia seems to be shoring up. it's victories in the east and securing an area that it had mostly occupied already a since 2014 been i me and what about ukrainians? did they see some sort of end to this will now zalinski said recently that they need to be patient that ukrainians cannot expect a victory every day or even every week. and as many people have described it outside of ukraine, it's a stalemate, but ukrainians, at least here in the west, remain very confident that they will win this war. a lot of ukrainians are now proposing a maximum list. a gains from this war saying that they want to push russia completely out of the so morale is not broken. and don't forget that ukraine still has hundreds of thousands of men that they can call on to fight. so this is turning into a situation, been the like they've seen since 2014, where russia is mostly confined to the east. that something that they've been used to,

and which they've already been dealing with for many years and are willing to deal with for many more years until they can reclaim their country and secure a victory over the invaders. and that's how they see it been. i mean, as if thank you very much for your reporting from the bid and i spoke with our military analyst frank lead, which about russia's focus on the east and southeast of ukraine. well, good morning. been 2 issues here. first of all, your correspondence already mentioned the importance of getting, getting the russians out of artillery, right? you got to read a couple of days now the most tube artillery. but there's also another another purpose. and that is to strike russia's lines of communication with southern front . in other words, the ukrainians are now in range of russian railways into the south. in the southeast itself, the russian offensive as it continues to store yesterday the russians announced one

arm of its media announced that the town mentioned by a correspondent severity and that is a fortress town. and i would suggest the reason for that announcement is shaping people for a lot of casualties in a long time. the city is a russians are close to, haven't made much in the way of advances in the last couple of days. and some of your viewers may have seen pictures yesterday of a rather major strike by you claiming forces on a couple of bridges. that's another part of don bass, where the russians were trying to surround you kind of forces and fail yesterday. and in the northeast, president lensky says, ukraine's military is gradually pushing russian troops away from how keith is you can capable of a full on counter offensive. it showed itself to be fully capable of retaking ground. the su around cock it is. i think that the russian forces were fairly thin, the spread. they were clearly that to provide

a presence and ukrainian forces for the last 2 to 3 weeks now been taking advantage of that. russians have been pulling forces back from don't for them from done by bus to try and to try and sure the defense is up. but in the medium term, there's no doubt that all the credits are more than capable of conducting counter attacks. but what they need is that continuous stream of replacement weapon systems and strengthening weapon systems. well, they've got to know enough to hold what they need now, a weapons that's going to allow them to attack. and the better times, more tanks, more artillery, more jobs and replacements for the systems they've lost. come back to what you were alluding to before the governor of russia's belgrade region which borders ukraine recently claimed. one person died in an attack from the ukranian side. he hasn't claimed responsibility, but could the war spill over into russian territory? care has never claimed responsibility for any of the unusual and unfortunate fires or,

or events damaging events taking place in russia and is unlikely to do so. but certainly that they do seem capable of helicopter strike attacks into russia. they've done that before. apparently in belgrade itself, and possibly sabotaged attacks. a lot of data about that in the rest of russia. so yes, certainly you crave cable about just as much as well. perhaps more than we ever thought they were. thanks for the inside, frankly, which a member of the russian punk rock band pussy riot has escaped house arrest in moscow. the group 1st came to prominence in 2012 for its open criticism of lot of improvements regime. they still do most of the federal to perform a punk prayer to protest the close relationship between the kremlin and russian orthodox church are young. oh, you know, and to a bad mates were sentenced to 2 years in prison. now you know,

has made it to berlin and karen home said from elko to disc. is he to talk about all of that with us? it sounds like some sort of cold war spine oval. but tell us more about this escape . yeah, well it was, it was indeed very dramatic. i mean, as you mentioned, maria, you know, was already under house arrest is part of an increasingly brutal crack down against anti putin descent back in april the authorities. and now that her house, the rest would be converted to $21.00 days in a penal colony. so even though she was committed to staying in russia and doing her work from there, she realized she had to get out. so she disguised herself as a food courier, great big green suit with a backpack to evade the police that was stationed inside her apartment. and friends had helped her to get a little indian visa, so she made it to the bell, a ruffian border. it took about a week to get across the road to the border. there she was, after several tries able to get across there from vilnius. she went to iceland and

it's now traveling on an icelandic passport. and she had lots of friends, obviously helping her along the way. but she said a little magic was, was at work there as well. and how does she describe the situation in russia right now? well, it's amazing because putting has been cracking down on anyone critical to obviously his regime or the war, but already for a long time. she's been arrested maria 6 times since last summer. each time for 15. and she's actually the 2nd member for the right to escape and exactly this way . at the end of march, her colleague, lucy stein, did exactly the same thing. got out of the country dressed as of as a got out of her apartment dressed as a food career with a suit that she'd ordered online. i know they have a long history of run ins with the authority, so they've gotten pretty creative, i guess, over over time and money. it is now saying that all activists and their friends are

on the list and there's no possibility to act. everything is getting progressively worse, and here's what she told us about the atmosphere in russia. currently. i think russian propaganda should be somehow translated to the rest because you guys should know what they're talking about, who it's not just like g europe anymore. it's not just like they have different values anymore. it's pure hatred. it's bureau call for keeley. yeah, pretty gram stuff there. she says in her still, in jail, she was only allowed to have a radio that radio is pure propaganda at the moment. and she says, we really shouldn't believe that 80 percent of russian support where they simply cannot say anything. now that interview was done here in berlin, what she's doing here, and what are her plans? right, so she's come here. she's been joined by several other members of the pussy riot art collective. and they're gonna, they're going to go on to, are they going to do

a series of concerts for the benefit to raise funds for ukrainian refugees? they'll be in places like on saddam and luna. it kicks off tonight in berlin, and there will be a new song about the war and ukraine. so we'll try to stay tuned for that. and i just want to say, you know, it's kind of crazy that 10 years ago that stuff that you described in the cathedral really was by some past off. it's a bit of a vulgar stunt, but i think it in retrospect obviously it was looking pretty prophetic. it's a pity we didn't listen a bit more carefully to put the right at the time. karen, how's that for my uncle to desk? thank you very much. pleasure. and let's look at some of the other stories making headlines today. u. s. senate democrats have failed to pass a bill that would have made right to abortion. a federal law legislation was meant to counter the supreme court expected move to overturn the landmark road versus wait ruling, which originally legalized abortion across the u. s. goals amounting for an

independent investigation into the death of rena apple. actually, the veteran al jazeera journalist was vitally short while covering and is why the military rate in the occupied west bank a colleague, se israeli troops killed and is writing military chief, says it's unclear who pulled the trigger. top b u officials visited tokyo to talk with japanese prime minister, we'll be cedar on deepening ties, european commission, president of the on the line and council president sean mission agreed to boost cooperation with japan on cybersecurity and intentions, with russia and china on the line says russia invasion of ukraine presents the greatest threat to the world. order can count on one of strength is in battle. president has promised political reforms in a televised address. soldiers have been deployed to quells civil unrest and protests across the country. many lincolns blame the president of the current economic crisis and shortages of basic suffice. north korea has

acknowledged its 1st reported cases of covered 19 rule that kim jong under clearing a national lockdown. the isolated country had claimed to have had 0 infections during the global pandemic. exact number of cases of the sources of infection are not yet known. north korea has so far refused to accept international help with the nations and has kept the sportage. analysts say this admission could be a call for help. so how dangerous could the outbreak? i put the question to journalist frank smith, who's based in sole south korea. well, if we look at north korea is 26000000, you have 26000000 people that are not vaccinated. take into consideration also the alma kron berry, and perhaps the most transmissible. coven 19 variant. so far. and north korea is dilapidated health care system. prior to the coven, 19 pandemic,

and for decades it's widely known that north korea is health care is critically underfunded. understaffed under sourced those 3 things taken into consideration together with the effect of oma cronin, coven, 19 in the most developed countries with very robust health care systems. and in north korea, you have a situation where this could spread across the country and have devastating consequences for the north korean population. then the fact that army kron can't be fatal for the elderly, the mole bone rebel who are unvaccinated. why are some people so moving around then, according to some accounts, it doesn't sound like a problem. okay. whoa, yes, that comes from an a p photographer. that was near the border, looking over the border and seeing an agricultural area where people were working in the field. so it appears to work. at least agricultural work in particular has

not been exempted. we need to go back to january 2020. when norcross was the 1st country to lockdown ceiling, it's border with china and 90 percent, and it's critical, it's only international trade. this had far reaching inc. economic consequences inside more korea also as critical goods, health supplies, medicines, some foods, some household goods failed to get into the country. you had foreigners and leave the country in jews. these sources of information left the country. so well, north korea, prior to this event, had a very peak sort of information structure. what we learned about north korea was very difficult. now it's almost impossible to know what's really going on inside north korea in showing yang, for example. other than what we hear from korea central news agency at the same

time, kim jong, in this meeting of high level officials, mentioned the need to continue economic development despite the struggles the countries having now and. and if north korea does actually need help from abroad, is going to take it when it comes with conditions attached like international surveillance. that's a very good question. you have analysts coming out on, on both sides of that today. there is an admission of failure is part of that, and people think that that means that north korea is setting itself up to accept and perhaps even request international lead. all also, north korea has reacted negatively within the country to health care officials. it's very unusual for criticism of officials in north korea to get out. however, there is the potential for broad assistance for countries other than north korea, sort of arch rivals,

south korea in the us. there is the potential for assistance from the broader international community. then frank smith, south korea, is a reminder of our top story. fiddlers leaders have formally announced their intention to join night of the decision. marx, a monumental shift from a loan help position of military and non alignment. next conflicts with tim sebastian. i'm ben facility. in fact,

next out with who entered the conflict. so with sebastian reporter whose victory parade in moscow, no sign of the war and ukraine is coming to an end. russia's leader flown during his power and these weapons. i'm blaming the way for his invasion, but will the rest of a deal with him again of questions around a more social democrat? my mom, the german wonder who joins me this week for conflict zone. next, on d,

w. i started out with addiction and transformed into an orgy of hate and violence. the history of the ku klux klan, the oldest terrorist organization in the united states. its members, white for a racist state by white supremacy founded over 150 years ago, gets repeatedly died out, but always been resurrected. in 45 minutes on d, w. o. natural spectacle, in an improved world. a meeting of the loom whale sharks are the remote island of saint told

me it is a testament to the quality of the waters. one of the any success stories from a bastion of biodiversity starts may 20th on d, w. vladimir putin victory day parade in moscow wrought no sign of the war in ukraine is coming to an end. russia's leader flaunting his power and these weapons and blaming the west for his invasion. but will the west ever deal with him again? a question to rouse begmen, social democrat member of the german born the thug, who joins me this week from berlin. our aim is not regime change or weakening one or the other country, but the getting the war stopped and quoting,