with the full—scale war in ukraine now in its third year, the country is struggling to sustain its fight. american weapon supplies are stalled, as is the flow of something just as important — that of new soldiers to the front. we cannot win with harmed and tired and exhausted soldiers. plans to call up hundreds of thousands have been held up for months because of political wrangling in kyiv. we are all human beings. we get tired. but do we lay our hands down? no, we don't. but can they mobilise and train sufficient troops to get through the coming months? ukraine's struggle takes a daily toll.

kataryna saw her husband off to war. he'd been called up. and afterjust two months at the front, he was killed by a russian shell. his family and friends remember the brightest of spirits.

bugel plays last post this family's tragedy speaks to the nation's. faced with an invader who will not stop, they had no choice but to keep paying this price, even as many ukrainians flee the country or bribe people to avoid its search for more soldiers to replenish the ranks. that's about fear, that's about death, that's about funerals and that's actually about the trust to the state — and to the president, by the way. i think sometimes, we are trying to avoid these questions and that's why this issue started to be very sensitive.

the long war amplifies the challenges. lilia kudar travelled to the capital to commemorate her son sergei. he was killed early on in the war. she wants victory, but she also wants all this to stop.

lilia's flag joined those in kyiv�*s maidan remembering tens of thousands lost in this war. ukraine's army must replace them, and so many who are no longer physically or mentally able to go on. but the nation has grown wearily familiar with death and russian attacks. this story of loss — continuing loss — and constant threat from russia has now produced a very sensitive national debate, which is the question about a new mobilisation, the army's need for hundreds of thousands of new troops, and the questions that poses for who is still willing to fight for ukraine. the first thorny issue is demobilisation. recent protests, including here at maidan

by wives and mothers of soldiers, are demanding their return home. so far, the scale of this is small, but there have been protests in many ukrainian towns and there's public sympathy for those who sent their loved ones to war and currently have no idea when they'll come home. he has been serving for almost two years and, according to the current law, they have to keep fighting till the end of the war. but as we see, two years passed and the war is not going to the end at all, and we all understand that it will be a very long war. our soldiers who was fighting for two years, they deserve the time to — to be replaced by another one. and also, one of my goal also is to win in this game and we cannot win with harmed and tired and exhausted

soldiers. i hear many stories from the wives like me, from other guys, that so many wounds soldiers receive now because their concentration is not enough. they're not so fast any more as they were a year ago, maybe a year and a half. like, we need new guys join to the army. and it scares me because now, in our society, we see this tendency to escape the service in the army.

but if everyone escape the service, who will win in this — in this war? do some friends or relatives say to you don't speak about this because it could be bad for you or your family? i don't have very much people who support me because in our very close — ourfriends, they are not serving army and i understand them — like, maybe they don't want to be wounded, they don't want to stuck in the army for a very long time. i understand all of this. but just few of my friends, they support me. ourfamily, they also support me — actually, on our last protest, my mum and my husband's mum, our daughter, we alljoined the protest because, as i said, we ask for the replacement. then, there's the issue

of draft evasion. recent social media posts highlight angry public reactions to the army checking people's papers. this and the demobilisation issue are being amplified by russian bots. that hurts a lot because now, people are being more emotional and more angry about this and russian side definitely, definitely uses this for their benefit and i think that this pressure will gonna grow. while many brigades are still advertising for volunteers, the army will likely struggle to get the 500,000 new soldiers it's asked for. it's one of the issues that divided president zelensky and his top general, leading that general to stand down recently.

volunteering is down and the government is reluctant to call up so many ukrainians. you know, i have a son, he's 17 years old and he will turn 18 in a couple of months, in april. he's taking the military classes, shooting. and when we had lunch just two days — two days ago, we talked about it. and i understand that he and his mates in the university, they all realise that they may also have to go and fight because this is their country and this is the country that they feel they have to defend. so, in the end, generals always want numbers which impress people but the most important element is different — the most important element

is that as long as the people of ukraine believe that this country has to be defended, we will keep fighting. ukrainian media highlights cases like this — the arrest of 3a men trying to cross the border to romania illegally. they'd each paid smugglers 10,000 euros to get them out of the country. it's thought more than 700,000 men eligible to serve remain abroad — a further irritant to those who stayed back in the country. they see this injustice — how people crossing, trying to cross the border, how people trying to escape from ukraine, to leave ukraine, how people trying to just give the bribes to, you know, to avoid the service. and this part of the question, the state has to regulate. and i think we have to find the solution for all these things, but not only to stop demobilise

or to understand that 36 months is ok. this is kyiv�*s mohyla university. so far, people under 27 have not been conscripted. but that didn't stop them volunteering, and those who were killed are now commemorated in the corridors of the college. the new mobilisation law would lower the call—up age to 25, mandate military training for students and create sanctions for those dodging service. and the students we spoke to are just fine with that. my position is really strict. i wouldn't say that i hate those people because, you know, like, we don't hate people here. it's my attitude, my personal position, but they chose their own path and i would say that it's — indeed, it's illicit.

i guess there's possible legal consequences or punishment if someone avoids service but there's also, i would imagine, a social cost, isn't there? after the start of the full—scale invasion, the social consequences are much, much more serious because people treat this stuff, like, with less respect. because maybe five or ten years ago, you could avoid the army and because we are post—soviet country, it was ok because a little bit of corruption, a little bit of stuff like that, so it wasn't as frowned upon. but right now, because the trouble is literally knocking on your door and if you don't do something about it, you will meet the consequences, people are treating it as a much serious matter. in our university especially, we have a, like, a student organisation that gathers funds for the students and professors who are fighting and their relatives so, yeah,

i would say the atmosphere has changed but i wouldn't say that it has changed for the worse because after almost two years of the full—scale invasion, you, like, adapted to it. it's very difficult to find, like, common ground i in the communication - and to also maintain this type of communication because youl basically do not share the same emotions or you don't . have the same feelings. people who live right here, - who need to go through the mass missile attacks, who need to go through all this war, _ really horrible things, - we have common ground. we understand each other. it's like if you do not. even know each other, if you just met at the shelter, you still have this. _ you have something in common. you have something that unites you. - when people come abroad, it's, personally, for me - and for a small circle i of my friends, it's very difficult to maintain this kind of communication. | you don't have this emotional basis. i

this question of a new mobilisation law has its distinct aspects to do with who might serve, what the sanctions are for not serving but it also speaks to a far bigger story. and that's one of the reasons why president zelensky himself has called this a very sensitive topic, and the sensitivity is around who is still willing to fight for ukraine. artist david chichkan is one of those who still wants to serve. he previously failed his medical but is now fit enough to go, and has strong convictions about why it's the right thing to do.

one thing that's clear is that the ukrainian army is now seriously undermanned. back in the summer, we filmed with men being trained near the polish border.

some had justjoined, others were recovering from being wounded at the front. many were in their 40s and 50s, often unemployed and looking for the high wages that come with front—line service. but we were told younger men were hard to attract. now, with the ukrainian army suffering setbacks in avdiivka and other parts of the east, reports suggest that many units are suffering supply difficulties with ammunition and are under strength, sometimes down to one—third of what they should be, leading to slow but inexorable russian gains.

the last big issue is the way the draft is run. places like this, the military commission in boryspil, a suburb of kyiv, are a relic of the soviet era. the process of running the call—up is largely paper—based and the summons to military service is meant to be served in person.

so, this whole process is really steeped in officialdom — a kind of old—fashioned soviet officialdom. this draft office goes back to those times, and a lot of ukrainians are quite uncomfortable with that. it didn't matter in the days immediately after the february 2022 russian invasion, because there was a huge wave of national enthusiasm for signing up and volunteering. but now that that enthusiasm has ebbed a bit, the government has a real challenge on its hands in keeping the momentum of conscription and mobilisation going.

what's the most important thing, or couple of things, from your perspective that you would like to see? many of those we saw here were seeking exemption. 0lesandyr has been spared service so far because he has three kids, but worries about the new law changing that.

attempts to pass that new law have met with several delays. so, could ukraine be sure, i asked one of the mps working on it, of having enough troops forthe coming campaign? i would say no—one is confident, 0k? they got — they will get, actually, the instruments. but again, ukrainians are not russians and ukrainians need respect and being valued. then, in this case, they will act differently. i think this ruling or this part of law that it has to be teached by government, by office of president, by parliamentarians because — and one thing i want to underline, that it's not about not willingness to serve in the army or to be afraid.

yaroslava's husband has only had a few days' leave since the war started. his daughter margherita is growing up. when might the army release him? even if the new law goes through, yaroslava doesn't think it'll be any time soon. and actually, they stated that you need to serve 36 months without any interruptions and then, you will have a right to sign this application for release. and during the month, it will be like — your application will be processed during the month, but staff speaks ukrainian. the higher command? the higher — very higher command, including zelensky, they can prolong this

timelines, so they can say, "0h, we have very bad situation on the front line. "we can release you in a year only." having commemorated the second anniversary of this war, the government and mps have not yet agreed a new mobilisation law. there's been months of debate and thousands of amendments and even when it does pass, it could be months before implementation. i, as a member of parliament, will vote to support the state because i do not want these people and me and myself as being in reserve to serve in the army of the occupant. and it's not about the emotions, it's about very hard reality. russians still continue to plan the attack not only on the front line which we have, the more than 2,500km, but on the kharkiv direction

as well and on the northern direction and on the southern direction. that means, i don't know, tomorrow, in a week, in two week, kyiv can face the same — the same situation as it was two years ago. the political differences over that new law stem from a conviction that when it comes to fighting, ukrainians would rather be inspired than coerced. but after two years of war, that inspiration is not what it once was. of course, when the war lasts for two years, it would be extremely weird if the mood was still the same. we're all human beings. we get tired. but do we lay our hands down? no, we don't. and that's the difference. and that's the mistake that many make, because they think that being tired means giving up.

so, as ukraine fights on, it does so with many units undermanned and suffering from exhaustion. their courage is not in doubt. but when it comes to refilling the ranks, it's the politicians in kyiv who've been too timid. hello there. well, with british summertime just around the corner, thursday was a stark reminder ofjust how fickle british weather can be. yes, we had some snow, some of it settling for a time in northern ireland on thursday. it was a wild day, wet and windy for many as well. and in fact in wiltshire we had over a0 millimetres of rain in a 24—hour period.

now it's all due to low pressure that's anchored itself to the southwest and that low is still going to be with us during the day on friday. the showers, hopefully few and further between in comparison to thursday's weather. and we'll start off on a relatively quiet note for good friday with a few scattered showers around, but they'll become more widespread as we go through the day, drifting their way steadily north into the afternoon. so some of the showers could still be quite potent from time to time. the winds quite blustery, but with a little more sunshine, a little more warmth, 9—11; degrees celsius our overall high. move out of good friday into the start of the weekend and it looks likely that saturday and sunday will continue to be a little bit quieter. the low just shifts further away, the isobars open up, the winds will fall light. we'll need to keep an eye on this frontal system, which could bring some rain towards kent and perhaps suffolk, first thing on saturday morning and maybe a little more cloud. but generally, it will be a quieter day with more sunshine coming through,

showers more isolated. there will be some moving through scotland and maybe a longer spell of rain across the channel isles and down through south west england by the end of the afternoon. but temperatures in the sunshine, 15 degrees celsuis — a pleasant day for many on saturday. easter sunday continues with that quieter story, perhaps more frequent showers out to the west on sunday. but on the whole, there will be some drier weather from time to time with some sunshine and again, some warmth with temperatures around 13—15 degrees quite widely. so as we move into monday, though, easter monday, we could see a change to something a little bit more unsettled once again, with low pressure never too far away. and we will see some spells of wetter weather, particularly across central and southern england. so looking further ahead from monday onwards, that unsettled theme is set to continue. longer spells of rain never too far away. take care.

live from washington, this is bbc news.

there's reports of a deadly air strike in the syrian city of aleppo. we'll have the latest. sam bankman—fried, the 32—year—old once known as the crypto king, is sentenced to prison. the white house approves money to help the us state of maryland respond to the deadly collpase of a bridge in baltimore. hello. i'm caitriona perry. you've very welcome. let's start in the middle east, where the syrian defence ministry says israel carried out an air strike on the city of aleppo. reports say at least 36 people — including some hezbollah fighters — were killed. syrian officials say aleppo had also come under fire from drones launched by what it called "terrorist groups". a british—based monitoring group the syrian 0bservatory for human rights said the strikes targeted weapons stores near aleppo international airport. contacted by the afp news agency, the israeli military

said it would "not comment on reports in the foreign media".