♪ brent: this is dw news, live from berlin. tonight,. really a call from vladimir putin to russians to back the war in ukraine. most the year into the invasion, putin is praising russian troops calling them defenders of the motherland. also coming up, u.s. president biden is wrapping up a diplomatic mission to ukraine and:. with the promise of solidarity

with nato's eastern flank. and millions have fled their homeland since the invasion began. tonight we ask where they are now, and what are the chances they will ever be able to go home again. and filmmakers in the spotlight at berlin's international film festival. spanish drama "20,000 species of bees," tells the story of a quest for identity. the film is in the running for the prestigious golden bear award. ♪ brent: i am brent goff. to our viewers watching on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. today is a leader is rallying his people on the eve of the first anniversary of a war which is definitely not going his way. russian president vladimir putin today urged russians to get behind the war in ukraine,

without calling it a war. he addressed crowds at a sports stadium in central moscow, as the one-year year mark approaches this coming friday. he called russian troops "defenders of the fatherland," and said russia is fighting for so-called "historic lands" in ukraine. i spoke to over responded to is based in the latvian capital riga, that is after authorities shut down dw's moscow office. he talked more about the significance of putin's speech to the crowds today. guest: he spoke for three and half minutes only. he emphasized in his short speech, the importance of the russian army that is, in his opinion, defending russia and is supported by the whole country. each of the russians his in some way, the defender of the

fatherland, he said. many of those with congressional flags during this opulent up again the event, were teachers, employees of the state, employees who were brought by buses from moscow suburbs and instructor to join the concert. among them, there were some paid spectators supposedly, there was information circulating about money people were paid for participation. and it mobile antiaircraft defense system was reportedly protecting the crowds. it was close to the stadium. that the sign of the new reality in moscow. brent: perhaps the bigger story is what happened before the rally today, when vladimir putin met china's top diplomat, wang yi, at the kremlin. do we know what they talked about and what are the objectives of these two powers? guest: two is keen to show that

he is not isolated, so i think for him the importance of this meeting was greater than china's. china's importance to pressure has been growing since the 2014 annexation of crimea by russia and the introduction of western sanctions against russia. the russian government has been turning or shifting the whole russian economy from west to east, to china. as for china's interest in moscow, we can see that a senior chinese diplomat has been traveling to russia to talk with vladimir putin about the arguably most important issue, the war in ukraine, that china calls, by the way, a ukraine crisis. however, china wants to mediate and show to president biden enter the united states that it remains a reliable international partner, and to reject accusations that beijing would support russia with weapons. brent: another major story

happening today in moscow is the suspicion of the new start nuclear treaty between russia and the united states, the suspicion today approved by both chambers of parliament in russia. what happens next guest: what is clear is that the russians and the americans have lost one of the last opportunities for dialogue. as for the anticipated arms race , experts believe that after the suspending of the treaty, the parties will no longer control each other. but this will not immediately start a nuclear arms race, they say. what is likely to happen is that over time, the threat will become increasingly elusive, and the idea of how many nuclear weapons will be needed will be more exaggerated. at the same time, other experts sure that there will definitely not be a situation when one of the parties suddenly decides it needs to launch missiles. both countries already have so many nuclear warheads that a

further buildup has only a symbolic meaning. however, the threat of an atomic war with supposedly increase. brent: dw's moscow bureau chief, as always, juri, thank you. u.s. president joe biden today wrapped up a diplomatic mission to ukraine and poland today by meeting leaders of the so-called bucharest 9, each of the countries along nato's eastern flank. they came today together in response against russia's invasion of ukraine a year ago. they are worried moscow could threaten their sovereignty if it's war in ukraine succeeds. today biden reaffirmed washington's commitment to defend every inch of nato territory. i spoke earlier with moscow bureau chief in warsaw and asked if there is a feeling that biden delivered sufficient security guarantees for nato's

easternmost members. guest: the feeling here is that he has to deliver what they wanted him to deliver. the polish president described biden's visit to warsaw and to kyiv as a very powerful signal, as a powerful message. i also had a chance to speak with the estonian president. he told me he was happy to hear biden reaffirmed america's ironclad commitment to nato's mutual defense pact. we have to understand what it is so important for the leaders of central and eastern european countries that met here with biden. all of their countries were dominated by moscow during the cold war. some of them share a border with russia. they fear that the conflict could spill over.

so they were very happy to hear what biden had to say. however, they also have to say that they would have liked to see more concrete commitments, more concrete announcements. they want the u.s. to strengthen their position, to beef up the numbers of their troops in the region. and they probably talked about that behind closed doors, but there were no public announcements on that. brent: let me ask you a bit more about the bucharest nine, these members of nato that are on nato's eastern flank. they are on the front line, if you will, against possible russian aggression. how has darrell issa in nato changed the show has their role -- how has their role changed in nato since the invasion ? guest:i think your role has

become more relevant. as biden visited poland the second time in one year, the fact that he met with those leaders, it demonstrates that fact. also we have to say that there is a discussion underway that there could be a shift in the center of gravity. however, when it comes to shaping decisions within nato, some western european countries still have a big say. and we also have to add that the bucharest nine states, they are not always on the same page. take hungary, for instance. it has not delivered any weapons to ukraine. they are at times trying to block sanctions against russia. so the bucharest nine are not always on the same page. brent: and we know that the country where you are right now, poland, it has been very clear in its defiance against russian aggression. has there been any reaction in warsaw to this nuclear

saber-rattling that we have been seeing this week from vladimir putin ? guest:no official reactions from the polish government. however, joe biden was asked about putin's decision to suspend the new start treaty, and he described this decision as a big mistake. and of course, leaders are concerned about what that could mean for the future, because, of course, this was the last important nuclear arms control treaty. however, many experts also say that saber-rattling is what putin does. they think that he would not go so far as using nuclear war up and. brent: alexander with the latest flight from warsaw, poland, thank you. as we have heard, a number of eastern european nations, previously part of the

communist eastern bloc now fear that their sovereignty is once again threatened by russian aggression. nato has ramped up security on its eastern flank to help reassure those countries, extra troops to the baltic states of estonia, latvia and lithuania, as well as poland. slovakia, romania and non-native member moldova, are also nervous about moscow's intentions -- non-nato member, moldova, are also nervous about most because intentions. reporter: increasing defense spending. wrapping up weapons productions. putting thousands of troops in high alert. the conflict has led to a dramatic change in nato/strategy. the alliance is going back to its roots. a self-defense expert. >> it has been a shift in thinking about expeditionary warfare, which is crisis

management, to thinking about territorial defense in a very serious way. nuclear strategies discussed in a very serious way again. all these things we had not focused on for decades, are now at the core of the base inside nato. reporter: since the start of russia's invasion, nato allies have continuously increased support for ukraine, starting with simple antitank weapons and missiles, then gradually deploying more advanced weapons. but with ukraine at burning through artillery shells and other ammunition much faster than the west can produce them, it is becoming difficult for nato countries to match the wartime demand. these problems are not surprising, since richard sheri f, a retired british army general and retired nato's supreme commander in europe. >> at the end of the day, if you want to fight, protect yourself, your country, protect ground and

sees ground that, you need tanks, armored infantry, armor artillery and the like, and that has been a lack of investment in that, as there has been incomplete and frankly a scandalous lack of investment in the sinews of war, ammunition, sustainability. reporter: nato has already doubled its forces on the eastern flank. in addition to four already existing battle groups in the baltic states and in poland, the alliance has established four more in southeastern europe. their plan is to strengthen air and missile defense systems, and to further beef up the number of troops there. >> i think we should be talking about divisions, not brigades. it is really significant numbers. end of -- a band of steel along the eastern flank of nickel to demonstrate to russia that nato is prepared to defend itself. reporter: so far, allies have

remained united in their commitment to support ukraine. and with the former neutral countries of sweden and finland now poised to join the alliance, nato has become even more relevant, says this former nato secretary-general, and now advisors the government in kyiv. >> it's very clear that puttin has achieved the opposite of what he wanted. he wanted less nato. he has got more nato. reporter: but the longer the war drags on, the greater the risk of uncontrollable escalation for all of its newfound strength and purpose. the conflict in ukraine remains a balancing act for nato. brent: the united nations says that since the invasion began last february more than eight new ukrainians have left their homeland. so, where are they now? let's look at the map and find out. topping the list, and this may come as a surprise, 2.8 5

million ukrainians have fled across the border into russia. number two, poland, which we know has been a very supportive neighbor, it has seen an influx of more than 1.5 million ukrainians in the last year. then in germany, more than one million ukrainians arrived in the country since the war began here in the capital, berlin, we have seen 100,000 ukrainians registered. then of course there is the czech republic, it has taken in 500,000 ukrainians. that makes about 5% of its entire population. i mean, that tells you the magnitude we are dealing with. i spoke earlier with my guest, immigration analyst and director of european stability, a think tank. i asked with a her skin immigration of this magnitude before -- i asked him whether europe has seen a migration of

this monitor before. guest: the context is clear, there has not been such movement of refugees in europe since the late 1940's. germany has never given protection to as many people as it did last year, and the numbers that you have quoted for the czech republic, poland, but also slovakia, bulgaria and others, are historic. these are extraordinary numbers, the biggest refugee movement in just the late 40's. brent: how would you say that this forced ukrainian diaspora, if you will, how has it changed the political landscape of europe ? guest:well, i think there are many ways in which this has brought the reality of this war home to millions of households and millions of people who have become neighbors and, in many cases, friends of these ukrainian refugees. as you know, most of them are

women and children. men of military age are not normally allowed to leave. many of them have gone to the countries where slavic languages are spoken. so what has traveled with these ukrainians has been there stories. and i think a lot of the broad support in many countries in europe for the ukrainian cause has been reinforced by this very large movement. brent: ukrainian refugees have been taken in and welcomed by many countries. the focus has been on poland, though that is because before the invasion, poland seemed reluctant to take in refugees. this change of heart, if you will, how do you explain it ? guest:i don't think it is very hard to explain. what we have seen with the ukrainians first of all is that they all arrived regularly. none of them require dangerous

crossings of borders with smugglers, for one very simple and important reason, the ukrainians had visa-free travel to the european union to almost all countries of europe accept the u.k., already before the war. so they could just arrive. secondly, poles, czechs, slovaks, germans are aware of why they are fleeing. people have gone to moldova, but otherwise, it is just the european union. and a lot of countries in eastern europe, central europe in particular, identify with this because they see the russian aggression in light of their own history and they remember that they were once displaced. brent: nimby ask about the more than 2 million ukrainians who have fled into russia. we know how they are coping with being inside russia? we assumed most of them can

speak russian. does that may be make things easier for them? what does it do to their ukrainian identity, fleeing russian aggression by going into russia ? guest:that is a very complicated picture. and while we know and can research a lot about ukrainians who have gone west, we actually don't know nearly enough about those who have arrived in russia. i don't even know if the number is right. we don't know how many have been forced. we know that in many cases of people being told, for example in mariupol late last year when maria paul fell, that they could take a bus to ukraine, the territory controlled by the ukrainian government, but effectively they were brought to russia. we know of children -- again, different numbers given, about children being forced and basically kidnapped, which would be a war crime, to russia.

so i cannot tell you. i have looked, but i have not seen any reliable research on how many of them have been glad to flee to russia and forced to flee to russia and have seen their documents taken away and what their fate is. at an even know if the number is to be believed. brent: i want to ask you if you could maybe look into your crystal ball based on what you have seen in other migration movements. when this war is over and when ukrainians decide to go home, what kind of country will they be returning to? can we give them an inkling of what home will be like? guest: two things are important. first, there are millions of ukrainians who have also not been expelled from -- who have also been expelled from their homes and who stayed inside ukraine. we see a strong will of millions of displaced ukrainians not to leave their country.

we have also seen millions of ukrainians who have gone to the e.u., and have gone back. between may last year and september, 300,000 more ukrainians went back to ukraine than came to the european union. it shows a very strong will to return. but of course, they must have a country that is safe to return to. so it will very much depend on the outcome of the war. and depending on how the war continues, we could see many more millions forced to flee. so if we want to address the causes of this massive flight, supporting ukraine militarily, financially and politically is actually the best way to ensure people don't have to flee and can return to their homes as soon possible. brent: as always, we appreciate your time and your valuable insights tonight. thank you. guest: thank you. good night. brent: let's take a look now at some other stories making

headlines. finland's president says his country will still join nato if sweden's bid. is delayed he says the two countries will proceed, quote, hand-in-hand in the process" but the final decision is not up to them. turkey has held up sweden's membership due to a diplomatic dispute. . the un's highest court has ordered azerbaijan to remove a blockade from the only road between armenia and the disputed nagorno-karabakh region. the international court of justice in the hague says the roadblock has caused shortages of food, medicine, and other medical supplies. palestinian officials say the israeli military has killed 10 people and wounded more than 100 in a raid, in the occupied west bank city of nablus. . israel says its soldiers were fired out while attempting to arrest alleged palestinian militants, and says the suspected militants are now dead. germany is expelling 2 iranian

diplomats after tehran sentenced an iranian-german national to death. they were convicted over the bombing of a mosque back in 2008. supporters allege that he was abducted while abroad and forcibly taken to iran. reporter: this is jamshit during his first hearing which the court on tuesday sentenced him to death. iran claims the dual iranian-german citizen is the leader of an outlawed pro-monarchist group accused of carrying out the deadly bombing of the mosque in 2008. his family and human rights groups reject the accusations. germany's government has strongly criticized the verdict. in a tweet, chancellor scholz said, "the iran regime is to link its own people in every imaginable way and is disregarding human rights. the death sentence is unacceptable. we condemn it in the strongest

terms, and call on the iran regime to overturn the ruling." foreign minister another another box also expressed her dismay -- foreign minister annalena baerbock also expressed her dismay. >> the news is shocking. to sentence somebody to death in a trial that does not comply with the rule of law goes against international law. it violates human rights. reporter: the german foreign minister says it is working to provide consular support to the convicted man. . iran has so far denied access to him as it does not recognize dual nationality for iranians. german opposition leader friedrich merz, who is sponsoring him as part of the german parliament program, cost for stronger measures. >> either call on the german government to turkey run clearly and ambiguously that this ruling must have consequences and that if it is carried out, diplomatic

relations with iran must be broken off, downgraded to a mission with a charge d'affaires, end of iranian ambassador must be expelled from germany. reporter: the verdict can be appealed. the activist's family and the german government still hope his sentence can be overturned. brent: now to the berlin film festival. today was the world premiere of "20,000 species of bees." it tells the story of a euro child who explodes her identity during the summer vacation in her mother's hometown in the basque country. the girl does not like it when people address her by her birth name, so she goes in search of the right one, and a new identity. dw reporter snna tchippa is at the festival and told me more about the film.

reporter: it is one of two films in the competition that starts the child of a male protagonist. let me tell you about this girl. her name is sofia otero and her performance is incredible. her performance is so touching. she completely blew me away. she plays an eight year old child that kind of feels not right, she feels she does not belong. over the course of the film, we find out why that is. the child is spending some time in the countryside with family over summertime, and there she spends a lot of time with her aunt who is a beekeeper, and also with her friends. in dialogues, she opens up about her transgender identity. she was born in the body of a boy but she identifies as a girl and she even chooses a new name, she calls herself lucia. the film follows her journey but also the journey of her family,

who have different levels of acceptance with the topic. the director also told us at the press conference that she was particularly interested in that, she wanted to bring together different points of view that are very far apart. she thinks films in general were very great for discussing topics like that. brent: you are watching dw news. after a will be back to take you through "the day." short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." ♪

>> hello and welcome to "live from paris" on france 24. ukraine's allies about to strengthen their defenses from the baltic to the lexi. speaking at a meeting in warsaw, joe biden reiterated that nato will defend every inch of its territory. vladimir putin welcomes china's top diplat to the kremlin. tensions between israelis and palestinians continue to