♪ brent: this is dw news, live from berlin. tonight, russian control in eastern ukraine going from strength to strength. russia says it now has control of all residential areas in the key city. but ukrainian troops say surrendering is not an option. also coming up tonight, olaf scholz in lithuania, vowing to strengthen nato's eastern

flank after russian aggression. and survivors speaking out after a massacre at a catholic church in nigeria. gunmen were armed with explosives -- who the gunmen were, that remains unanswered tonight. plus, police in dubai arresting two brothers from the influential the family. they are wanted in connection with a massive corruption scandal in south africa. they could now face justice there. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers watching in the united states and around the world, welcome. we begin this tuesday with the battle raging over ukraine's donbass region. russia now says it controls 97% of one of the two provinces that make up the region in the eastern ukraine.

it says its forces have taken full control of residential areas in the key city there, where we have had reports of urban warfare, troops fighting street by street. ukraine admitting tonight that its forces are outnumbered, but says seating territory to russia is not an option. >> inflicting maximum damage. that is the goal for moscow, which shows this footage of its howitzers at work. across ukraine's east, the destruction is evident. many of those who remain have lost everything. >> i do not even know where to start. i am standing here and looking, but i have no idea what to do. >> i stopped crying.

i calmed down, then i cry again and again. >> the focus now is on the city of several donetsk, which could be key to gain control of the donbass. ukraine says its troops are outnumbered, but holding strong. >> our heroes are not giving up their position in the city. russia's army is trying to apply additional forces in the donbass duress can -- direction, but the donbass stands firmly. >> the cost of that resistance has been high. even as russia threatens dire consequences to more help from the west, ukraine says for its embattled troops, more weapons could be the difference between

life and death. brent: now to fears of a growing global food crisis. millions of tons of grain are piling up in southern ukraine, going nowhere because the conflict has blocked ships from leaving ports. today addressing the un security council in new york, u.n. council president charles michel put the blame squarely on moscow. take a listen. >> they are solely responsible for this food crisis, russia alone. despite the kremlin's flow of lies and disinformation, i have seen it with my own eyes, in odessa. millions of tons of grain and wheat stuck in containers and ships. -- of ships and the black sea, and -- in the structure. russian tanks, russian bunks and mines are preventing ukraine

from planting and harvesting. the kremlin is also targeting storages and stealing grain in ukraine while shifting the blame on others. this is propaganda, pure and simple propaganda. brent: russia today denied any responsibility for the food crisis. nick connolly, our correspondent, is in odessa. i asked if there was any solution in this impasse? nick: i think there is a lot of diplomatic noise going on right now. there is a meeting between ministers from russia and turkey with the u.s. on board and ukraine involved, although we do not know how. russia would not have destroyed ukraine's second-biggest grain terminal a few days ago. the infrastructure on theround

could le that food out in a hurry to the people who need it, in north africa. that is being destroyed bit by bit by the russians, making it hard for ukrainian farmers to get the diesel they need. they have been bombing farms, oil storage units, and roads. this is getting a lot of traffic -- trash -- traction in other countries. they're trying to place the blame on ukraine, which has very little reason to trust russian guarantees that if it takes the mines away from odessa's coastline, that will be respected and it won't be used by russia to come to odessa and obey the city -- invade the city. brent: we know the city was the target of heavy russian attacks in the early days of this war. what is it like there now?

nick: it's like a schizophrenic feeling. there are people out in bars and restaurants late at night, because the curfew has been pushed back, but those are locals. there are no tourists are -- or people inside ukraine. so you really noticed the people, basically, their reserves and savings are running low. the people are trying to get to some kind of normality to enjoy this summer, but they are nervous that they cannot really let go because they don't know what's coming and if they will be able to earn a living. that is a problem facing ukraine now, even parts of the country safe from russian attacks. there might soon have to leave for economic reasons rather than security ones. brent: and there are some worry reports coming out tonight,

about more ports. what can you tell us about that? nick: we have seen reports about cholera being discovered among people living in mariupol. some of the border regions close to mariupol are preparing infectious disease wards for people. mariupol is a city of ruins and very few people have access to sanitation there. we have seen people washing themselves and their clothes in the sea, lots of bodies still unrecovered, and it's a dangerous situation. as summer temperatures come in, i think the risk of people dying of disease will grow. brent: nick connolly, reporting tonight from odessa. as always, thank you. german chancellor schulz promised to boost the country's mission in lithuania. he met with the leaders of lithuania, latvia and estonia.

they all share a border with russia and they are calling for an increase in nato troop presence. >> cooperation -- this is what german chancellor olaf scholz and lithuanian president k itanas wanted to convey. olaf scholz was key to shut down criticism regarding germany's support of ukraine. >> we will continue supporting ukraine with weapons deliveries. germany has been doing this more intensely with anyone else -- then anyone else and will do so in the near future. as long as will be needed to rebuff russian aggression. >> but words are not enough for ukraine and nato allies, which press berlin to step up its military support with the baltic head of states stressing the

determination to stop russia's aggression against ukraine >> i believe that our colleagues always have the right to try all the options they want to try. this is not lithuania's position. we think it is difficult to talk to a head of state who is redrawing the borders in the 21st century. >> tuesday's meeting was intended to show unity among nato allies, but germany's support will likely be judged by the weapons and boots on the ground it actually supplies, do ukraine and its nato allies. brent: her first public comments since leaving office last year. former german chancellor angela merkel described the war and ukraine as -- i'm quoting here -- "a huge tragedy." she defended her policy towards russia in her 16 years as chancellor. she says she does not blame

herself for the events that are unfolding now, but she did admit , she said she asked herself if she could have done more to prevent the war from happening. here's what i went to say about how the conflict is impacting my life. >> on the whole, my retirement has not turned out the way i expected. february 24 was a major turning point and something i think about often. but if you are asking about my personal feelings, i stepped down from my position as chancellor by choice, and that's a nice feeling. i have started doing other things and that also feels nice. at heart, i remain a political person, so at times, i feel as worried as many others do. brent: let's go to our chief

political editor, who was there listening to that interview tonight. you know so many people here in germany and around the world, they have been waiting for angela merkel to break her silence. what did she have to say? >> not silence. after 16 years in office, a year without making public statements is not such a long time. she condemned russian aggression and described ukraine as a hostage, as putin is attacking everything western liberal democracy stands for and attacking the very foundations upon which peaceful togetherness rest. she wants to find a way, if one cannot be friends with russia, at least of coexistence. diplomacy failing does not mean one should not have tried.

we are asking why she never picked up the phone to vladimir putin -- here's what she had to say about that. >> what i find particularly common, if something were being handled in the entirely wrong way, there are people on who i could call, but that has not been necessary. >> so she was saying she would not call vladimir putin unless she was asked by the current government. olaf scholz was her vice chancellor and she would not do anything unless being asked by him, the government at the very least. she does not the it as her role to interfere and i also learned from her. we have been fighting putin for more than a decade in office, and she says the only

language he understands his deterrence. she does say more should have been done on the military side. brent: she has been criticized for not being tougher with putin when she was in power for 16 years. did she take any responsibility to the threat of the european security now face? >> yes and no. she says yes, of course it was also her responsibility to build an architecture that would contain russia. that's what she felt she had done. her sentence was by not allowing -- looks very concree here, not allowing that path towards nato, the former president bush wanted for instance, she still feels today and says why she is resting in the on this, but prevented something terrible from happening earlier. at the minsk agreement after the

annexation of crimea in 2014 had bought ukraine time, a country she describes as being a very different country from seven years ago, that as much more of a stable democracy and probably wide vladimir putin sees it at such a threat. here's what she had to say on the fundamental difference between putin and her. >> it was clear we had a big disagreement and our positions kept growing apart. for all intents and purposes, and living we have not been able to effectively put an end to the cold war. there has always been the issue from russia. i don't agree with putin, to make it perfectly clear, but we have not been able to forge a security architecture that could

have kept this from happening. that is something to think about and something historians will certainly ponder. i want to make it clear so there is no misunderstanding. there is no justifying the attack on ukraine that took place february 24. a brutal attack, flying innovative human rights, for which there is no use. >> the german chancellor doing a lot of thinking on what she could have done differently, but not departing from the or she is taking towards vladimir putin. brent: the former chancellor, they are calling for a reckoning with her legacy. tonight's interview, will that satisfy her headaches? >> no, clearly not.

we also know the interviewer was contacted beforehand and the question was, why did you not allow us to join nato? the question for germany continuously is, why are you not sending more wackos and -- sending more weapons? the lack of european unity was something she felt was in the way of having a more stable security architecture that could have potentially contain russia. brent: and on that point, she face that problem many, many times, that's for sure. our chief political editor, michaela, thank you. we go now to nigeria, where waves of grieving, mourning are rippling through a community after sunday's mass shooting inside a catholic church. 22 people will killed and 50 injured when a group of gunmen opened fire on worshipers marking the first and holiday of

pentecost. no group has claimed responsibility for the killings. the attack took place in the village -- in a village in the south of nigeria. it is a region that has usually been spared the violence suffered by other communities in northern nigeria. our correspondent is on the ground in this tragedy stricken nigerian town. he told us how this is being supported by the authorities here. >> one thing we can say, there have been lots of talk and talk from the state government , but we had the vice president yesterday and this medical center and a couple of kilometers away a the church itself, we have the ruling party

leader also coming to the church and visit patients yesterday in our -- support has been coming from the federal government, cash, donated from the politicians to the medical center and those who suffer this attacks since sunday. in terms of policing and investigations, there has been nothing yet on which group carried his attack out on sunday. brent: now to an arrest in a major corruption scandal that has rocked south africa, the governing party there is calling the swift extradition of two indian born brothers, following their arrest that took place in dubai. these one powerful business

tycoons were sought in connection with corruption allegations around south african former president jacob zuma. they are accused of paying bribes for state contracts and wielding influence over appointment. adrian kriesch is in kate t -- cape town tonight, and tells us how the arrest is being received there. >> it is widely regarded as a positive light. manyave been waiting for that day, but many thoughthis wou never happen. remember, the group does fled the country -- the group to -- guptas fled the country years ago. brent: so if you can briefly describe, what did the brothers do and why were they prosecuted? >> they came to south africa in the early 1990's. they were wealthy, but not super rich. they started with a small

technology company here and spend did their -- expanded their empire, from mining to media. they gained more and more political and when, especially within the ruling party here in south africa. their peak time was during the presidency of jacob zuma, the former president was a good friend of theirs and his son was even deployed by one of their companies. now they are widely seen here as the architects of a system of state capture, basically getting into as many state institutions as they could to corrupt deals and steal taxpayers money. after zuma resigned, the state commission was introduced here and they basically confirmed that millions of taxpayers money was channeled, government funds, into group to -- gupta companies. you hear about the influence of the gupta's, they brought in a

whole plane of guests from india to south africa and landed on an air force base here in south africa. some witnesses even claimed they had a word to say when it came to ministerial appointments here in the country. brent: now they could face extradition. how likely is it that that will happen? >> nobody knows at th stage if and when it could happen. of course, it should be the next step, that's what the authories are hoping for, but the next taskill be for prosecors to come up with a robust case to get them to work and when the case against them. remember, the guptas as ll as zuma, denyny wrongdoing. ui has never been convicted for any corruption cases. spent a few weeks in jail for contempt of court, but never for corruption it will be interesting to see

whether institutions in south africa and the government are interested in fighting corruption. brent: the latest tonight from cape town. adrian, thank you. here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. mali's government has set a two-year transitional period for a return to civilian rule and new elections. now, that community imposed economic sanctions on mali in january. vice chancellor robert holick has met with the palestinian prime minister in the west bank city of ramallah. they are looking for a two state solution in the middle east. holick says germany wants to help the region develop renewable energy. a british journalist and up brazilian indigenous affairs expert have both gone missing in

a remote part of the amazon rain forest. don phillips and bruno perera were seen early sunday morning. officials say the two had received frequent threats from illegal fishermen and poachers. the trial began today of two minute -- two men accused of killing a dutch crime journalist, who was shot at close range in amsterdam last year. he died nine days later. he was working as an advisor to a witness in a major trial involving an organized crime gang. >> a beloved journalist and the never lens, peter de rees discovered crime stories that law enforcement gave up on. >> i am just doing my work. >> work that set him up against

many of the criminals and most corrt. while leaving a tv studio in central amsterdam, he was shot in the head from close range. [gunshots] >> two men were arrested shortly after and stand trial for his murder. nine days after he was shot, at the age of 64, he died in hospital. his murder rocked the nation and people are looking to this trial to deliver justice. >> i hope from the bottom of my heart, the person who did this will be justified. i truly hope so, but it is really unfortunate that these things keep happening. >> the of assassination is widely believed to be ordered by a criminal gang who had killed the brother end attorney of a key witness in the case. brent: you probably know, in canada, ice hockey is king, but

there are few queens. that's changing. >> girls aged seven to 14 on the ice playing hockey, and not such a familiar sight in canada surprisingly, despite canadian women winning olympic gold medals in the sport, hockey remains mainly for men. women make up less than 20% of players in the country. some are hoping all girls clubs can change that. >> you know, being with other girls who have the same goals and same drive a you is really, really important. i remember growing up and being on teams where it was almost surprising to me there were other girls like me who loved hockey as much as i did and wanted to spend that extra time, wanted to do the extra work off and on the ice. to be surrounded by like-minded people who have the same goals and dreams is you is really, really powerful. >> at this club in toronto, many

of the kids say playing out in all girls club makes them feel more comfortable. >> it's easier, because boys can sometimes be a little bit mean to you. ihink girls are really helpful in that situation. >> a group of canadian and american players have founded the professional women's hockey players association. their goal? to create a cross-border league where female athletes are paid as professionals and don't need to work on the side. brent: after a short break, we will be back to take you through "the day." we will be right back. ♪

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>> hello and welcome to france 24. ukrainian forces struggle to hold gains as moscow continues to push for donbass. the talks on unblocking ukraine's grain export. officials are ready to forge a new partnership with belgium and the drc without forgetting the past, as the king kicks off an historic visit to the colony. the biden administration,