welcome to the programme. exactly six months ago, vladimir putin ordered his army to invade ukraine. it was a decision that not only unleashed the biggest war in europe since world war ii, but it also turned the world on its head. thousands of ukrainians and russian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. today, in ukraine, it is independence day. normally, there would be parades and celebrations marking 31 years of freedom from soviet rule. but not today, it s not safe. and in the past 6 months, russia has clawed away at ukraine s freedom. this was the map of ukraine on february 24th. russian backed separatists already held significant territory in the eastern regions of donetsk and luhansk and moscow controlled the annexed crimean peninsula. this is how things stand now. russian forces control large parts of the south of the country, all of the luhansk region and continue to make advances in donetsk. but there is still the threat of danger, everywhere in the country and
east. for the 19 children and two teachers gunned down inside their classroom one week ago there s growing anger now over the police response as the justice department prepare tuesday launch a review how law enforcement responded. reporter: we re now getting our first glimpse add some of the information related to officers outside robb elementary school as a massacre was unfolding on the inside. abc news obtained a portion of video that appears to be audio from one 911 operator relaying information from a child inside the classroom. you have a child on the line. reporter: cnn has not been able to independently confirm the audio or at what point in the incident it was heard. on friday the texas public safety director said there were at least eight 911 calls from two callers in the school pleading for help. investigators now say 19 officers waited outside the classroom where the gunman was for about 50 minutes until a customs and border patrol team decided to go in with
in march. the local police chief has said that more than half had been shot. finland and sweden have formally announced their intention tojoin nato, in response to russia s invasion of ukraine. the alliance s secretary general, jens stoltenberg, has described the move, which amounts to abandoning their military non alignment, as historic while president putin described the plan as a mista ke . one person is dead and four others critically wounded when a gunman opened fire at a church in california. he s later overpowered. it comes just a day after a gunman killed ten people in a suspected racially motivated terror attack at a supermarket in the city of buffalo. now on bbc news, stephen sackur is in washington with hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from capitol hill, washington with me, stephen sackur. the united states is supporting ukraine in its war against vladimir putin with weapons, with money and with sweeping sanctions on moscow. in that, president biden has the support
divisions within us politics, not least within the republican party. it s that age old clash between isolationists and interventionists. my guest today is the ukrainian born republican congresswoman, victoria spa rtz. how much is donald trump influencing this internal republican argument? congresswoman victoria spartz, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me start with ukraine. the white house and you guys on capitol hill have worked together to put together a massive aid package for ukraine. it s almost $40 billion. military assistance, financial assistance, humanitarian assistance as well. are you personally satisfied with what the government is doing right now? i think our government is moving in the right direction. i think like in any crisis, speed, agility and really strength, peace through strength is the main determined deterrent to any war in any crisis. so, i think we. this administration has been very slow. west has been very slow. but with pressure from the america
forced to evacuate their homes. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from capitol hill, washington with me, stephen sackur. the united states is supporting ukraine in its war against vladimir putin with weapons, with money and with sweeping sanctions on moscow. in that, president biden has the support of the us congress. but the ukraine war is stirring divisions within us politics, not least within the republican party. it s that age old clash between isolationists and interventionists. my guest today is the ukrainian born republican congresswoman, victoria spa rtz. how much is donald trump influencing this internal republican argument? congresswoman victoria spartz, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me start with ukraine. the white house and you guys on capitol hill have worked together to put together a massive aid package for ukraine. it s almost $40 billion. military assistance, financial assistance, humanitarian assistance as well. are you perso