this is bbc news — i'm maryam moshiri with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. barricades on the outskirts of kyiv — where they're preparing for an assault — possibly within days. president zelensky was asked about it today and he said if the russians, if president putin is determined to take kyiv hill have to raise the city to the ground. kyiv hill have to raise the city to the ground. we hear from the young ukrainian recruits — at the checkpoints they'll be defending. still no diplomatic breakthrough — talks are described as difficult — with claims president putin is showing no willingness to end the war. music and making music amidst the madness — we talk to some of the violinists trying

to raise money for the people of ukraine. furtherfighting has been taking place outside the ukrainian capital, kyiv, where russian forces are around 15 miles from the centre of the city. british military intelligence believes those russian troops have been regrouping, possibly for a fresh offensive in the coming days. a military airfield was destroyed this morning near kyiv. the latest information about russian positions is shown here in red. outside the capital, the cities of chernihiv, sumy, and kharkiv continue to be shelled. while the ukrainian military say the eastern outskirts of the beseiged city of mariupol have been captured by russian troops. the city has endured

days of shelling. president zelensky has said russian and ukrainian negotiating teams have started discussing what he called �*concrete topics rather than exchanging ultimatums�*. ourfirst report tonight is from jeremy bowen, on the outskirts of kyiv. pictures of russian forces, time and place indeterminate, emerge from their side. among their potential targets here in kyiv, no—one knows their precise orders, but they're assuming an attack is coming. on the ukrainian side, they're trying to make checkpoints into real obstacles. the professionals are a few miles closer to the russians. the soldiers here are all volunteers. they are still expected to fight, even with only a few days training. just over a week ago i met two university friends, maksym, aged 19, and demytro, 18, as they signed up in kyiv.

what are you studying? i am studying economy. and i am studying biology. most of the recruits that day were about the same age, making jokes to hide their nerves. when they lined up outside, they looked as if they were off to a festival — except for the guns. now, demytro and maksym have been given uniforms, three days training and they are facing the russians. get used to my gun, i learned how to shoot and act in the battle. also many other things that will be very crucial during the fight with some russians. i feel much more confident than i was before. because we get enough

knowledge in tactics. do you think the battle is coming for kyiv? yes, it is definitely possible. but we just have to stop them here in brovary, because if they get to kyiv then this war might be over. what do your parents think about what you're doing? "mum, i'm on the war, i am fighting with a gun in my hands." and she said, "oh, maksym..." "nice joke." "don'tjoke with your mother, it's war. just sit in the shelter and do your work, volunteer or do something else." do you feel scared? not much. but it is human nature to feel scared. and of course, deeply in my soul, ifeel a bit scared. because no—one wants to die, even if it's for your country.

so, death is not an option for us. for now, they are on the checkpoint. if the russians come, they will be firing out of a trench in the war�*s key battle. war always has a political, as well as a military dimension. while president zelensky and his government are here in kyiv, no—one can say that they have been defeated, even if they are losing territory elsewhere. at the same time, president putin cannot claim victory in this war if his men can't take this city. everyone here is waiting — soldiers, civilians in and out of uniform, and maksym and demytro. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kyiv. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is also in kyiv to give us a sense of the mood tonight in the ukrainian capital. it's bitterly cold and it has been a night of more constant

and louder explosions. when the curfew came into force at eight o'clock local time, that's 18 hours gmt. usually every night there is some explosions when night falls, we see both explosions, hear explosions in the distance, we sometimes see the surface to air missiles streaking across the sky but ukrainian forces. tonight it was far noisier, much louder, more constant like rolling thunder for a very long time. that confirms what we know is that fighting is intensifying on the outskirts of the city. in some places as close as 12 miles into the east it's about eight miles. we understand that in irpin, which used to be a charming suburbs on the outside outskirts of kyiv is now flattened and blackened by days and days of russian artillery fire and shelling. that's the place where our viewers may remember the heart wrenching images

of the residence crossing that rickety bridge made of planks and pipes. the ukrainians had destroyed the main bridge to stop the russians from advancing. there is now fierce fighting for control of the town which is the gateway to this capital. no one is in any doubt that kyiv is in moscow's sites. perhaps people hoped against hope that diplomacy you heard about might make some progress to cause the russians to pull back. but they've been inching forward since the start of the invasion and are getting ever closer. they're not in the centre of the capital, it will still take a long time but is clear that that is their intent. so you feel the mood here more ominous, greaterforeboding but you also hear the defiance that the ukrainians will fight. president zelensky was asked about it today and he said if there russians, if president putin is determined to take kyiv he'll have to raise the city to the ground. president putin has held

talks with the leaders of france and germany about the situation in ukraine. french and german officials said it's difficult vladimir putin is not open to realistic conditions for a cease—fire. and the kremlin says they used the opportunity to complain about alleged human rights abuses by ukrainians on russian soldiers. you can say, what is the point of these conversations, wet else went on in those 75 minutes? emmanuel macron has held about ten of these calls already since russia invaded ukraine, he's been criticised by some at home and abroad as being naive or arrogant or being played by moscow. i actually put that to him a couple of days ago and he said, these calls aren't a whim of his, they are coordinated with all of the western allies. he in france, like olaf scholz in germany, they are imposing sanctions on russia, they are supporting the military in ukraine but they say in case vladimir putin looks for that

offer them, if he is ——off ramp ready for a cease—fire, when he is available to talk, negotiate realistically that it is important to keep these lines of communication open and ready. and so emmanuel macron said these calls to the kremlin, they will continue. president zelensky says abouti,300 ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of russia's invasion. he told journalists in kyiv, that far larger numbers of russian soldiers had died — perhaps 10 times as many, but those figures can't be verifed. as russian forces continued to shell kyiv, mr zelensky said, they'd have to destroy the capital and its population to occupy it. our security correspondent, frank gardner, has this assessment of russian�*s military strategy. it looks like, and it feels like, the beginning of the endgame — although who knows how long that's going to last? if we look at the map here on day 17, the red areas are where russian forces

have taken control. in the south, they continue to make advances. they are pushing to the north—west. in the north is where the real battle is going to be fought. that's for the capital, kyiv, around here. now, you remember that great big russian armoured column that was stuck for days north of the capital? most of that has redeployed into the forests, to the north—west, moving their artillery and rocket systems within range of the capital, looking to encircle it. if president putin can't take kyiv, then his war has failed. and that appears to be what he is determined to do, is to capture the capital. but it's not going to be an easy battle. and who knows when that assault is actually going to begin? a direct hit on a russian armoured column as it advances on the capital, kyiv. western supplied anti—tank weapons have slowed the russian advance, but they haven't stopped it. in the air, russian warplanes remain wary of ukraine's air defences. but they have the advantage of numbers on their side.

the latest pentagon assessment is that the russian air force is flying an average of 200 missions a day, compared to just ten for the ukrainians. now, some of those russian sorties don't even need to cross into ukrainian airspace. they can fire their cruise missiles from inside russian territory. this is what they're up against, western supplied missile systems, plus some old soviet—era stock. the ukrainians have shot down a number of russian helicopters and planes. russia has threatened to start targeting the supply of western weaponry. meanwhile, the pentagon has dismissed fears that some of these weapons could end up with criminals and terrorists. president putin has made it clear what he intends to do with any anti—aircraft missiles his forces captured from the ukrainians.

the kremlin's position towards ukraine has barely moved since the day this invasion began, two and a half weeks ago. "this war can stop when you want it to, you just need to lay down your arms, surrender, give in to all our demands and forget about being a part of western europe. frank gardner, bbc news. us army retired majorjohn spencer is the chair of urban warfare studies at, madison policy forum and the author of connected soldiers. he says russian forces in ukraine face a tough road ahead. i think you can see more of a battle of berlin, entire neighbourhoods flattened but a russian army literally entering a meat grinder and getting chewed up. i honestly think the david versus goliath has changed. putin gave ukrainians, which i stand for

ukraine, too much time. i see what's happening in the operational plan but man, it's going to go really bad for russians. you think so? you don't think that given time they can break out ——down that ukrainian forces? i don't think they have time. we already know they are demoralised, they're cold, they're homesick, trust me, they are homesick. they're running out of ammo, picked and picked apart before they even get into position to attack. they need that armour to penetrate. let's not kid ourselves. they need infantry and they need armour. and they are low on both. at this point yet, if you talk to me a week and half ago, two weeks, at this point they need tens of thousands of troops. a lot more armour and a lot more artillery than i know they have. they fired 30,000 rounds a day and this is not grozny. what about talk of getting

troops from other countries and bringing inforeign fighters, is that something that worries you? yeah, it worries me. stalin says that quantity is its own quality. you need a lot of infantry combined with your armour. some of these fighters may be hardened urban fighters from syria, they could not be. it's concerning but it's also a sign of desperation, to be honest. putin is desperate. that's dangerous. as you know a caged bear is dangerous. but these are desperate measures. a lot of the stuff we see are really desperate measures. this city attack is not that ago the way his generals are saying it will. if it doesn't, do you think there is then potential for russia to turn to chemical weapons, the use of chemical weapons as it did in syria? i personally don't think so. i think there's been enough recognition in the international community to say that a line, if you cross it things will change.

nothing is possible and i would prepare, gas mask and every aspect. to be honest, syria is not ukraine. the whole world is watching. i could turn on a live camera right now of kyiv. the whole world is watching. in russia, the kremlin continues to try to control its narrative for the russian public about what it calls a �*special military operation'. in the last 3 weeks, thousands of people have been detained for protesting against the war. but there is strong support among some, for the reassertion of russia's influence in the region. our moscow correspondent, caroline davies, reports. upbeat music. scroll through russian—run social media, and these are the sorts of videos you might see. upbeat russian patriotism, as the country becomes more isolated. in russia, even cheese can be political. the owner of this factory posted a video on social media

praising president putin. his business wouldn't exist if the russian leader hadn't put sanctions on european cheese. some are already bound economically to the kremlin's success. translation: in 2011, - i was going out with a poster saying, "putin, go away. " i didn't support the president then. i was thinking our country was going the wrong way. but in 2014 he returned us crimea, started protecting russian products, started supporting agriculture. i changed my mind and started supporting him. but signs of support don't only exist on screens. since we've been driving around the outskirts of moscow, we have now seen several vehicles with z markings on. some havejust been drawn in the dirt on the back of them. others have been marked in tape. all of them, a sign of support for the russian army in ukraine. the letter z, which first appeared on the side of russian military vehicles, is now evident across russia — from filmed candlelit

gatherings, to some buses and trams, like here in suburban moscow. "i support this," says vyacheslav. "it's our country, it's our army. "i'm positive about this," says inna, "we must support our own, regardless of who's right and who's wrong. what's been really interesting, speaking to people here, is how often the same expressions come up. the sort of expressions you quite often see on social media as hashtags, or being said on the state media too. it's also worth saying that there were people here who said that they didn't agree with the z signs, but those people didn't want to go on camera. and the propaganda. many who used to protest now only feel able to speak publicly once they've left the country. a few days ago, mark and his family escaped to nepal. he is trying to speak to loved ones in russia about the conflict. many of my relatives were having doubts after we spoke to them.

but later, they watch tv again and told me, "well, no, i don't think you're right. well, i believe putin, he is very powerful. there are enemies everywhere. " ijust can't understand how they can believe it, but they do. and if you tell someone the same thing, over and over again, it becomes like truth. as russia shuts off independent media, there is less to challenge the kremlin's narrative, and the patriotic drumbeat telling russians to support president putin is only getting louder. carolyn davis, bbc news, moscow. the number of people arriving in moldova to escape the war in ukraine is so high that every eighth child in the country is a refugee. the moldovan government says its infrastructure is already saturated. it fears a full blown assault on ukraine's third city of odesa, 30 miles from moldova's border, could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. our correspondent,

lucy williamson, reports. some lucy williamson, reports. times the long cold journey some times the long cold journey from ukraine ends here. in the emergency department of motor novels children hospital. within last week alexi has fled a war, left family and is living in a new country as a refugee. a high temperature almost counts as normal. around almost counts as normal. around a dozen refugee children arrive here every day, often suffering from dehydration or breathing problems. tanya came straight here from the border. her daughter sophia caught pneumonia on thejourney daughter sophia caught pneumonia on the journey in central ukraine. she spent two daysin central ukraine. she spent two days in intensive care. i am completely broken, she told me. they were bombing everywhere. it's horrible. it's why everyone is leaving. every eighth child in moldova is now a refugee and as the fighting

creeps closer to mould of his border the number keeps rising. fewer than half the refugees arriving here actually stay on but that still enough to have increased mould of his population by 4% in a fortnight. the equivalent of two and half million people arriving in the uk.- arriving in the uk. given without _ arriving in the uk. given without any _ arriving in the uk. given without any dramatic - arriving in the uk. given - without any dramatic changes on the front line we are approaching a breaking point. but dramatic implosion would be a complete catastrophe for the humanitarian situation here. not preparing will be just overwhelming. not preparing will be 'ust overwhelmingi not preparing will be 'ust overwhelming. not preparing will be 'ust overwhelmina. . �*, overwhelming. charity say it's already proving _ overwhelming. charity say it's already proving difficult - overwhelming. charity say it's already proving difficult to - already proving difficult to keep track of some children fleeing ukraine.— keep track of some children fleeing ukraine. we've had very fired by local— fleeing ukraine. we've had very fired by local authorities - fleeing ukraine. we've had very fired by local authorities who i fired by local authorities who have asked us to help receive 150 children through one of the border crossings, between them leaving that orphanage and the time that we anticipated they would be at the crossing, all

150 children have gone missing, we have no idea where they are. border checks across the region are minimalfor those fleeing the war but protection rests on making sure the vulnerable are visible because it's hard to protect them if they are not. a group of top international violinists from 29 countries have collaborated on a video performance to raise money for the plight of ukrainians. lets take a listen.

earlier my colleague lukwesa burak spoke to the violinist illia bondarenko in ukraine — whom you saw playing at the start of that video performance. and kerenza peacock, who told me how the war inspired her to create the project. on the day that putin invaded ukraine i was going about my normal day as a violinist, i was about to practice scales and run some errands and i thought it was such a horrific situation and i wondered what my fellow violinists were doing in ukraine and i ran befriended some on instagram and ended up talking to a bunch of violinists there who said they were also practising scales but then going to work out how to arm themselves and i thought it was such a horrific situation and i ended up getting in touch

with ilia who was sheltering in his basement and this idea came about. i have a daughter who practised piano scales, they are not the best of fun, may as well put them to use. what did you think when carranza reached out to you? i was really impressed, because i did not expect that she would have seen the video on instagram of my string quartet and get in contact who asked me about my health and everything and i was really surprised and impressed and really grateful to her that she offered me the idea to make that video. it is wonderful. of course, there has been a particular musical video that has gone viral and that was vera who was

playing to lift the spirits of those in the bomb shelters in ukraine, have either of you reached out to her or herfrom her? no, actually, i think we had already collected our videos from this when it came onto the news and unfortunately i had not heard about her or got her contact details but i would love her tojoin with us on something. maybe we can arrange it! how much money has been raised so far? i don't know if it is kerenza or ilia who has that figure. we have been sharing the links to a lot of different charities but on our youtube video we are donating to the un refugee agency and we only put the donate button on there and we already have a few thousand dollars. we are encouraging people to give what they can to the international rescue committee as well. ilia, you are in ukraine, how have you managed to take part in this virtual concert,

logistically, was it quite challenging? it was really hard. in that moment i was underground, because there was bombing. i was only with my grandmother and i asked her to make the video when i was playing and it was a few minutes, because when we were living upstairs in kyiv, we try not to make so many sounds, because every sound, we are trying to hear the sirens or something like that and then get underground. a reminder of our top story... ukraine has accused russia of targeting a convoy of evacuees near kyiv,

and killing seven people, one of them a child. we are back at the top of the hour. for me, bye—bye. hello there. cloud, wind and rain moving in from the southwest will dominate over the next few hours. it's an area of low pressure that will gradually sit towards the west of northern ireland, that's where we will see the strongest of the winds and perhaps the heaviest of the rain throughout the day this sunday. elsewhere, there is a weak weather front which will produce some showery rain through central and eastern scotland and eastern england first thing. that will ease away, sunshine comes through and a scattering of showers across england and wales, some of them heavy and thundery. the sharper showers, the most frequent rain likely to be to the northwest, that's where we will see the strongest of the winds as well, 50—60 mph gusts not out of the question. windierfor all of us

through sunday, top temperatures though 9—13 celsius. if you dodge the showers and keep a little bit more sunshine, that will feel pleasant enough. now, as we move out of sunday into monday, start a new working week, we are likely to see this weather front here bringing some outbreaks of rain to begin with, but on the whole, it's an improving picture. much lighter winds on monday, that means with the sunshine coming through, it will feel noticeably warmer out there. so the rain quite light and patchy, and it will drift its way steadily eastwards and fragment further into the afternoon. more cloud for scotland but generally sunny spells, a few isolated showers, lighter winds and highs of 1a degrees on monday. now, with some clearer skies, we could see some patchy mist and maybe some fog forming first thing on tuesday morning. it's going to be a chilly start on tuesday. the fog will lift, we will have sunshine coming through, not a bad day, largely dry with light winds for all of us, and again, pleasant enough, 1a degrees the high. wednesday, the middle part of the week, looks likely to be the day where some of us will see some rain at some point, and some of it quite heavy in actualfact. now, to the south of this

weather front, it could turn very mild indeed with more of a southerly flow across eastern and south east england. so, here, 16 degrees not out of the question, but some of that rain really could be quite heavy, and behind those weather fronts, up into the far northwest, here, it will be noticeably cooler, 8—9 celsius the overall high. so, that's how we are looking through the middle part of the week. let's just summarise that for you one more time. it looks likely that our week ahead will be largely dry with lighter winds and mild, but looks likely that on wednesday, there will be some rain for all of us at some point. take care.

this is bbc news — the headlines. furtherfighting has been taking place outside the ukrainian capital — kyiv — where russian forces are around twenty—five kilometres from the centre of the city. british military intelligence believes those russian troops have been regrouping — possibly for a fresh offensive that could happen in the coming days. a senior ukrainian minister says around thirteen—thousand people were evacuated from a number of ukrainian cities on saturday — almost twice the number who were able to get out the day before. but no one managed to leave the besieged port of mariupol — blocked by russian forces. the elysee palace says president putin showed no willingness to end the war with ukraine — during a phone conversation between the russian leader and his french and german counterparts. emmanuel macron and olaf scholz urged mr putin to introduce an immediate ceasefire — and begin negotiations with ukraine. now on bbc news.

"unspun world" with john simpson.