>> this is focus on europe. i'm lara babalola, nice to have you with us. russia has declared war against western values- president vladimir putin isn't waging this one with tanks, but with laws that target minorities. the lgbtq community in russia lives under the constant threat of violence and discrimination - and there's no protection from the state. the rainbow flag and pride parades have been banned - as gay and queer people face harsh repression.

the lgbtq community is being forced to retreat into the shadows of life in russia. the so-called homosexual propaganda law criminalizes any positive portrayals of gay relationships. in sermons, russian orthodox patriarch kyril denounces same-sex relationships as an expression of western values that threaten the country. elle and viktoria are a couple from st. petersburg. since the war in ukraine began, the mood in russia has become increasingly homophobic. and they felt compelled to act. >> elle and viktoria take one last nighttime stroll through saint petersburg their way of saying farewell to one of the world's most beautiful cities. this is where they first met. but they've never really kissed in public. in russia, it's too dangerous. >> i've never been scared. but elle has totally.

she gets scared if i so much as take her hand. yes, we had our first date here at the kazan cathedral. she reached for my hand, and right away, i said, 'no!' >> we had already interviewed viktoria for a report in october 2022. to protect her, we made sure she couldn't be recognized. the ban on what russia calls "homosexual propaganda" had just been expanded since then, it's been forbidden even to speak about homosexuality in a positive light. >> i don't have to go to demonstrations. just the way i live is a kind of activism. the law amounts to legitimizing attacks on us. nobody will protect us, and nobody will penalize the perpetrators. it'll be open seasonn us. back then, viktoria and elle already had plans to move abroad because of the war on ukraine, which they see as a

disaster, and the war at home against people like them. russia's second front is directed against dissidents or anyone who thinks or lives differently. anyone who doesn't follow traditional values is made out to be an enemy. just before russia invaded ukraine, patriarch kirill, a close ally of president putin, gave a sermon tying the war, and lgbtq or pride marches together. >> in donbas, they reject the so-called values that are offered today by those who claim world power. those who want to join that world have to pass a test - to hold a gay parade. this is about something far more than just politics. it's about saving humanity.

we meet viktoria again, in her favorite st. petersburg bookshop. she has an artist's visa for the united kingdom now -- she's a photographer. elle can go, too. viktoria doesn't have to remain anonymous anymore - by the time this report airs, she'll be long gone forever, she says. >> i now understand that my relationship with my own country is the same as that of a victim of domestic abuse to her family. i had a violent father, and i used to think it was the same for everyone. he didn't beat me every day, and where else could i go? that's also how it is with the state. the level of violence is rising, and that affects people. it'll take a long time to change that. moscow's sakharov center for the protection of human rights is opening its last exhibition. the memory of the famous soviet

dissident andrei sakharov has now fallen into official disfavor. some diplomats and a handful of human rights activists are attending. older people who have little left to fear and who are all too familiar with the workings of a totalitarian system: when things get tough, it looks around for enemies within. >> they need an eternal enemy one for the masses. homosexuals, lgbt people, fit perfectly because they evoke so many negative emotions here in this society. as an enemy of the masses, lgbt people work even better than we human rights activists. we're irrelevant to people. >> two lives, packed into four suitcases. their flight leaves in just a few hours. because of the sanctions, they can't fly non-stop to london. they have to catch a plane from belgrade to paris and then a train to london. they can't leave the cat behind, and on planes, the uk only allows pets in the cargo hold. they don't want to subject their cat to that ordeal.

the taxi picks them up in the dead of night. >> now, i've only got one thing in mind: catching the plane and hoping they'll let us out of the country and everything goes well. >> i have an irrational fear of the border patrol that they'll detain us. if, for example, they want to see my telephone, it has things on it that are prohibited under our laws. >> they're two of hundreds of thousands who've left their country since the war began. russian-language media in exile put the number at half a million or more. no one knows exactly how many. elle works in the it sector.

viktoria is a writer and photographer. neither of them want to go back. russia, they say, is unlikely to change for the better in their lifetime. >> to be young is to dream, and plan for a bright future. but when war breaks out, the world is turned upside down, and attention turns toward surviving the present. this is the reality for many young people in ukraine. hs timofy and yaroslav are living in limbo, their plans thwarted by russia's invasion. hs anton kolumbay is a soldier fighting for ukraine's future. more than a year ago, he was catapulted into a new reality - one far away from his home and family. >> we're in eastern ukraine, near the donetsk frontline, and heading closer. just 15 kilometers from russian forces - well within range of their artillery. anton kolumbet is clear about the danger.? >> if i get wounded, or killed, and couldn't drive anymore: you

just run away from the car. >> anton and his unit are here to defend these people - the last ones still so close to the russian troops. they're bracing for the russian offensive. after more than a year of fighting, they're hoping that one day it will stop. >> we all want peace. living with these explosions, it's so loud. you don't know where they're coming from. where they'll land. when it might all be over. >> they should start negotiations, because spilling blood is a big sin before god and people need to understand: the sooner the better. anton has set up a makeshift headquarters in an abandoned home.

from here he coordinates his unit and tries to recruit new soldiers for the front. but it's all getting harder. >> people are just tired. we are fighting almost all year without any stop. we don't have any rotations; we don't have any vacations. actually the only chance to get a rest for a month or two, is to get wounded. >> two days before russia's full-scale invasion, we met him at home in kyiv. back then he was working in veteran affairs, a husband, and father to a two-year-old. the 36 year old was worried the army might call him up if russia really invaded. but even then he was ready to defend ukraine if necessary. >> what choice do i have actually? to let my son live under slavery of russians. i am not saying they will enslave him

but i understand he will live in a different country. and i want, if it will happen so he knows that his father made everything, everything so that won't happen. >> it is costing him dear - he's only seen his family for three days since then. >> it reminds me why we are fighting for first of all but of course it is very emotional. you fully understand that every day actually can be your last day. >> in kyiv, timofy and yaroslav are aware of that too. but aged 19 and 20, they could also be drafted. even here in the park it's dangerous. the fear of new strikes: present all the time and everywhere.? before the war, i would never have imagined that i'd carry a first aid kit around with me. but in the past months i've carried it with me all the time. just in case something lands nearby.

>> whenever i'm in the park these days, i look around and find a spot where i could hide if i hear the sound of drones or rockets, or if i see them >> this is how timofiy and yaroslav were living just a few days before the war: it was safe and ordinary. playing computer games. and making plans for their future. yaroslav was about to move to the czech republic to go to management school, and timofiy wanted to continue with film school. since then: their lives have been largely on hold: with some online classes at college. >> wartime isn't living, it's just existing. it's hard to live a normal life, to think about tomorrow and the future, when you know that at any moment the rocket can hit your house and change everything.

>> and timofiy is struggling to understand the loss of his grandmother. >> my grandmother was hit by a car one evening. she died in the hospital five days later. i was told that because there was no electricity for streetlights in the evening, the driver couldn't see her. >> back at the front, anton talks about the deaths he has experienced. he won't tell us how many of his comrades are gone - but it is many, he says. >> my friends for example died for something, they died for ukraine, so now it's my duty to live alsfor them, and to fight for a new ukraine and to build new ukraine. >> anton tells us not to stay with him for long. russian shelling can start at any time.

>> clams are protein-rich and full of essential nutrients - but did you know they're also good for fighting climate change? that's thanks to their shells which absorb harmful carbon dioxide. hs italian fisher vadis pai-santi is undoubtedly pleased that the united nations has agreed on a treaty to protect the world's oceans. karte mollusks are his livelihood - and that of other local fishers, who set out each morning into the po delta to haul their catch from the water - whatever the weather. >> it's an icy 7 o'clock in the morning in goro and the harbor here on the po delta is draped in a thick fog. for vadis paesanti that doesn't make setting out any easier. >> you try to navigate by orienting yourself to certain landmarks. but on mornings like this - when the fog -- which we call calligo -- is so thick, it

makes navigating difficult, very difficult. >> his father fished the adriatic before him. but today, vadis harvests clams - vongole. where, and how much, they can net changes every day. >> in the evening we get a message from the cooperative telling us in what zone we can fish, when we can set out, and when we have to return, and how much we can bring ashore. >> they glide for half an hour through the silent lagoon. then suddenly, the quiet ends. >> the clam fishers appear from the fog like ghosts. 15 hundred men and women work the goro lagoon.

>> vadis finally reaches his assigned zone. it's not deep, but it is cold. >> it's the only way to warm up your hands when they're cold. clam fishing is more like farming the seabed than traditional fishing. the goro fishers harvest almost 14 thousand tons of mollusks each year. today we can all harvest 30 kilos. >> they suck the mollusks out of the sand with a special device. the water is 6° celsius just right for winter. but in recent years, the temperature has stayed around 11° celsius. climate change is also affecting the po delta. >> we observe the effects of climate change here when the sea level changes, when the scirocco wind blows or during

the phases of the moon. we also see the effect of climate change when we find fish, mollusk and crab species that we've never seen here before. >> that's why clam farming is important, he says to help protect the climate. >> the shells are made of calcium carbonate, which is just captured carbon dioxide. at the university of ferrara, professor elena tamburini has authored a study on the impact of mussels on the climate. it confirms the goro fishers' argument. >> as they grow, mollusks form a shell and that captures co2. if i harvest a kilo of clams, the co2 emitted for their commercial use is much less than the co2 captured by the clam shells as they grow.

that's the surprising thing. >> in the lagoon, the goro fishers now farm a dozen mollusk species over ten square kilometers. seven years ago, vadis and the other fishers launched another climate-friendly project: farming oysters from the mediterranean - using the tides. >> we are the only oyster producers in italy. now it's low tide and these baskets with the young oysters are hanging in the air and the sun. when the tide comes in, this entire zone will be flooded. very nice. they're from 2020.

the fishers call their oysters golden goro and sell them to top chefs all over italy. but above all, vadis loves one thing about his work. it's that sense of freedom. you follow the ebb and flow of the tides and the phases of the moon. you're part of this beautiful world, our world, the po delta. >> preserving this world and ensuring its future -- for vadis and the fishers of goro, it's their life's work. life in a village is simple: a corner store, a pub and clothing shop- but take one of them away and local life can be disrupted. that's what a community in great britain was faced with upon hearing one of their treasured shops was closing its doors. so chris morgan and other villagers decided to run it themselves. their do-it-yourself attitude

in rural wales comes as many in the united kingdom are adjusting to life in the wake of brexit. it's another ordinary day here in newport. the welsh town is home to about a thousand people, four pubs and a hardware store - havards. it's been in business for nearly 150 years. i'm after a dog bowl, please. but then, about a year after brexit, came the bad news: havards planned to close its doors. it was a bombshell. we were all devastated. yes, i mean havards has been in newport for many, many, many years, years before i came here. so it's a very old traditional business. everyone was really, really, really upset that we would lose it. >> no one wanted to imagine life without their frying pans and kitchen essentials. so newport residents set about

raising nearly half a million pounds and took over the shop themselves. now the employees get help from volunteers - like chris morgan, a retired engineer. >> we are a not-for-profit organization. the profits go straight back, after paying costs and a small amount of shareholders' interest, it goes straight back into the community. >> a helpful source of funding in hard times and in post-brexit britain. eu funds are now sorely missed in rural wales. newport's football clubhouse, for example, was built with the help of eu money. the welsh government estimates brexit will cause a shortfall of over a billion pounds over five years. so some people in the region are seizing the initiative. >> obviously, the loss of european funding is going to be a blow. but we will have to seek other funding. both within the community, and through the welsh government, and the uk government.

>> at havards hardware store, local residents are pitching in to help save the shop. volunteers help wherever they're needed. sometimes they make keys. or just have a little chat. >> i love just looking around here. what's that doing. you know, things like that. you can put this to all sorts of uses. it's just having everything here, and just looking around thinking, i could do with one of those. for me this is a shopping paradise. the atmosphere was always amazing in here. and i love working here. but there's an extra buzz because you feel as though you're doing it for the community now. >> in newport, more than 500 people now own shares and are helping to preserve havards - the heart of their community. west wales, which is predominantly rural, is seeing

young people leave in droves. shops are closing everywhere. chris tomos is a member of a community development charity active in the region. >> the cost of energy means that many small shops are struggling and are closing. we see in the news every day local shops suffering. but by having a community shop, we are working with over 500 shareholders to encourage them to support their shop. for the people of newport, seizing the initiative has paid off. they've even managed to win over the british government, which is planning to help fund a new café here - as an added attraction. >> it's got that and you can't smell this but there's a smell of paraffin and oil and plastic and leather. it takes you back to your childhood, when these places used to thrive.

and this one still does thrive. >> with the community purchase it feels as though people are taking action, in the best way possible. and everybody supports it. there aren't any dissenters, or people who don't agree with us doing it. >> the people of newport and their community-owned havards have become a source of hope, in a region that has seen its problems compounded by brexit. locals hope their community initiative will benefit not just themselves, but also the next generation of newport residents. >> heating your home without gas and the worry over soaring energy costs - it's a luxury many europeans don't have. but in the netherlands hs erik hoch-hefen's energy bills have dropped significantly. he lives in the dutch city of utrecht, where residents voted in favor of cutting off natural gas supplies for good.

>> at first glance, this might look like a very ordinary building. a 10-story apartment block in one of utrecht's less upscale neighborhoods. but this building has managed to end its reliance on natural gas. erik hogeveen, a tenant, shows us his apartment. the biggest change was taking the façade off completely and putting on a new one. in utrecht's overvecht quarter, the gas lines were due for replacement. so, why not do without them altogether, the city asked - and paid to refit a whole neighborhood with completely new façades, triple glazing, top-notch insulation, solar arrays on balconies and the roof, and heat pumps. the housing association says that tenants were thrilled - even though some wished they could still cook with gas. >> people who often cook with a wok weren't keen on the idea. they do need to use a gas stove for that.

and because we're practically forcing them to switch away from gas, we provided them with all the information, and gave them all new stoves. >> a change in the law meant that only 70 percent of residents had to approve the conversion - and so the project was approved. the project engineer says it's cost-effective. >> in the evenings, especially in winter when it gets dark early, the solar panels are useless. we still draw power from the grid then. but over a year, we supply 20 to 30 kilowatt hours to the grid. >> there's also an app for tenants to monitor their energy use and their savings. erik hogeveen says his energy bill has been cut in half, even though prices have gone up in the netherlands. >> a penny saved is a penny earned. thanks for joining us today.

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>> this is dw news live from berlin. u.s. journalists arrested in russia on spying charges. evan of the wall street journal is the first american reporter to be held for espionage since the cold war. the white house has condemned his detention. also on the program, king charles on a charm offensive in berlin. the british king addresses german parliament partly in german and emphasizes the ties between the two countries.