>> this is dw news live from berlin. a russian airstrike destroys a children's hospital in the ukrainian city of mariupol. president zelensky calls it an atrocity as fears mount that russia could step up attacks on civilians. the u.s. rejects a polish plan to send warplanes to ukraine from a u.s.-based, saying it

raises concerns for the nato alliance. and berlin struggles to cope as tens of thousands of ukrainian refugees arrived in the german capital. ♪ claire: hello, i am clare richardson and to our viewers, a warm welcome. russian bombs have hit a children's hospital in the pretty important city of mariupol, wondering at least 17 people. a warning that the images we will show are disturbing. that shows a pregnant woman and carried out on a stretcher after several back -- blast hit the site. young children were also evacuated. a blast crater to story steve could be seen outside the hospital and the ground shook more than a mile away. ukrainian president zelensky

called it an atrocity and said people were buried under the wreckage. i want to bring in our correspondent in ukraine, nick connolly and give -- in kyiv. these are her in his scenes we are seeing from this hospital. can you tell us more about what has happened? nick: the situation in mariupol has been atrocious for civilians for days now, and it is a combination of the city under siege from the resides with a se on the othera side, they've been without phone networks or heating for days, and we've seen the images you just mentioned from mariupol. it's difficult to get concrete information because they're basically no journalist left who can infinitely verify. -- independently verified. but we have heard from their mayor that more than 1000 civilians have died.

we can verify that figure but ♪ ♪ ♪ people are suffering and losing their lives on a daily basis, and attempts to create communitarian corridors to get people out have failed. claire: you have been reporting r us from kyiv. can you tell us how things are looking? nick: it's another situation, we have not seen as much destruction as in mariupol. government buildings being attacked, for now most of the fighting has been in the suburbs . most people in europe have seen pictures in recent days of the bridge destroyed, people losing lives, civilians losing lives on their way out, trying to get out with their families with their suitcases. in the center that has not been that much destruction yet. the ukraine antiaircraft people are working, the government i on lockdown and there is nervousness after attempts to

kill president zelensky there is a big fear of strangers and worry about russian sleeper agents and people are consulate on edge. claire: i want to talk more about the is evacuation humanitarian corridors. it appears some have been safe and others have come under russian shelling. when is the situation been like without regard? -- with that regard? nick: it's very different in different parts the country, in mariupol people are essentially stuck there and it's getting desperate as supplies were low in the bombing of the children's hospital. in other places, some people are getting on trains and heading to the west, near the borland -- border with poland. but this is all very tenuous. it will not last long. the situation is too difficult between russia and ukraine with

soldiers dying every day, there is no trust between both sides to keep it going. and there has been mediation from the outside, i don't think these organizations are on the ground ia way that would enable them to force this kind of temporary cease-fire for humanitarian reasons and to force both sides to stick to their bargain. the ukraine are calling for human peacekeeping missions. it sounds like something that might be needed and might actually have a greater chance of making these corridors work from what we are seeing now. claire: correspondent nick connolly, thank you for that update. the united states has rejected an offer by poland to give washington its fleet of biter jets, opening the way for transfer to ukraine. kevin has been calling for the dutch kyiv has been calling for these jets which the pilots know how to fly to help with the invasion. >> these are the warplanes warsaw wanted to put at washington's disposal.

he have has been calling on countries to provide them with jets there pilots are trained to fly. they are sending them to the airbase in western germany where the u.s. could send them to ukraine. >> such a serious decision when handing over planes must be madness and taken unequivocally we all of the north atlantic appliance. dutch alliance. this will be taken such a decision and today it is a nader's hands, in the hands of the americans. -- nato's hands and the americans. >> secretary of state antony blinken said this plan presented has issues. >> the prospect of fighter jets at the disposal of the unites its government parting from the nato base in germany to fly into airspace contested with russia over ukraine it raises concerns for the entire alliance. we have to work through specifics of these things going

forward. what we're are doing now is continuing to consult closely with poland and other nato allies. and the logistical challenges that it presents. >> speaking after talks on the war with the prime minister of canada, german chancellor was quick to rule out the idea. >> we have provided humanitarian assistance. we have provided our equipment, which includes some weapons. apart from that, we have to think very carefully about what we actually do and this does not include combat aircraft. >> with poland unwilling to act unilaterally, nato divided, it seems unlikely these jets will join the fight over ukraine anytime soon. claire: more on the story from our correspondent in washington, oliver. the u.s. secretary of state has just said we will continue to

consult closely with poland and other nato allies on the potential for jets to ukraine. that does not sound like he is entirely closing the door on the possibility. >> certainly not. when it shows is there is political will, but it is a tricky task and a fine line there walking. poland is saying ukraine can have those jets, those russian made fighter jets, but they don't want to be accountable for delivering the jets into the war between russia and ukraine. so the offer being made by the polish side was to bring them to the u.s. air force base on german soil, involving two other nato members where the u.s. is saying you're not interested in that solution either. certainly a blame game is going on here where nobody wants to be the scapegoat for actively involving itself into the conflict. the challenge will be how to do

it without being drawn into a wider war. that is the discussion going on right now and without further involvement of nato in the war between russia and ukraine. claire: what is interesting is how this has developed. poland did not discuss the offer with the united states before it announced it publicly on tuesday. that is what the u.s. is saying and it seems to have caught them by surprise. what position does that put washington in? >> it certainly caught them by surprise because secretary of state antony blinken was a poland a few days ago and the topic was not discussed, at least not to that extent. another aspect we are hearing right now near washington is those surface to air missiles being delivered by nato partners to ukraine could be more important in the future because the airspace over ukraine is considered dangerous for ukrainian biter jets but fighter jets because of the russian

presence there and ones flying over ukraine. but ukraine has most of its fleet and that is because basically cannot use it, it is dangerous. but they have been successful shooting down those russian jets with air missiles so that may be a way forward. claire: thursday, vice president harris is going to meet the polish president in warsaw to reinforce western unity in the face of russian aggression. what can we expect from the meeting? oliver: they will show unity in an effort to deter russia. poland is concerned about russian aggression. they share a border with belarus, the country russian troops amassed has been turned into a russian puppet regime recently. one part of her mission will be reassurance for poland and other eastern nato member partners. it is a fine line for the u.s.

which is delivering arms to ukraine which wants to support nato members of course, but at the same time says no to a no-fly zone over ukraine, no to a delivering or being involved in a delivery of fighter jets to ukraine. so what they will do is look for solutions to those topics, and with the goal to avoid being drawn into a wider conflict. claire: thanks oliver, our correspondent in washington, d.c. let's get more from our chief political editor, she spoke to head of the munich security conference. he spoke about providing support to ukraine without risking direct confrontation with russia. >> german chancellor scholz world out germany giving fighter jets, the polish jets are unlikely to arrive. is that a lack of solidarity

with ukraine or preventing a world war? >> it is the second. it's important to the germany supports ukraine and we do a lot, a lot of solidarity, whatever citizens do in solidarity is enormous. we provide antitank stinger missiles, to provide fighter planes would create the danger of direct confrontation with russia. this is something the chancellor's right to rule out. >> the ukrainian and russian foreign minister's are talking tomorrow and there is talk that the russian side will not want them to join soon from a row showed no longer cites regime change as a goal. what could be an outcome on thursday? >> it's important that the minister speak. i do not know where they stand on the debate, but what president zelensky has offered something substantial.

it would be good if the russians are taking into consideration the miserable military situation they're in, but the russians would take this up and try to get a face-saving way out. >> you have sat across the table from vladimir putin several times. what does he want? >> i think he wants what he says. he wants to rebuild the soviet union and the russian flag. and he was totally mistaken. he probably believed what he said that ukraine is not a real state, that is part of russia, you have fascists and drug addicts there as rulers and he has to find out that it is the absolute opposite. they are patriotic, they have thr national identity, they are fighting and putin is in a big dilemma right now. >> ambassador, thank you so much. claire: that was my colleague.

other develop into the conflict, the kremlin reports president putin and the german chancellor have spoken about the war in ukraine, discussing humanitarian corrors and other things. it came as russian and ukrainian foreign ministers prepared to head to turkey for their meeting -- first meeting since the war began. the european union says it will add more russian oligarchs and government officials to it sanctions list. brussels also wants to monitor whether cryptocurrencies are being used to circumvent sanctions. three banks from belarus, a russian ally, will be cut off from the swift banking system. ukrainian authorities say electricity has been cut off at the chernobyl nuclear power plant, meaning it may no longer be possible to cool nuclear fuel. they think this could lead to the release of radioactivity, but there has been no evidence the plant is unsafe. hundreds and thousands of people

escaping the fighting have made their way to the relative safety of the western canadian city of lviv. it has become a bottleneck. the only direction to flee is west. our correspondent met with some of the refugees. >> your here at the railway station in lviv and you can see how busy it is come along lines of people trying to get on a train to the polish border. mothers with small kids, women with pets, hastily packed suitcases and plastic bags. any of them seem traumatized, many of them are worried sick about their loved ones that are left behind. >> we are from kharkiv, the city is gone. i just have one question. what was it all for? who benefits from destroying such a beautiful city? we once had a wonderful mayor,

he is turning over in his grave. you can't look at what is left of the city without crying. i was born there, i grew up there. i spent my whole life there. >> people there now have been left for dead. they are hiding in basements. i can't even think about it. >> they are sitting there without any electricity, water or heat. my mother is hiding in a cellar, her other is in mariupol -- m other is in mariupol and they can't get a hold of her. >> i have not heard anything from her since march 2. >> never what i expect of them like this to happen, especially from russia and belarus. i have so many relatives in moscow. >> according to city authorities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide all of the refugees with food, clothes, and a place to stay.

that is why many people here are desperate to get out even though they don't know whether they will be able to come back. >> i don't know. i never thought i would have to play. >> i don't know where we will go. whatever god's plan is, but certainly to poland. >> we are not living forever. we'll be back forever. -- we will be back for sure. >> many people are from the russian speaking part of the country and they said they would never expect russia to attack ukraine. they are angry, sad and some of them have a clear message to putin. >> i don't understand why you are against our membership in the eu and are now literally pushing us toward europe. thank you very much, but it cannot come at the cost of our lives and those of russians, only in a peaceful way. >> honestly, i think putin knows he is sick and will die soon, and he wants to take as many

people with him as possible. we live in the 21st century, we don't live in the 20th century anymore during the second world war. we are civilized people. how civilized is it for the whole of ukraine to leave ukraine? you have liberated us. thank you. claire: the refugee exodus, more and more are arriving in berlin every day. it has caught the f garden is pushing resources the limit. >> safe at last, far from the war. ukrainian refugees at the shelter arrived in berlin a few days ago. traumatized and exhausted, very few were willing to talk to o u. one woman from this city of kharkiv said she got some sleep

after arriving. she can't hold back her tears. >> my sister is still there. she lives in an apartment block on the eighth for -- for. she told me she would rather die there. bombs and missiles are waiting on the city. >> about 140 people have found temporary shelter here. they are being cared for in part by an ngo that operate shelters like these. the manager says time is of the essence in the crisis. >> i got a call at 3:00 a.m. sunday morning to say that people would be moving in that day. my colleagues worked like crazy, constant shifts to get everything ready. >> two buses arrived carrying refugees in the course of the day and we thought that was it. by evening, another bus pulled up to our door with no advance notice. >> after arriving at berlin

central train station, people are taken to accommodation. or than 10,000 refugees from ukraine are arriving every day. the city has sounded the alarm, saying it cannot cope. germany's interior minister has promised to help. >> we are evaluating how to provide refugees from the war zones with a place to stay in germany. the city can't cope on its own. the government is working on a plan to coordinate the distribution of refugees, but all of germany states have pledged to keep -- take people in. >> i want to say thank you to germany for helping us in the situation. and i will try to help the country in any way i can. >> it will take time to settle refugees across germany. until then, berlin will have to continue rolling out help for new arrivals. claire: to find out more on the

situation of refugees arriving from ukraine in germany, i'm joined by a member of german parliament from the social democrats and a member of the committee for internal affairs. a warm welcome to helga. around 10,000 refugees are arriving every day germany. most of them are coming to berlin. what is the city doing to help? >> i think it is in a situation and the city is doing everything on the local and regional level to build accommodation, to acquire new accommodation on the state of berlin. there is a huge corporation with normal people, volunteers offering their apartments, offering to live together with people from ukraine so it is a new corporation civil society and state. claire: we have seen an

outpouring of public support, but is berlin getting enough support from the federal government?' >> we had our committee meeting, our committee on internal affairs just some minutes ago and ended. then we got some news that now we are starting a new phase, a new period. and we are trying to combine the support of families from ukraine, people saying welcome to the families, and support from berlin or the other regions. but it's just beginning. the way is to try to distribute two different regions to bring buses and trains to regions, other parts of germany, to get some pressure away from berlin. claire: it sounds like there is a system coming into place to

distribute them, two german states. i want to ask what the situation is for refugees when they arrive in germany. will they be able to have accommodation and find employment? >> yes, theyill. they relate more easily than refugees from syria in the past because there is no asylum procede. every citizen of ukraine is able to work here in the future and get support from the state. and the apartment of course, the actual problem is that in some municipalities, some cities there is a lot of pressure. because it depends on the local community. the local ukrainian communities are supporting immigration. claire: it is stunning compared

to lengthy procedures for people arriving from places like syria. is it possible for the ukrainians to stay as long as they like in germany? >> the gdeline, the european union directive, it says very clearly and is corresponding in the german la paragraph 24, that they are able to stay for one yea and it can be pronged for another two years. it is in the final stage, three years. of course the situation of the war is getting worse, it may change. it has one year and two years plus. claire: helga, a member of parliament from the social democratic party, take you for joining is with that update. and with war raging at home,

many ukrainian artists have found shelter abroad. the kyiv city ballet was touring in france when russia invaded. the dancers delivered an emotional performance in paris while struggling to keep in touch with family and friends trapped at home. >> the dancers of the kyiv city ballet left home thinking they were going on a european tour. now they have no idea when they will get back home to ukraine. this place in paris has offered them a stage and a temporary residency. >> creating is an active resistance. it is an act that says to those who want to occupy ukraine, to vladimir putin, here we continue to look forward, to look far, to use culture also as a peaceful weapon. that is what we are doing here tonight at the theater. >> only part of the company was traveling when the war broke out , meaning many artists are still

stuck in ukraine. the uncertainty of what is to come has left dancers physically and emotionally exhausted. >> it is a terrible feeling. we are shocked and we tried to connect with them all the time, during the day, the night. we checked the news and i can't explain what i'm feeling because it worries all of the time, all 13 days. we are praying for our families, for ukraine. >> amid anxiety, the chance to keep dancing in france a lifeline. >> being able to focus on work is kind of a breakpoint in our day. when we get to focus on the ballet steps and music and something other than the conflict in ukraine. >> the young dancers performed to a full house and much applause on tuesday night.

dancing in safety and friends, but their hearts and minds are with their families in ukraine. claire: you're watching tw news. a recap of the main story we are following. ukrainian officials say a russian airstrike has devastated a children's hospital in the besieged city of mariupol. at least a dozen people are injured. zelensky called the insured -- incident and atrocity. you're watching dw news from berlin, i'm clare richardson and i will be back with you to take you through the day. please stay tuned. ♪ ♪

♪exçñ#

>> welcome to live from paris, world news and analysis from france 24. these are the headlines. children under rebel. the children's hospital owned by the russians. ukraine's deputy prime minister france 24 there are nursing mothers and newborn babies among the casualties pair the russian invasion of ukraine sees a new level of depravity. over 2 million people have fled ukraine since the invasion was launched by russia's president putin. more corridors have been set up to t