this is "focus on europe." i'm lara babalola. thanks for your company today. moscow is stepping up attacks ukraine, including on civilian with renetargets.kes across the capital kyiv was hit by russian strikes for the second time in a week. residential buildings were destroyed in the city center, leaving several dead and injured. parts of kyiv were left without power and water. as air raid sirens ring out in

the capital, ukrainian troops are making gains in the eastern donbas region and a sense of normalcy is slowly returning. trains from kramatorsk are running again for the first time in six months. in april, the city's railway station was struck in an attack that killed more than 50 civilians. olena fyodorova has been longing to return home and our reporter accompanied her on the first train from kyiv. >> the train is, for now, on time. it's a passenger train into a war zone the first one in six months to kramatorsk, the main city of the ukrainian-controlled part of the donbas region. the journey takes seven hours if all goes well. sixty people are on board. the train was only announced the evening before for security reasons. among the passengers are olena fyodorova and her two children.

> they're returning home. >> we were planning to take the bus, but none were going there. when we found this train yesterday evening, i almost broke down in tears. we've been in poland for half a year, and i want to go home. >> this train service was suspended in april after a missile attack on the kramatorsk station killed more than fifty people who had been trying to flee the city. as the war drags on, railways have become critical to ukraine's survival. millions of people have been evacuated from the warzone by rail. trains have also proven vital to keeping the population supplied with basic necessities.

for train driver oleksandr tsyhanchuk, this line is more than just a train connection. >> we do what we can to support the people in the donbas at least give them moral support. this train shows them that we stand together that the donbas is part of ukraine. >> restoring this connection became possible after the ukrainian military's territorial gains in recent weeks. > the front line is no longer as close to the tracks, and russian artillery is out of range. as critical infrastructure, the country's railways have been targeted by russian strikes time and time again.

>> we're constantly monitoring the situation in consultation with the military. it's important to have plenty of personnel ready to respond if infrastructure gets hit. we've learned to repair bridges in four to six weeks. in peacetime, it would've taken months. >> the closer the train gets to kramatorsk, the more obvious the destruction from the war becomes. olena hails from a small town near kramatorsk. like so many others, she fled the area in march. first she went to poland, and then to the ukrainian capital, kyev. >> honestly, i'm nervous and worried. you understand what the situation is like there. people aren't safe there. i don't know what's in store for us. i would've liked to stay in kyiv, but the rents are too high, and there aren't any jobs. it was the same in poland.

so i don't know. >> the ukrainian government has warned people to leave the donbas, as heavy fighting continues. the region's infrastructure has sustained so much damage that many homes will be left without heating this winter. even so, olena is confident she can get through it all right. she'll use stove heating in her house. >> i don't know how i'm supposed to feel happy, i guess. but we're not home yet. the emotions probably won't come until i'm standing in our yard. the first train to reach kramatorsk in six months arrives twenty minutes late. those who remained in the city are anxiously waiting at the station to greet it. olena and her children set out for home and a winter full of uncertainty. lara:

tough and ruthless it's an image gangs project for clout and respect. these are scenes from a music video filmed in spain, where police are confronted with brutal violence from young criminals. many of the gang members have latin american roots and their feuds are spilling onto the streets of spain. police have established a task force to quell the escalating violence. but once you're in the gang, it's hard to get out. our reporter met with people who did manage to escape a life of crime. >> youth gangs are becoming increasingly present in spain. their members are young, armed, and prepared for violence. >> i was on the streets from a young age. i liked the drugs. i grew up in this environment. i was excited by what the gang

offered. that's how i got into it. >> domi, which is not his real name, was 19 when he joined a gang. now, he's 25. he's no longer a gang member and fears being recognized. he came to madrid with his parents from the dominican republic. >> we had young people joining us who didn't know how to handle a machete. so we taught them how it's done. a few weeks ago, spanish police raided a hideout in northern madrid that was used by the gang, "dominican don't play." they seized machetes, knives and guns. carlos morales from the police union, sup, says these gangs don't only have latin american roots. people from all different ethnic backgrounds become members.

and there are many children now too. >> the members are getting younger and younger. it's alarming. a few years ago, they were around 18. now there are 12-year-olds too. they're getting younger and increasingly prepared to use violence. >> the gangs often go to war against each other, fighting for power in their neighborhoods. in april, a member of "dominican don't play" was stabbed to death in this park in southern madrid, presumably by a rival gang. local residents are afraid. >> we don't feel safe. you can get caught in the crossfire. we never had anything like this in the neighborhood. >> now it's becoming more frequent. >> jenny, which is not her real name, was also in a gang. she is also originally from the dominican republic. she joined a gang when she was 12 and fell in love with one of

the leaders. when she got pregnant at 14, she had a secret abortion. >> my parents worked a lot. they barely paid me any attention or showed me any affection. the gang gave that to me. they said "we're your family, we'll give you everything, we'll help you. that's exactly what i needed. >> jenny is now 26. she too escaped, like domi. pastor alberto diaz from a local church offered them support. he estimates there are thousands of youth gang members in madrid. he says the numbers swelled during the pandemic. >> social networks play a key role in recruitment. tiktok, instagram, and to some extent facebook too, are real traps. there are so many posts that

glorify gangs. and videos as well. >> this is just one example of such videos. getting into a gang is made easy. getting out is another story, as jenny discovered. >> it's difficult because the rival gangs know you too. they ask what's wrong and why you're not coming to the neighborhood any more. because you know too much and your group is scared that you'll hand over information. so they follow you and check up on you. >> police regularly crack down on gangs. officers recently arrested seven members of "dominican don't play," including three suspected leaders. domi was arrested several times when he was in a gang. today, he speaks at schools to

raise awareness. the kids get caught up in something they don't understand. they're made to believe things and then they run into trouble their families too. the children lose their youth. and because i experienced this myself, i want to help. not so much tell them how to leave but how to avoid joining in the first place. for some, the gangs are like drugs. it easy touild a depdence and difficult to quit. scotland's bonnie hills and heather moors are a spectacular sight to behold. but all is not well on the west coast of loch craignish. trouble is brewing underwater. seagrass is disappearing at an alarming rate. the plants are crucial for maintaining water quality and absorbing carbon dioxide. seagrass stores vastly more co2

than tropical forests do. environmentalists there are going under to bring nature back into balance. >> for many, the scottish landscape, with its lochs and coasts, is of unique beauty. if you've ever wondered what lies below the surface of the water besides nessie, the loch ness monster, you'll get an answer here at loch craignish. seagrass, for example. the scientists here say there's far too little of it though. according to recent estimates, britain's coasts have lost as much as 90% of its seagrass over the past century. there are several reasons for that. >> it needs light to survive, so processes that make the water murkier will impact on the seagrass. some of those could be direct processes, so maybe like the building of a port, other things like changes in water temperatures, in some areas, even, they've been dredging it out of the beaches because they think that the tourists don't

want to have to walk across seagrass, they want to go swimming on a pristine white beach. >> here on the west coast of scotland, these environmentalists want to reverse this trend. to do so, they're plunging down into the cold water. the goal is to harvest seagrass with fresh seeds, and then plant more of it. this helps to restore the original ecosystem, while simultaneously storing co2. in fact, seagrass does exactly what plants on land do, absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. >> at the moment, obviously the main carbon sequestration schemes are peat bog restoration and tree planting, but we live on a relatively small island here so there's only so much space that that can be done in, so people are starting to look towards the sea now and trying to find opportunities. >> so far, they've planted about half a hectare of

seagrass. their goal is to eventually have eighty hectares. most importantly, they want to encourage and teach other communities along the scottish coast to do the same. this could have a significant impact on reducing co2 in northern great britain. lara: bosnia and herzogivina is eager to become a member of the european union and that means carrying out a series of reforms, including in the functionality of state institutions. many communities including kakan, don't have proper waste management systems. garbage has become a part of the landscape, spoiling rivers and green spaces. it's one of the leading environmental challenges facing the nation. the multiethnic state is home to bosnians, serbs and croatians. they are coming together to tackle the rubbish one piece at a time. >> when safet kubat calls, the activists answer over thirty

this time, aged 7 to 77. he's often surprised at the success of his initiatives. >> for the most part, the people here have organized themselves. no institutions or citizens' action groups or companies are involved here, only citizens of every age and ethnicity: serbs, croats, bosniaks and others. this time, they're working on the banks of the bosna, the river that gave this country its name. it's an idyllic slice of natural paradise at least at first glance. but a closer look reveals old tires in the water on the bank opposite. nature swiftly covers over almost everything, but underneath, the trash remains for a very long time. the longer it remains, the

harder it is to clean up later. countrysides littered with waste are a huge problem in bosnia. and people here are fed up. >> our rivers are really dirty, polluted by factories that dump everything imaginable into them. people, too they just toss their trash straight into the rivers. >> we're all nationalities here, from every country. people are waking up. >> for years, safet kubat has been battling the garbage. and it's everywhere. he says authorities aren't taking enough action. >> one reason why we have so much trash in bosnia and herzegovina is that we don't have waste disposal services everywhere, especially not in the countryside. another reason is that the authorities don't penalize illegal dumpers. they either lack the means or the necessary information.

>> and so, safet kubat has begun setting up hidden cameras. they record the offenders and deliver crucial evidence to the authorities. >> we take action when citizens inform us. and whenever we catch someone who has dumped garbage illegally, we try to penalize them to the maximum extent possible. >> that's not always the case, according to safet kubat. his principal means of raising awareness is the internet. in 2020, he started the facebook group "be the change." the list of accomplishments is already impressive: so far, there have been more than 3500 clean-up initiatives throughout the country involving over 20-thousand participants. and what's new for bosnia is the reach across borders and ethnic groups:

people everywhere organizing themselves because they believe the state has dropped the ball. >> once nature and the enronment are beautiful again, people can come here for a rest. if western europe can achieve that, why shouldn't it be possible in bosnia? >> now, others are beginning to join in: local waste disposal services, for instance. many here have been struggling with insufficient funding and outdated equipment. with some help from safet kubat, the service here got hold of a trash compactor. the next step is separating the trash. >> one result of our cooperation with the facebook group is that we've introduced two different bins, so trash can be separated. it's a start. you have to remember: there's just too little environmental awareness, among the citizens and across the country in general. >> and he doesn't have to look far for an example:

a parking lot close by is littered with trash left behind by a flea market held there. they come to clean it up every week, but soon after, it looks just the same. >> we have to put more work into raising environmental awareness so the population will understand ecology and the human side of this problem better and especially what it means to care for the environment. along the bosna, they've been making good progress. young people are putting lots of energy into it. every piece of trash is another small victory. it doesn't take long for them to pile up quite a mountain of it. the authorities then do their part and have it picked up. here's the product of just a few meters of riverbank. >> i enjoy doing this because i want nature to be clean with no litter. when i leave the house, i want

it to be beautiful all around: green and no trash! >> it's much nicer with everything clean and green instead of full of trash. i'm glad we were able to clean up at least a little today, maybe half of what's scattered around here. >> and with that, a new environmental awareness is growing along the banks of the bosna. lara: this is bruno fereen, an italian who knows how to have fun. in fact, he's made it his life's work with his amusement park. rollercoasters, ferris wheels, carousels, every piece has been handcrafted by him. it's tucked away in a forest in northern italy. and while it may not have all the bells and whistles, bruno's park offers something truly unique. it's green, in more ways than one. >> the roller conveyor, the humpback cart, the wheel of

death, those are just a few of the 37 attractions at the amusement park ai pioppi, italian founder the plars. and it was all built by this man. >> stretch your legs out in front of you! straighten them out yes, that's it! otherwise you'll land with your nose on the rubber. >> bruno ferrin is 85 years old. he built his first swing here half a century ago. it's always a joy to come here and see what i've built up in 50 years. it's a great feeling to be able to say about your own life: i made all my dreams come true. imagine that!his dream began with a restaurant in 1969. he fell in love with this forest.

he started building swings. he taught himself everything. >> i only went to elementary school, but i always understood numbers. it comes naturally to me, working out weights and counterweights for my attractions. of course, i make mistakes at times if the slope is not right. >> what's special about bruno ferrin's park is that none of its attractions require electricity. they use the laws of physics and the muscle power of visitors. the newest attraction is this carousel. he had the idea for it after watching a tv report about a training facility for nasa astronauts. >> this carousel is powered by these bicycles operated by visitors. when you pedal, the carousel

spins. the faster it spins, the more the centrifugal force increases, causing the seat frames to move backwards from the center. >> while other amusement parks face closure due to rising electricity costs, bruno ferrin is forging ahead and planning for the future. >> energy prices are through the roof. so i'm thinking of installing dynamos on every ride, to harness the energy from all the equipment moving around. that's my plan. >> applied on a large scale, that idea would foil the strategies of some world leaders. >> putin wouldn't be very happy at a park like mine, because if everything worked like this, he could no longer sell gas to italy. >> there have been no accidents in the decades-long history of his park, bruno ferrin says. nothing escapes him.

>> sit down young man! come on. you need to sit down because it's dangerous. you see, they don't read the signs. that's how italians are. in germany, signs are law, but here in italy, they're optional. maybe i'll read themmaybe not. that's how it works in italy. >> around 50,000 visitors come to the park every year. it's open only on weekends, and entry is free. bruno ferrin believes it shouldn't matter how much mone you have everyone should have the right to have fun. >> when i do my accounting at the end of the year, if i'm left with even 1 euro of profit, then i'm happy. not everybody understands this concept, but it works for me.

>> most visitors buy something to eat and drink in his restaurant, making the business sustainable. event 85, he's still pitching in everywhere he can. he says the freedom to do what he loves has kept him young. >> perfetto. it's a beautiful way to live. depending on my mood each day, i decide what to do. isn't that great? my dears, that's the poetry of life! >> one that he's devoted to his amusement park. lara: he sure is enjoying the ride. thanks for watching "focus on europe." and please do let me know your thoughts on this week's show on twitter by using the hashtag #dwfocusoneurope. bye for now.

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