By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin By — Ali Rogin Ali Rogin Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/battle-for-eastern-ukraine-hits-stalemate-as-last-civilians-evacuate-mariupol-steel-plant Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio Ukraine’s President Zelenkskyy announced Saturday that all women, children and elderly had been evacuated from that steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol. But the country is bracing for stepped-up Russian attacks, as Russia prepares to celebrate the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Nick Schifrin reports from Kharkiv. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: It is good to be with you. We start our broadcast tonight in Ukraine where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today announced that all women children and the elderly had been evacuated from that steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol. The country is bracing for stepped up Russian attacks as Russia prepares to celebrate the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany more than 70 years ago. Nick Schifrin has our report from Kharkiv. Nick Schifrin: In Moscow's Red Square, a wartime dress rehearsal, soldiers prepare for Monday's Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two. This year the Kremlin is expected to invoke not only bygone glory, but also claim a victory in the grinding conflict next door in Ukraine. Outside the eastern city of Kharkiv, Russian missiles hit a museum dedicated to an 18th century philosopher and poet. Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to erase its history and even forcibly deport its citizens to Russia. Natalia Mitsay, Director, Hryhoriy Skovoroda Literary Memorial Museum: Their aim is to destroy us Ukrainians, to destroy our culture and traditions, our people, to take our children to Russia and destroy their memory about Ukraine. Nick Schifrin: In neighboring Romania today, First Lady Jill Biden witnessed Ukrainian children proud of their Ukrainian memories. Jill Biden, First Lady: Can we hear your messages? Nick Schifrin: She visited a school that hosts 40 children, all of whom had to leave some family members behind including seven year old Mila from Kyiv. Mila (through translator): I want to return to my father. Nick Schifrin: 12 million Ukrainians more than a quarter of the country have fled their homes. By the end of the year the U.N. warns nearly 60% of Ukrainians will need humanitarian assistance. Earlier this week, I spoke to Manal Fouani, the U.N. Development Program's Deputy Ukraine Representative about the scale of the crisis. Manal Fouani, United Nations Development Program: The scale I think we haven't witnessed anything like this since the Second World War at least in the fast rapid movement of displacement and the destruction of the civilian infrastructure, the productive infrastructure, the public services that are disrupted due to shelling and heavy bombardment. So this war has a very high cost and high costs not only on infrastructure, but also on human, social and economic lives. And if this war continues, nine out of 10 Ukrainians will be falling into poverty whereas just on 23rd of February 2022 we were talking only about 2.5% poverty rates in Ukraine from 2.5% to 90% in one year because of this war this is not OK. Nick Schifrin: Is it difficult to try and help them while the war continues to raise? Manal Fouani: We have to help them while the war is happening, but we also need to help them to stop the war. The government is functioning, continues to function, and it's the war. And it's the destruction that we're facing, and they are facing. And actually they showed a high level of perseverance. So this is not a country that faced the scale of war any time before. In 2014, the conflict was quite big. But now we're talking about a full-fledged war on the country as a whole. But you will be amazed that this government is moving super-fast, is moving fast in their considerations of recovery and reconstruction planning.There are tremendous humanitarian needs, the most actually prominent one is ensuring that there is an immediate mine action or mine clearance. And this is where UNDP has launched a pilot project to ensure that a safe massage and return of the population will happen. But as I said, the government is fast. They're not waiting. Their resilience and capacities are just remarkable. Nick Schifrin: A personal question, you spent more than five years working on Syria. But I wonder how you think of the scale and the challenges here compared to something even as largest Syrian? Manal Fouani: The human suffering is the same everywhere, and no one ever should go through this. And no one ever should live a day of work. But at the same time, I think we've witnessed in Ukraine, the displacement in two months of what was witnessed in Syria and 10 years. And this is where it's essential that peace comes as soon as possible because the human suffering should not continue. Humanity has to prevail, and humanity needs to regain its essence and its priorities while we all work together towards a common objective, which is peace and then peaceful solution for all human beings, no matter where they are. Geoff Bennett: Or thanks to Nick Schifrin. And a note our coverage of the war in Ukraine is supported in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from May 07, 2022 By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin is PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent. He leads NewsHour’s daily foreign coverage, including multiple trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, and has created weeklong series for the NewsHour from nearly a dozen countries. The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2017 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In 2020 Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the NewsHour teams awarded a 2021 Peabody for coverage of COVID-19, and a 2023 duPont Columbia Award for coverage of Afghanistan and Ukraine. Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza; reported on the Syrian war from Syria's Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders; and covered the annexation of Crimea. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his Gaza coverage and a National Headliners Award for his Ukraine coverage. From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow award for its bin Laden coverage. Schifrin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Overseas Press Club Foundation. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). @nickschifrin By — Ali Rogin Ali Rogin Ali Rogin is a correspondent for the PBS News Hour and PBS News Weekend, reporting on a number of topics including foreign affairs, health care and arts and culture. She received a Peabody Award in 2021 for her work on News Hour’s series on the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect worldwide. Rogin is also the recipient of two Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association and has been a part of several teams nominated for an Emmy, including for her work covering the fall of ISIS in 2020, the Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017, the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2014, and the 2010 midterm elections.