ah, ah ah ah ah, this is the w news lie from berlin digging in for the heaviest of battles. ukraine says that russian troops are preparing to defend the largest city under their control in the strategically vital region of have song. also coming up at

a major conference here in berlin, world leaders vow to continue supporting ukraine, including sharing the cost of rebuilding once the war is over. and iranian students are planning nationwide protests as a traditional morning period ends with 22 year old woman killed in custody for not wearing her had job correctly. ah, i'm sarah kelly. welcome to the program. a senior ukrainian official says that russian forces are digging in and preparing to defend the partially occupied southern region of her song. ukrainian troops had been forcing back the russians and re taking land in the region for weeks. now they are threatening to trap russian forces on the west. bank of the din, pro read river kremlin backed authorities have been civilians to further

east locations ahead of the la ukrainian advance. but it adviser to president, lindsey says that moscow is strengthening its front line and not preparing a retreat from hair song zora. where were you? earlier i spoke with d. w correspondent, funny for char in keith, who is following the latest developments in the region where russian troops are said to be preparing to hold the line against the counter offensive from ukraine, have a lesson but only to hold the lines cetera, but they are attempts to actually break, so to break through those ukrainian positions as well, which clearly tells you our indicates that russia doesn't only want to be on the defensive, but actually make kit or slow down the ukranian counter offensive there. and if you look at personal city, why 82 important strategically, why is it that fierce battle expected over the control of the city?

we have to understand that he's been occupied by russian forces from early march. so quiet pretty much at the beginning of this full scale invasion, lot of questions actually have been proposed at 2 of the ukrainian government by various people. why that was possible to take out of city from early on. that's something to be answered. obviously once is war is over, right now the focus is a full ukrainian forces. how to liberate house one city. and obviously if that's going to happen, then they do have that's very important land cory door established against was crimea with their next question. we should be too old to take on crimea something that ra, she's not just going to simply lead go off. there is a fierce battle accept expected over her, some city, and over the control of these very important regional capital of the region. tell us a little bit more about the ukranian counter offensive just more broadly speaking. funny because i mean the ukrainians. they have had the momentum in recent weeks.

certainly just over the past couple of weeks, they have been able to liberate about a 90 settlements. at least that's the information we received here from the ukrainian government 90 settlement. this is on the western part of the new per river because the way you have to imagine here has in region it is being basically separated through the nipple river. so you have one part of the region on the west and back the other part on the eastern bank and to the eastern bank. this is where the russian forces actually moved thousands of ukrainians to expecting these a battle to, to, to, to intensify. of course, in the next a couple of days. now, the fact that ukraine is speaking about 90 settlement, of course we cannot verify these numbers. we cannot even tell you exactly what's happening in house and city right now. simply because it is not possible for international or even political johnny's to axis. russia occupy territory or ling, just a very limited way. even is it possible to access the ukrainian controlled part of

house and region to everything that we can say at this point, that the battle over that important region and per se, all of that capital of house and region has the city, namely, is going to take off quite some steam and a couple of days and the question will be, who is going to actually take control over house and see if you will of course thanks of thousands of civilians there a bearing the brunt of the spy thing from both sides ukrainian on won and russian on the other side, funding for char and keith. thank you so much. and as winter approaches, soldiers in ukraine won't just be battling the russian military. they will also be battling the elements along the front line trenches in eastern ukraine. preparations are underway with nato supplied, sleeping bags, fresh, chopped, firewood, and even a do it yourself. sana to beat, winter's chill, weapons,

and ammunition are crucial if the ukrainian military hopes to continue retaking ground seized by russia. but the soldiers in eastern ukraine's donnette screeching know that being prepared for freezing temperatures will also be key to their survival in the coming months, from sleeping bags to socks to trenches. they aren't just bracing for battle, they're bracing for the cold winter. and the dorm bus is hell, it's a step climate with freezing nights, temperatures down to minus 30 degrees celsius. i felt it in 2014, it's hell. there are no forests, regular winds, and very low temperatures because of loser cold. so the, this trench is just 700 meters from russian positions, but life goes on for the soldiers of the 5th assault brigade, one meter under ground, they wash, eat and sleep by a wood fire stove. there's also a sana built using it tutorial they found on the internet. it wasn't 3 days to

build a sona. first, we dug the ditch them, recovered it with a special membrane and bags for to sustain at least minimum mortar fire. we shall them, it won't survive directed, but we think it could survive and explosion from asia to caliber. fire was a with them in year by har. heath close to the russian border, preparing for combat and the cold go hand in hand for this ukranian national guard unit. the logs will be used in a wood burning stove in a trench several meters down. there is already ground frost outside, inside a functional kitchen and sleeping quarters. these got full of more moved than lis modular cap shall, is a few meters below ground level. he says lots of sol above room and soil on the right. basically it's a very warm space. it's also very safe,

provides good protection in case of explosions. and at the same time, it protects us from cold by planning ahead. ukraine's soldiers want to make sure the winter is one battle they are prepared for and that a conference here in berlin, delegates from the world leading economies have vowed to fund the massive reconstruction that will be needed in ukraine after the war. the conference host german chancellor, all actual said that the ground had been laid for a comprehensive plan to rebuild the war is far from over, but the international community is already preparing the ground for reconstruction . hosting the conference in berlin, chancellor shalt said, now is the time to decide how to rebuild and how to pay for it. what is a stake here? nothing less than creating a new marshal plan for the 21st century. a generation a task that must begin. now. the recovery,

reconstruction of modernization of ukraine will indeed be a challenge for generations. one that will require the combined strength of the entire international community. the region to tax on ukraine have marked a new low in this war. this was make alive southern ukraine on monday, playground and residential neighborhood reduced to rubble by russian attacks. there's also been heavy damage to the power supply and levine to buildings and streets in kids and to civilian targets like the shopping center in zappa region. joining the berlin conference by video link presidents, lensky said billions would also be needed to balance the state budget in the coming year, ukraine's prime minister then it's me, her said he's country needs between 3 and 5000000000 euros

a month just to keep going. but he told the conference why international help make sense. we need this money to recover infrastructure immediately. to help us survive this winter to save the people from humanitarian, catastrophic, and to save the european continent from the immigration wave from the immigration. so mommy, according to the world bank, the total bill for damage to ukraine's infrastructure will be $350000000000.00. the ukranian government says it could be much more, some worry about the lack of transparency when such amounts of disgust. that he, you commission president lafond line is taking a positive view reconstruction linked with a dynamic you work session process can function as a catalyst, as it was said today here, for necessary reforms. and at the same time. and this is certainly true as a strong motivator to implement these reforms because there's a goal you want to go to and therefore you understand why you have to do these

reforms. b, e a will support ukraine for as long as necessary from july and said, help likely to be work billions every month. it is clear that the human cost of the war in ukraine is immense. the financial cost is also huge. and let's bring in d w, corresponding manual child who has been following the conference for us and manual a, tell us a little bit more about the outcome and whether or not it's achieved it's aims. what we are to keep in mind, sarah, is that this is not a donna's conference, so there hasn't been any commitment, any financial commitment, any further commitment than those that were already made in previous conferences. yesterday's conference was very much about, you know, setting up a framework even if a timeline wasn't defined, setting up this framework with experts with a decision makers with the i m f. also with

a european decision makers with businesses to see just how these recovery can get started even before the war ends in ukraine. this is why it was very important and it's also something that german chancellor lateral is compared to germany's own recovery. post world war 2 is the marshall plan, so it's very much drawing on history on past experiences and with the hope that the construction will start as soon as possible in ukraine. and the theme was about ukraine with ukraine. walk us through just how much of a say key indeed is having and talks about the course of its own future. well, you can also reach you who are very much present. there was an address of a law demis lensky, the ukrainian president, although he said that even if a lot of money had been pledged for ukraine's recovery, he also highlighted the fact that so far ukraine hasn't seen

a sense of those pledges when it comes to recovery. however, there were also civilians are actors who are present and who had their own project to rebuild their country. they were he, yesterday, their conference. some of them told me they felt a little bit frustrating because they found that there wasn't much room to discuss concrete initiatives. however, the chancellor also said that acrobats learned a lot by talking to people who are under ground and hope is that we within the framework being created, that's going to be a concrete measures concrete actions being being put in place in the coming weeks in the coming months even though, even though like i said, we don't have a precise time time frame yet, really for a manual, a t as in berlin. thank you. and harrison mother stores making headlines. britton's new prime minister wishes to knock has been appointed. his

cabinet. suna has kept jeremy hunt honest, finance minister bowing to fix the case economic crisis. suna has also re appointed to well a braverman as tyria minister just days after her departure. signal the unraveling of the government. a lack of clean water and a health system devastated by more than 10 years of war are fueling a deadly cholera outbreak and syria. the united nation says that more than 24000 people across the country have contract at the highly contagious disease, with fears it could spread across the middle east. today marks the 40 at the day since the death of gena masa on the knee and the end of the traditional morning period in iran omni death. while in the custody of a wrong morality, police has sparked protests across the country and around the world. iranian students are planning nationwide protests to mark 40 days since her death. despite

the crackdown on demonstrators by police, the movement does not appear to be dying down. there are reports that hundreds of protesters have been killed and death, including children. this has only fueled public anger and many of the protesters in iran are calling for the overthrow of the regime and the supreme leader, ayatollah ali hominy. however, he says the demonstrations are being orchestrated by foreign governments and are part of an effort to undermine iran. he is also about to punish the protesters. and as we report, the ayatollah word is final. ah, didn't to how many death to the dictator. the slogan you hear any ron's street protests. it's directed at this man. i, a toya ali company,

the supreme leader of the country since the beginning of the unrest in september, he has belittled his critics. the protests by iranian women and girls are controlled from abroad. he claims him battery needed either candidate by bits quartz hired that all this was bland by america, caught on the faint, quoted as you move surfing zionist regime, red j e n. his followers, the company has fought all his life for a wrong to be an islamic state of god and to remain so he began training as a cleric during his childhood. in the 1950s, at that time, iran was ruled by the shaw an autocrat who severely limited the influence of religion in the country. how many joined the ayatollah khomeini is opposition movement, and was arrested a number of times by the shaws secret service. when khomeini led that his lamp revolution in 1979 and overthrew the shot to the cheers of millions, homogeneity rise in the newly established regime began. khomeini died 10 years

later and company was chosen by the religious council of experts to succeed him. since then, he has been the supreme authority in iran, although there are regular presidential elections in the country, in which hominy also votes. but in the end it is he not the president who has the final say in all decisions. and he has made his positions clear time and time again . in foreign policy, he sees the usa and israel as arch enemies, and he has repeatedly denied the holocaust who has cuz domestically he relies on censorship, strict surveillance and a security apparatus that is supposed to defend the ideals of the islamic revolution under hominy. the iranian revolutionary guard has become an important power factor and notorious a lead force that has repeatedly put down protests in 2009 after reading the presidential election. and again, now, in the protest, following the death of gena monta armine hominy backs the crackdown,

got them in the lake, thought they could approve the tree of these la mac republic. in the, on that small tree has now turned into a massive tree. anyone who even thinks about the uprooting is treating that is completely wrong. how many once said that he is ready to sacrifice everything for the revolution and islam wrong. and he has always defended his power with harshness and resolve. and joining us now from london, let's bring in shoddy solder. she is a human rights lawyer and executive director of the n g o. justice for iran. welcome to the program, and thank you so much for joining us. i'd like to ask you a little bit more about the reaction that we saw there in that report on harshness and resolve on the part of homei. it tell us, is this the only reaction that you think we might expect on his part? yeah, i'm afraid it's ah, that reality alpha that's in the protest, this sheet

a d to be on a daily basis. so the only language that de regime communicates with those prod, a who protest is wireless and it has been like these things. they're in section all these um, if you pop it in 19799080. you are very familiar. you have a close ties with people who are in the country and we're just hearing all of these reports of further arrests and attentions walk us through what you're hearing. what happens to those who end up in prison because of the protests. one of the tactic techniques that the regime has used to suffer as the idea of rising a mass. all right, so they have not only arrested policies of protest. there's also almost everyone who eat or it could potentially be an agent of

change that includes lawyer, intellectual writers, r t u b, i have to be human rights defenders and i saw on the sofa and so i, they did condition in the detention center is dire the detention centers all crowded, and more importantly, the use of torture is why desperate at the detainees are subject to all kinds of fortune and treatment including a sexual abuse. i'm great, and we don't expect fair trials for those who have been arrested in from the previous experiences. we know that there would be a few minutes trial result, free access to the lawyers, and then the detainees would be sent tends to

a punishment that had been already to dictated by the security apparatus and your angio. just as for iran, you're trying to do something about that, you know, in terms of holding iranian officials accountable for human rights abuses. just walk us through how big of a challenge that is, given the power structures that are in place. a justice for it on a is not only document and not only documents that the gross human rights violations, but also collect information about, perpetrated, thought since the beginning of the i think the have made several calls to their pop lake to help us in identifying their those responsible for their cracked on and, and send us evidence of all their involvement grows human rights violations. we have raised the thousands of communications and, and we are making fights about like

a 100, the perpetrators at the moment hoping that those voice be used to hold with i think there's icons that you think every single accountability mechanisms that are available at the international level. such as human rights sanctions. but more importantly, i think, and this has been the hopes of those who send us those information and day lives, basically by sending us these information that these information and these 5, the ever be use the a very near future in the, in the transitional justice process that will take place that will take place in iran, hopefully very soon. thank you so much. i'm a shoddy sat r. as you mentioned, human rights lawyer and executive director of the angio justice for iran. we

appreciate it. in other news, the german government is reportedly ready to greenlight a controversial chinese investment plan in the port of hamburg, according to local media reports trying to state on costco. shipping will be allowed to buy a nearly 25 percent stake in the port of hamburg. the company had initially hoped to buy a larger stake. there are concerns now that germany could lose some of its control over the important shipping hub to a chinese state company. however, information obtained by german media indicate that costco will be restricted to a purely financial investment and for more or less brand stephen parenting has joining us from t that the business. so tell us, steven, our cost goes minority interest lower than was expected. but you know, what does this decision in general mean for chinese influence in the port of hamburg, which is crucial infrastructure for the country as

a whole. it means that their influence grows. this is a significant stake. um that, you know, it's one of the most important terminals we should say in one of europe's most important port. so it's not the whole port, but it was just one of the terminals that they've been using for a while already. that money will help them grow the infrastructure around that terminal. that means that in theory will help ensure that there's further use of the terminal that can be expanded. it can be used even more. so that's a positive thing. at the same time, as you said, it means that there's not going to have, they're not going to have as much say in the operations of that terminal. so they have no majority ownership, they have no minority, right? and they don't even have a voting right at all. in fact, if they want to increase their steak to anything above 24.9 percent, then there will be another review from the german government. ok. what is cosca has the same in time or publicly? we haven't heard anything from costco during this whole debate. the german government says that it's been in discussions with them throughout, you know, there was some speculation that has been speculation that if cosco doesn't like the

outcome of this review of that, it could threaten to take business elsewhere. it's hard to say to what extent that's true, you know, we'll find that same capacity in rotterdam or ange, where it, what it has in hamburg right now. it's hard to say at the same time, you know, we have to remember that chinese companies, they often also take a long view when it comes to investment in foreign companies. they begin with smaller stakes and then they work their way up. we've seen that time and time again . so it's hard to imagine that they won't be willing to accept this and not just in germany, of course, all around the globe. we have been seeing in our chinese companies buying up and crucial infrastructure, we have to say. so the debate over european and business and german business ties also more broadly speaking, isn't going away as i go. in fact, it's really heating up. we've seen this in recent days in recent weeks, especially in this german governing coalition. and given the state of politics right now in china, she jean ping having secured his 3rd term. it's already been an era of sharper elbows from china. and now taiwan is likely to grow more and more prominent on,

you know, on the horizon. so there's speculation, especially given what's happened with russia and ukraine. i think the government here doesn't want to be in a situation in which it feels like it's heavily dependent on chinese business, on the one side or the other. whether that's chinese investment, critical infrastructure here, or businesses that are heavily dependent in china. and we see that we have different we have different sort of arguments in the coalition right now. we're seeing that come to ahead. we've seen that there been suggestions to review german business investment in china. there was a huge debate that came out of that. so this is all happening right now. it's probably going to continue for the near future. absolutely. season bears lean from the business, putting it on to context for thank you so much. all he does says it is ending its partnership with american rapper, connie west over his anti semitic remarks. the german sportswear giant, called tweets by the wrapper who now calls himself ye unacceptable. hateful and dangerous. adida said it will immediately stop production of its line of easy

products, which were designed with west. at least 6 organizations have distance themselves from the wrapper in recent months because of his controversial remarks. of next sunday w news close up with a look at how forming could change the future. do sit with us if you can for that in the meantime. i'm sorry kelly and berlin. thank you so much for joining us to take care i ah, with

who ah. a burger today. shift be total on you let us tomorrow. oh, farming in the future. food entrepreneurs and farmers are experimenting with more

sustainable meal concepts. but are there seeds taken root food for everyone? close up next on dw aniko india ah, kim, ollie in. whoa, i in ongoing decline in demand has reduced the number of sheep hers causing the ecosystem to suffer. now the local organizations are trying to rejuvenate the want trade, which would revive traditional craftsmanship and to benefit the environment. eco. in 60 minutes on d, w. o you become a criminal pre climate. oh,

ready news with about hackers and paralyzing between your societies. computers that outs where you and governments that go crazy for your data. we explain how these technologies work, how they can go, what was in for. and that's how they can also go terribly watch it now on youtube. ah, fresh food galore in germany, we are used to supermarkets brimming with produce. but often it has come from far away. that makes our supply chains vulnerable.