>> this is dw news, from berlin. vladimir putin declares martial law in four ukrainian regions. he will come in ukraine admits that his front-line troops are

facing difficulties. also coming up, bracing for blackouts, ukraine says it will start restricting electricity with -- electricity supplies and one pheasants to prepare for temporary outages as pressure continues its assault on ukraine power infrastructure and a hero's welcome at tehran airport for an iranian climber who competed abroad without headscarf. there is concern she may yet be punished for breaking iran positive strict islamic rules for women's dress. vladimir putin has declared martial law and the four regions of ukraine that moscow illegally

annexed after a series of discredited votes just weeks ago. one of those regions announced it would move civilians out of the area ahead of an expected ukrainian offensive. a step that could amount to >> one of the first ukrainiansin forces. now ukraine is preparing to take control. thesussi and so to show fortifications outside of the city as russian forces arbitrating from her son, vladimir putin blames ukraine from defending its territory. reject any proposals for negotiation as gunfire continues. >> we are working and large-scale tasks to ensure

security and protect the future of russia to protect our people. >> the move is as ukraine counters event of advances. with the situation can be described as tense. the enemy is not abandoning its attempts to attack russian forces. however further actions and s n erson itself will pe tactical information. y difficult as of today. this came on the that russians installed officials in the ukrain and announced they would move.

e works for 2020 book putop h makes of britain's declaration of martial law in the annexed territories. rried about tunterpart to. -- counteroffensive. he is making steps to make it clear to his population that this is ukraine's aggression, not russia's aggression. an advisor to the defense ministry has said that he is worried they are themc)there wag going on but the bottom line is the loss of hair self-reproach and will be a very big blow. >> every move putin makes is a

further escalation. is he just digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself? can he turn the tide of the war? >> it is very difficult. he has already been backed into forcing the mobilization of its people. he always promised he would never have to do that. it is a deeply popular step. it undermines the foundations of his own presidency, his legitimacy as president is based on his popularity now they are risking the lives, people who barely trained and equipped to fight ukrainians. a measure that he never wanted to take. it has already let him very --

let him to be very vulnerable t. >> this is something he is trying to learn. what could be the domestic repercussions of this? >> i think with each stage out of the past month, russia has the ukrainians. putin is sort of preparing the ound it seems for this co of what he has called a special military operation. in a semi-martial law status. even among russian regions of ukraine where there will be stricter laws enforced and economic mobilizations to support the effort. all the while, it is creeping closer and closer to that. this is having a big impact on his standing in the elite and

among the population. 70% of russians were found to be very anxious about what is going on. it is really bringing the situation how to ordinary russians. i >> who is still on board with this war? he wrote a book called clinton's >> we are seeing divisions emerge within the elite around him. of course there are hardliners who are pressing prudent to act harder againstne. he himself will see is this where that he began almost by accident because he believed they would have just ran away.

i don't think he ever envisioned the war this way. there are hardliners. there is a longtime ally of his from st. petersburg that have come to fight in ukraine. there is another partnership that is the head of russian security council who was very instrumental in paving the way toward this war in ukraine. he told putin just days before and now infamous security council meeting that the u.s. was using ukraine as a platform to destabilize russia and undermine it. he told putin we are -- our task is to defend russian sovereignty and territorial integrity. he has the most eloquent and to do. russia's om elite aghast

they are perhaps content to let the war room belong wite, they o divert trade goods from china and india in avoidance of western sanctions but that is becoming ever more difficult. that is seeing putin's territory. that is not just a loss to his popularity, it is kind of a loss to his standing within the elite. >> putin has been going to great lengths to place the blame for russian defeats on his defense minister but he is the commander and chief of the russian armed forces. our people starting to point fingers at him? >> we have seen some reporting out of the u.s. from some colleagues who said putin was personally taking command of the army that he was actually issuing orders himself to.

trying to make himself into the day-to-day operations. at some point it will come back to bite him. most of the criticism has been directed at his military chiefs but i think that is getting harder and harder to keep a lid on. especially as we are seeing these constant retreats. >> pleasure speaking to you tonight. ukraine says it will begin limiting electricity supplies as russia continues its assault on the country's energy infrastructure. residents are being told to limit their electricity is from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. or face temporary blackouts. our correspondent went to the town 50 km from kyiv. power ue a ru now facing more of the same. quick's is proud of this woodstove.

he belted during the war. last week he used it for the very first time. >> we were getting ready for winter. we expected there would be an outage at some point where shelling on critical infrastructure. >> scanned his neighbors turned to the garage into shelters. russia hit roughly one third of ukraine's electricity and heating infrastructure. many parts of the country including ukraine were plunged into darkness. people in this town are now struggling to find alternative means to power and heat their homes before winter and possibly more blackouts arrived. >> noby here believes the world will end anytime soon. many feel helpless. >> how can i prepare for this rema everything i you spent on electricity but it is -20° and there is no power in this cold weather.

this would be really bad. >> i have blankets and some food that does not need to be carved. quick city officials have said they wl buy generats. this activist as there is a lot of money to supply everye. >> this is our call to save energy. >> has taken to social media to advise people what to do. >> we will tell people how to decrease consumption and peak hours. you must switch off the stove, the boiler in the washing machine. that way you can save electricity and avoid a blackout. >> a lot of stuff can afford a generator and he is stocked up on food unlike many of his fellow citizens, he isetter prepared. he is more worried about others. >> our problems here, they are not even close to the problems

on the frontline. that is why we mostly don't like about ourselves. we think about our grannies, her grandpa's and the guys in the battlefield. quick snow and he knows exactly what winter will bring but everyone wants to make it through. >> let's look at some of the other stories related to russia's work in ukraine. the european parliament has given his top human rights award . ukrainians are said to be risking their lives for europea values. european union states have backed sanctions on iran after drones apparently manufactured there were used in strikes on ukraine. the eu says five individuals and three entities will be sanctioned. the individuals concerned will be banned from traveling to the eu and have their assets in the block frozen.

there are many climate has been welcomed back in tehran by cheering crowds after her sudden disappearance in south korea. there were concerns for her safety after she competed without wearing a headscarf. >> competitive climate back in iran, we did a bouquet of flowers and cheering crowds outside tehran airport. it is unclear whether any of this is staged and what her fate is now. she appeared without a headscarf due to competition in south korea over the weekend. the islamic republic mandates that all female athletes where the job. she has claimed competed withou. she denied the report that she went missing for about a day after the event.

>> i was unexpectedly called and i had to compete. i was busputting on my shoes and technical gear. that caused me to forget to put tob i had to wear. thfortunately i me back to our van with peace of mind although i wro i think i nothing has ha. >> the last comment to spark speculation that her statements may have been coerced. en uhaspoken out about her case. lowing it closely. concerns are being raised with the authorities as well. what we have to stress is that women should never be prosecuted for what they wear. they should never be subjected io or any kind of

violence with regards to what they wear. >> antigovernment protest sparked by the death of a woman -- prevented the fifth week. now authorities are treating another woman that will be closely watched. >> what would you do if you were injured but too afraid to go to the hospital? that is a dilemma that many protesters in iran face these days. many injured demonstrators said they worried about being turned over to the police and have been forced to look abroad for help. >> iran secretive forces continue their crackdown on protesters. yet iranians are still on the street. calling for the country supreme leader to quit. >> i hold him personally responsible for the death of the 22-year-old have kurdish women who delight in police custody in september.

>> they know they are risking their lives and even those were injured avoid hospital treatment for fear of being arrested. instead, help comes from 10,000 km away. >> this iranian doctor offers medical advice on -- online so people send you pictures of their injuries and how do you get in contact with them? how do you answer their questions? >> if i can have them over instagram, sometimes i ask for images of the leg or arms and i ok at ito the best of my ability, i tell them what to do. then i have a team of doctors that i built relationships with over the last three years during covid and i feel like they are safe and then i cnect it to.

chris maybe you can talk about the most common injuries you are seeing. close the most common are wounds from pallets. it can be from birdts. anywhere from 20 pounds to 50 to 100 and now im seeing injuries with paint guns where the actual bullet metal. they don't penetrate inside the body but if they don't take care of tt wound, it can become infected and septic. i am seeing a lot ofecond and third degree burns from electrical batons th are using. a lot of these burns need medical attention like iv fluids, large bruises throughout their body through fighting with the police were falling down while they're running away.

my biggest fear is the low supply of antibiotics and a tetanus vaccine. they are running low on that as well. >> howany messages do you get? >> i extrapolated based on an hourly message, close to 300 to five messages per day. >> with no sign to an end to iran's protests where the government crackdown, that number is only likely to increase. >> the head of the world health organization says urgent action is needed in order to avert genocide. civil war between the ethiopian government andn front on the other has been fought since 2020. violence has intensified since the truce broke down in august. >> this is healtcrisis for 6i l

community and media to give this crisis the attention it deserves. there is a very narrow window down to prevent genocide. there is a very narrow window now to prevent genocide. >> theo has one ofhat e fighting in ti spun out of control. >> women prepare food for troops in the frontline. for our safety andurviva they chant for to grow television cameras. war has been raging.

>> the blockade. >> this is a year ago. they have driven at the ethiopian military too much celebration. now the city has been recaptured by ethiopian troops. there is no new footage, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians are estimated to have been killed since the beginning of the conflict. the un's as more than 5 million people now rely on food aid.

nearly 90% of the population. the devastated health care system has made the situation en wor. the region was already suffering from the effects of climate change. the crisis is rapidly becoming a humanitarian catastrophe. >> with the situation is like on the ground. >> what we know at the moment i.

they are getting close. there doesn't seem to be any willingness to compromise. >> there are reports of people being deprived of access to health care. howblockade? >> when the ethiopian government blaming tpl f, is preventing it from arrivg. the ethiopian government has saidy are going t the

humanitarian corridor. they have als part will be accessible to organizations to ensure thato this region. that has been deprivedch of then lead is needed in this region. >> can you explain with the neighboring country role is in all of this question mark quickly ethiopian prime minister said they are really fighting for the interests. haid there is fear that ey might take over or they might really address their borderline and come to tigre or

that the tpf might come to the side and really diurb the interest here. he has been saying they are only invoed to really keep their interest intact. the tpl f has been saying they are involved in trying to rhaps create some kind of genocide but the ethiopian government has insisted that is not why they're involved but they are involved to keep their interest intact. again, this conference, i have to highlight hthe military has s have been -- how many millie's@@ have become victims othis really violent weather begun two years ago. it is not just our fth in ethiopia but thousands have been added to the sedan looking for some kind of safy net that is really not available at home.

>> peace negotiations have been postponed just recently, is there any hope of reaching a compromise through negotiations and reaching peace? >> that have been rumors that they' going to have some kind of peace negottion happening in south africa. the former president of ken has said that he was not consulted enough to really push this negotiation to move forward. the tpl f has been saying they have not bn consulted in terms of their logistical support that is needed. they really want to sit down with the ethpian side and agree on some kind of cease fire but there is a uniform like understanding from both sides that this war, unless it is to slow down, it will be affecting

millions of ethiopians on both sides. and a quick reminder of the top story we are following for you today. let her declared martial law in four regions that were illegally annexed from ukraine last month. this tightens the criminal hold on most areas that have been seeing a ukrainian advance in recent weeks. you're watching dw news from berlin. stay tuned. after a quick break i will be back to take you through the day. we hope to see you then.

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mark: welcome to "life in paris." i am mark owen. these are the headlines. thousands of civilians are being transported out of her some, russian occupies say it is to save them from the onslaught ukraine says russia is forcing them out to use them as a human shield. putin has declared martial law and the other three regions are legally annexed. a putin problem for italy's far-right prime minister. how does he work with b