04/06/22 04/06/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> it is very hard. ey said ey hlready st him,hat i waa widow and i wanext. i waalready eparing mysf too out tohe orchard next and get shot. amy: as many ukrainians say they

have been brutalized by russian soldiers during the war and videos have emerged showing dead bodies lying in the street in bucha, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is blasting the united nations for failing to take action to end russia's invasion and prevent the atrocities. we will speak with washington post video reporter jon gerberg and hear from the people he interviewed. then to afghanistan, where the taliban has shut on public high schools for girls. >> it was like a day of mourning. it was like losing a loved one. everyone was crying. girls were hugging and crying and saying goodbye. amy: demanding to release frozen reserves from afghanistan central bank to avoid a total economic collapse. we will get an update from

afghan american women's rights activist masuda sultan and codepink's medea benjamin. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy addressed the united nations security council tuesday and blasted the united nations for failing to take action to end russia's invasion. he accused russian forces of executions, torture, and rape in the city of bucha where videos have emerged showing dead bodies ing in the street. >> due to the russia actions on the territory of my country, on ukrainian territory, most terrible war crimes since world war ii are committed. amy: the killings in bucha have led to new calls for sanctions.

on tuesday, the european union proposed banning coal imports from russia. meanwhile, russia is continuing to deny it killed civilians in bucha. on tuesday, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov accused ukraine and its allies of spreading propaganda about what happened there. >> in recent days, the propaganda machine of the west and ukraine has been working purely to fuel hysteria over the video that was filmed as we understand by the ukrainian military, but the security service in the town of bucha in the kyiv region. we are inclined to think the intention is to derail the negotiation's with ukraine. moreover, to do it at the moment when it began to glean, even if it was not too bright yet. amy: the russian defense ministry has claimed the killings in bucha occurred after russian troops withdrew from the region on march 30, but multiple news outlets report satellite imagery shows bodies lying in the streets of bucha before the russian troops left. meanwhile, ukrainian officials say another massacre occurred in

the town of borodyanka outside the capital kyiv. local officials say they fear as many 200 people have died. on tuesday, nato secretary general jens stoltenberg warned the war in ukraine is entering a new phase. >> in the coming weeks, we expect and further russian push on it eastern and southern ukraine. to try and take the entire donbas and to create the land bridge to occupy crimea. so this is a crucial phase of the war. amy: the biden administration pledged an additional $100 million in military aid to ukraine for the purchase of javelin anti-tank missiles. since the invasion began, the u.s. has approved at least $1.7 billion in military aid for ukraine. meanwhile, general mark milley, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, told lawmakers tuesday he expects the fighting in

ukraine to continue for years. >> i do think this is a very protracted conflict and i think it is at least measured in years for sure. this is a very extended conflict that russia has initiated. i think nat the united states, ukraine, and all the allies and partners that support ukraine will be involved in this for quite some time. amy: a coalition of aid groups are warning that west africa is facing its worst food crisis in a decade due in part to drought, floods, fighting, and the war in ukraine. 27 million people in west africa now need food assistance. that's four times the nber in 2015. the groups warn the number could jump to 38 million in june if urgent action is not taken. human rights watch is reporting that malian armed forces summarily executed 300 detained men last week in what the group describes as the worst single atrocity reported in mali's

decade-long armed conflict targeting islamist groups. human rights watch reports at least 100 russian troops or mercenaries took part in the operation. human rights watch's west africa director corinne dufka said -- "abuses by armed islamist groups is no justification at all for the military's deliberate slaughter of people in custody." in the united states, lawmakers in oklahoma have passed a near total ban on abortion. the bill makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. reproductive rights advocates say the oklahoma bill say is one of the most sweeping abortion bans because there is no exception for rape or incest and the ban starts at conception. this is tamya cox-touré, the executive director of the american civil liberties union of oklahoma. >> what we do know right now that this bill has no exceptions

and what essentially potentially end abortion access in oklahoma. at we also know is that for s manyeasons, pple willave to tvel ouof the state to get the care they need. and we know this because when texas lt its abortion aess, patients travel to oklahoma and providers wereaying more texas patients than they have ever seen before. so ts will just contin that domino effect of now texasnd oklahoma patients going to other stateso get care. amy: in other news about reproductive rights, colado governor jared polis has signed into law the reproductive health eqty act. the law codifies the right to abortion in colorado and bans local governments from imposing any restrictions on abortions. barack obama returned to the white house tuesday for the first time since leaving office five years ago. obama reunited with joe biden to mark the 12th anniversary of the

2010 affordable care act, often known as obamacare. pres. obama: it has prevented insurance comedy from denying people coverage based on pre-existing conditions, lowered prescription drug costs for 12 million seniors, allowed young people to stay on their parents plan until they are 26, eliminated lifetime limits on benefits that often put people in a jam. so we are incredibly proud of that work. amy: while biden obama hailed the success of obamacare, tre still 31 million uninsured americans. republican lawmakers are going to reject a new $10 million covid-19 aid deal may be in jeopardy. the white house announced it is ending the trump-era rule. the covid-19 a package has also

been criticized by many public health advocates in part because it strips out any funding for global efforts to fight covid-19. a coalition of aid groups criticized the proposal saying -- "if passed, this package would send the signal that congress has not only turned its back on the rest of the world, but it risked the safety d security of the american people and contributed to prolonging the pandemic." the biden administration is extending a pandemic pause on federal student loan repayments through august 31 after the relief was due to expire in may. news of the latest extension came less than 24 hours after hundreds of protesters in washington, d.c., led a march to the education department for a national day of action monday demanding the biden administration cancel all student debt and calling for a may day student debt strike if payments resumed. the house committee investigating the january 6 insurrection interviewed donald trump's daughter and former

white house advisor ivanka trump for about eight hours on tuesday. ivanka's husband jared kushner testified last week. both appeared before the committee voluntarily. in news from asia, the u.s. state department has approved $95 million in additional military aid to taiwan for its patriot missile defense system. this comes as the united states, australia, and the united kingdom announced plans to work together to develop hypersonic missiles in an effort to counter china's military. the u.s. has also acknowledged it tested a hypersonic weapon in mid-march, just days after russia fired one of its own hypersonic missiles in ukraine. in peru, protests are continuing in the capital lima as anger mounts over the rising prices fuel, food, and fertilizers. on the peruvian government sunday, announced it would temporarily scrap a fuel tax to try to stabilize prices. peruvian president pedro castillo faced widespread

criticism from human rights groups after he imposed a near-24-hour curfew in lima and the port city of callao in response to the nationwide demonstrations. hundreds of protesters defied the lockdown, forcing castillo to lift the curfew yesterday. on tuesday, police assaulted protesters with tear gas. meanwhile, at least four protesters have died in clashes with the police this past week according to peruvian government officials. in labor news, workers at a high-end starbucks in the chelsea neighborhood of manhattan have voted to become the first starbucks to unionize in new york city and the 10th store nationwide. during a recent town hall, starbucks' billionaire ceo howard schultz spoke out against the unionization drives. >> we can't ignore what is happening in the country as it relates to companies throughout the country being assaulted in many ways by the threat of

unionization. amy: earlier this week, senator bernie sanders referenced starbucks' ceo howard schultz during a speech on the floor of the senate. >> what the recent union victories tell me is that working people all over this country are sick and tired of being exploited by corporations who today are making record-breaking profits. they are sick and tired of billionaires like jeff bezos and howard schultz, the founder of starbucks, becoming obscenely richer during the pandemic while they, the workers, but their lives on the line working for inadequate wages, inadequate benefits, and unfair working conditions and schedules. amy: peggy bellecourt has died at the age of 78.

in 1968, she co-founded aim, the american indian movement, with her husband clyde bellecourt and others. peggy bellecourt was born in 1944 to an ojibwe mother and a japanese-american father. her parents separated after peggy's birth to prevent her from being sent to a u.s. internment camp during world war ii. and in gaza, 19-month-old baby has died after waiting for five months for israeli authorities to give her approval to live gaza for medical treatment. the baby was diagnosed last year with a hole in her heart. her family had book radical appoints for her in jerusalem in december and february but she was forced to miss both because our families request a leave gaza was "under review." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, as ukrainians say they have been brutalized i russian soldiers, ukrainian president zelenskyy is blasting

the u.n. for failing to take action. we will go to ukraine to speak with "washington post" video reporter jon gerberg and hear from the people he interviewed. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzalez. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is blasting the united nations for failing to take action to end russia's invasion and prevent russian atrocities. in an address to the united nations security council tuesday, he accused russian forces of executions, torture, and rape in the city of bucha, where videos have emerged showing dead bodies lying in the street. >> d to the russian actions on

the territory of my country, on ukrainian territory, most terrible war since world war ii are committed. amy: meanwhile, russia is continuing to deny it killed civilians in bucha. on tuesday, the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov accused ukraine and its allies of spreading propaganda about what happened in bucha in order to derail negotiations to end the war. this comes as ukrainian officials y another massacre occurred in the town of borodyanka outside kyiv, where local officials say as many 200 have died. for an update on what is happening on the ground in ukraine, we will be joined in a minute by "washington post" video journalist jon gerberg, who has been filing video reports from the war for the past six weeks. we begin with his newest video, published tuesday, in which a ukrainian family in lukashivka,

a village near chernihiv, describes how they were brutalized by russian soldiers during a three-week occupation. this is igor and his wife yulia and their son, also named igor. we meet yulia first. a warning to our listeners and viewers, this video contains descriptions of violent acts. >> this is our cellar. i went dn he in the beginng becaus i wascared. thrussiansntered ae were ke that r three eks. i was scared a the time the russiatroops, everythg. the kidsere not aaid. th would r around. >> we have thr kids d then my wifand i. we hav aice foified celr. the asonhe rusans lett was a litary m is beuse it allell but. they would not belve i was

juster husnd. i ought ias aoldier i disgui. -- ty though i was aoldier disguis itas staard predure. hopehe ribs th a rif but and l that. they would threaten to chop my arms off,ell us what,here and ho at youarms dow he. ey would take ax and cp comelmost geing fingers

amy: that's a "washington post" video interview published tuesday, yesterday, with a ukrainian family who endured a three-week occupation by russian soldiers in lukashivka, a village near chernihiv. for more, we speak with jon gerberg, the video journalist with "the washington post" who filed that report. he has been in ukraine for more than a month now. jon, it is great to have you with us. just to let people know, we worked with jon years ago at democracy now! that's a powerful report and we will play more of those. describe more what you found as

you have traveled, particularly, start by talking about this family. >> absolutely. good to be with you guys. this is just one of unfortunately far too many examples of the absolute atrocities and devastation that has been brought on so many ukrainian families across the country at this point. what we are finding now is as the russian forces are moving out of certain areas around key cities in ukraine, we are pulling back the veil of some of the more active conflicts that was keeping us, journalists -- the level of violence, i mean, you heard it in the video. we're talking torture, mock executions, threat of rape. this particular village is outside of the city of

lukashivka --chernihiv, which made headlines earlier. as far as we know, they were able to set up shop in the villages around the city and that is where if you're in the city, families in this small village were living really under the yoke of the threat of occupation in th described being abused, described being drunk and aggressive. another one of their neighbors who was not in the video described being hung from a tree. he was a military age male. he was beaten and harassed for days, giving up on life saying he was going to die at any moment. we have heard many, many of these stories from different areas.

often in the villages and towns outside bigger cities because as russians, agai strategicly try to encircle cities and would set up their military line outside in these smaller villages where a lot of the real brutality occurred. we are still at the point where we are just getting our first look in the past three days as we are able to travel on their own to report independently, to learn firsthand of these true atrocities on the ukrainians. juan: you're on your way from ukraine's capital kyiv to lviv. could you talk about what you are seeing on your drive? also, if you have been in some of the areas that were originally russian-occupied, i'm wondering -- we have heard a lot of reports about russian missiles and artillery hitting the ukrainian cities.

but clearly, if the russians were occupying these areas, i assume the ukrainian military was using its quite considerable firepower supplied by the u.s. to attack the russians. so i am wondering if you see any results of destruction in this area that maybe was not caused by the russians but was actually caused by ukrainian writers? -- fighters? >> yeah, this is the kind of thinthat investigators are going to be looking out for a very long time. we were in another small village recently and it is a great exampl i sent three reporting -- spent three reporting days visiting the town. our first two days, we could barely move in and around the city because the shelling going about directions was nonstop there was barely a minute or two

that went by without shelling. that was gng in both directions. at that point, we were on the ukrainian side of the line. on the third day was the day after [indiscernible] amy: we are losing a little bit. go ahead. >> ok. amy: on the third day -- take it from on the third day. >> absolutely. on the third day, we were able to cross in because [indiscernible] this is our third reporting day, the day after the russians pulled back. there was massive destruction. we were basically able to get to this small village where the russians had set up a front line. when they had left, the locals who had survived, they mentioned scores of civilians and neighbors have been killed by the russians, described --

amy: we're going to go to one of the people you interviewed. this is valentyna omelchuk, a grandmother spent a month hiding out in basement, more like a root cellar, in makariv, ukraine, which is west of kyiv. she told you she hadn't spoken to her daughter or grandchildren in kyiv for a month. this is part of the "washington post" video port pubshed moay. >> it was scary. it was scary when the planes were flying toward kyiv. there re flyingig over us and we cld hear em. then every daytwo days were particularly horble. the ruians were comin forth like cockroaches.

amy: that is valentyna omelchuk, a grandmother who spent a month hiding in her basement west of kyiv. jon, she told you she had not spoken to her granddaughter -- her daughter or grand children for a month? >> that's right, amy. we actually were able [indiscernible] sometimes civilians aren't able to move around. we were able to we filmed this piece, contact her daughter and her grandchildren in kyiv right now and at least pass along that her mother was her life -- was a lie. that was the first her daughter had heard any news. you can't your small blessings there.

this is one of countless families that have been separated and cut off from each other and have no access to basic communication. no way to know if -- amy: i am asking for folks to bear with us. it is amazing we even have this connection. he is about an hour from lviv. as we watched back grandmother, i think of my own. she was born in the same town in 1897. we're going to turn to another of jon gerberg's reports from early march and was in residential area 50 miles south of kyiv. he spoke with a 15-year-old girl named anna bogalchuk, who described how she was home in

bed when a blast hit.

line amy: she was 15 years old in bila tserkva. that is about 50 miles south of kyiv. jon gerberg, tell us more about this teenager. >> [indiscernible]

impressive young woman. we were reporting -- very large blast. amy: we can hardly hear you so we're going to go to another of your reports and call you back. this is part of jon gerberg's "washington post" video report from last march when he was in the village of moshchun, just 20 miles north of the capital kyiv, and spoke to a ukrainian soldier. first, a warning to our viewers. this video contains graphic content.

>> it as impornt forhem, so it was iortant f us to fend. yo can seehe fightg here was intense bue won and they reeated. at is thbackpackf a ruian soler. looklike forr russia soldie of cour. you can seit. he fgot his ammo en hwas runng! and sssor well, that inot veryseful. ok, he w a machi gunner. ye hwas a maine gunn. i just loing for mething

useful. thats how waorks. i n't lieve in any negotiatns with ssia eve i w the rrom 2014 i knowo one ca tru russia. never. the onlyangue that russian understands is a language of force. it is terrible to understand at, tho people, tse families as you n see the rts of their les there. they were lying on the ground. a child's bicycletoys, books. you nnderand youralking through livesof peoe who ner expect war but sll the war desoyed everying. we h a dream tt wh we will be with wn war is ende we

wi create buildingompany and weill rebud everytng. at is small drmf a soldie to goack and build some houses. i think that will be great. amy: that, jon gerberg, tell us more about this ukrainian soldier. >> sure, amy. apologies for the connection. as you can see, this is an issue we have run into a lot of reporting. big challenges of eliminating what is going on in some many of these -- illuminating what is going on in so many of these villages cut off by the fighting in various ways. what you just heard and watched was a report we did in a small viage of moshcun. it is right outside -- right on the edge of kyiv. the russians had taken it over and were using it as an entry

point into kyiv, or at least trying to, and the ukrainians fought very hard to take it back. he spent time with soldiers who have been camped out there on the front lines fighting day in and day out. it had been such a contested piece of land. it was a remote village in the woods. soldiers were having to do five and six day rotations before they could rotate themselves back out to base. you can imagine how taxing that was on their bodies and psyche for the five or six days on the front line under constant shelling. you can hear in some of the video the bombs constantly going off. this is a war that has had a

believable impact on the men and women fighting it and the men and women stuck in the middle of it as civilians by no choice of their own. juan: jon, in her reporting, what most surprised you in terms -- in your reporting, what most surprised you in terms of the scenes and the people you interview? >> a lot. i'm constantly blown away by -- we talked about resilience a lot, but the ability every day people, young and old, men and women, people not to be able just to survive buadapt to the situation and take ca of each other and find ways to feed each other and shelter each other and get each other to safety.

i am constantly just in awe of the people, many of whom i think you have gotten a chance to meet even briefly in some of these videos. i have also been amazed to see one of the interesting things about this conflict is the closeness of russian and ukrainian society. in so many of the people in the sides of this fight, this war, speak the same language -- at least understand the same language, and have family on both sides and have connections that go back many generations. when russians occupied some of these villages that we have been to, they were living side-by-side with civilians. and even though they were occupying their villages with military might, they were also -- some of them would share

meals and in a moment of -- give some food to a child but then we heard one story with the family you met at the beginning where one russian took sympathy on their kids and would bring bread to their two younger sons but other russian soldiers did not like this, said -- they beat the soldier. they described it as honest eating him to death -- they described it as almost beating him to death for having sympathy. there are extensions of sympathy and compassion, completely corrupted by the absolute gravity of the war. but sing that kind of complexity even in such a brutal war -- something i'm still trying to

wrap my head around. amy: we are going to go to your last video report that you filed sunday with "the washington post" from a village of andriivka, west of kyiv, where russian troops withdrew after a month of waging war and terrorizing residents. first, warning, and, the graphic images.

amy: that last voice, video report filed by jon gerberg for "the washington post." jon, we hope you stay safe as you continue your journey to lviv and then on o the country. when we come back, we speak with the afghan american women's rights advocate masuda sultan and codepink's medea benjamin

who were just out of afghanistan. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn to afghanistan, where

women have led protests in reonse to the taliban's order in mararch to shut down public high schools for girls. the taliban have also issued a number of other new restrictions. women have been barred from flying without a male companion. men and women will no longer be allowed in public parks on the same day. and all male government workers must grow beards or risk being fired. this is 16-year-old khadija from kabul, one of the many students who was told she had to go home after she excitedly arrived for her first day of school last month. >> it was like a day of mourning. it was like losing a loved one. everyone was crying. the girls were hugging and crying and saying goodbye. even if it would be very difficult, i still wanted to be a doctor. i like doctor's white coats but now i cannot do anything. my future israel and. amy: and this is a school teacher at a protest outside afghanistan's education ministry in kabul.

the taliban are scared of an educated girl. if a girl is educated, the families educated. if a family is educated, nation is educated. amy: the move prompted u.s. officials to cancel talks with taliban leaders in doha last month to address the economic catastrophe in afghanistan triggered by a botched withdrawal of u.s. troops and sanctions imposed after the taliban gained control of the country last august. meanwhile, aid groups continue to demand the biden administration and european leaders release frozen reserves from afghanistan's central bank, warning without the funds, afghanistan faces total collapse. last month, u.n. secretary-general antónio guterres warned that the nation's already dire humanitarian situation is worsening as the u.n. donors' conference for afghanistan raised barely half of its $4.4 billion goal. >> 95% of people do not have enough to eat and 9 million

people are at risk of famine. unicef said civilian -- severely as a result of the war in ukraine. amy: for more, we're joined in dubai by masuda sultan, afghan american women's rights activist, part of the u.s.-afghan women's council, and a founding member of unfreeze afghanistan. and joining us in washington, d.c., is longtime anti-war activist medea benjamin, co-founder of codepink and unfreeze afghanistan. they've both just returned from a trip to afghanistan with a women's delegation. welcome back to democracy now! masuda come you go to your home country of afghanistan. tell us what you found and what you are calling for. >> well, amy, medea and i and a oup of six other american women activists who have been working in afghanistan for the past 20, 25 years were hoping to

go for the reopening of schools. just before our trip, we heard, as we all heard, girls above the age of seventh grade to 12th were stopped. we also the images of girls crying and being sent away. we have to make a decision about what we were going to do. believe me, the day that happened march 23, i could not get out of bed. i was crying, as were the girls and women of afghanistan, as was the world. but we made a decision we needed to go to afghanist precise because we wanted to advocate for these girls. we have been advocating for the relee of theentral bank assets and increased aid. i really glad we went because what i learned on this trip is that afghanistan needs engagement. the afghan people need the taliban government and the united states to cooperate. if we're going to throw a fit

and decide to isolate them eve time they do something which is abhorrent, we're going to further isolate the people of afghanistan. when you drive around kabul, it is not easy to understand what is going on until you start talking to people. when you talk to people, rely so many of them have lost the dignity of their jobs, the neighbors and the friends that used to support them don't have the income either to support them. many people are sfering silently in their homes stop the food distribution. we found families were not getting food even in kabul and that is where all of the international community is. so that is very concerning. the economic crisis is compounded by the sanctions, but the lack of cash. it seems every time there is a showdown between the taliban and the international community, it is the afghan people that suffer. one afghan woman said to me, "we

got one slap i the taliban and another slap from the international community." juan: medea, could you talk about the meetings with the taliban leaders, what you discussed with them? also, this whole issue of the central bank moneys that were seized by the u.s. and the western powers. clearly, this whole issue of globalization is taking a big glove these days because if countries have their money seized becse it is outside the country, that is going to push the whole move for globalization further and further back. >> having seen those horrific scenes in ukraine, to recognize the united states dropped over 85,000 bombs in afghanistan over 20 years and was never held accountable for anything. in fact, when hopefully this war in ukraine is over soon, the world community is going to ask russia to pay reparations.

there were no reparations paid by the united states on the contrary, the u.s. has stolen $7 billion of afghan funds. the biden administration could have released that money right away and did not. in fact, has separated out $3.5 million as possible compensation for 9/11 families. we had kelly campbell from 9/11 families for peaceful tomorrows on the trip with us who may very compelling talks in afghanistan about how that money come every single penny of it, belonged to the afghan people. the other $3.5 billion is supposed to go back for afghanistan and it has not gone back. so there is a huge the quiddity crisis in the country right now. we met with members of the central bank and they told us how difficult it is to run an economy when you cannot get access to your accounts, when people cannot get access to their own accounts. we met with women at the

reopening of the afghan women's chamber of commerce and women business leaders said to us they cannot even get the money to pay the salaries of their employees. we met a very poor woman on the street who came up to us crying saying she cannot get her pension. so we are now having a kind of economic warfare against the afghan people, and that is why it is so important for us to demand from the biden administration and from our members of congress that all of that money be released and the usb much more generous in giving humanitarian aid and develop an aid. there was a new decree put out by the taliban that says they will stop poppy production. this is something the u.s. had tried to do for years, totally unsuccessfully. they are asking the international community for help to provide farmers with alternative crops. this is a tremendous opportunity for the international community to get involved and help to reshape the afghan economy.

conditioni aid and delopment assistance is the absolute wrong thing to do right now. juan: masuda come again, when you met with taliban officials, what did they tell you? >>e also met people from the ministry of education who worked very clearly committed to girls education, were saying -- you know, this is the problem. this decision came at the last minute from the top down, from the emir himself. the reports are there were people within the leadership council, a minority, that convinced him to not allow these high school girls to go to school -- which does not make any sense because women in college and universities are still going andttending university. it is st this particular set of young womenhat are being held back.

it is unfortunate because fr our discussions with everyone we talked to among t taliban, they said they wanted girls to go to school and were waiting for the emir to continue. they thought it would come at any day, any moment. i cannot say they said this, but it seems they were upset about it. they said if the emir says at 11:00 weekend do it, we will open the schools. it seems all eyes are on this one person to make that the right decision. and we hope that comes soon enough because these girls cannot wait. lots of fathers told us they did not know what to tell her daughters when their sun goes off to school in the morning. i think a lot of afghan people are feeling very disturbed about all of this. there has been protest and we need pressure on the emir to

reverse this decision. the good news is within the taliban movement itself, there seems to be quite a bit of dissent around this coming in tweets and a lot of comments saying that decision should be reversed. juan: i am wondering, we are saying all the reports othe billions of dollars in humanitarian and military aid that the west is providing to ukraine right now, as well as the welcoming of the refugees yet here in afghanistan, secretary-general antonio guterres i said so far the u.n. is 11 able to raise half of the $4.4 billion goal 28 afghanistan. what is the status of those who left afghanistan after the taliban seid power? how are the afghan refees being treated right now? >> it is a good point you bring up about the age because, look, what happened in afghanistan

this humanitarian catastrophe is not normal catastrophe. it is one the united states has played an active role in causing. on the one hand, yes, wre the largest donors to afghanistan put on the other hand, we have crippled their enomy and we supported, rember,e supported a government previously that was kleptocratic , abusive, and corrupt. weave talk to lotsf people who talked about corrupt ngos, corrupt government officials, abuses committed by the previous officials and the army and the police. these people have really suffered as a result of our policies. and now that they're trying to get on their ft, we are literally have the entire country in a strangulation. so the united states bears a lot of responsibility for what has happened in afghanistan and we should be stepping up as well with others around the world. remember the coalition of 40 plus countries that invaded afghanistan. we all have a responsibility to help the country get right.

what is happening in ukraine is obviously awful, we feel for the people. but we cannot forget our responsibility to the people of afghanistan who are now rated is the highest level of suffering in the world. a gallup poll says 90% of the people don't think united states is interested in fixing this. everyone we talked to said the united states and the afghan authorities, we need them to cooperate. we need groups like you, normal americs, to come and enge. if we wash our hands of this country and isolate it again, we're just going to be repeating the mistakes of the 1990's. we all know how that ended. amy: idea benjamin, 10 seconds. you have heard the description of vladimir putin as a war criminal by president biden. your thoughts as you come out of afghanistan in the context of the war in ukraine? >> unfortunately, the u.s. would

not allow the international criminal court to even investigate u.s. potential war crimes in afghanistan and the were many. the u.s. is not even a party to the international criminal court. it would be nice, judgment against those who took us into this waro7ñ;ñ;?k

♪ hello and welcome back to nhk "newsline." i'm takao in new york. a senior official at the pentagon says russian troops have completed their withdrawal from the area around kyiv, but they've left their imprint on the landscape and those who live there. they've destroyed buildings and lives. investigators have found bodies throughout the suburb of bucha in the streets and u t