berlin. explosions in the baltic sea and leaks from the gas pipelines connecting russia and germany. denmark and sweden say it was deliberate. other western leaders ask whether this was russian sabotage. also on the program, moscow claims the so-called referendums in occupied ukraine show people overwhelmingly in favor of joining russia. they announced the votes as a sham.

the rent exits from russia gathers momentum, tens of thousands more men leave to avoid being called up to fight in ukraine. i am phil gayle, welcome to the program. denmark and sweden to the gas what leaks -- gas leaks in the nord stream pipeline connecting russia from europe were caused by sabotage. explosions in the baltic sea before three simultaneous leaks. other european leaders in the u.s. fear sabotage. the kremlin says it is extremely concerned while the pipeline operator says the damage is unprecedented. >> gas bubbles turn in the baltic sea. this shows one area where 70

meters below sea level, gas is escaping from the nord stream pipeline. the undersea pipeline, nord stream 1 and to link russia and germany, three redots marked the places where leaks were detected. even though the pipelines are not currently delivering russian gas europe, they are still -- there is still fuel in the pipes. the pipeline operator reported a drop in pressure but researchers said they had detected possible explosions in the area where the leaks were observed. >> as far a we can tell, there is nothing naturally occurring that would disclaim -- explain this. if these really are exploons whh we find highly likely, they are man-made somehow.

>> denmark said the leaks were no accident but were caused by deliberate actions. as the danish prime minister intended to bring gas from norway to replace russian supplies, poland's later called the leaks sabotage. the questions over the possible blast in the baltic sea highlight how politicized energy supplies have become following russia's invasion of ukraine. the kremlin has also suggested foul play. >> no option can be ruled out right now. it is clear that there is damage to the pipeline. we can't exclude any version of events regarding the reason for this. >> with sabotage potentially in play, suspicions over who was to blame our heightening tensions

between russia and its european neighbors. >> data indicates that two underwater explosions occurred before the pipeline leaks. the network's director talked me through the findings. >> we detected two blasts yesterday. as second one later in the day at 7:00 p.m.. the first blast occurred southeast of the danish island. very close to the location where the swedish ritime administration tells us the gas is leaking out of the pipeline. >> could these explosions have

been the result of some naturally occurring seismological event? >> no, these are not earthquakes. these are definitely blasts. we can see that both from evaluating the waveforms, earthquakes to create slightly different seismic waves. in this case, it is in the wate >> do you think these blasts are the cause or the effect in the pipelines or an explosion in the pipeline caused the blast if you see what i am driving? >> right. we have no data to tell which comes first and which comes second. we are looking into the data we

have from the second blast which was slightly larger. so far today, we have not come up with anything conclusive. >> no doubt in your mind, this was man-made. >> that is right. >> thank you for joining us. to talk to you. most voters favor joining russia. the kremlin is expected to use the outcome to annex for regions. they are refusing to recognize the results.

>> not many ukrainians believe that is what happened in referendums staged in four russian held regions of ukraine. first results showed overwhelming support for joining russia. kyiv and the west has said they already have not recognized the outcome of the ballot which ukraine said was in some cases conducted at gunpoint. >> there is small number of people that have to put something like that agreement marked on the ballot. why? a man comes to every house and asks them to vote. what should people do when an armed person comes for their home? they are forced to sign the ballot. >> a video from variable shared by the ukrainian city government in exile shows armed soldiers

falling -- follow election workers into residential buildings. awarded by ukrainian authories that people will face criminal punishment if they vote prompted some to leave. and others to hide behind closed doors. ukrainian leadership and the western allies to the referendums as a pretext for the kremlin to annex the four regions. many ordinary ukrainians think the same. >> it is illegal. it is simply unbearable. >> in a chilling morning last week, a potent says he would be willing to use nuclear weapons to protect territory he considers part of the russian federation.

those who stayed in russia faced the likelihood they would have to leave as citizens of russia and perhaps even become fighters for its army. >> let's take a closer look at this nick connolly and ukrainian capital. welcome. picking up on that last point from the report, what do you think? would people in occupied regions of ukraine fight for russia russian mark -- russia? >> we have seen russia trying to recruit people in these regions with the promise of money. there have been occasions of duress. there is a sen that russia would rather recruit people. this is a risk in the kind of

soci conflict we are seeing in russia itself. as for people being willing to fight against ukraine and gives their own country, it will often be a question of how much freedom they have to choose, how much real options here -- this is their only way of surviving. as with voting in this so-called referendum, we see people trying to sit it out, hiding from the authorities. they are sitting in their summer houses, trying to stay in apartments where they are not registered. and hope tt somehowhis passeshem by. ukraine was able to push russian lines back.

>> when the results are eventually declared as we resume the vote goes to a yes, will residents he the chance to escape? >> in other parts of the country, the picture is not quit as clear. russia is not making it easy to leave to ukraine and held territory with any guarantee of safety. there are extraordinary stories of people having to do thousands of journeys traveling into russian crimea. getting back to ukraine that way or get into belarus, people sometimes traveling thousands of kilometers just to get 50 or 100 km down the road into ukrainian held territory. >> now the world is holding its breath to see how russia would defend these annexed regions.

>> that is definitely the threat we have been hearing from pretty top-level people in moscow in recent days. they would then be able to use the threat if ukraine were to trto regain these regionsy force. so far, i think there is not too much in the way of credence. there is no real belief that this is for real. there is no sign that russiaas significantly brought his nuclear forces into a greater state of readiness. it is definitely a more dangerous situation. we have seen russia have a do have rockets explode on the perimeters. this is basically russia's last chance. it is losing on the battlefield.

this is the last thinghat they will hope, to force people in europe to think twice before putting pressure on kyiv. >> thank you for that, nick. ukraine is looking to deploy more advanced weapons in the pushback against russian forces. president zelenskyy says ukraine is taking a significant air defense system from the u.s.. russia controls around 15% of ukraine and moscow is preparing to formally unaccepted those areas following those so-called referendums. tim ripley is an author and journalist based in london. welcome to gw -- dw. >>hese are wpon systems made

in norway in cooperation with the u.s. missile company radian -- raytheon. it has a range between 20 and 40 kilometers. it is a powerful weapon for shutting down an aircraft. it has a radar system as well. it gives the ukrainians a chance to establish air defense umbrellas over key targets, bridges, factories, airfields and prevent russian fighter planes, russian cruise missiles from hitti their key targets it pokes lots of holes in the printing air defense. ey have taken -- in ukrainian

air defense. >> purely a defensive system. russia has no way of countering? >> they do have a way of countering. they can try to bomb it, they can try to jam it. this is a war of attrition between the air and missile system they he takeheavy casualtie on both sides. ukraine needs a never ending supply of new weapons to keep them in the fight. >> these have come from the united states which is clearly thrown lots and lots of money and the most sophisticated systems at this fight. they are made in norway with american components, t middle

is the weapon part oit. the packages, theargest, all of that infrastructure makes it work. the americans are buying them from the norweans. they have a production line gog for the system. >> this does not change the way that ukraine prosecutes this work, it just makes them safer from russian aggression. >> it keeps tm going through the winter, they have suered heavy lses. ukraine uses up their stocks and missiles. it is all about sustaining em in this work. it is very innsive business that involves t consumption of a lot of missiles. th is what they don't ve.

all the missiles they have at the moment were madet the soviet -- in the soviet union and russia. they need an alternative source of supply. >> thank you, that is very clear. tim ripley, military expert in london. you have a sport or 66,000 russians have flooded into the eu over the next week. mainly to be -- merely to avoid being called up to fight. kazakhstan and georgia are reporting tens of thousands of arrivals. our dw correspondant reports from a checkpoint on the border between georgia and russia. >> thanks to the george's for opening the board. it made it much easier for us. >> along with friends, children or family. with or without pets. many of these people are crossing the border from russia into georgia and are doing so to

avoid being sent to war. >> since the start of the mobilization in russia, this checkpoint and georgia has been an emergency mood. -- in emergency mode. russian men along with their families spent days and nights stretching for kilometers, most of the time without food or water, t price they are willing to pay to avoid going to war. >> moscow -- first by train and then by bicycle. this is how we cross the border. >> i cannot support what was happening in russia. i think it makes absolutely no sense. i was actually supposed to go t japan for permanent residency in six months but i decided if everythi closes down, there would not be any japan. >> he worked for an energy company that closed down because of the war.

he would like to return to russia someday when moscow changes its political course. quick tre was a huge influx of cars and people. i understand the customs officers have figured out how to deal with the situation and then started to organize traffic. what is interesting is people are also organizing themselves. >> george is on his way to visit relatives in georgia. he tells dw that the border guards don't let everyone through. twice he checked my passport to see if i was being drafted, that was it. those that are being mobilized, they turned them around, just like that. there have been cases like this. >> georgia says they don't intend to close the border with russia. the russian federal security service has already deployed dilatory personnel and an armored personnel carrier to the frontier to stop russians fling their mobilization orders. >> taking a look at some more stories making news around the world. germany's economy minister says

the government will probably keep two of his three remaining nuclear power plant's on standby until next year. ministers have been for parents to shut down in december. concerns about energy shortages -- shortages are growing because of the war in ukraine. the saudi crown prince has been -- has become prime minister in iraq traditionally held by the king. the six-year-old -- the crown prince has been the effective ruler since becoming minister in 2017. the spanish course ordered security stand charges -- stand trial on charges of failing to pay taxes for years. shakira says she will fight the charges. millions of ukrainian refugees have come to the european union.

many get stuck along the way in towns along the serbian border. our correspondent reports where tensions are flaring. >> another cold night spent in a tent. it is day number seven for this family from iraq. they are in this camp in serbia. the father says they have been on the road since july with the aid of people smugglers, they made it here a week ago. >> we left our country for the sake of our children and their future. there is no future for kids in iraq. >> germany, just like most of the people that are inside this camp. now they are stuck in serbia and the camp is completely overcrowded. during the first half of this

year, tens of thousands of migrants passed through the balkan route. three times as many as last year. about 10,000 are currently in serbia. >> most of the people admitted to the serbian border and they are not looking to seek asylum here. hungary seems so close. just cross the fence and you are in the european union. >> hungry wants to keep migrants out, they have bowed to fortify the fences along its border with serbia. swearingen knew border guards with an old message. >> we do not believe that anything good can come from migration. >> hundreds of migrants are violently pushed back from hungary to support on a daily basis. the residents are increasingly frustrated. >> this fence benefits hungary

but for us, there is no chance that the migrants can move on. they live here, this won't end well. i heard they attacked a lot of young girls. my daughter is 10, i don't feel safe here. >> serbian officials don't want to speak on camera. it is a delicate issue says this pastor. he goes to places that they avoid. >> where are you from? >> from afghanistan. >> he wants to give migrants some comfort but he too is worried. >> the situation now is the more people that come, the more tensions will arise here in this area. this has an effect on the smugglers.

they have more to do and there will be more competition. this impairment level will cause the situation to become more tense for the locals, for the people here as well. >> mohammed and his family don't know about the growing tensions. they just want to cross the serbian border before winter arrives. question penn has held estate funeral for shinzo abe. it was attended by dignitaries from around the world but inside japan, there is an is about the cost of the funeral and the division of labor -- the division of shinzo abe's legacy. >> cremated shortly after his death, his ushers were carried into the state funeral by his widow.

services normally reserved for japan's imperial family. an exception was granted for the country's longest-serving prime minister. among the international dignitaries were indian prime minister and to the former british prime minister theresa may. the japanese prime minister led the tributes. shinzo abe was the one who worked harder than anyone else in the world to build and maintain peace with japan, the region and across the globe. and to maintain and promot an international order that values freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

ever a polarizing figure in japan, hundreds protested against the state funeral. it had an $11 million price tag. it is perhaps on the world stage where shinzo abe's influence was most admired. vice president harris spoke of his importance. >> it was he who coined the term and open in the pacific. >> japan is back. >> the service emphasized his global legacy, as a country and a family say goodbye to shinzo

abe. >> it is time to remind you of our top story this hour. sabotage is not to be behind gas leaks from pipelines connecting russia to germany. they have released this footage of gas bubbles forming in the baltic sea. in just a moment, on dw, i will be taking you through the day, taking a closer look at those sabotage nordstrom pipelines. and more on why this legacy is so divisive -- why shinzo abe's legacy is so divisive.

ñl >> welcome to life in paris and

analysis from "france 24."s and france calls putin's referendum a. three out of four regions have voted to be russian, a vote accompanied by russian soldiers. three lines of the nord stream gas experienced unprecedented damage. the leader of