the un's head of humanitarian affairs has made an emotional plea for civilians in ukraine to be spared — describing how millions of ordinary lives have been shattered. ukraine blames russia for continuing to bombard major towns. moscow's offer of humanitarian corridors into its territory had earlier been rejected. a ukrainian delegation has met russian counterparts on the border with belarus for a third round of talks. moscow says it'll accept nothing short of ukraine's surrender. meanwhile, us secretary of state antony blinken visiting eastern european nations in search of a way to end the crisis. refugees are continuing to escape the fighting into neighbouring countries where they can. since the invasion began, more than 1.7 million people — most of them women and children — have fled the country. it's now the fastest—growing refugee crisis in europe since world war two.

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk, with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. they say no war plan survives first contact with the enemy, and already russia's invasion strategy in ukraine has shifted from lightning strike to sustained bombardment and siege. what of ukraine's response? from kyiv, there is military and political defiance, even as the civilian casualties mount, and the flow of refugees tops 1.5 million. my guest is former ukrainian prime minister, arseniy yatsenyuk. how realistic is ukraine's insistence it will prevail?

arseniy yatsenyuk in ukraine, welcome to hardtalk. hello, stephen. thanks for having me. it is a pleasure to have you on the show. we all see, mr yatsenyuk, that the cost of this war to ukraine is already terribly high. is it sustainable? we are fighting for our freedom. we are fighting for our liberties. we are fighting for our homeland. and what is happening right now in ukraine is a tragedy. it is a drama, on the one hand. on the other hand, this is an unbelievable courage of ukrainian military, men and women in uniform, and the very strong unity

of ukrainian nation and of ukrainian people. so we will prevail and we will survive. but i come back to the practical reality which is, day after day, your country's capacity is being degraded. your towns and cities are being bombarded. the civilian casualty toll is mounting. your military is being sorely stretched. so it comes back to — how sustainable is this for ukraine? look, a killer and a nazi—style president putin, he actually anticipated to take over ukraine in a few days, and look at the expert community and some military even officials who expected that ukraine is to lose its grip of the ukrainian military in a few days. but it didn't happen. putin miscalculated. look how ukrainian military

courageous and capable. so it's actually the 11th day of a very strong fight with one of the biggest armies in the world, which is the russian one. right, but what if you, right now, had to look in the eye the civilian population who are cowering in basements, if they are lucky, in mariupol, who have no access to food, have no water, no electricity, have been living like that for days and are on the very edge. what do you say to them? what do you say to the people from irpin who were bombarded as they tried to escape from their community yesterday, and some of them, including one family of four, lost their lives? what do you say to your own people who are on the very edge right now? my fellow ukrainians, we are under attack. putin wants to kill us. he wants to eliminate ukraine as a country, and to eliminate

ukrainians as a nation. we have to survive. we will withstand. let's help each other. i strongly believe that this is the righteous war. and in this war, ukraine will win. we are fighting for the future of our families, for the future of our kids. we are fighting for our homeland. there is no other way rather than to fight like hell. but you know, mr yatsenyuk, plenty about russian military strategy. you know what happened in aleppo when the russians, alongside the syrians, bombarded and almost levelled a huge chunk of that syrian city. you know exactly what the russians did to grozny. and you know what the russians are doing right now to mariupol and may, in the coming days,

try to do to kyiv, as well. can you withstand that? what russians are doing is the... this is the... actually, they committed crimes against humanity, and that's notjust all russians, this is particular putin, his military and those who support putin — i want to be very clear about this. this is the crimes against humanity, and putin isa warcriminal. as he is losing the ground in ukraine, absolutely, he wants to apply the same tactics as he did in grozny and in aleppo, as you already mentioned. so the only answer we have is a strong resilience and unity of the western world and ukraine. shipment and delivery of lethal weapon to ukraine. no—fly zone, if it's possible. supply of fighterjets to ukraine and ramp up sanctions against russia

every single day. russian people have to feel the pain. russian economy have to be undermined. russian military have to be cut off of economic and financial, and energy supply. we'll get to what you want from the western world, from nato, the us and its allies in a moment, butjust to stick with the situation in your country — just a few days ago, we saw russian forces fire upon the zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. they now control that plant, and the latest information i have is that they are, in essence, telling the ukrainian staff what to do. we know they also have forces close to other nuclear power plants in ukraine. isn't the truth that the infrastructure, the absolute spine of the infrastructure of your country, is now under threat and, while you talk to me of defiance, you talk to me of resilience and how the ukrainian people must stand up to this, there will come a point,

will there not, when they can't stand up to this? there is no other option for us. stephen, i want to reiterate once again, the option to surrender is not the option for the ukrainian people. we have victory or death. that's what's at stake right now. this is an existential issue for the ukrainian nation. so going back to the issue you raised with the nuclear power plants, you know, that russia posed the threat not only to ukraine, and i believe that the western world already realised this, that all this appeasement policy for the last two decades led us to nowhere. right now, there is another threat, which is a nuclear threat. on the one hand, nazi—style president putin already posed a threat, saying that he is ready to launch a nuclear strike. he didn't say bluntly this, but that's what he actually

meant. but on the other hand, they started to attack nuclear power plants in ukraine, which is another disaster that could just be a terrible thing for the entire world and for europe. as of now, we all, once again, have to press on putin and fight. i hear your anger, and i hear your defiance, but i also see what's happening on the ground, and i know that there are, for example, ongoing contacts with the russians to try, after days of failing, to try to sort out this issue of humanitarian corridors, not least out of mariupol, where more than 200,000 people are suffering the most terrible situation as we speak today. given everything you've just said about vladimir putin and his russian forces, do you think it is possible to strike a deal on humanitarian corridors, which will actually work? putin is a killer

and putin is a liar. i don't believe that putin is eager to provide any kind of real humanitarian support for the ukrainian people, because he waged the war against ukraine. he's killing innocent ukrainians. and look, we had already two and the third one, the third round is ongoing right now of these so—called talks. and as far as i understand, this is no more than a smoke screen or for the alibi, talks. they offered a so—called humanitarian corridors — you know where leading to? with the route to belarus and to russia. so putin's idea, he's so cynical, this is the cynical killer, is to grab more hostages, using these so—called humanitarian routes or humanitarian corridors. ok, so do you think then that the government of president zelensky and, of course, you're no longer part of the government, you were prime minister back in the period 2014 to 2016,

but do you think zelensky is making a mistake, conducting these negotiations on the belarusian border with russian officials about a possible ceasefire, and also, as we understand it, now being prepared to send his foreign minister dmytro kuleba to turkey to talk to foreign minister lavrov this coming thursday? do you think those sorts of contacts, that sort of dialogue is a mistake? i don't think so, i don't think that's a mistake. and here is the thing — the decision to send a delegation to belarus or to turkey is reasonable because it shows that ukraine is acting in a good faith. whether russia wants to have a diplomatic solution — no. er, let me remind you that we had a few years to get a real diplomatic solution. we had very big room for these kinds of diplomatic talks, but russia was not interested in any kind of diplomacy. russia is interested

in atrocities and killings. well, that's not what moscow says. and if i look at the reporting from, for example, the news website bellingcat, the investigative journalism website, they say that they have information about exactly what the russians are putting on the table. the russians are saying, it seems, and dmitry peskov, the spokesman for putin, has pretty much confirmed this, that if ukraine is prepared to recognise russian sovereignty over crimea, if ukraine is prepared to recognise the independence of donetsk and luhansk regions, if ukraine is prepared to say it will no longer pursue the ambition ofjoining nato, then russia will make peace right now. what is your response to those proposals? let me go back to whether russia is saying the truth or not. you remember when putin said that these green men

who illegally annexed crimea and invaded crimea and donetsk and lugansk, they are not russian military. and then in a few months, he acknowledged that he personally ordered an illegal annexation of crimea. you remember a few months ago, when putin and his cronies said that they will never invade ukraine, but they invaded ukraine. so he's a pathological liar, and all his cronies. in terms of so—called talks, here is the thing, stephen. there is a very clear—cut playbook. how can we hold any kind of talks? the key precondition for any kind of real talks, not manipulated talks, is that russia have to withdraw its troops — to stop this war that russia waged against ukraine, and then we can have talks between the west and russia. this is completely different than russia's offer today. let's talk about the west now. you've already mentioned

the west's response. volodymyr zelensky, your president, said the other day when he, i think, realised that there's no prospect of getting the no—fly zone enforced by nato that he wanted to see, he said, "starting from now, everyone who dies "in my country, in ukraine, will die because of you" — and he meant you, nato — "because of your weakness, because of your disunity." do you think that deep, profound criticism of nato was helpful or realistic? well, zelensky the president, he's in a very complicated situation. so he took the oath of the office and he's doing his utmost to defend the country. but in terms of nato and the western allies, this is unprecedented unity that we haven't seen for decades in the free world.

so what putin didn't expect — he didn't expect that there will be no daylight between the us and the eu, no daylight among every single member of nato, that nato and the eu and the us will be ready to impose severe, tough, and stiff sanctions against russia, that the us and our western partners decided to deliver lethal weapon on a fast track on a very, very large scale. so i really commend the efforts of the free world in supporting ukraine and in defending ukraine, and more needs to be done. and i want to be very clear about this, once again, what is needed right now at this particularjuncture — we need fighterjets, we need a surface—to—air missiles, we need anti—aircraft missiles, we need additional defensive weapon, and we need stronger and tougher sanctions, including an embargo

on energy sale of russia... right, yeah, but that's a very important point. you do not have that yet, and you may not get it. there's some discussion about organising a western embargo on russian oil imports to the west, but nobody for the moment is talking about gas, partly because europe is so heavily dependent on russian gas. and if that doesn't happen, and if russia continues to sell its fossil fuels in europe and beyond, what does that say about europe's willingness to accept pain in its efforts to change russia's policy? let me remind you that ten days ago, a lot of folks were very sceptical whether there will be a chance to cut off swift from the russian banks, where there will be a chance to frozen the assets of the russian central bank. but it happened, it happened.

so in terms of the energy, we do understand the heavy dependence of eu member states on the russian gas. but i do understand that it's much easier to fix the energy and the economy, rather than to have the world which collapsed, the world which are actually controlled by dictators and authoritarian regime, the world that cannot protect innocent civilians — this is the bedrock of the european union. this is the bedrock of the free world. we can't fix... we can fix the economy. we can print money, we can fix the energy. but first, we need to save the lives of ordinary ukrainians. and this needs to be done. and this is my appeal to the free world. this is my appeal. i don't know where you're speaking from, mr yatsenyuk,

and i understand that you don't want to tell me beyond, of course... in ukraine, sir. ..you're in ukraine, and we know that volodymyr zelensky, in recent days at least, has been in kyiv, and he seems determined to stay in your capital. we also understand that there have been several attempts to assassinate him. if zelensky is no longer able to lead your country, your government, how big of a problem is that for ukraine? in other words, how dependent have you become on the leadership, the symbolism of zelensky leading the defiance of ukraine? i don't want to have even deliberations over this issue. but the americans have told you you need as a country to have a clear succession plan. antony blinken told your officials in your government that just the other day, and surely it is incumbent upon you as a senior political voice in ukraine to think about how the resistance, as you put it, continues,

come what may in kyiv. i strongly believe that zelensky will survive, that we have enough capabilities to defend him, and there is a clear—cut constitutional line of succession, just to answer the question directly, you asked me. you mean speaker stefanchuk will take over in the event there is a problem with mr zelensky and his ability to continue? i believe that the commander—in—chief zelensky will be alive — period. and in terms of what your government should do if, and we've discussed it already, if the russians pursue a siege policy on kyiv and you already alluded to grozny, aleppo. is there going to become a moment when it is incumbent

on the leaders of your country to come up with another location, to move the government of resistance away from your capital city, perhaps to the west of your country, where it seems less likely russian forces will move in great numbers? i am not in the position to unfold some kind of classified information that i knew as a prime minister, but i can tell you for sure that there is a clear—cut contingency plan and these contingency plans already executed. what is your reading of vladimir putin? as a former prime minister, you've obviously had to think very carefully about mr putin, about his strategy toward your country. some claim that he's crazy, he's gone mad. 0thers claim that this is, from putin's point of view, quite clear, quite rational. he has his own national security interest at stake, and he is determined to pursue it. what is your view of mr putin right now?

i was closely watching putin when he addressed his nation, and i watched the so—called national security council meeting when he made everyone accomplice in his crimes against humanity. and he is not the guy i met a decade ago. he's a completely different person. i believe that he is unhinged, on the one hand. 0n the other hand, look, putin started to believe that he is a messiah, that he has a sacred mission. and this sacred mission is to restore the soviet union, to restore the russian empire, to get rid of west, to shift the geopolitical balance — that he has this sacred mission. and this is very, very dangerous. so now whether he's completely crazy or insane, not sure, but he's definitely unhinged, and, er... you say that, and ijust wonder if there's any self—reflection in you, reflection on maybe mistakes that ukraine made in the run—up to 2014 and the euromaidan uprising and also right afterwards.

do you think, in retrospect, maybe you were wrong, and you personally were in the forefront of this, in your determination to turn your country westward, to embrace nato and the eu as fast as you could? maybe you got that wrong. we were, we are, and we will be completely right because this is the mission to save our country. we wanted to have independent ukraine. we wanted to have freedoms and liberties for the ukrainian people. we wanted to have ukraine as a part of european union and nato. we wanted to have prosperous country with a happy people. and putin decided to punish us, so he decided to kill ukrainians for their aspirationsjust to be normal western and smiling people. so we are doing everything right. we are fighting for our future and for our country.

you tell me you are fighting for your future and your country. i have to ask you, just personally, we don't quite know where you are, we see you not in the — when i've met you before — the smart suit of a politician, now life is very different. completely different. are you going to fight? are your family going to fight? so i am obliged, i am in the third line of mobilization. so if the general chief of staff decides to mobilize — absolutely. this is my constitutional obligation. right now, i'm doing everything i can to help ordinary ukrainians with the humanitarian support, purchasing ammunition, purchasing helmets, purchasing different stuff for ukrainian military, so i'm doing myjob, i do everything to help ukraine. i think you used the phrase

"fight to the death" before in this interview, ijust wonder if you really mean that, and if you are talking about death in a personal sense or perhaps contemplating the possibility of your country essentially being extinguished, eliminated? i said death or victory for ukraine, cos he wants to eliminate ukraine. he wants to destroy ukraine. he's killing just innocent ukrainians. so that's the reason why we will prevail. and victory is the only option for ukraine and for the free world because this is the victory of the free world. this is the victory of humanity if ukraine prevails. arseniy yatsenyuk, we have to end there. thank you very much indeed forjoining me from ukraine. thank you.

hello. a frosty but sunny start to tuesday hello. across many parts of the country. but tuesday signifies the start of things changing across many parts of the country. but tuesday signifies the start of things changing for the rest of the week, replacing the sunshine with a bit more cloud. 0ften going to be quite windy at times with all that wind, slightly milder air pushing its way in, but also some wet conditions now, mainly in the west. and that shows up on our forecast rainfall chart for the week — the blue colours here a sign that atlantic is trying to push its way in. but notice how some eastern areas could stay predominantly dry. and it's all down to high pressure holding on here — atlantic low pressure system

starting to push its way in, but being kept at bay. just be wary, though, that dividing line could fluctuate a little bit through the week. but that's the scene for today, with winds picking up as those areas of high and low pressure get closer together. it'll feel particularly chilly out there — not only a widespread frost, but that added wind chill to go with it. the compensation is lots of sunshine around first thing in the morning, and most places will be dry. but the sunshine turns hazy in the west, the cloud thickens up, skies turn greyer through the morning into the early afternoon, outbreaks of rain in northern ireland, eventually to parts of wales and the southwest, maybe just 1—2 showers ahead of it, that rain arriving in western scotland by the end of the day. and it's in the west where we see the strongest of the winds, could gust around 40—50 mph and, even though it's a south—to—southeasterly wind bringing in slightly milder conditions than we've seen through the past few days. factor in the wind, probably won't feel that much different. but a dry end to the day for eastern areas but, through the evening, we see the cloud, outbreaks of rain pushing its way northwards and eastwards. not a huge amount of rain on it, though, it fizzles out — it means a milder night, then, to take us into wednesday, but more weather fronts starting to push their way in.

but they will start to drag in even milderair, up from the mid—atlantic as they work closer and closer, and so temperatures should rise a little bit further. as i said, though, frost—free on wednesday, varying amounts of clouds, some sunshine around for many at times to begin, with the exception being northern ireland, western scotland. a rather wet day to come here, some of that rain will be heavy at times, strong to gale—force winds once again. much of eastern wales good parts of england stays dry with some sunny spells, highs around 12—13 celsius. those temperatures could rise a little bit further as we go through into thursday. as you can see still, the areas of low pressure gang in the way up, but fizzling out as they run into that high—pressure system. so it does look like thursday, the driest, brightest day of the week by and large. friday, a bit more rain coming ourway.

this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk, and around the world. russia reportedly ready to provide humanitarian corridors for trapped civilians in two hours time. ukraine called an earlier offer "completely immoral". the bombardment of cities across ukraine continues, despite international calls for a ceasefire. the us and europe search for new sources of energy, as oil sanctions on russia look ever more likely. and a symbol of russiamilitary defiance, but what does it

actually mean?