welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... we're with ukrainian forces on the front line — fighting to defend the country's second largest city kharkiv from russia's relentless assault. if these tactics are unfamiliar to you, you have not been paying attention. because this is the russian attack playbook perfected in over ten years of war in syria. on the front line with the ukrainian army as they brave the no man's land towards russian forces — their spirits stronger than ever. we are fighting for our land and we protect our family,

we are fighting for our land and we protect ourfamily, so it doesn't matter how they fight, we fight like lions. they won't leave. wounded ukrainian civilians are kept in the hallways of a hospital in kharkiv, away from the windows to avoid further injury. the stupid russian shrapnel pieces i will carry all my life, but as long as my heart still beats, i will still live and love. more than two million people are said to have fled the capital kyiv — but others have arrived, after escaping from the russian soldiers moving ever closer to the city. exodus from sumy — as humanitarian corridors are set up to escape the fighting, we meet some of the tens of thousands who have now fled and roman abramovich, the russian owner of chelsea football club, is among seven more oligarchs sanctioned by the british government — the sale of the club is now on hold.

lives from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. we begin our coverage from with and an exclusive report from the front line of the battle for ukraine's second city kharkiv. it has endured nightly russian air attacks and suffered dozens of civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries. most of the city's one and a half million residents have fled. the ukrainian forces fought back a russian armoured column in the early days of the invasion — and have been fighting since to stop a further russian advance. quentin sommerville and camera journalist darren conway are the firstjournalists to be embedded with the ukrainian army as they fight the russian advance. i should warn you their report contains graphic images from the front line that some viewers will find disturbing.

head to the very eastern edge of ukraine and a ghostly vision of the country's fate unfolds before you. the city of kharkiv is being purged of life. in near total blackout, the police in the country's second largest city take us on patrol. the russians aren't far. explosion. shelling happens every night. this close to the russian border, there's another threat here — saboteurs. no—one escapes scrutiny. alina, 76—years—old, is lost and confused. in an instant, everybody�*s life here has been upended. but this young nation has surprised russia and the world with its resolve. we weave our way past

the fallen, into no man's land, but this young nation has surprised russia and the world with its resolve. we weave our way past the fallen, into no man's land, with the ukrainian army. here is 21—year—old yevgen gromadsky. where are the russians? over the sound of shelling, he tells me, "the russian soldiers are standing about 900 meters away from here. you can hear right now that they're firing on our positions and we are firing back". it's a grenade launcher, british. but it's more than just a grenade launcher — it's a guided missile. is it good against tanks? it's the best we have right now. how are the russians fighting?

they're fighting like soldiers of 1941. they're attacking, just like in front, now they don't do any manoeuvrers. so, yeah, they have a lot of people here, a lot of tanks, a lot of their vehicles and techniques. but we're fighting in our land and we protect our families. so it doesn't matter how they fight, we fight like lions and they won't win. this city of a million plus people has emptied out. this civilian, so close to ukrainian lines, just didn't make it. we've actually come beyond the ukrainian front line, and we know that because look at all the destruction around here, and this whole area's littered with dead russian bodies. these men, in fact, and there are two more over there. there are two more over. there are chechen, they have ids on them. their weapons have

been removed. the ukrainians keep telling us they�* re really comfortable with this type of fight because this is their territory, they're defending their city, their families. but the challenge from them is what comes from the sky. they want more aircraft and they want more air defences. and that might be where this battle, this war, is won and lost. in a war with russia, the front line is everywhere. shouting, explosion. this is what people have been fleeing in kharkiv — endless bombardment for the past two weeks. automated alert: our administration would - like to inform you that a fire has started in the building. i for that reason, please go l to the ground floor and from there, leave the building. this is what russia does to cities, it bombards them, it besieges them, it surrounds them. it terrorizes entire populations. and if these tactics are unfamiliar to you,

then you haven't been paying attention, because this is the russian attack play book, perfected in over ten years of war in syria. we know that russia bombs hospitals. so here at the city's hospital number four, they keep the wounded in hallways — away from the windows. miss valentina has been hit by shrapnel. "i have a poem for you", she says. translation: these stupid russian shrapnel pieces - i will carry all my life. but as long as my heart still beats, i will still live and love. and so too, will eight—year—old dmitri, now that this has been removed from his skull. this is the war that russia has fought before and is fighting again. we don't know the rest of ukraine's fate, but kharkiv has already shown what's coming next. translation: defenders, we will ride together. - we will win this war and all our heroic people will

gather to rebuild our beloved ukraine. quentin somerville, bbc news, kharkiv, in eastern ukraine. russian forces continue their advance towards the capital, kyiv. more than half the population of kyiv has fled since the invasion began. the mayor of the city descibed it as a fortress. humanitarian organisations have warned that many people have run out of food and are still living without water or gas. russian forces are said to have rolled their armoured vehicles up to the north—eastern edge of the city today. jeremy bowen has sent this report from kyiv. when your world is turned upside down, there's separation, loss, confusion, and relief at getting out alive. hundreds more have been evacuated from villages in the firing line outside kyiv in the last few days. taking bad memories into new uncertain lives.

did you see any russians? yes. what were the russians like, did they speak to you? they were mute, mute. they were mute. no comments, no words, no. and nothing. they were mute. they stayed like... ..stones. medics can help with the physical pain of wounds. kyiv�*s hospitals are ready, expecting many more. but what do you say to someone who needs the comfort of home? when everything familiar has gone? this minibus was from the children's home,

many with special needs, and carers who had spent two weeks in cellars trying to keep them calm. the police took videos to record who had escaped. then they checked their bags. the fear of russian infiltrators is strong. food is not in short supply, along with plenty of questions what about the russians will do next, and allegations about what they are doing now. translation: the police commander said they had had many phone calls about violation of the rights of civilians and weapons, injuries and murders. appeals for information about the missing. at another crossing point, hundreds more walking out of the firing line. and a priest who helped rescue them from the russian army. there is nothing which is

related to god in the actions. so, there's no reason for them to attack ukraine. we are not attack anybody, so we just made decision to have different future, we want to have democracy, so if russians they want to restore soviet union, may god bless them, but we ask them to do it within their borders. ten miles east of kyiv, russia's tactical blunders continued. tanks are easy targets when they push forward, bunched up, in broad daylight, but the ukrainians are still outnumbered and outgunned. at strong points round the city, ukrainian troops are waiting. they know the russians are regrouping, and will try again. petrol bombs aren't all they have got. nato has sent in thousands of modern anti—tank weapons for whatever is coming down the road. the russians are about 5k in that direction. if they want to come

into the city, they will have to take this piece of ground and push in. if they are encircling kyiv, they can probably stay more or less where they are. the men at this position have to assume that an attack is coming. for the soldiers who waited, the sky was bright, and the forest still and lonely. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kyiv. let's take a look at some of the day's other developments concerning ukraine. charities are warning of appalling conditions in the ukrainian city of mariupol, which is being besieged by russian troops. the international red cross says many people have run out of food and water in freezing temperatures, with some residents resorting to fighting each other for supplies. attempts to get people out have repeatedly failed as the bombardment continues. in the highest level of talks so far since the invasion began, ukraine and russia have failed to agree on a ceasefire

to help people trapped by the fighting escape. both sides did indicate a willingness to continue talking, but russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov made no concessions. the international atomic energy agency says the ukrainian authorities have confirmed they've lost all communications with the chernobyl nuclear power plant. on wednesday ukraine said all external power supplies had been cut to the site, which was seized by russian forces two weeks ago. chernobyl is no longer a working power station, but it still requires constant management. president putin has claimed that russia will emerge stronger from international sanctions. in a televised video conference mr putin said western governments were deceiving their own people, and russia would calmly solve its problems.

here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. i think this is wishful thinking on vladimir putin's product because the tsunami of international sanctions hitting russia threatens to cripple the economy here. now, today, president put the side we will —— now, today, president putin said we will adapt, we will overcome. we will take measures, he said, against those foreign companies pulling out of russia, raising fears of nationalisation, seizing of assets, but is that really the solution to russia's problem right now? the russian oligarch, one of the richest men in russia, he wrote today that those kinds of measures would put russia back 100 years, back to 1917, the time of the russian revolution. now, when vladimir putin came to power more than 20 years ago, the one thing he promised russians was stability. for years after, he cultivated the image of mr stability, the only man in the country capable of keeping russia together. that stability is gone now. it's been shattered by president putin's decision to send troops into a sovereign nation into ukraine

for what he still calls a special military operation. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... we'll tell you how the sale of chelsea football club is now on hold after owner roman abramovich is sanctioned by the british government. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief — this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 2a hours, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots from the gym, they came out and started firing at our hearts, and god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, - sentenced to 99 years and due

for parole when he is 90, . travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight car convoy. . 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani, in singapore. our headlines... we're with ukrainian forces on the front line — fighting to defend the country's second largest city kharkiv from russia's relentless assault. more than two million people are said to have fled the capital kyiv — but others have arrived, after escaping from the russian soldiers moving ever closer to the city.

within ukraine, humanitarian corridors have been set up in an attempt to allow hundreds of thousands of civilains to escape the fighting. one of those corridors is from sumy in the northwest — to poltava almost 200 kilometres away. in the past three days around 60,000 people — that's one in five of the population — have left sumy. our eastern european correspondent sarah rainsford has been meeting some of them.. sleeping peacefully at last. after 15 days of fear. this little boy arrived from sumy last night. to a city where there are no bombs and no fighterjets. but the children here have brought their memories. daniel's poem is about enemies and occupiers and longing for peaceful skies. he and his mum escaped sumy

squeezed into a car with strangers when the shooting was stopped for a few hours. translation: we walked over broken glass, we saw- the ruined build, the bombing, the roofs ripped off, it was scary. that is why we are fleeing, running as far as possible from the shooting. trying to save our lives and the children above all. "it is so russia doesn't kill us," daniel pipes up. he is eight years old. russia is trying to bomb his city into submission. tens of thousands of civilians have now been evacuated, but ukraine's soldiers are still resisting. and behind the lines there is a giant support effort. the school that is now housing evacuees is also feeding hundreds of soldiers. teachers and residents all pitching in. now we are cooking for our soldiers so they can protect our homes, our children, our parents, grandparents

and our whole country. just two weeks' ago that was a normal school kitchen, but now all of this is being prepared to feed ukrainian soldiers, and people displaced by the fighting. the lady in charge told me she can't believe they are doing this, but it's a massive collective effort to provide the food and to make it here at the school. this classroom is now home for a family from kharkiv. safe, but stranded, with nowhere else to go. svetlana talks of the terrifying sound of russian fighterjets, but also of friends in russia itself, who tell her ukraine provoked this war and who claim even now that no civilians are suffering. "that really hurts", svetla na says. her niece's world has shrunk to this.

it is safe for now, but katya's learned it can be shattered in an instant. sarah rainsford, bbc news. the russian owner of chelsea football club, roman abramovich, is among another seven people who've been hit with uk sanctions because of their suspected close links to president putin. the decision means that although chelsea can still play matches, the sale of the club is on hold, and it's now banned from selling tickets, players, and any merchandise. the mobile phone company three has said it is suspending its sponsorship with the club. assad ahmad gave us this update from chelsea's grounds. there is a huge amount of interest in what is happening here at chelsea. just a week ago, the ownerfor here at chelsea. just a week ago, the owner for nearly 20 years said he was going to sell the club will stop that caught a number of chelsea fans by surprise. they weren't shocked, it's because of events in ukraine. in the days that

followed, a number of billionaires stepped forward saying that they were interested in, they've slapped on sanctions which means he is not allowed to sell the club as of yet. other implications on sanctions means that the club's shabbat streaming remained close at the moment. you may said that's not a big deal, but it is the significance of it, that he is not allowed to benefit from a single pound made in that club shop. that has to remain closed until further notice. as far as the team is concerned, travel costs for away games, being capped at... sounds like a lot of money, but not when you have to move a squad of players to away games including to lille in france next week. a lot of people will be wondering will what's happening behind the scenes with the club itself be affecting the players? we will certainly find out soon enough.

in other stories for you today, recovery operations are continuing in eastern australia after devastating floods left at least 20 people dead and thousands homeless in the past two weeks. on wednesday, the prime minister scott morrison declared a national emergency. in the town of lismore in new south wales, mr morrison received a hostile reception from some local residents and climate campaigners. federal and state governments have also faced anger for not acting faster. caitlin mcmahon lives in lismore and has been involved in the rescue and recovery operation. shejoins us now. grade to get you on the programme. i know that you have had family caught up in some of these terrible situations in australia. talk us through what they have experienced.-

they have experienced. good morning- _ they have experienced. good morning- i — they have experienced. good morning. i awoke _ they have experienced. good morning. i awoke to - they have experienced. good i morning. i awoke to something you wouldn't expect on a monday, my dad trying to organise a sailboat to rescue my uncle from his house on the south side of the city. it was incredibly confronting because there was a few hours where we didn't know if he had made it safe. we have no internet or connection within, his phone battery was low. he had his wife and pets with him in the water was rising. so it's been very overwhelming, to be honest. i very overwhelming, to be honest. . , ., ., honest. i am so sorry to hear that. honest. i am so sorry to hear that that — honest. i am so sorry to hear that. that must _ honest. i am so sorry to hear that. that must have - honest. i am so sorry to hear that. that must have been i honest. i am so sorry to hear| that. that must have been so frightening and what a terrible situation to be in. i do hope your dad is safe right now. it was my uncle like should correct you, it was my uncle. just in terms of how the recovery effort is going, can you talk us through that? at you talk us through that? at the you talk us through that? git the moment, it's pretty slow. we have 2800 homes that are

being declared uninhabitable, see you at the moment we are trying to find emergency housing for people i worked as a pharmacist in the area, so within health care, we are trying to get connections back up trying to get connections back up because they rely on the internet so heavily and also the supply of medicines, so there where i lot of delivery methods and trucks that weren't able to make it there, so we were very low on essentials in some circumstances, like antibiotics, and it was quite hard to deal with, quite hard to manage. hard to deal with, quite hard to manage-— to manage. doing such an incredible _ to manage. doing such an incredible job _ to manage. doing such an incredible job considering | to manage. doing such an i incredible job considering the circumstances. ijust incredible job considering the circumstances. i just want to talk a little bit about how scott morrison came to your town and didn't receive a great reception, i should say, what was behind that? what was the thinking behind how the government has managed this? t government has managed this? i think there is a bit of

frustration as this is the second majorflooding event in five years. so, for people with the current climate change policy in australia it's really lacking, and i think that needs to be addressed, and i think that the people that have suffered the same ramifications from five years ago are going through that trauma all over again and we need leadership, we need to be prepared for this as it's probably going to be increasing. so i think a lot of people having lost their livelihoods and their homes and their belongings were very upset that we weren't ready for this. i think that was a big thing as well. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme with your thoughts. thank you so much for watching newsday. that's all the time that we have for you on the programme today. do stay with bbc news for the latest

global headlines and analysis. hello. the last couple of days, the weather really has been quite good. beautiful, sunny skies for some of us, particularly across eastern parts of the uk. but things are going to turn now — the cloud you can see on the satellite picture is a weather front, it's approaching. it means rain, wind, and really, that's how it'll be over the next few days. so through the early hours of the morning, the outbreaks of rain are reaching western parts of the uk. even ahead of it, we have some rain across scotland and parts of england. but generally speaking, it is a dry night and early morning. very, very mild, 8—10 celsius in many areas. then quickly through the morning, the rain becomes quite heavy in southwestern parts of england, through wales, the midlands. the rain will reach wales and eventually

southwestern scotland, too, and through the afternoon, i think many of us will have had at least some rain. now through the afternoon or so, it'll brighten up across wales and southwestern parts of england. sunshine and showers here the second half of the day. there could be some thunderstorms, too, and on top of that, the winds will strengthen. but you can see it across the uk — it is a real mixed bag, i think, through friday and into friday night. now saturday, we see another area of low pressure with new fronts approaching us — this, once again, spells heavy rain initially for western parts of the uk. but in the southwest, as this low pressure increases, you can see strong winds blowing around it, and we could be talking about gusts of 60—70mph around the isles of scilly and the tip of cornwall. so really very blustery, even quite stormy weatherfor a time here. but elsewhere eastern parts of the country on saturday — look at that, newcastle, hull, london — fine, sunshine. breezy, yes, but at least you'll have the sunshine. and then come sunday, that low pressure really spreads across the country. it'll become windy elsewhere,

gale force winds around some of the coasts, but there will be plenty of sunny spells occasionally interrupted by some heavy showers brought in by those strong winds. so, yes, there'll be some sunshine around through the weekend, but there'll be blustery winds around, too, and heavy showers, with temperatures hovering around 12 celsius or so. how about next week? well, we're expecting the temperatures to rise even as high as 17—18 celsius, at least temporarily, in southwestern parts of the uk. so the southerly winds will bring milder but changeable weather.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues —

straight after hardtalk.