>> this is focus on europe. i'm lara babalola, welcome to the show. europe is drying up. a new report by the eu commission says the continent is experiencing its worst drought in 500 years. the extreme heat this summer. has left deep scars in many regions. germany's longest river is shrinking at an alarming rate. an extreme water shortage on the rhine has hit the environment and the economy hard. new channels need to be dredged so that ships can transport goods and people along the

river. the rhine is regarded as germany's most important river. it has inspired famous authors, composers and philosophers over the ages. but with temperatures getting hotter, the mighty waterway is gradually losing its size and stature. traffic on the depleted water channels has been brought to a standstill in some places along the rhine. our reporter met people whose livelihoods are being affected by the drought. historically low water levels. in some places, the rhine is no more than a meter deep. things have come to a standstill in altrip in western germany, operations have been stalled for days. the water is too shallow for the ferry which this family business runs. >> there the water was 1 meter30 if we cross over, our ship won't make it, and we'd be finished. then you're stuck in the sand with the propeller busted.

a new propeller like that costs 260, 270 thousand, and you can't just go out and buy that. >> now some employees will have to go on vacation, others will have their hours shortened. and the rest are using two excavators to dig a new, deeper channel. further down the rhine at mannheim, it is clear just how much is at stake. 80 percent of germany's inland shipping passes through the rhine. harbor director uwe kahn tells us that many sectors depend on goods delivered by water. >> over there, you can also see that the police are blocking one of the two routes under the bridge, probably because there's not enough water. and you can see how these two ships now have to watch out passing each other. so now these guys really have a hard job making sure nothing happens. but the biggest problem, according to uwe kahn, can be seen with this freighter. ships can no longer be fully loaded. >> so currently it takes 3 to 4 times as much cargo space to

carry the same amount as at normal water levels. that leads to shortages and, of course, to an increase in costs. and that's the big problem. >> but the rhine's drought affects the environment most. gerardo unger la fourcade has observed the natural landscape here for over 10 years, and the vegetation is now in serious danger. >> here we would normally be a meter underwater, and there's just no more water. all living things here that can' t retreat into the water will die off. >> this mainly affects small animals like crustaceans, but according to conservationists, it is now also dangerous for fish. >> everything is already dead here. you have to imagine such puddles can get to 30-35 degrees. these are death zones t only

for fish, but for all smaller organisms. >> even worse, tourists are further damaging the flora and fauna. many are taking advantage of the drought to walk to the world-famous mouse tower. environmentalist say this destro precious breeding grnds. >> so the problem is that people on otherwise inaccessible islands are a disturbance. a bird gets used to its environment and if it is not used to humans walking around, then anyone walking around will be a huge disturbance and so it might abandon its nest. >> we continue our journey. we pass long sandbanks, idle ships, and water that has rarely been this low. almost all ferry services across the rhine have closed. however, martin schwas in the small town of ingelheim is still operating.

for 130 years and for 5 generations, his family has run a ferry on the rhine. his ferry can still make it because it is specially designed for extremely shallow water. >> our propeller is in the hull, which means the ferry doesn't have a keel, so we have less draft. there's still enough clearance, so the water can still fall half a meter. hopefully it won't come to that... hopefully. >> business is still good for martin schwas. ever more commuters and tourists now depend on his ferry. >> this used to be once every 20 years, now every 2 years the river can't be crossed, so we have to help out and demand is increasing. >> the ferry still has 50 centimeters to the riverbed. but martin schnaas doesn't know how long that will last. if it doesn't rain soon, he will probably have to give up. >> to ukraine now, where the suffering and cruelty from the

war continue unabated. it's been six months since russia invaded the country. putin's bombs are landing in residential areas, killing and injuring those who are the most vulnerable: hospital patients. ukrainian pablo kovtonyuk has made it his mission to document these horrors. he is determined to hold the kremlin accountable for such atrocities. according to ukrainian data, some 700 health. facilities have been struck by russian missiles. far from the front line in chernihiv, hospitals are coming under attack. when he was deputy minister of health, pavlo kovtonyuk tried to reform the ukrainian health system. now three years later he is documenting its destruction. this was once the cardiology center of chernihiv. but in march, a russian air raid

reduced it to rubble. that was just one of over a hundred and eighty attacks on health facilities documented by kovtonyuk and his ngo. >> i see the systematic destruction of healthcare as a part of civilian life. because it's not only about healthcare it's about all type of civilian objects are being systemically targeted. >> a dash cam video recorded the moment when eight russian bombs hit this residenal area. a witness sent us another video. it shows the devastation just minutes after the impact and the crater right in front of the cardiology center is clear to see. forty-seven people died in the attack and dozens were injured. one resident told us about how shells were raining down non-stop on chernihiv back then. >> they needed excavators.

the victims all had to be buried in body bags. >> witnesses confirm there were no military facilities or positions of any kind near the hospital. that's why kovtonyuk says the attack was a war crime. and that russia must be held accountable. >> hospitals are the places which military should seek to avoid actively. it's not that they would shell and then say, oh sorry that was a hospital. no, they should check if a hospital is there and if it is there, they should do anything possible not to hit that. it's their obligation according to geneva conventions. >> but to ensure justice is served, they're trying to gather as much evidence as possible. kovtonyuk and his colleagues have been in the field talking to witnesses and looking for traces of impacts and pieces of ammunition. and they're meticulously documenting the damage.

kovtonyuk says they're following international standards so that courts worldwide can use their evidence. >> we are not legal people by background none of us. we are healthcare people, but we've got some training in those protocols and those procedures, and we are using the software to do our best and hoping for at least a part of that evidence will go and will win in some case. >> and his ngo has also documented the case of chernihiv's pediatric hospital. we spoke with dr. mykola lyutkévych. but before we could ask him any questions, he just started talking about what happened. and about how they were treating all the people injured in an attack on the residential area. and how their hospital itself was hit by a bomb two weeks later. >> we're trained trauma surgeons, but we've never

experienced these kinds of bleeding wounds. everyone was screaming adults and children. we put five of them on the floor, but they just kept coming. it was complete chaos. >> with shells raining down, they had to flee into the basement again and again. they even did surgery there. and did their best to protect the children until the hospital itself was hit. the russian missiles were equipped with cluster munition largely banned under an international treaty. they impacted the first to the fifth floor. >> fortunately, there was an air raid siren before the cluster bomb hit. so we got the kids into the basement. otherwise, we would have had two hundred and thirty-seven fatalities. >> he showed us the pieces of shrapnel he collected on site. it would have taken them hours to remove the dozens of bits of shrapnel from the children's bodies.

>> when you hear this, there's no need to explain why we need justice. because somebody needs to pay for what was done to people like mykola or his patients. >> as we left chernihiv again, we passed by another fully destroyed hospital. koftonyuk knows it could take years for legal action to be taken in international courts. but in the meantime, he wants to do anything he can to collect evidence. >> this is the golden jackal, native to europe. though the predators are smaller than wolves, jackals have a unique skill: hs swimming. they can swim several miles in pursuit of prey and they adapt quickly to new habitats. jackals will also eat almost anything, from fruit to livestock. this is bad news for the shepherds who live on the croatian archipelago of the kornati islands.

a paradise in the adriatic sea where, until recently, jackals were unheard of. jakov ikic has been out all morning hoping to find at least a couple of his sheep. they are semi-wild and live scattered across the island of pikera. his plan was to do some shearing today, but all he found was a terrified lamb. jakov lives with his family on the kornati islands. the archipelago is a natural paradise and has been a national park for over 40 years. for centuries, the people here have lived from fishing, sheep farming, and olives a fragile ecosystem that is suddenly under threat: jackals have appeared on the island wolf-like wild dogs. zlatko ruanovic, the national park biologist, is on their

trail. it's a coincidence that he is here today. just two days ago, jakov tells him, there were a couple of mother sheep with their lambs at the house. zlatko: how old are they? jakov: two weeks. zlatko: two weeks. jakov: and this one is one week old. zlatko: one... >> and here there was another one, along with this one. also one week, but it's gone. and these two are gone too. i found this one this morning. >> jakov will raise the lamb himself rather than leave it to the jackals. he earns nothing from the sheep's wool. only lambs can be sold. they have set a trap above jakov's farm. it's an attempt to at least do something. but so far without success. the trap is empty. >> it doesn't work for jackals. well try it again somewhere

else, but jakov says it's too small. >> look, the entrance is much too small. >> jackals are shy and cunning. and masterfully camouflaged by their fur. its only with video traps that zlatko gets to see the animals. >> but that's tedious. it's hot, the islands terrain is rough. putting cameras in the right place requires as much luck as skill. and then he has to go back every two or three weeks to replace the batteries and view the pictures. >> here were using eight cameras to find out how many there are, what direction they are headed in and their frequency how often they show up. >> here, at the only waterhole on all the kornati islands, the

chances are good: the sheep come to drink, but so do the jackals. >> nice. nice track here. this is the jackal. and this is the sheep. sheep and the jackal. they must drink the water. >> except that this is now life-threatening for theheep. and sheep are important for keeping the vegetation cropped on the island. especially under the olive trees. they wouldn't grow properly if there were too much undergrowth. >> we accompany a park administration patrol. they organize regular hunts now and have shot a few jackals, but the animals are still propagating across the islands. the rangers are not yet sure why they suspect environmental influences. >> we are here on the south side of dugi otok. behind us is the small island of vela alba.

we think the jackal swam from dugi otok to vela alba and then here to kornati. in total, that is about 800 meters and we know from research that jackals can easily swim two miles and more. >> and indeed there is a video, taken by locals. a jackal calmly swims to the shore. never before have there been jackals on kornati. now you can find their traces everywhere. more and more pictures of dead sheep are emerging. not all victims of jackals, but most of them. >> three yearsgo, before the jackal came, we had about 200 sheep on each farm on the island. now there are about 60, if that. >> the farmer has since spotted a few of his sheep. but as soon as they catch his scent, they take off. semi-wild sheep farming has no

future, jakov says. he wants to change strategy. >> in september we will start afresh. i'll bring in tenew sheep, let's see if that works. not as many as before, but well keep them in the barn. >> jakov will probably have to get used to living with the jackals. it looks like they have come to stay. the new inhabitants of the islands. >> they came hoping for asylum and a way into the european union. last fall, tens of thousands of migrants suddenly gathered at poland's border. suspicion fell on belarusian ruler alexander lukashenko. he was accused of sending them there in retaliation for eu sanctions against his regime. poland's response was swift the border was fortified with police and barbed wire.

warsaw then went a step further and installed a heavily-guarded fence. now, only a few migrants manage to make it across to the other side. >> mariusz is near the polish-belarusian border. until recently, this was a restricted military zone. he is searching the forest for migrants who've managed to cross over. and calls for help keep coming in. he told us how he helped a boy from guinea just before our meeting. >> his legs were injured from the wire fence. his deep wounds were infected and filled with puss. i had to disinfect and treat everything. >> it's the first time hes been able to search here again. because this strip was sealed off for over nine months even for helpers like him. >> if we activists and volunteers weren't on the ground, most of these peop would prably die in the forest. because the condition that some of the men and woman were in was really hard to describe.

>> the region is normally known for its wild animals, for nature, and for the biaworwijcza forest. but the area was closed off because poland wanted to stop migrants from crossing the border from belarus. and many are from the middle east. now there is a newly built fence. >> i think the government is just doing a show of force. the fence maybe a small barrier but refugees still get through. over the top or underneath. let's be honest, no walk and stop people fleeing from death, war or persecution. >> we wanted to see the border fence for ourselves but almost 190 kilometers long, 5 meters high, it has guards and cameras. according to the border guards, significantly fewer migrants are now entering poland. we noticed that were not the only ones visiting the fence. for others, here, it is still an unfamiliar and strange sight. the village of minkowze was

also in the restricted zone. there was a state of emergency here, no one from outside could enter without permission, and anyone seeking to leave was checked several times. the fence runs right up along these yards. behind it lies belarus, an ally of putin. we asked if it was right to build the fence? >> if it wasn't for this fence, the russians would already be here. this was all set up back then for the ukraine conflict. >> the same sentiment could be heard at the local village store here, it comes on wheels. >> we are safe now, it's good that the wall was built and we are grateful to those who made it happen. >> in minkowce like in other villages military and border guards are still on the move. officially, the zone was also for protecting security forces and arresting migrant smugglers. but there have also been accusations against poland for

sending people back to belarus in violation of international law. these so-called "pushbacks" are approved by the polish parliament. we drove on. more than 180 villages were affected by the exclusion zone, including many that are normally dependent on tourism like kruszyniany. only a few families live here, mainly polish tartars a muslim minority. >> on saturday morning, men and women pray separately. at the mosque we met dzenneta bogdanowicz. she was relieved that the restricted zone was finally opened. >> it was quiet. no one was here, no one at all. that's why we're happy that there are prayer meetings again, that we can celebrate the feast of sacrifice together, and we're happy that things are going back to normal. >> she took us to her

restaurant, just across the street. with traditional tartar cuisine and 30 employees, it is a large establishment. the guests are mainly tourists and regulars who have not been allowed to come for a long time. >> did you enjoy it? asks the restaurant manager. >> excellent has always required the customer. at last, there are guests here again: after the covid lockdowns, the exclusion zone nearly drove them into financial ruin, said dzenneta bogdanowicz. >> without outside help, we won't be able to survive. if we get support, we'll be able to manage, but if not, we don't even want to imagine what will happen. >> money isn't the only problem she told us. the exclusion zone has also had an effect on her spirit.

to help others, she now allows small businesses to set up stands at the restaurant. strength is found in the family, she says. >> the haunting beauty of a building left in ruins. there's an eerie silence, broken only by a bird or the wind moving through the trees. mother nature is left to devour the abandoned space, one branch at a time. these dilapidated buildings, or so-called lost places fascinate german photographer sven fennema. his work is getting noticed online but some of the attention is unwelcome. sven's lost places are being found by a new generation of content-hungry creators. >> saronno in northern italy is home to the ruins of the isotta fraschini car factory. it's been deserted since 1990. and bushes, shrubs, and trees have been sprouting up between the steel girders. nature is reclaiming its space

in record time. ruins like this are a playground for krefeld-based photographer sven fennema. >> there's a true symbiosis here. it's not a conflict like how we normally try to keep nature in check, cut it back, and shape it. here, nature can unfold freely, and yet it does so through dialog in the end in dialog with the building. and that just produces very astonishing images. >> italy is fennemas destination of choice, because hardly anywhere else has as many modern ruins. unlike in germany, many things are just left standing completely abandoned. but even in italy, urban spaces like this one are enticing developers. and the owner told us an art academy with a museum is set to open its doors in the coming years. >> and student housing will probably go up, too.

that'll make for a living space where the people can reclaim this property again. >> but the plan iso at least keep the green space around the property making for a bit of urban wilderness. but the modern ruins in italy face another threat. through social media and the internet, hidden gems are increasingly being revealed and vandalized. fennema has often visited the villa la romantica near bologna. but this time, he is in for an unpleasant surprise. >> oh, i'm really appalled. i've been here twice and there wasn't any graffiti at all. my last visit was six years ago. >> now that a lot has been destroyed or tagged, it's time for fennema to change locations. because there are still some magical places left. but he'd rather not say just where this church is. >> lost and found and now a closely-guarded secret.

that's all this week from focus on europe. thanks for watching bye for now.

>> russia and china in signs of a stress relationship. vladimir putin a xi jinping met for the first time since the war in ukraine began. they talked about safeguarding security interests, but there were hints of problems. also, the head of the european union paid a visit today to ukrainian president volodymyr