is huge, they have so much to lose shattering the glass ceiling women in architecture. this has to be really, really good. starts april 20th on d, w with ah, this is dw news life from berlin. finland goes to the poles to select a new parliament, popular prime minister, son of marin, is seeking a 2nd term in office. she is facing a strong challenge from the far right, which he tells supporters on in to win it. an absurd and destructive ukraine's

president vladimir zalinski reacts with fury as russia takes charge of the un security council presidency. it comes as keith makes plans to launch a counter offensive. ah, a michael ok welcome. finland is heading to the pause to elect a new government. it's been a close race so far between the 3 main parties. social damica prime minister, santa marin, is hoping to secure a 2nd term in office. but she's facing a strong challenge from the far right. i finished my minister son amarion, cast her ballad early as did almost 40 percent of finished voters a record. but it will come down to the last minute to see if martin social democrats can pull ahead of their 2 main rivals. the conservative coalition party and the populist fins party with nato membership in hand. the impact of neighboring

russia's war on ukraine has not dominated debates finish. voters are focused on finances. the fact that our public finances are embellished it's in some countries is not an issue because we've moved the population in filler. these that's not going well. there's a shooter, the deficits. i can do to extend that. now the amount feel on this being on the step, the step amounts to do some of our ministry spots, et cetera, et cetera though, finish public debt at 72 percent of g. d. p is far lower than the eurozone average . it's uncomfortably high for finland. taking over in 2019, at santa marin, successfully navigated finland through, covet and into nato. but while she's extremely popular abroad, thanks in part to a leaked video last year of her dancing with friends, her economic moves are criticized at home debt, climbed under her watch yet. she's campaigning on continued social spending. i

think the main issues that people are thinking, our economy, a public ness are also public services, education, social and health care and social benefits. i think people are thinking about their ordinary lives. maureen's opponents are more fiscally cautious. head of the coalition party bed that he ordered will insist steep benefits must be cut to bring down the debt. and he's leading poles with that position. the fins party is anti immigrant and euro skeptic. they're sitting in 2nd place. santa martin says the social democrats would refuse to create a government coalition with them. their party platform calls for pulling finland out of the european union in brussels fins aren't so worried about anti e, you sentiment. but the environment and the economy does a big majority of things who are for their you. so the true fence cannot to really on their own. go out. i want to have those are moderate kind of people who are thinking about also about environment issues. and that not only about themselves,

we have an aging population in general. so on costs are gonna go up. the taxes are probably gonna go up with hard financial decisions ahead analyst tommy hootin and says the only thing certain about the outcome is that whoever wins is going to be very unpopular. now, finland is on the cusp of joining nato. but again, it's the economy that dominated the campaign. i spoke to d. w, corresponded her sholtes and asked her if the country security has in fact taken a back seat in the campaign. that's right, michael, because the nato question was solved really before the campaign season. got underway now son martin famously was against nato membership a year ago. and then when the population turned so decisively in favor of it, she too became in favor of nato membership, petrie, auto, her main contender was, was for it all along. so this basically removed the question from the campaign

because finland is likely to join nato already next week. now security is an ever present issue in finland. they've got this very long border with russia. but truly it is the fact that the national debt is so high, which has dominated the discussion and that this happened under sun as son m r as watch means, she may well pay for it. in this election. the nationalist or fins party are campaigning on their immigration policy. how are voters responding to that issue? it's not just the anti immigrant sentiment that makes the thinner party popular. they're really seen as the protest vote against the 2 other major parties. the social democrats and the coalition party. and so you don't know exactly if voters who supported them now are really voting for their policies, which as i mentioned, include pulling finland out of the european union. and it remains to be seen if they can turn out voters. this is a real concern for the fins party. people may say in polling that they're there for

them, but it doesn't mean that they'll turn out on election day. so really this morning, all the parties are urging their supporters to get out and cast their ballots because this is so close, it could come down to a very small number of votes. term going ask you to play prognosticator for a moment. what's the likely outcome? the pollsters don't know, and i certainly don't either. and while we say these 3 parties are neck and neck, they truly are within one percentage point of each other in the pulling. and so it really will come down until the very last moment of counting balance before you know, which party will lead as we headed into the balloting today, it was the coalition party in, in the lead. the fins party in 2nd and some are in social democrats in 3rd, but again, these are within the margin of error. so i think everyone will be on the edge of their seats as the ballots are counted tonight in finland, d. w corresponding to schultz in brussels, many tex russia has taken over the rotating presidency of the united nations

security council, sparking furious reaction in ukraine keys. foreign minister, demitrix labor call did a quote slap in the face for the international community. ukraine had urge members to block the move, but the u. s. says there's no mechanism for doing so. the largely ceremonial role puts moscow in charge of setting the security council's agenda, ukraine's president vladimir zalinski condemned russia's presidency as absurd in his daily address. he said, it shows the council is a bankrupt institution. no mind will, for there is no form of terror. russia has not committed, and there's no reason to stop the reform of global institutions. in particular, the un security council reform is clearly overdue, so that the terrorist states or any other state that wants to be a terrorist state, cannot disrupt peace. terrorists must lose,

must be held accountable for terror and not to prevail anyway. meanwhile, on the front line, civilians who manage to survive constant bombings, an assault have been urged to evacuate. let's take a look now at what people are going through in the city of abdi fca, which has been left in ruins. driving through the battered streets in the eastern city of div co worker, cupid river. police are looking for those very who want to leave. would you put me harder for modeling number? for the last 4 months. this basement has been home to 73 year old. helena. but she's decided it's time to go off the roof. oh she's my heart of wish i couldn't take it any more. our house is destroyed and i spent most of the time in the basement of them living,

sir, by yet every one is afraid. every one local officials say the town has been almost completely destroyed in recent weeks. what's his name was destiny? me situation has changed in the past month for since the beginning of march of disco has been under aircraft bombing and artillery file bavaria. no since then. almost all buildings have been destroyed through no one if submissive, will do it in nearby shows. if your people working for the charity international lions club of awfully a trying to convince residents to move to safety. oh, levison will give us volunteers say many are reluctant to go unless that be the biggest part of the job is convincing them the evacuation is the easy part, bucking of deep cur is an emotional departure for helena. a trained to

safety, but far away from the place she calls home for further analysis at developments on the ground, we are now joined by defense analysts. marina marin, we're in a. russia doesn't seem to have made any significant gains on the front line and is continuing to suffer major losses. all eyes have been on back mood and afghan for months now. does russia have the ability to wage an effective large scale offensive on the ground? thanks for having me. well, 1st of all, on what we're seeing around buck moved and of d. of we have to understand that the ukranian armed forces have occupied a defensive position sayer, especially when we're talking about of the of they created a fortress well prior to russia's invasion less here. so it is very difficult for

russia because defense in this case is easier than taking of the of gov. also, given the fact that russia has suffered some sad facts and had to recalibrate its entire approach. we also have to bear in mind that russia had mobilize and these new recruits are probably not as good as the manpower that the russians have lost. so there are all sorts of factors that need to be taken into account when assessing the situation. and obviously we know that the ukrainians happened pouring a lot of resources and manpower to defend buttoned and the situation is not decided as of yet. so we're seeing conflicting reports. we're seeing wagner planting the flag very close to the bottom, obsidian administration, and attacking the ukrainian flanks like iran chrome over. so it's still not decided . and that remains to be seen out whether the ukrainian side can indeed defend those 2 places. ukraine has held on to back mode even when most thought that the

city was about to fall. how do you explain this resilience? is it down to better equipment, better train soldiers, better strategies? i guess it's down to, to manufacturers, as i said before. and it's also down to the morale and the political imperative to hold button, because it's important for the lansky to be able to show that his forces are capable of resisting russia's advance. as on the one hand, on the other hand, it creates more credibility when it comes to weapons deliveries and ammunition deliveries. and of course, the western coalition has been trying desperately to provide ukraine was, let's say artillery shells to create some, some sort of parity because of intensive artillery battles. on the other hand, from a military perspective, there is a lot to for ukraine despite what we have been hearing. because the,

the fear is on and this is coming from the korean military that the entire line of defense would collapse. so it is vital for ukraine to hold the city and also in the kind of the informational spectrum they, the ukrainians don't want russia to be able to claim that victory because it would be the 1st victory for the russians after so many sat back. so they're all sorts of important things which are combined in, in this one city that the ukrainians are holding to holding on to buck mood also bought time for ukraine to parents in the spring offensive in your opinion. and i'm sure you've certainly thought about this over the last few weeks when and where is that most likely to happen? well, there are quite a few options with a ukrainian forces, but that will depend what happens between now and end of april. and beginning of may as they were in defense minister stress,

the roads are not suitable right now because of the weather ukrainians have to wait when the rainy season and the mighty season stops to be able to conduct a counter offensive. so the contra offensive and the location of it will be dependent on factors such as logistics. it will be logical for the ukranian forces to conduct a counter offensive into the direction of either mentally topple or mario post. so in the parisha, which would essentially, if successful, cut off the russian contingent in crimea and completely destroy the russian logistics so that that would be one possible direction. the other possible direction would be to stay in the mood and to try to regain a territory to push back. however, we don't know what is going to happen in buck mood and as a ukrainian side has stressed, they are preparing their actions called it. that is marina mirror and defense

analysts. as always, thanks for your time. in perspective. po francis is leading the palm sunday mass in the vatican saint peter's square, just a day after being released from hospital. the 86 year old spent 4 days receiving treatment for bout of bronchitis, but he said to be feeling better. today's ceremony marks the beginning of celebrations for the most important week in the christian calendar. we will ended their lives like a local in berlin for me and the rest of the team here. thanks for watching. there's more news as always at the top of the next out. imagine how many push a so now in the world climate change very hot the story. this is my plan the way from just one week how much was can really get.