welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... harrowing scenes in ukraine as russian forces step in irpin — north—west of the capital — residents flee for their lives — under relentless bombardment. there is a fair amount of in coming buyer coming into this now. artillery fire, there are loads of civilians around. a bridge used by civilians to flee the town, was blown up to slow

the russian offensive, leaving many elderly especially vulnerable. the head of the international atomic energy agency says he's extremely concerned about reports that the ukrainian authorities are having trouble contacting staff at the zaporizhzhia and chernobyl nuclear plants — both of which are under russian control. almost 5,000 people have been arrested in russia, the social networking tiktok sayid it was suspending live—streaming in russia but its "in app" messaging service will continue to work. it's seven in the morning in singapore, and one am in kyiv where the ukrainian army has been reinforcing its defences as the russian military continues its attacks to the north of the capital.

soldiers have been digging trenches and blocking roads with anti—tank obstacles. the towns of bucha, hostomel and irpin have been under heavy bombardment. civilians trying to flee the fighting have been killed by russian mortarfire.the bbc�*s jeremy bowen has spent the day in nearby irpin — and there are some distressing details in his report. russian shelling might break ukraine's will to fight but not yet. they had to keep moving. until the last minute these families have hung on, leaving your home even in a war is a giant step. they are heading towards the capital, still almost untouched but only about ten miles away. she was as dignified as a woman striding to the park.

in fact, like all of ukraine and russia they are struggling into a dark future. ukrainian troops were moving back into peen and mrs what people left. journalist try to help the casualties. a family mother, father were killed by another shell. this was inside the town, russia's target as it tries to revive its offensive. the civilians are getting out of what's left of a bridge that was blown to slow down the russians if they take irpin. civilians are supposed to be protected by the laws of war. russian shells were very close. stopping was not an option.

i'm 0k, she said, keep going. a disabled man couldn't make it up the steep river bank on his own. there is a fair amount of incoming fire coming into us now. artillery fire, there are loads of civilians around. families, their dog following on, this is the edge of the town that the russians have got to. civilians were in the firing line and the russians might have been trying to knock out nearby active ukrainian artillery. casualties and evacuees were taken to an assembly point in a suburb about a mile away. they were still in rage of russian

guns but for now relatively safe. vladimir, 85, 30 year veteran of the soviet army got his family out. i served for many years he said, right now adhere to those fascists into pieces with up there killing people for no reason. that's what's really painful. 0n the way out families grabbed their most precious things puppies, pets, some comfort. tell me what it was like crossing the bridge and getting out. it was a miserable feeling. we are nervous. i was terrified, terrified. it was. horrible. a horrible way. they moved on to the capital. this was a terrible day but the russian military is operating on half power. if it can build up full momentum there will be more

days worse than this. a second attempt to evacuate civilians from the beseiged southern city of mariupol has failed. both sides blamed the other for failing to observe an agreed ceasefire. the red cross, which is trying to organise the humanitarian operation — said the city was witnessing �*devastating scenes of human suffering'. a top security official in ukraine warned that russia is preparing to encircle the city of dnipro and is turning its main attention to cutting ukraine off from the black sea. 0ur eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford reports from dnipro. when night falls, they keep the lights off here, in the hope that'll hide them from the russian bombs. families who fled the fighting in kharkiv to a nearby town, still too close to feel safe. this is me and my friends in the metro.

15—year—old nika has left behind her city, her friends and the father she loves, and she's struggling. oh, thank god i'm alive. i can't sleep normally — i am sleeping two or three hours every day because i heard bangs and i'm afraid. i start shaking because i think they're here and it's very bad. it's not only kharkiv that is under attack. in volnovakha to the south—east, whole streets are in ruins. the fighting was meant to stop today to give civilians chance to get out. but a local mp told me russian forces had broken the ceasefire for a second day. russia said it would provide a safe corridor, this man said, but they were firing along the route. gunfire. and there was no let—up at all in mariupol. imagine living under this.

..with no power and little water now — or food. so the buses that were sent to rescue thousands stood empty. translation: in first days of - the war, we counted dozens of dead. now it's hundreds and it'll soon be thousands. but they don't even give us a chance to count, because the shelling hasn't stopped for six days. people were supposed to be bussed here, three hours north, to zaporizhzhia, still firmly under ukrainian control. there is no shelling here yet, but it's too quiet, almost deserted. we spotted armed police doing spot checks. then, one patrol yelled at us to pull over. three armed officers pointed their guns at us, made us open the car doors, wanted to check who we were. they asked us to put our hands in the air. once they saw we were journalists they were fine, but it is getting really nervy here.

the fear comes before the fighting, but both are now spreading here every day. sarah rainsford, bbc news, zaporizhzhia. that's the picture in ukraine. russian police have again moved to break up anti—war protests in many cities. the respected russian ngo 0vd—info monitoring group hasjust released updated figures on arrests across russia during anti—war protests. according to 0vd—info, 4,631 people were arrested in 64 cities across russia on the 06 of march. maria kuznetsova, a spokesperson for the 0vd—info, said "the screws are being fully tightened — essentially we are witnessing military censorship." the head of the international agency for atomic energy says he's extremely concerned about reports on several nuclear sites from the ukrainian regulator. rafael grossi said the ukrainian authorities had had trouble contacting staff at the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — the biggest in the country. he said russian forces had switched off some mobile networks and the internet.

0ur correspondent, bethany bell has more from brussels. the un's nuclear watchdog says its. the head of the iaea says he's extremely concerned by the situation because he says the current situation at the nuclear plant — which was, of course, seized by russian forces on friday — he says that ukrainian staff are still operating it, technically, but they are now having to get approvalfor any orders, anything they want to do technically at the plant from the russian commander who seized it. and he said that contravenes safety, pillars of safety and security, which say that technical staff need to be able to go about their work without undue pressure. and, of course, he also said the reports that communication with the plant — not just this plant but also the chernobyl plant — are becoming more difficult because the reports from ukraine

say that mobile phone communications have been cut, some of them also email and fax. so it's hard to get reliable communication, and mr grossi said this is also a big problem, and it's also the case at chernobyl. and he said he was also concerned about the staff at chernobyl, who hadn't been able to rotate out since the 23rd of february, and he's again repeated his offer to go to ukraine to negotiate between the sides about this issue to ensure that the safety and security of these nuclear sites can be maintained. meanwhile, as the fighting continues — ukraine's president zelensky has

called on volunteers across the world to join a special international brigade of the ukrainian army. nearly 20,000 foreign citizens have applied to go there to fight, according to ukraine's foreign minister dmytro kuleba quoted in local media.the first few hundreds started arriving in ukraine a few days ago. so who are they, where are they from and what's motivating them? someone who's been following all this very closely is kacper rekawek from the center for research on extremism based in oslo. great to have you on the program. let's start with that, shall we? who let's start with that, shall we? who exactl are let's start with that, shall we? who exactly are the _ let's start with that, shall we? who exactly are the people _ let's start with that, shall we? who exactly are the people willing to join in this international brigade and what is motivating them? take ou for and what is motivating them? take you for having _ and what is motivating them? take you for having me. _ and what is motivating them? take you for having me. it's _ and what is motivating them? ta

rightly said, 20,000 apparently applied but applied meant send e—mail to the ukrainian embassy. we will see how many actually make it to ukraine. that will be substantially smaller number. we are heafina substantially smaller number. we are hearing from — substantially smaller number. we are hearing from governments _ substantially smaller number. we are hearing from governments that - substantially smaller number. we are | hearing from governments that people shouldn't be going to do this in fact borisjohnson i think was saying that instead of fighting people should donate instead. how are governments managing the fact that citizens from one country want to go and fight for the army of another? , , . my to go and fight for the army of another? , , . n ., , another? this is a tricky territory. we sent another? this is a tricky territory. we spent the _ another? this is a tricky territory. we spent the last _ another? this is a tricky territory. we spent the last decade - another? this is a tricky territory. i we spent the last decade essentially looking at one direction. following fighters of volunteers. 0bviously that concern syria. 0ne fighter, we had a decade to work out what the policy is on the foreign fighters who are not foreign terrorist fighters. that's why you have

basically different governments, parliaments, prosecutors coming out with their own opinions in almost any country saying yes, you can but... 0r any country saying yes, you can but... or you cannot. any country saying yes, you can but... 0ryou cannot. so any country saying yes, you can but... or you cannot. so this is not a grey area, it's something that we avoided for a decade. yes, there are other ways to help but in reality when you're asking who these people are their main motivation so far when i look at this and when i talk to them and when i listen to this, they all are appalled and incensed by the offence or ukraine. some of the people may respond over the nation, i would open my door to refugees, i would invite them over, for others it would i will go and try to fight. i stress tried to fight because still if you are there on the ground. i fight because still if you are there on the ground-— on the ground. i take your point that this is _ on the ground. i take your point that this is something _ on the ground. i take your point that this is something we've - on the ground. i take your point i that this is something we've never really dealt with in this way before. is it even legal for people to do this?— to do this? yes, it is. in western european — to do this? yes, it is. in western european countries _ to do this? yes, it is. in western european countries it's _ to do this? yes, it is. in western | european countries it's absolutely legal to come and join the fight in

a foreign war. it starts getting tricky when you're joining a known state actor and this is very much a state actor and this is very much a state actor. you actively have the ukrainian state asking about that. that's a different issue. i know it's different in the uk where terrorism laws kick in but you're not dealing with any terrace mobilisation here, not at all. it’s mobilisation here, not at all. it's wonderful— mobilisation here, not at all. it's wonderful to _ mobilisation here, not at all. it's wonderful to have you on the programme, thank you so much for joining us kacper rekawek from the centre for research on extremism based in oslo. obviously, lots of considerations pointed out given the fact that this is basically uncharted territory that the world is heading into. as the fighting intensifies in lviv, buses and trains continue to arrive from across the country, as people leave their homes and belongings, and prepare to seek sanctuary elsewhere. our special correspondent fergal keane has been travelling with some of those who've fled, and has this report.

the young men have been working all night. they try to break some chair to the old man. it was our service, theyjoked, let me get you tea or coffee. it spares not, this war. not the old the young, or the sick. these children from kharkiv are orphans they have serious health conditions. their distress is difficult to watch. but it is an essential truth of the wars destruction for those who are their carers. translation: it's very deplorable. we are being bombed from morning till night. we've been in the bomb shelter all this time, all the kids, all of them.

this is what they are fleeing. the destruction that's broken the calm, ordered life they knew. uprooting a million and a half people so far. the bus is heading to the polish border. care and nurturing travel with them. translation: we are tired to hear how the children behave, _ they also want calm, silence, coziness and warmth. what do the children mean to you? translation: many people ask me why i do this job. . i feel that i needed here. just when you think that this war

cannot get any more obscene in the way that it ruptures human lives no matter how young, it does. and a sobering, sad part is that it will continue to do so. they've been travelling 30 hours already, there are many more hours ahead. more than 1.5 million people have now left ukraine since the conflict began. of those, close to a million are now in poland. hungary and slovakia have each received over 100,000 refugees. and moldova, romania and russia have seen more than 50,000 people cross their respective borders. some of those arriving have acute needs — with cancer patients having

to leave their hospitals, and having treatment interrupted, as they seek safety in europe. our correspondent mark lowen, who's in poland, has been hearing some of their stories. they, too, are the fighters of a debilitating disease made deadlier by the war they've fled. ukraine's young cancer patients evacuated to poland, victims of a battle on two fronts. taken to a hotel to be examined, the most urgent to be sent to hospitals here and across europe. "our hearts are tearing from pain," says this lady. "my son always says he's fine, but we need to continue his treatment. whole families to from the homes at the most difficult times. olivia was born a day before russians invasion. olivia was born a day before russians invasion. lilya's little brother olexi has a brain tumour and is weak from the journey. he had three operations and then

he had chemotherapy, he didn't complete the therapy. the next morning they wait for triage. this is just next morning they wait for triage. this isjust a desperately next morning they wait for triage. this is just a desperately sad situation. children who are safe from the war but now plunged back into danger with their illness, rushing to resume treatment that's been broken off. this is a conflict thatis been broken off. this is a conflict that is killing, uprooting and threatening the most vulnerable. the one doctor is overwhelmed. she checks 12—year—old andrey who soft tissue cancer has spread to his lungs. this is very serious situation. other patient you think

and die from situations like this? yes. most of these kids are in a life—threatening situation and any kind of delay of their treatment is very bad for them. this, of all places, is little andrei's first ever trip abroad. "i miss my home and my grandma and grandpa" he says. "at least here we don't have to run into shelters, "because that was scary and hard. " as volunteers from germany take the first children to a hospital there, more arrive. the cruelty of one man's war now forcing them to battle. mark lowen, bbc news, central poland. as that conflict continues in ukraine and the consequences as you

can see they're growing, we've seen several companies saying they are suspending their operations in ukraine including tick—tock which is it suspending all new video upstream and videos in russia. the video—sharing app said in a statement �*it had no other choice', after russia introduced its new �*fake news' law, that's aimed at limiting information about its invasion of ukraine. for more on this i am joined now by tech reporter emily birnbaum from politico. she joins me from washington. great to have you on news day. let's start by trying to get an understanding of why this is happening, why we are seeing firms like to talk making this decision about pulling out effectively from russia. . ~ about pulling out effectively from russia. ., ~ , ., ., russia. the fake news law would sub'ect russia. the fake news law would subject any _ russia. the fake news law would subject any people _ russia. the fake news law would subject any people on _ russia. the fake news law would subject any people on platforms| russia. the fake news law would - subject any people on platforms who are knowingly disseminating false information. it would mean they

could be punished by a prison sentence of up to 15 years and fined up sentence of up to 15 years and fined up to about $14,000. the law is sort of the way that the kremlin can push these companies out of the country without explicitly blocking them because it makes it untenable to continue to operate a communications platform in russia. so tiktok is just one of the first here, a lot of news organisations, including cnn and others have left russia because of this law. and the social media platforms are going to be affected as well. , , ., ., platforms are going to be affected as well.�* , ., ., ., . platforms are going to be affected as well. , , ., ., ., . ., as well. just to give our audience a sense of how _ as well. just to give our audience a sense of how popular _ as well. just to give our audience a sense of how popular tiktok - as well. just to give our audience a sense of how popular tiktok is - as well. just to give our audience a sense of how popular tiktok is in l sense of how popular tiktok is in russia in comparison to other social media networks, how widely is it used and how many people actually used and how many people actually useit? used and how many people actually use it? ~' ., ~' used and how many people actually use it? ~' , used and how many people actually use it? ~ , ., ., ., use it? tiktok is not one of the top used social— use it? tiktok is not one of the top used social media _ use it? tiktok is not one of the top used social media platforms - use it? tiktok is not one of the top used social media platforms in - used social media platforms in russia. youtube is actually far and away the most popular, about 80 to

85 russian internet users use youtube. but tick—tock is very important and that helps first of all russians communicate with the west where most of tiktok audience is. also there are a of influential russian russian influencers on tick—tock. about 30% of russian influencers use tiktok. that's still a lot of people, somewhere around 70 million monthly users in russia. from my understanding, while tick—tock is disabling live streaming in the country it is still keeping its private messaging service available. what are the actual consequences of a company like tiktok making a decision like this for content creators and wider, the political influence that it might have amongst young people in particular? obviously, tiktok is very important about young people. it's an important tool that they had

to communicate. their opposition to the war in ukraine or more broadly, this is part of the growing splinter net where there is western countries all in there is free, open internet and then there are authoritarian countries like china and russia whose information are increasingly sideload. if western social media platforms, news agencies continue to leave russia than they are going to be left with the russian versions of it lot of these platforms. there is bk and others and are tightly controlled by the kremlin. thank you so much forjoining us with your thoughts on that latest decision by tiktok to suspend its operations, some of its operations in russia. emily birnbaum from politico. you can follow all the latest

developments on the war in ukraine by going to our online live coverage. follow it on bbcnews.com or the bbc news app. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello. the weekend brought as a lot of dry weather with variable amounts of sunshine. but the cloud did tend to break up more later on sunday so we've had clear spells through sunday night. that means certainly a cold start to monday morning. widespread frost to start off this working week but a lot of dry and sunny weather on the cards, at least for the next 24 hours or so. temperatures first thing, monday may be as low as low as —5, —6 across parts of scotland. very cold for northern england, northern ireland down into the midlands. a little less cold in the far south where a bit of a breeze blowing through the morning. but they'll be more sunshine compared to the weekend across many southern and eastern parts of england. elsewhere, a little bit of patchy clouds drifting clause wales, northern ireland, nova in england, southern scotland but it is looking dry.

it's all going to feel particular warm silly bit of a breeze coming in low easterly direction. temperatures at best on monday afternoon only between around about seven to nine degrees for most of us. despite a lot of spring sunshine around, it isn't going to feel particularly warm for this time of year. but dry with light winds, a pleasant day ahead on monday. as we move through monday evening and overnight into tuesday there will be a few areas of cloud drifting from south to north. but still some long, clear spells so another cold night. probably temperatures not quite as low first thing tuesday as they are first thing monday morning. but still a widespread frost for tuesday morning. set to change a little bit through the day on tuesday because we've got a weather front approaching from the west. high pressure easing off towards the east. that means the breeze is going to be picking up, we'll see more cloud rolling in from the west and some rain for northern ireland and western parts of britain later in the day. eastern scotland, eastern england should stay dry with some sunshine all day. it will turn a little bit less cold. we are starting to see some of those temperatures back up into double figures on tuesday.

looking ahead towards the middle of the week and things are gradually more unsettled. as a weather front starts to try and work in from the atlantic, high pressure still sitting off to the east so they are only making slow progress eastwards across the uk. but what they are also going to bring is a change in wind direction. into wednesday you can see yellow colours, this warmer air mass starting to move in with those southerly winds. yes, not as cold with temperatures on the rise but also turning wet and windy on wednesday towards the west. fairly heavy, persistent rain for northern ireland pushing into western parts of britain. in the east, should be largely dry but temperatures back into double figures. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines. harrowing scenes in ukraine, as russian forces step up their bombing of civilian areas. in irpin, north—west of the capital, residents flee for their lives, under relentless bombardment.