captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, march 12: the russian invasion continues across ukraine... >> russia's invasion threatens not just ukraine's democracy; it threatens democracy and security across europe. and, by extension, when democracy is threatened anywhere, it threatens us all. >> sreenivasan: ...forcing millions to seek refuge. >> we are working with people who came from kyiv, and they came to lviv with nothing, really, and they need clothes, they need food. >> sreenivasan: and, myanmar's year-long civil war, and the efforts by its youth to return the country to civilian rule. >> ( translated ): gen-z soldiers have their own morals and beliefs, gained during the

years when our young democracy was flourishing in the country. >> sreenivasan: next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo d patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group: retirement services and

investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. russian troops bombarded ukrainian cities tod, as its weeks-long invasion met resistance, and the capital city remained under ukrainian control. on the outskirts of the kyiv, russian shelling destroyed an ammunition center and an airfield. ukraine's military said that russian forces have captured the eastern outskirts of mariupol, a southeastern seaport city of nearly half a million residents. the ukrainian government also claimed that russian artillery

hit a mosque in the city center, where more than 80 people were sheltering, including children. yesterday, the city reported more than 1,500 civilian deaths. russian forces have encircled mariupol, thwarting attempts to deliver aide to or evacuate its citizens. capturing the city could help russia establish a land corridor to crimea, which it annexed from ukraine in 2014. russian forces arelowly moving in on the ukranian capital of kyiv. today, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said the city was preparing for an attack and called russia's invasion “a war of annihilation.” >> ( translated ): as far as kyiv is concerned, if there are hundreds of thousands, or tens of thousands of soldiers that russia is mobilizing now, and they all come with hundreds or thousands of tanks, they will enter kyiv. we understand this. if they carpet-bomb and decide to wipe out, simply wipe out the historical memory of this region, the history of kievan rus, the history of europe, then they will enter kyiv.

if they kill all of us, then they will enter kyiv. if this is the goal, then let them enter-- but they will end up living alone on this land, certainly without us. they will not find friends among us. >> sreenivasan: speaking at the democratic national committee's winter meeting today, vice president kamala harris called the invasion “putin's war,” and promised continued support for ukraine from the united states. >> russia's invasion threatens not just ukraine's democracy; it threatens democracy and security across europe. and, by extension, when democracy is threatened anywhere, it threatens us all. and the ocean which separates us will not leave us untouched by this aggression. >> sreenivasan: earlier today, president biden, who is spending the weekend at camp david, authorized another $200 million in military aid for ukraine. russia's deputy foreign minister said thaforeign interference

in the conflict could be met with force, warning that u.s. weapons convoys to ukraine could be seen as “legitimate targets”" and, russian officials announced the country's stock market will remain closed for another week, as economic sanctions continue. diplomatic efforts to end the war were again unsuccessful today, after french president emmanuel macron and german chancellor olaf scholz held a more than one hour-long phone call with ssian president vladimir putin. a french official said that there was no willingness on putin's part to end hostilities. about 2.5 million ukrainians have now fled the country, most to neighboring countries, according to the united nations' refugee agency. >> sreenivasan: the western city of lviv, about an hour from the border with poland, has become a makeshift staging area for people both leaving and entering ukraine, and for multiple humanitarian relief efforts. itv news correspondent romilly weeks has this report. >> reporter: in a concert hall in lviv in the west, a vast volunteer effort is underway.

200 people a day signing up here to pack and deliver clothes, medical supplies, and food for those who've fled from, and those heading in to fight. >> we are working with people who came from kyiv, and they came to lviv with nothing, really, and they need clothes, they need od. >> reporter: as the attacks on ukraine become more intense and more brutal, the need that centers like this are trying to supply is growing by the day. it's pretty remarkable, witnessing this totally- grassroots community effort. but as one woman told me, "with what's happening to our country, we have no chce." there is no part of this vast country untouched by war. this is the aftermath of shelling, just 30 minutes from the center of kyiv. ♪ ♪ ♪ as the capital braces in the main square, they're playing the national anthem.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> sreenivasan: special correspondent jane ferguson recently arrived in ukraine, and joined me earlier today from the city of lviv. jane, what's it been like over the last 24 hours? >> reporter: for ukrainians, we've seen people still on the move-- smaller numbers towards the polish border crossing every day. we're not seeing the kind of numbers that we've seen over the last two weeks. i was at lviv train station today, where we did see many people coming and going, carrying bags, children, their pets, but also many ukrainians there to really help people. they were providing food, assistance, even psychological support there. but in the east of the country, the violence continues, as well as in the south. the russian advances in the south have been more marked than in places like the capital, kyiv, and other eastern cities. but those advances continue, and

coming under attack, they're facing pretty indiscriminate artillery shelling, which is a huge weapon to be using in a city filled with civilians. and so, the russians have advanced-- we understand there now russian soldiers are about ten miles from the center of kyiv city. but the advance has been slowed by, of course, the sort of now-infamous and famous ukrainian resistance. but for civilians who are stuck in areas where the shelling is happening, it doesn't matter that there aren't russians in the street-- they're still feeling the brunt of those attacks. >> sreenivasan: one of your comments was, people were coming and going-- who's still coming into these areas? >> reporter: well, you're still seeing people who are trying to, who have stayed in lviv; the people who have made it to the west of the country; or people who are simply moving through. i mean, it has actually been

difficult for many civilians to evacuate certain cities under attack. they've had to wait for humanitarian corridors. they've had to wait for-- you know, they've been waiting for days, often in-- in line, in cars, in their own vehicles, while the roads have been blocked. so, there are still people who are trying to make it out. so a lot of those people are either trying to move on towards places like poland, or they're trying to stay here and find accommodation and somewhere to stay. but in western cities like lviv, accommodation is very hard to come by. so we're still seeing women and children, and it's interesting. of course, we know we're not seeing men leaving, as men of fighting age between 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave. but we also saw ukrainian police patrolling around town today, and they will approach men o fighting age who are seen alone, and ask for proof that they have indeed signed up, and that they are on call, effectively. so, they're very strict about that. >> sreenivasan: do you see ukrainians from outside, or

anybody else, that's coming in for either the fighting resistance, or in any other kind of support capacity? >> reporter: you absolutely do. we were at the train station, the main train station here. and lviv, here in the west, is the main sort of artery of support and hub for humanitarian support and logistics here. and it's also typically how people come into the country right now. and we were only at the station a matter of minutes before we saw american volunteers who were herewho were there, specifically in u.s. military uniforms-- they themselves in their old uniforms, these were veterans-- who were there because they wanted to be identifiable to the americans coming off the trains, coming from places like poland. because there are american volunteers coming out. one of the volunteers who was waiting there to give assistance to-- logistical assistance to erican volunteers, was a ukrainian american, a young man who was 24 years old. he was there with a number of

other veterans who were basically helping americans who were coming over understand how to join up, how to get in touch with the authorities, how to get transport towards the front line and encouraging anybody who does not have combat experience or at least formal training within the military to not go to the front, to instead volunteer with humanitarian organizations. but we're constantly hearing and seeing in town americans coming across and trying to offer help in whatever way they can. >> sreenivasan: is there any update on the diplomatic front? >> reporter: there have been efforts, and there's a lot of conversations being had-- people reaching out to putin, including macron. emmanuel macron of france. so far, we're heing that there has been no-- there hasn't really been an uptick in any kind of warming towards the idea of having talks, for putin. we know that ukrainian president zelensky has said that he

would be open to those talks, that he would talk with putin, whether it was in jerusalem or anywhere else. we know that putin has been approached by and met with israeli officials, as well as french, but so far there have been no successes in getting him to agree to sit down to talk with zelensky. there's a lot of attention paid to these conversations, because right now, things are not going well for putin and hisorces, and so there's a lot of discussion of the so-called off-ramp. how does putin potentially save face, and how can anybody give him a diplomatic means to stop this war? so, there's a clear push to get him to talk to zelensky-- that would be seen as at least a step towards a potential cease-fire. so far, no takers on that. >> senivasan: jane ferguson, joining us from ukraine tonight. thanks so much >> reporter: thank you. >> sreenivasan: for continuing

coverage of the war in ukraine, and more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: after more than two weeks of fighting, the war in ukraine could become a protracted one. in the country of myanmar, the fight to overturn a military coup that forced the country's democratically-elected leaders from power is now into its second year. but youthful resistance leaders are harnessing the power of social media, in the hope of eventually returning their nation to civilian rule. newshour weekend special correspondent kira kay has our story, produced with videographer jason maloney, in association with the bureau for international reporting. ( protests ) >> reporter: over the last year, myanmar's young people have poured into the streets to oppose their country's military takeover. some protesters were killed in the brutal response. including this young woman, in her painfully optimistic t-shirt. one of the leaders of this

so-called "spring revolution" is thinzar shunlei yi. >> the coup attempt was something that we didn't expect. but at the same time, we finally turned this challenge into an opportunity. everybody was so determined that this is going to be the final revolution for us. we are going to overthrow them. >> reporter: it felt like a last chance. >> yes. the last chance, the last battle, the last bloed. that's why many people invested everything they have-- their jobs, their life, their family, everything. >> reporter: thinzar is familiar with the unpopular side of difficult issues. in 2017, the human rights activist joined a campaign to give white roses of friendship to the persecuted rohingya muslim minority, when many of her fellow citizens turned against them. she was a thorn in the military's side, reminding them that not everyone was free and safe in the country. >> so, we are here, in one of the streets... >> reporter: a few months into the protests, she learned there was an arrest warrant in her name. >> i knew that some of my

friends were already, you know, abducted by the military; i was thinking, when would be my time? would they come to me today or tomorrow? my family was pushing me to move out. >> reporter: the daughter of a military officer, at first she wanted to join the citizen militias who are taking up arms against the myanmar military. >> i was in the jungle for one-- one month. i was trained, and i was reflecting on myself, what will be my best fight? what-- how could i contribute to the revolution? and i choose the political fight as my fight. >> reporter: she also made the difficult decision to flee her home country. now in exile, thinzar has turned to one of the most pott weapons new generation activists have for their revolution: social media. young burmese are voracious users, despite military attempts to cut the service. she ensures the military's atrocities stay in the news through tweets and facebook posts, collected from her sources still inside the

country-- and rallies the civil disobedience movement with zoom speeches. one of her weekly broadcasts supports a new front in the war for hearts and minds in myanmar: spreading the word of recent defectors from the country's armed forces. they are coaxing others to join them in the resistance. >> i was born inside the military. and i managed to defect and i managed to change myself to become a human rights activist. so i truly believe our young generations could do that, because the soldiers and the policemen, they have a good intention when they join the institution. it is just the system and the institution who brainwash them, to become who they are right now. >> ( translated ): we stand firmly with the people. this logo honors the people, and our commitment to support them in this revolution. >> reporter: lin htet aung was an army captain. but on the night of january 31, 2021, he realized his country,

and his life, was about to change. >> ( translated ): we received an initial order the evening before, that all battalions should be ready for something, but we didn't know what for. at midnight, i was informed by my fellow soldiers that a coup would be launched the next day. i knew that many people would be killed and tortured. >> reporter: he defected in april, and has created an organization called "people's embrace." from his exile in thailand, he uses facebook and zoom to urge his former comrades to in his side. >> ( translated ): gen-z soldiers have their own morals and beliefs, gained during the years where our young democracy was flourishing in the country. i believe that a third of the military personnel share these same positions. >> reporter: lin htet aung is now partnering with political leaders also in exile to provide an underground railroad for defectors, to the free zone on the border between myanmar and thailand. while it is impossible to verify

the numbers, he estimates 2,000 military and 6,000 police officers have joined him in the resistance over the past year. it is a precise process that starts when he is contacted by somebody who is ready to flee. >> ( translated ): we have an initial interview by online meeting. we only bring them out to the liberated areas when we feel that this person is considered safe for our networks. but that doesn't mean that we have full trust in them. we go through all the available documents presented by them, as well as background searches with the help of intelligence experts. we then closely watch these newcomers. >> reporter: even if the resistance accepts them, they won't be trusted to engage in combat. but, he says, they do still support the civilian militias, to big impact. >> ( translated ): defections make the myanmar military very angry. extremely angry. some of our victories are because defected soldiers share their past combat experience,

and some even bring their own weapons and ammunition, taken from the military. >> reporter: but the battles rage on, with the myanmar military increasingly using air strikes and ratcheting up attacks against civilians in regions where the uprisings are strongest. you are looking for these colors. >> yes, these colors. >> reporter: so a new team of cyber sleuths, called myanmar witness, which is funded by the british government, is documenting and verifying these attacks using what is called open-source intelligence-- information available to the public, if you know how to find it. >> ( translated ): we use social media platforms like facebook, instagram, tiktok, twitter. we collect video recordings, audio files, photo evidence. then we verify when, where, and how these incidents happened. >> reporter: this myanmar witness researcher, who wants to remain anonymous, talked me through a tough case that required several online resources. it started with a facebook post

alleging that the military burned 100 homes in a small village. but there was a problem-- the village didn't show up on maps. he turned to a detailed myanmar government databasand found it listed, along with the village's ordinates. then he went to google maps, and, bulls-eye! a temple from the photograph. our researcher had the location, now he needed independent corroboration of the attack. so he turned to nasa's fire database, that indeed confirmed a blaze at the exact coordinates, on december 13 at 12:37 p.m., what the initial post had alleged. so far, myanmar witness claims to have verified 800 attacks by thmilitary, including the burning of humanitarian aid workers in their vehicles, and the destruction of houses of worship, a formally-recognized war crime. >> ( translated ): there are many victims in myanmar, and i'm afraid that their suffering will disappear before justice

can happen, and it will be in vain. so we keep all of these records of evidence with the hope and belief that one day we can bring justice to the victims. it motivates us to keep doing this job. >> the military didn't expect that, the power of technology and social media. they-- they didn't expect that would be like that. and that's how they are showing their true color-- they use brutalities because they have no other things. >> reporter: thinzar shunlei yi and her fellow next-generation activists say they will win their resistance battle and restore burmese democracy. >> as a young generation, we feel really burdened and pressured that we have a lot of work to do. in the future, we don't want one single leader. we want collective leadership, where everyone can play a role. can make decisions together. >> sreenivasan: and, it's daylight saving time again, for most of the country.

if you have devices not connected to the internet, set those clocks ahead, and spring forward one hour tomorrow morning. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein

family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group: retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your

pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

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