ah, ah ah, this is the w news live from berlin to night, the roll of rushes nuclear arsenal in the escalating crisis over you. great. moscow plans military drills to morrow of its ballistic missiles and denies stoking worries of an invasion of ukraine at the same time. rushing back separatists and ukrainian troops are firing at each other, a simmering conflict that could soon boil over. also coming up tonight, the big nose show at the munich security conference. no russian delegation, while world leaders convene to discuss the biggest threat to europe in decade. plus

checkbook diplomacy, european union pledges to invest a 150000000000 euros in africa. and at least 6 people are dead as storms battered, northern europe, britain is bearing the brunt. record winds have already ripped the roof of a giant stadium in london. ah, i break off. it's good to have you with us on this friday in the crisis over ukraine. we are ending the week at a more perilous place. the u. s. says that russia now has up to a $190000.00 troops, positioned along its border with ukraine, an unprecedented military mobilization which moscow continues to down play. tomorrow. russia plans military drills of its nuclear arsenal. a show of straight

that nato says, is an attempt to intimidate some months, these tanks, signal to threat of a russian invasion to ukraine. now some of them are retreating from ukraine's botto rush. as defense, ministry seeds, military drills. and these places are ovo. and that's all it ever was. ukraine doesn't believe it. when it was done was liter not confirmed the russian claim of troop withdrawals. this is not happening. that is only a movement of forces and equipment. we are watching the russian troop divisions, which number 129001. and if we add naval an actual this, this figure reaches $149000.00 when they think it is full dead with gospel sort of david, these tensions are storing more rapidly in east on ukraine for yours. the don boss region has been a fighting ground between government forces and russia backed rebels. they blame each other for the damage of the conflict. caught in between many ukrainians have

migrated to say 4 places. this village, for instance, has only 5 residence left. and this kinda garden was the target of a recent shelling the shower and you boil, i was knocked backwards. i immediately understood, there was smoke and windows breaking everywhere, but foam yells upon your lot, bustled them through. all of this russia has announced for though military drills are starting saturday, they will be testing their ballistic and crews messiah with president putin overseeing the operation. russia again said these are just regular drills and not a threat to ukraine. or d. w corresponded mathias, berlin is in eastern ukraine in the town of several don't ask about is near the front line in the conflict between government forces and russian backed separatists

. until we know that shelling has intensified there in the past few days, particularly in the last 24 hours. and now there are reports that thousands of people are being evacuated. me. how do you read this? yeah, we've seen these reports of the people being evacuated, there were also a in, in for, it was also information that busses have already left the region. and this is, of course, a sign of escalation on. it's not forget, this is until now 1st and foremost, a war of words and of information. and all this is of course, in some way, creating the expectation that something might happen m. the shelling that has been intensifying over the past. 48 hours is of course another sign, the ukrainian side reads it as an attempt to lower the country into,

into firing back. and that thus creating the pretext for an invasion. at the moment we do not really know how the ukrainian forces respond to these fires. they are at the the the rebels of course have also said that they have been shelled, but we do not really know the u. o. c has not established how or how many a shells were fired from each side or, or what is the dim dimension of the, of the shelling or what is the origin of the shelling. we just know that there is a lot of shelling now. and many of the u. s. government is warned that russia could use these clashes in eastern ukraine and a false flag operation, a pretext to launch an invasion. is this also something that the ukrainian government is worried about?

this is actually a scenario that has been discussed a lot done. it's one a party i understand of the western strategy to disclose so much information, even if we never know whether it's well sourced or not. is to countered these are these false flack operations today? what we had news that in the center of the next, the, in the, in the rebel area and explosion happened a big explosion in the city center. and this has been read by some people as a, as the sort of some kind of a false flag operation. but again, we do not have success enough information to really establish often what is really going on on the ground. and what about claims from russia that it is withdrawing part of its troops from the ukrainian border at the same time, the u. s. as is actually increasing the number of forces. yeah, that's what we have been hearing this in. this is based on intelligence,

the u. s is using satellite imagery, you, you, for example, seeing how many tents have been put up somewhere, how much artillery et cetera, et cetera, but also reconnaissance flights. so, a, we do not have a very, like an official head count. russia has not disclosed harmony. soldiers are they all these mechanisms of monitoring each other, visiting each other in the case of, for example, a drill. they are not functional at the moment. so all this is of course, a information that is not well source, but what is clear that at all the western countries and ukraine, a r r saying that there is movement around the border, but they do not see a significant reduction of troops. d w correspondent, but he is bellinger at eastern ukraine with the latest to night mathias, thank you will for the 1st time in decades, russia is

a no show at the munich security conference. how crisis over ukraine is dominating the agenda in munich, germany and the u. s have called for solidarity in the face of russian security demands. this scheme, which of course is a lot a show of unity right from the start gym and foreign minister and alina babble and her u. s. counterpart antony blinking took to the states together, setting the tone for the 3 day conference to white her doesn't, isn't, isn't artisan court. there's a new war impending right in the middle of europe was then speaking to them. russia issues an absolutely unacceptable threat with their troops build up, you know, i, you know, the, the ukraine about, but also via the all of us and our piece architecture in europe. these a cheese is as therefore, this crisis is no ukraine crisis. we have to be very careful about our framing. it's a russia crisis course lunches,

and i think present hooton's been a little bit surprised at that solidarity at the way that nato has come together. the european union has come together. ah, we come together individually as partners we come together institutionally, as long as we maintain that solidarity, we will either way, whichever path president putin chooses will be ready to respond. first of another country by to top, diplomats remarkably in tune. rep for key is may have italy, clips go however, words of solidarity are not enough in we understand the germany, united states, all france support, but we need right now defensive where thank you for 5000 pounds, but not enough. we camp defend oh, country was just that. but again, germany says it won't send any weapons to ukraine,

citing the historical burden of world war 2. like the u. s. it's hoping they can still be a diplomatic solution to this crisis. what exactly that would look like is the foremost question in munich, not just on stage, but also in the many conversations taking place all over the venue. but with russia absent, the west is more or less talking to itself. if a more know i'm joined by sergey rod jenko, he is a professor at johns hopkins school of advanced international studies in the us. he is currently in cardiff in the u. k. professor, it's good to have you on the program. i know you've written extensively about russia and russia's relationship with nato. what are you seeing right now? it, it, it seems that vladimir putin basically has to do nothing. well, the rest of the west is in a frantic flurry of diplomacy,

hoping that he will not become more aggressive. is that an accurate assessment of what's going on? to certain extent, obviously rush, i had a mast major forces and goodness, gambling on the, on the hope that nobody in the west wants to fight a war with russia so that he can get some concessions in some one way or another. he wants some concession somewhere. he's hoping you will not have to pay the price for those concessions. so this is a strategy that brings up wouldn't, is known phrase brings motion. this is not the 1st time, although i think the situation is more tense this time. and of course the dangers war are very high. do you see vladimir putin as a threat to the post world war 2 world order respect, for example, for national sovereignty. i mean, if he had his way, then nato, the west would trump,

you cranes say about its own future regarding the alliance is, is that where he's pushing us in the ways the post world war to international orders is precisely the sort of thing that wants to return to that water was characterized by fear influence for the soviet union in europe, which materialized with the yellow agreements in 1945. in that sphere influence the soviet union was able to carry out interventions in hungary, in czechoslovakia, in 1068. and that is perhaps something that is hoping to accomplish now with the end of the cold war in 1989. the situation changed. but for put, think he's looking at that 30 year period that separates us from the end of the cold war. and he says, well, you know, this is just a temporary thing in actually the vision of europe into spheres of influence is

more natural or something that is historically justified. and this is what he's trying to accomplish in ukraine. he's trying to keep the grain out of nato. he sees ukraine as colon within rushes, european, and he considers the past 30 years to be, as you say, an anomaly. the, the fall of the soviet union, he considered to be a geo political disaster. but is there, is there a way to turn back the clock for putin, without destroying the freedoms that have been one since the fall of the berlin wall? well, in, in many ways he sees the west as, as fairly weak. he works of the united states. he sees a country divided by its internal contradictions, ill looks at us and draw from us again, a son and, and sees a country that is lacking international credibility. and what he's trying to do in europe is actually a repetition of moscow foreign policy for years and even decade,

a undermine natal, a long term goal. and you would even say from russia's perspective, and it's perfectly natural girl who have because nice, of course, there's no line to be directed against russia. so it's only 2 natural for women to, to wants to see nathan, to the mice. and the 2nd thing that he's trying to do is to undermine the european union, because this is also something that has all along a fire to because it is not a part of it you seen outside of the you're in, you feel threatened. but unfortunately, unfortunately, for russia, i think the action is increased, the aggressiveness and the search, and that is actually having the opposite effect. it's, it's controlled, we think, result in nato, to oppose russia. it is consolidating a kind of a, into russian front in europe. and for all the good reasons to say unfortunately, and nato was not looking to expand and we've heard now for weeks. for other

commentators have told us that no, none of the former soviet republics that would want to join nato will be ready to join nato for another 20 to 25 years. what about if there were an agreement on a more atoria on nato expansion? do you think that would satisfy vladimir putin? well, the irony of the situation, but i understand that you are not joining nate, so it is, it is highly unlikely. and i think we can also understand that and you have these pushing for some kind of official guarantees. from nato, which are extremely difficult to give, but perhaps you will be satisfied with assurance or some sort of private assurances . this is not going to happen anytime soon. and from my reading of the situation, you are perhaps no better from berlin. but my reading of the situation was that you're in chancellor sole source visit to moscow. this is precisely something that he was perhaps trying to do. and you know, why should we worry about this?

now this is not going to happen. but the question is, will be satisfied with something that is less than just comprehensive security guarantee from nate we have demanded for this year. yeah, that's right. it appears to be vladimir putin, it's all or nothing. professor gate right jenko, we appreciate your time and your insights tonight. thank you. thank you. here's a look now some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. canadian police have begun arresting protesters who have been walking traffic in the capital out of work for 3 weeks. demonstrators angry about code 19 restrictions and paralyzed parts of the city. the crisis has prompted prime minister just and trudeau to, to clear emergency powers. rescuers in greece and say to people who were stranded inside a burning ferry for more than 15 hours. so far hundreds have been rescued from the ship which caught fire or traveling between greece and italy. $290.00 passengers

and crew were on board initially. 11 people are still unaccounted for. the african union has welcomed a european pledge to invest a 150000000000 euros and infrastructure on the continent. e. u and african leaders have wrapped up a today's somebody brussels, their 1st gathering in nearly 5 years. security sustainability and trade were on the agenda, but the most controversial issue was access to coven 19 vaccines, and treatments, or 40 african leaders plus their 2070 you counterparts. this was one of the largest political gatherings of the year here in brussels. we're following travel bands and amid a vaccine divide. this summit was about rebuilding trust and working on establishing an equal partnership between africa and europe. they become a poet and a god of assumed in whether we're talking about climate protection, global health,

the future of multilateral rule. based order feed, peace, and security, or migration, europe and africa can only find solutions to the big questions of our time together with b o. in one particular aspect though, the 2 sides were quite out of tune with each other, vaccinations, or rather the lackey roof. in the e u, which has the capacity to produce vaccines. 70 percent of the population has been inoculated against coven 19 in the african union, mostly dependent on deliveries and donations from abroad. just about 12 percent have received their shots and we are talking about the lives of millions, hundreds of millions of people, and rather than the profitability of the few companies, it is not acceptable. but africa is consistently at the back of the queue and relation to access to medicines. a 1st step was made to day towards better axis

. 6 african countries were selected to receive the technology to produce m r n, a vaccines. to day of all the vaccines applied in africa, one percent is produced in africa, of all the vaccines. and rightly so, the goal is in 2040 to have reached a level of 60 percent of vaccines produced in africa that are administered in africa. the e u. has committed to delivering 450000000 vaccines to africa by the summer. many african leaders deem it necessary though to wave intellectual property rights. if they're to become independent from their, nor their neighbors. so far, that doesn't seem likely to happen. i'm going out by my colleague christine manuel. she's in brussel. she's been covering this conference force. good evening to you, christine. certainly, i read this, this transfer of

a vaccine technology. we know that a patent protections will not be enforced. we heard that earlier this week is all this a game changer for the african continent. french it is not the waiver of the patterns that african countries are demanding, but it is significant in the sense that it is going to result in the local production of vaccines. and in the context where african countries as this all african prison was saying, have been at the back of the queue in terms of being able to buy vaccines and at procure vaccines for the continent. it is going to be somewhat of more autonomy been built on the ground, but it's not the wavering of the patterns that are african leaders are calling for . and in a context are found. you know, this, this pandemic in terms of that the crone of iris itself. we're told that the same technology can be applied at to other ad diseases on the continent as well. so going forward, this will potentially be meaningful. beyond the pandemic itself,

brent it gives media is meant to signal a fresh start illusions between the european union and african leaders as it lived up to that you're not going to do that in, in a single summit. and we really did see relations between these 2 neighbors at these geopolitical neighbors sour at so really horrible extent. you almost got elements of that listening to the south african present over there at the, the bands, the travel bands at an all or that the vaccine hoarding of the inequity. it rarely saw africans feeling as though they european counterparts of let them out in the cold. there were lots of smiles load of a loads of fir opportunity speaking some of the delegates, as of the heads of state, as they were coming into the conference venues. it does appear that some steps have been taken. there is the understanding on both sides that it can't be business as usual. the nature of this relationship has good is, has to change both sides want that, but it's going to take a lot more work and for example, not getting the patterns lifted is still one of those things that just reminds you

that they're still far apart. are many issues, but coming back to the table, meeting face to face is meaningful and is important. the joint face to face is slightly helpful. christine would were in brussels, christine drinking at least 5 people have been killed as fears, storms, bad or northern europe. record bridging winds have disrupted transportation and knocked out power supplies across the u. k. braving the stormy sea, despite warnings to stay indoors, some people in brighton on england, south coast, remained drawn to the forces of nature. storm unit is the 2nd major storm this week and its sweeping across northern europe with record breaking gusts of nearly 200 kilometers an hour causing power outages for tens of thousands of people. were thirties in the u. k issued

a rare red warning for parts of southern england including london, where sections of the o 2 arena roof were ripped off by the storm. so the message to longer is loss to this office has the read weather, who the sandals still view. this is the worst only by student 3 that hate spring polio. inadvertently put ourselves in the hallway, robeto's, numerous flights were cancelled, and of the ones that did try to land in london heathrow. many ended up being diverted. train services were interrupted as well, leaving many passengers stranded, least quiet annoyance by i've been able to see you and what it was our cloud killers. i spent a little bit more time in my system before i had it back up. i'll try to make my way if i have to take a taxi, that's when i do germany, fans and the netherlands also issued severe weather warnings. storm eunice is likely to cause even more havoc than its predecessor get just days earlier. who

authorities in brazil or warning that the death toll from the worst flooding in decades is likely to rise at least a 170 people died. dozens more are missing. mudslides devastated the historic city of patropolis in the hills above rio de janeiro. the hills of protest, willis swept away by massive rainfall in the city. residents are trying as best they can to remove the mud. in addition to the rising number of dead, hundreds of people have been forced from their homes. many have taken refuge in makeshift shelters. in churches and schools, you'll say this one. uh huh. i left on the 1st day the rain started because i have 5 children and i live in an area considered to be high risk. in

the meantime, further, landslide warnings have been issued throughout the mountainous region of rio de janeiro where a patropolis is located. rescuers are working around the clock or just the door. i am obama today. we helped rescue a woman whose son told us that she still had 7 relatives buried under the rebel. and i know a sacha finance. so the hardest has authorities, warren, of dangers from damaged buildings, live electrical wires and fallen trees. several and deos have moved into the area with ambulances. they're helping with rescue work and organizing distribution points for basic supplies, such as water, powdered milk, and clothing. in the town center, the clean up is progressing slowly, but the areas at risk are still not habitable. many residents are still waiting to find a place to live until normalcy returns. i have nowhere to go. remember, i have relatives who can take me in the list,

but it's just going from one high risk area to another law does a site equal i easy. authority say the weather has not yet stabilized, and that already accumulated water could trigger new landslides by the winter olympics in beijing, china is freestyle skier island go has one her 2nd gold medal. the san francisco boards gear was part of the u. s. team when she was younger, but she switch to china in 2019, in the half pipe, final goose sword, higher than any other skier. and she completed back to back look at that ariel tricks. her 2nd run was the best of the day securing the goldman. norway has claimed its 15th gold medal in beijing to set a new winter olympics record. johan as ting as for one the mens 15 kilometer mass start by avalon. the claim is 4th gold medal at the gate bird dominated from

the start and held his composure to send his country into the history books. norway, canada, in germany, previously shared the record of 14 gold medals at a single gang. oh wow. this is the w news. we'll see you again to the top of the mm ah, with

you. rico africa. it's extraordinary. and not for the faint of heart. a bike ride from cairo. the city is dominated by cards, but the activists are pleading their best case with clear street and better air, eco for go. next, the blog, dw,

with something to celebrate. the 77 percent has reached one red shoes, $100.00 times. we've tackled the issues that matter most to you with boundless passion. i'm the lot of energy. the one episode of the 77 percent. i'm sure your idea is when our social media channel b, w dot com slash 77. they've had paid for for decades. people of iraq countries devastated and there's no end to the violence. how did it come to this g i g. witnesses review,

an unprecedented story with no more than i forget what the great documentary series, the ra destruction of a nation starts march 4th on d. w. a hello and welcome to these, especially edition of equal africa own going transport. and that means today show will focus and clean solutions for getting people and things from place to place using both modern high take and tradition. a means i am sandra tween a video here in compiler. uganda. thank you for joining us. and though welcome from me too. i.