we are getting news from ukraine that one person has been killed and four injured in a russian attack on a railway station in the south of the country are coming after russia confirmed that one of its warships was damaged in a ukrainian attack on a black seaport on tuesday morning. the novocherkassk was hit during an attack on the port of feodosiya in russian—occupied crimea. local officials say at least one person was killed. ukraine said the ship was destroyed. president zelensky wrote on telegram: �*the occupiers will not have a single peaceful place in ukraine'. our correspondentjames waterhouse has more from kyiv. for ukraine, this was a high—value target. explosion. the novocherkassk landing ship struck by a guided missile. the blast was colossal. moscow claims it was only damaged. kyiv says destroyed.

it's going to need more than a lick of paint, regardless. crimea has been in russia's grasp since 2014. but sights like this have become more common with ukraine striking deeper into the peninsula. the novocherkassk would have almost certainly been loaded with either soldiers, hardware, or both. its loss will hamper russia's ability to supply troops further north, as well as further weaken its naval dominance in the black sea. what attacks like these have yet to do is apply enough pressure on moscow for it to surrender ukrainian territory it has taken. but for ukraine, for president zelensky, it is a welcome announcement against a backdrop of waning western support. it's already affecting ukraine's front line operations. and that's helping russia, with the capture of mariinka in the east. moscow calls the devouring of this town liberation. translation: the main focus

was to disrupt the ukrainian i counteroffensive, which was announced by ukraine and its nato allies. this task has been successfully completed. ukraine has only been able to liberate a few kilometres of its territory, and the head of its armed forces gave a sobering forecast for next year. translation: we're doing everything we can. - unfortunately, the enemy is not far behind us. you can see what is happening, especially recently. we're having powerful confrontations using various technologies. in feodosia, fragments of the ship were scattered for hundreds of metres. strikes like this have chipped away at russia's control. but their impact isn't always realised immediately. the problem for ukraine is time is not its friend. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. i spoke to rajan menon, director of the grand strategy programme at defence priorities, about the port attack and waning western support for ukraine. i want to start with the attack

on the russian warship in the black sea. we know that russian forces have repeatedly come under attack in crimea. what impact if any is that having? before coming on the show, i did a back—of—the—envelop calculation and in 2022, that is after the war began on february 2a, ukraine launched at least 12 attacks on crimea. this year, in 2023, it has launched about 20 so crimea has been a major focal point for ukraine attacks and that is for three reasons. one is it is a major supply hub for russian forces based in the south, that is in kherson and zaporizhzhia oblasts. pushing up against ukraine's south. the second is that the control of the black sea fleet would choke off ukrainian exports. the third is that black sea russian ships can target ukraine cities with cruise missiles. so ukrainians have been very, very much interested in keeping russia on the back foot, as it were, in crimea. is it working?

yes, it is working. i will give you just one data point. the headquarters of the black sea fleet is sevastopol, on the west coast of the crimean peninsula. most of the ships have been moved to feodosiya, as you mentioned in your lead, and further east to the black sea russian port of novorossiysk. that is because sevastopol has come under devastating attack. so, for example, on september 22, there was an attack that killed about 30 russian officers, including reportedly the commander of the black sea fleet, viktor sokolov, and wounded about 100. so the ukrainians have hit airfields, supply depots, rail hubs, radar systems, missile sites, you name it — so in that sense it is working.

is it affecting the war? that is another question. and it is telling us a little bit about ukraine's strategy. it comes as we have seen western support for continuing to supply large amounts of aid to kyiv waning a bit. the us senate has not been able to pass an aid package. we have also seen in the eu, hungary has blocked this 50 million euro aid package. you werejust in ukraine. what impact does this have on the frontline? i was talking to frontline soldiers and there is a great deal of despair and anxiety about whether this aid package will come through. i personally think it will come through, the question is when and how much. the ukrainians will tell you that regardless of whether the aid package comes through, they will continue fighting russia with whatever they have got but, to be honest, absent the american arms package coming through, it will be a very, very difficult fight

for ukraine in what is already an uphill struggle. in a difficult time of year as well. the report in the new york times a few days ago saying russia's vladimir putin has been signalling for some time now that he would be open to talks on a ceasefire if they were to freeze fighting along the current lines. what is your sense? is that something that ukrainians would actually be open to? ukrainians do not take it seriously nor do i. let's remember that president putin has laid claim to four ukrainian provinces — donetsk, luhansk, zaporizhzhia and kherson. the russian parliament has passed legislation saying these provinces are russian territory. so putin's minimum condition is that he should control virtually all of ukraine's east and south and i think that for ukraine is a nonstarter as a deal.

if putin really wanted to have serious negotiations, he could indicate it directly. i think this is an attempt to fiddle with american congressional sentiment. because there is the question of what do we do now? do we continue supplying ukraine? do we look for some sort of negotiation? putin is trying to throw a spanner into the works. what do you think the us and its allies should encourage kyiv to do? well, i think if the aid package comes through, they should encourage kyiv to fight on. there is absolutely no lack of morale in ukraine. i have been to ukraine four times during the war and i repeatedly asked people, have things gotten so bad that it is time to cut a deal with vladimir putin? i have yet to meet a single person, whether civilian or soldier, who has said to me, yes, it is time, the suffering has gotten too bad. morale is not a problem. the problem is supplies and weaponry. thank you forjoining us tonight. you are welcome. thank you. vladamir putin's most vocal

opponent, alexei navalny, is telling supporters not to worry about him. in a new message on social media, navalny — who had not been seen or heard from since december 6 until this week — confirmed his arrival to an arctic prison. his team had no contact with him while he was moved from a jail east of moscow. navalny has been imprisoned since 2021 and faces a 19—year jail term forfounding and funding an extremist organisation — accusations he rejects as politically motivated. the us calls his detention unjust. his spokeswoman said russian authorities were intent on isolating him and "trying to make his life as unbearable as possible" — and despite navalny�*s message — his chief of staff told the bbc that concern for the kremlin critic remains high. we are worried. we don't forget for a second that he is in the custody of the very people who tried to kill him 3.5 years ago and that he is putin's very personal political prisoner.

and this journey, this forced journey, is yet another proof. so, of course, we are worried. and the only protection, if any, that still exists for alexei navalny is the spotlight of publicity. putin has to be reminded that the world cares about navalny and that he can't just hide him or kill him or whatever. this is very important for us. meanwhile, india's foreign minister subrahmanyam jaishankar is in russia for a five—day visit. on tuesday, mrjaishankar met with russian trade minister denis manturov and signed a nuclear power agreement on future power units at the kudankulam nuclear power plant — india's largest nuclear power station. mrjaishankar called the meeting "comprehensive and productive" on x, formerly known as twitter. he went on to say there was "significant progress in trade, finance, connectivity, energy and nuclear domains." he's set to meet with his russian counterpart sergey lavrov on wednesday. for more on the visit,

i spoke to michael kugelman, deputy director of the asia programme at the woodrow wilson centre. we have seen the indian foreign minister arrive in russia for a five—day visit and upon arriving he tweeted "geopolitics and strategic convergence will always keep "india—russia ties on a positive trajectory." what do you think of the timing of this trip and why it is happening now? the india—russia relationship is a very important one for both countries. typically the top leaders of each country will meet every year and yet it is quite striking that there has not been a meeting between narendra modi and vladimir putin yet this year and that has caused some to be a bit concerned about whether that is something significant. i do not think it is. i think the relationship isjust fine. but perhaps one reason among many why you have jaishankar going to russia now, right at the end of the year, is really to signal to

the world that even if you're not going to have a meeting between narendra modi and vladimir putin, the relationship is still in a very good place, as reflected by india's senior—most diplomat travelling to russia for a five—day visit. mrjaishankar will also be meeting with his counterpart, sergei lavrov. do you expect any concrete agreements to come out of this? thisi s a relationship that has a lot of different areas of partnership. there are significant levels of commercial cooperation, defence cooperation, the two countries co—operate in areas including space. i do think that one of the major focus areas of this trip will be on a trade, on commercial cooperation. we have seen india's trade with russia increased significantly since the russian invasion of ukraine but one of the challenges has been how they continue to trade without india violating the us sanctions on russia. one of the main areas of focus on the

trip will be working out some type of arrangements to make sure the two sides can continue to co—operate commercially and do a lot of trade without india having to worry about violating us sanction ratios. there is also good they will have new deals around energy. that has been a major area for cooperation and we know india has long imported cheap oil from russia but these are two partners who have also cooperated in the area of nuclear energy as well. again, this is of substantive significant relationship where you just do not have senior leaders meeting to chat and talk about how things are going. they mean business and they will want to come up with some substantive deals. ido i do expect some notable deals to come out of it. you talked about how the relationship is important to both countries. at the same time, india has a close relationship with the us and the biden administration and has refused to condemn russia's war on ukraine because of its ties with russia. how is india

balancing conflicting interests ? this is one of the success stories of india's foreign policy, notjust in terms of the narendra modi government but for many years india has managed its relations with countries that are rivals with each other we have seen for instance india manage relations with the americans and the russians as well as countries like saudi arabia and iran as well as with the israelis and palestinians and this is a strategic autonomy where it does not form alliances but wants to be able to have the flexibility to partner with whatever country it wants to and whatever serves its interest best. the way which india has sought to square the circle with the united states, it has been indeed unwilling to condemn the russian invasion of ukraine, which is important for its

relationship with russia, but at the same time, we have had consistent messaging from senior leaders that makes it clear that india does not support the russian invasion of ukraine. narendra modi said publicly and directly to vladimir putin this is not an era of war. they have talked about the need for diplomacy and dialogue to end this war. meanwhile, india pushes closer to the us as well. it is importing more arms and easing off even if modestly of its arms impulse from russia. it has managed both relations successfully. given india's ties to both, do you think india could play a mediating role in achieving some sort of ceasefire in the war on ukraine? there are a small number of countries that would have the capacity to play the role of mediator because india is close

to russia and let's not forget they have a good relationship with ukraine as well. i would argue that unless india were directly asked to play the role of mediator it would not want to do that. it will not be asked to do that, certainly not by russia and not by ukraine either. india does not like when other countries try to to mediate in its own issues including the issue of kashmir so that could give india reason to pause. though the messaging from indian officials has been that they would like to be helpful. if possible in any way to move diplomacy and dialogue to a point where you could talk about resolving the war. but it is not realistic to think india would play that role of mediator. great to have your perspective tonight, thank you so much. thanks for having me. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. post—christmas sales were in full swing on boxing day, but researchers

expected shoppers to spend less than they did last year. major retailers like m&s, next, and john lewis remained closed on tuesday. early indications show that while shoppers did spend more leading up to christmas than they did last year — trading was far from spectacular. analysts say the rise in prices over the past year means shoppers are more likely to be cautious in the sales. there will be a temptation for people to buy post—christmas but unfortunately we just have less money to spend. the cost—of—living crisis had a big impact on how much we spent over the christmas period and could do for the sales as well. research from vouchercodes suggests consumers will spend £14 billion in shops and online between christmas and the new year, which is down 3.8% from 2022. this could also be attributed to pre—christmas events including black friday. however, experts say boxing day sales still matter and this week could lead retailers into a difficult winter or set them up for a prosperous new year.

you're live with bbc news. us secretary of state antony blinken and national security adviserjake sullivan met with israeli minister of strategic affairs ron dermer for more than three hours on tuesday. the top diplomats discussed the transition to a different phase of the war to focus on high—value hamas targets, efforts to bring home hostages, practical steps to improve the humanitarian situation and minimize harm to civilians, and future governance and security in the territory. meanwhile israel's military chief warned that the war in gaza will not end anytime soon. in a news conference, army chief herzi halevi said the war will last �*many more months until it has reached the top leaders of hamas. the un human rights office said it was gravely concerned by the continued bombardment of the territory by the israeli military. the hamas—run health ministry in the gaza strip says more than 20,000 palestinians have now been killed since the war began in early october. it said 241 people had died in the last 2a hours alone.

and since the war began following the october 7 attacks by hamas on israel. the un reports that about 1.9 million people have been displaced by israeli bombardments. in the region, the us defence department says it shot down 12 drones and five missiles fired by iranian—backed houthi rebels in yemen over the southern red sea tuesday. us central command said in a statement there was no damage to shipping and no reported injuries. it comes as the situation in israel and gaza continues to deteriorate. shaimaa khalil is in jerusalem with the latest. "0ur things are gone, mum," she says, standing in what used to be her home. israel's bombing of rafah in southern gaza has continued, leaving those who fled there at a loss of where to go. translation: israel claimed j that there are safe residential areas or secure zones. but this attack shows that that's a lie. israel's military operation has intensified in khan younis, also in the south.

little amal was home with her family. the bomb hit them and killed her uncle. "we were sleeping, then i heard a big bang," she said. "rocks fell on us. "all our windows were shattered." amal�*s baby sister is three days old. baby mariam is bearing the brunt of the conflict she was born into. "the war in gaza will last for months," said the head of the israeli military, herzi halevi, vowing to reach the hamas leadership. translation: there are no magic solutions. - there are no shortcuts in dismantling a terrorist organisation, only determined and persistent fighting. and we are very, very determined. but this stance has only deepened the frustration among the hostage families. in tel aviv, many have gathered once again saying they want their relatives

out of gaza, alive. 0fir wienberg's cousin is still in captivity. this fight could take too long, and they need to look at other options, other leverages. it could go on and on. and the military pressure will continue. but we see they don't have any results. the fallout from the war has already been felt outside its borders. hezbollah operatives were targeted by the us in iraq. the pentagon said that the us forces carried out strikes against what it called iran sponsored militias in response to an attack on the erbil airbase. as the military operation deepens, other fronts grow more tense, in already volatile areas of the region. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, tel aviv. the united nations appointed sigrid kaag, outgoing finance minister of the netherlands, as senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for gaza. the us state department welcomed the appointment, releasing a statement saying:

spokesman matthew miller also said in the statement: meanwhile, palestinian president mahmoud abbas gave his first interview since the war began in gaza. he's called for a full ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. translation: what's happening in the palestinian territories - is far beyond a disaster and far more than a genocide. the palestinians have never seen anything like this. even during the nakba catastrophe in 19118, what's happening today is far worse. a huge crime is being committed against the palestinians over the past 79 days, not just in gaza but also

in the west bank and jerusalem. unfortunately, whenever the international community, the un security council and general assembly try to stop the war, the us disrupts these attempts by using its veto and refusing to bring fighting to a halt. it's notjust martyrs and people wounded in gaza, everything has been wiped out — houses, mosques, institutions, schools, everything. you can't recognise gaza any more. let's turn to some other important news around the world. south korea's emergency office says the 0scar—winning actor, lee sun—kyun, has died. lee was best known for playing the family father in the thriller movie, parasite. south korean media reports lee had recently been questioned by police for drug use.lee's family reported him

missing on wednesday. he was found dead in a park in central seoul. the united states encountered more than 240,000 migrants at its southern border last month. the most ever in the month of november. that comes as secretary of state antony blinken prepares to travel to mexico wednesday to meet president andres manuel lopez 0brador. they will discuss the surge in migration. mostly from central and south america. argentina's new president, javier milei, signed a decree cancelling the contracts of seven thousand public sector workers. milei has also indicated that 45,000 other government workers on long—term contracts may be dismissed. the measures are part of milei's efforts to bring down rampant inflation in argentina. his agenda is centred on cutting government spending, pegging the local currency to the us dollar and deregulating the economy. sweden is one step closer to joining the nato alliance. the turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee greenlit their bid monday and sent the proposal to the full parliament. the nordic country sought to join nato after russia invaded ukraine last year. turkey originaly stood in the way,

but injuly, turkish president recep erdogan gave his approval of sweden's bid for nato and shook hands with prime minister ulf kristersson at the nato summit. two major issues have delayed their support. president erdogan insisted on a deal with the united states to purchase dozens of f—16fighterjets linking sweden's nato bid to its approval. us presidentjoe biden has expressed support for it but the us congress remains opposed. turkey has also accused sweden of being too lenient toward groups it sees as a threat, including members of the kurdistan workers' party, a group turkey and the us deem a terror organisation. in an appeal for membership, sweden and nato have made security concessions. on monday, a top member of the turkish parliament said he is satisfied with what he's heard from the swedish ambassador. hungary is the last country to hold out on sweden's bid. though officials there have indicated they will follow turkey's decision. the celebrated australian chef bill granger has died at the age of 54. 0ver his 30—year career, granger published 14 cookbooks, made multiple cooking shows,

and opened more than a dozen restau ra nts. he was known as the godfather of avocado toast for pioneering the popular dish. his family said he died in a london hospital on christmas day. thanks for watching. i'm sumi somaskanda in washington. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. for most of us, boxing day turned into a pretty decent day. we had some spells of sunshine. certainly, it was a fine day to get out and about. the same does not apply to the day ahead. wednesday's weather dominated by storm gerrit, bringing a combination of rain, snow and gales with a very real risk of disruption. this is our storm system, this vast shield of cloud on the earlier satellite picture just enveloping the uk. outbreaks of very heavy rain driving northwards and eastwards, some really strong winds.

notice all the isobars on this chart. and with the wet weather running into cold air, briefly a bit of snow mixing in over higher ground in northern england, southern scotland, but in the highlands, we could well see 15cm of snow or more accumulating over the highest ground — blizzard conditions when we combine that snow with the very, very strong winds. in fact, it is going to be a windy day for just about all of us. some very heavy rain affecting parts of england and wales — 90mm possible for hills of wales, northwest england. lots of hefty downpours too in northern ireland. a windy day for all of us, gales in places. we could see gusts of 70 to possibly 80mph developing in the northeast of scotland. temperatures north to south, 5 to 13 degrees. and then through wednesday night, well, actually, if anything, the winds will strengthen further around parts of wales, southwest england. also extremely windy weather across the northern isles. we'll see snow and blizzard conditions for some in shetland. lots of showers elsewhere,

blowing through on those very strong winds. as a result of the strength of the wind, it's not going to be a particularly cold night. and then into thursday, it stays blustery, the winds only slowly easing. i think we'll continue to see gales in places, particularly around some western coasts. lots of showers, some of which could be heavy, possibly thundery. wintry showers over high ground in the northern half of scotland especially. and those temperatures, 6 degrees there in aberdeen, perhaps 13 as the high in london. and then as we head towards the end of the week, we will see further weather systems working from west to east, further outbreaks of rain. this one at the start of the weekend could be particularly potent. and with cold air being pulled down from the north, expect something wintry to mix in from time to time, so it's a really unsettled outlook as we head through the rest of 2023.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk from washington. i'm stephen sackur. this is a city of power and politics, but also of secrets and spies. in the cold war, the us built the best resourced intelligence

agency in the world just down the road at langley. now, the cia has had a chequered history — involved notjust in spying, but assassination attempts and coup plots as well. but now intelligence seems to have entered a different realm of cyber hacking, big data and electronic surveillance. my guest isjonna mendez. at the end of the cold war, she was the cia's chief of disguise. is human intelligence still a vital asset? jonna mendez, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. pleasure. well, it's great to have you here. what do you think are the qualities you possess that made you a good spy?