welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: 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, he will have to raze the city to the ground. we hear from the young ukrainian recruits at the checkpoints they'll be defending. satellite imagery shows some of the damage in the city of mariupol, with claims russian troops are stopping people from leaving. string music. and, making music amidst the madness — we talk to some of the violinists trying to raise money for the people

of ukraine. fighting has intensified around the ukrainian capital kyiv, which is bracing itself for an assault by russian forces. soldiers and volunteers have been building new defences and creating barricades on major routes to slow any russian attack on the city. 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 says the eastern outskirts of the beseiged city of mariupol have been captured by russian troops. ourfirst report is from jeremy bowen, on the outskirts of the city.

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, but 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 dmytro, 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, dmytro 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 knowledges 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, this war probably 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, "0h, 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 dmytro. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kyiv. in a new video address, president zelensky has stressed that russia's presence in ukraine does not guarantee a normal life. translation: the russian occuwers — translation: the russian occupiers cannot _ translation: the russian occupiers cannot conquer i occupiers cannot conquer others. they do not have such strength. there is no such spirit. they are based only on violence, only on terror, only on weapons, of which they have many but the occupiers have no natural basis for normal life so people can feel happy and

dream. they are organically incapable of making life normal. whenever russia has come to a foreign land, dreams are impossible. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, is in kyiv and gave us a sense of the mood 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 1800 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 skies by the 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 and to the east, it's about eight miles. we understand that in irpin, which used to be a charming suburb on the outskirts of kyiv, it's 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 residents of irpin crossing that rickety bridge made of planks and pipes — the ukrainians had destroyed the main bridge to stop the russians from advancing. but there is now fierce fighting for control of a town which is the gateway to this capital. no—one is in any doubt that kyiv is in moscow's sights. perhaps people hoped against hope that that diplomacy that 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 they're getting ever closer. they are not in the centre of the capital, it will still take a long time, but it is clear that that is their intent so you feel the mood

here is more ominous, greater foreboding, but you also hear the defiance that the ukrainians will fight. president zelensky was asked about it today and he said if the russians, if president putin is determined to take kyiv, he will have to raze the city to the ground. thanks to lyse doucet. a senior ukrainian minister says around 13,000 people were evacuated from a number of ukrainian cities on saturday. but she said no one had managed to leave mariupol and blamed obstruction by russian forces. our reporter, leana hosea, explained why the besieged port is so important. it is strategically important because if russia takes control of it, it would be able to consolidate its territory from the pro—russian enclaves to the east and down towards crimea, so there is intense shelling there now. let's take a look at these latest satellite images of mariupol, where — which were taken on saturday by the private us

satellite firm maxar. this shows fires burning in the industrial district of western mariupol and neighbourhoods badly damaged, as you can see there — black smoke and fire. but nine months ago, lastjune, the satellite took images over mariupol. you can see here what was once a neighbourhood, there is clearly a football pitch which maybe a matter of weeks ago would have been the scene of fun and games but now, obscured with smoke and rubble. and here, we can see high—rise apartment blocks set amongst the trees, just across the street. and now, it isjust a blackened, smoking wasteland. and coming up here, yeah... it's an extraordinary contrast, isn't it, between the images? absolutely, and here's a hospital and look at it — look at it now. hmm. kind of clearly, very damaged. i mean, ukrainian authorities

have said that the russian military has captured the city's eastern outskirts but as an mp from president zelensky�*s party says, they — russia still has not got control over the city. today, we have received information, saying that our president zelensky says about 1,300 ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of russia's invasion. he said a far larger numbers of russian soldiers had died, but that claim can't be verified. 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 tojust 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. "we believe that risk is worth taking," says a us defence official, "because the ukrainians are fighting so skilfully "with the tools at their disposal, "and they're using them so creatively." president putin has made it clear what he intends to do with any anti—aircraft missiles his forces captured from the ukrainians. "i support the possibility," he says, "of giving these to the military units "of the lugansk and donetsk people's republics. "please do this." 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. gregory koblentz is director of the biodefense graduate program at george mason university. in the past, he has briefed the un security council about weapons of mass destruction. in your assessment, what is the arsenal of chemical biological weapons available to president putin if he decides to use them? , , . them? russia inherited the remains of _ them? russia inherited the remains of the _ them? russia inherited the remains of the soviet, - them? russia inherited the i remains of the soviet, former soviet chemical biological weapons, which was massive. russia claims it destroyed their weapons facilities from those programmes but the reality is we don't know what they held onto. the one thing we do know is that they have the novichok nerve agent,

developed during the cold war and we know that vladimir putin use these to try to assassinate sergei skripal and alexei navalny in russia in 2020. but we just do not know what is left over from the former soviet stockpiles that the kremlin stole access to. d0 soviet stockpiles that the kremlin stole access to. do you think is likely _ kremlin stole access to. do you think is likely to _ kremlin stole access to. do you think is likely to use _ kremlin stole access to. do you think is likely to use novichok l think is likely to use novichok or will it be something different? i or will it be something different?— or will it be something different? ~ , or will it be something different? ~' , ., different? i think the use of something _ different? i think the use of something like _ different? i think the use of something like novichok. different? i think the use of something like novichok or| something like novichok or other nerve agents is unlikely because these are such deadly weapons that are so closely associated with russia. to use these on the battlefield in ukraine or against civilians would send a very cursed and clear signal that russia has escalated the conflict to an entirely new level and i don't think that russia is ready to do this at this time.- think that russia is ready to do this at this time. but, but what, do this at this time. but, but what. i'm — do this at this time. but, but what, i'm struggling - do this at this time. but, but what, i'm struggling to - do this at this time. but, but what, i'm struggling to see l do this at this time. but, but i what, i'm struggling to see the calculation because we have seen chemical weapons being used and there was not a particular response from the

west. what response could there be if you did launch an attack? there were use and responses to serine use of chemical weapons, there were two missile strikes on facilities and a number of sanctions in syria and they were forced to sign an agreement and get rid of their stockpile. honestly not enough to stop them from using it entirely. i would have leslie there will be something different for and —— obviously, it is a nuclear power right on the european border and they are engaged in a war with a country already but i do think that as peter biden said, there would be a severe price that russia would have to pay for this. and i think it would include both diplomatic, military and economic aspects. it is hard to stay ahead of time what that would look like. briefly, do you have any kind of sense of what president

putin's endgame is here? it's really ha rd it's really hard to say. unfortunately i think things will get worse before they get better. it is clear that putin is not going to be able to achieve his political objective with the military forces he has in ukraine right now. so the question becomes when he realises that does he stop and negotiate a settlement or does he escalate in some way�*s and i think that is what people are worrying about in the context of the chemical threats we have seen coming out of the region. all right, gregory koblentz, thank you very much for coming on the programme.— on the programme. thank you very much _ on the programme. thank you very much for— on the programme. thank you very much for having - on the programme. thank you very much for having me. - president putin has held talks with the leaders of france and germany about the situation in ukraine. let's get more from our europe editor katya adler. french and german officials said it is difficult, vladimir putin is not open to realistic conditions for a ceasefire, and the kremlin says they used the opportunity to complain about alleged human rights abuses by ukrainians on russian soldiers,

so you could say, well, you know, what is the point of these conversations? what else went on in those 75 minutes? i mean, 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, and i actually put that to him a couple of days ago and he said, you know, these calls are not a whim of his — they are coordinated with all of the western allies. so, i mean, he and 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 off ramp, if he is ready for a ceasefire, when he is available to talk, negotiate realistically, then it is important to keep these lines of communication open and ready and so, emmanuel macron has said you know, these calls to the kremlin, they will continue. katya adler with the european perspective. 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. our correspondent, lucy williamson, has more. sometimes, the long, cold journey from ukraine ends here. in the emergency department of moldova's ignatenco children's hospital. within the last week alexey has fled a war, left family and is living in a new country as a refugee. a high temperature 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 sofia caught pneumonia on theirjourney from dnipro in central ukraine. she spent two days in intensive care. "i'm completely broken", she told me. "they were bombing everywhere. "it's horrible.

it's why everyone's leaving." every eighth child in moldova is now a refugee and as the fighting creeps closer to moldova's border, the numbers keep rising. fewer than half the refugees arriving here actually stay on but that is still enough to have increased moldova's population by 4% in a fortnight. the equivalent of 2.5 million people arriving in the uk. even without any dramatic changes at the front line, we are approaching breaking point, but if there is a dramatic implosion of fighting around odesa, that would be a complete catastrophe for the humanitarian situation here. we cannot plan, we cannot prepare. it would just be completely overwhelming. charities say it's already proving difficult to keep track of some children fleeing ukraine. we've had verified 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 is hard to protect them if they're not. lucy williamson, bbc news, moldova. let's get some of the day's other news. in iraq, the state news agency says the city of erbil has been hit by several missiles. video on social media shows several large explosions in the vicinity of the american consulate. no casualties were reported. erbil is the capital of the autonomous kurdish region, in northern iraq. the saudi authorities have executed 81 men, the largest number of executions carried out there in a single day. the saudis say the men were guilty of serious crimes, including murder and rape, but activists estimate half of them belonged to

the marginalised shia minority. a soviet—era scouting drone has crashed near the croatian capital, zagreb. authorities there say it's not clear who launched the military drone, which apparently flew from ukraine across hungary, without being intercepted by nato. investigators will examine the black box of the drone, which narrowly missed a student dormitory when it crashed 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. music.

that is beautiful, isn't it? earlier, my colleague lukwesa burak spoke to the violinist illia bondarenko in ukraine, who you saw playing at the start of that video performance, and kerenza peacock, who told us 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 practise scales and then run a few errands, and i thought such a horrific situation. i wondered what my fellow violinists were doing in ukraine, so i randomly befriended some on instagram and ended up talking to a whole bunch of violinists there, who said they were all practising their scales, but were then going to work out how to arm themselves. i just thought it was a horrific situation and i ended up getting in touch with illia, who was sheltering in his basement, and that is how this whole idea came about.

i've got a daughter who practised piano scales, they're not the best of fun, are they, so might as well put them to use. illia, i wonder if i could come to you, what did you think when kerenza reached out to you? i was really impressed, because i didn't expect kerenza would ever see the video on my instagram with my string quartet and would answer me and would ask me if i am safe, my health, and i was really surprised and impressed and grateful for her and she offered me that idea to make that video, that project. it's wonderful. of course, there has been a particular musical video that has gone viral, that was vera lytochenko, who was playing to lift the spirits of those in bomb shelters in ukraine. have either of you reached out

to her or heard from her? no, actually, i think we had already collected our videos for this when that came into the news. so unfortunately i have not reached out to 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 illia who has a figure for us? well, we have actually been sharing the links to a lot of different charities, but on our youtube video we are donating to the un refugee agency and i think we only put the donate button on the and i think we have a few thousand dollars. so, yeah, we are encouraging people to give where they can to the international rescue committee as well. illia, obviously, you are in ukraine, how have you managed to take part in this virtual concert, logistically,

was it quite challenging? it was really hard because directly in that moment i was underground, because in those moments there was bombing. and i was only with my grandmotherand i asked her to make a video when i'm playing and it just was a few minute, because when we were living upstairs, now in kyiv we are trying not to make so much sound, because every sound we are trying to hear the siren or something like that, and run underground. that was illia bondarenko. as always, there is plenty more on the situation in ukraine online on the bbc website. if

you are online you can get me on social media. i'm lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. 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 25 kilometres from the centre of the city. british military intelligence believes those russian troops have been re—grouping, possibly for a fresh offensive that could happen in the coming days. a senior ukrainian minister says around 13,000 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 noone managed to leave the besieged port of mariupol blocked by russian forces. in iraq, the state news agency says the city of erbil has been hit by several missiles. video on social media shows several large explosions in the vicinity of the american consulate. no casualties were reported. erbil is the capital of the autonomous kurdish region in northern iraq.

the russian defence minister has said that 16,000