♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from

viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". ♪ ros: i'm ros atkins. welcome back to "outside source ." there are calls for an immediate cease-ren the conflict in ukraine bought from the ukraine government and from a rare emergency session of the u.n. general assembly. >> the fighting inaine must stop. it is raging across the country from air, land, and see. it must stop now. ros: after a first day of talks between russia and ukraine on the border with belarus, no breakthrough but are two sides have agreed to keep talking. dozens of people are reported to be killed in the city of kharkiv that it is bound by the russians. meanwhile, president zelensky is

making a direct appeal to the russian sdiers who have invaded his country. >> drop your weapons and get out of here. do not believe your commanders. do not believe your propagandists. just save your lives and go. ros: switzerland, where russian or guards hold billions of dollars, joins the european union in applying sanctions, but president putin remains defiant. >> the so-called western community, as i called in my speech, the empire of lies, is now trying to implement against our country. ♪ ros: we have a range of updates for you on russia's invasion of ukraine, and of course, any live presconferences or speeches in particular in new york.

there is a special emergency session of the u.n. general assembly taking ways all to discuss ukraine. russian and ukrainian delegates have been reading for the first time, have held talks to try to find some type of end to this conflict. the first round of talksas just close to the border with belarus. the short version of the story is, they resolved to topic and but little common ground found. the conflict in self has intensified across the country. this footage shows russian artillery striking a shopping center in kharkiv monday morning. while the source is unknown, the bbc has verified its accuracy. at least1 people were killed in rocket strikes. this is from the northern city, also showing a shopping center destroyed by russian missiles. russian artillery began firing at about 2:00 a.m. monday morning, hit a kindergarten,

apartment and market. the lifting of the curfew has allowed some to go out for the first time in days butasic supplies are restricted. here are some people in the city. >> my childs three years old and she is far away. me and my husband are unable to pick her up because we are under fire. >> it was awful in the shelter because of the conditions. no toilets, no water, nothing. s: let's have a look at russian forces are in ukraine. the areas in yellow are under russian control with heavy fighting highlighted in several cities including kharkiv. in the north, the donbass region. these are satellite images of military vehicles heading toward the capital. they appear to show a large deployment of russian forces and tanks close to a town around 80

kilometers northwest of kyiv. the convoy is thought to be at least five kilometers long. meanwhile, in the capital, the ukrainian military says it is prepared for another difficult night. for more on their situation, we are in the city. >> it is getting more fearful. there is more of a sense of dread here because we know the fighting is getting closer and closer. we felt the vibrations of one missile attack. it was the strongest sense of shock to the building that we are here in that i have had in the last five days of covering is conflict. and the noise of that explosion was really quite intense as well. there is a real sense that the fighting that has been going on on the outer edges, northern suburbs in particular over the

last 3, 4 days, that that is getting closer to the center of the capital. of course, this comes on the very day that two and a half million people in this city were able to venture out after a weekend of being underground, in their sellers -- cellars, in their shelters because of a curfew. what do they find when they come out? the showing is coming closer, and the supermarkets are running out of food. a continuing sense of dread, continuing sense of disbelief that perhaps things could get even worse as the fighting gets closer to hear. no one knows what is inhe mind of vladimir putin. will he encircle this city even more, try to cut off access pots, bring communications down, and then make some kind of demand from the ukrainian government?

or will he launch an all-out attack to try to take the heart of the capital here. that is the fear, that is the worry. it does not feel, despite those peace talks taking place with russia on the border of belarus, that there is any real sense of optimism. ros: those people that have been able to venture out today for the first time in several days, do they have an option to leave or is it already too dangerous for civilians to get out of the city if they choose? >> it's a really good question. you have some people wondering, if we stick it out, perhaps there will be some kind of peaceful resolution. a couple of people we spoke to, when i arrived last week, said that they would stay in their flat. they are convinced negotiations can take place for this to be resolved is fully. we were talki to them in a

line of traffic that was backed up at the petrol station. beyond there, there was a three kilometer long tail of traffic heading to the border. you could argue that people who were making that journey five days ago did the sensible thing, got out in time. it will be much more difficult now for people to leave but we are still seeing flows of people, some to other parts of the western edge of the country, others write to the border with poland, moldova, hungary and so on to get out. it is a mixed picture. but everyone agrees that things here will probably get worse before they get better. ros: you were describing the building you are standing on top of vibrated with one missile strike today. clearly, the russians are targeting places in the center of the city. is there fighting in the center

of the city, as well, with people on the ground? >> let's be clear, there is no fighting in the center of the city. what we are getting our mishes and clashes on the edge, particularly northern edge of the city. i suspect behind that are artillery and mortar missile fire into those areas, the suburbs where you have ukrainian resistan. the main street fighting is still a good 20 kilometers away from here, but those missile barrages are getting closer and closer to the cter, and tha is the fear. at some point, perhaps, if the ukrainian resistance on the edge of the capital, if that is dissipated, then of course you'll get more of a russian advance. we have been hearing a lot about the fact that the ukrainians have been targeting the supply lines of the russians. you see pictures on social media

of tanks running out of petrol, russian soldiers not having enough food and supply. ukrainians have been clever, attacking their supply lines. as a result, the russians are finding it difficult to make progress. but 60% of the forces that have encircled ukraine, that ishe number being used to wage the war at the moment. so thais another 40% in reserve. they are likely to be the more battle hardened troops in reserve. what happens when they join the battle? what happens when they get to the front lines? that is the question. ros: one more thing i want to ask you about. as you know, president putin spoke to emmanuel macron and set a resolution to this conflict would be possible only if russia's security conditions are taken uncditionally into account, including crimea, and the de-nazification of the

ukrainian state, ensuring ukraine's neutral status. delegates have also been holding talks in belarus. based on everything the west and ukraine have been saying, there is no possibility of vladimir putin's demands being met. >> no, none whatsoever. and you have to wonder what the point is of the two sides getting together. i suspect it is stage management, being able to be seen as trying to do something. president zelensky's country is being bombarded here. he has to show to his people that he is trying to find a peaceful track out of this. vladimir putin is getting all kinds of sanctions thrown at his country, him personally, his entourage, the russian rule has crashed 40%, inflation over 20%.

both sides have to at least show their own people that they are willing to talk, but they are miles away from any kind of agreement. vladimir putin wants to take over this country. volodymyr zelensky wants him out. where is the common ground? i don't see it. but there is a sliver of hope because both sides have agreed to talk again. those talks broke up today on the belarusian border but they will resume at some point down the line. that is something that we can all cling onto. ros: before i let you go, i'm sure you are having conversations every day with people whose city it is. i wonder what they make ofhe situation they find themselves in, can they believe that a city that was peaceful just a few days ago is in the middle of this? >> no. they cannot believe it at all. rightp to the people of the invasion, which is the day i arrived in the city, thereas

still the hope because there was so much diplomatic activity in the weeks before, the hope that this would not happen. we now understand that the russians, at least vladimir putin, had always decided that he would invade and that diplomatic trap was a complete sham, but it convinced so many people that this could be peacefully resolved. as a result, all this going on now is a complete shock to everybody, except vladimir putin. ros: many thanks to speaking to us from kyiv. let's cross from the ukrainian capital to new york where the un security council is holding an emergent meeting of russia's invasion of ukraine. the statements are continuing. let's listen in. >> civilian children, women, and

men, have been injured and killed. homes have been damaged and sometimes destroyed. of yesterday, the office of the united nations high office of humanights reported at least 406 civilian casualties, including 102 dead in these last few days. the real figure could be considerably higher as many reported casuas have yet to be confirmed. we know and we will hear much more, but at least 100 60,000 people have been internally displaced across ukraine, fleeing for safety. we know that figure is likely to be much higher, potentially a significant portion of the entire population. of course, as fully but will tell you, we believe more than

happy million refugees have been forced tohoose to flee their country in search of safety. families are separated. the elderly and people with disabilities find themselves trapped and unable to flee. not even able to get that small comfort. the picture is grim and could get worse still. aerial attacks and fighting in urban areas are damaging critical civilian facilities and disrupting essential serces such as health, electricity, water and sanitation, which effectively leaves civilians without the basics of day-to-day life. bridges and roads have been destroyed, cutting off access to critical supplies and services. the use of explosive weapons in urban areas carries a high risk of indiscriminate impact.

this is of particular concern in places like kyiv and kharkiv. civilians will undeservedly suffer the most from these attacks in densely populated urban centers. all parties must inspect international humanitarian law, take constant care to spare all civilians and civilian objects from harm throughout their military operations. the parties should also avoid the use of wide area explosive weapons in populated areas. and the longer this goes on, the graver the cost will be four civilians. children will miss school and face a greater risk of physical harm, displacement, and unimaginably emotial severe stress. women are so off disproportionately affected by,,

as has been discussed, will see greater gender-based violence. women and children also exposed to other forms of exploitation. the economy of ukraine could implode, which will further exacerbate humanitarian needs and create a ripple effect that travels far beyond ukraine's borders. already the peoples in recent days are deepening a pre-existing humanitarian crisis. eight grueling years of conflict in eastern ukraine had already left 3 million people in need of humanitarian assistance on both sides of the contact line in the donbass region. it goes without saying that humanitarian needs are now much greater, including the large-scale disappointment -- displacement which i've already referred to across the entire country, not only in one region thereof.

humanitarian workers are doing their best to respond. the u.n. has expanded its humatarian presence in ukraine. we shall continue to do so. we are working to ensure we can scale up our operations as quickly as possible and we had been preparing for this for some time. i must say that for the last three days, however, our movements, the movements of our dear colleagues in ukraine have been seriously constrained as a result of ongoing fighting and our inability to receive assurances from parties to the conflict that humanitarian movements will be protected. only this evening i was fortunate to receive the beginning of some assurances to that eect. we must hope that comes into reality. in the meantime, local organizations and institutions are doing as usual, the truly

remarkable job they do in all such situations, responding to needs. local ngos and the ukrainian red cross are working tirelessly to support civilians and evacuation operations. all workers working day and night to care for the injured. aid organizations providing psychosocial support to traumatized children, delivering first-aid kits. and we are all here this evening, this afternoon, to support their efforts. today, our most pressing humanitarian needs for emergency medical services including sexual and reproductive health services, crical medicine, health supplies, equipment, safe water for drinking and hygiene, shelter for the displaced. in all 119 organizations,

partners, humanitarian organizations are operating in ukraine, able to provide some form of humanitarian assistance, although still stilted in these days. we have made progress on two fronts. we want to reach more people with the aid they deserve. fit, we need the assurances from parties to the conflict that humanitarian workers and movements will be protected, even during the most severe days of the conflict, not waiting for the conflict to subside. even now, even today, even yesterday, we need to provide those protections to those workers to do the job they want to do. under international humanitarian law, all parties must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of impartial humanitarian relief for civilians in need, and must

ensure the freedom of movement of humanitarians. a point that we have been making in many different ways in these past four days. ros: this is martin griffith, from the office of the coordination of humanitarian affairs at the when -- u.n. he has some details but none of them are very good. he says the picture is grim and could get worse, leaves civilians already in some cases without the basics. highlighting that many roads and bridges are being damaged, which prevents services to being provided to civilians in the way they would expect. he talked about the high risk of indiscriminate weaponry being used in civilian or urban areas, particularly highlighting the attacks in kyiv, kharkiv, other cities. he also warned that if this continues, the ukrainian economy could clapse with a range of consequences both in ukraine and possibly neighboring countries.

he also emphasized -- and this perhaps has not come through as much from people commenting in the situaon -- but he emphasized there was a pre-existing humanitarian crisis because of those two separatist regions in the east of ukraine, the fact that since 2014 there has been a conflict that revolved around the. we talked earlier about how the midst agreements were designed to bring that fighting to an end, but neither the russians or ukrainians have stuck to those agreements, nor the separatists he said already 3 million people had needed to aid at some point during the course of that conflict. now, a much more serious conflict has been visited on ukraine. those are the main things i took away from what he has just said. that statement is coming on the same day that there is a special emergency session of the u.n. general assembly entirely focused on ukraine.

the assembly president began by leading the u.n.'s members in a minutes silence, and then the u.n. secretary general opened the session. >> all the russian strikes are reportedly largely targeting ukrainian dilatory facilities, we have credible accounts of residential buildings, critical pieces of infrastructure and nonmilitary targets sustaining heavy damage. this escalating violence which is resulting in civilian death including children is totally on acceptable. ros: let's bring in our correspondent. we would expect strong words from antonio guterres, americans as well, so where is this leading at the gathering of the general assembly? >> we will be having statements from more than 100 nations. so far, we have heard from the

united states' allies but we will also be hearing from other countries that are more sympathetic to russia. for example, cuba, venezuela, nicaragua, china will also be speaking in the next few days during this u.n. general assembly special emergency session. it willead up to a vote, diplomats hope, on wednesday. that is when all 193 members will have the chance to vote on a draft resolution which condemns russia'sggression against ukraine, calls for its troops to immediately leave the country, calls for humanitarian access and the safety of civilians, and also deplores belarus' involvement in the conflict. it is a wide-ranging group in the general assembly that will have a chance to voice their opinion, unlike the security council, which is limited to 15 members, five of which have veto power.

that is expected to happen on wednesday. until then, we will have speeches in this marathon ssion over the next three days. ros: i'm sure you saw the russian ambassador taking questions saying i have to take a call and then told him that 12 of his team had been expelled by the americans. what is that about? >> that's right. also remember russia is still the president of the security council, so when that meeting opened up this afternoon, he brought up that exact issue. to which the united states responded. the u.s. said that was a decision taken in accordance with the host agreement. the united states is the host of the u.n. here in new york. that u.s. ambassador saying those who have been expelled were not engaged in diplomatic activity at e mission. we are still trying to get more information but russia accusing the united states of more agession toward it, expelling 12 of its diplomatfrom the

u.n. mission, the russian mission to the u.n. we are still getting the back and forth but that is just adding to the war of words at the security council. ros: what do we expect in the next hour or so, will this continue for some time? >> we have two tracks here, the general assembly meeting, which will go into the evening and continue tomorrow with speeches, and the security council is meeting on humanitarian issues since they couldn't prevent the war to begin with. we know france and mexico want to present a draft resolution, even though it is subject to russian veto in the security council, to call for unhindered humanitarian access. ros: thank you so much. she will be listening to both of those tracks at the u.n., and will bring updates to you. updates on a 24 hour basis at the moment.

you can see further videos from me and the outside source team on a number of different places, narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the frman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs stn from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪ da-da-da-duh-da-da-da♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da-da ♪♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who know, know bdo. naator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler fountion; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from

viewers like you. thank you.