today at one... russia expands its attacks here in ukraine — three more cities are targeted for the first time, the central—eastern city of dnipro was hit — officials say a shoe factory and kindergarten were struck russia says it hit military airfields, including in the north west, the city of lutsk — ukraine say the attack killed two as moscow accuses ukraine of developing biological weapons — president zelensky issues a strong denial. translation: this makes me really worried, because we've been - repeatedly convinced if you want to know russia's plans, look at what russia accuses others of doing. and the other main stories

in the programme this lunchtime... damning criticism from mps of the government's programme to help pupils catch up on lost lesson time during the pandemic. disadvantaged children are between 5—8 months behind in maths and english. and we are damaging their life chances if we don't get this catch—up programme right. a state apology to thousands of victims of abuse at children's homes in northern ireland. and ollie hill wins a first ever british medal in snowboarding at the winter paralympics. coming up on the bbc news channel, thomas tuchel says his chelsea team will continue competing as long as they have enough shirts and a bus to take them to games after their russian owner was sanctioned.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc�*s news at one, from lviv in ukraine, where russian forces appear to be widening their assault on the country, on this, day 16 of the war. so what is the state of the russian advance? here's the latest data showing the positions of russian forces, getting ever closer to the capital kyiv. overnight strikes took place at military airfields in lutsk and ivano—frankivsk — and on the city of dnipro. the uk's ministry of defence says russian forces are making limited progress — but they would go for a renewed offensive soon, while a russian defence minister insisted its military operation was "going to plan." but in the last half an hour president zelensky has said that ukraine is on its way to victory — but time and patience is needed. our first report is from our kyiv

correspondent, james waterhouse. until now, dnipro had avoided russia's invasion, but not any more. air raid sirens were followed by this, three air strikes according to authorities, damaging a shoe factory, an apartment block and a nursery. russia is widening its attack. explosions illuminate lutsk in the north—west, leaving at least four people dead, and ivano—frankivsk in the south—west. both strategic strikes on air bases, say moscow. remember that ito—mile long russian convoy north—west of kyiv? four days, it had been struck but, according to the latest satellite images, thousands of armoured vehicles and troops are thought to have spread out according to the latest satellite images, taking with them heavy artillery to surrounding towns. and what ukrainian military chiefs think that means is russia is preparing to mount a full—scale

attack on kyiv, notjust from the west where there has been continued fighting, but from all angles. just this morning there was a missile strike on the east of the city. six people were injured after this impact in baryshivka. those who can, continue to try to escape the fighting in the capital. those who can't will choose to stay and do the best they can. many are elderly, this is a cue for a local authority building, giving out clothes and meals. some are struggling because local relatives and younger relatives had left the city. and younger relatives had left the ci . ~ u, and younger relatives had left the ci . ~ , , and younger relatives had left the ci .~ _ and younger relatives had left the ci .~ , , and younger relatives had left the city. we can buy food but of course it is a help — city. we can buy food but of course it is a help for _ city. we can buy food but of course it is a help for the _ city. we can buy food but of course it is a help for the elderly. - city. we can buy food but of course it is a help for the elderly. in - city. we can buy food but of course it is a help for the elderly. in her . it is a help for the elderly. in her cave which _ it is a help for the elderly. in her cave which faces _ it is a help for the elderly. in her cave which faces continue - it is a help for the elderly. in her i cave which faces continue chilling, people take shelter in a metro. across ukraine, tens of thousands have been evacuated through temporary ceasefires, and the hope is more will follow today. we will open humanitarian corridors, they will work on the following

routes, for mariupol to donetsk. the routes, for mariupol to donetsk. the route will be cleared and made safe from mines. a column of buses carrying humanitarian aid will depart to mariupol. we hope the corridor will work today. however, the red cross says not a single person has made it out of besieged mariupol so far. people are running out of food and water and are dying. as this war spreads into more parts of ukraine, the window for people to escape is shrinking. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. live now to our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. russia is widening its attack on ukraine, it seems?— russia is widening its attack on ukraine, it seems? yes, day 16 and this feels, — ukraine, it seems? yes, day 16 and this feels, if— ukraine, it seems? yes, day 16 and this feels, if you _ ukraine, it seems? yes, day 16 and this feels, if you look _ ukraine, it seems? yes, day 16 and this feels, if you look at _ ukraine, it seems? yes, day 16 and this feels, if you look at the - this feels, if you look at the military map, that this is a new phase in this long and punishing war for ukraine. as we have been hearing, new targets hit in the west

and for the first time, dnipro, which has become a kind of safe haven for people free in places which has been under incessant russian attack, russia has said it is striking military targets, that may be the case but they are also hitting residential areas again. a town in eastern ukraine to which there had been a so—called humanitarian corridor earlier in the war, a place where one week ago it was reported that 90% of the city had been flattened. now that is said to be under russian control. there is supposed to be today even more humanitarian corridors, i2 is supposed to be today even more humanitarian corridors, 12 in all, but in most of them, the so—called ceasefire breaks down, as soon as it starts. president zelensky said last night 100,000 people have been taken to safety from the shelling and sieges so far but mariupol in the south, conditions there are now described as primeval. the last

communication centre has been hit, cutting off communications with the rest of this country and the world. and here in kyiv, the russian forces continue to come closer. lyse doucet, thank _ continue to come closer. lyse doucet, thank you. _ moscow has requested a meeting of the un security council claiming — without providing evidence — that the us has been developing biological weapons in the country. washington has rejected the russian claims as "laughable". britain and america have accused russia of planning to manufacture a fake story to justify carrying out a possible chemical attack in ukraine. our security correspondent, frank gardner, reports. this is the aftermath of a chemical attack. syrian civilians doused with attack. syrian civilians doused with a nerve agent, sarin, in a domestic

suburbin a nerve agent, sarin, in a domestic suburb in 2013. the government went on to use more poison gas attacks to flush out rebels from urban areas. the four—year siege of aleppo was followed conventionally by the russians and syrians and they got nowhere, 13 days of chlorine barrel bombs broke that siege. if you want to get a siege done quickly, then these morbidly brilliant weapons are very useful. the these morbidly brilliant weapons are ve useful. ., ., ., , ., . very useful. the pentagon has voiced fears that russia _ very useful. the pentagon has voiced fears that russia may _ very useful. the pentagon has voiced fears that russia may now— very useful. the pentagon has voiced fears that russia may now be - very useful. the pentagon has voicedj fears that russia may now be looking for a pretext to use chemical weapons to break the deadlock over ukraine's besieged cities. ukraine, like many countries, has research labs like this, investigating infectious pathogens but moscow has accused it of developing biological weapons with us help. only to spread disease into russia. ukraine has vigorously denied this. translation: we are decent people. i am the

president of a decent country. a decent nation and the father of two micro children. and no chemical weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land. the whole world knows that. you know that. and if you do something like that against us, you will get the most severe sanctions response. russia's military progress has been much lower—than—expected. it continues to lose men, we and equipment in lethal ambitious. and it is slowly inserting cities and showing no sign of letting up. president putin who ordered this invasion now once foreign volunteers to boost his forces. translation: if you see that there are people who want on a voluntary basis, especially those not in it for money to come and help people living in the donbas, you need to meet them halfway and help them move to the combat zones. ukrainians are

defiant. many of those remaining in their country say they will fight to their country say they will fight to the death. but the harder they resist, the more destruction is wreaked on their cities. it is clear president putin is prepared to go to any lengths to stop his neighbour becoming a part of western europe. frank gardner, bbc news. live now to moscow and our correspondent there, jenny hill. why has russia demanded this meeting of the un security council? lthink of the un security council? i think one of the reasons _ of the un security council? i think one of the reasons is _ of the un security council? i think one of the reasons is that - of the un security council? i think. one of the reasons is that alongside the fighting in ukraine, vladimir putin is waging an information war, he has repeatedly sought to justify his actions in ukraine by repeatedly coming up with two accusations, that ukraine is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and this other accusation, that ukraine is developing biological weapons with the help of the us. it's been all over kremlin

—controlled media at the last day or so. that media continues, incidentally, to perpetrate, dismiss as a fake news, the strike and that maternity hospital in mariupol recently. as you have seen we have heard from vladimir putin a couple of times today, he has spoken with his security council who assured him everything is going according to plan and that 16,000 foreign fighters from the middle east are ready and willing to be sent in with russia to ukraine. mr putin is really, still, defiant in the face of increasing sanctions, increasing international isolation. today he received in moscow one of his few remaining allies on the world stage, alexander lukashenko of belarus and as the men sat chatting together with the tv cameras, mr putin talked about the impact of sanctions on his country and dismiss them, saying, you know, the soviet union existed

under sanctions and that went on to achieve, he said, colossalsuccess. jenny hill, thank you. and live now to washington and our correspondent, barbara plett usher. what is likely to happen at this un security council meeting? it is security council meeting? it is often said _ security council meeting? ut 3 often said diplomacy is war by other means and that is what we have been seeing at the un so this is the latest battle in that war, i think. we can expect to hear the russians repeater accusations that the united states is funding ukrainian research into pathogens, deadly pathogens that could be used as a weapon against russia. we can expect the united states to again deny that. saying that this is nonsense, they have no biological weapons laboratories in the world, they are funding public health research in ukraine into how to mitigate the spread of dangerous decisions, as is the eu and who but i think we can

expect to hear them raise concerns about what russia is doing is creating pretext to use biological or chemical weapons and blame the us and ukraine, keep an eye on china, china has repeated his russian claims and called for an investigation, it may say that as well. really, what you are seeing at the security council is basically open information warfare. barbara plett usher, _ open information warfare. barbara plett usher, thank _ open information warfare. barbara plett usher, thank you. _ as the strikes continue, the human catrastrophe grows. the united nations today said 2.5 million people had now fled ukraine, in what they described as a "senseless war". poland has seen the greatest influx of people, now totalling more than 1.5 million. our correspondent danjohnson has been speaking to refugees and volunteers in krakow. this is one of the relief centres in krakow in a theatre that

has been taken over. there are clothes here, food, there are people sleeping on the floor upstairs as a temporary measure before they are found somewhere to go on to and julia is one of those people who escaped ukraine in the last few days. you've been able to sleep here last night, do you know where you will sleep tonight, after that, in the future? maybe this night, we will stay also here but in the future, i don't know our future because this is a short stay here. and we will have a house only in some days, on the 17th of march, that is it. so you are safe but it is still uncertain? yes, yes. 0k. thank you, we appreciate your time. this is a huge effort from voluntary groups, from charities and anna is one of the volunteers in charge here. it's been a phenomenal effort for the last two weeks, so much generosity, people opening up their homes to look after refugees. can that carry on?

unfortunately, we cannot carry on like this because poland gave us a big support for all ukrainian people, they host them, they gave them food, they gave them warm clothes, everything. but it is not enough and poland cannot do it by itself. poland cannot do everything. we need other countries to support us. and to help us with relocation for ukrainians. there are all sorts of volunteers who are giving their time and offering goodwill and support for all kinds of reasons. but the pressure has been on for a fortnight and the message is thatjust cannot continue indefinitely. danjohnson, bbc news, krakow. that's all from me in lviv this lunchtime, i'll hand you back to ben in london. thank you very much indeed. well, here the government is being urged to do more to make it easier for ukrainian refugees

to find sanctuary in the uk. from tuesday many will be able to apply online for permission to come here and in the meantime a temporary visa application centre is opening in northern france today — to help hundreds of people waiting for permission to travel to the uk. phil mackie sent this report from arras. there are hundreds of ukrainians stranded in northern france who would dearly love to be on one of these. but the visa process has been complex and slow. they've had to make long journeys to make applications in person. this is the queue in paris. i want to save my daughter, because she doesn't sleep at night when all this happened, she wakes up at night and she cries, she doesn't sleep, we haven't slept for three nights, and now we hope maybe... maybe we go to another country and maybe we stay there. we hope for that. today a temporary office opened for those with appointments in arras, about an hourfrom calais. the call for help from

the british government came on monday evening, they needed somewhere closer to the coast where the ukrainian refugees were to visit, to come in person to make their visa application. they initially wanted it to be in lille, and there was an office that opened there briefly yesterday, but arras has stepped in, offering some rooms here where they can process a0 people a day, and they've said it'll be open for as long as is necessary, but by next tuesday the whole process will be a lot simpler and ukrainian refugees ought to be able to go through it entirely online. when i asked the mayor how he felt it had all been handled, he said, diplomatically, it had been a difficult situation. translation: what matters to us is that people who come _ through here are humanely welcomed, looked after and well treated. and so they can, with the british authorities, quickly obtain the necessary paperwork so they can

rejoin their friends and family. when the application process moves online next week, things should get simpler, and the outlook brighter. phil mackie, bbc news, arras. live now to our political correspondent, jonathan blake. some details about a sponsorship scheme for ukrainian refugees today? this was first announced at the beginning of last week but in the face of continued criticism of the government's handling of refugees fleeing ukraine for the uk, mps are trying to out some details but we do not have the full plan. however, a departmental statement has said that british people will be able to offer a home for those fleeing the fighting in ukraine. charities, community groups under the organisations will be able to offer accommodation to refugees and they will be matched with people trying to come here who do not have family

ties and are not eligible under the current rules. there will be no limit on the numbers eligible but the requirement for a visa still stands and it has been the difficulty in obtaining those visas that has for many people make this process far too cumbersome and slow so far. the government says it is important to keep that requirement in place in order to maintain security and the potential risks of those fleeing a war zone coming here, the prime minister has promised the numbers will rise sharply very soon. the numbers approved as of this morning stands at 1305. ~ ., ., , approved as of this morning stands at 1305. a, ., , ., ,., approved as of this morning stands at 1305. ., , ., ., at 1305. more details also about more russian _ at 1305. more details also about more russian individuals- at 1305. more details also about more russian individuals being l more russian individuals being sanctioned by the british government? we sanctioned by the british government?— sanctioned by the british government? ~ ., ., ., government? we are told a further 386 russian _ government? we are told a further 386 russian members _ government? we are told a further 386 russian members of— government? we are told a furtherl 386 russian members of parliament have been hit with sanctions, that has been announced by the government in the last couple of hours, that amounts to the number of russian mps

who voted in favour of recognising the independence of eastern areas held by rebels in ukraine, which the uk under the same as a pretext for the invasion of the country by president putin. those mps will not be able to travel to the uk, not able to do business here, their assets will be frozen and foreign secretary liz truss said these people are complicit in the illegal invasion unsupportive of president putin's barbaric war.— putin's barbaric war. thank you, jonathan- _ to the day's other news now, and mps have delivered a damning verdict on the the government's catch—up programme for pupils in england who lost out on learning during the covid pandemic. the education select committee says the programme is failing to reach the most vulnerable children, with some of them being up to eight months behind other children because of lost learning time. the education secretary nadhim zahawi has announced he's diverting money so that schools can arrange their own tutoring, after criticism of the scheme. here's our education editor, branwen jeffreys.

four times six... it's in maths where most learning was lost, leaving these year six pupils working hard. today mps warn covid has been devastating for education. now, let's see if that rule applies... and many teachers agree. coming back from covid, i have children who can't use capital letters, full stops, so the kinds of skills that we taught them when they were four or five, the children just can't apply independently any more. and three as b being equal to six. oscar? a lot of pupils at this primary have had booster classes, helping rebuild their confidence. i've done quite a lot with percentages. that's quite helped me out, because i was struggling with percentages and reasoning. because we have sats this year and we have missed, like, two years of learning, i think we've maybe missed out on, like, basic stuff like our times tables. but mps say there are growing regional gaps in learning, the national tutoring programme

is missing targets and ministers should consider scrapping the randstad contract. that's the private company matching tutors to schools. we are damaging their life chances if we don't get this catch—up programme right. they've got to make sure that randstad shape up or get booted out pretty quickly, they've got to make sure that there aren't these regional disparities between north and south. coming out of the pandemic, there is a risk that regional differences get even greater. the learning loss here in yorkshire has been deeper than in the south—east of england, and that's why the catch—up programme matters so much. nicola oversees this primary and eight others in sheffield. she says national tutoring schemes had too much red tape. so what should happen to that money? i'd like to see that money being given to the schools. i think we know our children best so, you know, let's see that money find its way into the schools

and into the system. eh... eh! | putting sounds to letters, a building block for reading. mps agree schools would spend catch—up cash better, but the government says its plans for tutoring are on target and it will make sure as many children as possible benefit. branwen jeffreys, bbc news, sheffield. covid—19 infections have increased across the uk, with record levels in scotland, according to new figures from the office for national statistics. our health editor hugh pym joins me now. how concerning are these figures? it has always been expected that opening up in different ways across the uk over the last month and the ending of restrictions would result in a bit of an increase in infections as people mixed, and the

0ns infections as people mixed, and the ons themselves say it is too early to say if there is an element of that, if it had something to do with school half term holidays and pupils coming back and all of that, but they remain at relatively high levels. according to the ons, across the uk 2.6 million people had covid, up the uk 2.6 million people had covid, up from 2.4 million the previous week, scotland, the highest ever number of infections, although still below northern ireland. policymakers and virus experts will want to see how this plays out, it has to be said that hospital admissions remain considerably lower as a proportion of people with covid then back in the days as the vaccine was just being rolled out, although hospital admissions have ticked up a little bed. one other point to make is that the covid public inquiry which will look into the whole background to what happened in the uk, we have learned today that will not start

hearings until 2023, so as to whether that will report in time for the next election is anyone's gas. thank you, hugh pym. growth bounced back in the uk economy injanuary — with gross domestic product incrasing by 0.8 per cent over the month. it wiped out a 0.2 per cent drop the previous month. it means that gdp is above its pre—pandemic level, though analysts are warning there'll be serious economic consequences of russia's invasion of ukraine, with added inflationary pressures. and petrol prices have risen above £1.60 a litre on average for the first time as the war in ukraine continues to affect the worldwide cost of oil. unleaded petrol hit £1.61 a litre yesterday, having risen by 8p in a week, while diesel reached £1.70 a litre. the rac has warned that prices at the pump are set to remain high for some time. a triple killer who murdered a mother, her son and a stranger

over six days in 2020, has been sentenced at warwick crown court to a whole—life order. anthony russell, who is 39, previously admitted the murders ofjulie williams, her son david williams and 31—year—old nicole mcgregor. yesterday he was also found guilty of the rape of ms mcgregor, who was five months pregnant when she was assaulted and killed. police described russell as an evil and extremely dangerous individual. ministers and religious leaders in northern ireland are making a public apology to people who suffered abuse at children's homes. an apology was first recommended five years ago after an inquiry found that thousands of children had suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse in residential institutions between the 1920s and 905. a warning, you may find this report from our ireland correspondent chris page distressing. it begins with the words of a survivor, speaking publicly for the first time.

it was a nightmare in that place. notjust what happened to us, but what we seen other children go through. the beatings, the coldness, no affection. you never seen a smile. whenjimmy stewart's mother died, his severely disabled father wasn't able to look after him and his two brothers. the children supposedly went into care, but instead suffered cruelty. they had a swimming pool at the bottom of the yard. they used to take us down and they would literally throw you into it. deep end, shallow, there was no shallow end in that thing. and a brother would parade around with a stick, and if you dared put your hands near the edge, he would just cut the arms and knuckles off you. yeah, no, it was just that atmosphere all of the time. there were other incidents there, but... i'm sorry, i can't go into them at all, you know? the unspeakable abuse has

left a trail of trauma, grief and addiction. the reason that i got into drink, and that i drank a lot was you don't dream in a drunken sleep. you don't have nightmares, you don't have flashbacks. and it's similar during the day, you know? it numbs you, it keeps all that stuff away. till the point where it's going to kill you, and it very nearly did me. my older brother victor, he's dead now. he passed. he drank himself to death. couldn't talk, couldn't discuss it, didn't want help, probably didn't think there was help for him. many victims haven't lived to see the end of a long campaign. that makes the state apology all the more poignant. in the chamber of the devolved assembly, survivors have gathered to hear politicians and religious leaders say they are sorry.

we neglected you, rejected you, we made _ we neglected you, rejected you, we made you _ we neglected you, rejected you, we made you feel unwanted. it was not your fault — made you feel unwanted. it was not your fault. the state let you down. so what will the apology mean to you? it's huge. and it's about time. it's way, way past time. after decades of hurt and hopelessness, this is a day for some healing in northern ireland. chris page, bbc news, belfast. the government has said anyone interested in buying chelsea football club can approach ministers and put forward a proposal. efforts to sell the club were halted yesterday after its russian owner, roman abramovich, was sanctioned because of his alleged links to vladimir putin. there's been a first ever medal in snowboarding for great britain at the winter paralympics in beijing. ollie hill claimed bronze in the banked slalom.

it takes great britain's medal total to six, with two days remaining. andy swiss reports. success has rarely tasted sweeter. ollie hill savouring the moment after sealing his place in paralympic history. the 32—year—old used to race motorbikes but after having his right leg amputated following a car accident, he switched to snowboarding, and on his first run in the slalom his speed was plain to see. commentator: 0.47, second place! although he eventually slipped back to third, by the time he began his final run he could already start celebrating. commentator: ollie hill, all smiles. he knows he's got a medal. the only question was could he improve on bronze? well, despite his best efforts, not quite, but nothing could stop him racing into the record books — written�*s first—ever snowboarder to win a paralympic medal. —— britain to 's first—ever snowboarder.

commentator: bronze medal confirmed!