with the wind is a good deal weekend with the wind is a good deal lighter. this is bbc news. our top stories: russian forces in armoured vehicles reach the ukrainian capital, kyiv — ukraine's army says it continues to fight for its future. it follows a night of air strikes and explosions over the city, as russian forces appear to close in on the capital. damage in kyiv�*s residential neighbourhoods, after reports of missile strikes and an aircraft being shot down. families shelter underground for protection in ukraine's metro stations — amid warnings of further strikes. translation: they say civilians are i not a target, but it is a lie, they i do not differentiate between which areas to attack.

the kremlin says it's prepared for talks with ukraine to discuss its neutral status. translation: no-one - is going to occupy ukraine. the goal of this operation is they are hoping to demilitarise and denazify. thousands continue to escape from the capital — while many arrive at ukraine's western borders with poland, slovakia and romania. russia bans all british airlines from its airports and airspace, following the uk decision to prohibit russia's national airline, aeroflot, from britain. football's european governing body, uefa, moves this year's champions league final from st petersburg to paris and formula one cancels this year's russian grand prix. hello and welcome.

ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has called on the country's army to stand firm, as the capital kyiv comes under direct attack from russian forces. officials said troops reached a north—west suburb of the city this morning, after loud explosions and air raid sirens began overnight. a government adviser says 18,000 machine guns have been handed out to people volunteering to defend the city. this is video from social media today, appearing to show russian armoured vehicles driving through the residential district of 0bolon, to the north—west of kyiv. the area isjust nine kilometres — that's five and a half miles — north of kyiv�*s parliament, the presidential office and the city centre. authorities have told residents in 0bolon to stay off the streets. the city woke to assess the damage this morning —

footage appears to show a plane wreckage, after a russian aircraft was reportedly shot down over kyiv last night. several people are said to be injured. martial law has been imposed across ukraine, with men aged 18 to 60 barred from leaving the country. more than 100,000 people are thought to have left their homes seeking safety. meanwhile, eu officials say the bloc has agreed to freeze assets belonging to russia's president vladimir putin and foreign minister sergei lavrov, as part of a package of sanctions. earlier, president zelensky made a plea for more help from the international community to do more to assist ukraine. he also said he would not leave kyiv, even though he knows he is a target. the kremlin has said it is willing to send a negotiating team to minsk — the capital of neighbouring belarus — for talks about what it called the neutral status of ukraine. paul adams sent this report.

another barrage before dawn. ukrainian anti—aircraft batteries intercepting a russian missile over the capital, one of two shot down this morning. as the assault closes in on kyiv, 2.5 million civilians are suddenly on the front line. firefighters in one suburb struggled to put out the blaze. russia says it is not targeting civilians, but this is what happens when you fire missiles at a capital city. for many, it was the second night of cowering in basements and bomb shelters, doing whatever it takes to keep fear at bay. they always knew where these places were but never really dream today and use them. not in 2022. now we have come to the building where the bombshelter is, we are trying to stay here, it is pretty crowded. people get their dogs and cats and kids, and we are hearing the news about possible attacks

in this district. and now the russians are right outside in her neighbourhood. this is 0bolon, north of the city centre. an armoured vehicle runs over a car, eyewitnesses unable to believe what they are saying. amazingly, the driver survives, pulled from the wreckage by desperate passers—by. equally unbelievable, one of the city's buses, still running, forced to give way to kyiv�*s invaders. in 2a hours, these streets have almost completely emptied. it is increasingly dangerous to go out. the ukrainians have warned that russian soldiers could be operating inside the city, perhaps even in stolen ukrainian vehicles. pressure on the government is mounting all the time. most people here believe the russians simply want to get rid of it. siren blares sirens are more frequent, and the sound of distant explosions too.

for the ukrainian president, speaking to his people, this is a lonely fight. translation: this morning, i we are alone in defending our country, just like yesterday. the most powerful forces in the world watch from afar. ukraine is huge, the attacks have affected almost every major city. russian armoured columns have been rolling in from north, south and east. the old chernobyl nuclear reactor is now in russian hands, but it seems the air base at gostomel, seized yesterday, may have been taken back. in the east, close to the russian border, there was ferocious fighting overnight at sumy. the russians may not have made as much progress as they hoped here, and are suffering casualties too. back in kyiv, the wreckage of an unidentified russian aircraft. the odds are massively stacked against ukraine, but it is fighting back. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. well, in a news conference in moscow today, russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, again denied moscow

wanted to occupy ukraine. he claimed russia's assault, was to demilitarise and denazify the country, so that ukrainians could freely determine their own future. with more, here's our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. chanting they are chanting "no to war" — a show of disgust last night in central moscow in a country where many are still in shock at the invasion of ukraine. it takes bravery to protest in president putin's russia. across the country, close to 2,000 people are now reported to have been taken into custody for taking a stand against what the kremlin has done. translation: what happened is a shame. many of us have relatives and friends from ukraine and this is a betrayal towards them. translation: i am expressing my protest against what is happening i because of my country. i'm surprised that not more citizens are protesting against aggression towards ukraine. how long will this war last? what does the kremlin now intend?

it has accused ukraine of being a western puppet, it's made clear it wants to bring its neighbourfirmly back into its sphere of influence. today, russia's foreign minister said russia was ready to negotiate, if the ukrainian army surrendered. translation: but what would be the result of all— that is happening now? we will see, depending on the circumstances, i as president putin said, - he reaffirmed one more time that we are interested in seeing ukrainian people independent. i for "independent", read "under moscow's thumb". vladimir putin's aim is to overthrow ukraine's democratically elected government. moscow wants to see regime change in ukraine as the speaker has it here, and i think it was reiterated, ukraine is being charged with running an extreme nationalist government and actually marginalising russian speakers. and the humanitarian consequences of russia's war are onlyjust beginning.

refugees arriving this morning in neighbouring countries through ukraine's western borders. women and children escaping, men left behind to fight. how many more ukrainians will flee president putin's forces, and what can the outside world do now to try to make this stop? caroline hawley, bbc news. our correspondent in moscow isjenny hill. let's talk about the breaking news from a _ let's talk about the breaking news from a few — let's talk about the breaking news from a few minutes ago, the spokesman dmitry peskov saying russia _ spokesman dmitry peskov saying russia is— spokesman dmitry peskov saying russia is prepared for talks with ukraine — russia is prepared for talks with ukraine in— russia is prepared for talks with ukraine in minsk. tell russia is prepared for talks with ukraine in minsk.— russia is prepared for talks with ukraine in minsk. tell us more about what the russians _ ukraine in minsk. tell us more about what the russians have _ ukraine in minsk. tell us more about what the russians have been - ukraine in minsk. tell us more about what the russians have been sayingl what the russians have been saying about this. , , , about this. yes, this is the kremlin sa in: about this. yes, this is the kremlin saying president _ about this. yes, this is the kremlin saying president putin _ about this. yes, this is the kremlin saying president putin is _ about this. yes, this is the kremlin saying president putin is preparedl saying president putin is prepared to send a delegation to minsk to talk about ukraine's possible neutrality. it is difficult to expand on that at this stage but it follows a phone call between president putin and president xi

jinping of china in which he said he was willing to engage in high—level negotiations. clearly when looking at the pictures coming out of ukraine at the moment it is difficult, perhaps only too easy to see where the balance of power might sit at that table. all day we have been hearing from various ministries, the kremlin, the authorities in moscow that this is about neutralising ukraine's military, and earlier as you saw in caroline's report there was talk if ukraine surrenders, if its army lays down its weapons, then moscow is ready to negotiate. so there are some slightly mixed messages coming out of russia, and russia of course, moscow determined to keep a lid on this narrative. standing here, if you're looking at state—run tv, state—run media, there is a very different narrative of what is happening in ukraine to the one that

we see unfolding there. president putin is adamant that he had no choice but to go in to ukraine to protect russian speaking people living in those self—declared people's republics of luhansk and donetsk, from what he describes as ukrainian aggression. so this is a very complicated set of events that we are seeing unfolding. moscow determined to make sure that people here in russia look at the story from one very particular side, and it is a side which you don't see on the ground there in ukraine. journey, we have seen pictures of protests, we of course have had the eu talking about sanctions. talk me through whether any of those protests or any of those comments from the eu have made any difference to the kremlin and the way it is thinking. to the kremlin and the way it is thinkina. . ., , thinking. vladimir putin has continued — thinking. vladimir putin has continued apparently - thinking. vladimir putin has - continued apparently undeterred, first of all on those sanctions.

moscow has said they always expected more sanctions and they were preparing for them. we heard from the foreign minister here earlier saying that russia had stopped, or reduced, the amount of foreign imports into the country by way of preparation for those sanctions, building up reserves. we know moscow has something like $600 billion of reserves. mr putin has said something similar. earlier the foreign minister saying the sanctions will cause problems for moscow but not insurmountable ones. very defiant tone is coming out of the kremlin. in terms of those protests that we have seen, it is very difficult to gauge the scale of opposition to the war in russia. and as you saw in that report it does take a huge amount of courage for those people to come out onto the streets. this is a country work to demonstrate along those lines can result in criminal charges, can result in criminal charges, can result in criminal charges, can result in a stretch in prison and can result in some brutality. this is a difficult place for the voice of dissent. perhaps in a sign the

authorities here were slightly rattled we did hear from them this morning warning people not to repeat those demonstrations. difficult to know whether other people across russia feel the same way. there is likely a chunk of the population who are actually rather share president putin's ambitions for a more influential and powerful russia which like his vision for a slightly different security architecture within europe, whether they would support him in terms of the bloodshed that we have seen in ukraine now, whether they support him if it comes to real economic hardship as a result, that is much, much harder to define.— much harder to define. journey in moscow, thank _ much harder to define. journey in moscow, thank you _ much harder to define. journey in moscow, thank you very - much harder to define. journey in moscow, thank you very much. i much harder to define. journey in | moscow, thank you very much. -- moscow, thank you very much. —— jenny. large numbers of ukrainian civilians are on the move, trying to find safety and shelter. the un says 100,000 people have left their homes so far.

many are heading to the neighbouring countries of poland, romania and hungary. our correspondent, nick thorpe, is on the beregsurany border, between ukraine and hungary. nick, give us an idea of what has been happening where you are. we been happening where you are. i've been happening where you are. i've been here been happening where you are. jg; been here since early beeh happening where you are. 1l»- been here since early this been happening where you are. is been here since early this morning and we have seen people come through sometimes in larger numbers and sometimes in larger numbers and sometimes in larger numbers and sometimes in smaller numbers, it is a relatively quiet moment now. just behind me here what you can see is a tent set up by the village council, this is the only support so far for the refugees. there is a small bar up the refugees. there is a small bar up the road, but basically all day we have seen mainly women and children often crossing on foot from the far side of the border, the ukrainian border, pulling their trolleys, their bags across the border. many of them had just been driven though and dropped off. but we understand on the far side of the border there is a five or six hour tailback of cars because as ukrainians from other parts of

ukraine come to this board at this is a relatively small one, they are being redirected here in the hope of finding a shorter queue because they're are bigger queues at other border crossings.— they're are bigger queues at other border crossings. what do you think the authorities _ border crossings. what do you think the authorities are _ border crossings. what do you think the authorities are doing _ border crossings. what do you think the authorities are doing right - border crossings. what do you think the authorities are doing right now. the authorities are doing right now in terms of how prepared they are for the influx of people coming in? well, the authorities have been saying for weeks they are fully prepared but here there is an enormous shortage of toilets. the only toilet is now no longer functioning, we must have had at least 1000 people, including older people, small children coming through here today, so there is no extra toilets here, apart from the local council here, local people who have been coming are offering hot tea and cold drinks, there is no other infrastructure here at this border crossing at all. in some ways it reminds me of 2015 when hungary also had tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing the borders then, and again the authorities didn't seem to be

particularly well prepared for that. word with the majority of these refugees coming in through this border want to go? where do they want to end up? first border want to go? where do they want to end up?— want to end up? first of all a lot ofthe want to end up? first of all a lot of the peeple — want to end up? first of all a lot of the people coming _ want to end up? first of all a lot of the people coming i - want to end up? first of all a lot of the people coming i just - want to end up? first of all a lot of the people coming i just from want to end up? first of all a lot - of the people coming i just from the of the people coming ijust from the other side, so they belong to the ethnic hungarian minority in ukraine, and those of them who are fortunate enough to have relatives or friends on the side, they come across the border, they wait at the roadside with their bags, their children, whatever, then their relatives or friends come and pick them up. but i've also spoken to several ukrainians this morning from much deeper in the country, including people coming from kharkiv including people coming from kharkiv in the east, 1300 kilometres away, and they really had no idea where to go. they said they knew somebody in poland, perhaps they could help, but basically they are now sort of stuck in hungary. they feel they are safe away from ukraine but they don't know where to go now. ok. away from ukraine but they don't know where to go now. 0k, nick, thank you — know where to go now. 0k, nick, thank you very — know where to go now. 0k, nick, thank you very much _ know where to go now. 0k, nick,

thank you very much indeed. - i'm joined now by klara dobrev, hungarian mep and member of european parliament's delegation to the eu—ukraine parliamentary association committee. thank you forjoining us. before we move on to talk about the situation in ukraine politically, listening to what nick is saying, how serious is the situation in terms of that border crossing between hungary and ukraine? how worried are authorities?— ukraine? how worried are authorities? the situation is serious and _ authorities? the situation is serious and we _ authorities? the situation is serious and we are - authorities? the situation is serious and we are trying i authorities? the situation is serious and we are trying to j authorities? the situation is - serious and we are trying to help as much as we can. while the hungarian government is really not trying very hard, they are playing a peacock dance, as they call it, being friendly with putin and supporting him in the past few years, and now trying to catch up with the european steps. but hungarian people are really willing to help, those who are fleeing terror.— really willing to help, those who are fleeing terror. let's talk about what is happening _ are fleeing terror. let's talk about what is happening in _ are fleeing terror. let's talk about what is happening in ukraine. - are fleeing terror. let's talk about. what is happening in ukraine. what is your reaction to what the eu so far has put forward? is it enough,

do you think?— do you think? no, no, i'm not satisfied _ do you think? no, no, i'm not satisfied with _ do you think? no, no, i'm not satisfied with the _ do you think? no, no, i'm not satisfied with the sanctions i do you think? no, no, i'm not. satisfied with the sanctions get. i'm happy there are some very harsh steps but it's not enough. we have to understand that putin will not stop until he has not stopped, and we can stop him today, not into weeks and not in two months. that means we really have to make further steps in order to help ukraine and to stop putin because simply his plan is to rebuild the soviet union, so nobody should think that he will stop now in ukraine. he did not stop that time back in georgia, he did not stop in the crimea area, so that is why all european democrats should be aware, that's exactly the position i will be representing next week in the european parliament. but how does one stop russia attacking a country that is a non—nato country without starting a wider wall? ilauiith without starting a wider wall? with much stricter— without starting a wider wall? in much stricter sanctions. you should understand that we have to respect russia but we don't have to fear the

russian government. the sanctions are not enough, not strong enough in order to weaken putin's plough in the short term, may be in the middle and long term, yes. that's why i would urge them to cut russia off the swift financial system in order to make able to understand and make it for him very clear that european and american and democratic world does not accept the politics that he is doing. i'm definitely sure that within a few days and next week there will be a harsh debate within there will be a harsh debate within the european union together with the united states and i hope together with the uk as well in order to make even further steps with sanctions. how realistic is it to expect those type of sanctions, unity in terms of the eu putting forward those harsher sanctions, when some member countries rely heavily on, for example, russian gas, and others on

russian money? indie example, russian gas, and others on russian money?— example, russian gas, and others on russian money? we have to understand that russian gas — russian money? we have to understand that russian gas and _ russian money? we have to understand that russian gas and russian _ russian money? we have to understand that russian gas and russian energy - that russian gas and russian energy is now used against us as a blackmail tool. our mid—term goal has to be independent from russian energy imports. this is something we have to start from tomorrow, or from even today. it means renewable energy, lng, othersources of energy, lng, othersources of energy, but in the very short term i have to assure everyone in the european union that we do have enough gas reserves for this year. it was stated by ursula von der leyen, the president of the commission as well, so it means we do have time in order to see how our sanctions are working. we have to give hope to the russian people as well. look what is happening on the streets of the big cities of russia, in moscow, st petersburg, there are people going out on the streets, thousands of them, in the exact knowledge they might go to jail. you

should not think that russian opinion and russian people do want this war. this is putin's war, and we have to stop him and that's why we have to stop him and that's why we have to be very straightforward and very harsh and very strict in our sanctions.— and very harsh and very strict in our sanctions. klara dobrev, mep memberfor— our sanctions. klara dobrev, mep member for hungary, _ our sanctions. klara dobrev, mep member for hungary, and - our sanctions. klara dobrev, mep member for hungary, and also i memberfor hungary, and also delegation of the eu—uk parliamentary association, thank you very much. the bbc�*s sarah rainsford is in eastern ukraine, with the latest from there. we are in dnipro, this strategic ukrainian city on the vast river that divides this country between east and west. it was quiet overnight, there had been explosions on the first night of this war, but no air raid sirens, no rushing for the shelters here last night. we headed here from the donbas region of eastern ukraine, and as we headed south—west from there, we were following a significant number of cars with donetsk number plates on them, people clearly heading for relative safety away from the front line in the east of ukraine.

there were also thousands of people put on to evacuation trains laid on specially for them to take them out of the region. we saw them trundling their suitcases up to get on those trains, some of them not even really knowing where their final destination was, because it is relative safety that they are seeking. they are worried about the fighting escalating in the east of the country, where there has been a conflict, of course, in ukraine for eight years now, but where the front line has been pretty much fixed, although now there are quite significant clashes at several points along that line. the russian—backed forces that have been fighting there for all these years are now being supported by the russian military openly, who have been invited in to those republics to fight and to take on the ukrainian military. so the fear is that they are trying to push forward and take much more territory in the east of ukraine.

so we found people pretty worried in that area about what lies ahead, what that could mean for them. many of them having fled to that region to safety from the fighting years before, so really not looking forward to the possibility that they would have to be uprooted again and move even further west. here in this city, there was a curfew last night, as there is in many cities across ukraine, so after ten o'clock nobody on the streets, and in fact the shops and life here pretty much closes down before that, and then everything quiet until seven o'clock in the morning. here in dnipro this morning, there's plenty of traffic on the streets, the public transport is working. for the moment, at least, life here in this particular city seems fairly calm. but people here do know there is fighting to the south, to the north and to the east, so extraordinary times, and people not entirely sure what is coming next and where, if anywhere, is safe for them to go to.

sarah rainsford there. i'm joined now by evelyn farkas, former us deputy assistant secretary of defence for russia, ukraine and eurasia. thank you forjoining us. first of all, a general question, do you feel russia is not only testing the boundaries in terms of russia and ukraine but also testing america's place on the world stage? yes. ukraine but also testing america's place on the world stage? yes, but he is also testing _ place on the world stage? yes, but he is also testing the _ place on the world stage? yes, but he is also testing the entire - he is also testing the entire international order. i am deeply disturbed by what is happening. i mean, it is of the piece of invading georgia in 2008 and occupying 20% of the territory, and then of course the territory, and then of course the crimean annexation in 2014, the donbas war that started in 2014, but we did not respond with sufficient firmness, and by we i mean the international community, and this is the end result. now we need a global

campaign to isolate vladimir putin and the russian federation and to treat it like a rogue state the way we treat iran and north korea because frankly this is a threat to international peace and security. i international peace and security. i will keep you there for one second, i will come back in a few minutes to make because i want to go live to nato were the secretary generaljens stoltenberg is speaking. territorial integrity, its right of self—defence and its right choose its own path. this owns the public part of the meeting so i asked the media to leave the room and we continue injust media to leave the room and we continue in just a second. studio: i think what happened there is he wasjust studio: i think what happened there is he was just giving a brief introduction to the meeting, which is going to be taking place between nato leaders and the media has been asked to leave the room, which we have duly done. let's bring back in evelyn farkas, my apologies for

cutting into your answer. you were telling me about the inertia, so to speak, of the international community over the last few years or so. why do you think there were so much reticence about doing anything conclusive about russia in those days, given what we know now? i days, given what we know now? i think it is because nobody wants to think it is because nobody wants to think that there is a world leader with the 11th biggest economy in the world, so let's not pretend that russia is very small and insignificant, that wants to take us back to the 19th—century, and what i mean by that is a world before we had the united nations, before we had the united nations, before we had a un charter that said that borders and sovereignty are sacrosanct. of course they have been violated over time but never in a globalfashion like violated over time but never in a global fashion like this. and what vladimir putin is doing right now with this invasion of ukraine, i mean, it is blatant, it is uncalled for, there will be human rights violations because we know how the russians fight, we have seen them target civilians in places like syria, so i don't expect anything good to come out of this at all. i

don't expect them to be careful with regard to civilian lives, even though they are there are slavic brethren in this instance. but what i'm afraid of, deeply afraid of, is that this will spread throughout europe we will have refugee flows, and i'm afraid that somehow vladimir putin will get involved in and started testing nato, and that's why it is good that they are meeting today. 50 it is good that they are meeting toda _ ,, ., ., it is good that they are meeting toda _ ., ., it is good that they are meeting toda . ., ., ,., it is good that they are meeting toda _ ., ., , ., “ it is good that they are meeting toda . ., ., ~ , today. so what do you think is the answer, today. so what do you think is the answer. given _ today. so what do you think is the answer, given the _ today. so what do you think is the answer, given the precarious - answer, given the precarious situation we are in? unwillingness to engage militarily with russia, and in some parts even unwillingness to push sanctions to the absolute max. where does the answer lie? it lies in continuing to push sanctions to the absolute max. i don't think there is a reason to hold back, especially again, as i said, we are staring the russian military, which has no regard for civilian lives and human rights, francesca matus in the way they have conducted themselves in the past and we can expect more of that in the future. so we should

slap on the highest level of sanctions, notjust in a transatlantic fashion but in a globalfashion. in addition transatlantic fashion but in a global fashion. in addition to that we must bolster deterrence along the border with russia so the nato eastern european allies must be bolstered with forces including us forces so that the russian government and the military is not tempted at all to violate that sovereignty. because that would be a whole other world, and frankly world war iii. , whole other world, and frankly world wariii. , . whole other world, and frankly world war iii. , . , ., ~ whole other world, and frankly world wariii. , . ., ~ war iii. evelyn farkas, thank you for our war iii. evelyn farkas, thank you for your analysis, _ war iii. evelyn farkas, thank you for your analysis, former - war iii. evelyn farkas, thank you i for your analysis, former secretary of defence for russia, ukraine and eurasia. the eu has reportedly agreed to freeze the assets of president putin and russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, over ukraine. america has also announced further sanctions on russia. president biden says the us is targeting russia's largest banks and state—owned companies, cutting them off from western financial markets, and freezing trillions of dollars in assets. and the european commission, says eu sanctions will make it impossible for moscow, to buy technology, upgrading its oil refineries,

or spare parts for aircraft. here's theo legget. russia has launched military action against ukraine. in response, western nations have launched an economic offensive against russia. in the past 24 hours, we've had announcements of major new sanctions aimed at russia from the european union, the united states and the uk. putin is trying to subjugate a friendly european country, and he is trying to redraw the maps of europe by force. he must and he will fail. the sanctions have been coordinated. they are designed to hit russia in specific areas. firstly, there's finance. steps are being taken to prevent russian banks from borrowing money abroad, depriving them of the financial oxygen they need. then, there's exports.

sales of cutting—edge technologies to russia will be banned, for example. and, finally, individuals. wealthy russians seen as being part of vladimir putin's inner circle will be denied visas, and their assets overseas may be frozen if they can be found. translation: have yesterday's sanctions persuaded russia? - we see in our skies and feel on the ground that they are not enough. but even as the tanks and planes move into ukraine, european countries are still buying huge quantities of russian oil and gas. and one crucialfinancial weapon has not yet been brought into play. the swift network is a secure messaging system that enables quick cross—border payments between accounts in different countries. the uk wants russia to be excluded from the network because it would make it much harder for its companies to do business abroad. but some experts question how effective such a move would be. it would make life very difficult for russian banks in the short term, but russia actually has its own

alternative payment system already. there are 23 european banks and global banks on it. there are already networks with belarus. belarus has effectively unplugged itself from the swift system already. sanctions will certainly cause russia serious economic harm, but their effects will take time, and it won't be a one—way street. the conflict has already pushed energy prices up sharply in the uk and europe, meaning businesses and consumers here can also expect to feel significant financial pain. theo leggett, bbc news. let's get the view now from europe — our correspondent jessica parker is in brussels. took us through the very latest from brussels. indie took us through the very latest from brussels. ~ . , , brussels. we heard “ust this afternoon about _ brussels. we heard just this afternoon about this - brussels. we heard just this afternoon about this plan i brussels. we heard just this afternoon about this plan to| afternoon about this plan to actually sanction president putin and sergey lavrov, the quite prominent foreign minister, now the

background to this is that the eu has already moved to sanction quite a lot of putin's high—ranking figures in his government, other ministers, not to mention hundreds of members of the state and some high profile media personalities, as well. the question was naturally coming, well, why are you not targeting president putin, the key decision—makers here and his foreign minister sergey lavrov? what i am hearing is that this has now been discussed and what they will do is an asset freeze on president putin and sergey lavrov, but not the travel ban. usually the two come together, they certainly have for the other people i have mentioned. one diplomat suggesting to me that you cannot put a travel ban on someone like president putin or sergey lavrov because in the event there need to be talks in europe again with president putin but he is not allowed to fly into the eu, that would not be particularly ideal. i don't think you will get talks like that at the moment, given the situation, but anyway they are

moving ahead with the asset freeze. quite how significant that is it depends on what assets they can actually locate of president putin's and sergey lavrov�*s but it seems, i think it may be a symbolic move, personal move against the most high—ranking individual in russia and one of his most prominent ministers, as well. foreign ministers, as well. foreign ministers are discussing that here in brussels this afternoon. the eu foreign policy team has seen barring any surprises that should get the go—ahead and revealed it had been discussed by the european council, eu leaders, last night but the consensus was not reached but he had been tasked, he said, we trying to find a way forward and seems to have found one. . ~ find a way forward and seems to have found one. ., ,, ,., find a way forward and seems to have found one. ., ,, y., , find a way forward and seems to have found one. . ,, ,. , . found one. thank you very much indeed, jessica _ found one. thank you very much indeed, jessica parker— found one. thank you very much indeed, jessica parker in - found one. thank you very much i indeed, jessica parker in brussels. i'm joined now by andray zagorodnyuk, a former defence minister for ukraine from 2019—2020. thank you so much forjoining us. i

know it has been an extremely difficult time for you. you left kyiv quite recently. i don't want to know where you are what took us through what happened. ida. know where you are what took us through what happened.- know where you are what took us through what happened. no, no, no, we are still— through what happened. no, no, no, we are still in — through what happened. no, no, no, we are still in kyiv _ through what happened. no, no, no, we are still in kyiv so _ through what happened. no, no, no, we are still in kyiv so it _ through what happened. no, no, no, we are still in kyiv so it is _ through what happened. no, no, no, we are still in kyiv so it is not - we are still in kyiv so it is not like lots... like lots we are still in kyiv so it is not like lots of people are staying in the centre, the centre of defence strategy. it is in kyiv, most of our personnel is still there. kyiv is getting ready to resist an invasion attempt, like a storming of kyiv, an assault, and people are fighting already so there has been russians trying to get into kyiv and so far they are not successful. they are putting up a substantial resistance.

i am so sorry, what i meant was that you let your home over the last few days, your personal story.— days, your personal story. well, i am not in — days, your personal story. well, i am not in a _ days, your personal story. well, i am not in a position _ days, your personal story. well, i am not in a position to _ days, your personal story. well, i am not in a position to discuss i days, your personal story. well, i| am not in a position to discuss my personal location because this is for various security reasons but there has been a number of safe locations around kyiv where people can receive internet and secure communications.— can receive internet and secure communications. ., , , , communications. how surprised where ou bu communications. how surprised where you buy those — communications. how surprised where you buy those first _ communications. how surprised where you buy those first attacks, _ communications. how surprised where you buy those first attacks, when i you buy those first attacks, when they ended up happening? what were your feelings and thoughts at the time? to your feelings and thoughts at the time? ., , ., , , ., your feelings and thoughts at the time? ., , , ., ., time? to be honest, first of all, we have been — time? to be honest, first of all, we have been waiting _ time? to be honest, first of all, we have been waiting for _ time? to be honest, first of all, we have been waiting for them - time? to be honest, first of all, we have been waiting for them for i time? to be honest, first of all, we. have been waiting for them for some time. there has been discussions that fresh it was launching an attack for a while. obviously when you hear the explosions around the city it is always unsettling, especially for the regular civilian population, and many of them were frightened and the military expected. in the case of people in

the military sector or around it, they knew this was going to be in they knew this was going to be in the early morning of yesterday so we were just waiting for when it happened. but of course when they started to bomb the military infrastructure and airports, we heard from all different locations, lots of people were in residential quarters, looking out and were quite worried. kyiv completely avoided panic and this is amazing, because lots of people were leaving but they were leaving an organised way. there was a movement, there were queues for the petrol, yes, but there was petrol and there is petrol and there was food in stores and so on, so eventually kyiv was quite organised and lots of people —— essentially kyiv was organised. some people are working with governments, some are helping out with territorial

defence, some are helping out with community, some are setting up bomb shelters and so on. kyiv is bracing for attack but actively and there is no panic at all as we speak. haifa no panic at all as we speak. how lona do no panic at all as we speak. how long do you _ no panic at all as we speak. how long do you think— no panic at all as we speak. how long do you think the _ no panic at all as we speak. how long do you think the ukrainian forces can keep this going? to be honest with _ forces can keep this going? to be honest with you, _ forces can keep this going? to be honest with you, of _ forces can keep this going? to be honest with you, of course i forces can keep this going? to be honest with you, of course they l honest with you, of course they still have reserves and we were talking about two days at the moment and already we were in a work for eight years so of course we have some resilience and so on. —— we were in a war. it is worth saying that this will be very fast and very bad for ukraine. so far russians are not succeeding. they moved into the country in a number of locations. of course they succeeded in several small towns but as we speak right now they have not taken any large cities and there has been very

serious action in kherson, one of the suburbs, a lot of activity north of kyiv, a lot of shelling in mariupol and there is huge resistance right now from ukrainian forces. the situation is absolutely not like ukraine is losing. i am hearing already this from some media that they are already writing us off. that is too early.- off. that is too early. looking ahead at _ off. that is too early. looking ahead at what _ off. that is too early. looking ahead at what will _ off. that is too early. looking ahead at what will happen i off. that is too early. looking ahead at what will happen in l off. that is too early. looking i ahead at what will happen in the next few days and weeks, how important do you think it is that the international community continues to help in terms of sending military hardware ukraine? we still have some reserves of hardware but it is important because thatis hardware but it is important because that is what deters russia and make them lose right now. we already shot

hundreds of their armoured vehicles around ukraine, over80 tanks, several planes and hundreds of helicopters and so on. they are not that invulnerable as some people may think. the equipment is critical. that is one of the reasons they were hitting airports, to prevent the international assistance from arriving but there are other ways. from what we understand it is still coming. from what we understand it is still cominr. �* ., from what we understand it is still comin. _ r .,y ., ., “ from what we understand it is still cominr. . ., ., from what we understand it is still cominr. �* . ., , coming. andray, looking at what is ha enin: coming. andray, looking at what is happening right _ coming. andray, looking at what is happening right now, _ coming. andray, looking at what is happening right now, we _ coming. andray, looking at what is happening right now, we heard i happening right now, we heard earlier that the foreign minister of pressure, sergey lavrov, talking about how russia does not want to occupy ukraine. do you believe anything he says about that? itrui’ell. anything he says about that? well, we absolutely _ anything he says about that? well, we absolutely do _ anything he says about that? well, we absolutely do not _ anything he says about that? well, we absolutely do not base - anything he says about that? -ii we absolutely do not base our estimations on what measures they with their concept of beliefs because they have been lying for years now if not more. potentially

there could be a lightening campaign, a lightning attack, like a raid which would come and go in different places because they try to denigrate as larger territory as possible but we don't believe they are not aiming to occupy at least some territory in ukraine because they are certainly looking at areas around edessa for long term. they took a very small island in the black sea —— odesa. they killed 13 bodyguards who refused to surrender and they killed them in cold blood straightaway. they were armed with rifles and had a serious assault ship coming to the shores of that little island. that was quite a tragic story. so for some, they are

clearly looking at staying. for the rest of ukraine, they certainly don't have the forces at the moment which would be enough to keep the territory. we are certainly seeing that their main target is kyiv and as our president said today, they are looking at replacing the government in one way or another as a main scenario, a main plant right now. they will try to get to kyiv no matter what and ukraine is prepared and we will defend no matter what. the most dramatic times are still to come, we have to say this.- come, we have to say this. andray zagorodnyuk, _ come, we have to say this. andray zagorodnyuk, thank _ come, we have to say this. andray zagorodnyuk, thank you _ come, we have to say this. andray zagorodnyuk, thank you so - come, we have to say this. andray zagorodnyuk, thank you so much i come, we have to say this. andray l zagorodnyuk, thank you so much for taking the time, the former ukrainian defence minister, to talk to us. russia's invasion of ukraine is having a direct impact in the world of sport. in motor racing, formula one has cancelled this year's grand prix in russia, saying it's impossible to hold the race, under current circumstances. and in football, the champions league final has been switched from st petersburg to paris. the bbc sport'sjohn watsonjoins me now.

often said that sport and politics should not mix and yet, inevitably, they always do. should not mix and yet, inevitably, they always do-_ they always do. absolutely. good afternoon- _ they always do. absolutely. good afternoon. we _ they always do. absolutely. good afternoon. we have _ they always do. absolutely. good afternoon. we have seen - they always do. absolutely. good afternoon. we have seen that i they always do. absolutely. good | afternoon. we have seen that play out this afternoon with confirmation from uefa following their meeting this morning that the champions league final will be moved the stadium in st petersburg. gas from a significant backer of uefa with £30 million a year but after their extraordinary meeting they said the match will be moved —— gazprom. it is the stud to it will be in france, paris. thanking the french president macron for his understanding and commitment to the staging of that match to come. but of course it will be quite significant that match being moved. we know that from that meeting this morning uefa have also ruled that all russian and ukrainian teams will play matches at neutral venues. that

will have an effect on spartak moscow, the only russian team remaining in european club competition. they have been drawn to face rb leipzig in the last 16 of the europa league. their second leg of that match will have to be staged at a neutral venue. fifa have said they are monitoring the situation mostly and they will need to when you consider that russia take on poland in a world cup play—off match in three weeks. scotland take on ukraine, as well. sweden, who would be on course to potentially meet russia in the play—off final for a spot at the world cup in qatar later this year have said that playing any games in russia is almost unthinkable. whether pointing out that manchester united have dropped their long—standing relationship with the russian airline aeroflot, a partnership that has been in existence for a long time now and we know that football in ukraine has been temporarily suspended for at least 30 days. the knock—on being

felt outside of the world of football, as we touched upon, formula 1 announcing that the sochi grand prix scheduled for september has been cancelled. in a statement the fia said, we are watching events with sadness and shock, adding it is impossible to hold the russian grand prix in these circumstances. it is creating wider issues within the sport, especially by the us backed team who have their russian driver niki temazepam at the wheel. currently, reports they are trying to distance themselves with their driver in light of huge financial backing brought in by his father, the billionaire who has strong links with the putin regime. their team manager said his future, the future of their driver needs to be resolved quickly. of course with the season due to get under way. it is an indication, i guess, due to get under way. it is an indication, iguess, of due to get under way. it is an

indication, i guess, of the influence that those closely associated with vladimir putin have in the sporting landscape. thank you ve much in the sporting landscape. thank you very much indeed. _ in the sporting landscape. thank you very much indeed. john _ in the sporting landscape. thank you very much indeed. john watson i in the sporting landscape. thank you | very much indeed. john watson giving an update on how the world of sport has been affected by what has happened in ukraine. plenty more in our sports website, as always. the russian invasion of ukraine has led to false or misleading videos and photographs being posted on social media claiming to be from the conflict. but some of those checked by the bbc include footage from previous conflicts in ukraine or elsewhere in the world. social media platforms such as twitter seem to be taking a proactive role in confronting misleading content, removing several videos shown to be misleading by fact—checkers and researchers — but not all of the clips are exactly what they seem — and not all of the information being shared online is either. well, to help us understand more about this, i'm joined now by olga robinson from bbc monitoring's disinformation team. thank you so much forjoining us.

let me ask you first of all, what have you seen over the past 24 hours? ., , . , , have you seen over the past 24 hours? ., , . ,, ., hours? numerous clips i doing the rounds on social _ hours? numerous clips i doing the rounds on social media _ hours? numerous clips i doing the rounds on social media that i hours? numerous clips i doing the rounds on social media that claim | hours? numerous clips i doing the i rounds on social media that claim to show what is happening in ukraine right now. a lot of the footage is genuine and correct. however we are also seeing lots of clips that are taken out of context or are old or have nothing to do with ukraine at all and that includes images that are shared from previous conflicts like the war in libya or syria and the explosion in beirut from a couple of years ago, as well as old footage of russian exercises that are being presented roundly as russian military landing in ukraine. some of these clips —— presented roundly. some of these are going viral, one click of a parachuting soldier posted recently on tiktok has been viewed by nearly 30 million

people, nearly 30 million times. hill is sharing these misleading videos and i their signs of it being a deliberate campaign?— videos and i their signs of it being a deliberate campaign? images are bein: a deliberate campaign? images are being shared _ a deliberate campaign? images are being shared really _ a deliberate campaign? images are being shared really far _ a deliberate campaign? images are being shared really far and - a deliberate campaign? images are being shared really far and wide i being shared really far and wide across multiple social media platforms. at least to a certain extent so the content might be shared with malicious intent, in order to misrepresent what is happening in uk and —— in ukraine. it isa happening in uk and —— in ukraine. it is a very rapidly developing situation like what is happening in ukraine, a lot of people are sharing clips out of context simply because they didn't check first before sharing them and they are doing so because they are trying to help rather than to confuse people. one example of the past 24 hours is a clip that was posted on tiktok weeks ago and apparently shows lightning

hitting a power station. however, it has been mistakenly shared by for a in ukraine as something that is happening in the city of mariupol. what tips do you have to spot this kind of thing?— kind of thing? there is not one thing that _ kind of thing? there is not one thing that you _ kind of thing? there is not one thing that you can _ kind of thing? there is not one thing that you can do - kind of thing? there is not one thing that you can do or i kind of thing? there is not one thing that you can do or a i kind of thing? there is not one i thing that you can do or a certain procedure to follow but there are some helpful tools and tips that you can take into account to see whether something is real or not. in this case, search engines are your friend stop just google video or a clip that you are seeing that you are not sure about. see if it has popped up somewhere else. also upload screenshots of this video or image to google and see if it has appeared somewhere else before. check the reporting of media organisations like the bbc, major news organisations, that take a lot of effort to verify content that

appears on social media as well as some of the major fact checking organisations, as well. if you are still unsure after you have tried to do all those checks, just do not share, that is the golden rule when it comes to information. filga it comes to information. olga robinson. — it comes to information. olga robinson, that _ it comes to information. olga robinson, that is _ it comes to information. olga robinson, that is really i it comes to information. olga robinson, that is really interesting to talk to you. thank you so much for that and thank you for those tips. it is a dangerous world out there on social media. so let's take a closer look at new wave of sanctions announced after russia's invasion of ukraine — and the impact it could have on people around the world. the united states, european union and other world powers have ramped up their punitive measures against russian businesses and wealthy individuals. the us presidentjoe biden said it would impose a "severe cost on the russian economy, both immediately and over time". joining me now to discuss this in more detail is our business presenter tadhg enright. let me ask you first of all, let's talk about oil in a second because

everyone talks about oil. there is something else that comes out of ukraine which is usually important for the world.— for the world. wheat, and not “ust ukraine, ukraine i for the world. wheat, and not “ust ukraine, ukraine and i for the world. wheat, and not “ust ukraine, ukraine and russia i for the world. wheat, and notjust ukraine, ukraine and russia are i ukraine, ukraine and russia are major producers of wheat and between them they produce one third of the world's supply and so often these situations, we sit around talking about oil and gas but we don't often talk about wheat, also a commodity. consequently the invasion which began yesterday has pushed up the price of wheat as a commodity on the markets, it is at a 13 year high stop ukraine, known as the breadbasket of europe, which gives a sense as to how much panic the invasion thereof is sparked when it comes to the price of wheat. i see confusion on your face.— comes to the price of wheat. i see confusion on your face. does it mean we will pay — confusion on your face. does it mean we will pay more _ confusion on your face. does it mean we will pay more for _ confusion on your face. does it mean we will pay more for bread _ confusion on your face. does it mean we will pay more for bread now? i we will pay more for bread now? potentially. wheat makes flower, a big ingredient in bread, notjust bread, pasta and also a core ingredient in so many different

foodstuffs. also in animalfeed. while at the same time we are grappling with prices which have been rising at well above healthy levels, coming out of the covid pandemic, now we are adding this phenomenon into the equation, coupled with the rising price of oil which is obviously generally the focal point when it comes to conflicts such as this. while as well as the rising price of wheat potentially contributed to higher prices across the board. while prices across the board. while prices have been rising ahead of the beginning of this conflict when the invasion began full yesterday we saw that rise above $100 per barrel. it is territorial that the price of oil has not been in in the last seven years or so. even yesterday we saw the price people are paying at petrol pumps here in the uk for example reach a record high. a fresh record high today. keep in mind that does not take into account the recent rise we have seen in the oil

price because generally the price we pay at the pumps is a lagging indicator, takes a few days, a week orso indicator, takes a few days, a week or so to filter through into consumer prices so we will see worse yet to come and again let's not forget that the price of oil, the price of gas is notjust something that comes, we think about when it comes to filling our cars or heating our homes, it is a cost of doing business so it will add yet more pressure to businesses, to the people we are buying our goods from. cost pressures that they will inevitably have to pass on to the rest of us. inevitably have to pass on to the rest of us— inevitably have to pass on to the rest of us. and then inflation will suffer, rest of us. and then inflation will suffer. as _ rest of us. and then inflation will suffer, as well. _ rest of us. and then inflation will suffer, as well. let _ rest of us. and then inflation will suffer, as well. let me _ rest of us. and then inflation will suffer, as well. let me talk i rest of us. and then inflation will suffer, as well. let me talk to i rest of us. and then inflation will. suffer, as well. let me talk to you about what everyone is talking about. swift, the banking system everyone is saying we need to hit russia hard by removing the ability to use swift. explain in layman terms, what is swift and why does it matter? ,, , ., , matter? swift is a messaging latform matter? swift is a messaging platform which _ matter? swift is a messaging platform which effectively i matter? swift is a messaging i platform which effectively underpins the international bank transfer system. anyone who has ever had to send money overseas, trying to find out what is your iban number, your

international bank account number, there is a swift code so it helps banks understand where to send that money. you are right, a lot of people saying that russia should be kicked out of that system, considering the developments of the past few days. there has been an expectation that they would and should but that has not happened. there is reluctance on the decision makers to do so. swift is effectively a combination of all the banks of the world and all the bank regulators of the world, including some members of that club who are sitting on their hands, they know they have customers, businesses, who are perhaps more deeply entwined with russia, the likes of germany, italy, they are concerned on a number of measures. if there is a russian client who owes them money, kicked russia out of swift and invincible they will not be able to pay their bills. there is also the fact that russia is such a big supplier of oil and gas and if you do kick russia out of swift, we pay our bills? but there other ways of paying the bills. i

our bills? but there other ways of paying the bills-— paying the bills. i know that, that is for sure! _ paying the bills. i know that, that is for sure! one _ paying the bills. i know that, that is for sure! one more _ paying the bills. i know that, that is for sure! one more question, l paying the bills. i know that, that i is for sure! one more question, ten seconds, what are the markets doing? they are all down stop that is a confusing picture, iam not sure thatis confusing picture, iam not sure that is the latest information so i think we should disregard that. yesterday was a seller, today is the recovery in the market. most of the indices... ,, ., ., recovery in the market. most of the indices... ,, ., . , , indices. .. showing what yesterday was doinu indices. .. showing what yesterday was doing stuff — indices. .. showing what yesterday was doing stuff in _ indices. .. showing what yesterday was doing stuff in a _ indices. .. showing what yesterday was doing stuff in a very _ was doing stuff in a very deliberate. deep dive into the market. m, deliberate. deep dive into the market. ., . , ., market. most of the indices are recovering. _ market. most of the indices are recovering, not _ market. most of the indices are recovering, not recovering i market. most of the indices are recovering, not recovering all i market. most of the indices are i recovering, not recovering all the losses yesterday, the price of oil is repeating that are retreating somewhat. is repeating that are retreating somewhat-— is repeating that are retreating somewhat. ., ,, , ., . now, earlier today my colleague victoria derbyshire spoke to stuart mackenzie a scottish expat who left his home of almost 30 years in kyiv to drive out of the country across polish border. he's now in the border town of sieniawa where he's stopped off on route to krakow. about four o'clock in the morning... throughout the night i was looking at my phone and i could see by 4:00 that things were getting very, very bad. i decided to wake up my family.

you know, you make these decisions all the time — should we leave, should we stay? you know... we always — my wife and i always promised if anything got serious enough that it threatened the children, then that's the point we leave. and i felt that was the time. and luckily enough for us, my wife and children all agreed — "ok, let's go." we got in the car — we were pre—packed, thankfully, i'd filled the car up the night before and i had a couple of jerry cans full of fuel. i'd done a dry run to lviv on the polish border a few days before, so i sort of knew the way, etc. and, yeah, we got in the car and we started hearing bombs in kyiv. and... but, you know, if you woke up seven o'clock, eight o'clock in the morning, it was already gridlock to the city centre and you were trapped.

plenty more to come, that's it from me. goodbye. hello, there. the floodwaters will continue to recede in the next few days. we're in for a spell of much quieter weather, and generally dry weather, too. all the shower clouds that we had yesterday pushed away from the north sea, and instead this cloud in the atlantic is looming large. it's a set of weather fronts, they'll bring some stronger winds together with the cloud. probably not a great deal of rain, though. ahead of it, we've still got colder air, despite the sunshine — these are the temperatures as we head towards the end of the day, seven or eight degrees. there is a bit of rain on that first weather front, affecting the north and west of scotland — that should tend to get blown away overnight so generally dry, quite cloudy for scotland, northern ireland, and there'll be a stronger wind around, as well. so these areas are going to be much milder tonight. bit on the chilly side across england and wales — especially in the midlands, east anglia, in the southeast, where the winds are lighter and skies are clearer.

a touch of frost early on saturday morning. here, we're closer to that area of high pressure and that at the moment is keeping these weather fronts and the rain at bay out in the atlantic. so that's not going to move very far at all on saturday. lot of dry weather again on saturday, more in the way of cloud for scotland and northern ireland — some of that cloud spilling into england and wales, making the sunshine a bit hazy. the best of the blue skies probably towards east anglia and the southeast. the winds will be a bit stronger everywhere. it's a southerly wind, mind you — that will bring in some higher temperatures, so typically we're going to be sitting at a decent ten to 12 degrees on saturday afternoon. now, the high pressure is eventually going to push away, and these weather fronts will start to track in from the atlantic. they'll bring some rain towards northwestern areas overnight into sunday morning, but not much rain, and the weather front is going to weaken as it moves slowly eastwards. so any rain across scotland and northern ireland tending to peter out, there won't be much heading into western parts of england and wales, but there will be more cloud for all of these areas. the sunshine continues through the east midlands, east anglia and the southeast — temperatures nine, ten degrees.

the winds will be lighter on sunday. now, at one point, this rapidly deepening area of low pressure could have been a named storm but, at the moment, the forecast takes it up towards iceland and it will give us a glancing blow into the far northwest of the uk. but that weather front will bring more cloud and rain, and that rain will push away from scotland and northern ireland, it'll turn colder and more showery, but we'll see some rain heading into england and wales. that rain could be heavy, actually, over hills in the west, and we're back to temperatures typically around nine or ten celsius.

this is bbc news. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories. russian forces in armoured vehicles reach the ukrainian capital, kyiv. ukraine's army says it continues to fight, and a government adviser says 18,000 machine guns have been handed out to people volunteering to defend the city. ukrainian troops take defensive positions to defend the capital. it follows a night of air strikes and explosions over the city, as russian forces appear to close in on the capital. damage in kyiv�*s residential neighbourhoods, after reports of missile strikes and an aircraft being shot down. families shelter underground for protection in ukraine's metro stations — amid warnings of further strikes.

the most powerful forces in the world watch from afar. and yesterday's sanctions affected russia? we see in our skies and on the ground they are not enough. the kremlin says it's prepared for talks with ukraine. translation: no-one - is going to occupy ukraine. the goal of this operation is they are hoping to demilitarise and denazify. nato re—iterates its support for ukraine and condemns russian aggression. moscow bears sole responsibility for the deliberate, cold—blooded and long planned invasion. thousands continue to escape from the capital — while many arrive at ukraine's western borders with poland, slovakia, hungary and romania. russia bans all british airlines from its airports and airspace, following the uk decision to prohibit russia's national airline, aeroflot, from britain. football's european governing body, uefa, moves this year's

champions league final from st petersburg to paris. and formula one cancels this year's russian grand prix. hello and welcome. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has called on the country's army to stand firm, as the capital kyiv comes under direct attack from russian forces. kyiv comes under direct attack officials said troops reached a north—west suburb of the city this morning, after loud explosions and air raid sirens began overnight. a government adviser says 18,000 machine guns have been handed out to people volunteering to defend the city. this is video from social media today, appearing to show russian armoured vehicles driving through the residential district of 0bolon, to the north—west of kyiv.

the area isjust nine kilometres — that's five and a half miles — north of kyiv�*s parliament, the presidential office and the city centre. authorities have told residents in 0bolon to stay off the streets. the city woke to assess the damage this morning — footage appears to show a plane wreckage, after a russian aircraft was reportedly shot down over kyiv last night, as well as blocks damaged by shelling. several people are said to be injured. some 100,000 people across ukraine are thought to have left their homes seeking safety. in the last hour, nato secretary generaljens our kyiv correspondent james waterhouse joins us now. bring us up to date. this is the fifth air raid siren that has just sounded today, it has been a day of explosions being heard in the distance, and you really do feel them in your body when there is a

third, even if it feels far away it travels right through you and the building you are in. so when the air raid siren goes off we moved downstairs with most of the city to metro stations, in some cases. in our case it is an underground car park. and what strikes you down there is the common expression on people's faces, one of a worry at this belief, even as we go into a second day of ukraine becoming under attack and ukrainian forces mounting attack and ukrainian forces mounting a defence against the incoming military might of the russian military. ukrainians still can't believe this is happening. this has been a city that has long stayed true to itself throughout this crisis, throughout the year or so russian troops have started to build up russian troops have started to build up on the border. but no more, as of the last 24—36 hours it is a city thatis the last 24—36 hours it is a city that is eerily quiet. those pictures

you showed of armoured convoys moving south into the centre were about an hour and a half ago. to be honest with you, everybody prepared for what might come after that. it has been the quietest we have seen kyiv since. the streets are almost empty. we have seen one military vehicle here, but colleagues who have ventured north have talked of seeing citizens and volunteers brandishing kalashnikov rifles and other automatic weapons. the interior ministry says 18,000 have been handed out across the country. the mayor vitali klitschko has urged people to mount some kind of defence. there are online instructions on how to make molotov cocktails, petrol bombs. beyond those volunteers, there are ukrainian troops in prone positions holding rifles, taking cover behind vehicles, trying to form a defensive line into what is coming. there has been heavy fighting at the antonov airfield, still is, 30 kilometres

from here. that is a key location because it is both a military base and a major cargo terminal. there is another military vehicle you can hear, it rumbles really heavily against the cobbled roads. there has been air raid sirens sounding 300 miles from here in the north—east in the city of kharkiv where some official buildings, ministerial buildings, have been set on fire. so the full—scale assault on ukraine is very much continuing. and you know there is full on fighting happening just a couple of kilometres from where we are now. has just a couple of kilometres from where we are now.— just a couple of kilometres from where we are now. . , , ., , where we are now. has there been any reaction to the — where we are now. has there been any reaction to the news _ where we are now. has there been any reaction to the news out _ where we are now. has there been any reaction to the news out of— where we are now. has there been any reaction to the news out of the - reaction to the news out of the kremlin that the official spokesman there says potentially there is an idea president putin would be willing to send a delegation to talk to the ukrainians in minsk? have we had any ukrainian reaction to that news? ., , , , , news? not yet, but this is something president zelensky _ news? not yet, but this is something president zelensky is _ news? not yet, but this is something president zelensky is wanted - news? not yet, but this is something president zelensky is wanted to i news? not yet, but this is something president zelensky is wanted to see, | president zelensky is wanted to see, even with everything that has happened over the last day or so, he

said the way out of this war, and it is now a war, would be for vladimir putin to return to the negotiating table. but i've got to tell you, you will need no guesses on how that has gone down when you speak to people in the bomb shelter, when you think about this is an opening gambit for some kind of negotiation, to launch a full assault after exerting eight years of pressure on a country, sustained eight years of fighting in the east that has seen iii,000 ukrainians lose their lives. we have not got an up—to—date figure on the number of ukrainian lives which have been lost today, but ukrainian forces say more than 2000 russian soldiers have been killed. they also talk about destroying a number of military vehicles, and that suggests that this so—called lightning strike, this predictive lightning strike, this predictive lightning strike that the west said could happen where russian troops would sweep in, encircle kyiv and topple the government, that, as suggested,

by fighting going into a second day has not quite materialised. there is quite a level of resistance being put up, clearly by both citizens and soldiers. but what we have seen with the consistent fighting in the central and south—eastern parts of ukraine is that there is no let up at the moment and ukraine is very much the underdog in this confrontation in this war. i've got to say, even when there is not fighting, this is a city that is just shutdown. there is almost nowhere to go. it is dangerous to go outside. there are supermarkets running low on stock. there is now talk in this bomb shelter of people being economic with water bottles and food, and it changes at the click of a finger. this is a city very much waiting and on the defensive foot.— very much waiting and on the defensive foot. y . , ~ ., . defensive foot. james, i know that where ou defensive foot. james, i know that where you are _ defensive foot. james, i know that where you are you _ defensive foot. james, i know that where you are you have _ defensive foot. james, i know that where you are you have been - defensive foot. james, i know that i where you are you have been hearing sirens going in the last few minutes. i want to make sure that

you are ok to stay where you are and you are ok to stay where you are and you are ok to stay where you are and you are staying safe. let me bring you are staying safe. let me bring you back to the talk of the tanks, the pictures of the tanks we saw earlier on coming into the city, these were incredible pictures that we saw with tanks rolling into the city and then a bus service behind the tank going about its normal way. in a way it does kind of underline what you have been saying to me now about how life in some ways is going on as normalfor some people, but obviously with caveats. tell me what people where you are in kyiv think about the endgame. how do they think this is all going to play out, and how worried are they about that? they don't know the endgame, you don't think too far ahead when you speak to people when there are bombs falling on your city. it is more a state of disbelief at this point. they cannot believe. they have learned to live with russian aggression, they have learned to live with being used as a doormat as russia flexes its muscles to make a broader point to the west about how

it sees the traditional order of security in the world. ukrainians get used to that. it is noble how they talk, they are almost blase at they talk, they are almost blase at the prospect of war prior to the last two days. some have often talked about fighting. but that means different things to different people. forsome means different things to different people. for some that is staying put in their home, in what has been a fight for their identity. for others, as we have seen, there has been picking up an automatic rifle and heading north to take on an enemy that is incoming. for people in kyiv who are not based hundreds of miles away in the east of the country this crisis has been about invisible forces. it has been about cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns, it's been about news reports gathering russian troops on the border which has created a strain on day—to—day life along with the uncertainty that brings. but what these last two days represent

are these forces coming into plain sight, the sound of automatic weapons going off, that third you feel when an explosion goes off and the echo that causes when it reverberates off different buildings. there is nothing that can mitigate for the shock that brings, that's why we saw what we did yesterday with the blocked highways coming out of the city. this is a city under country under attack and it is at war. we have to say, though, this is the majority of the country that does not want to be taken over. vladimir putin claims this isn't about occupation, but we have to this is a population that staged a revolution eight years ago. they stayed out on independence square just to my left there, which lays empty for now, four months more than 100 people lost their lives, the last pro—kremlin president was toppled. it was since then russia showed what it was prepared to do to try and exert its influence, but ukrainians don't back down when it

comes to the battle for their sovereignty and identity. but it mightjust not happen today given the seriousness and the mite which is presented to the city today. james waterhouse, as always, thank you. james waterhouse in kyiv. while the fighting is nationwide, the confirmation of clashes on the fringes of kyiv have shocked many. the pentagon once the capital could fall in the next few days. america and the european union have announced further sanctions targeting russian banks, the energy sector, transport and visas, as well as freezing assets, further tightening the screw on moscow. this report is from our diplomatic correspondent paul adams. another barrage before dawn. ukrainian anti—aircraft batteries intercepting a russian missile over the capital, one of two shot down this morning. as the assault closes in on kyiv, 2.5 million civilians are suddenly on the front line. firefighters in one suburb struggled to put out the blaze. russia says it is not targeting civilians,

but this is what happens when you fire missiles at a capital city. for many, it was the second night of cowering in basements and bomb shelters, doing whatever it takes to keep fear at bay. they always knew where these places were but never really dreamed they'd use them. not in 2022. now we have come to the building where the bomb shelter is, we are trying to stay here, it is pretty crowded. people get their dogs and cats and kids, and we are hearing the news about possible attacks in this district. and now the russians are right outside in ana's neighbourhood. this is 0bolon, north of the city centre. an armoured vehicle runs over a car, eyewitnesses unable to believe what they are saying. amazingly, the driver survives, pulled from the wreckage by desperate passers—by.

equally unbelievable, one of the city's buses, still running, forced to give way to kyiv�*s invaders. in 2a hours, these streets have almost completely emptied. it is increasingly dangerous to go out. the ukrainians have warned that russian soldiers could be operating inside the city, perhaps even in stolen ukrainian vehicles. pressure on the government is mounting all the time. most people here believe the russians simply want to get rid of it. siren blares sirens are more frequent, and the sound of distant explosions too. for the ukrainian president, speaking to his people, this is a lonely fight. translation: this morning, j we are alone in defending our country, just like yesterday. the most powerful forces in the world watch from afar. ukraine is huge, the attacks have affected almost every major city. russian armoured columns have been rolling in from north, south and east. the old chernobyl nuclear reactor is now in russian hands,

but it seems the air base at gostomel, seized yesterday, may have been taken back. in the east, close to the russian border, there was ferocious fighting overnight at sumy. the russians may not have made as much progress as they hoped here, and are suffering casualties too. back in kyiv, the wreckage of an unidentified russian aircraft. the odds are massively stacked against ukraine, but it is fighting back. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. let's look quickly at the latest pictures we've had coming into bbc news showing ukrainian army kharkiv. this is ukraine's second biggest city, located in the north—east of the country. it is the largest city in its region and it is a population of about 1.5 million. as you can see

it as cold and snowing but these pictures are showing us pretty much the aftermath of a clear attack. vehicles have been destroyed, missile strikes have impacted the area. you can see here that soldiers area. you can see here that soldiers are milling around, smoking cigarettes. you have seen overturned vehicles. this city is the second biggest in the country. these are the ukrainian army soldiers on the outskirts of that city which have been very much, together with kyiv, the focus of the russian army. again, we have seen vehicles destroyed in the aftermath of missile strikes in the city. these pictures coming into us now showing exactly what the ukrainian army are up exactly what the ukrainian army are up against, not only have they seen an attack by the russian military, but it looks like the weather is absolutely appalling as well. these pictures have just been coming absolutely appalling as well. these pictures havejust been coming in absolutely appalling as well. these pictures have just been coming in to us here from today at bbc news.

let's talk to a ukrainian mp kira rudyk. leader of the golos political party, an opposition party in ukraine. thank you forjoining us. i think you are in kyiv, aren't you? yes, i'm in kyiv and the sirens went off five minutes ago i yes, i'm in kyiv and the sirens went off five minutes ago— off five minutes ago i want you to sta safe off five minutes ago i want you to stay safe so _ off five minutes ago i want you to stay safe so if— off five minutes ago i want you to stay safe so if you _ off five minutes ago i want you to stay safe so if you need _ off five minutes ago i want you to stay safe so if you need to - off five minutes ago i want you to stay safe so if you need to leave l off five minutes ago i want you to l stay safe so if you need to leave at any point feel free to do so. we have just been looking at pictures of kharkiv, ukraine's second biggest city, clearly the subject of military attack and missile strikes. what are your thoughts about what is happening right now? so what are your thoughts about what is happening right now?— happening right now? so obviously putin and the _ happening right now? so obviously putin and the russians _ happening right now? so obviously putin and the russians are - happening right now? so obviously putin and the russians are trying l happening right now? so obviously| putin and the russians are trying to attack the largest cities in ukraine, create a mess, demoralise ukrainians and they really, really still hope for the blitzkrieg. however, the blitzkrieg didn't happen and it wouldn't happen from

now on. and russia lost 1000 people over the first day of war. this is unprecedented. this is the result of the work of our army and of all the people of the armed forces who are fighting russians on the streets of their cities. you know, two days ago i was an mp, a politician and a woman in my country and now i have to learn how to shoot a kalashnikov, i was given a kalashnikov and i'm spending half of my day training to protect myself and people i love because everybody has to stand up with the armed forces to be able to protect themselves. this is what we will do. we know for sure what putin is capable of. we have been at war with him for the last eight years. we know not to trust any promises,

any negotiations because he will break them and we know with one hand he will try to talk to you and with the other hand he will throw the rockets on your cities at 3am in the morning. forthe rockets on your cities at 3am in the morning. for the last two days since the war began there were at least eight air strikes on kyiv, so eight times the sirens went on and we went to the bomb shelter and had to hide. there was at least two attempts to take on the city, both from the north side, and both ended up with russian soldiers in plastic bags. this is what we will have to do to protect ourselves. it will definitely be much better and easier for ukraine to fight and to be the shield of europe if we had a no—fly zone. my party and myself asked for this for the last three months and

we were told by nate countries that it is impossible. i know that now it is considered possible and i know that right now this is something that right now this is something that we can get, so if there is any one thing that western countries can give us, except sanctions, except weapons, except money come on the military side, it would be providing us with a no—fly zone because he is destroying our cities with his rockets. he is threatening our people. he is not successful, but he is scaring our children because they all intu days had to learn what the bomb shelter means, what the siren means. you know we are a democratic and progressive country and what is happening now is totally not ok, it is unbearable to describe. you talked about being armed and

having to shoot your gun. would you be willing to shoot somebody and kill somebody in defence of your country? kill somebody in defence of your count ? , ., , kill somebody in defence of your count? , ., , , ., country? yes, i would be prepared to shoot and kill— country? yes, i would be prepared to shoot and kill somebody _ country? yes, i would be prepared to shoot and kill somebody in _ country? yes, i would be prepared to shoot and kill somebody in defence l shoot and kill somebody in defence of my family and my city and what i possess and the land we all love. i don't understand why russians come to our country, i don't know why it is fair for them to get to our country, i don't know why it is fairfor them to get in and to our country, i don't know why it is fair for them to get in and tried to instil their power. that's why i will have to fight. people around me and people here in kyiv are ready to do that as well. they are uniting into groups because we understand that this is what we will have to do to help our army wherever we can, to fight putin because he came to our country to our land to take what he thinks is his. it has been a really good to talk to you, do stay safe. thank you for taking the time for

speaking to us on bbc news. well, in a news conference in moscow today, russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, again denied moscow wanted to occupy ukraine. he claimed russia's assault, was to demilitarise and denazify the country, so that ukrainians could freely determine their own future. with more, here's our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. chanting they are chanting "no to war" — a show of disgust last night in central moscow in a country where many are still in shock at the invasion of ukraine. it takes bravery to protest in president putin's russia. across the country, close to 2,000 people are now reported to have been taken into custody for taking a stand against what the kremlin has done. translation: what happened is a shame. many of us have relatives and friends from ukraine and this is a betrayal towards them. translation: i am expressing my protest against what is happening i because of my country. i'm surprised that not more citizens are protesting against aggression towards ukraine. how long will this war last? what does the kremlin now intend?

it has accused ukraine of being a western puppet, it's made clear it wants to bring its neighbourfirmly back into its sphere of influence. today, russia's foreign minister said russia was ready to negotiate, if the ukrainian army surrendered. translation: but what would be the result of all— that is happening now? we will see, depending on the circumstances, i as president putin said, - he reaffirmed one more time that we are interested in seeing ukrainian people independent. i for "independent", read "under moscow's thumb". vladimir putin's aim is to overthrow ukraine's democratically elected government. moscow wants to see regime change in ukraine as the speaker has it here, and i think it was reiterated, ukraine is being charged with running an extreme nationalist government and actually marginalising russian speakers.

and the humanitarian consequences of russia's war are onlyjust beginning. refugees arriving this morning in neighbouring countries through ukraine's western borders. women and children escaping, men left behind to fight. how many more ukrainians will flee president putin's forces, and what can the outside world do now to try to make this stop? caroline hawley, bbc news. i'm joined by olga 0nuch, oppressor of ukrainian politics at the university of manchester. thank you for joining university of manchester. thank you forjoining us. let me ask you first of all, i know you have family in ukraine and i'mjust of all, i know you have family in ukraine and i'm just wondering whether you can tell me if you have heard anything from them and how worried you must be by what is happening there. i do worried you must be by what is happening there.— worried you must be by what is happening there. i do have family in ukraine. i have _ happening there. i do have family in ukraine. i have heard _ happening there. i do have family in ukraine. i have heard from - happening there. i do have family in ukraine. i have heard from them. i. ukraine. i have heard from them. i believe them to be safe but i'd rather not speak about my family

personally on television. let’s rather not speak about my family personally on television. let's move on and talk — personally on television. let's move on and talk about _ personally on television. let's move on and talk about what _ personally on television. let's move on and talk about what is _ personally on television. let's move on and talk about what is happening j on and talk about what is happening in ukraine. the russian military is attacking right now. i've heard there is hand—to—hand combat. what you think morale must be amongst the russians? not many people talk that. absolutely. reports are coming in that there are some forms of defections, that there are surrenders happening and for that to be happening on the first day, within the first 2a hours of this kind of onslaught, i'm not actually a historical war expert but from my understanding from people in the know this is really unprecedented. when we take that into account, there is some miscalculations and some cracks in putin's plan that are coming into shape. your previous interviewees over the day have also reported on the fact that the plans of what the russian army expected to take in this period of time have not

actually come to fruition and the ukrainian army has managed to actually push back much better equipped forces and much larger forces quite impressively in some cases. they are making inroads but not to the extent that they would be expecting at this time. share not to the extent that they would be expecting at this time.— expecting at this time. are you surrised expecting at this time. are you surprised by — expecting at this time. are you surprised by that? _ expecting at this time. are you surprised by that? why - expecting at this time. are you surprised by that? why are - expecting at this time. are you j surprised by that? why are you surprised by that? why are you surprised by that? this surprised by that? why are you surprised by that?— surprised by that? why are you surprised by that? this is one of the largest. _ surprised by that? this is one of the largest, best _ surprised by that? this is one of the largest, best trained - surprised by that? this is one of| the largest, best trained military forces in the world, right? so i think they are a number ukrainians in every single way. they are exceptionally well trained. so these things are surprising. i think there is one thing that putin was correct about in his very odd and meandering speech, is that russians and ukrainians do view each other as brothers and sisters culturally. and i think for many of these soldiers that must be weighing on their conscience when they are coming in. of course, the special ops forces are doing what they need to do, and

this is a different sort of situation. but the average soldier in a platoon trying to capture a city, seeing the faces of people that are speaking often times, the same language they are, seeing as they are seen as an occupying force, it is weighing heavily on them. that perhaps shouldn't be surprising, but somehow it is still. we perhaps shouldn't be surprising, but somehow it is still.— somehow it is still. we have 'ust had a breaking i somehow it is still. we have 'ust had a breaking news * somehow it is still. we have 'ust had a breaking news line i somehow it is still. we have just had a breaking news line from i somehow it is still. we have just l had a breaking news line from the kremlin. apparently the kremlin has said that president putin has called belarus boss mike lukashenko to organise talks. he has called on lukashenko to organise talks between ukraine and russia. what do you think about that? do you think that something that could be viable? talks in minsk between the two sides? —— called belarus's lukashenko. i sides? -- called belarus's lukashenko.— sides? -- called belarus's lukashenko. ., ., ~' sides? -- called belarus's lukashenko. ., ., ~ ., lukashenko. i do not think we are in the lace lukashenko. i do not think we are in the place in —

lukashenko. i do not think we are in the place in time _ lukashenko. i do not think we are in the place in time where _ lukashenko. i do not think we are in the place in time where the - the place in time where the ukrainian government would see talks with an occupier is reasonable, and certainly not in minsk where that occupier is coming for ukrainians and theirfamilies every occupier is coming for ukrainians and their families every second, every minute of the last two days. so i think it is showing us that there are more cracks in this plan than i think the russians expected. i think they did not expect the strength of feeling from their own citizens. perhaps they missed the fact that surveys have shown that the russian electoral survey from december showed that only 8% of the russian population supported any aggression towards ukraine and only 9% supported even backing and supporting those so—called separatists. putin's people are not with him, they might not all be on the streets but they are certainly not with him. the west is showing quite a great deal of unity and coordination, and in fact there is

more and more policy push for swift to be on the table. it looks like that will happen, hopefully that will happen, i think. many of your commentators today have said there is no use to wait to escalate sanctions, throwing everything that the west can is what we have now. so i think this is not a signal that the ukrainian government is actually falling apart as may be, again, i say, i stress, the russians would have expected. the ukrainian forces are putting up a very strong and brave reply. your previous interviewee very painfully and eloquently communicated to you that she is a mother that will pick up a kalashnikov to defend her family and her city and her country. it is not yet a moment for negotiations. ukrainians will defend to every last minute, it seems.—

ukrainians will defend to every last minute, it seems. thank you, it has been very interesting _ minute, it seems. thank you, it has been very interesting talking - minute, it seems. thank you, it has been very interesting talking to - been very interesting talking to you. thank you for your input. nato is holding an extraordinary summit to discuss developments in and around ukraine. in opening remarks, the secretary general, jens stoltenberg, said russia had shattered peace in europe. what we have warned against for months has come to pass, despite all our efforts to find a diplomatic solution. moscow bears sole responsibility for the deliberate, cold—blooded and long—planned invasion. we condemn russia's aggressions in the strongest possible terms, and call on russia to immediately cease its military action. we stand with the brave people of ukraine. we fully support ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, its right of self—defence, and its right to choose its own path.

the eu has reportedly agreed to freeze the assets of president putin and russian foreign minister sergey lavrov over ukraine. america has also announced further sanctions on russia. president biden says the us is targetting russia's largest banks and state—owned companies, cutting them off from western financial markets, and freezing trillions of dollars in assets. and the european commission says eu sanctions will make it impossible for moscow to buy technology, upgrading its oil refineries, or spare parts for aircraft. 0ur correspondentjessica parker is in brussels. you have been across what has been coming out of brussels today and there seems to be some consensus at least now in some areas.— least now in some areas. yeah, it is interesting- — least now in some areas. yeah, it is interesting- eu _ least now in some areas. yeah, it is interesting. eu leaders _ least now in some areas. yeah, it is interesting. eu leaders met - least now in some areas. yeah, it is interesting. eu leaders met last - interesting. eu leaders met last night to sign off sort of, although it is still in the process of being signed off, this package of sanctions. a couple of new themes emerging today aside from those broader measures you mentioned about

preventing, an export ban stopping them being able to upgrade their oil refineries, also an export ban on aircraft and pipes to aircraft that will pay for russia's commercial airlines. something else we have heard coming in today is president putin and his foreign minister sergey lavrov will be subject to an asset ban, asset freeze, i'm sorry, thatis asset ban, asset freeze, i'm sorry, that is being discussed by foreign ministers now. has only really emerged today. they have been some pressure to move in that direction and it raises quite a lot of questions about what assets they can locate of president putin's and sergey lavrov�*s. some suggesting it is potentially something of a symbolic move but that being something that has emerged over the course of the afternoon and i'm just hearing from eu diplomatic sources, as well, this issue of swift, the international payment system, which some member states in the eu are reluctant to cut russia off front, i am being told it is under

consideration for a third package of sanctions against russia. we are not as if their package yet, they are signing of the second, that i am told it is actively being discussed. some countries are still reluctant, and it is not some bbe you can deal unilaterally on its own but earlier today we had from the uk defence secretary ben wallace who said it was something britain was in favour of and would be trying to persuade others to get on—board with idea, as well. that looks like something that is moving in the direction that it could happen, though i think we would have to find out what people and president biden thoughts in the us, as well. ., ~ and president biden thoughts in the us, as well-— us, as well. thank you, jessica parker in _ us, as well. thank you, jessica parker in brussels. _ let's get more on the sanctions. but he pressure on the economy, business and individuals. let's speak to helena wood a senior research fellow at the royal united services institute — who used to work for the national crime agency.

let's ask about the sanctions that have been discussed. everything is on the table, how effective do you think these could potentially be? sanctions are necessary part of response but what we do know is the long—term impact, they do act quite slowly. sanctions alone are not going to put enough pressure on the regime to really turn this around. the types of people like putin, sergey lavrov, and the web of oligarchs and kleptocrats propping up oligarchs and kleptocrats propping up that regime tend not to hold assets in their own names but by obscure and murky shell companies across the globe. that is why we were quite pleased to see at least from a domestic perspective the uk is focusing not only am sanctions but also taking action domestically against the webs of properties and high—end wealth sequestered in the uk's own economy domestically. it uk's own economy domestically. it has taken a while. people have criticised the uk government for not doing enough but do you feel there

is a sense now that the government is a sense now that the government is well and truly acknowledging kleptocratic wealth in the uk? n kleptocratic wealth in the uk? i would absolutely agree. it is tragic it has taken a crisis of this scale to bring attention to an issue we have known about for decades. it has finally got number 10 to sit and listen, so the risks to our own domestic security and economic prosperity, harbouring not only russian wealth but global proceeds of crime and other dodgy cash in the uk economy. they have sat up and listen is now so it is really important that this becomes the decisive turning point on the role the uk plays in facilitating not only the laundering of russian wealth through the uk economy but all those other forms of wrongdoing, and we are really calling for this to be a key turning point in the uk's response to organised crime and tackling some of that wealth that has already found its way over the past three decades into the uk economy. ml past three decades into the uk econom . �* , past three decades into the uk econom . ~ , , , , past three decades into the uk economy-— past three decades into the uk econom. , ,, ., economy. all these issues you are

talkinu economy. all these issues you are talking about _ economy. all these issues you are talking about and _ economy. all these issues you are talking about and what _ economy. all these issues you are talking about and what you - economy. all these issues you are talking about and what you are i talking about and what you are saying about the uk economy and its ties and links to russian money, is that the uk think or is it also prevalent in european countries, as well? i prevalent in european countries, as well? ~ , prevalent in european countries, as well? ~' , ., , well? i think there is a web across the lobe well? i think there is a web across the globe and _ well? i think there is a web across the globe and we _ well? i think there is a web across the globe and we tend _ well? i think there is a web across the globe and we tend to - well? i think there is a web across the globe and we tend to find - well? i think there is a web across l the globe and we tend to find these assets washing up in places that tend to be... jurisdictions like the uk where removing them through court processes is timely and time—consuming, difficultand time—consuming, difficult and expensive time—consuming, difficultand expensive and these people know that. we have also, particularly in the uk, through the lack of transparency over corporate ownership, the lack of transparency over property registration in the uk, there is a real magnet around that russian cash so we are really keen and heightened to see the uk pushing forward with a package of measures under its economic crime bill, that we had promised up in the queen's speech in may which we hope will finally tackle the weaknesses that are inherent particularly in the uk system which acts as this

really particular unique magnet for all this cash, particularly russian, coming into the uk economy. it has been aood coming into the uk economy. it has been good to _ coming into the uk economy. it has been good to talk— coming into the uk economy. it has been good to talk to _ coming into the uk economy. it has been good to talk to you. _ coming into the uk economy. it has been good to talk to you. thank - coming into the uk economy. it has been good to talk to you. thank you so much. the un has warned that five million people could be displaced by the russian's invasion of ukraine. some people have already been seen walking on foot — wheeling their possessions in suitcases across the border into poland and hungary. i'm joined now by catherine woollard, director at european council on refugees and exiles. really good to talk to you, thank you for taking the time. talk us through what you know about the situation on these borders and how serious it is right now. the situation — serious it is right now. the situation is _ serious it is right now. the situation is certainly - serious it is right now. tue: situation is certainly dramatic and alarming. the figures we have show that up to 100,000 people have already been displaced since the invasion and that adds to at least 1.5 million internally displaced people within the country who were

displaced in 2014 or it due to violence since then. of the recently displaced, there are some tens of thousands of people who have crossed the borders into neighbouring countries. so far primarily into moldova and poland. at the polish border there is movement back and forth on both sides as family are also going back into ukraine to try to support relatives there. nonetheless, the situation is manageable and we would urge all political leaders and operational actors to not stoke fear about the number of arrivals. it is a situation that the eu and wider europe can manage. should the right decisions be taken to manage it. do you expect things to get worse? it is very unpredictable. that is one of the things that makes the response to displacement, or to the

displacement dimension of what is a complex security political crisis resulting from this act of aggression, responding to refugee arrivals, arrivals of displaced people is very difficult due to the extreme unpredictability. it is unclear already, as your report showed, what exactly is happening on the ground. i think the motivation and the aims of the invasion remain obscure to many commentators, tell how this will play out is hard to judge. nonetheless it is very likely that, with all similar wars and invasions, that displacement will be a major consequence and that means that the neighbouring countries primarily, but wider europe, supporting them, needs to be ready to respond and preparations are under way. to respond and preparations are underway. d0 to respond and preparations are under way-— to respond and preparations are underwa . ~ , under way. do you think europe is willin: to under way. do you think europe is willing to potentially _ under way. do you think europe is willing to potentially take - under way. do you think europe is willing to potentially take in - under way. do you think europe is willing to potentially take in tens l willing to potentially take in tens of thousands of refugees from ukraine? , ,., , , .,

of thousands of refugees from ukraine? , , , ., , ukraine? the responses we have seen so far from european _ ukraine? the responses we have seen so far from european countries - ukraine? the responses we have seen so far from european countries are - so far from european countries are positive at the level of rhetoric, discourse, narrative, and that needs them to be followed by actions. so them to be followed by actions. so the most important preparations in the most important preparations in the countries bordering ukraine i focused on focusing on research and capacity for people who cross the border and then making sure there is access to asylum system and adequate resources in asylum systems for those who decide to apply for asylum of those crossing. we are hearing a number of positive statements from countries for instance ensuring that their borders are kept open. this is in line with international law, people have to be able to cross borders to seek protection when their lives are at risk due to persecution or violence. and we are also hearing talk of humanitarian corridors being established and also

states stating that they will continue, orstart states stating that they will continue, or start to issue visas for ukrainians. it is about receiving people when they arrive in the appropriate way in line with international and legal obligations but it is also ensuring they have access to territory and that they can get to that point to seek protection. can get to that point to seek protection-— can get to that point to seek rotection. . . ., ., ., protection. catherine woollard, it has been really _ protection. catherine woollard, it has been really good _ protection. catherine woollard, it has been really good to _ protection. catherine woollard, it has been really good to talk- protection. catherine woollard, it has been really good to talk to i protection. catherine woollard, it| has been really good to talk to you and get your insight. thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. let's bring you that breaking news for a few minutes ago. the kremlin has said that vladimir putin has called belarus' president lukashenko to organise talks between a delegation from russia and one from ukraine in the belarusian capital minsk. this is the latest lines we are getting from there. earlier we had a kremlin

spokesperson saying that russia is prepared for talks with ukraine. he talked about the president zelensky declaring his resinous to discuss ukraine's neutral status. we are watching anything out for vladimir putin and he demanded the ukrainian army deposed the government during a televised address to members of the russian payment security council. calling them 'drug—addled neo—nazis'. let's take a listen. it is clear this is happening due to foreign consultants, mostly american consuls. i appeal to the ukrainian armed forces. do not allow the neo—nazis to use your children, your wives old people as human shields. take power into your own hands, like

that it will be easier for us to come to an agreement with that gang of druggies at neo—nazis who have seized kyiv and i taking the entire ukrainian people hostage. i would also like to pay the highest tribute to the russian soldiers and officers. they are acting courageously, professionally and heroically in fulfilling their military duty. successfully carrying out the very important mission of ensuring the security of our people and country. some are more lines we are getting from the us defence officials, who are feeding information. they are saying the us has so far observed more than 200 total missile launches so farfrom more than 200 total missile launches so far from russia, more than 200 total missile launches so farfrom russia, according to more than 200 total missile launches so far from russia, according to a us defence official. they say that some of missile launches have impacted civilian residential areas which tallies with some of the reports we are getting out of ukraine that some residential areas

have been impacted by missile attacks. they also go on to say that the russian scene in general to have lost momentum and the advance towards kyiv is going slower than russia anticipated, that tallies with what we have been hearing coming out of the area, that the russians have a general lost a bit of momentum in their attack of ukraine and the way they have moved forward. russia's invasion of ukraine is having a direct impact in the world of sport. in motor racing, formula one has cancelled this year's grand prix in russia, saying it's impossible to hold the race, under current circumstances. and in football, the champions league final has been switched from st petersburg to paris. good afternoon. as you mention, the situation in ukraine has affected many sporting events. first the russian grand prix in sochi, due to be held in september, has been

cancelled. organises the fia say staging a race i would have been impossible in the current circumstances. bastian fattal had said he would not race if it had gone ahead —— vettel. the race is closely associated with vladimir putin who helped bring the race to sochi in the future of nikita mazepin, the driver, needs to be resolved as his father sponsored the team and is a billionaire with close ties to president putin. the other high—profile sporting event to be moved out of russia, as you mention, is the champions league final. european football's governing body uefa says it will now be staged in paris instead of st petersburg, the original host city. the biggest club match in european football was due to be held at the gazprom stadium on may 28 but it will now take place at the stade de france stop it is the third season in a row that the final has been moved. uefa also say that

spartak moscow, the last remaining team from russia in european competitions, will not be able to play at home in their europa league last 16 tie against rb leipzig. they have ruled that all nominally at home games involving russian or ukrainian teams must be played at neutral venues until further notice. both ukraine and russia's are national teams are due to be in world cup qualification play—off matches in around three weeks. ukraine are away to scotland at hampden but russia are at home against poland. the match is scheduled to be played in moscow on march 24, but the polish fa do not want it to take place in russia and they think an alternative venue should be found. sweden, who could face russia in the final, also say that playing there at the moment is almost unthinkable. fifa say they are reviewing the situation urgently. also this afternoon we

have been told by the international olympic committee that they have urged all international sports federations to relocate or to cancel all sports events currently planned in russia or belarus. meanwhile manchester united have terminated their sponsorship deal with the russian national airline aeroflot. yesterday the airline was banned from operating in the uk by the british government. aeroflot has been the official carrier of manchester united since 2013, in a deal that still had another year to run. united did not use them to travel to madrid for their champions league match which took place on wednesday. that is the latest on the situation in ukraine affecting sporting events. we will have more for you later. let's talk now to a british couple. three weeks ago british couple manisha and metaish parmar travelled

to ukraine ahead of the birth of their twins via a surrograte. yesterday they were meant pick up the birth certificates for their newborn babies in kyiv but are now stuck in the city. their emergency travel documents have been approved by the british embassy, but are an eight hour away. manisha and her husband metaish parmarjoin me now. thank you both so much for taking the time to speak to us. you must be extremely worried about what is happening right now. took me through what has happened to you over the past 24 hours. it what has happened to you over the past 24 hours— past 24 hours. it has 'ust been absolutely * past 24 hours. it hasjust been absolutely devastating - past 24 hours. it hasjust been absolutely devastating and - absolutely devastating and terrifying. we have been hearing loud noises, explosions, gunfire, also it's going on and wejust explosions, gunfire, also it's going on and we just felt absolutely stranded where we are. we are stuck, we can't do anything, can't go anywhere and wejust we can't do anything, can't go anywhere and we just have to stay put and it is absolutely devastated us. we are absolutely terrified. this is a life or death situation. at the moment you are with your

newborn babies, i believe? s. at the moment you are with your newborn babies, i believe? s, we are, newborn babies, i believe? s, we are. yeah- _ newborn babies, i believe? s, we are. yeah- you — newborn babies, i believe? s, we are, yeah. you came _ newborn babies, i believe? s, we are, yeah. you came to _ newborn babies, i believe? s, we are, yeah. you came to pick- newborn babies, i believe? s, we| are, yeah. you came to pick them newborn babies, i believe? s, we i are, yeah. you came to pick them up at the beginning _ are, yeah. you came to pick them up at the beginning of— are, yeah. you came to pick them up at the beginning of february, - are, yeah. you came to pick them up at the beginning of february, so - at the beginning of february, so before any of this kicked off. took me through what happened, you pick them up, all was going well and then suddenly you find yourself in a situation where you couldn't go anywhere?— situation where you couldn't go an here? . . . ., anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to ick anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to -ick them anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to pick them up — anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to pick them up and _ anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to pick them up and we _ anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to pick them up and we were _ anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to pick them up and we were in - anywhere? yeah, correct. we came to pick them up and we were in our- pick them up and we were in our apartment, the babies were fine, everything was fine, and then all of a sudden we were told, right, that's it, you can't do anything, can't go anywhere, it is like a lock down here, there is curfew. we were absolutely stuck. luckily we were able to get some extra food, especially for the babies, as they are the main priority, defeat them and look after them and care for them. ~ . . , and look after them and care for them. . , them. what has the embassy been sa inc them. what has the embassy been sa in: to

them. what has the embassy been saying to you. _ them. what has the embassy been saying to you, manisha? _ them. what has the embassy been saying to you, manisha? how - them. what has the embassy been | saying to you, manisha? how much hell have you heard from them? hat hell have you heard from them? not much. -- hell have you heard from them? not much- -- how _ hell have you heard from them? tint much. —— how much help have you had from them was we had on our side of it, they said, in terms of issuing emergency travel documents, which need to be collected from lviv, but we cannot go anywhere, we are stuck. the roads are gridlocked, the trains are jam—packed, people are waiting hours on end just to get on the train and obviously there is no airspace, the airports are shut. bearing that in mind and also their art for adults and two newborn babies and all of our luggage, it is impossible to get out. there are no drivers available, they are looking after their own safety and there is no one available to take us. indie after their own safety and there is no one available to take us. we have asked the uk — no one available to take us. we have asked the uk embassy _ no one available to take us. we have asked the uk embassy if _ no one available to take us. we have asked the uk embassy if they - no one available to take us. we have asked the uk embassy if they can i asked the uk embassy if they can support— asked the uk embassy if they can support us— asked the uk embassy if they can support us in providing transportation to get us to lviv to

ensure _ transportation to get us to lviv to ensure we — transportation to get us to lviv to ensure we have those documents and then from _ ensure we have those documents and then from there travelled to poland where _ then from there travelled to poland where we _ then from there travelled to poland where we can catch a flight to the uk. where we can catch a flight to the uk that — where we can catch a flight to the uk that is — where we can catch a flight to the uk. that is the feedback we are getting — uk. that is the feedback we are getting from some of the people we have been— getting from some of the people we have been talking to but the problem is it is— have been talking to but the problem is it is getting a reliable driver to take — is it is getting a reliable driver to take us, considering there are six of— to take us, considering there are six of us, — to take us, considering there are six of us, and the luggage we currently— six of us, and the luggage we currently have, to take us to lviv and we _ currently have, to take us to lviv and we have _ currently have, to take us to lviv and we have been unsuccessful so far. and we have been unsuccessful so fan we _ and we have been unsuccessful so far. we have asked the british embassy— far. we have asked the british embassy to support and help us on that _ embassy to support and help us on that from — embassy to support and help us on that. from what we gather, the feedback— that. from what we gather, the feedback we have got from them as they cannot help us in regard to that at— they cannot help us in regard to that at the _ they cannot help us in regard to that at the moment. we need some help and _ that at the moment. we need some help and support. we that at the moment. we need some help and support-— help and support. we are pleading. manisha and _ help and support. we are pleading. manisha and metaish, _ help and support. we are pleading. manisha and metaish, thank - help and support. we are pleading. manisha and metaish, thank you i help and support. we are pleading. | manisha and metaish, thank you for talking to us. i hope you find the

help you out looking for and i wish you and your new family the very best of luck. you and your new family the very best of luck-— you and your new family the very best of luck._ thank . you and your new family the very i best of luck._ thank you, best of luck. thank you. thank you, we have every _ best of luck. thank you. thank you, we have every confidence _ best of luck. thank you. thank you, we have every confidence in - best of luck. thank you. thank you, we have every confidence in the - best of luck. thank you. thank you, we have every confidence in the uk| we have every confidence in the uk government that they will help. thank you very much, thank you. just want to bring you some pictures now. this is at a train station in kyiv where many citizens are trying to flee the city to get to lviv near the western border with poland. this is what manisha and metaish had to deal with. they want to go to lviv, and the number of people here, it looks like a bit of a scrum to get into these trains. ukrainian military to fire shots to disperse the crowd trying to flee. now we can speak to peter dickinson who is a british expat who has lived and worked in kiev for the last 20 years. he and his family have been on the road for 29 hours, as he tries to get to his hotel

in the western carpathian mountains. he's travelling with his wife, children and extended family who all left their homes as air strikes began. and peterjoins us from inside his car still en route to his destination. how are you doing? the streets are holdin: how are you doing? the streets are holding up. — how are you doing? the streets are holding up. it— how are you doing? the streets are holding up, it has— how are you doing? the streets are holding up, it has not _ how are you doing? the streets are holding up, it has not been - how are you doing? the streets are holding up, it has not been a - how are you doing? the streets are holding up, it has not been a fun i holding up, it has not been a fun last day and a half as you can imagine but we are safe which is the main thing. we are safe and together so we try to put the emphasis on that but it has been quite a journey, quite a drawn—out experience and we are very, very tired, as you can imagine. what tired, as you can imagine. what exactly have _ tired, as you can imagine. what exactly have you _ tired, as you can imagine. what exactly have you left _ tired, as you can imagine. what exactly have you left behind - tired, as you can imagine. what exactly have you left behind on this long journey? taste exactly have you left behind on this long journey?— exactly have you left behind on this lona 'ourne ? ~ , ., , long journey? we woke up on thursday mornin: , long journey? we woke up on thursday morning. as — long journey? we woke up on thursday morning. as did — long journey? we woke up on thursday morning, as did most _ long journey? we woke up on thursday morning, as did most people _ long journey? we woke up on thursday morning, as did most people in - long journey? we woke up on thursday morning, as did most people in kyiv, i morning, as did most people in kyiv, to the sound of air strikes. i live, ourfamily home is to the sound of air strikes. i live, our family home is close to an airfield that was hit at 5am so we had a very distressing line call,

these explosions —— michael distressing alarm call. this was a worst—case scenario so we moved very fast in the morning to collect our belongings, contact family members and we were on the road before lunch heading west, which is where we are now. we are now in the mountains in west ukraine very close to the border with poland and slovakia and hungary, the eu countries, so we will stay here for a day or two probably before perhaps moving further. we are not entirely sure of our plans yet but this part of the country is still calm. it has been very hectic, stressful and traumatic to have to collect our lives together and lock up our family home and leave and not know when we will be able to come back. what and leave and not know when we will be able to come back.— be able to come back. what has it been like with _ be able to come back. what has it been like with your _ be able to come back. what has it been like with your family? -

be able to come back. what has it been like with your family? i - be able to come back. what has it| been like with your family? i know you are travelling with two young daughters, it must be really difficult for you all.- daughters, it must be really difficult for you all. yeah, my wife has been wonderful, _ difficult for you all. yeah, my wife has been wonderful, she - difficult for you all. yeah, my wife has been wonderful, she is - has been wonderful, she is wonderful, and she has handled it very well and my daughters have been very well and my daughters have been very mature. they are well aware of what is going on and have been aware of what is going on. this is not news. it is shocking what has happened in the last few days but the conflict with russia has been a sort of permanent backdrop to life in ukraine for the past eight years and so the idea of russian hostility has always been there in the background and that has come dramatically to the foreground stop thatis dramatically to the foreground stop that is traumatic for them, as well, so we are trying to not place too much emphasis... t’m so we are trying to not place too much emphasis. . ._ so we are trying to not place too much emphasis... i'm afraid i have to stop you — much emphasis... i'm afraid i have to stop you but _ much emphasis... i'm afraid i have to stop you but it _ much emphasis... i'm afraid i have to stop you but it has _ much emphasis... i'm afraid i have to stop you but it has been - to stop you but it has been interesting to talk to you and i wish you and your family the very best of luck in yourjourney. plenty more coming up on bbc news injust a

few minutes. and of course on our website, as always. from me, for now, goodbye. hello, there. the floodwaters will continue to recede in the next few days. we're in for a spell of much quieter weather, and generally dry weather, too. all the shower clouds that we had yesterday pushed away from the north sea, and instead this cloud in the atlantic is looming large. it's a set of weather fronts, they'll bring some stronger winds together with the cloud. probably not a great deal of rain, though. ahead of it, we've still got colder air, despite the sunshine — these are the temperatures as we head towards the end of the day, seven or eight degrees. there is a bit of rain on that first weather front, affecting the north and west of scotland — that should tend to get blown away overnight so generally dry, quite cloudy for scotland, northern ireland, and there'll be a stronger wind around, as well. so these areas are going to be much milder tonight. bit on the chilly side across england and wales — especially in the midlands, east anglia, in the southeast,

east anglia, and the southeast, where the winds are lighter and skies are clearer. a touch of frost early on saturday morning. here, we're closer to that area of high pressure and that at the moment is keeping these weather fronts and the rain at bay out in the atlantic. so that's not going to move very far at all on saturday. lot of dry weather again on saturday, more in the way of cloud for scotland and northern ireland — some of that cloud spilling into england and wales, making the sunshine a bit hazy. the best of the blue skies probably towards east anglia and the southeast. the winds will be a bit stronger everywhere. it's a southerly wind, mind you — that will bring in some higher temperatures, so typically we're going to be sitting at a decent ten to 12 degrees on saturday afternoon. now, the high pressure is eventually going to push away, and these weather fronts will start to track in from the atlantic. they'll bring some rain towards northwestern areas overnight into sunday morning, but not much rain, and the weather front is going to weaken as it moves slowly eastwards. so any rain across scotland and northern ireland tending to peter out, there won't be much heading into western parts of england and wales, but there will be more cloud for all of these areas. the sunshine continues through the east midlands, east anglia and the southeast —

temperatures nine, ten degrees. the winds will be lighter on sunday. now, at one point, this rapidly deepening area of low pressure could have been a named storm but, at the moment, the forecast takes it up towards iceland and it will give us a glancing blow into the far northwest of the uk. but that weather front will bring more cloud and rain, and that rain will push away from scotland and northern ireland, it'll turn colder and more showery, but we'll see some rain heading into england and wales. that rain could be heavy, actually, over hills in the west, and we're back to temperatures typically around nine or ten celsius.

this is bbc news. i'm geeta guru—murthy. the headlines: russian forces in armoured vehicles reach the ukrainian capital, kyiv — ukraine's army says it continues to fight, and a government adviser says 18,000 machine guns have been handed out to people volunteering to defend the city. ukrainian troops take up defensive positions to defend the capital. explosion it follows a night of air strikes and explosions over the city, as russian forces appear to close in on the capital. damage in kyiv�*s residential neighbourhoods, after reports of missile strikes and an aircraft being shot down. families shelter underground for protection in ukraine's metro stations — amid warnings of further strikes.

the most powerful forces in the world watch from afar. have yesterday's sanctions persuaded russia? we see in our skies and feel on the ground they are not enough. the kremlin says it's prepared for talks with ukraine. vladimir putin calls on the ukrainian military to put down their weapons. translation: take power into our weapons. translation: take power into your own — weapons. translation: take power into your own hands, _ weapons. translation: take power into your own hands, like _ weapons. translation: take power into your own hands, like that - weapons. translation: take power into your own hands, like that it - into your own hands, like that it will be easier for us to come to an agreement than with that gang of druggies and neo—nazis. nato re—iterates its support for ukraine and condemns russian aggression. moscow bears sole responsibility for the deliberate, cold—blooded and long—planned invasion. thousands continue to escape from the capital — while many arrive at ukraine's western borders with poland, slovakia and hungary — these are live pictures of people crossing into romania from its border with ukraine.

eu officials agreed to freeze assets belonging to president putin and foreign minister sergey lavrov as part of a package of sanctions. football's governing body uefa moves this year's champions league final from st petersburg to paris and formula 1 councils this year's russian grand prix. hello, thanks for joining hello, thanks forjoining us. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has called on the country's army to stand firm, as the capital kyiv comes under direct attack from russian forces. officials said troops reached a north—west suburb of the city this morning, after loud explosions and air raid sirens began overnight. a government adviser says 18,000 machine guns have been handed out

to people volunteering to defend the city. this is video from social media today, appearing to show russian armoured vehicles driving through the residential district of 0bolon, to the north—west of kyiv. the area is just nine kilometres — that's five and a half miles — north of kyiv�*s parliament, the presidential office and the city centre. authorities have told residents in 0bolon to stay off the streets. the us has said no cities have yet been taken but more than 200 missile launchers have been seen so far, including some hitting residential areas. some 100,000 people across ukraine are thought to have left their homes seeking safety. the nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg opened the meeting of the organisation by condemning russia's organisation by condemning russia's organisation calling it deliberate, cold—blooded and long planned. eu officials say the block has agreed to freeze assets belonging to russia's vladimir putin and foreign secretary sergey lavrov as part of a

package of sanctions. earlier president zelensky had a plea for more help from the international community and said he would not leave kyiv, even though he knows he is a target. the kremlin has said it is a target. the kremlin has said it is willing to send a negotiating team to neighbouring belarus for talks about the neutral status of ukraine. paul adams sent this report. another barrage before dawn. ukrainian anti—aircraft batteries intercepting a russian missile over the capital, one of two shot down this morning. as the assault closes in on kyiv, 2.5 million civilians are suddenly on the front line. firefighters in one suburb struggled to put out the blaze. russia says it is not targeting civilians, but this is what happens when you fire missiles at a capital city. for many, it was the second night of cowering in basements and bomb shelters, doing whatever it takes to keep fear at bay. they always knew where these places were but never really

dreamed they'd use them. not in 2022. now we have come to the building where the bomb shelter is, we are trying to stay here, it is pretty crowded. people get their dogs and cats and kids, and we are hearing the news about possible attacks in this district. and now the russians are right outside in anna's neighbourhood. this is 0bolon, north of the city centre. an armoured vehicle runs over a car, eyewitnesses unable to believe what they are saying. what they are seeing. amazingly, the driver survives, pulled from the wreckage by desperate passers—by. equally unbelievable, one of the city's buses, still running, forced to give way to kyiv�*s invaders. in 24 hours, these streets have almost completely emptied. it is increasingly dangerous to go out. the ukrainians have warned that russian soldiers could be operating inside the city, perhaps even in stolen

ukrainian vehicles. pressure on the government is mounting all the time. most people here believe the russians simply want to get rid of it. siren blares sirens are more frequent, and the sound of distant explosions too. for the ukrainian president, speaking to his people, this is a lonely fight. translation: this morning, j we are alone in defending our country, just like yesterday. the most powerful forces in the world watch from afar. ukraine is huge, the attacks have affected almost every major city. russian armoured columns have been rolling in from north, south and east. the old chernobyl nuclear reactor is now in russian hands, but it seems the air base at gostomel, seized yesterday, may have been taken back. in the east, close to the russian border, there was ferocious fighting overnight at sumy. the russians may not have made as much progress as they hoped here, and are suffering casualties too.

back in kyiv, the wreckage of an unidentified russian aircraft. the odds in this war are massively stacked against ukraine, but it is fighting back. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. i'm joined by lyse doucet who is in kyiv, our chief international reporter. give us an update of how things have been in the capital in the last hour or so. we things have been in the capital in the last hour or so.— things have been in the capital in the last hour or so. we spent the last hour or— the last hour or so. we spent the last hour or so _ the last hour or so. we spent the last hour or so just _ the last hour or so. we spent the last hour or so just driving - the last hour or so. we spent the | last hour or so just driving around the city, and it is like a ghost city. it is very eerie. the streets are empty, streets thatjust days ago were full of people, full of energy, the cafe is full, the restaurant is booming, real sense of joy restaurant is booming, real sense of joy and life going on, and now people have either taken to bomb shelters, taken to the metro stations, or they are packing their bags to leave. you could see these

two different rhythms of life, at one intersection in a residential area in the north of the city, and remember the north of the city is only about 90 kilometres away from the belarusian border, the russian troops are advancing and you could hear the scratching of suitcases as a whole crowd of young people dragged their suitcases along. they were leaving the city for safer places. but at the end of the street there was another long queue of people, mainly men, flooding into an office where they were signing up to join the territorial reserve. they had come, they had shown their passports, the get a piece of tape strapped around their arm. i spoke to one man and i said what kind of experience do you have fighting? he said i'm a medical student, experience do you have fighting? he said i'm a medicalstudent, i experience do you have fighting? he said i'm a medical student, i don't have any. i said, why are you signing up right now? because it's only hours before we will have to go to the fight. so you got that sense

of urgency, either urgency to leave, to take over if you feel you have to do, and urgency to get into position to take on the russians who are advancing. to take on the russians who are advancing-— to take on the russians who are advancinu. �* .,, ., advancing. are those men, though, bein: advancing. are those men, though, being allowed _ advancing. are those men, though, being allowed to _ advancing. are those men, though, being allowed to leave _ advancing. are those men, though, being allowed to leave if _ advancing. are those men, though, being allowed to leave if they - advancing. are those men, though, being allowed to leave if they don't| being allowed to leave if they don't want to fight? and what realistic chance do they have of resisting that russian invasion into the capital if it comes?— that russian invasion into the capital if it comes? that's the ruestion capital if it comes? that's the question i _ capital if it comes? that's the question i put— capital if it comes? that's the question i put to _ capital if it comes? that's the question i put to the - capital if it comes? that's the question i put to the medical| question i put to the medical student. i said, question i put to the medical student. isaid, aren't question i put to the medical student. i said, aren't you worried about taking on the might of the russian army? and i suppose this is a moment for bravado, and he said why do you call it the mighty russian army? that's not how we look at it. he was brimming with confidence. i wonder whether at a time like this when you have the russian president saying that ukraine is a fake country, it was created by the bolsheviks, where you have an invasion by russia in full flow now, that perhaps ukrainians feel more ukrainian than ever and

they realise that this is an existential crisis for them and they are going to fight back. the existential crisis for them and they are going to fight back.— are going to fight back. the risk of loss of life obviously _ are going to fight back. the risk of loss of life obviously is _ are going to fight back. the risk of loss of life obviously is what - are going to fight back. the risk of loss of life obviously is what so i loss of life obviously is what so many people are worried about. what is your assessment of how any takeover of the capital would unfold? t takeover of the capital would unfold? .., �* takeover of the capital would unfold? .. �* ., takeover of the capital would unfold? �* ., , ., , ., ., unfold? i can't get one story out of m mind, unfold? i can't get one story out of my mind. and _ unfold? i can't get one story out of my mind. and we _ unfold? i can't get one story out of my mind, and we have _ unfold? i can't get one story out of my mind, and we have reported i unfold? i can't get one story out of my mind, and we have reported it| my mind, and we have reported it throughout the day, that there is an island off the black sea coast called snake island, or a serpent island, and russian forces approached it and called on the residents, there was only a small number of people, less than 20 people on this small island, and basically said to them you have to surrender, we are the russian army, and they basically used an expletive and they basically used an expletive and they basically used an expletive and they were all shot dead. they were shot dead because they stood their ground. were shot dead because they stood their ground-— their ground. that's obviously an incredibly striking _ their ground. that's obviously an incredibly striking anecdote, - their ground. that's obviously an incredibly striking anecdote, andj incredibly striking anecdote, and striking story. ijust want incredibly striking anecdote, and striking story. i just want to ask you all so about this line we have

been hearing from dmitry peskov, the kremlin's spokesman saying russia is preparing for talks with ukraine and putin would be ready to send to minsk in belarus a russian delegation to discuss the idea of neutrality. what is your assessment of that kind of move being possible? zelinsky has been saying that he wants talks. zelinsky has been saying that he wants talks-— zelinsky has been saying that he wants talks. , , , wants talks. this is very loaded, i was in minsk _ wants talks. this is very loaded, i was in minsk in _ wants talks. this is very loaded, i was in minsk in 2015 _ wants talks. this is very loaded, i was in minsk in 2015 where - wants talks. this is very loaded, i was in minsk in 2015 where the i wants talks. this is very loaded, i - was in minsk in 2015 where the minsk agreement then was concluded. and when you ask the ukrainians about that now, they say basically we had a gun to our head, russian troops had already annexed crimea, they had moved into the donbas in the east of ukraine, and ukraine felt it had to give in to this agreement, which was widely seen as being favourable to russia. .2 minsk now, where belarus is almost connected to russia, they

are working very much side by side in this fight —— going to minsk. it will be difficult for the ukrainians. but also what sergey lavrov talked about was discussing the neutrality of ukraine. what does neutrality mean? does it mean guarantees that ukraine will never join nato? we also heard the word neutrality and willingness to discuss it from an adviser to the ukrainian president today but they mean very different things to the ukrainians and to the russians. and of course president putin described the government today as being neo—nazis and drug addicts that were holding the whole population of ukraine hostage. that's not a very respectful way of describing the government of the neighbour next door. fist government of the neighbour next door. �* , , door. at lyse doucet in kyiv, stay safe to you _ door. at lyse doucet in kyiv, stay safe to you and — door. at lyse doucet in kyiv, stay safe to you and all— door. at lyse doucet in kyiv, stay safe to you and all the _ door. at lyse doucet in kyiv, stay safe to you and all the teams - door. at lyse doucet in kyiv, stay safe to you and all the teams out| safe to you and all the teams out there, of course. thank you very much indeed. in a news conference in moscow today russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov denied moscow

wanted to occupy ukraine and claimed russia's assault was to demilitarise and as we heard from lyse doucet to denazify the country so that ukrainians could freely determine their own future. with more, here is our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley. chanting they are chanting "no to war" — a show of disgust last night in central moscow in a country where many are still in shock at the invasion of ukraine. it takes bravery to protest in president putin's russia. across the country, close to 2,000 people are now reported to have been taken into custody for taking a stand against what the kremlin has done. translation: what happened is a shame. many of us have relatives and friends from ukraine and this is a betrayal towards them. translation: i am expressing my protest against what is happening i because of my country. i'm surprised that not more citizens are protesting against aggression towards ukraine. how long will this war last? what does the kremlin now intend? it has accused ukraine of being a western puppet, it's made clear it wants to bring its neighbourfirmly back into its sphere of influence.

today, russia's foreign minister said russia was ready to negotiate, if the ukrainian army surrendered. translation: but what would be the result of all— that is happening now? we will see, depending on the circumstances, i as president putin said, - he reaffirmed one more time that we are interested in seeing ukrainian people independent. i for "independent", read "under moscow's thumb". vladimir putin's aim is to overthrow ukraine's democratically elected government. moscow wants to see regime change in ukraine as the speaker has it here, and i think it was reiterated, ukraine is being charged with running an extreme nationalist government and actually marginalising russian speakers. and the humanitarian consequences of russia's war are onlyjust beginning. refugees arriving this morning in neighbouring countries

through ukraine's western borders. women and children escaping, men left behind to fight. how many more ukrainians will flee president putin's forces, and what can the outside world do now to try to make this stop? caroline hawley, bbc news. 0ur correspondent in moscow isjenny hill. jenny, can i ask you about this line we have heard from the kremlin's spokesman dmitry peskov on a possible set of talks in minsk to discuss the idea of neutrality? what do you read into that? what does russia mean by that? t do you read into that? what does russia mean by that?— russia mean by that? i think it is still very difficult _ russia mean by that? i think it is still very difficult to _ russia mean by that? i think it is still very difficult to know - russia mean by that? i think it is still very difficult to know what i russia mean by that? i think it is still very difficult to know what isj still very difficult to know what is in vladimir putin's mind and what he wants. as you say, the kremlin has now said that it wants negotiations,

sorry, moscow wants negotiations with ukraine and they want those negotiations to happen in minsk and the kremlin spokesman said it has asked the belarusian leader alexander lukashenko to organise those negotiations. the talk has been about discussing ukraine's neutrality. it is not really clear from this perspective what is meant by that. though clearly we can all speculate. what i think is really interesting, though, isjust as speculate. what i think is really interesting, though, is just as the invasion is intensifying in in ukraine, so too is vladimir putin's rhetoric. we heard some extraordinary language coming from him this afternoon as he addressed his security council. he urged the ukrainian military, in effect, to stage a coup, saying they should rise up against their leadership, against their own government and take power into their own hands. he

described the government, as you heard lyse doucet saying, as terrorists, drug addicts and neo—nazis. the last, perhaps not surprising, as moscow has repeatedly and baseless lee sought to cast its invasion of ukraine as a necessary attempt to come in their words, denazify the country, so we hear the term neo—nazis a lot and putin went to tell his security council that neo—nazis were hiding heavy machinery, heavy armaments, heavy weaponry, in the centre of ukrainian cities using civilians, effectively, as human shields. all this, he said, upon the recommendation of foreign advisers, american advisers. so lots of different messages, i think, coming out of moscow tonight. very difficult still to divine what is in the mind of vladimir putin and what will happen next.—

will happen next. jenny hill, thanks ve much will happen next. jenny hill, thanks very much indeed _ will happen next. jenny hill, thanks very much indeed for— will happen next. jenny hill, thanks very much indeed for that _ will happen next. jenny hill, thanks very much indeed for that live - will happen next. jenny hill, thanks very much indeed for that live in i very much indeed for that live in moscow. let's go to europe and get the view from our correspondent jessica parker in brussels. jessica, we are seeing increasing moves by various bodies to exclude russia and also to impose sanctions, a big argument about swift, this banking messaging system, and weather resistance from some european countries can be broken down to impose that. europe still seems quite divided. tt impose that. europe still seems quite divided.— impose that. europe still seems quite divided. it is so interesting because things _ quite divided. it is so interesting because things have _ quite divided. it is so interesting because things have moved - quite divided. it is so interesting because things have moved so i quite divided. it is so interesting i because things have moved so fast this week, pretty fast as well with eu sanctions and the eu is not an organisation that is necessarily known for its speed in terms of decision—making, but yesterday what we were hearing is that swift, cutting russia out of swift, this international payments system, wasn't really the focus in the mix for now, but kept on the table,

particularly countries like germany i think worried that were you to cut russia out of this payment system russia out of this payment system russia could turn around and say, well, you are not paying us, we are not going to give you any gas, and as we know europe, the eu incredibly dependent on russian gas, although it is trying to move as quickly as it is trying to move as quickly as it can to wean itself off russian energy supplies. but today actually things seem to have changed a little bit. there are interesting comments, simon covey, the irish foreign minister arriving for a meeting here this afternoon, saying that swift does need to be looked at as part of a third package of sanctions, and eu sources i'm talking to are basically telling me it is on the table for a third package of sanctions, despite still some reluctance from certain countries, and we know the united kingdom has been saying that it wants to see russia cut out of a swift, so there is some momentum, i think, and it all depends on what happens over the coming days, what actions the kremlin takes, but it

certainly feels we are in a slightly different position in brussels on that particular issue than we were just a day ago. the that particular issue than we were just a day ago-— that particular issue than we were just a day ago. the czech republic resident just a day ago. the czech republic president has _ just a day ago. the czech republic president has also _ just a day ago. the czech republic president has also added - just a day ago. the czech republic president has also added his - just a day ago. the czech republic president has also added his voice j president has also added his voice to those calls for swift to be restricted. it has been discussed for some time. there are other moves we have been hearing like eurovision song contest, apparently russia will no longer participate in this year's contest, according to the european broadcasting union which produces the event, that statement has just been issued from them. one wonders how much these different moves are going to have an impact.— going to have an impact. that's a ve aood going to have an impact. that's a very good question. _ going to have an impact. that's a very good question. something i going to have an impact. that's a i very good question. something you hearfrom the eu very good question. something you hear from the eu about its sanctions package, which it says is very targeted, by which it means they have looked really carefully at what they can do to damage the sources of income going into the kremlin, going into financial measures, to try and

cut access off from certain banks in russia, they are targeting oligarchs as well, they are trying to stop certain exports so they are putting a ban on aircraft exports and parts of aircrafts so it is going to be difficult for russian airlines to do exports and oil refineries in russia so they can't be upgraded, and the idea is in the words of one official crippled the kremlin's ability to finance this conflict. the slight issue with that argument is obviously with the conflict which is happening at the moment, sol obviously with the conflict which is happening at the moment, so i think this is a kind of longer term view in terms of when the sanctions will really start to bite. but what the eu is saying that by doing this they are going to stop in the longer or medium term the kremlin being able to easily finance these things. but when you listen to whatjenny is saying in moscow, certainly the public message from the kremlin is that they think they can cope with

the sanctions, and to some extent they were expecting them as well. worth mentioning as well vladimir putin and sergei lavrov, the foreign minister, themselves being personally targeted, it emerged today, by an asset freeze from the eu. again, though, not clearto today, by an asset freeze from the eu. again, though, not clear to what extent the eu has identified any assets that might be clearly under sergei lavrov or putin's names, so it is not clear if that is a more symbolic move but it has grab some headlines. , , , .., symbolic move but it has grab some headlines. . , , ., ~ headlines. jessica parker, live in brussels, thank _ headlines. jessica parker, live in brussels, thank you _ headlines. jessica parker, live in brussels, thank you very - headlines. jessica parker, live in brussels, thank you very much. | headlines. jessica parker, live in - brussels, thank you very much. large numbers of ukrainian civilians are on the move trying to find safety and shelter. the un says 100,000 people have left their homes so far. many are heading to neighbouring countries of poland, romania and hungary. 0ur correspondent nick thorpe is on the beregsurany border between the ukraine and hungary. it is with us now. how many people have you seen and where have they come from? what sort of state are they in? i have been here since early this

morning. it is hard to count people. they are coming in dribs and drabs, sometimes larger numbers, largely families with a lot of children, but what is notable is that there are very few men among them, this is because the ukrainian authorities are saying men between the ages of 18 and 60 should stay behind and fight so basically we have had cars passing along this road behind me from ukraine. it is one of the smaller border crossings but it is favoured by many ukrainians today because there have been shorter queues, only a few hours here compared to much longer queues at other places. as i say, mostly women and children, often very, very tired, you can see people passing behind me. there is a cafejust over here where they have been trying to warm up with hot tea and the local council has been serving hot tea for people. people are very tired, waiting by the roadside for hours hoping relatives and friends will pick them up and some people

crossing with nowhere to go at all and as yet no infrastructure on a national level in place here to help them. ~ . , ., ., ,, them. where are they going to spend toniuht in them. where are they going to spend tonight in that _ them. where are they going to spend tonight in that case? _ them. where are they going to spend tonight in that case? there _ them. where are they going to spend tonight in that case? there are - tonight in that case? there are different local _ tonight in that case? there are different local guesthouses, i tonight in that case? there are l different local guesthouses, the place i was staying just up the road last night, the telephone was ringing and the door bell was ringing and the door bell was ringing all night and the elderly couple that run the place basically was saying we are not going to turn anyone away so there were people waiting in the kitchen, waiting as rooms came free this morning, and so basically local people at the moment bearing the brunt, certainly here in hungary. we are hearing also from other countries, in slovakia large companies offering to move people who are stuck at the borders further into the country, and different initiatives in different countries with everyone trying to group together and see how to help these people. together and see how to help these --eole. .

together and see how to help these --eole. ., , �* , ., , people. nick thorpe in beregsurany, thank ou people. nick thorpe in beregsurany, thank you very _ people. nick thorpe in beregsurany, thank you very much, _ people. nick thorpe in beregsurany, thank you very much, on _ people. nick thorpe in beregsurany, thank you very much, on that - people. nick thorpe in beregsurany, thank you very much, on that borderl thank you very much, on that border there. we are going to go live to virginia and speak to john sipher who speak tojohn sipher who spent 28 years in the cia's national clan design service. in terms of putin's and going, what is your best guess as to what we are seeing? t5 and going, what is your best guess as to what we are seeing? is endgame is to stay in — as to what we are seeing? is endgame is to stay in power— as to what we are seeing? is endgame is to stay in power are _ as to what we are seeing? is endgame is to stay in power are to _ as to what we are seeing? is endgame is to stay in power are to survive. - is to stay in power are to survive. the thing he fears most is being dragged into a situation like moamer gaddafi in libya. he talked about nato expansion being the thing the start of this crisis, well, it is actually democratic expansion that scares him, so while a successful democratic ukraine on his border could be a signal to his people that perhaps his leadership and dictatorship is not the way to go. so he's decided that he needs to invade and take down ukraine on completely false and manufactured

circumstances and essentially attacking an innocent to is called murder. so i think day to day as a dictator you're just trying to stay in power, the mentality almost, you may die tomorrow... i messed that up, i'm sorry! it is a day to day existence. lh up, i'm sorry! it is a day to day existence-— up, i'm sorry! it is a day to day existence. , ., , existence. in terms of the messaging that we are getting _ existence. in terms of the messaging that we are getting out _ existence. in terms of the messaging that we are getting out of— existence. in terms of the messaging that we are getting out of moscow, i that we are getting out of moscow, we have heard some pretty aggressive language talking about ukrainian neo—nazis from president putin and urging the ukrainian troops to take power into their own hands, but also a message from moscow that they could be ready for talks on the idea of neutrality, again, having studied their politics, what do you read into that. are the talks a realistic way out of this? by into that. are the talks a realistic way out of this?—

way out of this? a couple of days auo the way out of this? a couple of days ago they said _ way out of this? a couple of days ago they said they _ way out of this? a couple of days ago they said they had _ way out of this? a couple of days ago they said they had no - way out of this? a couple of days ago they said they had no plans i way out of this? a couple of days| ago they said they had no plans to invade ukraine. putin has been lying and lying and also been spreading disinformation for years, especially into ukraine. so i don't put much stock into anything they suggest they might do, for neutrality or anything else. at this point it is up anything else. at this point it is up to the ukrainians to defend themselves as best they can and hopefully the west can support them in doing that. trusting vladimir putin now, or trusting his foreign minister, i think they have been at a political war against us in the west for 8—10 years and we have sort of ignored it and pretend that it wasn't happening. and so right now we need to deal with what is at hand and not try to think about promises from moscow. and not try to think about promises from moscow-— and not try to think about promises from moscow. . , , ., ., ., from moscow. there has been a lot of intelli . ence from moscow. there has been a lot of intelligence released _ from moscow. there has been a lot of intelligence released from _ from moscow. there has been a lot of intelligence released from the - from moscow. there has been a lot of intelligence released from the us, i intelligence released from the us, but also may be a sense that the west didn't fully see this coming and that many people felt putin would not go this far. how do you explain that sort of dish join?

that's really interesting, the intelligence had been saying exactly what happened, but the russian people are surprised too, we are seeing people on the streets of russia rising up also. time to get the message to moscow and the russian people to explain what is going on here. russian people to explain what is going on here-— going on here. how strong is the western intelligence, _ going on here. how strong is the western intelligence, do - going on here. how strong is the western intelligence, do you - going on here. how strong is the i western intelligence, do you think, now in russia?— western intelligence, do you think, now in russia? working in russia is very difficult- _ now in russia? working in russia is very difficult- i _ now in russia? working in russia is very difficult. i spent _ now in russia? working in russia is very difficult. i spent my _ now in russia? working in russia is very difficult. i spent my career- now in russia? working in russia is very difficult. i spent my career in i very difficult. i spent my career in the kindest iron service working in russia. russians are as paranoiac inside as we are now seeing on the outside so collecting intelligence is very difficult but we and our british partners and others have been doing it for years, and also paying attention closely to putin for years, so you could argue this crisis is partly due to our leadership, assuming they could change putin and his calculus. he's

been attacking us for years, and instead of dealing with them harshly instead of dealing with them harshly in the past, which we should have done, we continue to give him an out, accommodate him and hoping he would change. it is clear now who never was going to change and so now we have to focus on deterrence and hard measures rather than sort of hoping for a negotiation and the fact he is going to be satisfied with some sort of discussions. lh with some sort of discussions. in terms of the west's response, we saw president biden ruling out military action. was that a strategic error, in your view? t action. was that a strategic error, in your view?— in your view? i think it was an error to take _ in your view? i think it was an error to take a _ in your view? i think it was an error to take a completely - in your view? i think it was an error to take a completely off| in your view? i think it was an - error to take a completely off the table early on. it was unlikely we were ever going to do it but it should have been something that had to be factored into putin's calculus. i think the administration and our nato allies have done a good job of trying to put together as many things here to push back and deter putin but clearly it wasn't enough. putin determined that he has gotten away with things in the past

and who believe that we in the west were weak and he took advantage of us. so now we have to focus on the long term and focus on long—term deterrence about strengthening european defence, and what we do here in the future, because people like this lenin said, we have a bayonet, as long as you hit a mosh you keep pushing until you hit a steel and the western allies have to realise where the steel is. hagar steel and the western allies have to realise where the steel is.— realise where the steel is. how far do ou realise where the steel is. how far do you think _ realise where the steel is. how far do you think putin _ realise where the steel is. how far do you think putin is _ realise where the steel is. how far do you think putin is ready - realise where the steel is. how far do you think putin is ready to - realise where the steel is. how far do you think putin is ready to go i realise where the steel is. how far| do you think putin is ready to go on this? a lot of those in ukraine we have been hearing from this week feel that they are a bit of a strong in terms of safeguarding europe. there are fears about whether russia has further expansionist ideas. others say no, this is purely about ukraine. what is your take? it was never purely about ukraine, he wants to change the western security order so it is wise for people to think ahead here. we hope

for the best with putin and get the worst so we can't do that any more. even today he threatened to sweden and finland. they have been neutral countries and try to accommodate russia for years and years and now they are literally threatening them. we have to tighten our spines here and focus on defending ourselves and deterring putin in the future. finally, is there any blame to be attached to nato, the us, to western governments in not understanding the vulnerability? is an argument to say that russia has been provoked by the calls for ukraine to be taken into nato, for missiles to be close to russia because 's body?- nato, for missiles to be close to russia because 's body? there is no cause for that- _ russia because 's body? there is no cause for that. we _ russia because 's body? there is no cause for that. we have _ russia because 's body? there is no cause for that. we have talked - russia because 's body? there is no cause for that. we have talked for i cause for that. we have talked for years about willingness to negotiate and talk with russia about those things. all of these things russia has been saying and putin has been saying of the last months have essentially been lies. i have worked in russia, in the 1990s and putin is

claiming we humiliated them in the 19905 claiming we humiliated them in the 1990s and the west was trying to weaken and destroy russia. it was the opposite, the west was doing its best to bring rush into the community of nations, by funding and support them. you could argue we could have done more or it should have done better but the notion we were trying to destroy russia something like that is crazy, just as crazy as suggesting ukraine was a threat to russia or that it is run by nazis and drug addicts. we have to stop listening to him, we need to focus on ourselves and defending ourselves and deterring him in future. . ., ourselves and deterring him in future. , ., , , ourselves and deterring him in future. . ., ,, , ., ourselves and deterring him in future. , ., , , ., ., future. john sipher from virginia, us, thank future. john sipher from virginia, us, thank you — future. john sipher from virginia, us, thank you for _ future. john sipher from virginia, us, thank you for your _ future. john sipher from virginia, us, thank you for your time - future. john sipher from virginia, i us, thank you for your time today. the bbc�*s sarah rainsford is in eastern ukraine, with the latest from there. we are in dnipro, this strategic ukrainian city on the vast river that divides this country between east and west. it was quiet overnight, there had been explosions on the first night of this war, but no air raid sirens, no rushing for the shelters here last night. we headed here from the donbas

region of eastern ukraine, and as we headed south—west from there, we were following a significant number of cars with donetsk number plates on them, people clearly heading for relative safety away from the front line in the east of ukraine. there were also thousands of people put on to evacuation trains laid on specially for them to take them out of the region. we saw them trundling their suitcases up to get on those trains, some of them not even really knowing where their final destination was, because it is relative safety that they are seeking. they are worried about the fighting escalating in the east of the country, where there has been a conflict, of course, in ukraine for eight years now, but where the front line has been pretty much fixed, although now there are quite significant clashes at several points along that line. the russian—backed forces that have been fighting there for all these years are now being supported by the russian military openly,

who have been invited in to those republics to fight and to take on the ukrainian military. so the fear is that they are trying to push forward and take much more territory in the east of ukraine. so we found people pretty worried in that area about what lies ahead, what that could mean for them. many of them having fled to that region to safety from the fighting years before, so really not looking forward to the possibility that they would have to be uprooted again and move even further west. here in this city, there was a curfew last night, as there is in many cities across ukraine, so after ten o'clock nobody on the streets, and in fact the shops and life here pretty much closes down before that, and then everything quiet until seven o'clock in the morning. here in dnipro this morning, there's plenty of traffic on the streets, the public transport is working. for the moment, at least, life here in this particular city seems fairly calm. but people here do know there

is fighting to the south, to the north and to the east, so extraordinary times, and people not entirely sure what is coming next and where, if anywhere, is safe for them to go to. sarah rainsford. joining me now is melaniejoly, canada's foreign minister. canada has the third largest ukrainian population in the world after ukraine and russia. thank you forjoining us today. pleasure. lh thank you for 'oining us today. pleasure. , ., ., ., pleasure. in terms of what we are seeinr , pleasure. in terms of what we are seeing. first _ pleasure. in terms of what we are seeing. first of— pleasure. in terms of what we are seeing, first of all, _ pleasure. in terms of what we are seeing, first of all, how _ pleasure. in terms of what we are | seeing, first of all, how concerned are you that kyiv is going to be taken by russian troops in the next few hours or days?— taken by russian troops in the next few hours or days? obviously what is ha enin: few hours or days? obviously what is happening in — few hours or days? obviously what is happening in ukraine _ few hours or days? obviously what is happening in ukraine is _ few hours or days? obviously what is happening in ukraine is extremely i happening in ukraine is extremely outrageous and that is why canada has joined outrageous and that is why canada hasjoined its outrageous and that is why canada has joined its voice to many nations, including the uk, the us, the eu, to condemn and put into

place extremely important sanctions. at the same time, i must say that we know well the ukrainian spirit. i was in ukraine a month ago. the ukrainian diaspora here is extremely vocal about the importance of supporting ukraine right now and there is a very strong resolve, and very strong willingness on the part of ukrainians to fight for their motherland, and so that is always important to bear in mind when there are conflicts such as this one, right now, and that is why we stand with ukraine and we are confident in the fact that they can defend themselves, although we need to help which is why we are providing weapons. d0 which is why we are providing weaons. ,, which is why we are providing weapons-— which is why we are providing weaons. ,., ~ ., ., weapons. do you think that without any external _ weapons. do you think that without any external military _ weapons. do you think that without any external military help - weapons. do you think that without any external military help that - any external military help that ukrainian forces can repel this huge force from russia? ihie ukrainian forces can repel this huge force from russia?— force from russia? we think that ukraine's military _ force from russia? we think that ukraine's military at _ force from russia? we think that ukraine's military at this -

force from russia? we think that ukraine's military at this point, i force from russia? we think thatj ukraine's military at this point, it is different when the crimea was started in 2014, many nations including canada participated in helping build the capacity of the army. since 2014 we had our own operation unifier. more than 30,000 soldiers and reservists for the national guard and as well for the armed forces. there has been a lot of work that has been done in the past, but of course we know this is a very difficult situation and ukraine is in dire need of help. that is something ukraine have said... president zelensky last night was saying they feel they are fighting this war alone. we have had calls today for nato to come in and secure the airspace, to stop the russian planes. we know about the risk of nato escalation and yet isn't that the risk here, that without nato intervening ukraine is

going to be overrun? we are already seeing the destruction in front of us. ~ , ., ., ., us. well, we provided lethal age, like i mentioned, _ us. well, we provided lethal age, like i mentioned, we _ us. well, we provided lethal age, like i mentioned, we provided - like i mentioned, we provided financial support, and we are in close contact, i am in contact with the deputy prime minister of ukraine and with the financial minister of foreign affairs. we know also ukraine is not part of nato, it is not triggering article five, which is why we are making sure we would support in every single way, with all the tools in our tool box, ukraine. all the tools in our tool box, ukraine-— all the tools in our tool box, ukraine. �* . ., ukraine. but the sanctions and the other things _ ukraine. but the sanctions and the other things are _ ukraine. but the sanctions and the other things are slow, _ ukraine. but the sanctions and the other things are slow, they - ukraine. but the sanctions and the other things are slow, they are - other things are slow, they are diplomatic, they are not going to hit quickly. many feel they are not going to be effective enough. the west is talking but not acting. t west is talking but not acting. i don't agree with that. we west is talking but not acting. t don't agree with that. we came up yesterday with very strong sanctions

package, one of the strongest of all of our allies. we are targeting the russian economy, putin's guard around him, it is important we suffocate the russian regime. we need to make sure that they understand the pressure they are under, that i understand what needs to be done and many options are on the table. will to be done and many options are on the table. ~ . ., ., ., ., the table. will canada allow those who are able _ the table. will canada allow those who are able to _ the table. will canada allow those who are able to leave _ the table. will canada allow those who are able to leave ukraine - the table. will canada allow those who are able to leave ukraine andl who are able to leave ukraine and come to canada in unlimited numbers if need be? ihie come to canada in unlimited numbers if need be? ~ . ., , ., if need be? we are ready to definitely — if need be? we are ready to definitely help _ if need be? we are ready to definitely help on _ if need be? we are ready to definitely help on the - if need be? we are ready to i definitely help on the question if need be? we are ready to - definitely help on the question of immigration. we are working, my colleague the minister of immigration is coming up with some really good solutions for ukrainians that wants to come and meet and live here with their parents and family and friends. at the same time, we know there is a refugee crisis

looming, as we speak. that is exactly why we secured safe passage with many of the neighbouring countries, slovakia, poland, hungary and moldavia and romania but more than that i had a conversation yesterday with my polish counterpoint and canada is ready to play its part to deal. just counterpoint and canada is ready to play its part to deal.— play its part to deal. just quickly, if i ma , play its part to deal. just quickly, if i may. on _ play its part to deal. just quickly, if i may. on the _ play its part to deal. just quickly, if i may, on the russian - play its part to deal. just quickly, if i may, on the russian offer- play its part to deal. just quickly, if i may, on the russian offer for| if i may, on the russian offerfor talks with ukraine, is that a possible solution here or not? fight; possible solution here or not? any form of possible solution here or not? 2'ny form of ceasefire is good news. at the same time, meanwhile, we need to be there for the ukrainian people and that is why we are looking at many options, not only to put pressure on russia but also provide humanitarian aid and that is what canada does. we are convening power, thatis canada does. we are convening power, that is what we do to help the world

and ukraine. that is what we do to help the world and ukraine-— and ukraine. melanie joly, canada's foreian and ukraine. melanie joly, canada's foreign minister, _ and ukraine. melanie joly, canada's foreign minister, thank— and ukraine. melanie joly, canada's foreign minister, thank you - and ukraine. melanie joly, canada's foreign minister, thank you for - foreign minister, thank you for joining us. foreign minister, thank you for joining us— people could be leisure. the united nation has warned that five million people could be displaced by russia's invasion. at least 100,000 people have already fled their homes, while several thousand have crossed into neighbouring countries, including romania and poland. how concerned how concerned are how concerned are you about the level of displacement that people are fleeing their homes both within ukraine and trying to leave the country at the moment? ihie ukraine and trying to leave the country at the moment? we are extremely — country at the moment? we are extremely concerned _ country at the moment? we are extremely concerned and - country at the moment? we are extremely concerned and i - country at the moment? we are extremely concerned and i think right now the situation is so fluid but all the reports we have are citing the fact that there are many people on the move, they are scared, unsure of where to go. i think the most important thing right now is that we make sure that civilian lives can be protected as under the international humanitarian law and i think we are there as long as we can

be in every capacity possible. humanitarian agencies are inside ukraine, we are not leaving, we will be there to provide as much assistance and protection as a security and access allow us to. can ou tell security and access allow us to. can you tell us — security and access allow us to. can you tell us more about what you are seeing in terms of who is leaving, what state they are in, do they have places to go and shelter? i think we are getting the same information everyone is, seeing it unfold live across social media, across news. our own staff, we have over 115 staff still in ukraine. they are bunkered down with the civilian population but we also have many staff, almost the same number in neighbouring countries and they are also reporting that there are large numbers that are starting to come and huge queues of people that are trying to reach the boarders. so far we can say at least 60,000 but

the number is probably considerably higher, who have left and arrived in neighbouring countries as refugees. i am sure the numbers will unfortunately grow in the coming days. unfortunately grow in the coming da s. �* , ., unfortunately grow in the coming da s. �* ., ., unfortunately grow in the coming das. ., unfortunately grow in the coming da s. ., days. are you going to build camps? what facilities _ days. are you going to build camps? what facilities we _ days. are you going to build camps? what facilities we provide _ days. are you going to build camps? what facilities we provide for - what facilities we provide for people? 5 million is a huge of this is a country with a population of over 40 million.— is a country with a population of over 40 million. unhcr is using a ”lannin over 40 million. unhcr is using a planning figure — over 40 million. unhcr is using a planning figure of— over 40 million. unhcr is using a planning figure of up _ over 40 million. unhcr is using a planning figure of up to _ over 40 million. unhcr is using a planning figure of up to 4 - over 40 million. unhcr is using a planning figure of up to 4 million, but of course there are figures that go higher and we really don't know what the situation will be in the coming days. right now, all of the boarders are open and all of the surrounding governments have shown such solidarity, such support. they are the ones right now that are receiving the refugees. we are of course there to help, we have stockpiles of aid, we have, as i mentioned, staff on the ground, and of course we are reinforcing all of this to provide the support that will be needed. right now it is the

governments who are showing tremendous initiatives for the refugees that are fleeing, including building reception centres and other facilities to house and provide medical assistance and food as needed, as the emergency unfolds. joung—ah ghedini—williams from the unhcr, thank you. joung-ah ghedini-williams from the unhcr, thank you.— the eu has reportedly agreed to freeze the assets of president putin and russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, over ukraine. america has also announced further sanctions on russia. president biden says the us is targeting russia's largest banks and state—owned companies, cutting them off from western financial markets, and freezing trillions of dollars in assets. and the european commission, says eu sanctions will make it impossible for moscow, to buy technology, upgrading its oil refineries, or spare parts for aircraft. here's theo leggett. russia has launched military action against ukraine. in response, western nations have

launched an economic offensive against russia. in the past 24 hours, we've had announcements of major new sanctions aimed at russia from the european union, the united states and the uk. putin is trying to subjugate a friendly european country, and he is trying to redraw the maps of europe by force. he must and he will fail. the sanctions have been coordinated. they are designed to hit russia in specific areas. firstly, there's finance. steps are being taken to prevent russian banks from borrowing money abroad, depriving them of the financial oxygen they need. then, there's exports. sales of cutting—edge technologies to russia will be banned, for example. and, finally, individuals. wealthy russians seen as being part of vladimir putin's inner circle will be denied visas, and their assets overseas may be frozen if they can be found.

translation: have yesterday's sanctions persuaded russia? i we see in our skies and feel on the ground that they are not enough. but even as the tanks and planes move into ukraine, european countries are still buying huge quantities of russian oil and gas. and one crucialfinancial weapon has not yet been brought into play. the swift network is a secure messaging system that enables quick cross—border payments between accounts in different countries. the uk wants russia to be excluded from the network because it would make it much harder for its companies to do business abroad. but some experts question how effective such a move would be. it would make life very difficult for russian banks in the short term, but russia actually has its own alternative payment system already. there are 23 european banks and global banks on it. there are already networks with belarus. belarus has effectively unplugged itself from the swift system already. sanctions will certainly cause russia serious economic harm,

but their effects will take time, and it won't be a one—way street. the conflict has already pushed energy prices up sharply in the uk and europe, meaning businesses and consumers here can also expect to feel significant financial pain. theo leggett, bbc news. joining me now to discuss this in more detail is our business presenter tadhg enright. thank you forjoining us today. swift has been much discussed and a lot of criticism to some eu countries that they are not cracking down on this. the countries that they are not cracking down on this-— countries that they are not cracking down on this. the debate which has been happening _ down on this. the debate which has been happening behind _ down on this. the debate which has been happening behind closed - down on this. the debate which has| been happening behind closed doors about whether to exclude swift, or a rush from the swift system is spilling out into the open air. —— excluding russia. from the czech president saying that if russia is not cut off then it will occupy the entirety of ukraine within the next

few days. we know written his full square behind excluding russia from the swift system and eu diplomatic site saying they are considering doing so as part of their next wave of the sanctions but pointing out that some member states are said to be reluctant. the french foreign minister saying it should be a last resort and the german foreign minister saying berlin does not believe, excluding moscow from the payment system is the right thing to do for now, suggesting we need to keep a cool head, as she put it, and pointing out to an example of iran and its exclusion from the swift system, suggesting that in that case it was ordinary people who suffered the consequences, not the institution. ordinary people trying to send money to their friends and family or the worst brunt of that but a lot of people pointing to the fact it is generally which has the deepest links to russia in the

entirety of the eu. a lot of german businesses will be worried about russian able to pay their bills or perhaps germany not being able to pay its bills for the gas which it imports from russia. this pay its bills for the gas which it imports from russia.— pay its bills for the gas which it imports from russia. this one is clearly moving — imports from russia. this one is clearly moving but _ imports from russia. this one is clearly moving but for _ imports from russia. this one is clearly moving but for now, - imports from russia. this one is i clearly moving but for now, tadhg enright, thank you. let's speak to oliver bullough, journalist and author of the book moneyland: why thieves and crooks now rule the world. a striking title, thank you for joining us. the question on swift and sanctions, what is your take on what we are seeing both from the uk, from europeans, from america, canada and a range of countries we are seeing. is it enough, is it effective? t seeing. is it enough, is it effective?— seeing. is it enough, is it effective? ., �* ~ ., , effective? i don't think anything would have _ effective? i don't think anything would have prevented _ effective? i don't think anything would have prevented the - effective? i don't think anything i would have prevented the invasion effective? i don't think anything - would have prevented the invasion or stopped the invasion in its tracks onceit stopped the invasion in its tracks once it began. i think it is very clearfrom putin's once it began. i think it is very clear from putin's speeches once it began. i think it is very clearfrom putin's speeches he has made, he has made another today, declaring that the ukrainian

president is a drug addict and nazi. mr putin is not currently drawing up a rational assessment of risk and reward, he is being driven largely by emotion. i think the point now probably for european countries and the united states and their allies is about essentially trying to put the brakes on what russia is able to do to change the calculations of the elite around putin so that they try to put pressure on him to dial down his military adventure, to try and get their money back. there has already been a tremendous impact on the russian stock market, clearly a lot of problems for russian banks as they are being excluded from the dollar —based system, and all of thatis dollar —based system, and all of that is not insignificant, but i think one thing that western countries appear self i too have been reluctant to do, and i'm not quite sure of the reason for this, there are some suggestions there are legal issues, is to really go hide after a group of oligarchs around

putin. four or500 people after a group of oligarchs around putin. four or 500 people who control almost all of the wealth. they do have a lot of influence on putin and they also have significant assets. in the west, particularly in london, but also other western countries and she would have thought that they would be in the cross hairs of the governments next, if putin will not change his mind because of hitting state companies perhaps he will change his mind if they go after his friends but why do you think that is because it is difficult to track down where that wealth is, who owns the properties on the economy is in their own companies. it is difficult to know what these people own, they are good at hiding their wealth, they hide it from each other as much as from western governments, they don't trust other oligarchs as much as they trust anyone else. we definitely would not have started from here, given the choice. however thatis

from here, given the choice. however that is not a reason not to try and sanction things and it would be a very good reason to really properly source our law enforcement agencies who have also been spectacularly under resourced over the years so they can cut through and find out who really owns what. russians are not that rich by the standards of wealth. i haven't done the sums but i doubt the entire russian system is as much as elon musk. they are rich but not crazy rich. all western countries can do perfectly well without them. it is different whether we can do without their gas exports but that is a separate question. if we are just going after individual oligarchs, their spending patterns, they tend to be in specific markets, super yachts, housing market, they don't make much of the western economy. it is not case does conserve a dislocation that government acting and i think this is perhaps a weapon they are

keeping in this guide at the moment so they can deploy it later. i don't think any explanation really works except some sinister ones. sinister ones! i don't— except some sinister ones. sinister ones! i don't know _ except some sinister ones. sinister ones! i don't know whether - except some sinister ones. sinister ones! i don't know whether we - except some sinister ones. sinister. ones! i don't know whether we should go there! just to mention dimitri bascou of that moscow is prepared for sanctions and they might have problems but those problems will be resolved. there is a question about london's openness to her internationally, some of which might be questionable. whether you can stop that for one country but realistically enough to stop it for others. we see more controls in new york, so it can be done. is it a question of political will? undoubtedly. london has made its mark and its fortune for decades by being open to money in a way to new york is not what it is still possible to sanction individual countries. there have been tough restrictions on iran for a long

time, and belarus and other places, myanmar. russia is different to all of those but still it can be done. it is not impossible. yes, russia has built up a lot of reserves to protect itself against sanctions but this is still not a superpower we are talking about, the russian economy is approximately the same size as spain's, heavily dependent on fossilfuels and size as spain's, heavily dependent on fossil fuels and other natural resources, with an ageing population, a falling population, very low labour productivity. it isn't in a strong position so i think sanctions are a good long—term goal but they will not achieve any immediate results. right thank you for your time, immediate results. right thank you foryourtime, oliver immediate results. right thank you for your time, oliver bullough, author and journalist. to find out how the sports world is reactin: i to find out how the sports world is reacting i am _ to find out how the sports world is reacting i am joined _ to find out how the sports world is reacting i am joined by _ to find out how the sports world is reacting i amjoined by jayne. - to find out how the sports world is. reacting i amjoined by jayne. there reacting i am 'oined by jayne. there has been a — reacting i amjoined by jayne. there has been a very _ reacting i amjoined by jayne. there has been a very strong _ reacting i amjoined by jayne. there has been a very strong impact - reacting i am joined byjayne. ttee has been a very strong impact on

sporting events following the situation in ukraine. news first on the russian grand prix due to be held in tension has been cancelled. the fia say staging a race they would have been impossible in the current circumstances —— held in sochl current circumstances —— held in sochi. vvettel has said he would not race if it had gone ahead. —— vettel. the manager of the haas team said the future of russian driver nikita mazepin needs to be resolved. his father sponsored the team and is a billionaire with close ties to president putin. the other high—profile sporting event to be moved out of russia is the champions league final. european football's governing body uefa says it will now be staged in paris instead of the

original host city st peter's bay. it was due to be held at the gas from stadium on may 28, and will now take place at the stade de france. that is the latest —— it was due to be held at the gazprom stadium. thank you, you are watching bbc news. just saying goodbye to our international viewers on bbc world, let's catch up with the weather. todayit let's catch up with the weather. today it began to feel a little bit more like spring is just around the corner, many places right with sunshine and lighting winds but there could be a winter chill tonight in some places. further west, tonight in some places. furtherwest, northern tonight in some places. further west, northern ireland, increasingly in scotland, more cloud coming in and even a bit of rain in the north of scotland. there is the cloud coming in from the atlantic, all wrapped around that area of low pressure shall not there. those weather fronts are bringing the cloud, bringing stronger winds into the north—west of uk but not bringing much rain at all. we are likely to find the wind blowing the rain away the north—west of scotland and with the brisk winds and more

cloud in scotland and northern ireland it should be milder. england and wales will be colder, particularly through the midlands, lincolnshire, east anglia, the south—east, light winds, clearer skies, may start the weekend with a slight frost. here we are closer to an area of high pressure, at the moment it is blocking off that weather fronts, moment it is blocking off that weatherfronts, the moment it is blocking off that weather fronts, the cloud and rain, from coming in from the atlantic. we still have more cloud during the day on saturday across scotland and northern ireland, probably be dry. some of the cloud will push into england and wales, ten sunshine hazy. blue sky is likely to the south—east. the reasonable fresh and through the day, a southerly breeze picking up across the country, but it is a mild breeze and those temperatures may be a shade higher than today, acting new numbers typically ten to 12 celsius. —— afternoon numbers. the rain, having not moved much during the day, will move eastwards, bringing rain overnight into scotland and northern ireland, slowing down and weakening as it heads towards the uk so they will not be much rain left over by

sunday. more cloud, pockets of light rain or drizzle for northern ireland, pushing into scotland, perhaps western pipes of england and wales but many places will be dry, sunshine to the east as temperatures nine, 10 degrees or so. the winds will ease down during sunday. they are likely to pick up again for monday. this is the area of real pressure —— low pressure will be driving its way up towards iceland. thankfully for us we willjust get a glancing blow in the north—west of the uk but we will see with that weather fronts and rain around. that should clear from scotland and northern ireland, it gets colder with showers, rain pushing into england and wales, could be heavy over some of the western hills. try for most of the day in the southeast with temperatures 13 degrees. —— dry for most of the day.

this is bbc news, i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines. russian forces in armoured vehicles reach the ukrainian capital, kyiv, as thousands of machine guns are handed out to volunteers defending the city. ukraine's army says they're continuing to fight as its troops take—up defensive positions to defend the city. it follows a night of airstrikes and explosions over the city, as russian forces appear to close—in on the capital. damage in kyiv�*s residential neighbourhoods, after reports of missile strikes and an aircraft being shot down. warning shots are fired as thousands continue to flee the capital by train and whatever means possible.

families who can't get away shelter underground for protection