ñçñqñqñqñqññññ#ñ#wwñ?ñ? peter: welcome to “focus on europe.” in germany's capital berlin and around the world, people have been taking to the streets to demonstrate their outrage over russia's ongoing assault on the people of ukraine. at the brandenburg gate, a “sound of peace” event appealed for an end to the bloodshed. over 12 million euros in donations were collected for the victims of the war.

meanwhile, moving video messages, this time from kristina, at the heart of the suffering and uncertainty. she fears her country could literally be wiped off the map. like millions of other young men and women from this once-flourishing country, there appears to be no future between the bombs and the bunkers. we have some shattering testimonies and cries for help from ukraine, from young people in kharkiv, kherson, and lviv. reporter: kristina was born and raised in kharkiv. the 21-year-old had built a life there together with her partner. the war took them, and so many others, by surprise. kristina: i didn't hear the bomb attack. it started at 5:00 in the morning, and after one hour, my dad called me, and i feel like, oh my god, why did my dad call me? maybe war starts, ha, ha ha?

and really, war starts, and --. reporter: kristina and her partner fled, taking the train to lviv. they left their home and their relatives behind in kharkiv, along with all their plans and dreams, laid waste by putin's war. a young marketing expert, kristina is not only worried about her own future but about the future of her country. kristina: i am just afraid that when it will be over, there will be no ukraine on the world map. that's my biggest fear. i hope we will rebuild our country because i love it very, very much. reporter: after arriving in lviv, sh tried to focus on the positive. kristina: that was the most happiest moment of this week.

i had normal food and washed my hair. and it was kind of fantastic. in kharkiv, you can't do this. reporter: but the happiness was short-lived. kristina soon began to feel guilty, and blamed herself for leaving her family in kharkiv. kristina: i hate myself because i can take a shower. i hate myself because i have wi-fi. i hate melf because they are in kharkiv, and i'm in safety. reporter: an acquaintance sent kristina photos of people in kharkiv trying to keep themselves supplied with the bare necessities. kristina has been in constant contact with her family and friends. kristina: i asked them to leave kharkiv. and they were thinking about it

all night. and in the morning, she said that they will stay there, and --. reporter: yuri holub is in kharkiv. we first made contact with him just after the war started. he's an avid soccer fan. whether munich or amsterdam, hardly any stadium was too far for him and his wife viktoria during peacetime. but then, they became trapped in an air-raid shelter in his hometown. yuri: they're not only hitting military targets here but regular apartment buildings, as well. we can't even go out to get a breath of fresh air. reporter: he and his wife stayed in this cellar in central kharkiv, together with their neighbors and their dogs and cats. yuri: we're hoping our partners will help us to stop these idiots, these enemies. reporter: here, kharkiv has been under siege.

many civilians were said to have been killed during the previous night. yuri: we stay in the bomb shelter, because so many saboteurs are at work, laying booby trs and killing people in the streets. reporter: yuri went out every day to try to scrape together food for his family and others in the building. fuel has also been in short supply in kharkiv. yuri: this city is very big, and people need fuel for their cars to get to the supermarkets that are open. people wait in their cars for hours to get some, but that's necessary for survival here. reporter: yuri is a retail buyer for supermarkets. he showed us the empty shelves, saying there was hardly any bread left, nor fish, milk, semolina, or barley.

a palette of fresh eggs went in minutes. three days earlier, an apartment complex had been hit. in this city alone, the death toll climbed to over 150. before the war, kharkiv had a population of 1.5 million. nobody knows how many remain. yuri: we've just driven to a spring to pick up water for the residents of our building. they can't go out. shots are being fired right now, but not here in this district. reporter: yuri was trying to get his wife and relatives out of the city. the danger was too great for them to stay. at last, it looked like he had found a way. yuri: we're at the train station, trying to evacuate our families. we're standing by the train, hoping everything will work out alright. reporter: his wife viktoria set out for the polish border without him. viktoria: we're at the station.

on the whole, everything's fine. we're alive. reporter: we were later informed that his wife had made it. yuri stayed on in kharkiv to help. over 500 kilometers farther south, in kherson, kateryna is also taking shelter. kateryna: maybe today it's my last interview, my last talk. and i all the time write to my boyfriend that i love him, because i didn't know which message -- which message can be my last. reporter: kateryna's boyfriend anders is from denmark. they have been in a long-distance relationship for two years. now, she is in a war zone, and he's over 2000 kilometers away. anders: it's really -- it's still hell. you also cannot stop thinking about what is going on in ukraine, what is going on with my girlfriend. reporter: just a few months ago, they

celebrated christmas together. they began the new year with mutual plans. kateryna: in march, we planned to move in together, but, not a good time, not the right timing. reporter: the last time they saw each other was in late january. when they said goodbye, anders had had a bad feeling, as if he'd sensed hard times lay ahead. anders: i remember this conflict being more and more present in the news, and i was like, maybe a mistake to let her go home at this point. reporter: he wishes he had been wrong. but anders' feeling has proven all too true. anders: the evening before, she had to talk to her parents. they were starting to get worried. and they wanted her to leave as fast as possible. so, we had decided to book plane tickets for 6, march. but then, the following morning, she woke me with a message, a picture of one of these clouds from an explosion and said that, “it has begun.”

reporter: kateryna's family has a small op. during the first days of the war, they keptheir neighbors supplied with groceries. but as the russian forces moved closer, even that got to be too dangerous. kateryna: even they're hungry, we didn't want them to shoot us or come and take out all food what we have. then, we just hide. reporter: kherson was the first major ukrainian city to be occupied by russian forces. some residents are still venturing out into the streets to protest against the war, but not kateryna. she's afraid to leave her building. the family still has enough provisions. they only go out to board up the doors and windows. kateryna: we are prisoner in our own city. we are prisoner in our own houses. we are prisoners and powerless. right now, it's our shelf,

where we sleep. you can see place for mom, a little more down for me, and from the side for the father. anders: every moment i'm scared that something will happen to her. i try not to show this too much to her. kateryna: i want to go to my boyfriend and stay there, because otherwise, i will be broken to the end. i just want to be safe, and now. that's my plan. reporter: and that's their only plan, until they meet again. peter: well in russia itself, the propaganda war is in full swing as tens of thousands join a rally to mark the invasion off ukraine.

the message is, the russian people are standing by their leader. outside russia, only very few countries have given visible backing to putin. one is serbia. belgrade traditionally has close ties with russia. and many serbs see the russians as their brothers. so some are not protesting against the invasion, but demonstrating fierce support for it. reporter: these serbian nationalists are staging a pro-russian car rally in belgrade. they're on russian president vladimir putin's side. >> we're here because of russia. >> fight nazism. nazism was not exterminated in 1945. it has survived and must be destroyed. reporter: they are convinced that putin is doing just that -- fighting nazism in ukraine. the letter “z” adorns many cars here, the same as can be found on russian army vehicles.

it stands for the phrase, “for victory.” like most serbians, nebojsa radulovic rejects these nationalists and the war. even so, he feels a strong connection to russia, and has long perceived nato as a threat. he was a teenager when his native belgrade was bombed during the kosovo war. nebojsa: i was 14 and in 8th grade. but instead of figuring out which high school to go to, we were preoccupied with trying to survive the bombings. reporter: to this day, there are still ruins in central belgrade, a grim reminder of the war. radulovic says the bombings destroyed more than bridges and residential buildings, they also undermined his trust in the west and its values. and he says many here feel similarly. russia's influence in serbia, meanwhile, grew stronger over the years. putin is currently on almost every front page.

many serbians view russians as their slavic brothers. russia is admired. and few criticize its war against ukraine. >> i think this war has been inevitable for a long time. the west is hypocritical. especially western media that report on it. >> we are the largest balkan nation, we should feel the greatest responsibility. but we have not learned from our history. that's awful. reporter: one group with a long history of fighting for civil and human rights are the “women in black.” but few joined their protest against the war in ukraine. the activists said the low turnout was sobering. they believe it was linked to the fact that many serbians long for a strong leader, rather than a true democracy. stasa:

do serbians like russia or putin? what they like are authoritarian governments. that has nothing to do with russia, per se. reporter: not long ago, german foreign minister annalena baerbock visited serbian president aleksandar vucic. the meeting was tense, as vucic is known for his close ties to putin. since the war broke out, vucic has attempted a political balancing act, approving a u.n. resolution condemning the russian invasion, yet refusing to carry western sanctions against the country. aleksandar: what are we supposed to distance ourselves from? in what sense are we connected to the conflict in ukraine? what did serbia do wrong? serbia is not talking about anyone, not bringing up any names, there is no love or hate. when it comes to us, we only respect international law. reporter: president vucic is currently campaigning to be reelected in april. and polls suggest he and his

party are set to win. most serbians share his view on the ukraine war. in tamajdan park in central belgrade, this monument commemorates the children killed during nato attacks on the city. memories of that old war are still alive. >> serbia, russia, we're not in this war. but the u.s., england, france, they need to recognize how it came to this. >> i'm against every war. i was against the kosovo war, and against the one before that. i am against interventions, and oppose using force against independent states. reporter: but nebojsa radulovic and his friends say the ukraine war has pushed them to reassess their long-held loyalty to russia, and critical opinion of nato and the west. they feel isolated and wonder where that leaves them and their country, serbia. nebojsa: we've always been caught in the middle.

and that's where we are again now. i'm not sure what difficulties we would encounter if we were to go along with sanctions against russia. we just cannot take that road right now. our ties with russia are too strong, economically speaking. and there's also an element of fear. reporter: their biggest hope is that the war in ukraine will end soon. peter: and that hope is shared by many russians. tens of thousands have already left their homeland since the conflict began. and indeed, emigre russians have often sought refuge in paris, in the upheaval that followed the russian revolution in 1917, and in soviet times. and in recent weeks, many have expressed their dismay over the war. among the most outspoken is galia ackermann. she's investigated issues like electoral fraud, and politically motivated violence. now, she is focusing on developments in russia itself.

her goal -- to oust putin from power. her weapon -- information. reporter: the ukrainian national anthem at the place de la république in the center of paris. galia ackerman is showing her solidarity. she was born in russia but has lived in exile in france for more than 30 years. she is popular among ukrainians, because they know she has been warning about putin for a very long time, since long before the war. galia: this is exactly the new attempt to stifle, not only to liquidate ukrainians, but also to extinguish the ukrainian culture. reporter: ackerman began her political activism from her paris exile. last year, she founded desk russie, an online publication by well-known russian exiles and russia experts. their articles describe how putin has grown increasingly authoritarian over the years, how he has extended his influence, and how he's toyed

with his foreign counterparts. galia: for years, both in france and in germany, there has been a strong pro-russian sentiment. there have been many real agents of influence and many people who have simply acted in good faith, who have believed or wted to believe that russia would be a good partner. but all their well-meaning words have made us slow to recognize the extreme danger represented by the russian regime. reporter: desk russie has attracted a large audience. up to 150,000 readers click on the analyses and onion pieces, some of them in russia. the fact that the ukraine invasion is turning out differently than putin imagined gives ackerman hope. galia: i think height evebe overthrown because he has been a great military failure.

reporter: the parisian russian exiles are using the power of words to lend support. at an event in a paris theater, they read letters by imprisoned russian opposition leader alexeï navalny about putin and the oligarch roman abramovich, owner of the british football club chelsea. >> on board a very expensive plane, putin's wallet, abramovich, is flying to a nato country. what audacity. and everyone's happy. putin and abramovich steal money from the budget and invest it in the west. reporter: behind the camera is guenadi virsta, who comes from ukraine. guenadi: i am delighted with galia's commitment to her fight against putin. it's very, very near to my heart. reporter: galia ackerman fled the communist dictatorship of the soviet union for paris. she had hoped for a different future for russia. but putin has returned her former homeland to a dictatorship, she says, while

ukraine has experienced a different development. galia: i am ukrainian by adoption. i have always felt morally and intellectually more at home there than in russia, and especially in putin's russia. reporter: ackerman and desk russie are determined to work even harder and to be a voice of the russian opposition and of ukrainians in this war. peter: to hungary now, where this giant tv truck is crisscrossing the country. it's election time, and a group called partizán wants to make sure that there is at least some plurality and diversity in the political discourse. for the first time in over a decade, an opposition coalition could challenge authoritarian prime minister viktor orban for power. but orban is omnipresent. after all, he has a stranglehold on state media. and here, too, putin's war is top of the agenda.

reporter: the mobile tv studio partizán hits the road. today, they are heading north to the small town of tiszaújváros. after setting up, filmmaker and activist marton gulyas is ready to receive his first guests. his goal is to inform as many as possible about the elections. marton: we are doing this show especially in the countryside because we are mostly located in budapest, in the capital, to have more access to people who are living in more rural areas of the country. repoter: in rural hungary, most people vote for the ruling fidesz party, and most watch pro-government tv channels. marton gulyas' youtube channel is financed through private donations. he produces critical content, also because he says earnest political debate is lacking in hungary's mediascape. marton: you have to imagine that today, on this particular day, this was the first time in four years' time when the opposition candidate of prime minister had

five minutes on air. reporter: but over the past weeks, both prime minister viktor orban and his challenger péter márki-zay have adjusted their campaign focus to reflect russia's invasion in ukraine. márki-zay is criticizing the pro-russia position orbán took for years. péter: orbán is the one who supported putin. state-media is spreading pro-russia propaganda still. although orbán also approved european banning of russia today and sputnik news. but here, our state media and private fidesz media is still supporting putin and condemning ukraine. reporter: we would have liked to put this criticism to orbán's fidesz party. but despite numerous requests, we received no response from party headquarters in budapest. on national day in mid-march, hundreds of thousands came from across hungary. here, too, putin's war was in the forefront of people's minds as they waited to see orban.

>> we don't think this war just happened. there is a background to it. everything has led up to this. >> the world and especially the western media have double standards. you can understand the ukrainians, but you also have to understand the russians. >> no one is really talking about the fact that it was actually america that ignited this fire, and that they did it on purpose. reporter: then, viktor orbán made his appearance. like most independent media, we were given a seat far away from the podium. the head of state was barely visible to the naked eye, but his rhetoric about hungary's role in the ukraine war came across all the morsharply. orbán: russia has russian interests, roukraine is looking afterme nor brussels will think with e mind of a hungarian, and

will not feel withhe heart of a hungarian. we must advance our interests the ukraine war has become au: political football in hungary's election campaign. real political debate is lacking. instead, there's mainly mud-slinging between incumbent prime minister orbán and his challenger, marki-zay. pm orbán: the political left has lost its senses. they want to sleepwalk us into a war. the leftists want to send hungarian soldiers, hungarian weapons to the front. we won't allow that to happen. péter: before he was lying about us wanting to bring in migrants to hungary. now he is lying about us wanting to send kids to die in ukraine. it's disgusting and distasteful. reporter:

accusations, falsehoods, provocations. for marton gulyas, these are incentive enough to take a stand, and reveal the urgent need for independent reporting during this election campaign. marton: i would be able to do my work in a better way if government-related people would accept my invitation. this kind of a bubble, which they artificially created around the government-related voters, it hurts not just the entire society, but especially those voters. reporter: and so marton gulyas and his mobile tv studio head back on the road. they plan many more broadcasts between now and election day. peter: well clearly opposition has still got a lot of work to do if it is going to push orbán hard in april's vote. and for now, that was all on this edition of "“focus on europe.” do come back next time round. until then, bye-bye, and tschüss.

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04/14/22 04/14/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> moments ago, frank robert james was stopped on the street and arrested by members of the new york city police department. he will be charged with committing yesterday's appalling crime. amy: in new york, a massive manhunt has ended with the arrest of a 62-year-old man accused of shooting 10 passengers on a subway car in brooklyn. he faces federal terrorism charges.