welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... russia warns it will launch strikes on targets in the ukrainian capital, kyiv, telling residents, to leave their homes. it's as russian forces hit the main television tower in kyiv, killing five people and damaging a holocaust memorial nearby. satellite images show a russian military convoy closing in on the capital, but the pentagon says the troops, may have supply problems. russians forces attack ukraine's second city kharkiv with rockets and cruise missiles — targeting civilians.

translation: kyiv are the most im ortant translation: kyiv are the most important targets _ translation: kyiv are the most important targets for _ translation: kyiv are the most important targets for rationale i translation: kyiv are the most | important targets for rationale and kharkiv. the aim is breaking us, our resistance. the united nations says nearly 700,000 people have fled ukraine, seeking safety in neighbouring countries. the flow of refugees is increasing by the hour. and, president biden will give his first state of the union address tonight — president zelensky urges him to send a strong and useful message. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and 1am in the ukranian capital kyiv — where russian forces are closing in on the city.

in the coming days — troops could lay siege to kyiv — cutting off food, water and other essential supplies. satellite images show a vast russian military convoy heading here, and russia's defence ministry, has urged citizens living near government buildings and other official sites, to leave their homes. we begin our coverage with this report from our international correspondent — 0rla guerin. loud explosion. one more russian missile strike brings terror to the streets of kyiv. the target this time, the main tv tower. the emergency services say five people were killed. and more russian firepower is closing in on the city. satellite images show this column of armoured vehicles and tanks. it's a0 miles long and less

than 20 miles out. so, time for a do it yourself defence of kyiv. we found ordinary civilians, men and women, gathered this afternoon to make molotov cocktails. katarina, a nurse, said she couldn't stand idly by. this is our country and this is hurting us a lot. hard to discuss it... did you ever think you would find yourself a situation like this? never. nobody could imagine this. "the russians won't make it," he says. "ukrainians are doing what they need to do." there is an assembly line here now. they're filling the bottles and filling the crates. there is a real sense of purpose and a feeling that these weapons,

home—made though they may be, could soon be needed here. and many ukrainians are occupying new positions. wartime roles they would never have sought. igor, a lawyer, now mans a lookout post. yes, so, a week ago i was representing my cases in the court room. and now it's difficult to address, but if you don't think about it and simply do what you have to do, it actually feels already normal. have you ever held a gun in your hands before? at school we were trained to deal with this sort of thing but i have never dared to do it or ever shot a gun or a pistol. this is the new architecture of kyiv.

tank traps on the highway. a city trying to save itself, building barricades with whatever comes to hand. and today, more volunteers for territorial defence units, from all walks of life. not entirely sure what they are signing up for, apart from being willing to die for ukraine. they know that day might come soon. and here, a reminder... air strike. we are hearing the air raid warning siren that means we have got to get to cover. many here say there is more at stake than their motherland. like dennis, who until last week was an activist fighting corruption. this is a fight for democracy. this is a fight for freedom.

for human rights. we don't want russia here, we don't want a dictatorship. we don't want russian empire here. we will fight for ukraine, for europe and for all over the world. they asked us to take a group photo. joking next week we will be reporting this group beat the russians. but by then, the picture here may be very different. 0rla guerin, bbc news, kyiv. and if you want to know more about the russian convoy heading for kyiv. you can go to our website where our chief international correspondent lyse doucet has written about the feeling of dread in the capital. that's on the bbc news website. in kharkiv, ukraine's second—biggest city, to the east, there was a huge explosion tuesday, after a russian missile hit the regional government's headquarters.

at least ten people were killed and 35 others were injured. russia is now in full control of significant parts of ukrainian territory, with fighting in several key cities and regions ongoing. 0ur eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, reports from neepro, where many residents of harkiv have fled. —— from dnipro where many residents of harkiv have fled. a warning, her report does contain some distressing images. this was a strike right at the heart of kharkiv. ukraine's second city under devastating fire. russia says it's not targeting civilians here. it says it's using precision missiles. it claims it's liberating ukraine from nazis. but russia has invaded its neighbour and it is killing civilians. "who wanted a russian world here," a man demands to know, "is this what you wanted?"

in the rubble are the remains of a collection point. clothes and food meant for those trapped at home by the fighting, and for those defending them. three—year—old palina is now sleeping in her bath. her mum asks why she has to go to the bunker. "it's because of the bombs," she says. palina has cancer, and her medicine is running out. the family need to leave town urgently but they're scared to step outside. translation: it's such a lottery. you sit here thinking, "will they hit your house or not?" i don't know how to get out. they tell you all the time not to go out, it is dangerous, so ijust don't know what to do. ijust hope they will make a safe corridor and get civilians out. so, dnipro, the next city south,

is building up its defences, determined to stop the russian advance. some people who do flee kharkiv are now heading here. just as we were filming, the volunteers making this checkpoint, one of so many fortifications now going up around dnipro, the air raid siren started to wail again and the volunteers ducked under the bridge for cover. just a reminder of how, when we talk about dnipro being safe, it's all pretty relative. vera made it here this morning, grabbing just enough for a couple of days. in kharkiv, she tells me, food and even water are growing scarce now and a friends in hospital after this morning's missile strike. she tells me, "he was right by the building. "thank god he's alive." but she says all her friends started writing and calling today when their flats were hit, or something fell really close.

and this evening in kharkiv, there was this... their president calls it the price ukraine is paying for its freedom. it is an enormous price. sarah rainsford, bbc news, dnipro. still to come a bit later in the programme: president biden�*s first state of the union address is to be delivered in a few hours�* time — and is set to focus on the war in ukraine — we'll have the latest analysis. but first — as the fighting intensifies — people continue to flee. thousands of people from across ukraine have arrived in the western city of lviv since since the war started. lviv is a hub for those trying to reach poland, slovakia and hungary our special correspondent, fergal keane hasjust sent this report from the city. the road that goes on and on, the refugee road — of days waiting to move meagre distances. on day six of this invasion,

the refugees keep coming. now, when you look at these images every day, you might think it's the same story every day. but, of course, it's not — war never is. it's not about an anonymous mass of people fleeing. it's about individual lives that are turned upside down. over half a million have fled already, many thousands more are on the move — like liza, leaving with her elderly mother and daughter. translation: it's scary, for sure, it's psychologically difficult, - because we lived well, we started to build a new house last year. and now we had to run, everything we have is in the car. there's shock but no social collapse. these teenagers from a local village clean the rubbish left by those fleeing.

it's civic—minded, but also the solidarity of friends in the face of war. translation: it was very scary, i we cried a lot, but we are together, and we support each other. we want it to stop, we don't want any war. we want ukraine to be ukraine. back in lviv, the fighting might still be far away, but they're strengthening security along the roads — civilians and military together. this is a brewery that's been converted into a factory for making petrol bombs. piano plays. nine—year—old maksym calms himself by practising the piano, playing in a theatre that's been converted into a refuge.

the actors welcoming new arrivals like maksym and his mum, daria. translation: we didn't want to leave our home. | it is difficult, this. but i understood that the situation was escalating very rapidly, and we decided to flee with everything we could. "i'm fine, this is normal." "i don't want war," he told me. "it'll be better if it doesn't happen and everybody lives in their own house and doesn't have to go anywhere else." tomorrow, maksym will be here at lviv station, to become another story of departure. people here ask, "how long will the war go on?" it's a question, sadly, easy to answer. as long as president putin wants it to. until that happens, across ukraine,

the partings will go on. fergal keane, bbc news, lviv. the united nations says more than 660,000 people have left ukraine since the russian invasion began. many have gone to hungary, romania, slovakia and moldova. but more than 400,000 have been taken in by poland. 0ur europe correspondent mark lowen is rzeszow. out of war comes the worst of humanity and the very best, likejoanna, picking her way through the new arrivals to find those who need refuge in her own home, near the ukrainian border. most of the tens of thousands now crossing, move on, to relatives in poland or elsewhere, but many have nowhere to go and joanna and her compatriots are stepping in. this is tough. i have three children, and there are thousands

of children who are cold, alone, so far from their home. one person can do such evil to the world, to the people. we don't know... it's so shocking. and then two more came, anna and herfive—year—old daughter, melena, traumatised, exhausted and alone. they're looked after by volunteers untiljoanna finds them. then, with an outstretched hand and an open heart, they're taken to shelter. how are you feeling about going back with joanna? ok. you feel good? ok. they came from kyiv as the bombs started falling, hours in a packed train, with melena sleeping in the luggage compartment. we go with them as this part of the journey ends. the poles now protectors. it is just genuinely humbling to see

people showing such kindness. relations between neighbours becoming deep, intense bonds in the face of such aggression. the first steps into sanctuary, meeting other ukrainians also housed byjoanna. as the new guests find their feet, anna tells of leaving behind herfamily and herjob as a circus performer. translation: it is hard, because my son is 19 - and was not allowed to come. i said goodbye to a country that i'm proud is my own. i travel a lot for work, so melena thought we were going to another hotel and we would return soon. i was so worried we would have to sleep in the station, sojoanna has warmed my heart. melena soon settles in, their host filling her home with warmth and welcome. a lot of people would say you're an angel. no, no, no, i'm normal. they are our friends, and everyone

needs help, they will get it. as ukraine fights back, the answer here to russia's bombs is compassion and solidarity. perhaps putin underestimated that, too. mark lowen, bbc news, rzeszow, near the poland—ukraine border. in the next few hours, president biden will deliver his first state of the union address in the us capitol. the speech has been hastily rewritten in the last few days to focus on the war in ukraine and the us response. but he can't ignore the country's domestic issues — with inflation at a a0 year high. that's one reason why his poll ratings are at an almost record low. i'm joined now by michele swers in washington dc. she is professor of american government at georgetown university. great to have you on the programme. let's start with that, the record

low approval ratings, the war in ukraine and an economy that's now being beset by rising oil prices. what will be the priority for president biden in this speech today? he president biden in this speech toda ? ., ., ., . ., today? he will have to balance a number of _ today? he will have to balance a number of things. _ today? he will have to balance a number of things. he _ today? he will have to balance a number of things. he will- today? he will have to balance a i number of things. he will generally talk about leadership, so he is trying to establish that he is a strong leader and he will be talking about the foreign—policy and how he is supporting democracy and how the united states has to support democracy. generally the american public is not as interested in foreign policy, so he needs to make the case as to obviously they are paying attention about why they should supported and why we might need to support it even though the united states might experience certain hardships of our economy, making things worse, like inflation, when gas prices are rising and things like that. that will be a focus of his.— will be a focus of his. michelle, i'm not, we have _ will be a focus of his. michelle, i'm not, we have heard - will be a focus of his. michelle, | i'm not, we have heard that the

ukrainian president called president biden or had that conversation with him and in that discussion urged him to say something useful, i think the words where about ukraine, but given the backdrop that you have just described, how much do americans really care, frankly, about the war in ukraine? the understanding that their own economy is in such a difficult position right now. i think the american public difficult position right now. i think the american public is open to being educated about this war because they are seeing so much of it right now and it is such a shock. president biden, he was the chairman of our senate foreign relations committee so he has deep experience with this. president trump and told the american public that nato was irrelevant and one of president biden �*s missions was to reestablish our position in the world in partnership with europe and with nato, so he wants to make that case to the american public as to here,

very concretely, is why we need to be supporting nato and he will make it within the context of democracy versus authoritarianism and why democracy is important to preserve. just briefly, michelle, the other big challenge that president biden has faced has been the pandemic. how do you think he's going to try to balance the good but the bad in terms of progress on that? welcome has he mentioned, _ terms of progress on that? welcome has he mentioned, his _ terms of progress on that? welcome has he mentioned, his poll _ terms of progress on that? welcome has he mentioned, his poll numbers| has he mentioned, his poll numbers are low and they are also particularly low on his handling of the economy in the handling of the pandemic. since he is going to try to focus attention on the things that he's done well and on the idea that he's done well and on the idea that things are going to get better, that things are going to get better, that maybe we are going to move to an endemic stage that we now have more treatments that we have testing, how well vaccines have gone and that they are available and finding ways to deal with the pandemic and talk about how he is going to be taking control with the economy and doing more to try to

reduce inflation by making supply chains work and things like this, so he knows that he needs to focus on both the economy and the pandemic because they are top priorities for the public and his leadership rankings on those are quite low right now. rankings on those are quite low right "ow-— rankings on those are quite low riahtnow. m ., right now. michelle, thank you so much forjoining _ right now. michelle, thank you so much forjoining us _ right now. michelle, thank you so much forjoining us on _ right now. michelle, thank you so much forjoining us on the - much forjoining us on the programme. we will be bringing you a special programme covering the state of the union speech live from washington with laura trevelyan, here on bbc news, from 0130 gmt on wednesday. dojoin us for that. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. a group of senior us officials appointed by presdent biden have arrived in taiwan to discuss peace and security. the delgation were greeted by foreign ministerjoseph wu amid tensions over the war in ukraine. china regards taiwan as a rebel province, and some taiwanese fear beijing could use force to take control. up to 50 people and their animals have been rescued after being trapped overnight on a bridge in woodburn, australia, as they tried to escape rising floodwaters. there've been over 1,000 flood rescues so far in

the new south wales flood emergency. returning to russia's were in ukraine now. during the day in moscow, the kremlin continued to insist that sanctions will not lead to a change of course. the russian leadership insisted again that it was not targeting civilians, despite the rising number of ukrainians known to have died in attacks by russian forces. but it remains unclear how the conflict is viewed by the russian people, and whether they believe the version of events being broadcast by the russian state media. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. from the military chiefs in moscow, no hint of compromise. russia's defence minister says the special military operation in ukraine will continue until mission accomplished. from the politicians here, denials that russia's an aggressor. turns out, it's the west's fault. your country, all european countries, united states, the western civilisation world...

is in an information and hybrid war with russia right now. russian state tv continues to avoid the words "war" or "invasion". they're banned. instead, the official message is that, in ukraine, russia is using force to bring peace. like many russians, valentina gets all her news from state tv — and believes it. in russia, television's a powerful tool for shaping public opinion about the war. a lot of what they say on tv, it is truth, it's true. how do you know? well, you know, when i read in a foreign newspaper that, you know, russians bomb kharkiv and so on, i know that it's not true, because they promised not to do this and they will never do this.

kremlin control of the media producing an inverted reality of russia's war in ukraine. not everyone here accepts the official kremlin line. russians who find alternative sources of information on their smartphone, on their computer, they tend to reach different conclusions about what is happening in ukraine. this is ekaterina. she's decided to pack up and leave russia. she doesn't watch russian tv. she's sickened by the invasion and has lost hope for russia's future. i don't know, ifeel like i don't have a life any more, maybe something change and new government could work with this situation, maybe, maybe, i don't know. but with this government, with this president,

no future for many, many years. ekaterina is leaving behind a country isolated by sanctions. a country at war. let's just remind you of our main news this hour — russia warns it will launch strikes on targets in the ukrainian capital, kyiv, telling residents, to leave their homes. let's take a moment to look at the huge russian military convoy which is approaching kyiv from the north. this satellite image, taken on monday, shows vehicles lined up along the road, near the ukrainian settlement of ivankiv — that's near the border with belarus. you can see them stretched from the top right to the bottom left. but — experts say that claims the convoy is forty miles long are inaccurate. rather, it's broken up into a string of what they say are logistical packets, strung out along the road. there are some fighting vehicles — but mostly there are support vehicles. and the analysis suggests

that the convoy is making slow progress, due to several broken down vehicles. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. after that sensation of warmth from a strengthening sunshine overhead, areas that saw the blue skies today, like here in parts of scotland, you're going to feel the chill tonight with temperatures widely below freezing. different story further south with conditions a bit more like this, and it's this sort of look more of us will have as we go into wednesday. there's the cloud which kept things a bit gray, misty and damp across some southern areas. heavy bursts of rain from that creeping its way northwards, but with clearer skies across scotland, northern ireland, northern england for much of the night, this is where we will see temperatures drop below freezing, may be as low as —7 through some sheltered glens of aberdeenshire. but the rain or drizzle towards the south does become more extensive, edging into north wales, parts of northern england first thing tomorrow morning. and temperatures don't really drop

here through the night, 7—8 celsius, as i said, compared to the subzero temperatures, especially so across scotland as we start the new day. so here's the chart as we go into wednesday. 0ur weather system continues to work its way northwards. we'll have a bit more breeze as well across these western areas and even across scotland where the sunshine's out. there will be more of a breeze around, that will make it feel a bit more chilly after that cold start. the cloud, rain, drizzle across wales, midlands, southern england, then pushes into northern england, northern ireland through the morning and into the afternoon, through some southern parts of scotland. it's going to be quite murky over the hills. we could see a little bit of brightness breakthrough parts of wales and the southwest. if we do, 11—12 degrees. most places in single figures. whilst we've got the sunshine still in northern scotland, more of a breeze will make it feel chillier than today. so that breeze then takes the cloud and patchy rain across scotland as we go through into wednesday evening and wednesday night. with all that cloud around, one decaying weather front across the uk, another one pushing

in from the west. it will be a much milder start on thursday for all, but it will be a bit of a damp start as well. the weather front quickly pushing its way eastwards away from some western areas as we go through thursday morning. so a better chance of brightening up here, but its meeting resistance from developing southeasterly flow across the north sea. and that means the weather front may grind to a halt. eastern scotland down the spine of england with outbreaks of rain continuing into the afternoon and a rather gray, misty look to go with it. temperatures 9—12 celsius. similar sort of temperatures, actually, through the rest of the week and into the weekend. high pressure, though, builds around our weather front, the problem is the weather front gets trapped. plenty of cloud around, some patchy drizzle, but gradually turning drier through the weekend. see you soon.

this is bbc news. the headlines — the ukrainian president, volodomyr zelensky, has warned that his country can't win on its own. after speaking with us presidentjoe biden, he said they'd agreed on the need to stop russian aggression as soon as possible. russian forces hit the main television tower in kyiv, killing five peope and damaging a nearby holocaust memorial. a huge military convoy is heading for the city. the ukrainian president says he believes the kremlin wants to cut kyiv off completely. the united nations says nearly 700,000 people have fled ukraine, seeking safety in neighbouring countries. the un is making an emergency appeal for $1.7 billion to help them. major industrial economies have agreed a coordinated release of oil reserves after russia's invasion pushed the price of crude to over $100 a barrel.