welcome to bbc news — i'm david eades. our top stories... harrowing scenes in ukraine — as russian forces step up their bombing of civilian areas. in irpin — residents flee under relentless bombardment. there is a fair amount of incoming fire coming into this area, 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 international atomic energy agency expresses fears for ukrainian nuclear plants now under russian control, as the authorities appear unable to speak to their staff.

chanting and — as the fighting continues — so do the protests — demonstrations taking place all around the world. the humanitarian crisis for the ukrainian people is deepening, with tens of thousands of civilians trapped in cities under near—constant russian shellfire, and lacking food and other most basic needs. in kyiv, the ukrainian army has been reinforcing its defences as the russian military continues its attacks to the north of the capital. the towns of bucha, hostomel and irpin have been under heavy bombardment. and some people trying to flee the fighting have been killed by russian mortar fire.

our senior international correspondentjeremy bowen spent sunday in nearby irpin, and i must warn you — there are some distressing details and images in his report. distant explosions. russian shelling might break ukraine's will to fight — but not yet. davay, davay. they have to keep moving. until the last minute, these families had hung on. leaving your home, even in a war, is a giant step. they're 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 irpin, and this is why its people left. shell zips past.

journalists try to help the casualties. a family, mother, father and two children were killed by another shelf. this was inside the town, russia's target as its tries to revive its offensive. the civilians are getting out over 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. shouting, explosions. 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's a fair amount

of incoming fire coming into this now — artillery fire. there are loads of civilians around. families coming out. there's a lady over there with her dog following on. this is the edge of the town that the russians have got to. explosions, shouting. civilians were in the firing line, but 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 range of russian guns, but, for now, relatively safe. vladimir, 85, a 30—year veteran of the soviet army got his family out. "i served for many years," he said. "right now, i'd tear those fascists into pieces. "they're killing people for no reason. "that's what's really painful."

on 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 of the town? oh, it was a miserable feeling. we are nervous. i was terrified. it was, it was the horrible, horrible way. they moved on into 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 many days worse than this. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kyiv. for the second day in a row, an attempt to evacuate 400—thousand residents from the besieged city of mariupol in south—eastern ukraine has failed.

a planned ceasefire broke down with both sides blaming each other. our correspondent sarah rainsford is in the city of dnipro, where officials had been preparing to welcome those fleeing from mariupol. 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 the 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 bused here, three hours north, to zaporizhzhia, still firmly

under ukrainian control. there is no shelling here yet, but it's too quiet, almost deserted. this 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. the head of the un's nuclear watchdog says he's extremely concerned about reported communication difficulties between the ukrainian regulator and nuclear sites under russian control. rafael grossi said the ukrainian authorities were having trouble contacting staff at the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the biggest in the country.

a relative of someone working inside the chernobyl has spoken to the bbc. that facility was taken by russian forces over a week ago. we've called her valerie, which is not her real name, to protect her identity. she described the situation. the conditions are kind of concerning right now. once a day, they can slip normally, because first of all they have to work basically 24—7, because they have to keep maintaining they have to keep maintaining the plant working properly. almost all their moves are controlled. i mean, they are not interrupted, they are working, but they can't move freely, theyjust always have to be controlled by the russian army. i'm joined now by professor

matthew bunn from the harvard kennedy school — where he teaches the practice of energy, national security, and foreign policy. you pretty much covered the gamut then on this particular issue, to be fair. what would be your greatest concern at this point, in terms of who is in control?— in control? well, at the moment. _ in control? well, at the moment, the _ in control? well, at the moment, the russians| in control? well, at the i moment, the russians are in control? well, at the _ moment, the russians are making life difficult for the ukrainian operators at both sites. the military forces didn't have nuclear operators along with them, so they are letting the ukrainians run the sites, but not in a way that they have full freedom, and that's a huge danger. a fundamental principle of nuclear safety that the operator of a plant needs to have full authority to do whatever is needed to keep that plant to save, and that's not the situation at the sites at the situation at the sites at the moment.— the situation at the sites at the moment. ., ., , , ., , , the moment. no, and presumably, those staff need _

the moment. no, and presumably, those staff need to _ the moment. no, and presumably, those staff need to be _ the moment. no, and presumably, those staff need to be in _ those staff need to be in pretty good nick to call the right shots at the right time, and if you're the only people there and you're not being replaced, that must be extremely challenging? yes, however. — extremely challenging? yes, however, the _ extremely challenging? yes, however, the chernobyl - extremely challenging? yes, | however, the chernobyl plant has been shut down for decades and is no longer generating the kind of heat that requires sort of continuous active cooling. there are things the staff there need to do, but it is not posing anywhere near the kind of danger that the operating plant at the other site does, and that one, they are allowing the staff to rotate so that they can get sleep and new people can come in. so that at least is a little bit better for that operating plant at zaporizhzhia. we also have to worry about the other nuclear reactors in ukraine, which may come into the firing line soon. and at least one of them has

much older designs, with many fewer safety measures, so i'm concerned that if that plant ends up getting shelled, that the dangers could be higher. right, | the dangers could be higher. right, i wonder, the dangers could be higher. right, iwonder, what the dangers could be higher. right, i wonder, what sort of standing is the iaea held by russia. could rafael grossi make a difference? he russia. could rafael grossi make a difference?- russia. could rafael grossi make a difference? he is trying to net make a difference? he is trying to get russia — make a difference? he is trying to get russia and _ make a difference? he is trying to get russia and ukraine - make a difference? he is trying to get russia and ukraine to i to get russia and ukraine to agree on a set of fundamental safety principles, which all the member states of the iaea including russia and ukraine have already endorsed in principle, but are being violated in the situation where the russians are controlling every action by the operators at these sites. so with russia

would comply to an agreement, it is hard to say but it is certainly worth a try —— so whether russia would comply. given that russia has moved on to of these sites, is it fair to of these sites, is it fair to say they would be planning to say they would be planning to move on all of them? it appears that russia is attempting to control the entire country and certainly all of their critical infrastructure and all of the major electricity generating plants would certainly count as critical infrastructure, so, yes, i would expect the russians would be planning to take these facilities. we russians would be planning to take these facilities.— take these facilities. we wait to see. thank _ take these facilities. we wait to see. thank you _ take these facilities. we wait to see. thank you very - take these facilities. we wait to see. thank you very much| to see. thank you very much indeed, professor.— to see. thank you very much indeed, professor. thank you for having — indeed, professor. thank you for having me. _ stay with us on bbc news — still to come... the economic noose on russia tightens — tiktok and netflix are the latest companies to withdraw services from the country. we will have a look at the impact.

the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this, the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours, then, the soviet union lost an elderly, sick leader, and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. _ then he came out| through a fire exit and started firing shots. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. reporter: paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? - it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much, do you think? i don't know, really — _ i've never been married before.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the humanitarian crisis in ukraine is deepening with tens of thousands of civilians trapped in cities under near constant russian shellfire, living a hand—to—mouth existence or going hungry. the international atomic energy agency says it's concerned about reports ukrainian authorities are having trouble contacting staff at nuclear plants now under russian control. american express has joined visa and mastercard in shutting down its operations in russia and belarus. netflix has also stopped its service in russia and tiktok has suspended all new video uploads and livestreams there. 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. professor george lopez

is a sanctions analyst and he gave me his assessment of the sanctions and boycotts. in the short term, it's more dynamic than i think the national leaders who joined together multilaterally to put on the big sanctions on the banks and to control the swift system tightly on russia more than i think we've expected, but is in the long history of sanctioning, it really takes time for major corporations to come along, especially in the interdependent mix that russia has had in the international economic system. so the fact that you can no longer go to your local retailer and put something on visa or mastercard or you can go to the atm and maybe play with your cash advance in that credit card trench is very significant. it hit home more quickly economically that i think many of the decision—makers thought it would. of the decision-makers thought it would. �* , it would. and i suppose the oint it would. and i suppose the point for — it would. and i suppose the point for those _ it would. and i suppose the point for those big - it would. and i suppose the point for those big stores, | it would. and i suppose the l

point for those big stores, for example, who have decided they cannot function at the moment, that means a lot ofjobs also going by the board and people will feel the pain. going by the board and people willfeelthe pain.— will feelthe pain. certainly, the reverberations - will feelthe pain. certainly, the reverberations begin . will feelthe pain. certainly, the reverberations begin to| the reverberations begin to take effect quickly in the employment sector because of these cut—offs. but also, it's against the backdrop of the larger disastrous freefall of the rouble, the closing of stock markets for still a number of days and the general loss of confidence in the economy internationally but —— that spins a big —— that spins into the domestic sector. that spins a big -- that spins into the domestic sector. let's be realistic _ into the domestic sector. let's be realistic here, _ into the domestic sector. let's be realistic here, if— into the domestic sector. let's be realistic here, if these - be realistic here, if these sanctions are to hurt at their max, then russia produces 7% of global oil levels at the moment —— max. that would hurt and that would hurt immediately, wouldn't it?— that would hurt immediately, wouldn't it? , ., ., wouldn't it? yes, it would, and it will also _ wouldn't it? yes, it would, and it will also be _ wouldn't it? yes, it would, and it will also be an _ wouldn't it? yes, it would, and it will also be an interesting . it will also be an interesting step by the western countries because one of the things that has been surprising to some of us as analysts has been the

unity and willingness of the imposing countries to accept some costs. remember a couple of weeks before this terrible situation began, the russian chancellor, sorry, the german chance a lot was in the us and was asked point—blank would you shut off the contracts with the russians on supply lines and he waffled on this but the day after they were imposed, yes, this was immediately ended, this was immediately ended, this venture, the nord stream 2 the russians —— germany chancellor. and the ability of americans but also europeans to absorb the shock, and the will is there, 80% of the us citizens support these dynamic impacts and the sanctions. how far will it go at our own gas pumps, i'm not sure. the fact that the oil sanctions under discussion i would suggest into or three days we will see some level of this and willingness of european states again to join and say we will accept the costs because the tragedy is just to now bearable. george

lo ez. just to now bearable. george lepe2- there _ just to now bearable. george lopez. there would - just to now bearable. george lopez. there would be - just to now bearable. george| lopez. there would be costs. looking at the markets, we can see the hang seng in hong kong is down 4% and the nick kay down 3.5, very possibly accounting for the concerns that there would be more sanctions to come —— nikkei. perhaps on russian oil. the russian invasion of ukraine began 11 days ago and some initial expectations that the russians would quickly overwhelm the ukrainian forces have been repeatedly confounded. britain's chief of defence staff admiral sir tony radakin has said there is growing evidence that the russian armed forces are struggling. our defence correspondent jonathan beale explains why. russia claims its invasion of ukraine is going to plan. but the destroyed columns of its ahmaud tell a different story. senior western military officers say it's clear russia did not expect this level of

resistance. but worn it could still unleash more violence. russia is struggling with its objectives on the ground in ukraine. and we've seen from russia's previous actions in syria and chechnya where it will turn up the violence, it will turn up the violence, it will lead to more indiscriminate killing and more indiscriminate killing and more indiscriminate disruption. so why have russia's advances so far studied and stalled? it's clearly struggled with supplies and logistics. russian forces had hoped to capture hostomel airport to the north of kyiv quickly to provide an air bridge. instead, it is hard to bring in supplies and reinforcements by road, as seen here north of the capital. the readiness of russia's military has also been called into question. one senior western defence official said president pruden thought he had disciplined military machine he had seen on parade in moscow's red square —— putin. instead he

seems to have an army that has been ill—prepared for this battle. but it is also facing ukrainian forces who have now been supplied with western weapons. the us and european nations have provided thousands of anti—tank weapons and hundreds of anti—aircraft missile which are being used to slow the russian advances. i think we've been surprised at the staggering incompetence of russia's military leadership. they clearly failed to brief their people and to give them enough time to prepare either psychologically or to do basic things like sort out their radio communications and manage their logistics schedules. the result is that in many areas what was supposed to be an invasion has simply turned into a massive trafficjam.- a massive traffic “am. russia's considerable — a massive trafficjam. russia's considerable firepower - a massive trafficjam. russia's considerable firepower to: . i a massive trafficjam. russia's considerable firepower to: . as considerable firepower to:. as shown by its bombardment of ukraine's towns and cities. this military intelligence says it is being used to try to break ukraine's morale. but if

the invasion is proving hard, any occupation could turn out to be even tougher. jonathan beale, bbc news. let's have a look at the situation within russia itself. russian police have again moved to break up anti—war protests in many cities. more than 4,800 people were arrested in 64 cities across russia, according to the respected russian ngo the ovd—info monitoring group. a spokesperson for the group said the country is essentially witnessing military censorship. protests against the war have been taking place in major cities around the world all weekend and, as the conflict in ukraine intensifies by the day, organisers are amping up their messages and their tactics, as stephanie prentice reports. ladies and gentlemen, we are playing for peace.— playing for peace. central

london- _ playing for peace. central london. and _ playing for peace. central london. and musicians i playing for peace. central. london. and musicians from playing for peace. central- london. and musicians from the city's major orchestras and music schools unite to bring one of its busiest corners to a standstill. the flash mob, organised and hours on social media, designed to send a message that transcends words. we have just played the ukrainian national anthem two very important ukrainian pieces, one written by a composer who according to reports that i received is now in kyiv, is under attack. his life is in danger. and i think playing his piece today was a gesture to show that our hearts are with them.— are with them. stand with ukraine! _ are with them. stand with ukraine! in _ are with them. stand with ukraine! in america's - are with them. stand with - ukraine! in america's political caital ukraine! in america's political capital washington, _ ukraine! in america's political capital washington, rhetoric l capital washington, rhetoric and ping up. the words being used, war crimes, slaughter and murder and a sense that every hour, not every day, counts. what we need now is a sense of

urgency. the tax on civilians and the destruction of the cities will accelerate this weekend we need assistance for them now. everything that we have done is good but too slow and half steps at a time. further north in toronto, a man showing his feelings to russia. no—fly zone! no—fly zone! canadians here demanding an immediate no—fly zone over ukraine. to the south in mexico city, the same convention of hundreds marched along its famous reformer avenue. ukrainian nationals living there asking for one thing. translation: we there asking for one thing. translation:— there asking for one thing. translation: we ask you to su ort translation: we ask you to suaport us — translation: we ask you to suaport us so _ translation: we ask you to support us so that _ translation: we ask you to support us so that they - translation: we ask you to support us so that they stop i support us so that they stop killing us. ukrainians are being killed. they are not only killing soldiers, they are killing soldiers, they are killing all ukrainian civilians. they are shooting at people who are in their cars, trying to flee.

people who are in their cars, trying to flee-— trying to flee. and now, familiar _ trying to flee. and now, familiar sites _ trying to flee. and now, familiar sites here, - trying to flee. and now, - familiar sites here, president putin as adolf hitler. a reminder of the broader fears driving protests on policy since the start of this conflict. stephanie prentice, bbc news. a couple of related sports stories here. the ukrainian tennis player dayana yastremska has lost the final of the wta tournament in the french city of lyon. she was in odessa when russia invaded and spent two nights sheltering in an underground car park before being able to get out of ukraine. yastremska said she was too emotionally drained to give her all in the final. a russian gymnast is under investigation because of what the international gymnastics federation called his "shocking behaviour" at the world cup in doha. after earning a bronze medal in the parallel bars final, ivan kuliak taped a letter z to his chest when he went to the podium to stand next to the winner, ukrainian illia kovtun. the letter z has become symbolic of russia's invasion of ukraine and has been seen painted on the sides of tanks

and military vehicles. it's also being worn by pro—war politicians in russia. that's it for now. 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 and that means certainly a cold start to monday morning. so, a widespread frost to start off this working week but a lot of dry and sunny weather on the cards, at least for the next 2a hours or so. so, temperatures first thing monday, then, may be as low as low as —5, —6 across parts of scotland. very cold for northern england, northern ireland down into the midlands as well. a little less cold in the far south, where we've got a bit of a breeze blowing through the morning. but there will be more sunshine compared to the weekend across many southern and eastern parts of england. elsewhere, a little bit of patchy cloud drifting across wales, northern ireland, northern england, southern scotland, too, but it is looking dry. it's not going to feel

particular warm — still a bit of a breeze coming in an easterly direction — and temperatures at best on monday afternoon only between around about 7—9 degrees for most of us, so 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. things are set to change a little bit a little bit through the day on tuesday because we've got a weather front approaching from the west, so high pressure easing off towards the east. that means the breeze is going to be picking up. we are going to 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 and it'll turn a little bit less cold, so we're starting to see some of those temperatures back up into double figures on tuesday. looking ahead towards the middle of the week, then, and things turn 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're also going to bring is a change in wind direction, so into wednesday, you can see the yellow colours — this warmer air mass starting to move in with those southerly winds. so, yes, not as cold — temperatures on the rise — but also turning wet and windy on wednesday towards the west, so some fairly heavy, persistent rain for northern ireland pushing into western parts of britain. in the east, it should be largely dry but temperatures back into double figures. bye for now.

this is bbc news — the headlines... president zelenskiy has angrily condemned russian military attacks that have targeted civilians. in a video statement — he said the murder of ukrainian civilians in the near—constant artillery and missile attacks by the russians would never be forgiven. the head of the un's nuclear watchdog says he's extremely concerned about reported communication difficulties between the ukrainian regulator and nuclear sites under russian control. rafael grossi said the ukrainian authorities were having trouble contacting staff at the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — the biggest such facility in the country. the social networking service tiktok, the us credit card and payments giant american express and the internet streaming service netflix have become the latest companies to suspend or reduce their operations in russia — following the invasion of ukraine. it follows similar moves by mastercard and visa.

now on bbc news — dateline london.