Vast 65 km Russian military convoy advances towards Kyiv DW News
russian troops are continuing their advance on the ukrainian capital kia satellite images appear to show a convoy of military vehicles stretching more than 60 kilometers just north of the city the convoy includes hundreds of armored vehicles tanks and artillery it was reported to be about 25 kilometers from kiev the convoy appears far larger than in similar satellite images taken a day earlier air raid sirens have been heard in the capital where city streets are empty due to an ongoing curfew on monday russian forces bombarded ukraine's second biggest city kharkiv destroying dozens of residential buildings ukraine authorities say at least nine people have been killed in the ongoing attack an onslaught in harkiev a city with 1.5 million residents ukraine says russia targeted residential buildings with volleys of rockets people in a maternity ward forced to flee to a bomb shelter ukraine's president has condemned the bombardment calling for it to be brought before an international tribunal today russian forces brutally attacked kharkiv using rockets clearly a war crime peaceful city peaceful residential areas no military facilities dozens of eyewitness records prove this was not a mistake but the deliberate destruction of people the russians knew where they were shooting moscow denies the accusations ever more civilians are joining the fight to push back russian troops from harkeef i have six children at home and a wife i'm from kharkiv the day before yesterday i decided to take up arms and protect my city when i made my decision of course my wife and my ten-year-old son cried they tried to stop me from joining the fighters but finally they understood it's our land that we have to defend we can't back down ukraine is also inviting foreigners to fight for the country as it braces for a new phase in the war let's bring in maria daya he adaba here a resident in kharkiv maria thanks for being with us uh thanks for joining us on these very difficult circumstances how are things looking in kharkiv right now hello thank you for having me so today the night was uh pretty calm uh in the morning we've got reports that uh the great challenge started so again this morning two residential uh buildings were destroyed by russian missile systems great and then about 2 00 a.m here i've heard a very loud explosion uh very close to where i live so and uh immediately it turned out that a russian rocket got into the building of the uh at kharkiv regional administration the main administrative building in kharkiv which is situated just in the center of the city on the main square across of the university and near many residential buildings as well no military object there at all now we're just looking at some of the pictures of that explosion you described that would appear to have happened just a short while ago is that right yes it happened exactly almost less than an hour ago and there was a major explosion and why this building is so symbolic is because it has ukrainian flag on top of it and already in 2014 russian forces tried to get control over kharkiv and they have put russian flag on that building so and that's why you know this this has a symbolic meaning also for ukrainians and for putin who wants to put kharkiv on the knees but it won't happen but now what he is doing he is actually having people here residents in kharkiv as hostages because you know under the shelling that goes on every hour uh there is no possibility for food supply for medical supplies for any kind of assistance are you planning to stay in kharkiv maria yes i do plan to stay because this is my home and i want to defend it as much as i can so given any help that might be needed to people and i don't know volunteering and giving medical aid because you know our men are now fighting on the streets with the russian troops that that are around on the outskirts of kharkiv so yesterday uh that in the day before they were attacking from the three sides and now they're killing civilians we have the reports of two dead deaths among children and that is something horrible and that is why we are here ready to fight to do to the last end because we have no other option it's our home and we want to defend it what about basic supplies do you have access to essentials like food and water are people there able to get by well it's already running we are running out of supplies so yesterday there were big lines in front of the shops with a supermarket small supermarkets and bread kiosks because uh uh already it's almost nothing left and you can only get a little from what is left and the bread you can buy only one loaf in for one person so basically if the shelling continues and it looks like that's what putin has in mind uh so the the town the city will be in blockade because there will be no possibility for food supplies and medical supply what is more important and that is why we are like on the edge of the humanitarian crisis and they are asking international humanitarian organizations to urgently begin supplying uh kharkiv and other cities under russian attack with with what is needed with essentials how are people in kharkiv dealing with this situation are they able to find shelter in the city to be safe well we have metro underground is used as a shelter so i know many families who spend their days and nights with with their children also people hide in the basements and we have especially in the residential areas which are being hit by russian great missile system systematically so they spend their whole days you know not going being able to come out of the basement like sitting there for days with the children locked there and others who can fight with arms they go to territorial defense units and they know to go patrol the streets and participate as much as they can in no way in pushing back uh russian troops out of the city if when they try to to come in maria thank you very much that was maria dieva a resident in kharkiv thanks for talking with us stay safe thank you well for more let's cross over to our correspondent fanny facia who it joins us from yitzke funny tell us what the situation is like where you are this morning people are waking up to day number six of this full-scale invasion we spent with all of our neighbors uh part of the night in the bunker as the air raid sirens went off again people are on edge they are nervous what's to happen today and of course increasingly concerned also about supply not just food but very basics gas electricity it's yeah it's much first but it's very cold during the middle of winter in ukraine and people are really wondering just how long those supply chains can be kept open so yes even though i'm in the western part of ukraine that so far was more or less spared from a bigger attacks but there are also military warehouses an important military airport nearby khamelinski that was shelled during the past couple of days so people are very much aware it's just a matter of time unfortunately that they're also in this town are being threatened by by potential artillery by potential missiles that we have seen hit so many parts of ukraine already residential areas we just heard uh what's happening in kharkiv it's really heart wrenching uh to know that it's it's it's it's not just the bomb that fall down but with those bombs entire chains of supply to help those who've been hurt injured are being made almost impossible to function so very critical moments in ukraine also here where i am right now in himalinsky in western ukraine now satellite images funny they appear to show a convoy of military vehicles stretching more than 60 kilometers long just north of the city are people there where you are aware of that and how if so how are they dealing with this knowledge yes russian military is basically just regrouping right now an attack on keefe is imminent and people are very much aware of that in fact some of them have started to prepare molotov cocktails really it sounds very desperate in this situation how do you confront the russian military with with molotov cocktails but at the same time if you add up just how motivated people are in kiev those who still stay in that city despite the threat that's so imminent that also tells you that people are ready to defend their country now president zielenski decided yesterday to release prisoners who are able to join the military able to fight already a few days ago he said anyone who is able to hold an arm should get a gun so a lot of guns have been issued here of course is the concern also among local citizens the things can go out of control in any in many ways right now anarchy can take over in many places so far the situation in kiev is relatively calm there was few sirens going off of the night but our colleagues our local colleagues who are still in the city are reporting that at least they had a few hours of sleep however they're very very nervous about what's to happen today as this bulk of russian troops is basically almost encircling this this entire city and is ready to strike funny we i was just speaking to a resident of hakeef which is under under bombardment right now and access to basic supplies like food and water essential items is now becoming very restricted what's the situation with essential supplies where you are it's definitely better so far we just heard in that report from kharkiv that you basically are granted one a piece of bread per individual it's not the case here yet if you go into a supermarket you'll still find very basic things depending on also of course in which municipality you are and how many supermarkets are open the ones you've been to yes we have seen those empty shelves but we still had the impression that at least the very basics can still be guaranteed now this can change any time of course if there are more attacks be it on on surrendering uh places in the area here not just the military warehouses and the military air base that i pointed out but if those uh missiles that are coming actually all the way from belarus to here where we are right now when they are going to destroy very critical infrastructure that is needed to actually keep those supply chains open so people are worried even the ones who still get their bread and get their even their vegetables in the supermarket today just how long that's going to happen as a result a lot of people stock up on food and panic starts to set in and also people who are here in this well so far was a relatively calm town are packing up and they are leaving they're trying to leave across the border to romania and try to bring their their their families to safety is there any hope fannie among the people you are talking to there that a diplomatic solution could be found in this conflict because we do have ukraine and russia finally sitting down at the negotiating table actually we're talking about this very question with our neighbors yesterday in the bunker and they said they would like to have this glimpse of hope but at the same time if this country is being bombed while so-called negotiation take place they don't really hope that's going to be anytime soon now what we do know of course that after this yeah meeting between russian and ukrainian delegation that ended without a breakthrough so far we know that the second round is supposed to take place it's unclear when but the people here on the ground are actually calling on the allies and the western allies to say please help us please us in terms of military please help us in terms of humanitarian aid and please help us to bring an end to to this to this war to this full-scale invasion so people don't really have a high hopes when it comes to negotiations with the aggressor as they say via belarus they rather put their faith into whatever is to come from the west funny thank you very much that was our correspondent funny factual in western ukraine well the first emergency united nations general assembly session in decades opened with a minute silence for those killed in ukraine more than a hundred nations have signed up to speak out about ukraine's invasion at the session which continues today u.n secretary general antonio guterres spoke of a moment of truth for humanity a minute of silence to mourn those killed in russia's days-long ground and air attack on ukraine then nation after nation took to the podium condemning president vladimir putin's war and his decision to put russia's nuclear forces on high alert excellency we are facing a tragedy for ukraine but also a major regional crisis with potentially disastrous implications for us all yesterday russian nuclear forces were put on high alert this is a chilling development the mere idea of a nuclear conflict is simply inconceivable a war of this scale seemed inconceivable just days before the invasion ukraine's envoy to the un spoke passionately about civilian suffering in his country and warned that global peace is at stake if ukraine does not survive intention survive international peace will not survive if ukraine does not survive the united nations will not survive have no illusions russia's envoy accused the media of creating fake news about what putin calls a special military operation and blamed ukraine for causing the war by mistreating russian supporters and breakaway regions this definitely persuaded us that we could no longer ignore the suffering to people in donbas the leaders of breakaway regions turn to us for military support monday's emergency session of the un general assembly lays the groundwork for a resolution members will vote on later in the week in part it demands russia immediately stops its attack and withdraws all troops from ukraine the international criminal court in the hague will launch an investigation on the situation in ukraine following russia's invasion the chief prosecutor kareem khan says there is reasonable basis to believe alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in the attack neither of the two countries uh russia nor ukraine are members of the icc but ukraine has accepted its jurisdiction in the past russia for its part does not recognize the court's authority at all our chief political correspondent melinda crane joins us in this studio melinda i know that you covered the balkan wars and the ensuing war crimes trials i also know that you studied international law and are very well versed on this subject do you think we could see an indictment in the hague against russian president vladimir putin or the officers who are in fact committing uh crimes uh on his orders uh normally you begin with those who are on the ground and then follow the chain of command upward and yes i do if we look for example at these latest reports of the probable use of cluster bombs in hakief or if we look at a cluster bomb confirmed on february 25th in against a kindergarten and nursery in the town of kirktika in sumi oblast then and that's been confirmed by amnesty then these are absolutely uh violations uh that could be pursued by the international criminal court but there are others as well for example uh russian forces have boasted of eliminating combatants uh in some of the places they've fought including at the airport outside of kiev you don't simply eliminate combatants you are required by the laws of war by the hague conventions to take them prisoner and give them certain kinds of treatment so there is real reason to believe that war crimes are being committed here at the same time ukraine has also gone to the international court of justice on another matter namely the violation of its territorial integrity the law on wars of aggression is somewhat more unclear that wouldn't probably be a charge that we'd see in the international criminal court but i think that the prosecutor's decision to look into this is absolutely justified and what it means as i say you try to chase that that chain of command right back up to vladimir putin and then ultimately he is further isolated he can no longer travel if he ever leaves his country he will be subject to arrest that's the objective and as we know it happened to milosevic in the balkan there's been a lot of discussion about whether or not the international community should or could intervene militarily in some form of course ukraine is not a nato member nato at this point says it has no intention of intervening but we did see nato intervene in the balkan wars could there come a point melinda do you think when nato might decide that the suffering of the people the war crimes being committed are so severe that it needs to intervene here strictly on the point of law essentially there are two provisions under which uh force can be used one is the right to self-defense which includes collective self-defense that would obviously be an easier matter if ukraine were in fact a member of nato ukraine is not a member of nato therefore it becomes a little bit more difficult the clearest path would be a u.n security council resolution we're not going to get that that by the way
was what happened uh when iraq invaded kuwait as you will remember the u.n security council empowered other countries essentially to help get iraq out of kuwait if it didn't leave voluntarily that is a clearer legal position but terry that's the law side the other side of course is simply pragmatism reality the adversary here is a nuclear-armed power i cannot imagine that nato would go up against uh russia under these circumstances when ukraine is not a member of nato the legal situation is somewhat hazy and the reality is obviously very problematic okay so that's the uh that's the legal aspect with respect to nato and the international criminal court let's talk about the european union we know that ukraine would like to be a member of both nato and the european union on monday we saw the ukrainian president sign a formal application for eu membership how is that likely to be received in brussels it's quite interesting uh ursula van der ley and the commission president has gone straight out into the to in in public and said she supports this membership and in fact yesterday uh foreign minister bairbach here in germany had a visit from her counterpart from slovenia and he also gave a strong plea for this application to be considered obviously the idea here is if you can't bring ukraine into the nato fold could you maybe at least bring them into the european union uh fold which would afford some kind of protection in fact more protection now than we would have thought uh possible previously the eu is offering ukraine 500 million in weapons support for the first time so that's quite an interesting aspect as to why this is clearly of interest to ukraine on the other hand the path to eu membership is a long path and it involves some of the same hurdles that ukraine faces vis-a-vis nato countries that want to join the eu have to show that they have stable transparent non-corrupt governments that has been a long-standing problem in ukraine definitely improvements in that area but there's still a long way to go so this is not a path that would happen quickly and germany's foreign minister did say that yesterday thank you very much and i'm sure we'll be talking to you further throughout the day our chief political correspondent melinda crane now to some of the other headlines related to the war in ukraine the united states is expelling 12 russian u.n diplomats accusing them of being spies russia's u.n ambassador vasily nevins told a session of the unite of the security council about the move calling it a hostile step he later refused to specify whether he was among those told to leave turkey's president recep tayyip erdogan says he'll restrict russian warships from key waterways to the black sea a 1936 treaty gives turkey the right to stop military vessels from passing through the dardanelles and bosphorous straits during wartime several russian ships have recently passed through the straits into the black sea which also borders ukraine western sanctions triggered by the invasion of ukraine have sent the ruble plummeting the currency fell 30 in value after moves to cut off russia's access to foreign exchange russians scrambled to withdraw money from cash machines russia's central bank doubled its key interest rate to prop up the currency in a further escalation of tensions president vladimir put vladimir putin placed his country's nuclear forces on high alert on sunday before the invasion of ukraine began putin ordered military drills involving his arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles he oversaw them personally with the leader of belarus alexander lukashenko the kremlin said those exercises were part of regular training and denied they signaled an escalation but russia invaded ukraine on thursday putin blamed aggressive statements from nato for the change in posture top officials from leading nato countries have been making aggressive statements that is why i've ordered the defense minister and chief of the general staff to put our deterrent forces on high combat alert let's bring in pablo podvick here he is considered a leading expert on russia's nuclear arsenal and he's independent analyst based in geneva thanks for being with us pavel so putin has put his nuclear deterrent on high alert what does that mean in practical terms well the first thing we need to keep in mind is that the russian nuclear forces as well as other nuclear forces are constantly on the high alert more than a thousand warheads are deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles and they are in very high readiness uh what this move that was announced on sunday meant is was not increasing the number of missiles or submarines out there apparently it was the united states has not detected any movements of forces that would indicate that what it appears to mean uh is that the uh it was a signal to the united states first and foremost uh that russian forces are have taken steps to protect uh themselves from a potential attack and the uh the signal is basically don't don't even try uh don't even think about attacking russia what is russia's nuclear capability we know that russia has many nuclear weapons but how dangerous how dangerous is it with these weapons well it's uh it's quite dangerous uh as i said uh the uh around thousand warheads on uh intercontinental ballistic missiles only there are submarines there are bombers uh overall uh russia is one of two major nuclear powers it has more than 4 000 warheads in its arsenal as the united states actually does and uh it is uh something to consider and that's apparently that's the calculation uh in the kremlin that people will be taking these signals seriously and would not interfere on behalf of ukraine now you are an expert on russia's nuclear arsenal do you believe that president vladimir putin would actually order a nuclear missile strike if he felt threatened well i certainly hope that he would not uh but the uh the problem is that uh and what i find very problematic is that uh he uh explicitly uh brought nuclear weapons into this conflict even even as a signal even in at the rhetorical level uh and uh a conflict like that uh very complex uh could involve uh very unexpected developments and now that we know that russia indicated or said actually explicitly that it does consider nuclear weapons to be a factor things can go in many wrong ways i i think it was good that the united states did not react in a similar fashion the united states did not indicate that they would want uh to bring its forces to higher alert uh and it was good to see that the un uh general assembly session yesterday a lot of states uh called that move that introduction of nuclear weapons they called it uh unacceptable and irresponsible and i think that should be uh the message the reaction should be that nuclear weapons should not belong to to any conflict in fact but definitely they should not be anywhere clear of this conflict okay here we are with russia having invaded a sovereign country it is now at least sending a rhetorical signal about its nuclear weapons what can be done by the west in this situation to de-escalate what's happening and perhaps bring about a a some sort of solution that doesn't involve further bloodshed well that's uh that's a very uh difficult uh problem uh and uh i i think uh since uh as you said correctly uh uh we are dealing with the nuclear uh nuclear armed states here uh it's uh everybody should uh try it very carefully uh because uh there are as i said there are possible unexpected and unpredictable developments here and uh we we would think that a use of nuclear weapons is uh unconceivable but then this whole invasion was inconceivable just about a week ago so uh i think the message should be uh very firm and clear as i said and not just from the west but from other countries as well that it is as i said it's irresponsible and unacceptable uh to wave your nuclear weapons around the way that russia did pavel podvik an expert on russia's nuclear capabilities thank you very much for talking with us
2022-03-20 21:52
