>> this is a live from paris. it is 9:00 p.m. and i am tom burges watson. these are your top stories. the convoy leaves the encircled city of mariupol in the first successful civilian evacuation via humanitarian corridor. the number of people fleeing ukraine goes up every day. since the russian invasion began, more than 2.8 million refugees have left the country. and the french government unveils a to billion euro package aimed at questioning

soaring fuel costs. will have the details coming up with yuka royer. ♪ welcome back. we begin in the southern ukrainian port city of mariupol, where a convoy of 160 vehicles left today in what appears to be the first successful attempt to arrange a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from that city. people in that city have been trapped more than two weeks with dwindling supplies, and in most cases, without electricity or running water. hundreds, possibly thousands of civilians have died in my. amongst the dead was a pregnant woman who was photographed last week after being evacuated from a bombed maternity hospital.

shelling by russian forces has been hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid that area. elsewhere in the ukraine, nine people are reportedly killed in the western city of river in a after russian forces hit a television tower. russia says an attack by ukrainian forces in donetsk resulted in the deaths of 20 people. more details about exactly what happened are not clear, but separatist fighters say that they shut down the rocket, and its fragments killed civilians. nevertheless, moscow called it a war crime. russian shelling struck kyiv today. for the first time, shells hit a residential building in the capital. people in the building were -- had returned to try to salvage whatever belongings they could. our correspondent in kyiv with the latest on the aftermath of that russian attack. reporter: this building was hit this morning around 5:00 a.m.,

and as you can see, it is a nine story building. here we have the entrance to one of the staircases of the building. it is completely destroyed. this is where this missile rocket hit this building, and for the moment, we are being told by shihab rattansi here that two people died, nine were wounded, it -- we are being told by inhabitants here that two people died, nine were wounded, and others had to be evacuated. one woman told us she was sleeping when she heard the missile coming, it woke her up and three seconds later, a huge detonation and all the windows were blown inside the building. luckily for her, she was on the first floor on the other side of this building and she managed to get out unscathed like her parents. indeed, this is quite a shock. as you can see right now, we

have people who are trying to recuperate some of their belongings in these flats that are now completely destroyed, loading them into cars in order to be able to take them to the next place they will believe in, which means a lot of uncertainty. another important thing is that this is northern kyiv, and what we do here a lot here in the north is a lot of artillery, departures, and we also hear the noise of the missiles being fired back at the russian forces. that is pretty much a relentless sound that you hear in the distance of these explosions. tom: james andrew in the capital of kyiv. over at the correspondent is in love we have, in the western part of the country -- in love lvi here is what he told us. v. reporter: the most important

thing ukrainians are very quick to emphasize, is that contrary to what the russians are saying, there were no russian fighters killed in a suspect. there were 40 fighters who volunteered to come and fight amongst ukraine and one of the places they were regrouping before being sent to combat areas is this space, which has been the main base of the ukrainians international military corporation, a place where the terry missions were organized. that is why it was a prime target for the russians, who had said they wanted to eliminate these people who the russians called mercenaries. not sure of any evidence that they were being paid, these foreign fighters. but ukrainians stressed that no foreign fighters were killed were injured. they also noted that these missiles were fired from airplanes that were not in ukrainian airspace, they were

over the azov sea, judging by their trajectory. which raises the question of the no-fly zone that the ukrainian side has been calling for, whether it would really work if the planes are not even flying over ukrainian airspace. some experts in ukraine say what the country needs is to be provided with much more sophisticated surface defense systems -- -- surface-to-air missile defense systems. by the ukrainians own admissions, they once they once they have have not been very effective. they have been effective to some degree, but the ukrainians say they could get much more effective at preventing these kind of attacks. tom: gulliver cragg reporting from lviv. an antiwar protester interrupted the main division news program this evening on russia's channel one television. the protester was rrying a banner that read "not believe the propaganda, and stop the war in ukraine."

you can see the news anchor d the protester coming just behind. that particular channel, describes the russian invasion as "a special operation.". it also supports the claims of the kremlin that the goal of that russian operation is to do not see -- is de-nazification of ukraine. fresh talks began today between moscow and kyiv, the fourth round of talks in the space of two weeks. it concluded without breakthroughs, but the talks will continue tomorrow. negotiations were held by videoconference. the two sides traded accusations over civilian deaths. the ukrainian delegation is seeking a cease-fire and troop patrol. president zelensky said today that the meeting with president putin was his longer-term goal. here's what he said.

did nancy fight [speaking foreign language] tom: president zelenskyy speaking there. let's get more and crossed to kyiv and speak to the ukrainian mp, who joins us now. thank you so much for joining us. i wanted to start by asking you what the situation is like this evening where you are. >> good evening. we don't say good anymore in ukraine, these are horrible times. i am not in the center of kyiv, but kyiv has been under attack at every night for the past three weeks. that has been a lot of sailings and bombings intercepted by our air defense systems. i have seen just yesterday, a couple of rockets intercepted just above my head.

so unfortunately, for the first time, this city in the north of keebler was hit and a lot of civilians wounded. this is normal for ", just to scare people and tcreate more war crimes, t neglect all the geneva conventions, all humanitarian law, he just wants to create more and more humanitarian crisis and pressure as, pressure the world basically to let him get away with everything he does. but i am sure he will not get away with it now. tom: incredibly difficult for that to be going on at the same time negotiators from ukraine are having to meet face-to-face with or via videoconference, with negotiators from russia. what is your take on the talks today. the report to be god made it

than perhaps the previous three rounds of talks. >> well, let me say personally, i would not believe any words putin says, any promises that his soldiers or his negotiation makes. obviously we cannot believe him anymore, and it has been for a while like that, but we do continue negotiation. some of my colleagues, members of parliament, are involved, because we need humanitarian corridors, for people to get out of this mess putin is creating in peaceful cities. we need the citizens of mariupol to be able to evacuate. kyiv low to evacuate women and children, which they started to do two days ago. the situation was horrible because every time we would take people on the humanitarian corridor, putin would give in order to shell the

humanitarian corridor. now the situation is getting a little bit better. i believe in terms of saving lives, we need to do whatever we can to create those who monitor corridors. in terms of where to go with ending the war, this depends unfortunately only on putin and furthermore, on our soldiers, our army, under sanctions, on closing the sky from the international community demand, and on other economic isolations that putin might get, because he will not stop by himself. he has already committed so many were crimes, he has been a war criminal for these three weeks, at least, and i am sure he will not stop. we would need the whole anti-putin coalition. economic sanctions going further, the closing of the sky.

and our army to hold to stop him. tom: from what you are saying, it sounds like a compromise will be really difficult to find, something that is acceptable to both kinds. it also sounds like it will be difficult if a compromise is found, for you gre to live -- for ukraine to live with russia as a neighbor. how do you see this unfolding? >> well, you don't choose your neighbors. i wrote another long time ago when putin bombed the maternity wing hospital in mariupol, and a woman who was actually injured and nine months pregnant, she just died today because of those bombs a couple of days ago. i told that i cannot imagine living with this kind of people near, and in the future i cannot imagine how we will be able to

and his soldiers and anybody who supports him right now. i cannot imagine that my kids will be able to do that. as to the compromise, you cannot tell a victim to have a compromise with a rapist. if somebody wants to review and the police say, -- if somebody wants to of rape you and the police say find a compromise -- this is not a compromise, that is a horrible logic of our world that doesn't have a security system right now. ukraine will not compromise its existence. i will not compromise the existence of my country, my people, and their lives. obviously we will defend the territory, we will defend our lives and our kids. putin needs to be stopped not just for us, but for the whole security of the world, because he will go later on after -- he

went after georgia, ukraine, moldova, he already made remarks to finland and latvia, estonia, to poland, anybody who helps ukraine. he just yesterday bombed an international peacekeeping center 12 kilometers near the polish border. the border of a nato country, just about 50 minutes from it. he will not be stopped unless we stop him with a big, hard, anti-putin coalition. unfortunately the history repeats itself. it is the anti-hitler coalition that can stop him and i hope it will not take too long. simon:. tom: i can hear from what you are saying that you feel that ukrai's allies have not been decisive and supportive enough, i also got that impression from

your twitter feed as well. do you think the average person in ukraine fls let down by their allies? >> actually, it is a hard question, because the support we get, we really appreciate. we get a lot of support. i know that the sanctions towards russia are unimaginable, the hugest we have ever had. russia is facing more sanctions than iran ever did, or even north korea. but the problem is that what is going on in ukraine is unimaginable and they think we have never had it in the middle of europe, somebody just destroying all the international order, are the international security system, humanitarian law like putin does. that is why we appreciate the sanctions, but we do ask you to do more in terms of closing the sky, not even on the whole of ukraine, because maybe this is difficult. but closing the sky, we know

putin already seized one of the biggest power plants. closing the sky of the humanitarian corridors to let people go out. also, economic sanctions and embargoes for russian products and russian cargo, stopping russians to come to the ports. putin could not continue to shell and bump our cities if he does not have the money and the economic power to dohat. i am a lawyer, i worked with a lot of big companies, but unfortunately right now, some big companies stay in russia and pay their taxes, and it is going to bomb children's hospitals, maternity, schools, and basically kill women and children and civilians. he is not killing military bases. we have had more losses from the civilian population that from the military.

it is horrible. we need complete economic isolation of putin to stop him. if he is not stopped, he will not stop at ukraine. we need to watch a lot of russian tv right now to understand what they are thinking and what they are talking. even those videos of state owned russian channels, they say we will bomb the rest of the world, and the rest of the world will know how big russian fire is. this is what they are thinking. this is the twisted logic of a dictator in the shelter somewhere there, in the bunker. and this is what they're doing. tom: we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. aluna skrum, mp in kyiv. thank you for joining us. the number of people who have fled ukraine is edging up, fast approaching the 3 million mark since the russian began on 24th of february, more than 2.8

million refugees have left the country, making this a europe's largest refugee exodus since the second world war. according to unicef, more than one million of the refugees are children. the vast majority of them, around 1.7 million refugees, have crossed into poland. reporter: in romania, moldova, hungary and poland, scenes of desperation as ukrainians leave everything behind. the vast majority are women and children, as most men are required to stay behind and fight. >> i came with my mother and my three children. my husband stayed there. he is going to defend ukraine. >> people are dying. it is the most horrible thing that is going on right now. all i hope is that it will end soon, because i left my home, --

reporter: days after leaving to escape the violence, this couple arrives at this reception center in southern poland. they are among at least 1.7 million ukrainians seeking safety across the polish border. the u.s. says it is the fastest-growing refugee crisis in europe in more than 80 years, a crisis that the e.u.'s top department leaves at the feet of vladimir putin. >> in fact, my visit comes against the backdrop of the barbaric aggression by putin on the people of ukraine. i am repeating -- barbaric attack by putin. this is putin's war. on the people of ukraine. reporter: in addition to the mass exodus, it is estimated that at least 2 million ukrainians have been internally displaced. many of them have fled to the west of the country to cities like lviv.

meanwhile conditions for many inside the country are growing dire every day. in the besieged city of mariupol, doesn't limited out through a so-called humanitarian corridor on monday, but thousands remain there, still suffering having spent days without water, heat, or electricity. tom: in other news, it has been more than 10 months since talks were re-launched in vienna with the goal of reviving the iran nuclear deal. just as it looks like the deal was close, russia made fresh demands, demanding that the western sanctions imposed due to the invasn with ukraine but not damage russian trade with iran. washington has dismissed moscow's demands as irrelevant and says the ball is in iran and russia's courts. the iranian foreign minister is heading to moscow on tuesday for further talks. he -- our correspondent is in tehran with this update

diplomats. rerter: say that those external factors have to do with russia's demands to washington. essentially russia telling washington to give us sanctions relief for the war in ukraine, otherwise we will not support the iranuclear deal. russia is a major signatory the deal, seemingly a supporter of the deal, but now apparently holding the deal hostage. no woron when the talks in vienna will resume, so many people here in iran are shaking their head in disappointment. tom: reza seyah, reporting from tehran. time now for a check of the business stories. i am joined by yuka royer. as a russia leaves a trail of disruption across ukraine, the economic cost of the war just keeps on climbing. yuka: the government in kyiv low as well as banks has continued to functions. ukraine's economyould plunge

into a deep recession as the war drags on. in its latest report, the imf says the country's gdp is expected to shrink 10% this year in the best-case scenario, but if the conflict doesn't end swiftly, the economic outlook could fall between 25% and 35%. ukraine is among the poorest nations in europe, but its economy grew 3.2% last year. russia's invasion changed the situation overnight. the imf last week approved an emergency aid package of $1.4 billion. as the fourth round of talks took place between russia and ukraine, global oil prices briefly dipped below $100 a barrel on hopes of progress. lockdowns in china due to rising covid cases have also added to the pressure. brent and wti are down 5% to 7%.

this week after skyrocketing to an all-time high. rising energy prices have been hitting consumers hard. they had already been surging before russia invaded ukraine in late february, but the war exacerbated the situation. in france, the government announced it would finance a payback scheme for motorists starting in april. drivers would get a $.15 discount for every letter of fuel that they buy. the cost of living is a major concern for political leaders, less than four weeks before the presidential election. our correspondent has more. reporter: a new government initiative to come soaring fuel prices -- to combat soaring fuel prices. from april 1, there will be a $.15 reduction per gallon of fuel in france. it has been met by a mixed reaction -- with mixed reaction by motorists.

reporter: the move will also benefit fishermen, like here in the city. for them, a leader of fuel has doubled from $.60, to one euro $.20. the hike has already affected the price of fish, seeing in markets like this all over the country. >> [speaking in french] reporter: another sector beginning to feel the effects is housing. because of the uncertainty around the impact of war, the french public are thinking twice about investing. this estate agent in paris has already felt the impact. visits to their website since the start of the war have

decreased dramatically. according to one recent analysis, the war could cost e-commerce growth one percentage point of this year. yuka: the war in ukraine has world global commodity markets as well. trading in nickel has been suspended for almost a week after its price doubled in a matter of hours last tuesday. news media are now reporting that a ban on russian nickel, uranium and titanium is on the table for washington, as it seeks further sanctions. our correspondent has more. reporter: nickel traders are in for a wild ride as fears about

the fallout of the war prompted a trading rush. the metal is used in stainless steel and electric vehicle that batteries and russia's supply accounts for 7% of the world supply. in early march, prices doubled, causing the london metal exchange to suspend trading. car manufacturers worn that the industry could struggle. >> so far, surprisingly, we have not been hurt so much because our supplier base is not so much in the eastern part of europe, which is a big difference with some of our competitors, and our german competitors. reporter: one major because of the crash was a chinese producer which had short sold tens of thousands of nickel, betting that the prices would go down. russian mining giant, is the world's largest producer of

palladium and refined nickel, and in an interview, the president of the firm insisted that despite sanctions, he would find ways to uphold its commitments. >> our primary goal is to secure a foothold in those markets where we have a position already, not to leave them. we offer a long-term contracts which provide more smooth price changes, not linked to a exchange prices. reporter: when the company moved to suspend training on tuesday, more than half of your trades are canceled to contain the volatility. yuka: office the impact of war is spreading. tom: thank you very much for bringing us the latest on that, yuka royer from the business desk. that's it from me. i will be back in two and half minutes.

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03/14/ 03/14/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we crossed the first bridge. we are going to film other refugees leaving. somebody offered to take us to the other bridge and we got to the checkpoint and they started shooting at us. so they turned around and they kept shooting. my fri