this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm shaun ley. gunfire. attacks on ukraine target more cities, and extend further into the country — as russians troops regroup around the capital kyiv. an airstrike on dnipro, damages apartment blocks — and hits a shoe factory. we have a special report from the city. this site is one of complete devastation. the smoke is still rising from the ruins of this building, hours after the missile struck. on the frontline in the south of the country — ukrainian fighters hold their ground despite the relentless shelling. the fear in civilian neighbourhoods like this one is that this is just the start, that because russian ground troops are being blocked

from sweeping through the city, they will now do what they've done in so many other parts of ukraine and simply intensify their aerial bombardments. and — russian prosecutors call for a ban on facebook�*s parent company, meta, after the firm changes its rules to allow violent speech in response to the invasion. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we begin with russian forces are widening attacks on areas across ukraine, and are now closing in on the capital kyiv. earlier, russian forces attacked the cities of lutsk and ivano—frankivsk in the west. and to the east, here's the latest data showing the positions of russian forces, getting ever closer to the capital kyiv. 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. dnipro, which has been a place of refuge for ukrainians fleeing other parts of the country, was also hit. dnipro is located in the south east of ukraine, but some way from the russia border, and the annexed territory of crimea. from there, here's our eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford. they struck at dawn and dnipro wasn't expecting it. this was not a military target. russia's missiles have destroyed a shoe factory and they have shattered the idea many had clung to here — that this city was safe. amongst the rubble of their workplace, were factory staff, trying to clean up. dazed and disbelieving. many more could have died here, had the factory not stopped

work because of the war. "you see that black bag," this woman says, "that is where our "security guard died." "what else can i tell you? "you can see it all." many ignored the wail of the air—raid siren because central dnipro had never been hit. this site is one of complete devastation. the smoke is still rising from the ruins of this building, hours after the missile struck, and the smell here is really acrid. but the thing that strikes me most, just being here, is that there are so many apartment blocks, residential buildings all round here. the shock waves swept across the square, smashing windows and shaking buildings for blocks around. we saw irina cleaning up the mess, and she called us in. for her family, the attack was terrifyingly close, right on their doorstep.

they are scared, but they are also furious here at russia. "we didn't ask them to come and save us," irina tells me. "we were living fine in our own country. "we love our country and we'll defend it," she says. across the hallway, alexander is clearing up for his 90—year—old aunt, distraught she lived through one world war, and she is now being caught up in all this. and down the road, we met natalia. demanding to know why russia is firing at them. haunted by the terrified screams of her son. they didn't make it to the bomb shelter, the missiles came in too fast. rescuers have been salvaging scraps from the factory wreckage. but however resilient ukraine

is, this kind of attack sows fear and saps morale. because when the sirens go now, no—one can feel safe here. sarah rainsford, bbc news, dnipro. they struck at dawn, and dnipro wasn't expecting it. as the conflict intensifies, the column of armoured vehicles that had been heading to kyiv appears to have been redeployed to surrounding areas — causing more concern that a new attack on the capital could be imminent. our international correspondent orla guerin has been to the frontline, close to the town of bucha where russian troops are battling ukrainian forces — just 15 miles — or 2a kilometres from the centre of kyiv. the lonely road towards russian positions on the outskirts of kyiv. we had carefully towards the commuter town of bucha, bombed day and night. there are battle

grounds along the way. well, this is as far as we can go. we've just come through the last ukrainian checkpoint, up ahead is no—man�*s land, and the next checkpoint is in the hands of the russians. we've been hearing the sounds of battle in the last few minute, with out going shelling from here towards the russian positions. "the fighting is hard, very hard," says viktor, breaking down. "15 days." he's a pensioner turned defender of ukraine. "overall, it's fine," he says. "we have our children.

"our wives. "this is our land." anatole, who is 72, is risking his life to look for petrol. "everything is destroyed," he tells me. "there's no electricity, no gas." "it's very cold in the house." he sobs. "it's very cold in the house." "i'm sorry," he says politely. "this is life." inside bucha there is no life. so today, once again, civilians were fleeing. from russia — this choice. go or be bombed.

documents are checked before they head for kyiv. ukrainian forces don't want russian saboteurs getting through. cars brimming with desperation and displaying playing white ribbons, a plea for safe package for civilians. many marked "ditey", meaning children. did you see the russian forces in your area? translation: we passed three of their checkpoints. _ "there were tanks there," says alexander. his wife natalia also weeps for ukraine. day—by—day the threat is moving closer to kyiv.

nearby, sveta and vitali. their home was shelled by the russians, who they used to see as brothers. translation: our children will not learn to _ speak their language. she says the people who did all this cannot be called human. orla guerin, bbc news, on the outskirts of kyiv. russia has called for foreign volunteers to fight alongside its troops in ukraine, suggesting there were thousands in the middle east ready tojoin. us officials said these could include fighters from syria, which is a long—standing ally of russia.. from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. for russia's defence minister, sergei shoygu, it was a busy day. medals for his troops wounded in action. and a video call with the kremlin to announce that 16,000 volunteers from the middle east want to fight for russia in ukraine. "good idea," said

the president. translation: if you see that some volunteers - would like to come and help people in the donbas, especially without being paid, then we should meet them halfway and help them relocate to the war zone. soon after, this. chanting. russian tv showed what it said were pro—russia fighters in syria, ready and willing. they've helped moscow in the syrian war, but what will happen if they fight in ukraine? they'll be very ruthless, and they'll use syrian tactics liberating ukrainian cities by reducing them to rubble. this war is turning into a war of attrition in which russia cannot win because the ukrainians are going to have more supplies, more money coming their way, while the russian financial system is going broke because of sanctions, the russian economy is tanking. vladimir putin has much

to reflect on after 16 days of what he calls his "special military operation". the kremlin says that by sending thousands of foreign fighters to ukraine, it's acting no differently from the ukrainian government, which has also been signing up volunteers. but remember, it was russia that launched this offensive, sending its troops across the border into a sovereign nation. moscow seems determined to secure a military victory. but at what cost to the russian people? in moscow today, more queues, more western shops closing, more economic pain from sanctions. for some, the priority now is buying an air ticket out of here. but president putin insists his country will get through this. when he met the leader of belarus, vladimir putin said, in the past, sanctions had made russia stronger. from the kremlin leader, no hint of regret.

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. conflict on the ground is now just one part of waging a military campaign. there's also a war to fight on social media and in cyberspace. as a digital barricade between russia and the world continue to grow, russia's state media watchdog, roskom—nadzor, now says instagram will be blocked in the country due to "calls for violence" against russian soldiers. facebook, twitter, tiktok all face restrictions and bans in russia in the last two weeks. david patrikarakos, an expert on the use of social media in conflict and disinformation says meta's decision to permit call for violence content is problematic. i mean, look, it is a very tricky one because forget meta's decision here, there are laws against incitement to violence. they've obviously taken this decision with some kind of

advice from their legal team. i guess they made the decision that russian soldiers, military targets, i do find it problematic in the extreme. we're not talking about ukrainians here, we are talking about anybody anywhere being able to call for violence. i understand the sentiments behind it and the anger at what russia is doing as someone who spent a lot of time in ukraine and seen a lot of this first—hand, i don't think it's particularly helpful, to be honest, not least because it gives the russians ammunition. they have taken the opportunity to ban it and gives them an apparently legitimate reason for doing so. just on that, your time in ukraine, you were there during 2014 during the annexation of crimea and the two republics declaring themselves in the donbas as self—governing. how was social media deployed

there by the russians? it was sort of interesting because what we saw in 2014 after the annexation of crimea, i was in the donbas what we saw or what i saw anyway was the conflict, usually in wartime, information operations support military operations on the ground. you know, media, because back then, putin didn't have a military goal, he wanted crimea, he took it. he didn't want to annex donbas, what he wants to do was destabilise the ukrainian state to the degree that it was never able to the eu or nato. that's a political goal, so what he did was he cleared out the space in the east and pumped in a narrative unfiltered and it was very much a military operation. now it's an all—out military were. —— now it's an all—out military war. i was looking at a piece by a former ft bureau chief

in moscow writing today's ft saying in 2019 putin approved a sovereign internet law instructing all service providers to channel traffic through filters controlled by the kremlin�*s digital sensor. presumably this is the problem, even where companies are not disconnected or not blocked, even operating on the internet in russia is different from operating on the internet and many other parts of the world. absolutely. which is why even though i say it gives russian ammunition, they didn't really need it, for example they've already blocked facebook. look, in the beginning, the russians decided, they didn't try to block social media committee have a long tradition of propaganda, they can understand that it could be harnessed. so theyjust used it. now, increasingly, they go to their own sovereign internet, going down the chinese model, which doesn't bode very well. all these things now blocking facebook, instagram, this is the slow process of russia becoming, let's say a north korea

on the european continent. this is bbc news, the latest headlines attacks on ukraine target more cities, and extend further into the country — as russians troops regroup around the capital kyiv. fire and smoke among the ruins, as a russian air strike on dnipro, damages apartment blocks and hits a shoe factory. one area where the russian advance on the ground has made progress is in the south of ukraine. they have captured the city of kherson and are pushing west, towards the key port of odesa on the black sea. but the city of mykolaiv stands in their way and while ukraine's forces are holding fast, it too has suffered extensive damage. from mykolaiv, andrew harding reports. a snowstorm enfolds us as we head for the frontlines towards a ukrainian city that is blocking the russian advance. civilians gather on the outskirts of mykolaiv, fleeing the madness. are you worried about the bombs and the artillery? yes, yes.

it's also very loud, especially at night. loud and deadly. the russians are trying to blast a path through this city in order to seize the whole black sea coast. but mykolaiv is proving obstinate. sirens wail. ok, wejust heard some artillery in the distance and then an air raid siren so we are going to suit up. you too. in a cellar volunteers follow the example set by millions of ukrainians nationwide, forming a diy army. it's plates for body arms what we need from our factory. it's really heavy, but it's good. that defiance is echoed by the local governor who tells us the russians are actually in retreat here, for now. we pushed the enemy back from the borders of our city for about 15, 20 kilometres

in the southern and western part. for now they are almost surrounded, we are attacking them. so from your perspective you are winning this war? you know, we are winning this fight but not this war. not winning the war, and in the local morgue it's a struggle to keep up with the bodies, soldiers and civilians alike out in the cold. some survivors here are still too frail to be moved to safer ground. 250 casualties in under a fortnight. what would you say to the world? to the world? what is your message? close our sky, close our sky. we cannot work under the bombs, under the rockets. it's dangerous. you want a no—fly zone enforced by the west? yes, of course. in the meantime, the russians stick to theirfamiliar routine, shock and horror, almost no weapons too gruesome,

no target off—limits. the fear in civilian neighbourhoods like this one is that this is just the start, that because russian ground troops are being blocked from sweeping through this city they will now do what they have done in so many other parts of ukraine and simply intensify their aerial bombardment. and then what? this woman survived, but her city's fate remains unclear. andrew harding, bbc news, mykolaiv. breaking news from ukraine. ina in a televised address in the last few minutes, told ukrainians that 71114 people were evacuated from four ukrainian cities on friday. these are in the humanitarian corridor is, a sharply lower number that managed to leave in each of the two previous days and accused russia of refusing to allow people out and saying

you can try again to deliver food and medicine there on saturday. more than 2.5 million refugees have now fled the war in ukraine, many of them being welcomed into neighbouring european countries. on thursday, the european union announced it will offer temporary protection to all ukraininan refugees. but this attitude of hospitality towards refugees hasn't always been the case. some are drawing stark paralells between this crisis and the way many syrian refugees were treated after the civil war broke out in their country in 2011. serena parekh is the author of "no refuge: ethics and the global refugee crisis" and a professor at northeastern university in boston — she's been giving me her take her take on the issue. there are many cultural, historical and political factors that can help us to understand why people in eastern europe are being more sympathetic,

more compassionate towards refugees from ukraine than they were to refugees from syria and other countries in the middle east, starting in about 2011, 2012. poland has a long history with ukrainian people, and many ukrainians live in poland, and many polls live —— and many ukrainians live in poland, and many poles live in ukraine, so there is a deep sense of cultural connection. politically, people in poland and hungary can look at the situation in ukraine and think "that could be us." there is a very deep sense in which they identify with ukrainian refugees. finally, one of the reasons that ukraine angered putin was precisely because ukraine wanted to move closer to the european union, and in that sense, these refugees are made refugees because of their support for the european union, and that seems to give rise to a really strong sense of obligation. i do think it's impossible to ignore the difference in race. i imagine that was your next question.

it was. there is a very stark difference between how refugees from ukraine are being perceived and how refugees in syria and other countries in the middle east and africa were perceived in 2012 and following. in one case, you have refugees being perceived as vulnerable human beings, neighbours and friends who are in desperate need of our help, and they are being welcomed with open arms. on the other hand, we saw the media really refugees not in a humanitarian way, as desperate human beings trying to protect their families and survive, but instead as security threats. that has really led to a lot of fear and concern around refugees from the middle east. in towns and cities across ukraine, military funerals are now a daily occurrence. this country's regular armed forces — its soldiers, sailors and airforce — have beenjoined by volunteers, men and women who three weeks

ago had never picked—up a weapon, but who are now fighting and dying in defence of their land. fergal keane was at the ceremony. sung prayers, weeping. the dead are returning... ..to homes far from the battlefield. today, they buried dmitro kabakov, 59, andrei stefanushin, 40, taras diduk, aged 25. prayers continue. for all the solidarity of crowds... ..this grief is solitary. prayers continue. each loss individual...

..forfamilies... ..for comrades. prayers continue. it is the custom here when possible to open the coffins — so that there can be a last touch to reach beyond death. trumpets wail. singing. ukraine's dead in this war are full—timers, reservists, and conscripts. gunfire.

andrei stefanushin was a permanent soldier, married, with a three—year—old daughter. jaroslav is a friend from when they worked on the railways together. translation: we kept in touch, talked. - he was a great guy. god takes away the best from us. these men had plans. taras diduk had a girlfriend. he was godfather to a friend's daughter and his mother's only son. translation: he was brave. he said, "mama, who is going to protect you, if not me?" i know how he was. i can't praise my child, but for me, he was the best. a mother grieving a dead son — war�*s eternal story. fergal keane, bbc news, lviv.

the terrible cost of war, as always, borne by the families. you are watching world news on the bbc. this weekend, it's going to be a mixed bag. there's certainly some sunshine on the way, but many of us will need our umbrellas as well. now, right now, a weather front is crossing the british isles, extensive cloud out there. it's rain—bearing cloud. this is how it's going to stay for the next few hours or so. it's very mild out there as well. by early on saturday morning, temperatures will be around 7—8 celsius. it might be a little bit colder across parts of northern ireland in rural spots, maybe down to around two or so if the skies clear and the winds drop out. so, the forecast for the morning shows a lot of cloud and some rain across scotland, parts of northern england, brighter across the rest of england and wales, in fact, some decent sunny spells here through the middle of the afternoon. and i think the best

of the weather will be the further east you are, but notice this sort of curl of rain here, this is a low pressure that's swinging into the southwest of the uk, not only rain, but also some very strong winds. we're talking of gusts of 50—60, maybe even 70 mph, so really quite stormy around some of the coasts for a time, but we are only talking about the tip of cornwall, perhaps devon, maybe southern parts of wales, so not widespread gales, but very, very windy indeed, so take it steady if you are across this part of the world through saturday and saturday night. elsewhere, it won't be quite so windy. now let's have a look at sunday's weather map. low pressure just off the coast of scotland there, but pretty much dominating the weather across the uk. so this is early sunday. you can see a weather front curling into this area of low pressure, outbreaks of rain, sunny spells and a mixture of showers in the afternoon. it's going to be that changeable day, and very gusty winds right across the country, we're talking 30—40, maybe even 50 mph around some exposed coasts. so on saturday, the winds will be strong here, on sunday, it will be blustery

right across the uk. temperatures on sunday typically between 10—12 celsius. not as mild as it's been, but, you know, mild enough. monday, a much better day. the winds will be lighter, there will be more sunshine around, still some showers across northern parts of the country, but in the south, it really is an improving picture. and that's how it's going to be over the next few days into next week. in fact, in the south of the country, temperatures could even peak at around about 17—18 celsius. so a mixed weekend and then better the week ahead. bye— bye.

this is bbc news,

the headlines... russian forces are widening their attacks on areas across ukraine, with more intense fighting reported in the countryside. russian troops are also beginning to regroup around the the capital kyiv. moscow says it has now hit military airfields in the western cities of lutsk and ivano—frankivsk. an air strike on the central eastern city of dnipro has hit russia has broadened its attack on ukraine, hitting more cities. fire and smoke rise from the ruins as a russian air strike on dnipro damages apartment blocks, and hits a shoe factory. russian prosecutors have called for a ban on facebook�*s parent company, meta, after it changed its rules to allow violent speech in response to the invasion. officials in moscow say instagram will be blocked in the country due to "calls for violence" against russian soldiers. those are the headlines from bbc news. now on bbc news, the media show.