hello, i'm carl nasman. welcome to a special programme on the war in ukraine. let's start here in washington — all eyes will be on capitol hill this weekend, as a foreign aid package for ukraine will finally make it onto the house floor. lawmakers are expected to vote saturday on that bill, along with several others, including humanitarian assistance for israel and taiwan. republican speaker of the house mikejohnson had blocked ukrainian aid for months, and while it still faces resistance from some members of his own party, the bill is expected to pass. let's take a look at what's in that aid package for kyiv total aid to ukraine amounts to an estimated $61 billion, with $23 billion, or about a third of that money, used to replenish us weapons and ammunition stockpiles. $13.4 billion will go directly to ukraine to purchase weapons from the us, $15.8 billion will be given in

security assistance. $9.5 billion in economic help, in the form of "forgivable loans" that the us president is authorised to set the terms of and is given the power to cancel. and a much smaller measure includes about $481 million that will be used to help ukrainians resettle into new neighbourhoods and pay for emergency housing. once the bill is finalised, it would take less than a week for some of the weapons to reach the battlefield. congress will be voting in the wake of more deadly attacks on ukrainian civilians. on friday, russian missiles struck a rail station and a maternity hospital in the central dnipro—petrovsk region. local officials say at least seven people were killed, including an eight—year—old child. president volodymyr zelensky told nato members on friday that ukraine needs more air defence systems to counter russian strikes. putin must be brought down

to earth, and our skies must become safe again. and it is real. and it depends fully on your choice. choice whether life is indeed equally valuable everywhere, choice whether you have equal attitude to all partners, choice whether we indeed are allies. ukraine's prime minister denis shmyhal was in washington dc this week, and told the bbc about the dire implications globally if the conflict continues to roll on. if ukraine will fall, so the global system of security will be destroyed, and all the world will need to find and will need to look for a new system of security. or there will be many conflicts, many such kind of wars and at the end of the day it will lead to the third world

war. democratic congressman jim himes is the ranking member on the us house permanent select committee on intelligence. he has supported sending aid to ukraine since russia invaded in 2022, and told the bbc how quickly he thinks the aid will reach the frontlines. the senate passed their equivalent bill two months ago and the two—month delay in the house as very literally been lethal for far too many ukrainians lethalforfar too many ukrainians and lethal for far too many ukrainians and has opened lethalforfar too many ukrainians and has opened up the ukrainians to attacks on our power plants, it has created immense misery in ukraine, for what? for two—month politically partisan driven debate that we will hopefully result tomorrow. the good news is, and i have spent a fair amount good news is, and i have spent a fairamount of good news is, and i have spent a fair amount of time with our defence department and other agencies, i think once this bill passes and is signed by the president, getting ammunition and aid into ukraine isa ammunition and aid into ukraine is a matter of days, not weeks or months. soa so a lot to talk about. live now to melinda haring, a senior advisor at razom for ukraine, a nonprofit human rights organisation supporting ukraine. i want to start off by talking

about house speaker mike johnson. he had delayed bringing this vote on ukraine aid up for several months. there was a bill sitting in the senate that did not come to the house floor. why do you think he's changed his stance now — even though it likely puts his job at risk? thanks for doing this really important report. i think mike johnson has seen the light. he is a person of deep religious conviction and i think that the moral arguments have swayed him. it is notjust the moral arguments, many people spoke with him about this decision, and he didn't know that there were a lot that russia was persecuting and torturing christians, and evangelical christians, and evangelical christians were able to see mike johnson christians were able to see mikejohnson this week, tell him their stories and pray with him. i think that emotional part did have a factor in it. i think he also received multiple very dire intelligence briefings and i think that also

scared him. but politics were involved as well, like you said this has been a long process, a two—month delay that could have been resolved much sooner, he has a very complicated legislative piece he had to satisfy maga republicans, he had to work with democrats to make that happen. this has not been easy, mikejohnson is new to this role as well so it is a miracle we are where we are, but we expect the ukraine aid bill to go through tomorrow. the vote is expected to happen on capitol hill tomorrow, we do think it will pass, we will have to wait and see what happens. i want to talk about the details within these foreign aid bills. some of this aid for ukraine could be in the form of loans, and there is also language that would seize russian assets to help finance the war. what do you make of some of these details? i what do you make of some of these details?— these details? i think there is much ado _ these details? i think there is much ado about _ these details? i think there is much ado about nothing - these details? i think there is much ado about nothing with | these details? i think there is i much ado about nothing with the loans. the loans are a very small part of the entire

package, i expect that aspect will be forgiven. there are some new things i like in the house bill. it demands that the white house send long—range rockets that ukraine has been begging and pleading for and these are so important because these are so important because the additional length allows ukraine to strike crimea and to hit in occupied ukraine, and hit in occupied ukraine, and hit ammunition and depots and get behind enemy lines. and they have not been able to do that because the white house has been cowardly. so the republicans will force the white house to send these long—range missiles. on repo, this is the bill that would seize russian state assets, it would allow that money to be used for russia's reconstruction and that is a great thing. it needs to happen and we have seen sentiment change on that as well. i was struck by something the mayor of kharkiv said recently.

that is ukraine's second biggest city, close to russia. he said "we need air defense support to prevent kharkiv "from being a second aleppo." how important are these air defence systems for ukraine? when i look at the package before congress, the two things i want to see in ukraine tonight are 155 millimetres shells and more air defence systems. and the pentagon did something very smart, it has been planning for this aid bill to pass and it has a lot of these weapons systems and ammunition ready to go and in europe. so as soon as congress passes this bill, biden will sign it immediately and the weapon systems can be sent. add defence is essential, we have seen dozens of people by in the last week, you said in dnipro and elsewhere, and these are innocent people, they don't need to die, and it is because congress has been unable to act that we are seeing unnecessary suffering. that we are seeing unnecessary sufferinu. �* , ., , that we are seeing unnecessary

sufferinu. �* , .,, , suffering. and this has been asked before, _ suffering. and this has been asked before, but _ suffering. and this has been asked before, but did - suffering. and this has been asked before, but did the i suffering. and this has been - asked before, but did the west, did the us make a mistake by not providing this weaponry, this assistance at the very beginning of this conflict and instead dragging it out and providing more of a trickle in terms of weaponry?- providing more of a trickle in terms of weaponry? that's an easy question. _ terms of weaponry? that's an easy question, absolutely - terms of weaponry? that's an | easy question, absolutely yes. we would be in a much different place, ukraine would be a much different place, american interests, european security would be in a far different place if we would have had the courage at the beginning of the war that we are showing now. president biden self deterred, he put many lives in impositions on what the us could do in places that were not necessary. he said he wouldn't send tanks, wouldn't send missiles, he has put these limitations in place and he ends up sending them. and he finally does the right thing, but it is far too late and the cost has been enormous. and the cost has been enormous. and the costis cost has been enormous. and the cost is human suffering and live loss in ukraine. melinda

harinu , live loss in ukraine. melinda haring. i— live loss in ukraine. melinda haring, i want _ live loss in ukraine. melinda haring, i want to _ live loss in ukraine. melinda haring, i want to come - live loss in ukraine. melinda haring, i want to come back| live loss in ukraine. melinda i haring, i want to come back to you in a little while. earlier, i spoke to igor novikov, a former advisor to president zelensky, based in kyiv, on what this crucial vote on saturday means for ukraine. we are expecting a vote in the house on a us aid bill for ukraine this weekend. from ukraine's perspective, what is at stake here? well the simple answer is everything. we are under attack from a country that is willing to take our land and kill us all pretty much. and we have seen proof of that in bucha and maria polk and elsewhere. we are fighting with our lives, fighting with our weapons, it is way more difficult and any

delay has a certain and tragic price and that is human lives. —— mariupol. price and that is human lives. -- mammal-— price and that is human lives. -- mariupol. the bbc has been s-ueakin -- mariupol. the bbc has been speaking with _ -- mariupol. the bbc has been speaking with ukraine's - -- mariupol. the bbc has been speaking with ukraine's prime l speaking with ukraine's prime minister, he told us ukraine needed this aid yesterday. can you help us understand what has been the real world impact of this month long delay in passing any kind of supplementary aid for ukraine? i would say the actual effect was twofold. for ukraine the cost was human lives, we have started running out of air defences and the soldiers on the front line had to actually ration the weapons that they use to protect their lives. obviously we have lost some territory and lost a lot of lives because of this delay, because of the bureaucracy. but there is also more to this than just ukraine. i think it will have far reaching global consequences because first of all ukraine was actually disarmed in the framework of the budapest memorandum in

1994, we had security guarantees from the uk, the us and russia. so we gave up one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world and just think what is going to do to the global nuclear non—proliferation, also if you check out the news coming from iran, north korea, yemen and elsewhere in the world, i think this delay, this achilles heel of the free world, this bureaucratic achilles heel has actually told the so—called axis of evil one thing, now is your chance, grab it. i axis of evil one thing, now is your chance, grab it.- your chance, grab it. i am curious. _ your chance, grab it. i am curious. we _ your chance, grab it. i am curious, we have - your chance, grab it. i am curious, we have heard i your chance, grab it. i am curious, we have heard a| your chance, grab it. i am i curious, we have heard a lot from some members of the republican party saying the us has already given billions of dollars to ukraine, it simply can't afford to give billions more, there are several groups of american citizens, of republican voters who would say the same thing. can you sympathise at all with the point of view? h0 sympathise at all with the point of view?— sympathise at all with the point of view? no i cannot, because — point of view? no i cannot, because i _ point of view? no i cannot, because i think _ point of view? no i cannot, because i think it _ point of view? no i cannot, because i think it is - point of view? no i cannot, because i think it isjust - point of view? no i cannot, because i think it isjust an|

because i think it is just an inability to look at the future scenario. if wejust inability to look at the future scenario. if we just told russia, look, we will stay out of it, i'm in the united states, then russia will be encouraged to go further into europe and sooner or later will start attacking the us. it already has, there has been cyber attacks, there has been disinformation and influence campaigns in the us, and i think if we look at what is happening in the american democracy at the moment, i think russia had a lot to do with that as well. crosstalk we are seeing a brewing conflict in the middle east, i am sure you have been watching with israel and iran trading missiles back and forth now, what do you think and what is your impression on how the events in the middle east might be affecting the war in ukraine and public attention, has it increased the urgency for this aid package, or does ukraine feel like attention has shifted elsewhere? i would say initially when 7 october happened in israel it

distracted a lot of attention, and in some shape and form it paved the road to this six—month delay. but what has happened between iran and israel recently actually brought attention back to ukraine as well. i think the west is slowly waking up to the fact that it is not only about ukraine or israel, it's a hybrid world war three pretty much between the axis of evil, being iran, north korea and russia and a couple of other countries, and the free world, and it is the fight for what the future world actually looks like. ., ., ., , like. igor novikov, “oining us from kyiv. h like. igor novikov, “oining us from kyiv, thank_ like. igor novikov, joining us from kyiv, thank you - like. igor novikov, joining us from kyiv, thank you very . like. igor novikov, joining us - from kyiv, thank you very much. ukraine is now in a situation comparable only tojust after the full—scale russian invasion in february 2022. not only have conditions along the frontline significantly worsened, but the very possibility of a ukrainian

defeat is now being discussed openly. let's look at the front line and how it's been evolving. the ukrainians withdrew from this eastern town of avdivka in february and since then, russia has been focusing attacks around the villages in the southern zaporizhzhia region where ukraine made gains in 2023. there is intense fighting around donetsk — also a large concentration of russian troops across the borderfrom kharkiv, ukraine's second—largest city, where russia has been using glide bombs for the first time. in fact the lack of anti—aircraft missiles has exposed all ukrainian front—line units to renewed russian attacks, they are now dropping thousands of bombs on defensive positions for the first time in this war. i want to bring back melinda haring, a senior advisor at razom for ukraine, a nonprofit human rights organisation supporting ukraine. we just saw the map of how the frontlines have been reshaped with russia advancing. what do you make of where this war stands now? so the war is at a very

dangerous point, are having a hard time holding that very long line that you have just shown your audience. and our delay, the united states' delays in congress have made it even more difficult. the town of avdiivka did not have to fall. there is huge pressure elsewhere now and it could fall very quickly, there is a lot of talk about a russian offensive and that the russians may try to retake kharkiv in the north soon as well. the official intelligence assessments say that if we do nothing, within a matter of weeks the ratio between russian to ukrainian shelter will be ten to one. and we know the ukrainian side has been rationing for a long time. —— shells will be. it is urgent that the united states make the decision to send these weapons, ukrainians don't have the ammunition, they can't —— the europeans don't have the ammunition, they can't send the ammunition, they can't send the

ammunition the way americans can. that is why this is so crucial right now. we've been hearing from a former advisor to zelensky. of course the president been under enormous pressure of course since the invasion began. what will this next stage of the war look like for him? zele ns ky zelensky is under a lot of pressure, the mobilisation decision has really strange society. the troops that have been on the front lines have been on the front lines have been out there for more than two years, and i went out to the front lines, i went to zaporizhzhia in october and interviewed troops and i will tell you, they were very frustrated, they felt like they and their families were bearing the brunt of society, and zelensky had not put the economy in a war footing and he hadn't turned over the troops. parliament has now solved that problem, in my opinion it took too long, but i think zelensky�*s numbers, he is trying very hard, he is trying very hard to keep society going is hard moment. so it is in an

enviable position that he is in right now. enviable position that he is in right "ow-— enviable position that he is in riaht now. �* �*, ., ~ ., right now. and let's talk about russia now. _ it's under heavy western sanctions. there is argument about how effective they have actually been. a recent bbc report revealed russia has lost at least 50,000 soldiers in this war. to what extent is russia and vladimir putin feeling the impacts of this war? i think russia can unfortunately go on as is for a long time. we have a lot of debates in washington about becoming decline of the russian economy, i don't see it. it's macro figures look strong and i think if you are upper—middle—class... crosstalk. why do you think that has been able to hold up so well, especially economically? they have very _ especially economically? they have very good _ especially economically? tie: have very good economists, especially economically? tia: have very good economists, they control the economy and that is a big piece of it, putin is very good, his economists are

very good, his economists are very good, his economists are very good at that high—level economic picture. they also control, they control the media, and there is no political freedom there so i think the combination means they can carry on for a long, long time unfortunately. we have about _ long time unfortunately. we have about 45 _ long time unfortunately. we have about 45 seconds left but looking ahead, what do you think comes next in this conflict? i think comes next in this conflict?— think comes next in this conflict? ~ ., , , think comes next in this conflict? ~' ., , , . , conflict? i think congress has woken up _ conflict? i think congress has woken up and _ conflict? i think congress has woken up and feels _ conflict? i think congress has woken up and feels a - conflict? i think congress has woken up and feels a sense l conflict? i think congress has| woken up and feels a sense of urgency and will pass this bill, and that will give the ukrainian side a much—needed shotin ukrainian side a much—needed shot in the arm. when you talk to ukrainians, they feel like everyone has forgotten them, washington, the us in particular. so i think the summer will be hard, i would take the concerns seriously that russia is going to try and counteroffensive this summer and hopefully these alms will arrive in time and they will be arrive in time and they will be a rotation of troops on the ukrainian side and they will be able to withstand a russian

counteroffensive. the crucial vote in the — counteroffensive. the crucial vote in the house _ counteroffensive. the crucial vote in the house of- vote in the house of representatives expected on saturday, melinda haring, senior advisor at razom to ukraine, thank you very much for your time today.— ukraine, thank you very much for your time today. for more on the situation in ukraine i spoke to michael bociurkiw, a senior fellow at the atlantic council's eurasia centre. you were recently in ukraine, where you are based in odesa. we have seen this wave of russian attacks, ukraine losing its positions on the front lines in terms of the battlefield, what is the feeling right now on the ground in ukraine. feeling right now on the ground in ukraine-— in ukraine. good to be with ou, in ukraine. good to be with you. not— in ukraine. good to be with you. not very _ in ukraine. good to be with you, not very good - in ukraine. good to be with you, not very good at - in ukraine. good to be with you, not very good at all. l you, not very good at all. there is basically three frontline is happening right now, one is the physical one which stretches through a good part of ukraine and now all the way up to kharkiv because of the missiles, but we have the long—range missiles and drones happening on a daily basis,

pretty much happening 24/7 in odesa and other key cities in ukraine, and then we have the hybrid warfare russia is employing. just today was a pretty scary hit on odesa, one of the two main ports was hit by russian missiles, this was an area where grain destined for asia and africa is being loaded onto ships, and also there are really important storage terminals, things like sunflower oil, and another facility was hit according to president lewinsky. let's call a spade a spade, this is a direct russian attack on a critical part of the global food supply chain —— president zelensky. and you wonder whether it —— wonder whether western nations might think about deploying the same kind of muscle they have in the red sea to the western black sea where a lot of food goes to world markets. we

where a lot of food goes to world markets.— where a lot of food goes to world markets. we also know roaer world markets. we also know roger has — world markets. we also know roger has been _ world markets. we also know roger has been targeting - roger has been targeting ukrainian civilian infrastructure, we are talking about power plants, the electricity grid, how is that impacting the country right now? , , ., " , now? very badly. one of the key roviders now? very badly. one of the key providers of _ now? very badly. one of the key providers of electricity _ now? very badly. one of the key providers of electricity in - providers of electricity in ukraine has lost 100% of its generating capacity, other key providers have also been badly hit and this is notjust in kharkiv, this is nationwide. we are starting to get back out in odesa as well, and the port operates on electricity. if there is no electricity the ports can't function. and in the past 24 hours, a key railway station in eastern ukraine was hit, and dead and injured there as well. so ukrainians are looking at possible near—term future where they will be lots of power outages and again this is also going to impact on the ukrainian economy which is on very shaky ground as it is after more than two years of war. ~ . y ., after more than two years of war. ~ . i. ., ~ .,

war. what did you make of the recent comments _ war. what did you make of the recent comments by _ war. what did you make of the recent comments by presidentj recent comments by president zelensky after the defence of israel, the big iranian bombardment, he seems to imply there was a bit of a double standard saying that ukraine should get the same kind of treatment, same kind of defence from its western allies that israel did?— from its western allies that israel did? let's be clear on one thing. _ israel did? let's be clear on one thing, there _ israel did? let's be clear on one thing, there is - israel did? let's be clear on one thing, there is a - israel did? let's be clear on i one thing, there is a common enemy here, iran, and they have been providing russia for the longest time these very legal drones that have been sent day after day in huge waves to key ukrainian cities and ukrainian infrastructure, and of course the iranians have been aiding —— have been threatening israel either directly or through proxies and the west seems to have a bit of a double standard. having said that i think israel is coming around to recognising, israel has a lot of muscle, coming around to recognising that ukraine reads robust offences as well. i spoke to ukraine's ambassador to canada today and she said at

an absolute minimum ukraine needs about seven patriot batteries to defend key ukrainian cities along with ammunition and other things. even where i am here in canada, justin trudeau, warm fuzzy language about defending ukraine, but at the end of the day words don't stop russian missiles the same way patriots do. so i hope western leaders think about that. find do. so i hope western leaders think about that.— think about that. and 'ust south of i think about that. and 'ust south of the i think about that. and 'ust south of the border h think about that. and just south of the border we i think about that. and just | south of the border we will think about that. and just i south of the border we will be seeing a vote in the us house of representatives on the ukraine aid bill, what kind of impact do you think that might have,is impact do you think that might have, is this something that would be able to stave off these russian advancements we have been seeing? mt; these russian advancements we have been seeing?— have been seeing? my fear is that it is coming _ have been seeing? my fear is that it is coming a _ have been seeing? my fear is that it is coming a little i have been seeing? my fear is that it is coming a little bit i that it is coming a little bit too late. it will be welcomed by ukraine, you train and its dire spray community has

launched a huge campaign to lobby us legislators but it is the same as what has happened since the beginning of the war, this is a drip feed of assistance to ukraine. —— diaspora. having said that, a lot of this money, especially military support, will stay in the united states, it will go to defence contractors, but there is a few billion in their dedicated budget support, so ukraine will be able to deploy that to pensions and teacher salaries and things like that. if this aid does not come soon, a lot of analysts are now beginning to think that the russians will get further, they could occupy ukraine within two years and speakerjohnson who i think has had an epiphany overnight, said in the past 24 hours, that if ukraine is not defended, the russians will go further into poland and the baltic states, and eventually us troops would have to get involved. so that is a pretty scary scenario.— involved. so that is a pretty

scary scenario. and before we to a scary scenario. and before we go a reminder— scary scenario. and before we go a reminder that _ scary scenario. and before we go a reminder that you - scary scenario. and before we go a reminder that you can i scary scenario. and before we | go a reminder that you can find all of our coverage of the warring ukraine on our website, thatis warring ukraine on our website, that is bbc .com slash news, and we will have live coverage on saturday of that crucial vote on those foreign aid bills from capital hill, so stay with us right here for that on bbc news. hello there. many parts of the uk had some lengthy spells of sunshine on friday, but there were a few showers around. the remain of some of this shower cloud in wolverhampton gave this fine end to the day, a fine sunset, and the majority of the shower cloud through friday afternoon was associated with a stripe of cloud you can see right here. this was actually an old cold front. the significance of that is colder air is behind it. and as we go through the next few hours, that will be pushing in across much of the uk. milder air recirculating around our area of high pressure into northern ireland and western scotland.

so it's here through the weekend that we will see the nation's highest temperatures. now on to the next few hours, we're looking at that colder air arriving, a lot of dry weather, a lot of clear skies. and that means it's a recipe for things turning pretty cold. and heading into the first part of saturday morning, we start off with a frost, even some patches of frost, i think, across rural areas of southern england. the lowest temperatures probably down to about —3 or so into rural areas of northern england and scotland. for saturday, where we get this colder air moving in, for most, it's a glorious start to the day with clear, blue, sunny skies. a bit of cloud coming in to eastern areas of norfolk and suffolk and maybe a bit of cloud developing through the day elsewhere. some splashes of rain possible for the far north of scotland, but otherwise it's dry. the highest temperatures likely in northern ireland. we could see a 17 here in the very warmest spots. for sunday, generally, there's going to be a bit more cloud across parts of scotland, thick enough for some splashes of light rain, fleeting rain, really, a few showers coming in across east anglia and south—east england, where we'll continue to have quite a chilly wind.

could be even warmer for northern ireland if we were to get 19 celsius, well, that would be northern ireland's highest temperature of the year. so we'll be monitoring that carefully through the weekend. on into next week, high pressure stays to the west of the uk, and we continue to see this feed of cloud coming down the north sea. if anything, the cloud getting a bit more extensive, a bit thicker, and that means there's more likelihood of seeing some patches of drizzle across northern and eastern scotland and some eastern areas of england as well. the best of the sunshine, probably parts of north west england, wales, south—west england, northern ireland might still do ok, and western parts of scotland, where the sunshine comes out, it shouldn't feel too bad. but if you're in the east where it's going to be quite cloudy with that wind coming in off the north sea, it will probably feel quite chilly. temperatures picking up a little later next week.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. this week, lara looks

at the elemental solution to cleaning up carbon emissions from aircraft. we travel to the remote faroe islands to look at the latest ways to harness tidal energy. it's sort of like kitesurfing, but on the water. if it moves, it's a controller — paul's en route towards more accessible games. if ijust raise my eyebrows, i'm making the carjump. and we look at how generative technology could revolutionise the moviegoing experience. it can make approximately 52 quintillion versions of the film. about 100,000 flights jet around the world every day. flying accounts for 2.5% of all carbon emissions. now, that might not sound like much, but if aviation was a country, it would be among the top ten most polluting nations in the world, and its impact is expected to rise.