♪ [captioning made possible by democracy now!] ♪ amy: from new york, this is democracy now!. >> the most tragic situation is currently now in the city of mare pol -- maripul -- marupol. it's being hit by artillery fire. amy: high level talks between russia and ukraine have failed to secure a ceasefire as the red

cross warns of an "apocalyptic" situation in the city of mariyupol where russian forces have bombed a children's hospital. wednesday killing three. we will speak to journalist bel trew who has been reporting on civilians being targeted in other ukrainian cities. >> this is the main school. the ground floor is preschool. it's also a secary school. as you can see we are devastated in a missile strike just yesterday. it's unclear what the target was. amy: we will also look at the escalating refugee crisis as over 2.2. million people have fled the fighting in ukraine. and we will speak to an activist in russia on the country's growing anti-war movement. all that and more coming up. all at that and more coming up. ed amy:welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. amy: russian forces continue to shell the besieged ukrainian city of mariyupol, a day after a russian missile struck a maternity hospital, killing 3 people including a child and injuring 17 others. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky condemned the bombing as an "atrocity" and accused russia of shelling a humanitarian corridor meant to allow mariyupol residents to flee. the red cross has described the situation as apocalyptic with the residents cut off from food, water, power, and heat for over a week amid freezing temperatures. the city's mayorcies 1200 civilians have been killed over the past 10 days but that figure that is not been verified. city officials have begun burying bodies in mass graves. residents who managed to escape described harrowing scenes. >> we needed to run 60 meters to the place of evacuation.

we quickly packed our things. and then the mortars starting shooting. we fell on the ground. i was thinking, i would never stand up again. >> there were bodies laying there in one of the stores for three days. women and men. locals covered them with carpets and they are just laying there. amy: the world health organization says it has verified 20 attacks on healthcare facilities, workers and ambulances since russia invaded two weeks ago. in turkey, top diplomats from ukraine and russia wrapped up a meeting today without reaching an agreement on the cease-fire to ease the humanitarian crisis. ukraine says it's opened seven humanitarian cord r -- corridors, but only one was functions. we'll spend the rest of the hour on the refugee crisis. amy: the white house warned wednesday russia may deploy banned weapons in its assault on ukraine. white house press secretary jen psaki tweeted quote "we should

all be on the lookout for russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them." unquote. psaki's remarks came after the biden administration's mission to the united nations amended remarks made by u.s. ambassador linda thomas-greenfield's to the un general assembly last week, in which she condemned russia's use of cluster munitions. >> videos of russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into ukraine. which has no place on the battlefield. that includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs which are banned under the geneva convention. amy: within hours of those remarks, the u.s. mission to the un edited ambassador thomas-greenfield's transcript, changing her comments to read that the weapons have no place on the battlefield if they are directed against civilians. the united states fought against the creation of the convention on cluster munitions and is not

among the 110 nations that have ralt fied--ratified the treaty. the u.s. has repeatedly used cluster bombs throughout its history - dropping them over vietnam, laos, cambodia and iraq. under president barack obama in 2009, a u.s. cluster bomb attack in yemen killed 55 people, the majority of them women and children. russia and ukraine also have not signed on to the convention on cluster munitions. the house passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill wednesday to fund the government through september, which includes $13.6 billion for ukraine. the measure does not include a planned $15 billion coronavirus relief package after democrats could not agree on how to fund it. the money would have gone towards treatments, research to combat new variants and funding a global vaccination push. a reauthorization and expansion of the violence against women act is also included in the bill. the program lapsed in 2018 during a government shutdown.

progressives condemned the increased funding for ice and the massive $782 billion earmarked for the military. the measure now heads to the senate. amy: the biden administration is lagging far behind its goal of donating 1.1 billion covid vaccine doses to other nations by september. that's according to a new analysis by public citizen, which finds the u.s. would have to increase its donation rate by 50 percent between now and september in order to reach its rget. 90 countries are currently falling behind the u.n.'s goal of vaccinating 70% of the population by mid 2022. in south korea former newcomer has narrowly won the presidential election defeating the ruling democratic party's candidate. voters cited out-of-control housing prices as a top concern as well as political corruption.

younger and women voters have called out the anti-labor and anti-feminist stances. amy: israeli president isaac herzog traveled to the turkish capital, ankara wednesday where he met with president recep tayyip erdogan - the first such visit by an israeli president in 14 years. while the heads of state agreed to a fresh start in turkish-israeli relations, a group of activists staged a protest against herzog's visit, recalling the deadly 2010 israeli raid on the gaza-bound turkish aid ship, the mavi marmara. the israeli assault killed nine turkish activists, including one turkish-american. >> future generations will view this partnership poorly. we are calling out to turkish authorities turn back from this kind of political and commercial relationship before it is too late. the world is not just about trade. amy: a prominent human rights activist from moroccan-occupied western sahara was targeted with

pegasus spyware in recent months. that's according to a new investigation by amnesty international, which discovered software from the israeli firm the nso group on two smartphones belonging to sahrawi human rights defender aminatou haidar. pegasus uses a "zero-click" exploit to secretly infect a mobile phone and harvest its information. back in thus us florida state lawmakers wednesday approved the creation of a first of its kind elections police force. democrats and voting rights advocates sounded alarm over the plan, which could see people being fined or jailed for things that were commonly accepted until a recent voter suppression bill became law -such as gathering ballots at churches and community centers before dropping them of at an official election site or drop box. meanwhile texas election workers have flagged over 27,000 mail ballots for possible rejection from the march 1 primary. although the final count of rejected ballots will be lower, the preliminary number shows the

unprecedented impact of new voter suppression laws on texas elections. in more vong news, colorado county official tina peters was indicted on 10 counts wednesday as part of a vote-tampering investigation linked to the 2020 election. she's accused of leaking sensitive voting machine data. peters is a pro-trump republican currently running as a candidate for colorado secretary of state. amy: in michigan, a trial is underway for four men accused of plotting to kidnap democratic governor gretchen whitmer ahead of the 2020 election. prosecutors say the men discussed buying supplies to be used in the kidnapping with members of the militia group the wolverine watchmen. they're also accused of surveilling the governor's vacation home. one of the defendants is charged with ordering explosives from an undercover fbi agent posing as a co-conspirator; and two others allegedly tested improvised explosive devices. amy: in more news from michigan,

a former boy scouts leader has been charged with sexually assaulting two boys in a detroit suburb. 21-year-old mark chap chapman is the first former boy scout leader to be charged under a review of thousands of sexual abuse claims in michigan. survivors say sexual abuse was an "unspoken norm" within the organization since the 1960s. amy: and in guatemala, activists took to the streets wednesday to condemn a new bill which would increase prison sentences for people who have an abortion to 10 years. the law was approved by congress on tuesday, international women's day. it also bans same-sex marriage and teaching about sexual identity in schools. guatemala's conservative president alejandro giammattei is expected to sign the measure into law. this is human rights lawyer stephanie rodriguez. >> as a lawyer who has worked for several years on woman's rights, we are concerned about the criminalization of women derived from two issues. one is that abortion is

criminalized with penalties much higher than the current ones. on the other hand, they also criminalize spontaneous or natural abortions. amy: and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in new york joint by democracy now! co-host, narmin. >> hi, welcome to our listeners an viewers across the country and around the world. amy: the russian invasion of ukraine has entered its third week with russia continuing to attack civilian areas. earlier today the foreign ministers of russia and ukraine met in turkey but failed to make progress towards a cease-fire. the talks came a day after ukraine accused russia of bombing a children's hospital and maternity ward in the besieged city of mariyupol. three people including a child reportedly died in the strike. 17 people were injured. at the talks in turkey, russian foreign minister lavrov admitted russia had shelled the hospital but claimed the building was

being used as a base for ukrainian fighters. the red cross has described the situation in mariyupol as "apocalyptic" with many residents cuts off from food, water, power or heat for over a week. the mayor of mariyupol says 1,200 civilian have been killed over the past 10 days but that figure has not been verified. during the talks in turkey. ukraine's foreign minister dmytro kuleba called on russia to allow the evacuation of civilians from the besieged city of mariupol through a "humanitarian corridor". >> the most tragic situation is currently now in the city of mariyupol. the city is being bombarded from the air. it's being hit by artillery fire. and i came here with a humanitarian purpose.

to walk out from the meeting with the decision to arrange a human -- humanitarian corridor from mariyupol for civilians who want to flee this area of fear and struggle and humanitarian corridor to bring in mariyupol humanitarian aid. unfortunately, the minister was not in a position to commit himself to it, but he will correspondent -- correspond with respect to authorities on this issue. amy: ukraine's foreign minister dmytro kuleba. we begin today's show in. >> bel trew is an international correspondent for the independent based in beirut. she's been covering the war in ukraine since the russian invasion began last month. she joins us now from vinnytsia,

ukraine. welcome to democracy now!, bel. if you can start off by describing the situation where you are and then we'll talk about mariyupol and what you understand is taking place there. guest: i'm at the moment in central city key for humanitarian aid delivery, but also on the refugee trails because it connects the south of ukraine, the east of ukraine, the north of ukraine to the west. it's a very, very crucial city. at the same time it's also under bombardment. i've just come back fromhe town's main airport, it was hit apparently by eight differe missiles. there is a military base nearby. we are going air raid sirens here every hour pretty much as well as the fact it's key routes for humanitarian aid and refugees. >> so far as you know have civilian areas within targeted

there and elsewhere where you have reported from? can you talk about the attacks on civilian areas? bel: here, as i said, the international airport, which is a civilian airport, was badly damaged. no one was there because most people are ting shelter in their basements at the moment. i have been basically going along most of western ukraine. even though the frontline is perhaps quite far away, of course the skies are still a problem for people here, which is why every ukrainian i have met said please tell the west close the skies, create a no-fly zone. i was just in a town just next to kyiv. it's a key city before the west of ukraine. and there we went around school had been damaged. a hospital had been damaged. at least 10 residential homes. even though they are not on the frontline, russian troops are about 50 miles down the road.

stim being bombarded from the sky. this is the key point ukrainians tell me they cannot win this war if they have to worry about air strikes, missile strikes, shelling. they don't have that support from the sky. >> i want to go to one of your video reports where you visited a school complex heavily damaged by a rusan missile. bel: this is the main school. the ground floor is preschool but also a secondary school. it was utterly devastated in a missile strike just yesterday. it's unclear what the target was. it's vermuch a school. amy: that was our guest bel trew. she spoke to a 61-year-old caretaker of the school. >> i have been working at the school for almost 15 years as a laborer. we were renovating this with our own hands. every year making it better so the children could focus on learning. now as we come here i'm speechless. i can't say anything.

amy: bel, take that larger and what he is describing. bel: what we are talking about is repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure which is illegal under international law. it's not clear what the target was with that strike. this is very much a school. thankfully there were no children in it because of the war. at the same time, several residential homes were also destroyed. everyone i spoke to said why is this happening to us? is it the hospital, the school, these are homes? only four people were killed. in the hospital i went to they had to evacuate the pregnant women and the eu newborn baby to the basement just seconds before the missile struck. one woman gave birth in the middle of that strike because of the stress that she was under. they are now having to build hospitals underground in the basement fearing further assault from the sky. the question is on everyone why are they targeting civilian infrastructure? why are they targeting

humanitarian corridors? we were talking earlier mariyupol, the people here feel like it was deliberate. >> bell, from where you have en reporting. the areas you traveled to, have you in addition to hearing about these aerial attacks, have you also yourself, seen russian troops or tanks on the street? bel: for me i haven't actually seen the russian troops yet f you are that close to them you are pretty much in no man's land on the frontline. certainly in the outskirts of kyiv and other places in the east of the country they are seeing russian troops. of course on the coast, areas like odessa, they have a large buildup of russian ships as well because they are fearing massive attacks on the sea. in terms of where russian troops movement is op the ground, it's from the sky, and also from the sea. amy: you have been trying to get into mariyupol, you haven't been

able to. you have been speaking with people like the ukrainian red cross. talk about what you understand is happening. and people right now, was the focus of the talks in turkey between the ukrainian and russian foreign ministers, ukraine was hoping for some kind of cease-fire, safe passage for the people right before the broadcast it was bombed again. bel: when i spoke to the director general of the eun cranian red cross, his teams are responsible for opening those humanitarian corridors. there are the convoys, on the ground, going in to rescue people. he told me they tried four days in a row to get people out of there every single time their convoy was hit by shelling. he said to me, they couldn't get even a single truck of food through. they couldn't get medical supplies. that's why the attack on the hospital is devastating because medical supplies are so low already. he actually told me he estimates the people there have probably

only got between three and five days left of food. we hearing reports about snow. the water. and they don't have the any heating. it is minus temperatures here. it's extremely cold. it's snowing. i cannot even imagine what it's like to be on the heavy shelling, not have food, any water, not having medical supply, not being able to get out and dealing with the freezing temperature. >> bel, as you know the u.s. and u.k. yesterday expressed concerns that russia may now deploy unconventional and even chemical weapons. you reported from the syria, on syria, for over a decade. people have drawn comparisons between russian militar strategy in ukraine now and what it was in syria. if you could respond to the concerns being expressed. also your own experience reporting from syria and now from ukraine.

>> a bel: what we have seen russia is capable of. i have been reporting on that over a decade. specifically since russia entered the conflict in 2015 human rights organizations have documented the widespread use of banned weapons. i'm talking about chemical weapons, incendiary weapons, barrel bombs, either directly by russian forces or syrian forces supported by the russians. they have throap everything at syria civilians. there is no concept of international law in syria. the fear that i have is i have seen what they are capable of doing in syria. can that happen in ukraine? while the situation here is desperate, obviously international law has been thrown out the window, and the geneva convention has been trampled upon. i think the worst hasn't happened yet. that's my big fear. if russia feels it's been put in

a corner, isolated from the world, i i have seen what they have done on syria. i'm very concerned for civilians here in ukraine. do you have anience of -- sense -- any sense of the casualties? russian casualties? the ukrainians are saying they killed 12,000 russian soldiers. russia saying there is nothing like that number. they have thrown out a number of 500. we don't know how many ukrainian military deaths there are. even ukrainian civilian deaths. do you have a sense of this? bel: this is a big question. of course there have been many different narratives. the ukrainians are talking over 10,000. the russians are saying that's not true. we can't verify t we can't get to those areas. the united nations they are saying over 1,300 casualties. that includes deaths and injuries they documented. they also have said to me, the officials have told me that's a low estimate. at the moment this whole area, we haven't been able to access.

mariyupol mayor said thousands of people in his own city have been killed. no one can get there to be able to verify that. we have seen images -- images of mass graves. i'm afraid that the death toll is much higher than we could ever have imagined. we may not know that for weeks or months. amy: we want to go to another of your reports for the indmeant, this year the ukrainian border with poland. bel: i'm about 40 to 50 kilometers away from the border. this is the start of a line of cars to the border of poland where people are beginning to flee. you can see behind me people have left their cars and literally they are on foot. 40 to 50 kilometers they have to walk. seven to 10-hour walk. people are doing this with their luggage, their children, their pets. >> too far for me. it was 40 kilometers.

>> you are going to have to walk 50 kilometers? >> yeah. >> like i said before, i feel shamed. exhausted because it's a long trial. it's not over because before us 14 buses. amy: that's a report of bel. if you can describe finally the ukraine side of the border, we'll talk to the norwegian council on the polish side of the border. how are you personally staying safe? journalist after journalist has been wounded, shot. bel: talk about the refugees on the ukrainian side of the border. it seems to be utterly devastating. i have seen families split up because they have family members in areas under siege or occupied by russian forces. i have seen mothers with children without their husbands or the fathers because they have had to stay behind because of

the general mobilization. i have seen children traveling alone. i met a 17-year-old boy whose mother and sister, his father is stuck in odessa. he himself is traveling on his own. as i said in the report before, people are walking 10, 12 hours in the freezing temperatures to get to the border. sometimes they turned back. we have people in trains, desperate to get on trains. people driving for days in cars across the country. it's been extraordinary. the second question talking about keeping safe. we have seen the british sky news team came under ambush. people heard others coming under fire. you see the humanitarian corridors are being hit by mortars with journalists present

covering it. it feels like the international rule book has been turned out the window. anything is possible. as a journalist you have to take every security precaution you can. even though it's pretty difficult situation. amy: are you wearing a bulletproof vest? bel: i asm. the reason why i'm wearing this because i have been at a place which has been hit by multiple incoming fire, and there was an air raid siren at the time. we just scrambled to put on our vests just in case. that airport has been hit at least eight times. standing there it might be hit again. certainly military behind me is among the more safer places. i literally came from the airport that had been bombed recently. amy: bel, thank you for being with us. international correspondent for the independent. usually based in beirut, has been covering the war in ukraine since the russian invasion began last month. joining us from the ukraine.

please stay safe. this is democracy now!, the war and peace report. as we go now to poland. the polish side of the ukraine border. we are joined by becky, a spokesperson for the norwegian refugee council joining us from lublin, poland where she has been speaking to refugees crossing from ukraine. i think the estimates are over two million ukrainians and others have left ukraine. more than half of them have come into poland. describe the situation. the head of the norwegian refugee crisis we have talked to, said, that ukraine is the fastest growing displacement crisis he's witnessed in his 35 years as a humanitarian worker. becky. becky: that's right. two weeks after the invasion began there's now close to 2.5

million people who have fled ukraine. wher i am now, poland, near the ukrainian border they have already accepted over -- well over one million people. and i met with many of them now for the past weeks. what people are telling me is that they don't have a plan. their plan was to get across to a border, to get to safety. and their plan there. these are women and children who had to leave behind their fathers, boyfriends, and husbands. they had to return to continue fighting for their country. they are extremely vulnerable. many of them have spent days on the move. they have run out of water, food, and medicine inside ukraine. and by the time we meet them at the borders, they are basically in need of everything. in need of water, food, shelter, a job, income. most of all what's really heartbreaking is to see these

women break down, start crying when they say that our loved ones are still trapped inside ukraine with no way to get out. it's just a tragedy what we are seeing here in neighboring poland. >> becky, can you explain how difficult it is for refugees t enter poland. and also what parts of ukraine most of the refugees are coming from. becky: at the moment polish authorities and government have said we'll continue to keep our borders opened. they have done that for two weeks now, which is also why close to 1.4 million people have managed to access and enter polandnd safety here. which is fantastic. what's difficult is to get from these bombed out homes and shelling right outside of your door inside ukraine to actually be out. there have been numerous takes

of humanitarian corridors that have failed. what people on the move inside ukraine is protection. we heard about civilian targets. civilian facilities being targeted. such as the hospital. this goes against any and all international law. so our biggest ask now is for the warring parties to protect civilians. they have a right for protection. we have a team inside ukraine. we have been there since 2014. we are trying our best on both sides of the border to now support ukrainians in their greatest hour of need. amy: you just tweeted europe must ensure an immediate cease-fire. how? becky: it's not too light to find the diplomatic solution. we are hearing about these talks that are starting in turkey. europe has a huge role to play here. we are already feeling the consequences of this war.

this isn't only ukrainians that are now under attack, this is all of europe. the polish people i'm talking to here say we might be next. this will have a consequence for all ous. e.u. and europe as a whole has a responsibility first of all we need to provide these people with collective protection. european countries, including my own contry, norway, need to open up their borders and doors so that we can provide safety and shelter and accommodation to mass influxes of refugees. but europeanovernments including u.s. government, has to now really do everything they can to put pressure on russia to put pressure on warring parties and ensure an immediate cease-fire. next they need to ensure humanitarian actors such as ourself inside ukraine safe access to people in need. some families i met here at the border, they are telling us for the last few days we lived in bomb shelters we recreated

our basement to become the place where we are. with no access to medicine. with no access to food. they have run out of gas and water. the situation is just absolutely tragic. i think now is the time for europe, including u.s. and other important governments, to come together and find a solution for this. the numbers opeople being killed, civilians being killed inside ukraine are increasing rapidly every day. hundreds of thousands of new refugees are crossing borders every single day. the u.n. has estimated that if we can't find an end to the war, close to four, five, six million people might be displaced. the numbers are huge. no country or neighboring country is able to do this on their own. >> finally, becky, even given all of the difficulties that refugees are confronting, many have commented on the discrepancy between the treatment of ukrainian refugees

as compared to how europe and othersother areas dealt with syrian refugees. can you respond to that? becky: that's absolutely right. it's absolutely heartwarming now to see how poland, other neighboring countries, including the rest of europe, have opened their hearts and homes and their pockets to help ukrainians. it's important to remember although all of the world's eyes seem to be on russia and ukraine, that doesn't mean that awful situation and the war in afanistan, syria, yemen, ethiopia, and other places have stopped. what we are asking donor nations and goverents for now, yes, please help us. now, to try to meet the needs of millions of ukrainians. but let's not also forget tens of millions of other refugees and displaced people around the globe that need equal amount of

support. amy: we want to thank you so much for being with us. spokesperson for the norwegian refugee council joining us from poland where she's been speaking to refugees crossing over the border from ukraine. when we come back, we go to moscow to speak with an activist about russia's growing anti-war movement and the state crackdown. stay with us. ♪

amy: if you tolerate this, your children will be next. performed by the black hart orchestra. this is democracy now!. democracy now!.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we look at growing protests in russia against president putin's war on ukraine amidst brutial crackdown by police.

more than 35,000 people were arrested in demonstrations in at least 69 cities across russia on sunday alone. since the war began, more than 13,000 have been jailed for speaking out. our next guest has joined the demonstrations since the day russia began its attack on ukraine, february 24th, which was also his wedding day. a arshak makichyan is a russian-armenian climate activist, and was protesting before the war as well, as part of the school strike for the climate movement. this week he tweeted what he called a "new flag of real russia," and supported reparations to ukraine, writing: "we will be sorry forever for things done by our government" and adding "real russia is us." arshak makichyan, welcome to democracy now! are you worried about speaking out, given how many thousands of people, 13,000 people have been arrested in russia by a number

of estimates since the war began for protesting. est: thanks for inviting me. of course i'm worried, but mostly i'm worriedbout ukrainian people who are dying now because of our government. for three years i was prepared to be arrested because that's how activism works in russia. if you are doing something, if you have influence and they arrest you. yeah, that's the price of activism in russia. yes, i was ready to be arrested. i am ready to be arrested because, yeah, it's our life in russia. activist life in russia. the terrible thing that is happening in russia they starting to torture people, even detain people from peaceful protest. even in moscow. it gets worse and worse.

like two years ago it was typical to be an activist, then they tried to poisonnal vane. and -- n -- poison navalny. now it's like dictatorship. they can stowp on the street and start searching you. you cannot do anything. you don't have anything to defend yourself. terrible to leave because it's terrible to see how insane can -- regime go. they have -- it's a symbol and it's terrible to see your country. i love russia. i love russian culture. i love music. what is happening now with our country is terrible. we have seen how our economy collapse, we seen how the

government gone insane. we don't know what to do. because putin has these nuclear power, millions of police and they have brainwashed. it's impossible to talk with them. they saying like, yeah, you are not allowed to talk about the war. you are not allowed to do this and that. impossible to talk with them because they have brainwashed for eight years. i don't feel like -- >> can you talk about how you access informationbout what's going on in ukraine because there has been a massive crackdown on independent media as well as social media, facebook and twitter. how are you getting information about the war in ukraine? guest: in vienna and i can read in english.

it's not so difficult for me. it's difficult for all the agai. the crackdown on independe media in russia started long before this war. they started to declare all our independent media foreign agents. two years ago. the situation now is even more than before, but you can get information if you want to. it's difficult to share this information with other people because it's getting -- a lot of independent media shutting down because it's now illegal to call this war a war. it's illegal -- there is something like -- amy: what do most russians understand about what's happening? we are hearing so many reports give you can't use the words war and invasion, independent media shut down. what do you think is the general response? guest: there is no general

response in russia. russia is a big country. they are talking about moscow i think people here do understand what is happening. they preparing themself for the wars. russia is huge. there are a lot of regions. people in there don't get the information or they don't understand what is happening. toes so complicated. it's so complicated. we need to do our activist work here because like i'm not sure, like, these sanctions, like, shutting down -- can influence people in regions in russia. amy: are people feeling the effects of the sanctions? the mass shutdown. the largest corporate saptioning let alone government sanctioning of corporations pulling out, not operating right now? guest: of course. you can't do it if you are

leaving moscow. or some other cities. yeah. we build some kind of -- now you cannot buy even it -- it's getting so complicated. to be like -- like general society in russia, understand that like it's our responsibility that our government to win and terrible what our own government is doing. on the other way sometimes it's like affecting our access to the internet. now we cannot pay -- our financial system isn't connected anymore to the world financial system f you want to have to have access to the internet, to independent media, you need to

pay and now these sanctions maybe you won't be able. need to find some new solutions because i think it's very imrtant for russian civil society, russian anti-movement to be connected to the world. to have the opportunity to write our voices. russian government trying to shut down all our social media. i cannot share anything for my people. i was using a platform to sr. share anti-war statements. now i cannot do that because it's a crime, shut down in russia. the other side international platforms, sometimes influencing like russian civil society, that's terrible erosion in russia. it's difficult and dangerous the regime. we have been doing it for years.

>> can you also respond to those who say that there is a risk that putin might declare martial law. are you concerned about that? guest: of course. we are very concerned about that. if he wantses to declare marshal law, he -- martial law, he should accept there is a war in ukraine. there is a war between ukraine and russia. and now they calling it -- they do not want to tell the truth to the people because people, i think, they do not want war. they are forcing people it's not a war. if they declare martial law, maybe they will be a bigger part of it, i think. that's easy for the government as well. amy: can you describe your wedding day what it was like? wh you did? guest: we went planning th

wedding for a month. because it was dangerous to be activist before the war as well. we were planning it safety measure. if you are married you can have this extra ride to meet your wife or husband when you are in prison. we are preparing ourselves for prison. if you are an tk at this -- activist you should be prepared. my -- she woke me up and said there is a war. we were shocked. it was terrible. putin is still, for us, even our wedding. he stole everything from us. our future. now he's stolen our wedding. we canceled all our celebrations and stuff like that.

my wedding, our wedding was small. activism than an actual wedding because it was like a statement against this war. we are the future of this country. we want to have normal life. we do not want to be arrested for 15 years just for speaking up against this war. we want normal life. we want to be with europe to educate ourselves to bnormal people. we couldn't bant -- we don't want to be heroes. we want to be normal. amy: finally, you are a peace and climate activist. and a lot of the sanctions against putin right now are around oil, gas. the unilateral ban that biden, for example, has put on russian oil, gas, coal. the significance and connection between war and the climate

emergency. guest: yeah. of course there is connection between climate crisis and the war. but now i cannot talk about climate in russia anymore because people are dying in ukraine. there is terrible position in russia as well. if we want to talk about instability, future, then it's have secure presence. and there is -- people don't have presence in ukraine because russia is bombing their homes. russia is bombing their hospitals. we don't have presence in russia as well, if you want to be normal person, if you want to be normal person you should be against this war. you can be arrested. yeah, we don't have a future anymore in russia. my advice for future and now our present. >> many russians are trying to leave the country.

explain how difficult that is. and given the sanctions a othe restrictions on russia. and also do you plan to leave? guest: a lot of my friends leaving the country now. it's very complicated because you can like fly just to armenia or georgia and maybe to turkey. tickets are expensive. the current economical when people don't have money. it's difficult especially for activists. it's very complicated. i think we need some ways for activists in danger to, like, to have the opportunity to leave the country because a lot of people do not want to be arrested for peace in europe. they have been fighting this terrible regime for years and years and they deserve some

respect and some help from the world. the world just starting to realize how dangerous putin is. we are fighting for 20 years. we need to figure out some ways for people in danger in here because sometimes it's -- your family is in danger. your life is in danger. they watching you every day. every hour. of course we need some help and things like that. amy: we have 10 seconds. yourself thinking of leaving? guest: no. i want to say in russia. maybe i will have some -- i want to stay in russia. it's my country. amy: thank you for being with us. arshak makichyan, climate and peace activist based in moscow.

coming up david, c.e.o. of the international rescue committee, former foreign secretary of the united kingdom. stay with us. ♪ >> ♪ don't say no is gold or silver will melt away ♪ amy: house of gold performed by patty griffin. this is democracy now!, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we continue to cover russia's invasion of ukraine, we turn now to look closer at the escalating humanitarian and refugee crisis.

united nations estimating 2.2 million people have fled ukraine over the past two weeks. earlier today the foreign ministers of russia, ukraine met in turkey but failed to make progress towards a cease-fire. the talks came a day after ukraine ooh used russia of bombing a children's hospital and maternity ward in the besieged city of mariyupol. we are joined by david, president and c.e.o. of the international rescue committee, former foreign secretary of the eun nighted kingdom speaking to us from new york. david, can you start off by talking about mariyupol? your organization works throughout ukraine. what do you understand is happening right now as we went to air it was being bombed again. david: i think we got a classic siege situation compounded by indiscriminate use of missile and bombing tactics of civilian infrastructure, including the hospital that was bombed

yesterday. which is obviously completely contrary to international law. it's also important to remind people that the water supply, water has been cut off and the electricity as well. this is a strangulation of the city. it seems that the russians army are trying to make an example of this city, it's a punishment campaign going on. a collective punishment campaign. what was tried in alpeppo. people talk about flattening a city that's what you are seeing at the moment. obviously there are three main fronts to the humanitarian crisis you referred to. one is the cities. second is people on the run from those cities. and the third is the refugees who made it to safety in europe and now being processed and hopefully given some haven in what are effectively the wealthiest rich countries. >> david, can you talk about the

difficulties that your organization and ukrainian people trying to flee have encountered in terms of safe passage, humanitarian corridors where the russians have not abided by cease-fire to enable people to leave. david: there are lots of rhetoric about some core humanitarian corridors. it's important to put that in quotation marks because the question of corridor to where? for whom? what we have seen is that some of it's been from abuse of the so-called corridors where people have been on their way out and then being hit. some absolutely appalling pictures that were put out yesterday clulg of a partner of -- including partner of a -- partner organization of the usaid, united states development agency, 52-year-old woman and her family who was shepherding

her mother out and she was killed. i think it's very, very important to also remind people that access to humanitarian aid, in other words corridors in the medical supplies for food, that is not just a moral right, but that is a legal right under international humanitarian law, and the geneva conventions, under international law. what we are seeing across ukraine is the latest evidence of what i call the age of impunity. in other words, the willingness of army commanders, military commanders, and their political leaders to abuse their power in such a way that they cross the line that is marking what is legal and illegal. we are seeing that in technicolor across ukraine today. >> do you think these attacks on civilians constitute war crimes? david: i'm not a lawyer, but prima facie they do. if you are attacking a hospital of pregnant women, that is a war

crime. the essential legal definition after war crime is serious abuse and violations of international law. that's something that the authorities will need to investigate. i say authorities plural because the international criminal court was established an inquiry, which is good. neither russia nor ukraine are full signatories to the international criminal court. they will produce evidence. there is also the potential for international prosecutions under something called universal jurisdiction, which is a global legal standard that allows people to be tried if necessary in abis etia. absentia. clearly the prima facie grounds for thinking war crimes are being committed. that's why the i.c.c. has announced its inquiry amy: earlier this week we spoke to congresswoman omar, the first african refugee to become a u.s. congress member, she talked about the refugee crisis.

ms. omar: it's heartwarming to see the incredible support from european countries, the united states, and everyone around the world that the ukrainians are experienng. as they flee war. everyone fleeing war deserves this level of compassion and hospitality. some of the countries thaare welcoming ukraine now are the same countries that have been oking fear against refugees who were fleeing the war in libya, and many other wars around the world. amy: david, do you think how ukrainians are being treated, now the e.u. took this unprecedented decision to grant newly arrived ukrainian

temporary protected status, temporary residence permits for access to medical treatment, employment, education, and all 27 countries of the e.u. if you could comment on that. this is a model of how refugees should be treated. but also the difficulty ukrainians are having getting into the u.k. your country. david: congresswoman omar makes a very important point that the unity of the e.u.27 very striking. it's very welcome. but unfortunately it's a contrast with the disunity that continues to exist about its global commitments to refugee resettlement and embrace of people fleeing from war. i think it's very important that we applaud the three-year temporary protected that's been enunciated by the e.u. we call on all other european states, not in the e.u., including u.k., norway, and switzerland to watch t i'm ashamed that the u.k. has not stepped up effectively. there's been some new

announcements this morning, but frankly, when people are fleeing a war, wawpt to let them in first and do the paperwork second. not the other way around. i think the u.k. has catching up to do when it comes to meeting the standards that should be expected. frankly expected by british people. it's remarkable outpouring of support there the british people. and the british government is far behind that. it's very, very important we use this as a moment to reset the understanding of who a refugee is, what they are fleeing from, and the treatment that they deserve until they are able to welcome them back. amy: we just have 20 seconds, were you the foreign secretary of the united kingdom. how do you see this war ending? david: i'm afraid it's a lot easier to see how this will go on than en. in the end this is now a trial of strength. i am afraid in the final two seconds i can't yet predict how it will end up. amy: i thank you so much for being with us. president and c.e.o. of the international rescue committee,

former foreign secretary of the united kingdom. that does it for our broadcast. very special thanks to the amazing team that put this broadcast together. democracy now! is produced with mike burke, renee phelps, maaaaa

>> today on "earth focus," food heroes. a new film looks at why combat veteran friends turned to farming. america's organic pioneers, and new models for food production. coming up on "earth focus." [music] >> it's important to me that