phil: this is "dw news," live from berlin. russian forces push deeper into ukrainian city sievierodonetsk. they worry it could follow mariupol in filing to the russian onslaught after weeks of relentless bombardment read also on the program, europe denied over sanctions on oil. hungary pulled out on a ban of other -- while other e.u. states work for a compromise.

refugees stopped from returning to their homes more than two years after turkish forces seized control of northern syria. a look at turkey's plans to resettle the region. ♪ phil: i am phil gayle. welcome to the program. russian forces entered the outskirts of the city of sievierodonetsk in eastern ukraine. kyiv says its troops are battling to hold position street by street after days of intense shelling. sievierodonetsk is threatened by russia's push to the east region of the don't bass -- donbas. zelenskyy says most infrastructure has been destroyed and buildings damaged. it is feared it will follow mariupol and fall into russian hands. reporter: a city under siege. sievierodonetsk battered by

intense shelling for weeks. now russian forces have entered the city and fears are growing that it may share mariupol's fate. thousands of civilians are thought to be in the city, the largest in the luhansk region still held by ukraine. according to the mayor, the relentless bombardment has left it impossible to keep track of casualties. with russia bringing its overwhelming advantage in artillery to bear in its assault of the donbas, ukraine is pleading with allies to provide more advanced long-range weapon systems. the u.s. was reportedly considering the move, but president biden has now thrown that into doubt. pres. biden: [indiscernible] reporter: while ukraine's allies

debate, russia concentrates firepower in the donbas. >> the fighting has reached maximum intensity with russian troops firing along the entire line of contact and trying to fire artillery deep into our defenses. at the same time, the assault is continuing in several directions. reporter: for now, ukrainian forces fight on in the face of the russian onslaught. phil: dw correspondent mathias bolinger is in kyiv and gave me an update on russian gains in the donbas. mathias: we have just returned from a 10 day trip there. during that time we have seen the situation getting worse and worse. the city of sievrodonetsk is almost inaccessible for day now. thousands of people are traed there.

there is only one bridge operating and it is constantly shelled. the russians are advancing. something that was expected, because they have put a lot of firepower onto conquering this city. they concentrated troops and have been shelling the city indiscriminately. most buildings are destroyed. the sister city on the others of the river, you could see all over the city of sievierodonetsk , it is higher. you could look over and everywhere there was smoke. these are the tactics they are using, scorched earth tactics. they r -- raze everything with artillery. the question is whether this would give them a strategic gain. it looks like they are attaining their goals when they

concentrate firepower this way. they raze the city and margin. phil: with all this massive fire, things appear to be turning in russia's favor. mathias: yes. russia has more firepower and has conctrated more troops, though we don't know the exact number. that means in other regions russia has not the same concentration of troops. we have seen ukrainian advances in car give -- kharkiv. in the south ukraine has made progress. in one placet is in favor of russia, but other places may still turn in favor of ukraine. this is not a decision yet.

ukraine has been able to hold back pressure in the donbas and other areas that are strategically important. russia has been trying instead of marching into the city directly, to cut it off, to surrou it, it has not worked. they have come close, but then were beaten back by ukraine. nothing is decided there. phil: meanwhile, the european union divided over banning the import of russian oil. leaders are meeting in brussels to decide on a sixth round of economic sanctions, but hungary is avoiding an oil embargo because they are heavily dependent on russian supplies. reporter: oil embargo or no oil embargo? leaders will have their eye on this man, hungarian prime minister viktor orban. several e.u. nations say russian oil will get expensive, but hungary is the one openly using

it and orban did not give his leaders much hope this will change at this summit. now there is agreement? >> i don't know about it. there is no compromise at this moment. reporter: to get hungry on side, the e.u. water down its proposal. only russian oil transported by sea would be targeted and pipeline oil would be excluded, something which would benefit landlocked hungary. the central european country is heavily dependent on russian energy, but that is not enough for orban. he said hungary wanted oil supply guarantees. it is a demand leaders don't think they will find a solution for at this summit. >> my expectations are low for the next 24 hours, but i am confident that after there is a

possibility. reporter: chancellor olaf scholz has not given up hope that he and his colleagues will come up with a united decision. >> sooner or later, they will [indiscernible] reporter: other e.u. countries are getting irritated. the bloc is moving forward slowly. latvia, which has a border with russia, has been pushing for an embargo on all russian energy. >> it is only money. ukrainians are paying with their lives. if we only think of money, what is the sense of our union? reporter: besides oil, e.u. leaders are discussing more financial support for ukraine and glol food shortages dueo the war despite a long agenda, it is a deadlock with hungary that overshadows the discussions. phil: daniel bilak is a canadian

lawyer in ukraine, previously a chief investment advisor to the ukrainian prime minister. he is now a member of the country's territorial defense forces diane if he has message for hungary? daniel: i would echo the latvian foreign minisr's comments. there is a perception in ukraine there is a political dimension to all of this, not just commercial or economic. mr. orban has had designs on the western part of ukrainian territory for a long te. he talks about their hungaris there, even though it is an ethnic minority. he has territorial ambitions in this regard. like the secretaryf the national security defense counsel said there was evidence of a deal with putin that if he took over ukraine that hungary would get that region.

he has proven to be a master over the years at extracting, weaponizing, his veto in the e.u. i think the e.u. needs to look at how consensus voting works. for that to work properly, it needs to be aligned with their values. phil: you suspect all terrier motives. how important -- you suspect ulterior motives. how important is it to block russian oil imports? daniel: it is to call. it is unconscionable the e.u. is giving putin one point five dollars billion a day to finance his war games in ukraine. and ukraine has had $2 billion assistance in total since that time, some of it in lns, some of it in grants. the e.u. is financing state terrorism.

this is not just an economic issue, this is a moral issue and it needs to stop. they need to find a way to do this. phil: those figures from the e.u., the amount the e.u. pays for russian fuel versus the amount of grants given to ukraine, that puts it into stark contrast. moving away from fuel and looking at the food crisis caused by this war, as russia blocks ukrainian exports, moscow says it will help by creating export corridors out of ukraine, if international sanctions are lifted. i am guessing this is a deal you feel does not deserve consideration. daniel: if their lips are moving, they are lying. this is a famous german named bismarck who said anything the russians write down as a treaty is not worth the paper it is

written on. of course they will renege. for the russians any form of compromise is a sign of weakness. the e.u. and nato, the e.u. cannot do this on its own. in conjunction with nato and other countries, perhaps under u.n. auspice is, there needs to be a corridor. the mines need to be cleared and the russians need to be told this is going to happen. we can avoid showdowns with them because they will weaponize everything. [indiscernible] phil: on that point, we have countries like cameroon, kenya, nigeria, facing massive food insecurity because of a war halfway around the world that has nothing to do with them. what is your message to them if you say, we are not going to do

a deal with russia in this way because we don't believe in it? what do you tell them? daniel: i would tell them we need to get the security council, we need russia removed from the security council, we need a u.n. general assembly resolution to put a flotilla into the black sea, which is international waters, it is not russia's bathtub as they would like it to be. and there should be core doors -- coridoors -- corrirs that are safe. we are the onethat aft compromise. this is classic. nobody wants to take on russia, so you appease. this is where appeasement has gotten us. the e.u. has been an enormous enabler of russia the last eight years. we haveee at war with russia since 2014 and have been telling the west againnd again that this will happen.

nobody wanted to believe us. phil: understood. daniel bilak, in from kyiv's territorial defense forces, thank you for joining dw. daniel: thank you for having me. phil: germany's political parties have agreed to increase the defense fund by $100 billion as chancellor scholz wants to modernize forces. they have been underfinanced and underequipped. his deal gets around budgeting roles to meet nato spending goals. olaf scholz says the funding arrangements mean germany will make a greater contribution to european security. >> it will be strengthened, able to fulfill the defense mission better than before and able to make its contributions to nato to defend ourselves against attacks at any time. phil: here is dw correspondent

leonie von hammerstein explaining why this $100 billion euro fun for germany's army is so significant. leonie: it was a significant change. germany has spent infamously little money on its defense over the past few decades. nato allies are demanding germany meet its nato obligations and raise defense spending above 2% of its gdp. officials have been complaining for years that germany is unable to defend its country, is neglecting the ability to defend its country and partners. they have talked about the shortage of combat ready equipment and ammunition, only 40% of the helicopters are ready. we have to remember the context. for decades germany has been

wary of building up its military power because of its history, and because of the destruction it brought to the continent and beyond in world war ii. that is the context in which we have to see this change. olaf scholz, we heard him there. russia's war against ukraine has led to a reckoning of decades of foreign and defense policy and now he says germany needs to be able to defend itself. phil: this is expected to go to a vote in parliament friday. is it likely to prove controversial? leonie: it is and it isn't. yes, it has been controversial the last few months. in political parties on the left side of the spectrum, the green party sees them selves as passive -- pacifists. them specified, this extra fund

that will be anchored in the constitution goes around germany's strict laws. it is hard to explain to voters why 100 billion euros can be spent on defse when other areas of society need urgent investment like climate protection, education, infrastructure. the left has been vocally opposing this, but scholz needs a 2/3 majority to pass this and he has that. we are expecting the vote to pass. phil: thank you for that, leonie von hammerstein. humanitarian groups warning aid projects across africa are threatened by the war in ukraine. support agencies and some all

yes a price hikes caused by the conflict mean millions are at risk of famine. donations from rich countries are diverted to help ukraine. our next report includes images you may find upsetting. reporter: at just 5.5 kilos, this one you world weighs half of what a boy his age should. he is treated for acute mel trish and -- acute malnutrition at this refugee camp. shocks from the war in ukraine means access to lifesaving food supplies is becoming increasingly difficult. >> i fled from al-shabaab and the severe drought that hit our village and we lost our livestock. i did not receive any aid there and my child is very sick and malnourished. reporter: in some all yes severe drought and the rise of the left millions desperate for aid. now the fallout from the war in

ukraine is only adding to the pressure. food and fuel prices have risen sharply since february. on top of record highs caused by the covid-19 pandemic. >> our prices have doubled in somalia. the humanitarian aid is only 15% funded. what we need right now is money, the cash to avoid the risk of famine. reporter: since the war in ukraine began, international aid to africa has dropped significantly. many donor countries have given funds to support more than 6 million refugees fleeing the fighting in ukraine. the u.n. has warned prices will continue to rise, putting many of africa's most vulnerable in danger of starvation. phil: syria's civil war has driven refugees into many

countries including neighboring turkey. ankara wants to settle more than one million people on land once home to syria's kurdish minority. kurdish forces crossed the border into syria in 2019. turkey is believed to have 18,000 troops in the region. ny displaced kurdish refugees live i the al hasaka refugee camp. their hopes of returning home are failing. reporter: for 70 years, a kurd has lived in the syrian city of ras al ain. but three years ago he and his family of eight were forced to flee. he says allies of turkey had attacked and wounded him when he tried to defend his home. >> because i, kurd, they threw me out of my house, stole my belongings, and beat me. reporter: the family looks at

old photos of their former home, their neighborhood, and their fields. they are distressed. they have heard that non-kurdish syrians will be moving into their homes. "we are very angry, we cannot accept that refugees from hamas or idlib are moving into our houses. it is not there, we want to go home." reporter: almost all of the 14,000 kurds fled from turkish attacks in recent years. most live in tents in humble conditions. there is little water and few fresh vegetables. when turkish tanks rolled across the syrian border into turkish territory -- kurdish territory in 2019, their lives can change. he advocates for refugees in ras

al ain, says turkey is trying to settle kurdish areas with non-kurdish syrians. >> this is a targeted attempt at changing the demographics. turkey must be stopped. there are no longer any kurds or minorities such as syrians or armenians in ras al ain. we have all been driven out. now syrians and iraqis live there. reporter: he explains how groups close to turkey destroyed his own house and sold it for the equivalent of 115 u.s. dollars, but he says it is not just property at stake, but also culture. >> we have not just been here a couple decades. this is where our history and culture are. strangers coming to our city are threatening that. reporter: the chance of his family ever being able to return to the place where he was born seem low.

what is more likely is that more kurds will soon seek shelter in the camp as turkey has announced fresh military operations in syria. phil: our middle east correspondent told dw why the turkish president is trying to resettle northern syria now and why his nato partners won't stop him. >> he is under internal pressure within turkey because the turks are blaming their economic crisis more and more on refugees. turkey has taken more than 3.7 million syrians inside the country and they serve as scapegoats for economic problems. and president erdogan is under pressure to send more syrians back. he wants to deliver on that and send some syrians back so he can win in parliamentary elections next year. he is serious about sending people back. he is empowered [indiscernible]

erdogan knows they need turkey. he wants sweden to diminish help and support for kurdish dissidents. erdoga is empowered to unaterallyollow his plans with in syria without any green light, which he used to wait for in the past, but does not need to now. phil: the oldest known survivor of a nazi concentration camp has died, aged 108. he resisted fascism as a young man and was sent to several nazi death camps and later wrote about his experiences. >> the camp in eastern france, where the nazis enslaved 52,000 people, most for resistance activities. only half survived. he wrote of his experiences in a

memoir called "necropolis." in 2019 he told an interviewer, i deal with the past because i am interested in the future. he explained the past was bad and should not be repeated. he was a little boy when mussolini annexed his hometown and banned a minority community from speaking its own language. we have no language, practically no nationality. we were worse off than slaves. his resistance to fascism landed him in five nazi concentration camps over a period of 15 months, which he later chronicled in slovenia. his works have been translated into dozens of over -- other languages and earned him honors across europe. he died at his home in italy,

aged 108. phil: in football, bayern munich star has planned to leave. he is rumored to want out after years with the champions in which he won the boone just lega -- the bundesliga every year. he has spoken publicly for the first time about his desire for a move. >> one thing is certain today, my story with bayern munich is over. afte everything that is happened in recent months, i cannot imagine having a good working relationship any longer. i realize a transfer will be the best solution for both sides. i believe that bayern will not

stop me just because they can. phil: a reminder of our top story -- russian forces are pushing deeper into the eastern ukrainian city of sievierodonetsk. ukraine says its troops are battling to hold position street by street after days of intense shelling. more world news at the top of the hour. in a couple of minutes i will be back to take you through the day, a closer look at russian forces closing in on sievierodonetsk and an e.u. wrangling of the russian oil embargo. that is in just a moment.

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>> welcome to france 24. we are live from paris. a french journalist killed covering the war in eastern ukraine on the same day francis top diplomat visits the country. ukraine's president calls for unity e.u. leaders mall sanctioning russian oil during a meeting in brussels. an independent probe after the champions league final. into chaos while french authorities defend the heavy-handed tactics used by police. ♪