judy: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight -- the state of the war -- president biden announces a ban on russian oil as sluggish evacuations continue and ukrainians fortify the cities russia could attack next. then, ukraine's long road -- we examine the critical events that led up to russia's invasion amid rampant revisionist history coming from the kremlin. and, in search of equality. on this international women's day, a new united nations report details the gender discrimination women still face around the world -- and how they are fighting back. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: president biden today announced a u.s. ban on all imports of russian oil, a move followed quickly by the united kingdom. the president said it would ratchet up the pressure on russia's economy, which has come under withering pressure from sanctions and other moves by the u.s., european union, and other nations. president biden: we're banning all imports of russian oil and gas and energy. that means russian oil will no longer be acceptable at u.s. ports, and the american people will deal another powerful blow to putin's war machine.

this is a move that has strong bipartisan support in congress and, i believe, in the country. judy: the torrent of companies leaving russia continued today too. american icons coca-cola, pepsico, starbucks, mcdonald's said they would suspend operations in russia. mcdonald's has more than 800 locations and employs tens of thousands of russians. meantime, leaders of u.s. intelligence agencies said today they believe president putin underestimated the strength of ukraine's resistance before launching the invasion nearly two weeks ago. they spoke during a congressional hearing on global threats to u.s. security. but director of national intelligence avril haines added that, despite russian setbacks, putin may intensify his assault. dr. hanes: our analysts assess that putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks, and instead may escalate, essentially doubling down to achieve ukrainian disarmament and neutrality, to prevent it

from further integrating with the u.s. and nato, if it doesn't reach some diplomatic negotiation. judy: meantime, the war in ukraine continues at a brutal pace. the united nations' human rights agency said today that it has recorded 474 civilian deaths in the conflict, including 29 children. they believe the real toll is much higher. and the peagon today said that it believes somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 russian troops have been killed in the fighting, though they gave that estimate little confidence. the ukrainians claim they have killed 11,000 russians. and now more than two million ukrainians have fled their nation, including one million children, most heading west toward the rest of europe. it is on part of that march where we find nick schifrin tonight in western ukraine. nick: today, finally, a rescue for families who've been living in fear, for hundreds of trapped

foreign students, r residents of this northeast city besieged by russian shelling. this is what they fled, the destruction of their homes, the fear of losing their lives in a russian onslaught that clearly targeted civilians. the buses also headed to another corridor in the southeastern city mariupol. but, today, for the fourth straight day, there was no promised rescue, nor russian restraint. residents have had no essentials for nearly a week. all they have is despair. >> we don't have electricity. we don't have anything to eat. we don't have medicine. we have nothing. nick: the bombardment drives them underground, babies barely older than the war, parents so traumatized, they can't offer comfort. >> why shouldn't i cry? i want my home. i want my job. i'm so sad about people, about the city, the children. nick: in kharkiv, near the

russian border, a russian bomb reduced a hospital to rubble. the world health organization said today at least 16 health facilities have been attacked in 12 days of war. but, in a nearby hospital, a small miracle. a child named vova survived, despite a piece of shrapnel in his skull. after surgery, when the doctor woke him up, vova whispered: "i am fine." but there was no relief outside kyiv in the suburb of irpin. residents who've been shelled for days braved russian threats to cross under a destroyed bridge. a senior u.s. defense official today warned, russia is still advancing on the capital from the north, west, and northeast. some of those fleeing irpin have lost homes for the second time in less than two weeks. >> we have got nothing. we had to run away. at our house, the temperature was 10 degrees, and it was decreasing. that's why we are fleeing again. nick: the flight to safety often as harrowing as the violence

they escape. we met this family when they reached a safe space, a shelter near the polish border. six-year-old nikita insisted on staying in his grandmother olha's arms. can you tell me what it was like to make the decision to leave and how difficult it was to leave? olha: people got out of the bomb shelters, all dirty in dust, and they got on the train. the people who got on the train, they were crying. and then the train station was being shelled, so we all had to wait. nick: to get to safety, they traveled through the kharkiv train station, overwhelmed with people desperate to leave. they'd fled an area with constant explosions in the eastern district of donetsk. olha: we were very close, and the kids were very scared. we were sitting in the bomb shelter all the time. the air raid alarm went off all the time. both the kids would run into the bathroom, cover themselves with a blanket and stay there the whole night. our kids were prepared for that.

they weren't too scared. right now, when we call back home, there's no food in the grocery stores. people don't have money, and, if they do, there's nothing to spend it on. nothing. nikita: the economy is a bit broken. nick: what's also broken? russian military equipment. ukraine said today it shot down three russian fighter jets and a cruise missile. but, in moscow, president putin raised pensions, a sign he may be worried about popular opinion, and claimed, falsely, all russian troops in ukraine were "professional." >> i'd like to emphasize that conscript soldiers do not and will not participate in the military operation, and there will be no additional callout of reserves. nick: this war's far less formal commander in chief, despite death threats, showed off his office for the first time. volodymyr zelenskyy: i stay here

in kyiv. i don't hide, and i'm not afraid of anyone. i will stay here as long as it's necessary to win in our patriotic war. nick: to win that war, ukraine is lining up civilians, and trying to turn them into warriors, young men who feel at ease, older men willing to fight alongside their own children. they're called the territorial defense, volunteers who've mostly never served or held a gun, learning urban warfare, as long as it takes. they take an oath to the military and country. they're just one unit of 100,000 across the country, ukraine's newest weekday warriors, hardened not by battle, but by necessity. what were you doing two weeks ago? eugene: i'm an i.t. specialist. i'm chief marketing officer for a huge i.t. company. nick: 30-year-old eugene lata is one of this unit's medics. unlike most volunteers, he's seen combat. in 2014, he filmed and witnessed some of the worst fighting in eastern ukraine. now he prepares for more battle. eugene: i believe the war will come to odessa, because i don't

believe that putin will stop. he will not stop. we're just waiting. we're just waiting when the war will start in odessa. nick: his job is to modernize the unit's medicine and outdated first aid kits. eugene: 1978, you know? but it's still ok. it's working. nick: so this is older than you? eugene: yes, it's older than my mother. nick: nearby, perhaps the youngest volunteer. valeria ruslanova is in charge of the uniforms, and is 19. valeria: i am from crimea. i came in 2018. i know what russia is and what putin is, and i don't wish any of that on ukraine. nick: in 2014, russian soldiers invaded crimea. moscow annexed the peninsula and persecuted or even killed anyone not deemed sufficiently pro-russian. valeria: these are young guys who were not afraid to say something. and then their bodies were found in the forest. they made us relinquish our ukrainian passports and accept

russian citizenship. after, life in crimea changed significantly. crimea was destroyed. most of the young people realized we did not have a future in crimea. nick: before the war, she says she hung out with her friends and was a barista, but her dreams of becoming a teacher now deferred. >> in the future, i'd like to go back to school, but right now i'm not thinking about that, because we are thinking about protecting our ukraine. nick: do you have faith that you, the army, the government, will be able to protect odessa and protect the country? >> i have no doubt whatsoever, because no one expected that our people will stand up and fight, that we are so strong, that we are all united with one goal, but i have no doubt whatsoever. nick: lata was born the same year an independent ukraine was born, 1991. he is tied by birth to his country's fate.

eugene: right now, everyone involved in every single city, in every single town of our country, everyone involved in this war, and people know and people understands that if we -- if we lose, then we don't have a country, then we don't have a nationality. and that's why we are fighting here not for odessa, not for the kyiv or kharkiv. we are fighting for the whole ukraine, and we are fighting for the independent country. nick: today, president volodymyr zelenskyy addressed british parliament and borrowed both from churchill and shakespeare. he compared the fight against russia to britain's fight against germany in world war ii, and vowed, "we would fight russia at sea, in the air. we will fight in the forests, in the fields and on the streets." and he acknowledged that the threat posed by russia to kyiv was existential. and he asked: "the question for

us is to be or not to be." judy, the answer was to be. judy: and you could see that in the answers of the ukrainians you spoke with. nick, a question. how meaningful is it seen the corridor, at humanitarian corridor tha-- as it existed today? nick: some 5,000 people were able to escape sumy, both residents and also many trapped students. and some humanitarian aid was allowed to get into sumy. but zelenskyy said today that that represented 1% of what needs to be done. there are more than 1,000 villages and cities across ukraine that don't have any power, don't have any electricity, don't have any basic services. hundreds of thousands are without power and without access just to some of the basics of life. and to give you a sense of how bad things have gotten in mariupol, judy, that we featured earlier, city authorities today said that they were about to

start digging the mass graves. judy: it's hard to hear this. nick, and we know the u.s. was warning today about what's to come? nick: yes, as we heard at the top of the segment, we heard from avril haines, the directo of national intelligence today, say that putin would be undeterred by some of the setbacks. and bill burns, the director of the cia, went even further. he said that putin was angry and frustrated, and he's likely to double down with no regard for civilian casualties. and that, of course, is what we're already seeing, that huge convoy outside of kyiv bogged down, haven't moved -- hasn't moved in four or five days, and we have seen indiscriminate shelling across the untry already. judy: nick schifrin reporting tonight from western ukraine. thank you, nick. judy: in addition to the energy sanctions announced today by the president, inside russia, the economic shockwaves continue.

the central bank has now set a limit on withdrawals of dollars from banks. the limit is now $10,000, with the rest paid out in increasingly worthless rubles. to discuss the russian war, the american and allied response, both in aid and sanctions, i spoke just moments ago with victoria nuland. she is the undersecretary of state for political affairs, the department's fourth-ranking official. undersecretary nuland, tha you very much for joining us. i first want to ask you about the news this afternoon that poland will be supplying mig-29 fighter jets to ukraine. they're going to be doing it through germany. i know you said that you, the u.s., was not informed ahead of time. but what is known about where these planes are going to be used? what's their mission? victoria: well, judy, i have to tell you that i have been with my -- with senate friends for the last couple of hours. so i'not fully informed, beyond the polish press release. we have been saying that,

obviously, these planes belong to poland and it's their sovereign right to do with them as they -- as they will. and the ukrainians have been asking for them. judy: do you believe they can be in position soon enough to make a difference in this war? victoria: i don't know what the arrangements are to figure this out. i would note that the ukrainian air force has actually not ben flying very much, and nor has the russian air force. they're both afraid of surface-to-air missiles. and what has been most effective in this fight have been these surface-to-air systms that the united states and many of our allies and partners have been getting into ukraine at high volumes to protect them against not only russian aircraft, but also russian tanks and other systems. judy: so would you say the fears that we're hearing from quarters, all quarters, about whe these planes are, how vulnerable they would be to

being shot down, your belief is that may be overwrought, overdone? victoria: look, judy, only the ukrainians can decide how best to fight this war. it is -- what we are trying to do is to give them the means that they need to defend themselves. and they have been fighting incredibly bravely. i think, if you had asked anybody a month ago whether they would have been able to hold out as well and as strongly and flank the mighty russian army, the way they have, and slow them down and sludge them up, nobody would have believed it. so, that's a testament to them, but also to the support they have been getting. judy: well, president zelenskyy, as you know, has been speaking to the public every day. we have been listening to him. he is asking, as you know, for more support, including more surface-to-air missiles. he's also asking for a no-fly zone. and there are a number of former u.s. ambassadors to europe who are saying that there's a way to

do that in a limited manner. is the u.s. even considering something like that? victoria: judy, we do not believe it is possible to put u.s. or nato airplanes over the skies of ukraine now without coming into direct contact with the russian military and making this a nato-russia or u.s.russia fight and thereby broadening this war, which we don't want to do. in addition to that, there are serious russian air defenses over ukraine. so i think that is not the right way to go. but, as i said, these surface-to-air systems that we have been helping the ukrainians get have been highly, highly effective at the threat that they are facing. judy: so, you're saying that even a limited form of no-fly zone is not in any way on the table? victoria: not unless we want to

end up in a fight between the united states and russia, which the american people don't want and which president biden doesn't want either, and which does not help ukraine, to widen this war. we need to end this war. judy: i just listened to you testify before the senate foreign relations committee. and there were a number of points when you spoke about additional aid the u.s. is talking to ukraine about providing. can you shed light for the american people on what that might be? victoria: i think we can continue to provide air defense systems. i think we can provide increasingly advanced air defense systems. we're obviously providing plenty of ammunition and other things. but, in general, we don't talk in specifics about these things publicly because it doesn't help the cause. the ukrainians need a degree of strategic secrecy in the way they're going to beat this russian military, and they have been successful so far. judy: president biden did announce today that the united states will no longer purchase russian oil. there's a complete ban now from

the u.s. how much difference is that going to make? it's not going to make much of a dent in russian sales, is it? victoria: will, judy, what has happened now is that 70 percent of the oil that russia produces has come off the market as a result of the kinds of sanctions that president biden just put on and that other countries are putting on, and the fact that there is market skittishness as a result of these kinds of things. so that is 70% of the revenue that he would get from oil that is not going into his coffers. and as president zelenskyy has said, every drop of russian oil sold is a drop of ukrainian blood spilled. judy: and in connection with that, pressure the biden administration putting on our other allies in europe, germany, and others who are saying -- we just heard the german chancellor say today that it affects the security of europe to continue to depend on russian -- russian energy. victoria: well, i do think that

our european allies and partners, who are more dependent on russian oil and gas, really have had a very difficult wakeup call through this conflict. and i think it will accelerate some of their choices to move away from oil and gas from russia, but it's not going to be quick. and we're going to have to support them in that. and, in the meantime, even as we impose this oil embargo, some of ouallies and partners are not going to be able to do that right away, unless they want the lights to go off and the heat to go off in their homes. so, as we build this coalition and stay united, we also have to be flexible with each other that there are some things we can do that they can't do, and some things they can do that we can't do. so that's the unity that we're seeking to build. and president biden did consult with allies and partners before doing this and make clear to them that we understood some of them would have a longer transition. judy: we're also hearing today about major american

corporations that do a lot of business in russia. from coca-cola, mcdonald's, starbucks, and others -- and this is on top of credit card companies like visa -- no more business with russia. are these the kinds of things that are that are going to have an effect ultimately on vladimir putin? victoria: well, obviously, it has an effect on russian financial coffers. but, more importantly, how it has an effect on the psyche of the russian people, to whom putin has been lying. he's trying to -- just as he tries to turn ukraine into rubble, he's trying to turn russia back into a prison. as you know, the last of independent media has been cut off. he's trying to control information. but when russian citizen especially in the big cities of moscow and st. petersburg, see that they can no longer get money out of their atms, they can no longer travel easily because of travel bans, they can't get their big macs, they can't get the pieces for their iphones, that he is throwing them back to soviet

times, they are going to make their voices heard, and he's going to have to deal with the dissatisfaction of his citizens. judy: the undersecretary of state, victoria nuland, thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate it. victoria: thank you so much. judy: and in the few minutes since undersecretary nuland and i spoke, the pentagon has rejected the polish plan to send its soviet era fighter jets into ukraine, saying that the plan to have nato jets fly into ukraine at this time was not "tenable." stephanie: we will return to the full program after the latest headlines. there are signs that north korea has resumed construction at a nuclear testing plant. as of mid february, a satellite image showed the site remained inactive.

now a new image taken last week appears tohow two structures built in recent days. the site was declared closed four years ago. a texas man was convicted in the first trial stemming from the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. he was found guilty on all counts, including carrying a handgun on the capitol grounds, interfering with police, and obstructing justice. a leader of the proud boys extremist group is now charged with conspiry in the january 6 investigation. henry "enrique" tarrio was arrested today. he was not at the capitol during the attack, but federal prosecutors say that he helped to plan it. teachers in the minneapolis school district went on strike today. they marched outside schools demanding higher wages, caps on class sizes and more mental health support for students. supporters honked car horns as union leaders urged officials to compromise. greta: and we want to be very clear that what they're currently doing isn't working. they are driving families out of this district.

they are driving educators out of this district. and we are here to intervene. stephanie: the strike stopped classes for 29,000 students and nearly 3,300 teachers. in venezuela, two americans jailed there have been released. it comes as the biden administration is trying to improve relations with the oil-rich country. a high-level u.s. delegation visited president maduro over the weekend. at least other americans remain jailed in caracas. in florida today, state lawmakers approved banning instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. the republican bill also says that lessons for older grades have to be age-appropriate, or parents may sue school districts. democrats warn that it sends a message that being lgbtq is wrong. republican governor ron desantis is expected to sign it. a jury was selected in grand rapids, michigan, today for four men accused of plotting to kidnap governor gretchen whitmer.

federal prosecutors claim the 2020 conspiracy was meant to be retaliation for whitmer's covid-19 restrictions. thtrial is expected to last more than a month. on the pandemic, a world health -- hawaii will lift the country's last statewide mask mandate by march 26. the governor cited dropping case counts. meanwhile, a world health organization panel now says that it strongly supports vaccination booster shots. it says they are needed to protect against the omicron variant. that marks a reversal from last year, when the who urged wealthy nations to delay boosters and instead donate the doses to needier countries. the u.s. senate has voted this evening to pass the postal service reform act and send it to the president. it aims to lift burdensome budget requirements that have kept the agency deep in debt. it also mandates mail delivery six days a week. the house has already passed the bill. still to come, we examine the critical events that led up to

russia's invasion of ukraine. how women and girls are fighting for equality on international women's day, plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: now, let's look further at the potential impact of president biden's move to ban russian oil in the united states. stephanie sy is here with some analysis of that decision. stephanie: judy, russian oil and petroleum accounts for only about 8% of all u.s. energy imports, but the ban adds another level of pressure and stress to a strained global market. the price of crude oil topped $130 a barrel earlier this week. in the u.s., the average price for a gallon of gas is now $4.17. we look at the ban's impact here in the u.s., europe, and russia with daniel yergin. he is the author of several major books on oil and energy,

including "the prize" and most recently "the new map: energy, climate, and the clash of nations." he's the vice chairman of s&p global. mr. yergin, thank you so much for joining us. since russia invaded ukraine two weeks ago, gas prices have gone up 75 cents per gallon. so i want to start with what most americans are going to be wondering after this ban. how much more pain should consumers expect at that time the pump? daniel: i think you are going to see at least another few cents' increase, because although the russian oil is a relatively small amount, it does go into -- it helps make some of the refinery operations more efficient, and refiners will be scrambling to find replacements for those supplies. stephanie: well, let's talk about that. the u.s. gets less than 700,000 barrels a day of oil from russia, but what does that mean as far as where we're going to get the gap? does the u.s. produce enough? does domestic supply fill in for that? does it have to look at other

countries, such as venezuela, for more supply? daniel: well, now there's obviously been talks to resume imports from venezuela to make up for it. you can use other grades of oil, but they're just more -- harder to process. so, the supplies are around to do it. this is not a major hit, but it is -- it just means these systems will not run with the same efficiency because these refineries all get fine-tuned to different grades off of oil. stephanie: when you look at u.s. production, president biden was keen to point out there are already some 9,000 permits that oil and gas companies have approved to produce more oil and make up for this shortfall. would you expect that the higher prices are going to compel oil and gas companies to start drilling and ramp up domestic production here? daniel: you know, the 9,000 really doesn't make much sense. i think we really need to avoid a blame game here and instead focus on collaboration and

cooperation in what is turning into a serious crisis; 9,000 leases out there, first, you don't know if there's any oil there. you have to move equipment there. by the way, it takes a year or so to prepare a well and to drill it. and on top of that, the same kind of shortage also that are affecting the rest of the company, of people, pipes and things like that, is affecting the oil and gas industry. we are seeing production going up. and that should have been acknowledged in the president's remarks, go up by almost a million barrels a day. but it's not like there's a light switch to turn on to do that. and you don't know until you drill whether there's actually commercial oil there. so that's why i say what we really need is to focus on the practical things that can be done, encouraging production. yes, the u.s. is a signature source of additional oil over the course of the year, but it doesn't happen overnight. stephanie: so, what types of collaboration and cooperation and policy specifically is called for here?

daniel: well, it's the same kind of cooperation we had in world war ii, and the korean war, and the suez crisis in 1973, in 1991. we need a strong, constructive dialogue between the administration and the industry to understand what's happening in logistics, where the barrels are, where the supply is, how you can fix them, how you can get it into the system. the system really needs to work together, and we have got to get out of this kind of contention and argument that we have seen. and we have to regard this as a serious crisis and do what we have done in the past. and we have done it successfully. we have a strong industry. we have a capable government. they have got to cooperate, and there has to be a much stronger dialogue than has existed in the past. and i think, here at our ceraweek conference in houston, we see that dialogue going on. but we're not going to deal with the problems unless there's really cooperation and dialogue and really tight coordination. stephanie: the u.s. is doing the oil, coal and liquefied natural gas ban largely on its own.

the u.k. says it will ban russian oil by the end of the year. but the rest of europe will continue to be customers of russian energy. will that at all, daniel yergin, minimize the impact on global oil markets? and you mentioned the commodities as well. danielwhat's happened is that, already, a lot of russian oil is actually not getting to market. it's being disrupted anyway because of people just -- ports in england saying, we won't accept russian oil. that's happening. or people can't get insurance to insure a tanker. so -- but it is a different situation because europe has been heavily dependent upon russian oil, as it is heavily dependent on natural gas. it has alternatives. and they're in a different position than the united states is. they do't have the same flexibility we do. and if you remember, the original sanctions, when they were put in place, explicitly carved out oil and gas, so as not to disrupt the flow of

energy to europe, but it's happening. and i think european countries are scrambling. they have -- one of the things they have turned to u.s. lng. the u.s. is the biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas to europe. and in emergency plans that the e.u. came out to replace russian gas, lng exports -- imports loom large. and the u.s. is going to be the largest export of lng this year. so we have a very important role in helping the europeans reduce their dependence on russian oil and gas. stephanie: but, again, they are not part of the ban, so they will continue to get russian oil. what does that mean as far as how big of an impact the u.s. ban will have on president putin and his aggressions in ukraine? daniel: well, i think president putin at this point have demonstrated he doesn't care. he doesn't care that he's ruined what he spent 22 years building up, the russian economy. he doesn't care about the people that he's -- that are being killed and maimed and suffering in ukraine. he doesn't care about his own

soldiers being killed. all he cares about is victory and conquest. and so he will just look at u.s. banning russian oil as just another irritant in this strange mental map that he has now that has caused him to launch this war. so -- but i think, as more russian supplies get disrupted -- and they are going to get disrupted because banks won't finance them, tankers won't pick up russian oil, or, if they do, they won't be able to land it -- cumulative impact, that this is going to hit his major force of foreign earnings. so there are a lot of miscalculations putin has made, one of which was the dependence of europe and -- on russian oil and gas would mean that they would have a very passive reaction. it's just had the opposite. stephanie: daniel yergin, the vice chairman of s&p global and author, thank you so much for joining the "newshour." daniel: thank you. ♪

judy: in explaining why he launched this invasion, president putin falsely claimed that ukraine was always a part of rsia. and, just as he did the first time he invaded ukraine, putin made bogus assertions about pro-russian ukrainians being under threat. to help sort fact from fiction and gain a better understanding of how we got to this point, the "newshour"'s ali rogin looks at the history of ukraine and of its people's political independence. ali: in 1991, at the beginning of the end of the soviet union, ukraine declared independence after nearly 70 years under moscow's control. and when russian president vladimir putin took power a decade later, he began trying to get it back. ukraine, he says, is part of russia's family. >> we will believe that ukraine is not only our closest neighbor, but is indeed our brotherly republic. ali: at a nato summit in 2008, he reportedly told then-president george w.

bush that ukraine was not even a country. and he repeated those claims last week before launching the invasion. >> ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood. modern ukraine was entirely created by russia. ali: that claim ignores the centuries of history through which modern ukraine took shape. it was first home to the kyivan rus people, who were scandinavians traders and russia's namesake. over time, it was absorbed by poland and lithuania, and then the russian empire and austria-hungary. a post-world war i treaty briefly recognized its independence, long enough to spark ukrainian nationalist movements. the ukrainian socialist soviet republic was born in 1922. under soviet rule, ukrainian identity was under constant threat. in 1932, soviet leader joseph stalin deliberately imposed famine there, killing at least three million ukrainians in a single year. indeed, by world war ii, some ukrainians welcomed nazi

occupation as a way to challenge soviet control. but the nazis slaughtered more than 1.5 million ukrainian jews. millio more non-jewish ukrainians were also killed or put to hard labor. by 1954, the country that exists today was part of the ussr. the final piece was crimea, a peninsula on the black sea, which soviet leader nikita khrushchev transferred from russia to ukraine. but even after ukraine declared independence in 1991, pro-russian political elements remained, which putin exploited. in ukraine's 2004 presidential elections, he supported the pro-russian prime minister viktor yanukovych. yanukovych ran against viktor yushchenko, a pro-western opposition politician. >> it would be a great mistake if ukraine misses a train bound for europe. ali: yanukovych won, but internatnal monitors said the election fell short of its

standard. yushchenko supporters took to the streets. they sparked the orange revolution, so-called for the campaign's colors, holding protests and storming parliament. the ukrainian supreme court deemed the results invalid, and yushchenko won the next election. during the election, yushchenko became ill and his face became disfigured. it was found to be dioxin poisoning. his supporters blamed the pro-russian government. >> who's responsible? the ukrainian authorities are, who have been doing everything not to let yushchenko win. ali: he did win, though, and continued pushing west. >> the political goal is the final integration to the european union and nato. the main question is not in the direction of movement, but in the speed of it. ali: but, in eastern ukraine, support for russia remained strong. in 2010, yanukovych again and won. >> my task is to make sure that russia-ukraine relations take a radical turn in the right

direction. ali: one of those radical turns came in 2013. yanukovych stopped trade talks with the e.u., instead of pursuing a similar agreement with russia. that night, crowds gathered in kyiv's maidan, or independence, square, which continued to grow into a sprawling camp. >> we are ready for war, but we're hoping for the best. the government should be afraid of the people, not the people afraid of the government. ali: but the head of the russian government vilified the ukrainian people. vladimir putin: in my view, this is an attempt by the opposition to shake the current and, i want to emphasize, legitimate authorities in the coury. ali: as 2014 began, authorities grew more violent. in late february, ukrainian security forces shot and killed dozens. then, the opposition and government reached a truce, and yanukovych fled, reappearing a few days later in russia. viktor: i intend to keep fighting for the future of

ukraine against those who are using fear and terror to seize the country. ali: but the one trying to seize ukraine was putin. he sent unidentified armed men to occupy airports in crimea, which putin has long said was stolen from russia. putin denied sending in troops, but said he would if asked, setting up a pretext, just as he did for this invasion. >> what can be a reason to use the armed forces? this is, of course, the last resort, simply the last resort. if we see that lawlessness starting in eastern regions too, if people ask us for help, we reserve the right to use all options at our disposal to protect those citizens. ali: those so-called requests for help soon followed. on march 6, the crimean parliament voted to secede from ukraine and join russia. days later, a public referendum rife with alleged fraud passed with 95% of the vote.

that july, the u.s., e.u., canada, and other allies imposed sanctions on russia. more unidentified vehicles arrived in crimea escorted by russian police cars, and russian troops took over more buildings. as it is today, the putin regime said it was helping crimeans defend themselves, with little evidence they needed defending. dmitry: will russia be able to remain indifferent to the situation when, in neighboring ukraine, russians are facing a deadly threat? the answer is simple. no, russia cannot remain indifferent, and it will not remain indifferent. ali: two months ter, ukraine elected its next president, pro-european businessman petro poroshenko. >> we should do everything possible to bring european values to ukraine. ali: but the events in crimea had inspired pro-russian separatists in two other regions, donetsk and luhansk, collectively known as the donbass. ludmila: we want to have an independent republic of donetsk. we want to be independent from ukraine. ali: the political protests took on a military dimension. russian-backed separatists began an insgency against the ukrainian military.

there were diplomatic attempts to reach a cease-fire, but those never held. the fighting continued into 2019, when poroshenko lost reelection to tv star and neophyte politician volodymyr zelenskyy, who'd once played an accidentally elected president of ukraine. he campaigned on domestic issues, but also wanted to restore peace to the donbass. >> most likely, if i meet mr. vladimir putin, i will tell him the following: well, you finally gave us back our territories. how much money are you ready to give as compensation for the fact that you took our territories and that you assisted people who participated in escalation in crimea, donbass and assisted them on the awful, cruel and disgusting path? ali: three years later, putin is forcing the ukrainian people further down that cruel path, while zelenskyy fights to lead them out. for the "pbs newshour," i'm ali rogin.

judy: we will be back shortly, but first, judy: on internation's

day, we wanted to take a closer look at the state of women and girls worldwide. newshour's digital anchor nicole ellis spoke earlier today with michelle millford morse, the united nations foundation's vice president for girls and women strategy, about the agency's new report on gender inequality across the globe. here's part of that conversation. nicole: what are some of the biggest takeaways from this report? >> 2.4 billion women don't have the same legal rights as men. what this means is that, globally and on average, girls and women only have three-quarters of the same

rights that men do. we think that's outrageous. we think it's unacceptable. and we wanted people to know. nicole: 98 countries are not legally required to provide equal pay to women. so, is workplace inequality truly a fixable problem? michelle: absolutely. like, pay equality is a problem we can fix. like, companies can pay men and women the same amount of money for the same work with no excuses. and, in fact, some of the companies we most admired have fixed that problem, and they fixed it in countries all over the world. but the pay gap is one of those gaps that has remained really stubborn over the past couple of decades. but there's a lot that employers can do to create workplaces that work for women. they can make sure that they have women at all levels of leadership in all levels of the company. they can make sure they have paid sick and family leave. they can make sure men also take that paid faly leave. they can stop using diminishment and stereotypes in their advertising. they can pay women equally, and then they can also make sure they have safe workplaces.

also, 50 countries don't have any laws against sexual harassment at work. that is yet another problem that we can fix. that's unacceptable, and it doesn't have to be that way. nicole: is there a disparity in the extent of inequalities experienced by women of color? michelle: oh, it is vast. it is vast. i mean, the reality is that the data that i'm talking to you about, are global aggregates. these are global aggregate data about the experiences of girls and women across a range of challenges related to inequality. but those gaps are much bigger. they are bigger for black women. they are bigger for women of color. these gaps are wider and steeper for trans women, for migrant women, for rural women, and for young women. there are overlapping levels of discrimination. and so it's really important that, when we talk about girls and women, it is ok, it is important, in fact, to cite global data about this experience, but we should also always acknowledge that not everyone is having the same experience.

and, for some people, these gaps are bigger and steeper, and we have to pay extra, extra attention to that, and address those in really specific ways. nicole: and, finally, is there anything that can be done to stymie some of these inequalities? michelle: oh, there's so much that can be done. i mean, this is not a time for despair. this is a time to act. and, luckily, there's a lot of things that people can be. the first thing i would point out is that inequality is a solvable problem. we don't need a leap in science or technology. we don't need any magic here. we need more political will. we need more solidary. and we need better policy. that's the first thing. the second thing is that gender equality is better for girls, women, boys, and men in all their diversity. it's better for all of us. and it's not about men vs. women. it's about fair-minded people vs. fear-minded people, actually. and the third thing is that we have found that your voice matters. one of the best things that we know about this challenge is

that, all over the world, movements matter. connecting with legislators and parliamentarians matter. i mean, those laws i was citing earlier, there have been 1,500 reforms over the past couple of decades and in regions all over the world, and it is a credit to people who are asking their government for something fairer and something better. so, i'd want -- i want anyone listening to know this is a solvable problem. this is within our grasp. inequality is a choice. we can choose something different. judy: and you can watch nicole's full conversation with michelle milford morse online at pbs.org/newshour. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> the landscape has changed, and not for the last time. the rules of business are being

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> this is pbs newshour west, from w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

[announcer]: this program was made possible in part by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [david]: life has become so challenging, filled with toxic stress, an overwhelming sense of isolation and anxiety. but there is another way, a way that helps you awake to a new and better life, a way filled with peak experiences, a way that leads ultimately, to enlightenment. [chopra]: the best way to define enlightenment is to discover and experience your true self. the word "enlightenment" has been used in eastern wisdom