tonight on kqed newsroom, on the one-year anniversary of the war in ukraine, we speak with the san francisco consul general about how californians have supported ukrainians and what the war-torn country still needs. newly inducted in california's hall of fame, alonzo king discusses his ballet company and the language of movement. hello and welcome to the

show. when russia attacked ukraine with massive military might, we wondered how long the war would last. would it take weeks or months or would it stretch on further? as of today, the battle has raged for one full year. tens of thousands of ukrainians and russians have died, an estimated 6 million ukrainians have fled their homes as refugees. throughout the violence, we've been inspired by courageous leadership and the resilience of ukrainians fighting to defend their land. in addition to the federal support there's been an out pouring of support from individuals. the ukrainian consulate based in san francisco has helped coordinate volunteer efforts, donations and political action from people in the western half

of the united states. i'm joined now by the consul general in san francisco, thank you for being with us today. tell me what's weighing most heavily on your heart and mind on this one year anniversary of the war beginning? >> i think it's the number of lives that have been lost, lives of ukrainians, soldiers, civilians, children. this is an unnecessary and unprovoked war in the atrocities that we've seen in many cities that have been liberated by ukraine after it was occupied by russians and we have seen those dead bodies in many places so the pictures we remember this day and we just wanted all to stop. >> it has been going on for a long time. at the beginning of the war, there were predictions that kyiv would fall in just a few days, yet that did not happen. it's been a trying time where

people have fled the country, some have come back, but many have stayed outside of ukraine and some have come to the united states and some to california. could you tell us about the influx of ukrainians coming here to california and how their needs are being met. >> probabl united states compared to europe have received less people, about 100,000 people, that was the quota by the white house initially and out of these 100,000 maybe 30 percent we assume came to california eventuallybecause even before there was a large ukrainian community in california. so the most needs of people who came here were housing and finding a job and finally these issues were addressed and there also receiving benefits from the state which allows them to start, but the difference of ukrainians and maybe some other people is they just want to come and meet at least are going to work.

then the government of the united states, it help to expedite the consideration of applications for work and now they are trying to be integrated into society. >> tell us about other ways in which the state of california has supported ukraine, for example, we've had a relationship for many years between the california national guard and ukraine and have provided training to ukrainian soldiers for two decades. >> almost 30 years actually in ukraine has been a part of the california national guard and there were lots and lots of ukrainian soldiers who came to california to train in the california national guard came to ukraine and they did joint trainings, joint troops training and aviation training where the president of ukraine has visited them while they were in ukraine, so that helped relations between these people and this was helpful when the

war started because the california national guard commander was in contact with ukrainian commanders, and also the governor ofcalifornia, we met the first week as the war started. >> what about the outpouring of support from individuals and companies? can you tell us some of the ways in which those constituents have also supported? >> here in silicon valley with concentrated on the big tech companies which were helping from hereand those examples are air bnb which issued 100,000 vouchers for people to stay in euro or in the united states and also luber has partnered with united 24 and they've spent about $1 million and then the founder of netflix

has donated $1 million in the founder of twitter has also donated a couple million dollars. google support, microsoft, amazon, and actually companies who are working with satellite imagery have provided imagery, especially that was important at the very beginning of the war. it helps to show where they are so ukrainian troops can accordingly fight against them. >> when you talk about satellites it brings to mind the start link system for communications that was also provided ukraine at the start of the war by elon musk, that's his company, but recently he has said that he is not going to keep providing those start link to medications so what is your thought about our local tech mogul and his influence in the war on ukraine? have you spoken with him?

>> personally know, but our minister of digital transportation has been in contact communication with him and exchanging tweets. we are grateful for him initially because start link has really made a change in the communications and helped a lot of ukrainian civilians and military and then at some point his position was a little strange in his understanding of this war and to where it all goes. >> strange how? >> he kind of at one point, people ukraine thought he kind of tried to listen to russian narratives, so we would like his position to be ukrainian because is not only pro- ukrainian, it's pro-freedom, pro-democracy, so there's no other way. >> you spent quite a bit of time working alongside resident

volodymyr zelenskyy and you've seen his transformation from the time he came into office to who he is today, could you tell us your personal experience with him? >> we all know he became the political background and now we understand that's actually his advantage, because he was a completely different person, was very easy-going and he wanted to change the system, how it works, and he managed to do that but then when the war started, we saw his pictures at the beginning and right now it's like completely different people, because the war has made him become a strong leader of a country war which many people didn't expect him to be, but he appeared to be the right person for the right time to talk to international leaders and gave them support throughout the world and that's probably the most important thing you could do right now as well is being a good commander

in chief. >> widgets on your commitment today, $2 billion from the united states to ukraine, there are polls showing financial support is waning, desire for that financial support is waning, so what you say to those who say that this war seems to be going on for a long time, are we going to pour money into this forever? >> if we are talking about the united states, i know this country is a leader of democracy for the world and everyone should understand that these are things which are happening in ukraine that you can't just allow that to continue happening and that's why the united states has to support that and people should understand that. just on the moral side of it. it's not just money spent, it's how volodymyr zelenskyy said it's investment. investment into international security in which united states is a leader and investment in preserving the world order,

because otherwise if ukraine was to lose which would not have been, then the bad guys in the world would continue their bad things. they would invade other countries without any punishment and it would be complete disruption and even the person sitting somewhere in the middle of the united states would feel that the consequences of that and that's why it's not an issue of helping for ukraine, it's helping preserve this world order and this help each you mentioned with this new package of aid today announced that basically all the money is going to united states producers of weapons of different jones and ammunition so basically the money would stay within u.s. economy and help create new jobs in the united states, so it's beneficial for both sides. >> for you personally, how has the war impacted you, do you have family, friends who are there or of had to flee and who

have been harmed? >> we all have friends and families affected by the war, i have my parents in ukraine and my wife's mother as the war started she was in kyiv and it was very dangerous so she came to us, after two months she came back and that i believe will happen to many people in europe, they will come back to ukraine after the war will be over but i have persons i know who have already been killed unfortunately, many friends who are in the army on the front line and we her locally together with ukrainian organizations were sending them drones and bulletproof vests, even on a personal level and you could see the photos they send you back, having that was a great issue toward the californian american people. >> as this devastating and tragic violence continues leaving many people dead on both sides, do you see any hope for peace in the near future?

>> there's no other country in the world which wants peace more than ukraine does and president volodymyr zelenskyy has proposed his peace formula which is part of the resolution. also we now hear a lot of different peace proposals from different countries of the world, but most importantly is to understand there are no just two sides, there's an aggressor and evict him and we need a long-standing peace which would mean that this attack will not repeat again. it's not just to stop shooting, we need long-standing peace and that requires, we understand there will be negotiations, but only after russian forces will be out of ukraine. >> thank you so much for being here.

>> thank you. alonzo king lines ballet company in san francisco has a mission to nurture artistry and the development of creative expression in dance. >> a society or culture that doesn't honor art is a brutal society, because it saying, your being is not valuable. what's valuable is only material. if you think of removing the art from the world, we are not recognizing what human beings are. we have a heart and a mind, they, too, are in a balancing at. if we ignore the heart, and there is a lot of that, it is a huge imbalance. we want humanity well fed on every level, it's a human right. >> the company was founded in

1982 by alonzo king who was recently inducted into the california hall of fame. king has received multiple accolades, including master of choreography from the kennedy center, and being named an irreplaceable dance treasure by the dance heritage coalition. he holds honorary doctorates from the dominican university, california institute of the arts and the juilliard school. joining me now in studio is alonzo king, thank you for being here. >> it's wonderful to be here, such an honor. >> you were recently inducted into the california hall of fame. how does that feel to you to be recognized by the state of california or even what california means you? >> it was wonderful. gavin newsom gave me the san francisco mayors art award years ago so it was a nice full circle. >> because he once again was inducting the honorees. > yes, and his partner and it was wonderful, because everyone was uplifted, scientists, peggy

fleming who hired seen forever ice-skating, everyone was in a very positive mo so that was fun to be around. >> what does california mean to you? >> for me, growing up in santa barbara, having ocean and mountains right there with that incredible temperature and always able to see the horizon meant a feeling of peace. after living in new york for so many years and having tofight to find places where i could see the horizon or find a sunset, going to different parks and doing subways, i had to come back to california so that i could e those places of expansion because they make you feel large because you feel so teeny be when you get the

perspective that i'm actually a tiny little thing in the universe when you are in nature so being around nature is really reaffirming, so to answer your questio directly, something about california is incredibly progressive, always looking for next steps in how we can advance civilization and how we can advance ourselves and wellness and care and how we can, i think it's something that feels evolutionary being here and i've always felt that this is one of the places where change is always at the forefront. >> your parents fought for change, they were members of the civil rights movement. >> that's right. >> is there something you've learned from them that you now carry on in your own traditions of your artistry and your work? >> my father was the president o the albany movement, so he engaged with everyone from milk

and ask tamara luther king and he traveled, he was a world traveler and i remember being in a movement where they were speaking to the conversation and i was a little kid and they were saying, we are going to do this march, you cannot fight back or resist, there is no retaliation if someone spits in your face, kicks you, hits you, and the room would dwindle to one side because they would say who was able to do that and some people were like no, i'm not able and some people were like yes, i'm willing to do that, so to be in an environment and in a space where these adults were willing to give up their lives in order to make things better for other people, or to bring light to what was incredible darkness, it is inspiring and also

intimidating, so when you are around people who what they say and how they behave are not in contradiction, where they are the same, that what you believe in and what you speak and how you behave is the same straight across, it's very powerful. >> does that have a direct link to your work as a choreographer? >> i think commitment and honesty, looking for truth, and what it really means to commit, so you look at that when you are working with artists, like who is really in it? and who is committed to what they are doing? and people are committed, they seek change, and i say that because often, audiences or awards can bring us certain

kinds of satisfaction if you've been working one way, but in your quest for more and better, you may go in a direction that people feel no authenticity with at all and you have to be honest to that and not worry about praise or blame, so you have to follow where this path is leading, if it's going to open up new territory and that takes bravery. it doesn't allow you to become comfortable. >> tell me about how that manifests in your work? and how you have evolved and changed in the 41 years now that lines ballet has been operating insan francisco? you started with one idea and vision and i'm sure that has transformed over the years. >> i think the forms of how it's manifested have transformed, the artists that we work with, the settings that

we've done, but the mission, the very beginning is still the same. the idea of evolutionary process is part of life on planet earth, because when you look back at your life, you want to see that you've grown and changed, and if you have not, that's scary, it means you have state small, so in order to not be a psychological antique, you want to accelerate your evolutionary speed. there is the slow evolutionary cycles of living on planet earth, but as a human being, you can speed your evolution up, by transforming yourself. so, from one year, to the next, you can really become

different individual. this isn't the same for animals, there's instinct, but with the human being, we have the propensity to go from imitation and formulaic habits, into giants of thinking and feeling. every human being has that propensity, so that is where you want to put your work. it's the key in all relationships, after the honeymoon is over, which is inevitable, and anybody who's thinking of a perpetual honeymoon, they are living in a dream world, so when it comes to its end, that means this is the beginning of the work now, and the work is self reform inevitably, we have to see how we need to change, isn't that

interesting? i will often say you will go to a piece march and there's not much peace. so if we want to change something, we have to change ourselves, and that is the very nature of art making, because it switches the external view to the internal view. so anytime we are pointing the finger at someone we dislike, a behavior we find heinous, we have to examine ourselves to say, is there a trace of that in me, in the way i treat my colleagues with the way i treat myself? that's the first question. that's e first examination. if i really want to change others, i have to change me. >> it is a truth that is hard for many of us. do you explore any of these themes in your upcoming season, your spring season, number 23

is coming up soon, and you have a couple of special collaborations. are these themes you explore there? >> with most makers, choreographers, composers, those are things that you revisit again and again because they are huge and they come out in different forms, but underneath, they are there, and one of those things that reappears often is that we are immortals. we are not weak, whining mortals, again, we have incredible powers. >> there are many concern with social media, but there are bright spots, too, i want to split point specifically to tik- tok which has brought dance into so many people's lives. i'm curious about your thoughts about tik-tok in particular as a form of sharing and expanding

dance around the world. >> i think it is great. it is for me, and affirmation that everybody is a creator, that everybody, if they are really true to themselves, they have original thought, they have something to say, they have a point of view that you may have never expected, and that is so refreshing. so the idea that people are stepping into their creativity is huge, because that's what i would say, that's when we are most oursels, when we are being creative, because that is our true essence, so i think it is a beautiful thing. >> for those who would like to see your upcoming season of work, they can do that at the yerba buena center. the spring season is beginning april 15 and you are collaborating with lisa fisher and tickets can be picked up

online. we so much appreciate you being here in studio, it's been a pleasure. >> the appreciation and pleasure is mine, thank you so much. we are returning now to the war on ukraine for the end of our show. throughout california over the past week and the past year, there have been rallies and symbols of support for ukrainians. tonight, something beautiful is a look at some of those moments, accompanied by a bay area women's vocal ensemble.[ music ]

the commemorations continue this weekend and if you would like to take part, there are fit at city hall tonight, a zz local philanthropic group started by silicon valley engineers and tomorrow there's a rally called unite for ukraine at the san francisco ferry building starting at noon. that's the end of our show for night and we will see you right back here next week if you would like to share your comments or questions, you can email us or find kqed newsroom online or on twitter and reach me on linkedin, twitter, and facebook. thank you for joining us and have a great weekend.

♪ john: tonight on "pbs news weekend"... as the war in ukraine enters its second year, nick schifrin reports from the battle-weary nation on efforts to not just fight, but rebuild. volodymyr: we are hopeful. we are confident that we will win this war. that our lives will be good. john: then... the pandemic has seen a big increase in sleep loss and the use of medications to tackle it. we learn about the best practices when you have trouble sleeping. and... a missouri law barring police from enforcing some fedel gun laws is creating confusion. ♪ >> major funding f "pbs news weekend" has been provided by --