in Ukraine more than 2 years after the
Russian invasion border areas are still
coming under massive shelling a month
ago Russia launched a widespread
bombardment of towns and villages in the
sui region in northeastern Ukraine using
missiles and guided aerial bombs DW met
with residents of a village called viika
pisara and with former residents who've
fled elswhere for their
safety the Sumi region 6 km from the
Russian border before the bombardments
in March 4,000 people lived in the
village of valika
pisara now about 500 are
left the regional government says
Russian aircraft dropped nearly 200
guided bombs on the community over two
weeks in
March makola and his wife Tamara stayed
to take care of their elderly
parents my father-in-law said I was born
here I'm going to die here and that's it
I have to give him food he can barely
stand on his own feet just police helped
evacuate residents from Villages near
the border while local authorities
organized evacuation buses some Villages
are now completely
empty in valika pisarka local
infrastructure was destroyed the
administration building the hospitals
schools workers were just finishing
repairs on the library when the shell
started we had so many projects and
ideas but we didn't have time we didn't
have time to do it now I think it will
calm down a little bit and we will
restore it again more Russian air
strikes could come at any time we asked
the mayor if she is afraid to stay on
and work
here this is house this is my home I'm
Not Afraid at
home this town about 50 km from the
Russian border now shelters evacuees who
tell harrowing stories of Russian
bombardments everything was flying from
the sky something happened to my ears I
have a noise in my head and cannot hear
well the explosions are really scary and
bearable I didn't want to leave I didn't
want to up to the last
moment shelter residents are supposed to
move on to stay with relatives or find
rental housing it's unclear when it will
be safe for anyone to return
home Yuri Sak is an adviser to the
Ukrainian minister of strategic
Industries a warm welcome back to DW we
have just seen in our report that Russia
has intensified its attacks in the
northeast of Ukraine is this because
Russia has found weak points in
Ukraine's defenses
there good even me well in fact um
Russia has intensified or began
intensifying the bombardment of areas uh
in particular up North near the K region
uh recently because they have started
using more of these guided bombs and uh
of course the lack of sufficient numbers
of um air defense interceptors on our
part and uh the inability of our air
defense systems to provide cover to
these areas near the front lines the
ones that the Russian bombers can reach
now of course that's been a major issue
and we're seeing it on on a daily basis
K region as well as down south in Kon
region zapara region uh so those areas
are under very heavy bombardment on a
daily basis now after a long delay this
weekend the US House of Representatives
passed a61 billion Aid package for
Ukraine that is expected to be approved
in the Senate uh how will this improve
the situation for
Ukraine if you consider um and our
president Mr zinski was Frank when he
was saying few days before the actual
vote happened at the House of
Representatives um he said very clearly
that the situation was deterior
deteriorating day by day we were running
out of ammunition we were running out of
um air defense uh missiles uh so of
course this decision and this support
bill will considerably improve our
ability to fight back the aggressor will
cons will send a signal of Hope to our
troops because you know when the vote
was happening
uh in the US House of uh Representatives
uh we of course were all glued uh to the
screens and our soldiers even in
trenches they were glued to their mobile
phones and they were watching it live on
YouTube uh streaming platforms uh
because everybody was expecting it so
much but I would like to say that you
know this bill is often called Ukraine
Aid support bill but in in essence this
is freedom support uh bill because what
is happening in Ukraine and I agree with
your previous guest you know what is
happening in Ukraine has already
ramifications far beyond the borders of
our country and this is why it is so
important uh that the US has made this
decision it is important that the United
Kingdom has announced a new package for
uh half a billion pounds today so we're
seeing that our partners stand with us
it gives us more confidence and
determination and I'm sure it sends the
right signal to the aggressor as well
because the aggressor hears very loud
and clear that this is an unwinable War
for Russia now confidence and
determination important in any war and
especially in this one we know weapons
and equipment are an important factor
here but but so too is people's
willingness to fight the Ukrainian
foreign minister today suspended
Consular services for men of military
age abroad in a push to increase
enlistment is the shortage that serious
in men that this step was necessary
I would like to answer this first of all
by pointing to the results of the latest
gallab International polling uh
According to which of All European
countries uh the Ukrainian people are
most willing to fight for their country
more than 60 3% if I'm not mistaken so
that's Point number one point number two
we are now working and the new law on
mobilization has been passed and signed
by the president into action this will
make the conscription Services more
transparent more efficient and uh you
know as a result it will solve many of
the problems that we are facing right
now and point number three of course is
that we ukrainians we are united still
and uh you know we are still having
volunteers who join the Army voluntarily
so uh we have to be aware of Russian
propaganda because it likes to spread
these uh psychological operations uh
spreading the message that Ukraine is
not not willing to fight we have said
many times for us it's the war of our
survival we understand very well what we
are fighting for and what we are
protecting it is our families our values
and our future as well as the future of
Europe so uh it's it's a right decision
of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs the
one that was announced today we need to
bring that in order as well because many
Ukrainian men are at the moment living
and abroad but again at home here in
Ukraine the mobilization continues the
processes are being improved and um as a
result you know we will be able to
defend our country and come one day we
will be able to push back the enemy and
yet clearly there are Ukrainian men
abroad who do not want to go back to
fight hence this push to increase
enlistment is this going to eventually
come down to ukrainians being brought
back against their will to be sent to
the front lines in
[Music]
Ukraine uh well we are a civilized
country and of course uh all our
European partners are civilized
countries so I don't see a way in which
uh those Ukrainian men who are unwilling
to return to Ukraine can be forcibly uh
removed from where they are at the
moment but um our Minister of Foreign
Affairs Mr kbba said very clearly that
you know if if you as a man if you live
abroad uh you have to be registered the
country needs to know where you are just
in case you need to be called back back
uh and look it's quite normal that not
everybody wants to fight uh there are
some people who don't want to fight and
it's okay uh but I will repeat that in
Ukraine there is a
considerable uh size of the population
and of men who are willing to fight who
are fighting as we speak and who will
continue to fight until our Victory Mr
Yuri sack thank you so much for taking
the time to speak with us today that is
Yuri sack adviser to the Ukrainian
minister of strategic
Industries British prime minister Rishi
sunak has announced plans for a massive
increase in UK defense spending to
counter what he called a growing threat
to Global democracy sunak made the
announcement during a visit to Warsaw
alongside NATO Secretary General Yen
stoltenberg he also unveiled details of
a new 580 million euro military aid
package for Ukraine to include boats
ammunition and air defense missiles
sunak said the increase to Britain's own
defense budget is necessary as the world
is the most dangerous it has been since
the end of the Cold War so today I'm
announcing the biggest strengthening of
Our National Defense for a generation we
will put the UK's own defense industry
on a war footing one of the central
lessons of the war in Ukraine is that we
need deeper stock PS of Munitions and
for industry to be able to replenish
them more quickly we will send Ukraine
an additional half a billion pound P
hitting £3 billion of support this year
and we'll provide them with the largest
ever package of UK military equipment
this will include more than 400 Vehicles
4 million rounds of ammunition 60 boats
and offshore raiding craft Vital Air
defenses and long range Precision guided
Storm Shadow missiles our correspondent
Christine Mundra is with us from
Brussels for the very latest Christine
welcome tell us more about what stood
out for you from this meeting
CLA eyes are on the Middle East right
now but Rishi sunak the prime minister
of uh the UK was at pains to stake that
Europeans could not afford to take their
eyes and their sights off of what was
happening in Ukraine Ukraine is of
course fighting off that Russian uh
Invasion as we speak and we know that
Ukraine is coming short in terms of
ammunition uh and it's also desperately
needing air defense uh capabilities that
it has asked its allies for the British
prime minister did highlight the fact
that Western efforts to help Ukraine uh
had been stop and start and that at
times had been peac meal he said by
today's with today's announcement he was
hoping that Britain would be taking the
lead uh in in rallying up Allies to once
again come around and make strong
commitments not just in the way of
supporting and supplying Ukraine with
military aid but increasing defense
spending so as to Boer European European
security one of the key things was in
the Q&A when a journalist asked the
question about the cost at which this
was coming this the context to this CLA
is that people in Europe are
increasingly counting the costs now
there's growing public disqui about the
war effort about the huge sums of money
that are being committed to the war
effort in Ukraine this had a time where
European public services are seeing
their standards declining I'm talking
about people not getting adequate access
to healthcare for example people really
asking the question about whether or not
these sums of money are better off
having an impact being used uh in in
domestic uh uh uh policies and and and
to to to to increase public spending in
their countries the message from the two
leaders the NATO uh Secretary General
and the British prime minister was to
say it comes at a cost to have a
neighbor uh an aggressive neighbor like
Russia and that Europeans had to pay the
price that this is something that they
all had to Rally around to do that the
high price the higher cost would be
Vladimir Putin getting a win in Ukraine
that would be the greatest cost and
everything that is being done to help
Ukraine now is essentially making an
investment in European security
Christine mwat reporting from Brussels
Christine thank you