welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: europe's largest nuclear plant is reported to be on fire, it follows intense fighting as russian troops attempt to seize the building. explosion. there are airstikes and more fighting north of kyiv. at least 22 people are killed. we have just had some gunfire. troops say that happens from time to time. it could be coming from russian forces or from russian saboteurs. a city under siege,

translation: it places military under 30 and at the same time they are acting as the ultimate bandits. there is no slowing in the wave of people fleeing the fighting — more than a million people have now left ukraine. and the united states turns up the pressure on russia, imposing fresh sanctions on at least eight oligarchs and associates of president putin. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it is news day. hello and welcome to the programme. some breaking news we are getting, coming from ukraine. multiple reports telling us

that a nuclear power plant is on fire after being shelled on by the russians during their offensive. as you can imagine it is a very fluid situation at the moment. lots of information coming thick and fast from the area. our reporter mark lobel has been monitoring all the developments from london. speaking to us now from london and give us information about what is taking place. we are getting reports coming through in the last 15 minutes or so, what is the latest you have heard? ., . , ., heard? concerning news from southeast _ heard? concerning news from southeast ukraine, _ heard? concerning news from southeast ukraine, the - heard? concerning news from southeast ukraine, the power plant, these upper region, the largest in europe, these are the pictures coming out of that area, the town mayor, he says it appears to be caused by continuous enemy shelling by the plant's buildings and

units, according to the town mayor. we have reported in the path of intense fighting between ukrainian and russian forces on the outskirts of the city, in the south—east of ukraine. russian troops have tried to enter the city and tanks and sees the plant but residents and workers were congregating around the plant and surrounding roads on wednesday and this is one of ukraine's four active nuclear plants and it was concerning when russians were approaching it. the international atomic agency had said earlier today it was consulting with ukraine and others with a view of providing the maximum possible assistance to the country and seeks to maintain nuclear safety. chernobyl, the sight of the 1986 nuclear meltdown, is under russian control at the moment. this is what the minister of foreign affairs said, he tweeted a couple of minutes ago: the russian army is firing all sides of the

upper region, the largest nuclear plant in europe. if it blows up, it will be ten times larger than chernobyl. russians must immediately cease fire, allow firefighters to establish allow firefighters to establish a security zone. and a russian news agency has been fighting a ukrainian atomic and agency spokesperson and they say firefighters cannot start extinguishing the fire at the nuclear power plant, they are being fired on at point—blank range and there has already been a hit on the first unit. 0ne been a hit on the first unit. one report, citing that ukrainian atomic agency spokesperson. i ukrainian atomic agency spokesperson.— ukrainian atomic agency spokesperson. ukrainian atomic agency s--okeserson. ~' ., �* , spokesperson. i know you'll be watchinu spokesperson. i know you'll be watching that _ spokesperson. i know you'll be watching that story _ spokesperson. i know you'll be watching that story closely - watching that story closely throughout the day. the reported fire there at that nuclear power plant in ukraine. we will bring you up—to—date as

soon as we get more information from the area. do you stay to bbc news. russian troops have been intensifying their attacks across ukraine. in the northern city of chernihiv, 22 people were killed in an air strike on a residential area. there are fears of a humanitarian crisis in the southern port of mariupol where civilians are trapped by shelling. there are also reports of food shortages in the city of kherson which russian troops took control of wednesday. president putin said the invasion was going to plan while ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has again asked him for one to one talks to end the conflict. we start our coverage in kyiv, where the fighting is going on little more than 2a kilometres from the capital's centre. clive myrie is there. his report contains distressing images. this is the city of chernihiv, 80 miles north of the capital, kyiv.

and this is war. explosion. this is a residential area. and here's another. russia's military did this to whole communities in syria as well as chechnya. their commanders have form. chernihiv lost 22 of its citizens in this attack. the governor says two schools were also hit. make no mistake about vladimir putin's desire to colonise this land. ukraine says russian targeting is indiscriminate. welcome to the town of borodyanka, population 12,500. parts of it a wasteland now of destruction in an increasingly dirty war. translation: god forbid, if we are no more, then latvia, lithuania, estonia will be next, then moldova, georgia, poland and so on. they will march to the

berlin wall, believe me. it's the same story of destruction in southern ukraine. large parts of the port city of mariupol are being shelled. as russian forces tighten the noose, a humanitarian tragedy unfolds. the city's electricity supply has already been cut. and resistance, though noble, is futile in the city of kherson, conquered by russian tanks, the first major urban area to fall in this war. but there's no bigger prize than the capital, kyiv. an explosion overnight rocks the railway station. debris from a russian cruise missile shot out of the sky. it's unclear how many were injured. by day, the capital is being abandoned. these cars have been dumped

outside the railway station as thousands flee. it is pretty much deserted here, a couple of people out for a stroll in the snow. but this is a city that's so much on edge, and all the checkpoints that we've come across, the guards have come up to us, they've wanted to check our papers, wanted to check if we're filming them. there really is a sense of dread and unease here, which is frankly to be expected. and this is why. not farfrom kyiv, a column of heavy russian armour inches closer to the capital, waiting for vladimir putin's order to strike. kyiv�*s mayor, vitaly klitschko, has warned that many more people will die as a result of the conflict but vowed that ukrainians would never surrender.

thousands of ordinary citizens have now taken up arms to defend the capital and their country. 0ur international correspondent, 0rla guerin, has been to meet some of them: the rush to get more defences in place. a democratic european capital waits for invaders at the gates. these are called hedgehogs and were designed to stop a tank. so, can ukrainian forces keep the russians out? "i don't know," says sergei. "i'm not a general. we'll try. that's why we're here. that's all i know. you need to ask the president." the last—minute preparations here include battlefield first aid for volunteers. how to apply a tourniquet so you don't bleed out.

at the city's edge, 0lga is sharing knowledge that might save lives. how soon do you think it could be before there is real fighting here? unfortunately, i think it's a few days, and we're afraid. but it's our town, it's our country, and we must save it, we must fight. 0lga, what were you doing before the invasion? are you a medic? no, i'm not medic. i just... gunfire. well, we'vejust heard some gunfire. the troops say that happens from time to time. it could be coming from russian forces or from russian saboteurs who are inside the city. and deep in a forest, more defences.

felling pine trees to block the enemy's advance. shovels in hand, they dig in for a long fight. this could be a scene from the first or second world war, but it's now, today, 2022. well, there's a whole network of trenches being built here now. they tell us they have to be ready and soon. they believe that russian forces could reach this position within a day or two. everyone here knows the russians have more firepower, but they say their morale is higher because they are defending their own soil. and the volunteers in the forest speak only of victory. "i think we'll win," this man says, "though it will be hard." "we will break them," his friend adds, "so their children and grandchildren will remember it forever."

back in the heart of the capital, independence square, cradle of the revolution in 2014. it's now deserted, and this city is a battleground in waiting. 0rla guerin, bbc news, kyiv. there have been more talks between russian and ukrainian officials and while they discussed creating humanitarian corridors for civilians, there was no firm agreement. meanwhile in moscow, president putin made a televised address, insisting the military operation was going to plan — and accused ukraine of putting its own civilians at risk. translation: they place military artillery in - residential quarters of the cities. at the same time, they are acting as the ultimate bandits. the european union has agreed to give ukrainian refugees temporary residence for up to three years in eu countries. those fleeing the fighting have mainly

entered neighbouring eu states including poland, hungary and slovakia. the larger arrows here indicate the largest numbers of people moving. some will head on to other countries, including germany. trains full of refugees from ukraine are still arriving in berlin, from where our correspondent damian grammaticas reports. "six people," the shout, and someone steps forward to give a family of six just arrived from ukraine shelter — free, no time limit. at berlin central railway station, every sign a german family offering space in their own homes. putin's war has woken something here, a desire to help, and deeper down, memories, too. i'm more or less a child of a refugee, so i feel obliged to do something for refugees. it's not hitler this time, but, for me, it somehow feels that

what putin does is what hitler did before. what's amazing here is although there have been hundreds of refugees arriving, there are more than enough german families to take them in. and it's notjust here. there are efforts being made right across berlin. in a berlin suburb, baskets of food delivered by neighbours. the wardakas family have opened up their home. this 11—year—old boy already has new toys and new children to play with. for his mother and grandmother, though, the war, even here, is inescapable. my house. videos sent by friends of the damage just done to their home in kharkiv. and the boy's father isn't here, unable to leave ukraine. he keeps asking every time about his dad. what is he asking? where is his dad and when he can see him. and what can you say? i don't know...

i hope soon. when we started reading the news, i don't know, we said right away, we need to take someone in, to give someone peace, because it could have been us. yes. this is how we feel. it could've been us. and it was tareq. he fled syria six years ago, walked for two months to reach germany and now is taking this convoy to ukraine to bring back refugees. i know what's the meaning of fleeing from the war, so that was also my motivation in this case, to support persons who are fleeing now. so, a refugee from one crisis heading to help those from another. the common thread from syria to ukraine — russian aggression uprooting so many lives. damian grammaticas, bbc news, berlin.

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the united states turns up the pressure on russia, imposing fresh sanctions. we'll have all the details from washington. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb on a remote pacific atoll. the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier, and so, my heart went bang, bang, bang! - the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states and they should be protected, even in the right to test them out, so that they don't

get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy — i know you don't want to say too much about it — but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right - in the end, as they say. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: europe's because nuclear power plant in southern ukraine is reported to be on fire after it was bombarded by the russians. there is no slowing in the wave of people fleeing the fighting. more than a million people have now left ukraine. let's get more on that refugee crisis for you. one of the aid organisations operating on the ground in ukraine is

international committee of the red cross. anita is a spokeswoman from the asia—pacific harbour in bangkok. she updated us on the work that they are prioritising now. a , work that they are prioritising now. , a, ., , ., ., now. many ukrainians do not have access _ now. many ukrainians do not have access to _ now. many ukrainians do not have access to water, - have access to water, electricity, and there is minimal phone connectivity across the country. people are sheltering for hours on end. they are worried about going outdoors because of the shelling and fighting, and that means they are having difficulty having access to food and other necessities. we are getting calls to our call centre from people who are wounded seeking assistance, people desperately seeking solutions to leave the country or who have lost kind tracked with their family or desperately seeking information how to find them and reconnect. some of our main priorities over the last days have been in mariupol to provide food and

other essentials to people who have been displaced and now living with shelters, together with ukrainian red cross. we have big —— been providing first aid kits. we have delivered war wounded get to hospitals in the capital, and delivered by the ukrainian red cross, and there to help trauma, burns and gunshot wounds. in donbas we are looking at the urgent water needs and providing clean drinking water to thousands there. �* ., ., there. anita, looking at some ofthe there. anita, looking at some of the images _ there. anita, looking at some of the images we _ there. anita, looking at some of the images we have - there. anita, looking at some of the images we have been l of the images we have been playing on our screens, pictures of people trying to leave ukraine and what must be such unimaginably be difficult times. how do your teams on the ground work in the midst of what is effectively a conflict zone to get people out? it is zone to get people out? it is really difficult, _ zone to get people out? it is really difficult, and - zone to get people out? it is really difficult, and at - zone to get people out? it 3 really difficult, and at the moment sometimes our movement is limited because of the

fighting, and we have a few calls to the parties of the conflict, and the first is to adhere to international humanitarian law and to protect civilians and take caution to protect civilians from military operations. it also includes dividing safe passage for people who are fleeing. in addition to that, we are also calling for parties to respect humanitarian organisations like ourselves, ukrainian red cross and others who are trying to provide assistance to people who really desperately needed safely, because we can't do it if there is fighting and no means to travel around. that is really hampering our ability to provide the extent of assistance required. an assistance required. an in-depth _ assistance required. an in—depth speaking to me a little earlier. a second round of talks between delegations from russia and ukraine in neighbouring belarus ended without a ceasefire deal. the two sides said they had agreed on the need for humanitarian

corridors to protect civilians. it ukraine's resident volodymyr zelensky called for direct talks with vladimir putin, saying that was the only way to stop the war. with their respective lads on the table, ukrainians and russians that down to talk this afternoon. no progress on ending president putin's war, but there was a same limited agreement on the possibility of setting up humanitarian corridors. to try to save the lives of billions living an increasingly desperate situations. unfortunately desperate situations. u nfortu nately we desperate situations. unfortunately we did not get the results we had expected. the only thing i can say that we discussed the humanitarian aspects in sufficient detail because many of the cities are now surrounded. there is a dramatic situation with food, medicines, with the possibility of evacuation.—

of evacuation. earlier today, president — of evacuation. earlier today, president macron _ of evacuation. earlier today, president macron of- of evacuation. earlier today, president macron of france | of evacuation. earlier today, - president macron of france took a call from vladimir putin. french officials say it lasted 90 minutes and left them feeling that worst was yet to come for the rudgeley that he was determined to achieve his aims and ukraine either by diplomatic or military means. he felt the operation was going to plan. nato is continuing to beef up its forces in eastern europe as russia is subjected to ever tougher western sanctions. so is there a way out for president putin now? yeah, there is a way out. he can stop what he is doing, he can stop what he is doing, he can withdraw his forces from ukraine back to russia, he can tell belarus to stand down stop he can try and negotiate with the west about what he feels has been the wrong issues around people in donbas or russian minorities. the problem is it is going to be pretty hard right now.—

is it is going to be pretty hard right now. with the lives of ukrainians, _ hard right now. with the lives of ukrainians, russia - hard right now. with the lives of ukrainians, russia is - of ukrainians, russia is writing a bloodied new chapter in history. the prime minister of hungary who saw the cross on ukraine was much water today used to be president putin closest european ally. we tried to provide _ closest european ally. we tried to provide all— closest european ally. we tried to provide all the _ closest european ally. we tried to provide all the chance - closest european ally. we tried to provide all the chance for i to provide all the chance for negotiation. the war can be stopped only by negotiations and peace talks and ceasefire. but it does not depend on the europe leaders of the hungary prime minister. it depends on russians and ukrainians, basically the russians. figs basically the russians. as russia continued to pound ukraine, the prospect of it holding meaningful talks to end the war seem at the moment vanishingly small. the united states turned up the pressure on russia. earlier, it was imposing fresh sanctions on at least eight oligarchs and associates of president putin. those targeted include the

owner of a giant mining company, as well as the kremlin�*s spokesman. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy in washington gave more details on the extent and aid of these new sanctions. they want, the way they put it, his cronies to put pressure on him to say, "look, we're losing billions, "millions of dollars of business around the world. "0ur private lives are suffering." for example, these 19 people and their families, their visa won't be honoured anymore, they won't be able to travel to the united states. that may have implications for children's education. a lot of these guys own houses in the united states. one or two of them own yachts that are moored here in the united states. so, all the trappings of their wealth are being cut off by these sanctions, and they're hoping that will be painful and they're hoping that that in turn will be passed on to president putin. but they know this is going to take time. as one commentator put it, sanctions are slower than tanks. so, they don't expect these

oligarchs to get on the phone to president putin tonight and say, "look, you must stop this all tomorrow." they are not being like that. they are not being like that. they are not being like that. they are hoping that over a period of time. just like, they say, the example in iran when they applied pressure to iran five or six years ago, once these guys in charge, the leaders feel the pain of all their trappings of wealth really slipping away from them, then the leadership in the form of, in this case, president putin will also have to take notice. but there's no guarantee of that, and they know that. but they know this is part of a parcel of measures they're trying to apply to president putin via his surrogates. a reminder of the breaking news we brought you earlier this hour. i want to show you these big as which are from europe's august nuclear plant. these are life pictures at the zaporizhzhia grant in southern ukraine which is reported to be on fire after he was bombarded by the russians. the nearby

applet town has pleaded with the russians to stop firing. i will have much more on that for you as we can get it. tuesday with bbc news for the latest. —— do stay with bbc news for the latest. hello there. cloud and outbreaks of rain are continuing to move very slowly eastwards. we should have more sunshine around across the uk this weekend but on thursday, the best of the sunshine was across northern ireland. highest temperatures, though, were in the south—east of england — 1a degrees — ahead of that band of thicker cloud, which is taking that rain very slowly eastwards. there are some breaks in the cloud coming in from the west, a few showers around as well, but temperatures early morning could be close to freezing perhaps in northern ireland and western parts of scotland. further east, it's milder, but it is wetter. we've got cloud and rain from the word go. and for a while in the morning, that rain could be on the heavy side before it pulls away from much of eastern scotland and eventually from the north—east of england.

we keep some rain, though, further south across eastern england. further west, though, we're into that brighter sky, some sunshine and maybe one or two showers for northern ireland, western scotland, wales and western england. and these areas on the whole a little bit milder, i think, on friday. still quite cold, though, for eastern scotland and the north—east of england. improvements, though, this weekend. more sunshine to come for scotland and northern ireland, and we should slowly see the weather improving across england and wales as that rain finally moves away. but we start the weekend cold in scotland and northern ireland, a slight frost here. there's even a risk of temperatures close to freezing in the south—west of england and south wales. further east, though, we've still got that band of cloud and rain. and that will tend to sink its way southwards and westwards, taking some of that damp weather towards the south—west of england, but allowing more sunshine in wales, now, and the north of england, together with sunshine in scotland and northern ireland. and in the sunshine, temperatures 8, 9 degrees, so a milder day for eastern scotland and the north—east of england. second half of the weekend sees the back of this weather front

at long last. looks like it is going to be fading away a little more quickly now as that area of high pressure builds down from the north. so, the rain gets squeezed out. if there is any rain, it's really down through the english channel. a dry picture, generally, i think, on sunday. more sunshine to come across england and wales, certainly some brighter skies here, and we continue to see the sunshine after a cold start in scotland and northern ireland. still not particularly warm for the time of year. temperatures only around 8 or 9 degrees. high pressure builds in this weekend, and then it starts to slip away to the east of the uk, allowing a stronger wind to pick up, but it looks like all these weather fronts and rain are going to stay away towards the west.

it could've been us.

this is bbc news. the headlines at the top of the hours straight after this programme. 0bviously how i feel about what is happening in ukraine is the least important thing about what is happening, but i have to say, i thought living through brexit would stay with me for the rest of my life and there is a whole new load of images i will never forget. then, living through the pandemic, this is the biggest thing i will ever live through, these are the things that will stick in my mind and i will never forget and now just in the last seven days there is a whole load of really powerful images of what a huge story we are living through that are going to be stuck in my brain for ever.

i think that is right. it is the whole thing, isn't it?