before too long. thank you so much forjoining us. _ welcome to bbc news. our top stories. another terrifying night for the citizens of kyiv with reports of a massive explosion south—west of the capital. this is the seen live in the city as people seek shelter from further russian military attack. the exodus grows. over military attack. the exodus grows. 0ver100,000 military attack. the exodus grows. over 100,000 have already fled to neighbouring countries. tougher sanctions on russia as the eu calls for a number of russian banks to be removed from the swift banking system. away from the front lines, international condemnation. protests taking place around the world. and china's dilemma. what does beijing's make of moscow's wall. we speak to an expert on

the region. welcome to bbc news. it is five in the morning in the ukrainian capital kyiv and they have been several explosions near the city as presidents spent another night in shelters. multiple reports say that one explosion was caused by a missile attack on an oil depot south—west of the capital. the fire as you can see here is glowing in the night sky. meanwhile in the ground, russian troops have been spreading out for parts of the north, east and south, gaining territory, to gilly in eastern ukraine, right next to russia. this map shows how much of ukraine is currently under russian control. the first part of our programme is from our international correspondent in kyiv. the rush to kyiv,

a capital under attack. as we headed for the city this morning, there was little moving, apart from ukrainian troops. but the russians are watching from the skies, ready to strike, as they did here, just an hour outside the capital. and this is what we have come across on the road to kyiv, this convoy was obviously travelling to the city to be part of the defence of kyiv. this is an air defence missile system. it was hit yesterday and the smoke is still rising here. and here, too, after an early morning strike on a block of flats near kyiv�*s zhuliany airport. the authorities say it was a russian missile strike that killed two people. it could have been many more but plenty of locals had fled or taken cover in shelters.

yuri shevchuk, who lives nearby, says the west must help ukraine. i want to say for you and for your governments, we are in need, in urgent need, as soon as possible, as much as possible, we are in need of anti—aircraft missiles, we are in need of anti—tank missiles. we need ammunition. is there any message you would wish to send to president putin? i want to say that there is only one way for him and that is straight to hell. this is what kyiv woke up to this morning. all of this destruction is in a residential area in a european city. and there is a real sense here now that nowhere in the capital is safe. and, so, much of kyiv now looks like this. still standing but bracing for impact. ukraine's embattled president, volodymyr zelenskyy took to the deserted streets, shooting a selfie video to reassure his people.

"i am here," he said, "and we will not lay down our arms." far from it. we found ukrainians taking up arms, forming volunteer brigades to defend the city alongside the local police. this volunteer, who goes by the nickname molloy, said "i do not want to live in russia and my brothers in arms do not want that either. we will defend the city or i will die." the volunteers are looking for russian saboteurs said to be already in the city. nearby we met nino, out walking

her dog and venting her fury. "we demand an end to the war," she says. "we can do it with sanctions. we must isolate the aggressor country, it terrorises the whole world." with russian forces at the gates, some are still fleeing the capital. for now, this city remains in ukrainian hands but the battle may bejust beginning. orla guerin, bbc news, kyiv. western allies have stepped up their response to the invasion, subject russia to its harshest sanctions ever. russia's access to the international payment network swift has been restricted, a move often dubbed a financial nuclear weapon. it makes international business difficult and more expensive and economists say will have a dire effect on the russian economy and currency which the eu commission chief is also

warned. we will stop putin from using his war chest. we will paralyse the assets of russia's central bank. this will freeze its transactions and will make it impossible for the central bank to liquidate assets. and, finally, we will work to prohibit russian oligarchs from using their financial asset on our markets. all of these measures will significantly harm putin's ability to finance his work. the eu, which does not have a reputation for acting swiftly in normal times, reputation for acting swiftly in normaltimes, made reputation for acting swiftly in normal times, made up of 27 individual countries, but the aggression of russia in ukraine is definitely focusing minds here. so ursula fonda line was

responding to how the eu is now working on its third sanction package in one week and she was talking today about targeting russia's ability to fund its military action in ukraine and she was saying that there is now an agreement among all european union member states, remember, some of them are lagging on the idea of ejecting russia from swift, the international financial transaction network, particularly italy, germany, hungary, these are countries with close ties with russia. business ties and relying on gas supplies but everybody, said ursula, is agreed to target russia's banks through swift and focus on russia's central bank, making it difficult to get money from the globalfinancial difficult to get money from the global financial markets, difficult to get money from the globalfinancial markets, not global financial markets, not just globalfinancial markets, not just european financial markets and capital markets as well. also, she said, the eu would be

targeting individuals and entities who are helping russia in its aggression in ukraine. we had talk over the last day or two that the eu wants to introduce a separate sanctions package against belarus, for example and again, ursula forward line underlined that all the measures being taken by the eu are done together and with consultation with the other western allies and, definitely at the moment, whichever country and i am told that the prime minister in the case of france, the president, is constantly on the phone at the moment with other eu president's and leaders but also borisjohnson in the uk and joe biden in the united states as well. as they say, this aggression in ukraine is definitely focusing minds and causing action including, germany, rather historically in the words of the chancellor, a watershed moment. it has decided to send weapons directly to ukraine. traditionally, germany, because of its role in the second world

war has been very wary about military involvement in conflicts. refugee agencies are warning that millions of ukrainians could be on the move to escape the fighting. some across the into neighbouring countries. our special correspondent sent us this report from the city of lviv in the west of ukraine. alljourneys now lead west. in days, the lives of millions abandoned. the only thought is to get to safety. many of us thought that it is just an informational war. and we don't understand why putin does it take we say help, we need help from world we say help, help, because we are here. we are alone here.

siren blares and the sound they have to learn to live with. the russian army might be far from lviv but there is still a state of high alert. the sound triggered a panic attack for this woman. it is still the case here, despite the war, that the young trust their parents to protect them, whatever might come. however strange the world that they have been cast into. their hope is that the train would help them avoid this. the line of cars to the polish border. those people are moving on foot down towards the border of poland but it is another 20 kilometres from where we are at the moment. we need to move out of the way and let more people

pass us here. they are coming. a constant procession of people. however they arrive at the border, this slow shuffle out of the lives that they knew is what awaits. back at lviv station, word is that a train to poland will leave in half—an—hour. but there will only be one this afternoon and so many, desperate to escape. this train is going now towards dnipropetrovsk, which is in the east. no good to the people standing around me who want to get west as fast as they can, away from what they fear will be the advance of the russians. and there are thousands of people along this platform. can any train possibly take the number of people here? it seems very doubtful. there is an air of desperation. quiet desperation but no

less real for that. the train to poland arrived. crowd clamors this is hard to credit, to believe, in the europe of 2022. people are crushing all around me trying to get onto these trains. woman screams a young mother with a baby there screaming because everyone is getting crushed. this is not the result of any accident. it was created by mr putin's deliberate choice and it is they who must carry the burden. fergus keane, bbc news, lviv.

an arrival from next door, but which is now another world. the overnight train from kyiv pulled into eastern poland today, carrying europe's neighbours, seeking safety from russia's bombs. it took us 52 hours to get here. kateryna leontieva and her daughter came from kharkiv, in eastern ukraine, as the missiles rained down on her city. how did it feel, having to leave your homes? i don't know yet. i'm, yeah... like, tears arejust coming, you know? i think i didn't feel anything then, and i'm starting to realise, yeah. but i hope it's just a short time trip and we will be back soon. the 19th—century train station at przemysl is now a modern refugee reception centre. those arriving welcomed with open arms before travelling on around poland and europe. among them, irene and her children, her husband left

behind to defend their homeland. they want to stay there to fight because they are heroes. how do you feel about your husband being there now? i'm afraid. i'm afraid but we believe that everything will be all right. we want to return soon and we are praying for them. poland has become a vital lifeline in and out of ukraine, welcoming those fleeing and sending ammunition and supplies back to those who are remaining. as europe's newest war prompts europe's freshest refugee crisis, it's now poland and no longer the mediterranean that's on the humanitarian frontline. for irene and herfamily, anotherjourney now starts — on to relatives in italy. homes, people, livelihoods, are being uprooted — scenes europe thought were confined to the past. mark lowen, bbc news, przemysl, eastern poland.

officials in moldova have confirmed over 30,000 people have crossed into their country from ukraine since wednesday. most of those fling are women and children. men from the ages 18-60 and children. men from the ages 18—60 have been instructed by their government to stay and fight in ukraine itself. lucy williamson is on the border where she has been speaking to people who have queued for more than 27 hours to get to safety. as russians enter ukraine, women are leaving. the last ten miles before the moldovan border is a queue of wives and mothers, scattered with foreign students, the only men allowed to leave. i meet anna on the moldovan side as she struggled to repack her carfor the next stage of herjourney. six—year—old ieva keeps her toys close. she had to leave her father and grandfather behind. the tears come as anna tells me about leaving their men

in the southern city of odesa, waiting for the russians to come. translation: my husband stayed there to protect his country. - i'm hoping the west will help us get out of this terrible situation, because right now, we are alone against the russian aggressor. many of those arriving here have no clear plan of where they will go. the moldovan government has set up 300 tents as emergency shelter for those crossing the border. there's still space here at the moment but the ukrainian city of odesa, less than 50 kilometres from here, is a key russian target and there is worry about a sudden influx of the fighting there develops. moldova tonight is home for thousands more mothers and children as a rift between nations splits families apart. lucy williamson, bbc news, palanca crossing, moldova.

russia's attack on ukraine has captured the attention of the entire globe, not least asia, so how are events in europe being seen there? we can hear from the director of research in sydney at the lowy institute, where does china stand? , ., stand? yes, well, look, china is a seminal moment - stand? yes, well, look, china is a seminal moment in - stand? yes, well, look, chinal is a seminal moment in history its foreign policy, is a mixed bag of goods. the fact is it does not condone secessionist movements for very conservative reasons, very self—interested reasons, very self—interested reasons, that is to say, russia's tactics of declaring independence in separatist regions like donya scannell has, could create a negative president faure breakaway territories like in china with

taiwan doing the same —— donetsk and luhansk. it is deep down cover without. it is also uncomfortable with his association with moscow, given president vladimir putin's obviously delinquent and loutish behaviour. it is not good pr for china. but, more importantly, there is this sino russian partnership which has really emerged to become quite substantive and china needs russia in order to execute a world in which the us is no longer the dominant player. so they are caught, between different interests here and the way in which beijing goes about processing events in europe, broadcasting what it feels about it, and, perhaps, trying to hedge, in some way, i think will determine chinese foreign policy, notjust in the weeks and months ahead, but for many months to come.-

weeks and months ahead, but for many months to come. looking at china and the _ many months to come. looking at china and the wider— many months to come. looking at china and the wider asian - china and the wider asian region in general, due any countries have equal interest in what is going on there, the russian invasion of ukraine? there are a number of countries, first and foremost, us allies such as australia, south korea, and japan, who have been very strong in terms of their international response, both in international forums, but in terms of enacting sanctions on russia, and trying to be part of the broader effort, even if they are hit players or somewhat marginalised by the geography, trying to present a sort of unified western frontier, which they appreciate is critical to they appreciate is critical to the way in which this will play out in europe —— western front. but also in which the china challenge in asia will play out. for countries such as australia and the extent to which we can co—ordinated ——

co—ordinate, present a united front with europe and the united states, we would hope would also create a precedent for the way in which the us and europe may respond in the event of an outbreak of war in asia relating to china. in asia more widely, beyond the us alliance circle, it has been a very muted response at the un general assembly, the un security council, the non—western countries that have been most prolific, most assertive in their defence of the un charter, the basic norms and rules enshrining the sanctity of territorial integrity and sovereignty, have not been asian, they have been countries like kenya and mexico, who half—back and really have criticised this neoimperialism, as a german, from russia and how back to their own colonial struggles from which they are still trying to emerge. so asia is

notably absent. there are countries such as china, of course, but also india, interestingly, which has more assertively aligned itself with united states vis—a—vis china, here very much on the fence when it comes to russia and that's because... when it comes to russia and that's because. . ._ when it comes to russia and that's because... ride. herve lemahieu. — that's because... ride. herve lemahieu, thank _ that's because... ride. herve lemahieu, thank you - that's because... ride. herve lemahieu, thank you so - that's because... ride. herve| lemahieu, thank you so much that's because... ride. herve - lemahieu, thank you so much for joining us from the lowy institute. ukraine's present volodymyr zelensky has urged all citizens to... people from all walks of life are answering the call. this was saturday in dnipro. women making molotov cocktails in the park. housewives, businesswomen and lawyers, all now preparing for the defence of their city. arina is an english teacher in normal life. nobody thought this would be how we would spend our weekend. nobody thought, but now we're

doing this, and it seems like the only important thing to do now. we can'tjust live our ordinary life, even if we are safe, so we have to do something. these are scenes unimaginable to most in europe. they were unthinkable here, too, until now. but these women say sitting home doing nothing would be even scarier. it suddenly feels like this whole city has sprung into action. people are donating whatever they can, for soldiers and for those forced to flee here from the fighting, but also for if this strategic city comes under siege itself. and men and women are signing up for weapons, ready to fight against troops sent by president putin. he really believed that he can take ukraine and to make

from ukraine, russia. it's fake and we don't believe in it and we're really angry. dnipro is already feeling the cost of this war, taking the casualties from other cities. people are bringing all sorts of things now to this military hospital. they're bringing syringes, they're bringing medicines, they're bringing bandages, because they know that the staff here are under real pressure now. this place is already full. there's already 400 injured soldiers here. they are used to war here in the east, but sergei tells me this is intense, with hundreds of injured soldiers brought in every day. translation: before, | we used to know exactly where the fighting was happening and we could prepare for the wounded before they got here. now, there's a constant flow. the city is coping, everyone rallying round. but the mood in dnipro

has darkened today. the pressure on everyone is increasing. sarah rainsford, bbc news, dnipro. the russian billionaire roman abramovich has announced his giving up day—to—day control of chelsea for ballclub. he is said to be close to president putin and said he was adding what is described as stewardship of the club to the trustees of chelsea's charitable foundation. pro ukraine demonstrations have taken place across the world as thousands have taken to the streets to denounce russia's assault on his neighbour, ukraine. moscow's invasion has but a global outcry, and punishing sanctions from the west. usa support ukraine.

protests in new york. ukrainians living in new york. we are desperate to ask people to help ukraine to fight. and to help ukraine to fight. and in colombia. _ to help ukraine to fight. and in colombia. scenes - to help ukraine to fight. and in colombia. scenes in - to help ukraine to fight. and in colombia. scenes in brussels as protesters relay the message to drivers from a bridge. in israel, this was the message. we need your help. we need help from european nations, from nato, all around the world, don't stay at home, choose your voice, go out. don't stay at home, choose your voice. 90 out-— voice, go out. from inside russia. — voice, go out. from inside russia, police _ voice, go out. from inside russia, police detained i russia, police detained protesters who dare to raise their voices. these people march, but there are no banners and there is silence but it is still a show of opposition. resistance shows itself in many ways. a ukrainian asks a russian tank driver" have you broken down, and a toe you back

to russia? and you are watching bbc news. hello. the weather through the remainder of the weekend is continuing on that fairly dry, settled theme. we've got high pressure in charge of our weather. a bit more cloud pushing in and breeze across northern ireland and scotland but certainly, for england and wales, we've had fairly clear skies on saturday and it's going to be a similar picture into sunday as well. here's is the satellite image. it shows the area of cloud out to the north—west of the uk. this is a weather front which is just starting to move in. you can see the proximity of the isobars. there's some breezier weather across northern and western areas but as this front pushes its way eastwards, it bumps into a big area of high pressure, so it's tending to fizzle out through the day on sunday. certainly a chilly start, particularly for england and wales, with a touch of frost around.

also for eastern scotland, a bit of a chilly start. plenty of sunshine for most areas. we have got this weak front draped through the irish sea, bringing more cloud to parts of western scotland. northern ireland, a few spots of drizzle here, and a bit of that cloud into the likes of pembrokeshire and cornwall, too. but light, southerly winds for most of us, so if you've got the blue sky and the sunshine, it's going to feel quite pleasant out there with temperatures between around about 8—11 degrees on sunday. and as we move through into the the evening hours, then, initially, things are still looking quite dry and clear and we keep the clear spells for longest across eastern england. but from the west, this next band of cloud and patchy rain moves in. this is another weather front, and that's going to be with us to start off monday morning. so not as cold first thing monday — certainly compared to first thing sunday — because we've got more cloud, outbreaks of rain and more of a breeze around, too. so, monday's weather, then, will be dominated by this frontal system which slowly pushes its way eastwards across much of the uk. i think it'll be quite slow to reach east anglia and the south—east, so here, you may well keep some sunny spells through the course of the day on monday

but elsewhere, a fair bit of cloud. windy conditions — gales possible up towards the western isles, for instance — and that rain will clear out of scotland and northern ireland, but it will be quite slow—moving moving for parts of northern england into wales, down towards the south—west as well. another fairly mild day — temperatures up to around 12 degrees. heading on into tuesday and high pressure sits across much of the uk, but we've got this trailing frontal system, so that may welljust spill some rain across some southern counties of england, perhaps into south wales as well, but there's still some uncertainty about exactly how far north or south this system is going to be. but across much of the uk, we are thinking that high pressure will dominate, bringing a lot of dry and settled weather. a touch cooler, i think, on tuesday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: there have been several powerful explosions near kyiv as residents hunkered down for another night in shelters. multiple reports say an explosion was caused by a missile attack on a fuel depot station. a un refugee agency says invasion has driven more than 150,000 people to flee ukraine to the west and the vast majority have gone to poland, many to join friends and family and others in hungary, moldova, romania and slovakia. a western coalition including the united states, the eu, canada and the uk are to cut off some russian banks from the swift banking payment system. the eu chief, ursula von der leyen, says it is designed to cripple the financial system of russia.