ah ah ah ah, this is dw news lie from berlin annexation votes began in russian held regions of you cried western powers of cold referendums, ashamed they say russia will fix the i've come to justify their illegal occupation of ukrainian territory. across the front lines,

a city liberated but in ruins. ukraine's army recently pushed russian forces out of copious re report on how people there are coping with the aftermath. also coming up, iran's president fives, to investigate the death of a woman arrested by the country's morality police. but that's done little to quell public outrage as protests turned into an open challenge against the government. ah, i'm pablo follies. welcome to the program. there being called sham referendums, russian installed authorities in ukraine's east have begun holding votes on joining russia. the so called referendums are being held in areas that make up 15 percent of ukrainian territory. but they're also taking place in the middle of a war zone. a strike outside one holding station in russian occupied 10 that's over

night. left, 6 people dead, programmed and separatists blamed ukrainian forces. while the voting is expected to last several days and result in the regions annexation by moscow, ukraine and western government say they won't recognize the outcome. 6 o russian residents of done yet so celebrate in mid february after russia recognized the ukranian region as an independent state. days before russia began its war, people here thought the declaration would bring peace that the orgy siena would. it's very important for all of us that peace will finally come to our republic and to low hands. can we just want peace and calm with both that neither. but with easy and thirty's, but conflict escalated after russian president vladimir putin. you signed up to support the separatists and used their claims of oppression as grounds for an

invasion. now, moscow backed officials in full regions as seeking not just recognition, but annexation votes on whether to join russia will take place in occupied her son zap or asia lu husk and done. yet sk pots of which have been held by separatists since 2014, when crimea was seized by russia following a so called referendum. kremlin installed leaders in the regions raced to announce their ballots days after ukrainian troops recaptured sways of eastern territory. they've been preparing for months signing up residence as russian citizens a loo, hon sc. some. see the vote as a way out of war and deprivation. love that. yeah, well my, i think the referendum will be for the best. would be more via that not. yeah, that there will be water and electricity get the when people will feel like they

are on day night to finance you. you border submit your what mattered noisy maria, but for those who fled to ukrainian held pots of zappa's asia, the votes are a sham. well, but though it's a violation of international law, it's a fake task to show that occupied territories want to join the russian federation, which is a total lie the ballot papers are printed, but there's no question that the outcome will entrenched the conflict. but earlier i asked dw russia, unlisted roman, gone to rank a, what russia's aiming to achieve with these so called referendums. well, there is one big aim of russian president vladimir putin, which is to destroy and does integrate ukraine. and the so called a friend of there are just a tool and instrument for that. an exception was planned from the very beginning of

this military campaign, i think. and russia was trying and planning it in autumn right now. maybe 2 or to a different time. but russia had to act swiftly because ukraine could. i do a very successful counter offense offensive in the hockey region in the north of ukraine. and this is where there will be no holding, no, no, so called your friend on no annexation. this is a terrible russia last, so it is in a hurry right now. but is very important for russia to make those adults are so called are friend, look like, not look like an occupation. that is why it is also important to stage all those to show like, like, it's not russia occupying ukraine, it's people who live there, they want to join russia. this is the narrative. and of course, last but not least, i think it also, it is also some kind of

a birthday present for russian president vladimir putin, cooper, 1070 on october, the 7th. and this is something that so many experts in the west and the industry itself has been saying from the very beginning, ukraine should be kind of a birthday cake for vladimir putin. but this cake, m has gotten smaller in the past few weeks. and that's why russia is in a hurry roman, let's talk a little bit about the legitimacy of these are so called referendums, is russia actually doing anything to make them even appear legitimate? of course, i'm from the very beginning. i'm, let's remember how it was in crimea in 2014 russia and occupied the territory. i didn't say that those were russian soldiers, but the people who decided people who voted for join russia or ukrainians, leaving their ukraine and politicians pro russian politicians on the same. here

we have figures who are ukrainians, have ukranian passports, and who have been installed by russia in the occupied regions in the south of ukraine, in his own region, owns a bridge region and in the east of ukraine, evasion of the nat scorned la hans. there was also ukrainians who was installed there earlier by the rush in the years before. so russia trying to do this. it is also trying to, to set a stage. i like it was a normal and normal voting. i would say there are polling stations, or you can see videos of people waving russian flags, sing how happy they are to vote for joining russia. so media are also playing a very important role. and of course, russia will be trying to say that there are international observers who can confirm that everything was according to law or local law. i would say, of course, it is not according to ukrainian law. it is not allowed in ukraine to conduct such

referenda. but we do not know any names of any foreigners who are there at the moment, but we can assure be sure that there are some thank you. roman dw, russia, and list roman gunter, rancor dw corresponded. nick conley is in the eastern ukrainian city of hockey. and earlier he told us how people on the ukrainian side view, the votes being staged in russian hill territory. we're here in had given you crank control territory. it isn't really much of a topic. people here are basically resigned to this being a foregone conclusion. they don't see it really change anything. they're definitely not going to see their government changing its behavior and somehow leaving off trying to regain these areas. just because russia claims that this is now russian held territory. we've even heard some russian leaders kind of talking about the numbers that they expect to happen. the seemingly hinting at what the result is going to be. even before people go to the polls as the people on the ground in

rockford, ukraine, we can't get them. we basically not be able to get lessons 2014 since russia stoked those separatist campaigns in the east there. so what we can see on social media is not a huge amount in the way of enthusiasm. not a lot of discussion of these votes this plebiscites, as for what people on the ground of saying why it is not a lot of incentive people that are actually asked typical questions in tucson public. so you do occasion his people talking about the hope that this is going to mean an end to fighting around them, but a lot, but that doesn't really seem like this is something that is really occupying people's minds right now. rights are difficult conditions for the people there. so now you've been to recently liberated areas. howard the residence coping. they're really depends. the subdivision is huge, but if you go close to with the far lines where we were city of counseling it, we had believed going into this trip that actually the ukrainians controlled more church around the town than it actually turned out to be the case. and people there

who previously actually had basically been kind of slightly off the radar in a place where there was not a fighting. now in the midst of fighting without gas, without electricity, without power. and in a pretty difficult situation with constant shelling. let's have a look at what life is like in coupons. russia is here to stay. that was the slogan . just a matter of weeks ago, hearing kapinsky, as russian officials handed out passports in the end, the russian flag came down faster than any one could have imagined. but the russian army hasn't gone far. in fact, you can hear its artillery every few minutes. just a few moments away. even before the shelling stops into graham prosecutors a fine coming. what remains of this police station where russian troops had their base looking for evidence of potential war crimes. love which i'm looking this up on. you like a right now we're collecting evidence, brought up more law. some of the things we're looking for can be lost over time. that i'm of them go heard that i will hit the key, but we're looking for dna traces mother should fingerprints diligence and also

documents. second one law, i am likely she'll she'll be home. the thought that the russian departure was so hasty, the investigator tells us, many of the soldiers left everything behind even their passports. out on the streets, ukraine troops out number the locals. many residents took the 1st opportunity to evacuate once ukrainian forces returned. those the remain, keep a low profile. tell us fighting seems to be getting worse from on come up with the helicopter. we hope ahead was not ukrainian, as everyone around us assumed it was russian. ah, who had to come in now in a hurry, move away from windows or anything that could be destroyed could explode and allow way to see what's happening. this is the route here on 4 lines. this is cartoon is controlled by ukraine. you, but there is still council threat of rationalization, and there's no cynthia that life was returning to normal in any sense to what many

locals life is actually getting harder and practical terms. recent shelling, this scene lose 1st power than running water. and now guess if we've know where to go, our parents are gone and the situation isn't much better where my sister is and har keeps her as long as our apartment block is still standing. it will stay, but it's not heating or water. the people here miss most, it's mobile phone coverage. hottest thing ludmilla tells us is not being able to check up on family. come on out of sometimes service comes back long enough to say a couple of words to each other. like if a virtue and a crime together with more than ashley speaking. yes, it is a fact. my husband has 2 kids and i have we have no idea how they're doing. good. grading officials promise phone service me back in a matter of days, although they can't promise though, is anything resembling life as it was before february 24th. and the russian

invasion. a few hours of to leave coupons, news comes through a for adults and a teenager wounded in yet more shelling. really dire conditions there, nick and i'm, we've seen that the fighting is continuing. how is the actual ukrainian counter offensive progressing? what is making progress will be at a slower pace than we saw in recent weeks. i think ukraine took out the weakest parts of russia's frontline defenses and is, are facing more professional, better supplied units. but it is trying to make progress towards low hans or blast region to as, as t of some of the nets where you saw russia making gains in the summer at a huge cost in terms of equipment, but also mainly in lives and a sense now that you can is trying to kind of get around the rush defenses by a kind of coming in from an unexpected direction from the north. tis real worry if you look at russian social media from the kind of pro war speakers that ukraine

could actually push home. it's advanced now before rush mobilization really kicks in before it's able to get more in the way of troops to the front lines, let alone train those people up and a sense here that now the clock is rate ticking ahead of the winter to really make some progress because during which time fighting is going to be very, very difficult. any gains can be minimal. so you can try to take as much search as it can before russia re supplies. and for the winter, near stops the front lines and kind of fix them where they are. thanks for your reporting, nick, nick conley and clark, if long queues at the border sold, i'd flights to foreign destinations. vladimir putin's conscription drive to bolster his forces in ukraine is being met with resistance in russia. ward and 1300 people have been arrested at nationwide protests. many men of draft age are leaving the country while they still can. touching down in istanbul, just a day off to russia, announced a military draft. flight prices have skyrocketed as more and more people flee to

avoid being cold to serve in ukraine. in turkey, arriving russian passengers don't require a visa for entry, making it a top destination. your king is ricky, ear, mother the furious. any one could be drafted. what i'm you for that reason people us get and you go that's for now the draft papers are being sent to specific people haven't done it, but i don't believe that soon. they will expand to more people, and that's scary because we don't know who had the next. i thought is that the thumbs up and his eyes shut up a little bit, but they don't. the demand for one way flights out of russia is surging flights to turkey, serbia, as well as armenia and azerbaijan have entirely sold out reports of a mass. exodus of young men have been downplayed by the kremlin, which claims the situation is exaggerated. but some of those arriving in turkey,

se the fear of conscription, israel, this passenger requested to stay anonymous, fearing reprisals back home and use the lda. yeah, of course i'm horrified. i could be drafted some did. oh yeah. i feel like everything inside me has been replaced by panic. when you grade, i come down at 1st. but when i thought about what i was going to do, i started panicking again to self. i'm scared and fearful, because i don't know what will happen next. at the land border with finland choose to leave the country are also increasing. finland is russia's last remaining ear neighbor that still allows the entry of russian shank and visa holders. but with finland, considering whether to limit or band, the entry of russian tourists and flights out of moscow becoming unavailable. those who wish to leave are running out of options. while with me in the studio

now is paulina aaronson, a journalist and sociologist, who at it's the russian language section of independent global media platform called open democracy. welcome to d w. so we've seen some images there. are we seeing a mass exit us, or is this really more people who can actually afford to leave essentially and have the means to leave the country? i think, ah, we're witness in emacs as it is of those who can afford to leave. to put it this way, i did not think that it's possible to talk about max as it is given that the border has been de facto closed or from their outside, as well as from the inside. if you people aren't possession of sincon these us at the moment, and i'm a wit. i don't think we can talk about max exit us into the european union, even if we're witness. and his cues, a capacity for, um this, the amount of people crossing the finish border right now is,

per day is less than it used to be before the pandemic. right. so we, i don't think that we're talking about next as it is. we're talking about a huge amount of people trying to pass through a very small opening, but we also have other options as well. we've, we've seen people traveling to turkey to arm. that's correct. that's correct. we can talk about a, an attempt of access to countries which are accepting russian citizens without jesus. and yet we can not talk about max mat mass exit us yet because not many people have the means to do so. the flight to ystem bowl from moscow, for example, went in prices, the skyrocket, it just within 2448 hours. and very few people can afford that. there are people have the means that there are people who are trying to cross the border to cause a stand. this is more affordable. people who are trying to go to care august and georgia is trying to be more cautious with taking russians and they

are, they don't take everybody at the moment so we can't really talk about masses. are we seeing a shift in attitude among russians since the beginning of the war to where we are now? well, we definitely can talk about the change in who is leaving now because people who left immediately after the beginning of the war, there were also people who had resources already at the time the people who had changed these as, for example, after 2 and a half years have been damaged that's, that's not many people who were able of buying their flights very quickly. people who could arrange lives in different countries. very quickly. i think we were back then talking about a class of people who i was in general, maybe also already mentally prepared to leave the country at some point people who

would disagree with the regime earlier. the colleagues of mine did research back then about who was living in russia immediately after the beginning of the war and 50 about 50 percent of these people. there were 10001000 interviews that the made in georgia and armenia, latin european union over 50 percent of this. people said that this decision was spontaneous and nevertheless, we can talk about this. people being prepared. what is happening now is that we're seeing people who actually never really wanted to leave right of a push factors. you know, the, a, the drive to leave, the impossibility of staying in the country has become so high for them. that they need to scrap everything they have to go. whether they are open, the opposing, the regime. we don't know yet. we don't have the data but right? people definitely don't want to serve in the army right? unfortunately, we don't have that more time because there's plenty more questions i could put you . paulina aaronson adjourn. listen sociologist, am works for the independent global media platform,

open democracy. thanks for joining us on the to be. thank you. well, here's a brief look at other stories making headlines. the united states has urged the other nations to condemn russia for making what to calls new care threats over the war in ukraine. speaking at a session of the un security council, russia defended its war in ukraine. it says western countries have become party to the conflict by supplying weapons to keep over a dozen migrants have been rescued off the northern coast of syria after the boat. they were traveling in capsized more than 50 bodies have also been recovered. the migrants reportedly departed from lebanon earlier this week, hoping to reach europe. hurricane fiona, sweeping past bermuda, pending the atlantic island with strong winds and heavy rain. the powerful storm is heading northward, zine is forecast to reach canada on saturday. if battered a number of car being islands earlier this week. arounds presidents as i to

investigate the death of a young woman in police custody massa. i mean, he died after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing a headscarf property. the case has ignited a wave of violent anti government protests in iran with state television reporting, the death toll as high as 26. ah d, an unprecedented emitted it onion the teeth, i encourage you to death. despite the youth the forced by police, people continue to come out on the streets. the death of martha amin, spot des, protests, limon, and at the state dictating a strict jefcoat. but now the cause has become bigger. many men have joined. do they want the good and leadership to go? defeat is fighting back cut. did our reports of security forces fighting mickey pellets and deer guests? many have been killed in the clash of the italian leadership attempt to quote the

anchor had so far been unsuccessfully travelling force that i contacted her family, the family of the deceased at the very 1st opportunity. and i showed them personally that we will continue to investigate the incident. did our reports up instagram and what's at altitude, and asked them to discourage people from organizing protests. the few t that has been caused by mouth that means depth is shaking the heart line. it onion state. well, we can talk now to jeremy larnes from the un human rights office in geneva, jeremy at good to see and welcome to d. w. now iran's president abraham rice, he ordered the investigation of mass, i mean his death, but how credible can an investigation be if it's conducted by the government? yes, good morning and thank you for alpha says cold on the iranian or at least to ensure that master. i mean it's death and allegations torture new treatment promptly

independent in partially and effectively investigated how the family must have access to justice and the truth. now that iran is a party to the international covenant on civil and political rights under that treaty, it, it has a duty to conduct such name partial profit. so it is, it has an obligation under international jeremy to protest we're seeing now in iran are the biggest since $29.00 team. what's different this time? well, in fact, the protest with respect to compulsory each at a thing going on since moralists the day that the supreme leader introduced the decree which was back in $979.00. in fact, protest broke out the following day, which coincidentally was international women's died. but more broadly,

dara, broader grievances across the room. so we saw the protests that we're seeing at the moment obviously started as a result of the compulsory jeff rules and the, the tragic death of bass or a, me. but there are. but you know, the protest taking place over the past 5 years. you're recalling 2019. there were massive country wide protests and fuel prices. nat instance, over 300 people were killed during the protest. yes. tell us what's your assessment on human human rights in general in today's around well, dis, human rights situation. i think it's best if we go back to the secretary general who actually submitted a report to the human rights council,

just the sheet. and he writes the number of issues with respect to human rights. of course, one of them is that the compulsory teacher will then of course, as violence against when they narrow about issues such as the rights of women and girls to sexual and reproductive health. they are up there in a whole range of other human rights issues. another one to give you an example is the continued use specifications and the increased use of execution, particularly when it comes to against women and children. jeremy lawrence from the un human rights office. thank you for joining us on d. w. thank you. all right, well you are up to date of next is our globalization magazine, global 3000 with a look at the rise of urban heat officers to cool things down in a warming world. and don't forget that you can stay up to date with the latest news

around the clock on our website. that's d w dot com. and of course don't forget to follow us on our social media. cancer handle is dw news on pablo phone in the us from me, the entire team here in berlin. thanks for watching. take care and i'll see you again at the top of the next are ah, with

lou, around half a 1000000 people die from every year. officials in africa, south america, and europe, looking full solutions as the temperatures continued to rise.

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