i m here at this art centre and just 12 days ago the space was used for cultural events. now it s 12 days ago the space was used for cultural events. now its home to the thousands of people who are coming to western ukraine looking for relative safety, relative peace, away from the fighting in the northeast and south of the country. you can see just behind northeast and south of the country. you can seejust behind me northeast and south of the country. you can see just behind me some of the elderly people who have fled their homes, fled the bombings, the showings, the fightings that took place. many of them tell me that they were staying in underground bunkers without any food, water, heating. it is freezing conditions here in the ukraine and these people were suffering. they tried to get away and frankly, they are the lucky ones. there s so many others who are trapped, waiting for some kind humanitarian corridor to be created. and the other rooms there are newborns babies, small child
civilians is not permitted in international humanitarian law, but even in circumstances where there are fightings taking place, there is belligerent activity in an urban area, that does not give a free license to use indiscriminate or very heavy weapons that will obviously disproportionately affect the civilian population. so whether it s cluster bombs or thermobaric weapons, commanders in the field need to use great discretion and with great diligence decide how they wish to wage conflict now that it has started. and the law is here, and the court is watching. and we have experts that will try to get to the bottom of it. joining me now with more is kaj larson, a journalist and former navy s.e.a.l. you say this invation is slower than invasion is slower than
shelling in kyiv, but it will be really hard to take. aside from those heavy fightings in those two cities, what comes next in russia s war against ukraine? there have been warnings about possibly using other weapons, as well. yes, so that s the big question. no one knows how to get out of this mess. at this point, it looks like it s a stalemate, but putin is not ready to negotiate. he gave two big speeches this last week he is defiant, he s emotional, he s not willing to give up or admit that his army has made serious mistakes. and the ukrainian side will not give up either. the ukrainian side will not give up crimea, it won t give up the donbas. so we re really at an impasse, and what happens on the battlefield now will determine the contours of a peace agreement in the future. so i think, honestly, i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but what we re seeing in mariupol is likely to be repeated in kharkiv, in kyiv, and other cities. so there ll be
news tonight. rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they won t rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they won t be - rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they won t be able - rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they won t be able to | news tonight, they won t be able to take kyiv so easily. kyiv is a hard city to take. it is on a hill, it has narrow roads, it s difficult to navigate and is heavily defended. and the ukrainians know that russia wants it more than anything, so they are ready for a big fight, it s going to take a long time and a huge amount of indiscriminate bombing to take kyiv. and right now, the russians can even take mariupol. so i think that right now, the focus of the action is in don bass, and russians are making a little bit of progress there and in mariupol. but they are too heavily focused on those areas right now. but there is really serious gelli
to take kyiv so easily. so kyiv is a hard city to take. it is on a hill, it has narrow roads, it s difficult to navigate and is heavily defended. and the ukrainians know that russia wants it more than anything, so they re ready for a big fight, it s going to take a long time and a huge amount of indiscriminate bombing to take kyiv. and right now, the russians can even take mariupol. so i think that right now, the focus of the action is in the donbas, and the russians are making a little bit of progress there and in mariupol. but they are too heavily focused on those areas right now. but there is really serious shelling in kyiv, but it will be really hard to take. aside from those heavy fightings and those two cities, what comes next in russia s war against ukraine? there have been warnings about possibly using other weapons, as well.