ah ah ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin tonight from both sides of the atlantic babbled tanks headed for ukraine. who was president joe by denouncing that the united states will deliver 31 of its powerful abrams tanks to the battlefield. as key prepares for a potential offensive this spring, and that announcement just hours after german chance are off,

schultz announced that berlin will send its leopard to takes to ukraine as well, and allow european allies to do the same. also coming up at least 2 people were killed, several others wounded. a knife attack on a train in northern germany. police say they do have the attacker in customer ah, i'm bri, golf is good to have you with us on this wednesday. we begin in washington, d. c was president joe biden has just announced that his country will send 31 of its m one abrams battle tanks to ukraine. the decision marking a coordinated move biden says, with germany and other european allies to equip ukraine with modern battle tanks ahead of a potential offensive from russia. this spring now bye, and also promised logistical support and training for ukrainian soldiers in

operating the tanks. if the u. s. president, speaking just a short while ago today, i'm announcing that united states will be sending 31 abram tanks to ukraine. the equivalent of one ukrainian battalion secretary austin has recommended this step. because on hands, the ukraine's capacity finished her turn achieve strategic objectives. i'm grateful a chance for shops for providing german leopard to tax and will lead an effort to organize the european contribution to tank battalions for ukraine. i want to thank the chance for his leadership and steadfast commitment to our collective efforts to support ukraine. germany. i want to go now to washington dc. our bureau champion exposure has been following the story from that side of the atlantic and e v g u e t s. so we just heard there from biden high praise for the german chancellor in for germany, for sending agreeing to send these leopard to tanks. he's talking

a lot also about unity. how much of a role did the chancellor play in the u. s. decision to send its tanks present bite and got to ask this question right after he addressed the nation and announced that the earth will be sending these 31 tanks. so he got asked if the germany forced him to change his mind and he said, friend, no, we were working in this together. this is a co ordinated effort. and that kind of was the main message. besides the pure fact that they will send tangs to ukraine, it was like that germany, the united states. the western alliance stands firm and is not scrambling is not weakening. what probably vladimir putin was kind of hoping for in what we heard today is certainly not what we've been hearing in, in the past few weeks. you know, until basically, a few days ago, the president of the united states had been saying that american abrams tanks are

not suitable for the battlefield in ukraine today. course it was, it was a different tune. how do we explain this 180? now that's a really, really interesting questions which is highly debated. it was not only the president himself who said they are not the best weapons to be sent or the best tanks to be sent over to ukraine. they're too heavy. they are too complicated to maneuver and after all then you need a jet. he will not diesel fuel, which is difficult to provide on the battlefield. also general to trainers, brent, you remember we interviewed him and he said the exact same thing. so what is the kind of news behind or the story behind it changed mind? obviously, again, they wanted to show that they are on the side with the united states with germany, and that the united states kind of is willing to fulfill the requests from german.

chancellor will have shawls to also send battle tanks, but of what also might make a difference is the fear offensive of a vladimir putin in ukraine and the understanding of the military that you can really, really needs these tangs to defend itself. so i think it's probably a complex answer. why the president biden and his government changed their minds? you spoke with the lease from washington. thank you very much. on this one of the atlantic, germany today gave the go ahead for germany made the leopard to change to be delivered to you. great. it's also a premium request from other european countries to transfer their tanks to keep as well of germany, plants to send 14 takes and it says it will provide training ammunition and maintenance. ukraine has been asking allies for these weapons for about 10 months now. as its troops tried to push back, russian forces the words that keith and its allies had been waiting for

the vendor. okay, we will also provide ukraine with leopard to main letter tank 0 puts by many had criticized shoals for dragging his feet on this matter. but he defended the timing on this will also look this and i want to say explicitly, it was right. and it's right that we did not allow ourselves to be forced into action. but instead in this issue to focus on close cooperation and continue, it was your thoughts, it's berlin will deliver a company of 14 lepper, 2 tanks to ukraine. it will also give the green light to other allies that want to supply, keep with tanks on the sinister home, good healing i'm this is not just about any weapon. this is about one of the best battle tanks in the world. confident of that's an important potential game changer in this war, at least in the current face weeks, i'm going to cindy a thinking father for the details on the road. a hat will now be discussed with

other allies who want to cynthia tanks. artless pool in our political correspond right here in berlin. so i'm young. he's been following the story force. so i mean, the transfer of these strengths to ukraine. i mean, this decision depended on the german chancellor. he was basically all up to him. is that how he presented his decision today to parliament? what brett le sholtes came to the parliament a really to make this announcement, but he presented it as part of this. so the coalition, this alliance, all european countries who are now going to be able to step up their direct military support for ukraine at international cooperation, was really what it's about in particular with the united states. working together in lock step, making sure that vladimir putin can't tell the world that they're somehow a division of the bullshit western countries when it comes to what response to

give the russian invasion in ukraine. so i think shows will have had a number of different factors in his mind as he presented this decision. certainly much of the international criticism that he's faced. some of it unfair because of course there are real historical sensitivities for germany in getting involved in this. but on the other hand, for much of the time over the past few weeks, it really looked as if nothing much was going on and the communication was very poor. i think it's also worth saying the public opinion here in germany has begun to nudge in favor of sending tanks to ukraine, although the german public still pretty divided on that. so i think he's been looking at a lot of factors, but what he's really been doing is working behind the scenes. he says, to get the sort of coalition of the willing together. and now tanks you haven't made leopard tanks in particular, will be able to be sent. i'm going to pick up on public opinion here. for

a moment. i've been, when it comes to sending tanks to ukraine, public opinion, and germany is basically, it's $5050.00 is divided. many fear that sending the takes could escalate this war . they're afraid that this could become a war between russia and nato. why is that a concern here? and not such a big concern in poland for example. yeah, i mean, i think that the short answer that is that germany is a cautious country. german politicians are cautious and germany is the country that had to make the decision here of poland. i may see things differently, i think it's long a feared russian aggression against its national territory. more directly. i think germany has seen this a question much more in the context of its dark history. and of course the kremlin has tried to make quite a lot out of the idea. you know that german tanks operating in easton ukraine where

many of the worst nazi crimes of the 2nd world war took place as an uneasy idea for germans generally. that to get their heads round and that you know, the russians talking about germany and german tanks on the eastern front and so on . there's been some propaganda efforts made there. i think that's among the reasons why germany is just taken a bit longer than some other countries to get to this position of sending its tanks or political corresponded. so i'm in young here in berlin. tonight with the latest time is always think you are going to go to out to ukraine who responded mathias earlier. he's any by in keith, but he is, this is the decision that ukraine has been waiting for now for about 10 months. i mean, i, i would assume there's a big sigh of relief. that's exactly what there is. and we've seen a lot of for people who are posting on social media,

for example. all kinds of means i've seen a national poet harassing channel in there, kind of a code and a had made from a li, apart leopard skin. and i, there were a either the mimi or zalinski in their in body armor, or which has a leopard pattern, et cetera, et cetera. people have been after harshly criticizing germany for weeks been kind of conciliatory. ah, zalinski has thanked shoals personally for this decision either or somewhat notorious for my ambassador to germany. melnick yesterday already when the news broke without being confirmed, took a photo drinking german beer and saying he's enjoying german. his favorite german beer to day. so ah, there's a lot of for expressions of gratitude for this final decision and a lot of hope that this might really change the fate i am on the ground in the

battlefield in. is this now of a race against time mathias will enough tanks arrive in time to hold back an expected russian offensive while we would need to know expected these tanks, this is what her experts and, and the ukranian army have been saying are needed to be able to break through the russian lines to put more pressure on the russians and to drive forward offensive operations. and i guess or knowing her now probably when these tanks will arrive in what quantities will of course make it easier for ukraine to plan these offensives on martinez bellinger reporting to night from key as always, my dear thank you. but today's decisions could be a game changer. the emphasis of course is on the word could. my next guest is mark hans and he's

a retired colonel with the u. s. marine corps. he serves several tours in vietnam and iraqis, nelson you 2 fellow with the center for strategic and international studies in washington, d. c. mister cans, he's going to have you on the program to night. let me just ask you right off the bat. these leopard at 2 tanks, the abrams from the united states are these tanks going to be the game changer that ukraine is hoping that they will be unfortunately, i think the answer to that is no. the 1st problem is that they are not going to arrive soon or in large numbers. countries are talking about, you know, 15 tanks here, 12 tanks there get to keep in mind that the ukrainians have 800 tanks in their own forces. now, so couple of dozen of modern you, nato tanks are not going to make an immediate effect on the, the battlefield. it's also true that there's no silver bullet. we all hope that there's one weapon, some technology that's going to turn the tide that's going to bring victory. that's

not going to happen. victory will come from the cumulative effect of the munitions and weapons that are being sent to ukraine. the training that the cleanings are getting and the determination of ukrainians to resist. well, let me just get your opinion on the timing of all of this. you know, there is criticism of germany for dragging its feet on this decision. if, if this decision had come earlier, would the ukrainians be in a better position to use these tanks? maybe they would have several 100 at their disposal. then would that be a realistic game changer? is it? i mean, is the timing here and going to make the difference. the problem with the timing is that nato in the united states have not wanted to overwhelm the ukrainians with a lot of new equipment. so they've been sending equipment all along and sort of a measured pace at which they think the ukrainians can absorb it. remember, all of these new pieces of equipment require training for the operators, particularly for the maintain or some of these maintenance course. for example,

the em one maintenance course is 44 weeks long. wow. so sending a flood of new equipment to ukraine might overwhelm them. and the thing in the united states, particularly worried about, is waste that, that some of these, of the systems would not be maintained. they would be left of someone who maybe doesn't have any experience with, with, you know, heavy weapons with tanks. how did what new tanks do and how are they going to be used in this war with russia? well, 1st, keep in mind that tanks have been used from the very beginning. the russians entered the war with something like 1200 tanks. it was ukrainian that $800.00. this has been a part of the world long. what tanks add are 3 things. they have mobility, they a protection and they have fire power. that makes them particularly effective on the offensive. because they can move that fire power around. and as the ukrainians

are thinking about counter offensives, having tanks combined with all those other armored vehicles, raises the possibility of a more effective attack. breaking through maybe the russian defenses in let's talk about just for a moment the, the russian military. i mean, we have heard that have been report as a report if report that the, the ability of the military is not what the criminal would like it to be. is this going? are we moving more and more towards a type of war of attrition or, or are we seeing the, the law, the weapon how things. thanks. it is part of it. she returns, said he, in, for the russian military. well, the russians at the performance of the russian military has been disappointing to the kremlin from the very beginning. i think they thought that the military, we do

a lot better than it has done. on the other hand, they've hung in there, they're still fighting. they've been reinforced with this partial mobilization, so they represent a very formidable force. they've also been digging in for several months. so that's going to make the ukranian task much more difficult. the cranes though are gaining in a military capability as more and more equipment arrives from nato as their troops get trained up. so they'll be ready for this offensive that everyone expects in the late winter, early spring from both sides, both ukrainians and the russians. is it realistic as some have been predicting that to think that this war could be over by the end of this year with ukraine winning? well, that's certainly possible. been in a war of attrition for many months as both sides of de again, it looks a lot like world war one with 21st century weapons. certainly the hope is that with time ukrainians will become increasingly military power,

more powerful and will be able to push the russians out bit by bit. i don't think that there is an expectation that they will come all at once, but maybe one chunk at a time. mark hanson with the center for strategic and international studies in washington. we appreciate your time and your valuable insights tonight. thank you. thanks for having me on the show were here in germany, please say to people have been killed. several others injured in a knife attack on the passenger train in the north of the country. it took place as the train was traveling between the cities of heel and amber and to rest of the alleged attacker in the town of boston. the motive behind this incident remains unclear. this is what the regions interior minister had to say about the actions of passengers on that train peskin on varden and politeness. when we should mention that the passengers intervened very vaguely and may well have prevented the

attacker doing even more. hm. into it from the scene, we don't exactly know at the moment and i thought i've got enough of it, but it's definitely the case that many or at least some of the people on the train, the passengers will ready pre whether she allow them to have you earlier we spoke with journalist jenny vit. she is covering the story in amber. what we know for sure is that this afternoon, a man attacking people on a train on a traveling pastor at passenger and commute, a train between keel and hamburg. a talked people in a starving attack and the 2 people have died and 8 people have been injured. 3 of them seriously. among these c with the injured people, is the attacker we've been told he's been taken to hospital. there was may him on the train. i witnesses say that the man began to run a mock that people were running through the train and panic that there were bloodstains on with the train. and apparently the, the fight that the,

the attacker was stopped by people on the train and overwhelmed and that this, this disturbance, this altercation then continued onto the platform once the train stopped and brooks did. so a really, really shocking incident. and of course, the, the station itself was cordoned off as a major police operation underway still to this point, and train services were interrupted. of course, this all this afternoon, but to a series incident and i'm very, very shocking. the police are using very scanty detail, this thing, nothing at all about the, the, in that with the possible motive, apart from the fact that they're investigating in all directions. so that could be a psychological motive, or the could be an extremist motive, but that's simply not known under to take time to investigate this. and all we know is that the man is said to be in his twenties to thirty's. and that's not, there's nothing, there's no further detail on him personally. and there are sources saying to the, to the dpa press agency that he hasn't been known to the police in the past for any

kind of extremist behavior. but again, that needs to be reported. and, and investigated by the police, and we have to see what, what emerges there though the seems to have been no incident leading up to this attack the seems looking very, very sudden. and it's taken people by surprise. it's a very, very shocking incident indeed. and that was reporter jenny bit, they're reporting from hamburg. or if they go down some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world, a court in moscow approved a government application to shut down russia's oldest human rights watch dog. the moscow, helsinki group is the latest organization to be targeted for being critical of the kremlin. it was created in 1976 to monitor soviet authorities, commitment to respect, human rights and fundamental freedoms. spanish police have arrested a 74 year old man suspected of being behind a recent letter bombing campaign. it targeted prime minister pedro sanchez, the ukranian embassy, and several other sites in november. and december. an employee of the ukrainian

embassy was slightly injured while opening one of the packages, the european court of human rights have said that it will hear the dutch case against russia over the downing, if white image 17, back in 2014, nearly 300 people on board, the malaysia airlines flight were killed when it was shot down by a missile fired by forces under moscow's command in eastern new, great classified documents have been found at the home of former u. s. vice president mike pence. his lawyer says the files were inadvertently boxed and taken to his indiana home. at the end of the last administration. the discovery plus puts pence in the company of former president, donald trump, and current president joe biden, after documents worked with classified markings were also found at their own united states are as follows. the german parliament has opened a new exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of israel's holocaust memorial yacht

. the sham it highlights 16 everyday objects that jewish people took with them as they fled nazi persecution. now each object tells a powerful story of displacement in tragedy. 16 objects, one to represent each german state, recalling the human tragedy of the holocaust. a tour a shrine from hamburg. a suit case from bremen, a child's dom from castle. these items once belonged to jews, living in germany. now they've returned here and are on display at the german parliament. the objects of from the collections of yad vashem, the world holocaust remembered center in jerusalem. his chairman, danny diane once vowed never to set foot in the land of the perpetrators. but he changed his mind in order to accompany the artifacts which he says can help prevent a repetition of nazi crimes in

a reality off rising antisemitism and holocaust distortion with fewer shaw survivors alive every day. these outstanding items have a vital story to turn around the world and especially in germany, didn't go to getting that message across to the younger generations is more necessary than ever. according to babble bass, the bonus tags president she believes seeing real objects which had meaning for jewish people is a powerful way to do that. when dust are not met with and i could if this is combined with a story about why a dollar a bag was so important in those bad times. an item which perhaps helped someone get through or produced good thoughts in that terrible dark time. thinking about that stirs you up inside and the impression sticks on all from this bladder hing objects . and stories can do a lot of the work of keeping memory alive,

bringing them into the political heart of the modern german state, underlines that that work continues. i sports, it is now it is mid week in the bonus league of german soccer calendar and leipzig, they were looking to carry on the form that the that's all them take a point from lead leaders. buyer munich at the weekend. they were on the road again . intent on beating shock up and climbing to 2nd in the tables this time. and they did it in both fashion jenkins and started the game by gathering in the dock to sing a song of hope. not that soon wish they didn't bother switching the lots on his hole . they exposed the yawning gap in class between the sides under silva got the 1st go in the 7th minute. it wasn't yet a disaster for the home side, but it soon would be. benjamin hendrix got the 2nd on 15 minutes. andre silva had

the colony sought again for the 3rd from close range team. a vanity marked his return from injury with the 4th glade at the crowd, and the crowd looked back vacantly wishing perhaps they could be back in the dark again. for neil at half time, it would finish $61.00. the penultimate goal came from a smiling spaniard. denny alma a gorgeous bit of skill, a slight draw humiliation as the stands emptied behind the keeper lot take up to sickened. junkers still rock bottom, they fancy sty to the bitter end, left with that familiar, sinking feeling. or his reminder of the top stories that were following for you this hour. you as president, dubai has announced that the us will deliver 31 abrams babble takes to you crate. fighting, stressing that the tanks are to help you grade, defend itself, and are not what he has described as an offensive threat to russia and german transfer. oh, schultz has confirmed that germany will send the leopard to babble tanks to ukraine

and allow other countries to do the same. move comes after intensive consultation with germany's allies with partners training for grange forces on how to use the tapes is also set to begin. germany said, watching the w news on the back of the top of the hour with more world news followed by the day of next is conflict. so with ah, ah, ah, with

who conflict zone refresh banner gee fell. it also support in russia since the start of the war in ukraine. what is the support to be sent to escalate into something more active from us? we are a shortcut. you've political advisor to bella lucian, opposition meta trip long enough to kind of car up. she claims to be the national

leader of bella luce, but holding the gentleman is her claim with d. w. with sometimes a seed is all you need to allow the big ideas to grow. we're bringing environmental conservation to life with learning packs, like global ideas. will show you how climate change and environmental conservation is taken shape around the world and how we can all make a difference. knowledge grows through sharing and download it now for, for imagine how many pushed in a, in the world right now. the climate change. if any story, this is my place, the way from just one week,

how much work can really get we still have time to go on going on with his subscriber or more with bell. it also has supported russia since the start of the war in ukraine. it's provided weapons, military bases and legit.