♪ >> this is "dw news," live from berlin. moscow unleashing thousands of troops on the ukrainian industrial heartland. capturing the donbass region is now the main objective of the kremlin. and a correspondent meets ukrainians who are trying to rebuild their lives. >> russian soldiers may have

left, but this is a city that has been left in ruins. there isn't a building that we can see that doesn't air scars of war and many are ruined beyond repair. >> the people there say that they live in fear that the russians will return. plus russia must not win the war, that message from olaf scholz. saying that western leaders agree on maximum support to ukraine but will stop short of nato boots on the ground. and we meet a young student forced like millions of others to leave ukraine. he wants to start a new life in germany but he may have to return to his native nigeria. i'm brent goff. to our viewers in the united states and all of you around the

world, welcome. russia is stepping up to for control of the industrial heartland. officials in russia and ukraine calling this a new for -- new phase in the war. let me show you what we are talking about, where it's happening. the areas in blue here are already under russian control and after days of regrouping, russian forces have launched a full-scale offensive in the eastern part of the country known as the donbass region. a new front line marked in red there stretching hundreds of kilometers. recent weeks have seen russia suffer humiliating setbacks around the capital, kyiv. the kremlin now says that seizing the donbass region is the main goal of what they continue to call a special military operation. >> shots fired on the front line. ukraine says these are some of the opening salvo's of the

russian offensive in the east. in this footage troops say they are ready to defend the donbass. >> let them come, they will stay here forever. there is enough land to bury them all. the ukrainian president confirming the new start in this phase of the war. >> we can now state that e russiatroops have begun their battle for the donbass. a significant part of the entire russian army is now concentrated on this offensive. no matter how many russian troops are driven there, we will fight. we will defend ourselves and do it every day. we won't give up anything ukrainian. >> thousands of rev -- residents are trapped in towns under constant shelling. this woman describes living in a

new no man's land. >> we don't even know where the shelling comes from. we wait for it thinking that the ukrainian army will protect us, but then it comes from over there. there is shelling in all directions. >> humanitarian groups waiting to evacuate sick and elderly. adding to the millions of ukrainians who have fled their homes by any means possible. >> the main difficulty here is that people had to be evacuated. the very ill who are living their final days, weeks, or months, making it so difficult. >> with russian forces in control of much of the south and east, one pocket of resistance remains. the steel plant in mary a pole.

several thousand ukrainian forces are entrenched year under heavy attack. tuesday, russia issued yet another deadline for them to give up their arms. here, as elsewhere, ukrainians are refusing to cede any of the territory without a fight. brent: our correspondent is in levee. --lviv. i asked her how people are responding to the news of the new offensive. >> the people here in lviv are bracing themselves for this offensive. not just the locals, but the people living here for the war, here the population has tripled since the beginning of the war because of the internally displaced persons who moved from eastern ukraine and are currently under attack to hear to seek shelter. i spoke to some of them this afternoon and talked to some who just arrived from the donbass

region. from all of the eastern parts of ukraine. they have waited up until this moment because they thought they could hold on. they thought they could stay in their homes. but they feel no longer safe. they took a train yesterday and they arrived today to try, to try and seek shelter. some here are very much feeling the effect of the russian offensive. brent: talking about donbass here, presiden zelensky called this the battle for donbass. is this a case of he who wins the battle also wins the war? how important is this region that russia wants to take control of? >> for the ukrainian and russian side, it is paramount. because it is an economic asset, the industrial heartland of

ukraine. you mentioned it earlier. it's very rich, economically, industrially. in the resources, there is a lot to be gained like natural gas. lithium. things that both countries would very much like to benefit from. for vladimir putin after so many setbacks of this would be very significant for him to win the region. his troops, the russian troops are backing separatists. this is the region here in ukraine where you have the strongest russian speaking community, but also the more, the most separatists in the region. they have those, the self-proclaimed people's republic of don't ask. -- of donbass. brent: that was the latest tonight from the western ukrainian city of lviv.

thank you. >> thank you. brent: well, with russia now focusing on the donbass region, some ukrainians are returning to their homes in the north where the russian forces withdrew several weeks ago. rebecca traveled to the city of kyiv, finding a place and its people changed. >> one thing that strikes you is the silence. these one sponsor -- once bustling streets scorched and deserted. then sometimes the silence is broken. by the sound of people trying to put their lives back together. >> around 300 square meters of roof is missing. there is nothing but the blue sky above. >> olga is the caretaker of these 82 flats. she lives in one at the top.

>> my apartment is in the part of the building damaged by missiles. >> she stayed through the occupation to try to save it from russian soldiers taking it over but was helpless to stop the missiles. >> for now it is in this state, the house is uninhabitable until we rebuild it. >> next door, another group with a similar story. they told me this wasn't the first time they had to flee one of putin's wars. >> living here is a last resort. many of us were from donbass. we came here to live and away from war, but war came after us. we are peaceful people who don't want anything bad. we just want to live. the most important thing is that it doesn't happen again. putin could come back at any time. even tomorrow. >> their building was also badly damaged by rocket fire.

one woman shows me where her flat to be. >> this was my bedroom. there was a balcony behind it and now there is no balcony there at all. my things were there, like a little oasis and now it's gone. >> russian soldiers may have left, but this is a city left in ruins. there isn't a building that we can see that isn't ruined beyond repair and while the physical cleanup is underway, the emotional scars will take a lot longer to heal. for many that fled when the war broke out, they have little left to come back to. for those who stayed behind, many will have an even bigger recovery to contend with. >> if t war comes again, i will survive in any case.

i will survive, i have a bear and he protects me. >> i still get frightened by every loud noise. i don't know if it will ever go ay, but forow that how i am. >> the not so silent trauma that may live on in their lives forever. brent: the message remains unchanged, you have our solidarity but not our troops. today olaf scholz delivered an unequivocal message of support for ukraine, adding that western allies would stop short f direct involvement in the war. speaking after talks with other leaders he sharply criticized the latest russian offensive and blamed vladimir putin for war crimes against civilians. >> our principles are clear.

everyone agrees on them. ukraine continues to have our full solidarity and support. at the same time as heads of state and government it's our duty to prevent the war from spreading to other countries. therefore, nato does not want to and cannot intervene directly in the war and that is how it will remain. everyone agrees on that. the policy is guided by those principles. maximum support for ukraine, no nato involvement in the war. brent: our political correspondent simon young followed that press conference earlier and i put it to him, chancellor schultz had no news have helped offer the friend in the spirit >> well, it can look like that, brent. he talked about solidarity with ukraine and support, unity among the allies in nato and the g7.

and at the same time, germany certainly faces pressure from the government in kyiv, washington, and other partners to do more. when it comes to weapons, what olaf scholz has been saying is there is no point in delivering weapons that ukraine cannot use immediately. the emphasis is on other kinds of support. germany, he says, has delivered as much as it can in the way of weapons from its own stocks. he's really only talking about antitank weapons, light weapons, ammunition. he said that kind of support will continue but he is not, it seems, talking about providing heavy weapons directly. the kind of thing that ukraine says it needs to defend its territory. instead he says that germany will help to finance and do the logistics and presumably provide

the export licenses and so on, but in terms of actually sending tanks and helicopters, that's not going to happen. brent: there appears to be a lack of clarity around the extent to which germany would help ukraine with weapons. why is there? >> difficulty in the messaging. the government has used a number of different arguments, emphasizing the point that there is no point equipping the a quick -- ukrainians with things they cannot immediately use. they have talked about supporting other eastern european countries. you still have stocks of soviet era equipment that could be more or less deployed in ukraine without further training efforts . that is an argument for sure,

but on the others countries like the u.s. and other countries are sending heavy material. there clearly seems to be a difference of opinion within the nato partners brent: simon, as always, thank you. many of the millions of refugees who fled the war in ukraine do not originally come from ukraine. some of students from other parts of the world who say they have faced racism and discrimination trying to flee. >> edward has lost his old way of life. the nigerian was studying in ukraine, kharkiv. then the war came and he fled to germany. >> what i've worked for, gotten, the stability i thought i had just went away in one day.

>> wisdom found a home with a german couple. but is unlikely that he will be allowed to stay. >> all ukrainians get residential rights, but people from africa or other countri who lived and studied in ukraine are denied this right. it's a great injustice. >> ukrainian citizens can stay and work in germany for at least a year. that's not the case for everyone fleeing the war. wisdom might be sent back to his native nigeria. >> i worked really hard to save up money in ukraine and now the hopes of my future are jus gone. i may be safe physically here, but mentally i'm not safe.

i have this reoccurrence of what next. >> wisdom tries to keep himself busy, joining an organization that helps african students in the same situation. wisdom and the other african students hope they can stay. >> i wish the german government could create opportunities. we all face the same issue, war, and tragic situation. brent: i am joined now by a member of the german parliament for the free democrats. good to have you on the program. i wanted to pick up on the story we just saw. if the people living in ukraine are there legally and the refugees come to germany, is it true that a difference is being

made between those who are ukrainian citizens and those who are not?> yes, unfortunately this is the case. the european temporary protection directive in combination with the corresponding german regulation differentiates between those who have a permanent residency in ukraine or are ukrainian citizens and of who have at least in theory an option to go back to their home countries. so, this question is being asked on each individual creek -- case. an international student, do they have an option to go back to his or her own country? brent: this sounds like maybe more of a bureaucratic issue, the difference in how people are classified. do you think that is the right way to handle this influx of

refugees? >> well, maybe if we step of it back and look at this european temporary objective, itself an exceptional measure that allows people to seek refuge in not large numbers from a country. this was meant for people who cannot go to other places. that don't have another home to go to. whereas students, it costs a lot of money to them, of course and for this reason maybe it doesn't make sense in other terms, but they can go to other places. this is why it is being tested on an individual basis. brent: i understand you have spoken out in favor of rick integration of german refugees into the market. talk to me about why you want that.

mo of the people we talk to want to go home. >> that's true, but let's face it, unfortunately war tends to take longer than, as soon as possible a stop. for people who flee from a war it's very important to stabilize them and i think that work is a means for stabilizing people in such a traumatizing situation. work is also one of the best means for integration in the long term but this should be possible, i think. brent: for these ukrainian

refugees, there has been an enormous showing of support. is it the same compared to 2015, this influx of one million syrian refugees? >> it's a bit different, because at that stage everybody had to be registered. at the moment it's people coming from ukraine to our country and i think we have a lot coming from 2015 that help us now to make this process stronger than it used to be. numerous times -- brent: numerous times, the lessons we learned in 2015 are being displayed now. well, here's a look now at the other stories making headlines around the world.

boris johnson has apologized to parliament after police find him for breaking coronavirus lockdown rules. he had her ministers held parties. he faces a vote this week on whether he should be investigated for misleading parliament over what has become known as the party gate scandal. sri lanka, one person shot dead against fuel price increases with tens of thousands taken to the streets. this is the first fatality and weeks of antigovernment protests in the country has basically run out of dollars to finance vital reports in the biggest economic crisis there in decades. at least six people killed in explosions near a school near the afghan capital. hand grenades caused the blast according to an official. the school is in a mostly shiite muslim neighborhood previously a target of the islamic state. now, back to the worn the

football -- the war in ukraine. the football club they're beginning a series of charity games, called playing for peace. the club aims to raise money for the ukrainian military and help the people displaced by the war. >> hardly a moment goes by when he isn't thinking about the war back home in ukraine. even here on the training field in this turkish city of istanbul. >> in your heart, you want to stay there and help your people. but your brain seems to tell you that in fact, you can't do anything. the only thing that you know how

to do to help the country is playing football. >> they have had to run from bombs before. in 2014 fighting between government forces and pro-russian separatists broke out in eastern ukraine. the arena and gone by us, badly damaged by shelling. >> it had been my biggest dream to play at this wonderful stadium. but then the war started and we left. >> since then, he has led a nomadic existence. eventually the capital became their new home. that's where they were when the invasion began.

>> even today i can't believe this will happen. i felt so worry, i didn't know what to do. that hasn't changed. you feel so empty, you realize your people are suffering. it's very hard >> now he is on the move again. rainian men of military age are currently required to stay in the country. he and his teammates were given special government permission to leave in early april. here in istanbul they are now preparing for a series of games all over europe to raise awareness and my for the war effort. their first friendly match was in greece. >> what unites us as a team is

more than football. we share a common tragedy. in the game we wore t-shirts with the names of the cities attacked by the russian army. the whole world should know the names of these cities. even the people that don't know about it yet. or who don't want to believe what's really happening. this is a war. and not some kind of special operation. >> i have always dreamed of living in ukraine and i believe it is still possible. i hope that peace will soon return to the country. and that football will return. and that we will be able to continue what we did before. >> he's not sure when that might

be. he currently doesn't even know where his team will be training next month and he says he won't give up on his big dream. back home in ukraine and the donbass arena. brent: you are watching dw news, here's a reminder of our top story. moscow says their main objective now is to take control of the donbass region. after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. will be right back. ♪

ñçñqñqñqñqññññ#ñ#wwñ?ñ?o7ñ;ñ;?k

>> world news and analysis from france 24. i am mark and these are the headlines. marc: russia steps up, u.s. president biden says more artillery will be sent to help ukraine's trips reduced -- troops resist. on the eastern front. preparations in france ahead of the presidential debate in the next 24 hours, macron and le pen will be sharpening their arguments for a tete-a-tete that may well designed the outcome of the election. france is handed back