alexei navalny�*s death, president vladimir putin is celebrating a victory on the battlefield in ukraine. he congratulated his troops for capturing the eastern town of avdiivka. russia's defense ministry says it has taken full control after ukraine withdrew its troops. the fall of avdiivka is russia's biggest win in ukraine for months. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky blames diminishing supplies of western weapons. after us presidentjoe biden spoke with mr zelensky saturday morning, the white house said ukrainian soldiers had to ration ammunition due to dwindling supplies as a result of congressional inaction. our correspondent andrew harding is in the donbas region, not far from avdiivka. ukrainian troops film themselves as they withdraw from avdiivka. exhausted after the longest and perhaps the bloodiest battle of the war so far.

russian shells still landing close by. in the town centre, a russian flag is raised, and another on a rooftop in one of the town's industrial areas. the kremlin is already crowing, releasing footage of russian fighterjets in action. air power has played a big role in this victory. on the ground, ukrainian forces have also been struggling with acute shortages of men and, in particular, of ammunition. so these are the last two shells that you have? yes, this artillery officer told us a week ago, blaming western nations for halting supplies. the result — ukrainian infantry fighting to hold on to avdiivka have been heavily outgunned by as much as 10:1,

and so eventually ukraine ordered a withdrawal, at times well organised, but not always. here, a ukrainian armoured vehicle is hit by a drone. overall, though, it's russia that has suffered by far the heaviest losses here. translation: russia has| suffered 47,000 casualties in avdiivka since last october. those are huge losses. in such circumstances, we consider this a successful operation. outside avdiivka, ukrainian soldiers are already reinforcing new defensive lines and playing down the significance of today's retreat. on its own, the fall of this one small town won't change the course of the war. but again, russia has shown its sheer determination, its massive firepower and its willingness to sustain very heavy casualties. and none of that is

good news for ukraine. no wonder towns nearby are nervous. every day i think about the future. not only this town, but every town. pokrovsk, heivka, kostyantynivka, dnipro, kyiv.. that they may be next? yes. for now, in avdiivka, the russians are once more lords of the rubble. so if you look at the big picture, i think it's clear that both the russians and the ukrainians now realise this is going to be a very long war — no possibility of a quick breakthrough. you may remember, last year, ukraine launched the big counteroffensive with a lot of western weaponry and tanks and so on. it failed and it took back almost no territory, largely because the russians have put so many minefields

in their path. then there was a stagnant period for the last month or two, and now the russians are having essentially their turn at trying to break through ukrainian lines. they're not making huge progress but they are trying now, notjust in avdiivka but other places north of here, to break through. the ukrainians have made it clear that they are going to dig in and try to make sure the russians suffer huge losses in the coming months, and then ukrainian hope is they will get more western weapons, including long—range missiles and including perhaps fighter jets, and then they, at some point maybe later this year or even next year, will have another go at trying to reclaim all the territory that is still under russian control. alexei navalny�*s team says russian authorities are hiding his body after the russian opposition leader died at an arctic penal colony. an ally of mr navalny says prison officials told navalny�*s mother that her son died of "sudden death syndrome." navalny�*s team believes that he was murdered on the orders of president vladimir putin, an accusation the kremlin denies.

us politicians are among those responding strongly to the news of mr navalny�*s death. presidentjoe biden said while he did not know what happened, navalny�*s death was the consequence of something that putin and his thugs did. former president barack obama praised navalny and said he died unbroken by the tyranny he opposed. notably silent, however, is former president donald trump. since friday morning mr trump, who is under scrutiny for his stance toward putin, has posted more than 90 times on his social media page. none of them have mentioned alexei navalny�*s death. trump's only opponent in the race for the us republican presidential nomination, nikki haley, blasted mr trump for his silence. she says, "we cannot have a president who sides with murderous thugs who want to destroy america." president putin has not mentioned mr navalny�*s name since his death, despite public appearances on back—to—back days. the bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg reports on russians who have paid public tribute to alexei navalny, while others continue to express their indifference

to putin's regime. in moscow, they continue to bring flowers and pay respects to alexei navalny, the kremlin�*s most vocal critic, who has died in prison. "move along, you can't stay here," the policeman says. "we have the right to be here," she shouts. "we want to, and we will stand here." someone adds, "this street isn't yours, it belongs to everyone." but the riot police don't seem to think so. there are cries of "disgrace, shame," as police start to clear the area, and then the arrests. across russia, hundreds of people have been detained at events commemorating the late opposition leader. these are the last known images of alexei navalny, from two days ago. the russian authorities claim he died the next day after falling unconscious.

today, mr navalny�*s mother arrived at the remote penal colony where he died, beyond the arctic circle. she was told her son's body had been taken to a local morgue, but... the body of alexei isn't there. so alexei's prison just lied to his lawyer and his mother that the body is there. so we don't have any clue where he is now and what is happening to him, and when it will be given to the family. we do know one thing — the russian authorities are saying very little about what happened. the death of alexei navalny is a huge story outside russia, but here, it is being kept out of the headlines. it is barely mentioned by the state media, as if the kremlin is hoping out of sight, out of mind. not everyone is out laying flowers, but everyone we spoke

to had heard about mr navalny�*s death, though there was a mixed reaction. "it's very sad," anton says. "and it's bad that there are political prisoners." but this lady tells me she is not interested. she doesn't care about politics. such indifference suits the authorities. to his supporters, alexei navalny will always be a symbol that change is possible, but the kremlin will be hoping that most russians won't care enough to make him a martyr. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. for more on the fallout from the death of alexei navalny, i spoke with samuel greene, professor of russian politics at kings college london. professor, thank you very much for being with us. i'd like to begin, if i may, with the latest news that we're hearing, namely russian authorities

saying that the family of alexei navalny will not be able to receive his body until the postmortem has been completed. there seems to be some confusion with regards to that. what do you make of what appears to be happening there? well, the kremlin is hiding behind, ithink, some legalistic issues. obviously they have announced an investigation, which i think is going to be hard to believe it will be credible. but what they're really doing is trying to give themselves some time to get on top of the narrative and control the story, and make sure that information about the cause of death and the manner of his death do not make it into the public domain until they have decided exactly how they want the public to talk about this. you know, the message from alexei navalny had been to his supporters, in his own words, never give up. he said, even if he were to be killed, never to give up. you know, what did you think about the future of dissent

in russia right now, when you take a look at some of the scenes we have been seeing? we've been hearing reports of hundreds of mourners being arrested for going out paying tribute, laying flowers, for example. where do you think that leaves the possibility for dissent in russia? well, look, navalny was an optimist, and criticised for being an optimist. but it is hard to look at the situation and feel optimistic. the infrastructure that he built and the movement that he built and that the movement had arisen in the early days of the war in 2022, to come out into the streets and to protest that war, has been decimated. many people critical are currently injail and many more in exile. the government has tried to make people feel afraid, and i think it has succeeded in that, but also it has made

them feel isolated. it has tried to make sure people do not see a community around them that isn't strong enough, numerous enough to really change russia and the way that they would like to. and i think we have to admit for the time being that looks like it has been effective. we should be prepared, at least theoretically, for the possibility that unexpected things can happen. but given what we've seen in recent hours and recent days, given the relatively small numbers of people who have come out, very brave those who have come out, but given the small numbers, it is hard to see this galvanising the kind of movement that would actually lead to a democratic opening in russia. if you take a look at the response from the international community we have been hearing from the likes of david cameron, the british foreign minister. he's been saying that there needs to be an investigation, there needs to be accountability. what do you think that

could look like in terms of international response? honestly, i think it will be very difficult. there will be no opportunity for international investigators, impartial investigators, to participate in this process, at least until very late in the day. we may never know the full truth, and the list of crimes for which putin and other members of his regime need to be held accountable is now very, very long, and ukraine itself stands at the top of that list. but i think there are other things that western governments may want to pay attention to. navalny was not the only political prisoner. there are these other 500 political prisoners in custody in russia. navalny may not be the last to his life will be threatened. and there is work to be done to protect those who still can be protected. there is work to be done to provide asylum and safety for those who need to get out

of russia and for me and out of russia for their freedom, and there's work to be done in ukraine. navalny himself was quite clear that he did not see a route to democratisation in russia and to the end of the putin system of power unless that system of power was defeated on the battlefield in ukraine. so, while there may not be much to be done to help navalny himself at this point, obviously, and to seekjustice for his murder, there are other avenues ofjustice—seeking that are available to london, to washington and to others. and today, as the world gets to grips with the idea of navalny�*s passing, you know, there are inevitably these questions. why did he go back when he was fully cognisant of the risks? why do you think he went back, and ultimately, what do you think he wanted to achieve, and did he?

navalny was a politician. navalny believed, in order to create change someone had to put themselves at the top of the ticket and lead the charge to push putin out of power and become the next president of russia. he made the calculation that that was not something he could do from exile — that the longer he stayed in exile, as he was being treated for poisoning in germany, the longer he stayed in exile, the less credibility he would have and traction he would have, that the fight is in russia itself, and if that meant you would potentially have to spend the rest of his life in prison it was a price worth paying because it was the only way to move in the direction he wanted, and the direction he believes russia needed to go in. he certainly succeeded in showing what it takes, but it's hard to say this has been a success in terms of russia's democratic future. we'll see what kind of symbol he becomes. and i'm certain

that his death, his martyrdom, frankly, the way it's being talked about in the russian opposition, democratic and anti—war communities, it not go unremembered. but it will probably be quite some time before it is able to galvanise something that can bring genuine change to russia. sam greene, professor of russian politics at kings college london, thank you for being with us. thank you. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has vowed to carry on the war against hamas in gaza, regardless of international pressure. in a televised speech on saturday, he said nothing would stop israel achieving its goals, which includes destroying hamas in rafah, where more than a million displaced palestinians are sheltering. netanyahu said not entering gaza's southernmost city would mean losing the war. translation: we are now fighting in khan younis, . the capital of terrorism, and in recent days we've reached places the enemy could never have imagined us reaching. we have demolished most hamas battalians, and we will not stop

until we destroy all of them. this is a necessary condition in order to achieve absolute victory. meanwhile, thousands of protesters rallied against prime minister netanyahu's government on saturday, calling for an immediate election. demonstrators gathered outside the military headquarters in tel aviv also urged his government do more to free the remaining hamas hostages in gaza. israel says it has taken dozens of people into custody at one of gaza's main hospitals after troops raided the facility. according to the hamas—run health ministry, at least 120 patients and five medical teams are stuck without water, food and electricity in the nasser hospital in gaza's southern city of khan yunis. the israeli military says it has credible intelligence that hostages seized by hamas, which is considered by the uk and us to be a terror organisation, were held at the hospital. the united nations and world health organization have both criticised the operation. last week people in the north of gaza told the bbc that children were going without food for days and some people

were eating animal feed ground with flour. the un has warned acute malnutrition among young children there has risen sharply. it says that 300,000 people estimated to be living in northern areas are facing a growing risk of famine. israeli officials have said that there was "no starvation in gaza" and that israel does not limit humanitarian aid. a little earlier, i spoke with dr seemajilani, a paediatrician and a senior technical adviser with the international rescue committee, where she leads their emergency health responses globally. she has been working in gaza. we were just talking about the fact that you've recently returned from gaza, where you had been working at the al—aqsa hospital. tell us what you encountered. i worked at one of the remaining lifeline critical hospitals in central gaza, al—aqsa hospital, and within my two weeks there i saw that hospital go from a semi—functional hospital

to one being evacuated forcibly due to looming israeli leaflets which were dropped in the red zones and surrounding areas. there were minimal supplies. there was no death with dignity, and by the end of my time there, there was no morphine available for patients, which is quite franklyjust a cruel, cruel situation. in particular as a paediatrician, in a war zone, i never expected to be that useful. i want to pick up on that, talking about the fact that you have worked and served in war zones for many years, and you come in this capacity to gaza as a paediatrician, obviously primarily focused with children. what do you think that tells us about this current conflict? i have not borne witness to this scale, magnitude and severity of injuries in children in my prior areas of work, afghanistan, iraq, egypt, lebanon and elsewhere. it is staggering to

see that in children. at one point in our resuscitation room, there were four out of five of our patients who were under the age of 15. wow. and you mentioned, as well, no death with dignity. tell us more about that. that must have been very difficult. there were no beds available, no structures available. we were treating patients on the ground because the assumption is a hospital is a safe haven where people would be able to feel safe, so it also became where patients and non—patients and families would stake out claims in the hospital with a blanket, and that would become their bedrooms, kitchens, coffee room and people were living in the hospital. assuming it would be safe, and of course that assumption was wrong. talking about the idea of a safe haven, it is notjust an idea, it should be the case under international humanitarian law under the geneva convention and so on.

we've been hearing today from benjamin netanyahu saying that israel has intelligence with regards to hamas holding hostages at nasser hospital. during your time there, did you encounter hamas in a hospital setting? i did not bear witness to any harm in a hospital setting, no. and benjamin netanyahu also say today that if there is a ability to carry out the operation in rafah, he does not believe that hamas can be defeated. when you hear that, and knowing so many palestinians are now sheltering in the south and have moved down there, what are your concerns for the humanitarian situation? it is an absolute dire and catastrophic, cataclysmic situation, with people essentially living on top of one another, having been forcibly displaced elsewhere without appropriate water services, without dignity services, without bathrooms, women giving birth in horrific conditions. i wouldn't wish it

upon my worst enemy, and to think about an onslaught or offensive happening there, it is a nightmare. with your colleagues who have worked with palestinians who have stayed behind, off the clock, when they have not been doctors or nurses, and some have decided to stay to get that medical care, what kind of conditions that were they facing when they went home, for example, if they could or where they went to shelter? many of them had been forcibly displaced themselves, not once or twice but four or five times over. they are dedicated in showing a colossal amount of bravery. sometimes at night they will declare their own colleagues orfamily members dead, and then they'll show up with a stethoscope in hand to see patients within hours, the next day. it is incredible. i just want to ask, personally, as someone, a medical professional, a doctor, he said you can give someone morphine for example, you can provide comfort. clearly, you're not able to do that in a typical way

when we're faced with shortages. personally, how does that affect you? i draw any strength i have by watching the people of palestine and the doctors and the nurses and the health care staff of gaza, who do not have the privilege i have to exit and i watch them work and that is how i managed the situation. being able to comfort another while her knees are buckling and i tell her her child is no longer alive — to me, being able to comfort her in that moment is the greatest comfort in honour of my life. thank you so much for talking about this with us today. thank you so much, doctor. let's turn to some important news around the world: thousands of people took to the streets of senegal�*s capital, dakar, demanding presidential elections take place soon. the protests follow the country's top court blocking president macky sall's attempt to postpone the election, originally scheduled for this month.

the controversial decree, which was backed by parliament, triggered a political crisis in senegal, once regarded as a bastion of democracy in west africa. african union heads of state are in the ethiopian capital, addis ababa, for the first day of a two—day summit. au chair moussa faki mahamat called on leaders to tackle conflicts on the continent and condemned a series of coups in some african countries as unconstitutional. the war in sudan and instability in somalia as well as the democratic republic of congo are also at the top of the african bloc�*s agenda. japan has successfully launched its new flagship rocket into orbit, raising hopes it can compete against others in the commercial satellite launching business. the japanese space agency says the h3 has significantly lower costs than its predecessor and can carry bigger payloads. the flight comes after years of delays and two aborted attempts. let's turn now to the race for the white house, because after a landmark fraud case ordering donald trump to pay more than $350 million

in fines, the former president is back on the campaign trail. you can see him here in michigan addressing supporters in the run—up to the state's presidential primary election on 27 february. nikki haley, his last political rival for the republican nomination, has used the ruling in new york to attack the republican frontrunner. you can't win an election if you're spending more time in court then you are on the campaign trail. you just can't do it. but then also, let's look at what are the american people saying, because that's what i care about. 70% of americans say they don't want trump and biden to be their only choices. well, before his campaign event in michigan, donald trump was in philadelphia to unveil a new line of trump—branded sneakers. the gold sneakers are available for just three days and are selling for about m00. mr trump says he thinks the shoes will be a big

success. president biden�*s communications director has come out against trump's new line, saying the shoes are "the closest he'll get to any air force ones ever again for the rest of his life." stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. saturday was a very cloudy day, but it was also very mild, thanks to south—westerly winds bringing double—digit temperatures across the whole of the uk. now, we did see some rain move into western areas through the afternoon, and that rain was associated with this cloud, this weather front moving across the uk. now, we do have a bump in the weatherfront, which means that the rain is going to get heavier over the next few hours as it pushes across the whole of wales and most of england as well. for northern england, northern ireland and scotland, there'll be some clear spells and a few showers over the next few hours. these are the kind of temperatures we'll have

to start the day on sunday, so it is going to be a mild start to the day, but very wet, particularly across england, with rain extensively. the rain quickly moving away from wales through the morning but really dragging its heels, i think, across east anglia and south—east england, with the rain even hanging around into the early stages of the afternoon. further northwards, though, there'll be some sunshine, a few showers dotted around, but mostly a dry weather picture. eventually we should see some brighter spells getting into east anglia and the south—east, albeit very late in the day. top temperatures, 15 degrees — very, very mild for february. now, we start the new working week on monday with another weather front moving eastwards. this one is going to be quite weak, just a few patches of rain crossing england. a ridge then moves in behind that. so sunny spells, just a few isolated showers coming into western scotland, but a lot of dry weather and a fair amount of sunshine to come through. on monday, top temperatures range from around 10—13 degrees celsius, which is still very mild for february. middle part of the week, it then turns wet and windy, with several weather fronts moving from west to east across the uk.

now, on tuesday, this weather front starts off with some quite heavy rain for scotland and northern ireland. as the front moves its way southwards and eastwards, it weakens, so the rain won't amount to too much as it works in across england and wales. it'll be quite a windy kind of day. temperatures still mild thanks to those south—westerly winds. a windier day overall to come on wednesday, the rain much heavier as well. could see some localised surface water flooding issues. perhaps turning a bit brighter for northern ireland and western scotland late in the day. temperatures 12 or 13 degrees, so still very mild. however, it's going to get colder towards the end of the week as we start to see the winds coming in more from a west—north—westerly direction, and that will bring a return of some hill snow.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines - and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. in pakistan, journalists say they are being assaulted... they started hitting my elbows, i've never had such pain in my life. abducted... what do you know about the people that took you? everyone knows

everything in pakistan. and killed, just for doing theirjob. i think they have stopped him and then they shoot him. sharif met his death on sunday night. press freedom campaigners say 140 journalists were threatened or attacked with some claiming that democracy itself is under fire. i am mobeen azhar, and i have been hearing from those who say they have been attacked in an effort to silence them. in may 2023, imran riaz, one of pakistan's most well—known journalists, with millions of