how did this confrontation begin? how great is the danger that it is? sprague war is room usa starts june 15th on d. w. ah ah, this is dw news lie from berlin. ukraine says its forces are still holding on and the eastern city of savannah. the next. the region is the focus of heavy russian shelling and intense street fighting. also coming up french voters had to the poles in the 1st round of parliamentary elections. president amount on my crown has been

challenged by a new coalition and left parties led by john low, but on sean and missing in the amazon. the search for a british journalist and his brazilian colleague who disappeared while under reporting tripped a week ago ah, a marina evans dean. thanks for joining us. ukraine says it remains in control of a chemical plant and the eastern city of savannah, the nat score. hundreds of civilians are sheltering. severe nets has become the epicenter of the battle in eastern ukraine. both this city and the nearby town of lucy chanst have been a target of heavy russian shelling ukrainian soldiers in list a chance under fire from russian artillery. though they managed to evacuate

a wounded civilian, another barrage forces them to take cover again. this chance is the twin city to see ever done yet, sc, which remains the focus of russia's offensive in the dawn. bus. russian and separatist forces have so far struggled to fully claim the city sever dynette is not completely all 100 percent liberated while kiva reports that ukrainian forces us still holding out. let's see, over to the enemy, conducts a sold operations in the city of civil de nancy little, but without success. there might with street fighting, still raging across the city. most of ukraine's forces are hold up in the as out chemical plant, along with an unknown number of civilians. the fist fighting has made evacuating the city impossible. but in this war of attrition,

the don bus is not russia's only target. the russian ministry of defense has released this footage of strikes against what it claims a ukrainian strongholds. a russian news agency is also reporting claims that a large stock pile of us and european supplied weapons in west and ukraine was destroyed. the loss of these supplies would be a major blow for ukrainian forces, with some troops warning they are running low on ammunition. the west has promised to send additional weapons and for ukrainian troops in the don bus. these can't come soon enough. kimberly is rebecca rhetoric is monitoring the war from ki if i asked her earlier for an update on the situation and see if in the next as well as you said, marianna, quite rightly server. the net has been at the center of the battle for don bass is it's been called for some weeks now and it continues to be so russia is managing

very slowly, however, to push forward. then i'll control around about 90 percent of that city. but fighting continues and is now centered in this localized area underneath this chemical plant. that is where the russian troops are and now fight a fighting ukrainian forces there. and we're seeing scenes, reminiscent of matter you, paul, and the as of style plant. we're also hearing about 800 civilians, 200 workers, 600 family members and various civilians. also taking cover there underneath that steel. we're sorry that a chemical plant. but what, what is concerning is that the ukraine has said that that city may well fall in the next day or 2, and then russia will advance and to on to the next is to city lucy chance. and then they will have captured all of the new hans region, which is part of what they try to do to capture that on bass. will rebecca, we should also remember that as this intense fighting goes on,

there are still many civilians there who are trying to get out. do these people have any way of leaving the area where all this fighting is going on? well, at the moment, it's just too dangerous to really attempt any evacuations from several the net people in the half region have been warned since early april to leave that region and many people have but in several to next, there is still around about $10.00 to $15000.00 people believe to be taking shelter . there were seeing people evacuate from some surrounding towns and villages still mainly in the donnette region. but it, but definitely people and several donetta really struggling there. the amount of terrance at situation is very dire. as you can imagine, there's no electricity running water and humanitarian aid is impossible to get and the people running out of food as well, being completely bombarded and living on the ground with no way of getting out at this stage. rebecca just yesterday and the european union chief,

or sla underline was in t f. and she promised that by the end of the week, there would be an official response to ukraine's request for membership status on their bid to join the you. we know that president zalinski talked about that in his latest video address. i'd like to listen to part of it now and then get your reaction. just a moment, i am sure that we will soon receive an answer on the candidate status for ukraine. also, i am convinced that this decision can strengthen, not only our country yours, but the entire european union. she'll much thought what else needs to happen in europe to make it clear to skeptics that the very fact of keeping ukraine outside the european union works against european leg broke evil. was a lansky sounding very determined. but we have heard from some e u. leaders like the french president of mountain la cron and others saying it's gonna take years or maybe even decades for ukraine to join the european union. so

rebecca, why is this membership bid so important to zalinski right now? if it's not going to happen in the foreseeable future. well, marianna zalinski has been pushing to this for some time, but it was the formal application to join me a you came this 4 days after rush invaded ukraine, and the urgency is perhaps obvious they're they really looking for security assurances from me a you. but as for president micron, france has stated and as we've seen from other a u. s. session processes eighty's a very long process. and this is something that is not going to happen overnight. that something that isn't on the line. the european commission tape will have been pains to get across to president salenti and i'm still president. zalinski also understands that, but this is a very important 1st step, and it is looking like the commission will recommend that they be granted candidacy status and then it needs to go and be voted on by 27 members. therefore, therefore, triggering a very,

very lengthy process that could take in years or decades. d w rebecca readers for us in key of rebecca, thank you so much. let's turn our attention now to franz, where voters are heading to the polls again. this time to choose lawmakers in parliamentary elections. the 1st of 2 rounds takes place to day, whole show that president amount on leg crone centrist alliance is neck and neck with a new coalition of left parties, led by john movement on shore. losing the majority here could be disastrous to microns plans for reform. for more on this, we can speak now to w correspondent lisa lewis, who joins us from parents. hello to you lisa. so, tell us what is at stake in today's parliamentary election? well, as you just say, there is a lot egg stay greeted according to french law,

the parliament can actually revoke the government here in france. and that would mean that if the left wing alliance that new left lines under fall as party left wants us to, we were to win the parliamentary elections than that, then the government would actually left wing. so that center, right, president in my, my call would have to govern together with a left when government and that would make it a lot more complicated for him to push through certain reforms. certainly not those that aiming to increase the wages of people working for the hospital or teachers, but others more market orientated reforms such as pushing up the pension age from the current 60 to 26465 years. and so it would be much more complicated for him to govern france. that would be good news for certain left when voters, but rather bad news for certain conservative voters. and also for economists who are worried about francis public debt that is currently at about 110 percent of g d p. okay, so very large implications if the left wins the majority in parliament domestically

. but what about on an international level? how would there when impact things abroad? well, it would also be significant for a frances role in the world, you know, as on middle shore. as you said, the leader of the far left party that has been able to determine very much the program, the platform of this new left wing alliance. he's very critical of the european union. he's also very critical of nato actually at the new left in the lines has said that they would maybe not respect certain you rules and they will also late want to leave nato frances, obviously one very important member of the european union together with germany and a left when government in france at this stage would weaken the european union, also possibly nato. and that in times of crisis when there is a war raging in ukraine. here the is lisa lewis in perez lisa,

thank you so much. let's get a check of some other news making the headlines, the sour nato secretary general yen suttonberg has said that turkey's security concerns over swedish and finish nato membership are legitimate. he said this while visiting helsinki. the 2 nordic countries apply to join the alliance last month, but to turkeys president ardon has raised objections accusing the countries of backing kurdish opposition. groups that anchor considers to be terrorist organizations. orthodox christians are celebrating an important day. their religions calendar. pentecost is one of the oldest christian holidays falling on the 8th sunday after easter. it marks the holy spirit coming into the world and the foundation of the church of christ in jerusalem. in china, 9 men had been arrested after a video showing the beating of 2 women provoked outrage security cameras at

a restaurant in the northern city of tongue. sean show, the men dragging the women by the hair and punching and kicking them. parts of the eastern philippines had been covered in ash after the blue sand volcano erupted for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. emergency workers have warned drivers to slow down due to poor visibility. no casualties have yet been reported, but authorities warned there could still be further are options a week has now passed since a journalist and his researcher went missing in brazil. yesterday, investigators raised the prospect that human remains found near a river might hold a clue to the men's whereabouts. but to day reuters news agencies reporting that federal police are skeptical of that british journalist dom phillips and his associate burnup herrera, who previously loved governments. indigenous agency had been reporting on issues in the amazon, including deforestation,

and the encroachment of business interests onto indented indigenous lands. ah, the search continues. british journalist, dom phillips, and brazilian indigenous expert, bruno paddy era, were last seen on june 5th. the 2 had received chats as they conducted research in brazil, joe, while he rally a forested region, which has seen a surge in illegal fishing, logging, mining and drug trafficking. police have arrested one man so far suspected of tailing, the missing men. a spot of blood was found on his boat. locals have joined in on the search too, but there is still no sign of the missing men. the lad, we haven't found anything. we came all the way on the river and there is nothing. i don't mean to me. in brazilian authorities, including the president, said they are taking action bears your pre middle america from the moment they went

missing out, armed forces and federal police have been unstoppable in the tireless search for these people. follow grey to god that they all found alive. you vision grant that are going to have but pressures mounting while the bull sonata government, which has faced accusations that did not scale up the search fast enough. the disappearances uttered a reflection of a state policy of complete disregard for the environmental cause for protected ages . for the public servants, for states solven's, fulfilling their function and for the indigenous themselves in that own debt at duty. oh, they thought, oh, the far right president has also been criticized for allowing a surge in default a station in the amazon and pushing to open protected indigenous lands to mining subjects. the 2 missing men were looking into and before we go,

a quick reminder of our top story. ukraine says his forces are still holding out and part of the eastern city of city and the nets, where hundreds of civilians have found shelter. the city of surrounding area are witness inconsistent, intense street fighting and heavy rushing. shelling here up to date on the w news. stay tuned for our documentary opaque world. the struggle for truth and i haven't seen, i'll have another news update for you at the top of the hour. thanks for watching. 175 years ago. start up entre printer at a specific goal. 1 build the article instruments in the world size.