conor: hello, and welcome to “focus on europe.” it is good to have you with us today. the war in ukraine has been going on for about half a year now, and the russian attacks are not letting up. artillery continues to rain down in eastern and southern ukraine, with russia's president putin maintaining his goal of taking the donbass region. ukraine, meanwhile, is publicly documenting what it says are war crimes against its citizens, all while ramping up its counter-offensive. ukrainian soldiers, by the

hundreds of thousands, are fighting fiercely against the russian invaders, and their resilience has surprised many. but with russia's military might, they've lost significant ground. ever since heavy weapons began arriving from western allies, though, the ukrainian army has counterattacked, including in the south. what their initial gains in the occupied kherson region have shown is that this war will be a long and bitter one. reporter: ukrainian forces have dug in deep here in the steppes of southern ukraine between mykolaiv and kherson. and they have russian forces in their sights. since the ukrainian government launched its counter-offensive, the viking, as he calls himself, and his comrarades hae ramped up the pressure on the russian positions. >> in terms of numbers, our artillery can't measure up to the russians', but we top them in accuracy and speed.

they use entire artillery batteries and spray the area like their grandfathers did in the second world war. we move two or three pieces into position, shoot in a targeted way and then pull back. reporter: their objective is to take back kherson, a city currently under russian occupation. anastasia borysova fled from the kherson area just recently. now, she's in odesa. aid organizations have collected donated clothing for the refugees. there are some 150,000 of them in the port city. anastasia held out under the occupation for months, till the ever-present fear became too much for her. anastasia: along with russian military hardware in the city with “z” markings, we suddenly began seeing equipment with the “v” symbol on it. that's when we realized that troops were being redeployed here from other places, and that there would be a huge

battle. and we didn't want to go through that. reporter: but the fighting isn't the only thing that prompted her to flee. her hometown, nova kakhovka, has become a virtual ghost town. she hardly ever ventured outdoors. anastasia: when you see russian troops, you look down. if you make eye contact, they say, “you're looking like you know something,” and then they might take you. whenever they took people away, their relatives would search for them desperately. some came back, others didn't. reporter: every day, more refugees arrive in odesa from the occupied areas. the journey is a dangerous one, but not only because of the fighting. the russian checkpoints let very few vehicles through.

even so, volunteers haven't given up trying to get people out. we met with one of them, but we can't show her face. >> there are far more troops than before. it feels like there's a checkpoint under every tree. and there are more snipers in the buildings. we used to be able to move freely around kherson. nobody paid attention to us. but now, we wouldn't dare go to the city center. reporter: as it happened, anastasia fled just in time. shortly afterwards, her apartment was hit. neighbors sent her photos of it. for now, she and her children are trying to settle back into a semblance of normalcy, but even a door slamming can bring back memories. >> there. tas are shooting. anastasia: there are no tks here. >> the>> no? anaasia:oting. nothere were tanks back home.

there aren't any here. reporter: it's quiet at the front, lunchtime in the trenches. in recent weeks, the ukrainians have been targeting the russians' supply lines. they've been able to destroy several russian ammunition depots. >> the effect is that, for a time after the attack, the bombardment calms down. but then, the russians adapt their logistics. they learn the lessons our western rocket-launchers and artillery teach them. unfortunately, that means there's no permanent turn in the tide of the war to our favor. it just evolves. reporter: ukraine has succeeded in retaking a few villages, but the offensive is slow going. the viking and his comrades have no idea how much longer they'll have to remain here.

>>o carry out a fast, aggressive, and active counter-offensive, we'd need many more weapons from our partners, especially artillery. without artillery, we foot soldiers can't do all that much. reporter: all they can do is wait, and remain on guard. the next attack is only a question of time. conor: olga strelnyk is one of more than six million people from ukraine who have fled their homeland, and who've been registered as refugees in a number of european countries. olga's journey took her to the region of galicia, in the very northwest part of spain. the coast there, on the atlantic, is rugged, and the weather is sometimes rough. but olga feels at home there. and that has a lot to do with the sea, the locals, and one very welcoming little town. reporter: odesa feels a bit like home. the atlantic reminds olga strelnyk of her home region along the black sea.

she and her family and about 100 others fled here, to northern spain, to escape the war in ukraine. olga: it's my family. so, for me it's more easy, because it's a beautiful place, beautiful people, and very kind people in cariño. reporter: the town is called cariño, which means love or affection in spanish. and that's just what olga and her fellow refugees experience here. at the traditional sardine festival, they're already part of the community, after just a few months. olga: it's not a huge place, but it's a chance to see everybody, to say hello and ask, how are you. reporter: the people of cariño, in galicia, made it easy for them to settle down and start new lives. >> we accept everyone here. >> cariño is a welcoming town, and of course the ukrainians are welcome and respected here. reporter:

javier colorado manteiga from caritas has been helping however he can for months. and he knows all the newcomers. javier: we could get to know each other a bit better if they spoke our language better. but that's just a question of time. and the kids are great. they really absorb everything and learn the language super-fast. reporter: cariño has less than 4000 residents. many of them are elderly, and the town's population had been shrinking. jose: the young people arriving are a rejuvenation for us. we are getting more people of working age. and that rejuvenates the town. reporter: olga strelnyk and her colleagues feel they have a bright professional future here. in ukraine, they worked for a platform selling spare car

parts. they were in cariño on business when the war broke out. they wanted to expand their operations to spain. olga: in galicia, there are a lot of advantages, because there are people very kind to other people who would like to start business here. so, it's not spain like madrid and other huge cities. we can't just come for, i don't know, one year, and take the money from the market and go away. we would like to build very huge business here. reporter: today, they're visiting their new office spaces for the first time. it's a welcome distraction from the war back at home and their fear for their loved ones. their ukrainian colleague magdalina shpak can relate. she's been living in cariño for many years. and she's put dozens people in touch with locals. magdalina: there's a very big difference between refugees and migrants.

migrants leave their country because they want to. they want to. they plan things and decide where to live. refugees don't have that luxury. they just head off without anything. reporter: olga strelnyk returned to ukraine after the war broke out. she had to fetch her children, 16-year-old hordey and nine-year-old agata, at the border to romania to bring them to safety. olga: it was very bad, this feeling. because i have seen a lot people in the line. but i'm so afraid for my children. reporter: her ex-husband stayed behind. and her mother is still in odesa, too. they talk to each other several times a day. olga: you can explain how you feel now. and nobody says, ok, i'm normal.

you can explain that i'm sad, i miss, i'm feeling not good, or i'm glad to see new people. more things now are not formal. because you understand that this day can be the last. reporter: after escaping the war, the newcomers want to get back to work. their digital business is helping create jobs in the spanish town. plus, the café they've fixed up has now become a meeting point for young and old. olga: i think we have no chance to survive without this help. because we just come with, i don't know, one luggage and that's all. marivi: we need young people who want to kick-start the local economy. and fill up the schools.

javier: everyone has given it their best. and that honors the name of our town. reporter: some young ukrainians want to remain in cariño after the war. others would like to return home at some point. even so, spain's “little odes”" will have a place in their hearts. conor: what will become of the country that these young northern irish live in? these guys here are protestants, and they believe that northern ireland belongs to great britain. many of their classmates, though, are catholic irish and they would prefer a reunification of northern ireland with the republic of ireland. it's a decades-old conflict, fought bitterly by the older generation. yet in the border town of crossmaglen, tensions are now rising again, and it is young people who are feeling the impact. >> band. march. reporter:

the songs are well-rehearsed. the hamiltonsbawn silver band is ready to go on the march. 18-year-old lucy bingham grew up here, in a protestant family. all the band members are protestants, and by tradition, they see themselves as british. but in this particular area, they're in the minority. the townspeople all around are mostly catholic, and irish nationalist. and ever since brexit, tensions have been rising again. lucy: there is very much division in the commity. we are surrounded herey nationalist areas. and it's like, you wouldn't go to them places. because of the past, because of the troubles, people around here are very angry. we are just heading back to that place, that dark place, and obviously we don't want to go back. reporter:

at times, protestants here have felt discriminated against. at one point, her own family was a target of ira assassins, lucy says. now, she feels as if they have to put their guard up all over again. she's certain she wants to stay in the united kingdom. lucy: what we got out of brexit, it's very much heading for a united ireland, which is against what every unionist wants. we don't want that. reporter: lucy's home in northern ireland lies just a few kilometers from the border to the republic of ireland. but she hardly ever goes there. crossmaglen is a catholic town, a former stronghold of the ira. right next to the big former army base is the youth center. the catholic youth here define their identities very differently. the cross the border routinely. they all have relatives in the republic of ireland. >> i'm irish. i wouldn't really count myself as british, because we are so connected to ireland. and we live in northern ireland. we're still ireland, so, irish,

yeah. >> i feel like even though northern ireland is part of the united kingdom, i just feel because it's our own island, you just feel irish. reporter: all at once, unification with eu-member republic of ireland is on the table, according to surveys. the irish nationalist sinn féin, once the political arm of the ira, emerged from the northern ireland assembly election in may as the strongest party. liz kimmins is a deputy to the assembly. liz: covid and brexit has shown people that here are huge benefits to an all-ireland economy and an all-ireland approach. and that's something that is growing without any of us pushing, it's coming naturally. and certainly, we would be doing everything we can to facilitate that. reporter: but the violence of the past still haunts the present day. memorials to fighters killed on both sides are well-maintained. liz kimmins' sinn féin insists

that it's changed. it has long been committed to achieving its goal of a united ireland using only peaceful means. liz: every one of us want to live in a society that ipeaceful and that is prosperous. that's something that we all have common ground on. for those people that do fear the prospect of constitutional change, i would be saying then, there's nothing to fear. be part of the discussion. that is how we are going to shape it, that is how we are going to address those fears. reporter: but it's going to take some very tactful and persuasive diplomacy, and lots of patience, to bring loyalist protestants like lucy on board. lucy: i hope in my future and my life that i never see a united ireland. i hope i live to the day where it is still northern ireland, very much, that's part of the u.k. reporter: most if not all the hamiltonsbawn silver band members think like lucy. but many also sense that the

winds are changing -- maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon. conor: and in london, meanwhile, the shock is great that, for the very first time, the political tides in northern ireland appear to have turned, with the party that's not in favor of the country remaining in great britain winning the majority of votes to the national assembly in belfast. the time of the glaciers appears to be running out. the ice in europe's alps is melting faster and faster. climate change and global warming are causing glaciers to collapse, and in some cases, dramatically. like here, in july, on the marmolata in northern italy, where 11 people were killed. experts like florian haas fear that large parts of the alps could be completely ice-free in just a few decades, undergoing drastic changes like those seen at the gepatschferner, austria's second largest glacier. reporter: the helicopter's landing spot

used to be a glacier 100 years ago. we're accompanying a team of geographers to the gepatschferner glacier in the austrian alps. florian: in a very hot year, the gepatschferner can recede by more than 100 meters. reporter: it is the fastest-melting glacier in the alps. florian haas and his team come here every year. the data they've collected documents the pace of climate change. here on the glacier, the impact of global warming is clear to see, and hear. florian: this is meltwater from the glacier. we're in the area where there's no longer a layer of winter snow on top. so the melting here is due to the warm temperatures and the sunlight of these past few days, in combination with this dark dirt.

reporter: wherever you look, there's water dripping, flowing, and burbling. this is what the death of a glacier looks like. the gepatschferner is receding by more than 100 meters each year. global glacier melting is causing sea levels to rise and destabilizing the climate even more. for their research, the geographers are collecting photos of taken by local residents, dating back to the 19th century. they show how climate change has been devouring this landscape. manuel: i often show the photos to my son. he's eight. and my daughter's six. i doubt they'll be able to see many glaciers. florian: it's shocking how fast it's going. in the 1990's the glaciers were receding, but it was more or less stable. now it's drastic, out of control. reporter: by 2050, there will be no ice

left here. even if we do everything possible to protect the climate, the glacier will keep melting for another 30 years. conor: one city in italy could also be hit hard by climate change and rising sea levels. that's the lagoon city of venice. it's crisscrossed by many picturesque canals, which are once again bustling with activity. but if you look closely, you'll notice that the gondolas and water taxis are captained by men, and so are the boats captained by private citizens. that might soon change, though, thanks to this woman who's making waves, marta canino. she's doing everything she can to get more women to take the helm. reporter: this view is only to be had from a boat. but to experience it, you need to know how to pilot one. marta:

turn the other direction, keep going. don't worry. reporter: valentina is taking boating lessons. this time, she's practicing how to moor it. marta: this boat is responsive because of its flat hull. so valentina needs to decide when to speed up or slow down, and how to maneuver down to the millimeter. reporter: valentina recently returned to venice after 10 years abroad. she loves the city and its architecture. residents are permitted to ply the city's canals in small boats. that's why valentina decided to take lessons. valentina: the motor made it all quite intimidating at first. and boating is very male-dominated. reporter: the pandemic is waning, and tourists are back in venice.

its narrow alleys and canals are teeming with visitors. anyone piloting a boat on canal grande needs strong nerves. until now, that's mostly been men. that's why marta canino founded an organization to help bring women on board. the idea came to her in 2020, at the high of the pandemic. the city was almost empty, emptier than even the oldest residents had ever seen before. marta and her young son were stuck at home. people could only go out for essentials. the bustling city had come to a near standstill, and waterbus services were limited. marta was lucky -- she has her own boat, which she learned how to pilot as a young girl. during the pandemic, she took her son out on the water. she started a facebook group to

help other women enjoy that same freedom. marta: we realized that women and mothers with baby carriages were left behind quite often, weren't able to board the vaporetto, because there weren't that many waterbuses in operation. i immediately realized why so many women began calling us right after we set up the website. and the calls keep coming. reporter: marta's idea soon became an amateur sport association, based at a venice wharf. “fie a manetta,” italian for “girls at full throttle.” few took them seriously, at first. but marta and her partner luisa were undeterred, teaching women the theory and practice of boating. they're funded by donations, coaching, and membership fees. marta and luisa make sure that any woman who calls gets quick

help. marta: the first thing we do is say yes, straight away. it's the same when a woman wants a haircut. it might sound silly, but it needs to happen soon. it can't wait for two weeks. it's a desire for change, and it needs to be addressed quickly. reporter: marta hopes her lessons will also help keep local residents in the city, rather than move away. piloting a boat on the canals is one of their last remaining privileges. it offers a sense of freedom and independence in a city that marta says has become a wasteland. for longtime residents, the throngs of tourists, and the shops and businesses that cater to them, have little value. today, cecilia is heading out onto the canal grande for the first time. it's the city's most scenic, but also busiest waterway. tourist boats, water busses, and water taxis are back.

and soon, more women will be joining them. marta: i hope this project keeps growing. boats should connect all places and worlds in the city, as they did in the past. look, up ahead. gondolas, taxis, vaporetti, the rialto bridge. 100,000 eyes are on you. it's going brilliantly. reporter: marta and her students won't give up this new-found freedom on the water anytime soon. conor: sometimes you just have to go full throttle to get what you want. that's it from “focus on europe” for this week. thank you for watching, and if you've missed anything or want to share this show online, you can find this broadcast on dw.com. on behalf of the whole team, stay safe, and bye for now. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

berlin. britain's queen elizabeth the second has died at the age of 96. the monarchy's longest reigning monarch passed away at her scottish home by maura, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. buckingham palace in london becomes the focus of national mourning. the queen's eldest son becomes king. charles says the family takes