this is bbc world news, the headlines: gunshots at dawn on the outskirts of the ukrainian capital, kyiv, as russia pushes into new areas across the country. residents of the city of melitopol have reportedly come out to protest against the alleged abduction of the mayor by russian forces. translation: yesterday, | the russian invaders seized the mayor of melitopol and the community of melitopol demand for him to be freed. ukraine says it hopes a number of humanitarian corridors from the besieged city of mariupol will open up, and accuses russia of blocking supplies. the russian defence minister says

16,000 fighters from the middle east have volunteered to fight with the russian army in ukraine. on friday, president putin backed the plan. concerns grow about the protection of ukraine's nuclear power plants, as shelling and air raids threaten their safety. it's now estimated more than 2.5 million people have left ukraine to escape the war. now on bbc news, since russia invaded ukraine more than two million people have fled the country. hundreds of thousands of them have passed through lviv train station, heading for platform 5. that's where trains take women and children to safety beyond ukraine's borders, and where many families have to part. fergal keane tells the stories of the people on the platform hoping to escape, the staff who bravely keep the station running, and those who are left behind.

since russia's invasion of ukraine, more than two million refugees have fled the country. it's the largest movement of people in europe since the second world war. can you believe this? can you? hundreds of thousands of them have flowed through lviv station. the story of this station is the story of ukraine's people —

and the war that's consuming them. this is platform 5. jenia is saying goodbye to his family — his wife, 0ksana, 12—year—old son ilya and nine—year—old anna.

they are on their way to poland, but men of fighting age are not allowed to board the train. platform 5 is the part of this station which thousands are desperate to reach. but it's a place of pain and sorrow.

this is the life they left behind in kharkiv. phone rings. it's notjust ukrainians who are trying to escape.

doha is a student who wants to get home to morocco. we've been waiting for two days now. we are coming from kharkiv and, in kharkiv, there are shelters. we left everything. whimpering. she took this footage as the shelling came closer, just a few days earlier. she's travelled for hours on packed trains to get to lviv. so i'm just looking here at the people... people are crowded. people don't even ask about us. they were just walking on us. we were nigerians, moroccans, arabs, egyptians. from tunis, from everywhere. it's like the whole world

is on that train with you. yes, i cried so much and ijust want to go home. really. i'm not safe any more here, i left everything, i left my studies. just pray with us, guys. but in the invasion�*s first days, not everyone gets on a train. platforms are often packed. there are thousands of people along this platform. can any train possibly take the number of people who are here? it seems very, very doubtful. there's an air of desperation. it's quiet desperation, but no less real for that.

rina and her family are trying to get to platform 5. she's so worried about being separated from her children, myrion and eliazaria, that she's writing her phone number on their arms.

i had work in ukraine. i had a life in ukraine and it's my country and i want to come back and come back quickly. i want to come back tomorrow but it's not safe now for my kids. just two weeks ago, this was rina. music. a well—known ukrainian pop star, now her life has been upended.

i have big concerts and some people of ukraine very liked my music and it's very good. so i start in this way and now it's finished. bravo! lviv is a city in the west of ukraine, just a0 miles from the polish border. since the war began, its station has acted as a giant heart,

pumping people in and out. the people who keep that heart beating are the train drivers. boris has been one for more than 25 years. he's getting ready for a night shift.

this is where the drivers rest. some are now unable to return to their home cities because of the fighting. tonight, boris will be driving back to the capital kyiv, nowjust 20 miles from the front line.

around 200,000 people are on the move through ukraine by train every day. travel is now free — no one needs a ticket. tonight boris' train is returning to kyiv laden not with passengers, but with supplies for the people left there. he will be taking a new route, as a bridge has been destroyed in the fighting. what does it mean to you to rescue tens of thousands of your fellow ukrainians on this train?

you are a very modest man, but i think you are very brave.

0utside platform 5, thousands of people are waiting for the next train out of ukraine. two weeks ago, denis was an events manager. today, he oversees 800 volunteers operating in the station. somebody needs to help people. old people. mums with kids. disabled people come out of the train and they are under deep shock. their houses were bombed. it's a real situation. mums, kids, disabled people, old people.

let's see what's going on inside. this is the storage. lots of volunteers work here. and the doctor's office. ah, this is my wife, natasha. natasha is a volunteer doctor in the station. they have two young children who are looked after by friends while they work. 24 hours, we stayed here. it's very hard. it's the pain of people, so many children. they haven't eaten for five or six days and they have a problem with their stomach.

we use volunteers on every exit. we have some kind of food place here. there is a mini clinic and place for disabled people. all these people are waiting for a train to poland. we have 7—8 trains per day. they absolutely don't know about the future. they have no plans.

they have no jobs. no money. lots of them have no money, absolutely. everything is for free. local businesses give us everything we need, food, beds and medicine. everything. denis has just brought 14—year—old uliana and her mother gallina and the family to the mother and baby room. they've travelled for two days from the city of dnipro. i'm with my little brother, with my mother and grandmother. but my father is in poland now,

so we are going to him. for all these families, the mother and baby room is a refuge from the chaos outside. i think it's the most good place that we could be in. i'm so happy, i could relax there, so i'm so happy. my mum is so tired. because she has so many problems, because we don't know where we were because we don't know where we were yesterday, or where we will go. so it is hard for her.

in the makeshift hospital, in what used to be a waiting lounge. natasha gets a call for help. someone has collapsed in the queue. days travelling on crowded trains are putting more pressure on the most vulnerable. natasha's family is russian. 0n the day russia invaded ukraine, she sent a text to her sister in moscow to asking why she hadn't been in touch.

the next exchange of messages was the last time the sisters spoke.

it's one small example of the damage this war is doing.

rina made it to platform 5 with her children and her mother. she's now in poland, on her way to germany. doha finally reached morocco. jenia is with friends further east in of ukraine. his wife and children are hoping to reach their aunt in london. and boris is still making the journey to and from kyiv.

and, on platform 5, the arrivals and departures go on. the relentless separation of families by the war.

hello. changeable weather this weekend and we will all get to see some rain at times, but it is definitely not going to be raining all the time. there will be some sunshine occasionally, too, and in fact today, after what, for many, was a cloudy, damp start, it is a brightening up story now. and there will be sunny spells with the chance of a shower. throughout the weekend it is windy and in fact later today getting windier still, particularly close to this area of low pressure which moves into south west england and south west wales first this afternoon. we have got an area of rain that has been pushing its way northwards overnight and into this morning and this afternoon it is into the north of scotland and still raining at the end of the afternoon towards the northern and western isles. for many other places, though, this afternoon, there is a lot of fine weather out there, broken cloud, sunshine, the chance of catching a shower. the weather going downhill, though,

to cornwall, to pembrokeshire, as we see rain and ever strengthening winds moving in. highs of around 9—13 c. there are some met office wind warnings for western areas of the uk as we go on through this weekend, so do have a look at those if you have got travel plans. there could be some disruption because of these gusts in the isles of scilly, cornwall, 60—70 mph, 50—60 elsewhere, with the rain moving in here to south west england and more of wales as we go on through the evening. across northern ireland, into the west of scotland, overnight, just feeding a little bit further east into england. also that spell of rain just running close to this north sea coast and that could keep it rather cloudy and damp overnight. some clear spells to the north and north west of scotland mayjust allow for a touch of frost in the colder spots. so, here is that area of low pressure, running northwards across western areas during sunday. this is where it is going to be windiest again, again, gales through the irish sea and we are going to see gusts of 50—60 mph, windiest in northern ireland and western scotland by the end of the afternoon.

a little spell of rain clearing through the eastern side of england and eastern scotland by the start of the afternoon and then again it is a case of sunshine and showers, some heavy, possibly thundery, gusty winds around the showers, it is more widely windy across the uk tomorrow, but again particularly through northern ireland and the west of scotland by the end of the afternoon and if anything, tomorrow is going to feel a touch cooler. not as windy in the week ahead, still some rain around, but not much change in the feel of the weather across the northern half of the uk, but the further south you are, it mayjust become very mild for a time. that is your latest forecast.

melnichenko this is bbc news. our top stories: gunshots at dawn on the outskirts of the ukrainian capital kyiv — as russia pushes into new areas across the country. residents of the city of melitopol have reportedly come out to protest against the alleged abduction of the mayor by russian forces. yesterday the invaders seized the mayor of melitopol and the community of melitopol demand for him to be freed. ukraine says it hopes a number of humanitarian corridors from the besieged city of mariupol will open up — and accuses russia of blocking supplies.

meanwhile, the international diplomacy continues —