this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm david eades. our top stories: a 35—hour curfew under way in ukraine's capital as the mayor warns kyiv�*s at a difficult and dangerous moment. there is a real sense that the danger, the conflict, is coming closer, and a feeling now that nowhere is safe. amid the bombardment, a symbolic success as three eu leaders visit kyiv in a show of solidarity with president zelensky. you are fighting for your lives, yourfreedom, but we know you are also fighting for our lives and our freedom. the journalist arrested for her protest on russian state tv endures 1a hours of questioning — but is freed after

receiving a fine. she melted millions of hearts, singing songs from the disney film frozen in a ukrainian bomb shelter. seven—year—old amelia's safe with her grandma in poland. that difficult and dangerous moment that ukraine's mayor, vitali klitschko spoke of is now upon ukraine's capital. the curfew he announced is in place — running right through to thursday morning, with locals prohibited from moving around the city without permission. only air raid sirens can give them the licence

to leave their homes in order to head for the bomb shelters. in a moment we will bring you more on the diplomatic efforts to break this violent conflict, as both sides agree to resume talks on a possible ceasefire. we start our coverage with this report from our international correspondent orla guerin. it's starting to feel like the new normal — buildings burning after russian attacks overnight. it was too much for some here. this is a city living on its nerves. people wondering if their neighbours were safe in the shelter, wondering if they might be next. for the second day running, kyiv has woken up to this. this is a residential building, there's no sign of anything else around except blocks of flats. there is a real sense

that the danger, the conflict, is coming closer and a feeling here now that nowhere is safe. four people were killed here — in their own homes. svetlana, who is russian and horrified by moscow's attacks, is worried for her friend. "i saw from my window the building was on fire. "my friend lives on the 14th floor. "i assume she's dead because she was bedridden. "many people lived in the building," she says. "some left. "i'm very sorry i didn't leave this place earlier." funeral march. and this, too, is part of ukraine's new normal. the funeral of a soldier killed

resisting the russians. colonel valeri was mourned in his home town outside kyiv. there is grief over the losses in battle. still, ukrainians are standing firm. united in sorrow. behind the growing death toll here are agonising personal stories, like that of marina and her husband. their daughter's apartment in the town of irpin was shelled by the russians. the whole family was here at the time. marina survived with her daughter and grandson because her husband and son pushed them to safety. sergei, herson, died in her arms.

marina, who fled to western ukraine, tells me about his final moments. translation: my son was screaming. - "mum, don't come in here, run away from here." he was begging me to save his sister and his nephew. he was still conscious. he was in so much pain that he kept saying, "mum, kill me now." marina tells me her only son died cursing president putin. michaelo died alongside him. she says he was everything she could have dreamt of in a husband,

and he adored his grandson. one russian shell destroyed this happy family. father and son remain in the rubble nine days on. it's been impossible to bury them. orla guerin, bbc news, kyiv. international sanctions on russia continue to grow — and some european leaders have been showing their support for ukraine in the most visible way. the prime ministers of poland, the czech republic and slovenia all travelled to kyiv to hold direct talks with president zelensky. and amid the diplomatic to—ing and fro—ing, ukraine's president said his country should recognise that it won'tjoin the military alliance of nato. the alliance's defence ministers will be meeting later on wednesday. our diplomatic correspondent james landale has more.

ukrainian troops north—west of kyiv, slowing the advance of russian forces, hoping to save their capital and, perhaps, focus minds in moscow. officials from both sides continue to talk, looking for a negotiated settlement. the kremlin said the discussions were positive, but neither side says where progress has been made. today ukraine's president address talks with european union leaders and hinted at what may be part of a future settlement. translation: ukraine is not| a member of nato and we had heard for many years the doors would be open but also heard we could notjoin. it is a truth and should be recognised. that hint of giving up the idea of joining nato may be seen by some as a concession to this man, russia's foreign minister, who today met his iranian counterpart, and set out some

of moscow's demands. translation: the neutrality position of ukraine, - security guarantees of all participants, the demilitarisation of ukraine so that no threats to the russian federation ever come from its territory. the european leaders, hosted by borisjohnson, were not, however, in london to talk about possible peace deals but how to bolster their defences in case the war spreads and increase their support for ukraine. this is quite unbelievable what is happening in our continent and we need to make sure we build the strongest, widest possible coalition, to ensure that vladimir putin does not succeed and we wean ourselves off russian hydrocarbons. western leaders know that a negotiated settlement will become possible only if vladimir putin sees no alternative and that is why they are determined to keep up

the pressure on moscow, militarily, economically and diplomatically. what better way to do that then this: three nato prime ministers from poland, slovenia and czech republic, visiting war—torn kyiv, a show of solidarity and russia's failure to seize the capital. fighting for your lives, families, for freedom, but we know you are also fighting for our lives and our freedom. we know it. and probably the main goal of our visit, or my message of our mission, is to say to you you are not alone. our countries stand with you. europe stands with your country. there were more economic sanctions for russia, too. the eu banning the export

of luxury goods, and britain imposing asset freezes and travel bans on 370 russians, including a defence minister, a former prime minister, and oligarchs and theirfamilies, along with many allies of vladimir putin. but all the pressure and diplomacy has yet to halt the russian advance and the devastation of ukraine cities continues. james landale, bbc news. nato defence ministers will meet in brussels later on wednesday to discuss their response to russia's invasion of ukraine — the first such meeting since the invasion began twenty days ago. the meeting comes ahead of an emergency summit of 30 nato leaders next week, which president biden will attend. but as the fighting in ukraine shows no sign of abating, what, ifanything, can the defence ministers hope to achieve with today's meeting? that's a question i put to kay bailey hutchison, a former us ambassador to nato.

i think they are looking at every possible way to get more arms, more of the equipment that is needed to be able to shoot down these missiles that are being launched at the ukrainian people. i think more arms is probably the biggest thing that is being asked for and as you know, president zelenskiy is talking to our congress as he did to your parliament and was certainly so well received and everyone respects him so much and we are looking forward to that happening also on wednesday, but the defence ministers are keeping in close contact trying to determine what else can be done that would be helpful to the ukrainians so they can fight for themselves. right, everyone understands i think the huge outpouring of support, sympathy, whether it is for president zelenskiy or the people

of ukraine. nonetheless there seems to be a reality about providing more military hardware and that is, it is simply delaying russia's invasion rather than stopping it. i think delay is not a bad thing. it's not as good as ceasefire but every minute that we can delay and show president putin what the consequences are of his unbelievable actions, then at least we are trying to continue every effort to stop this madness. so i think there are negotiations going. i think president putin has not been very credible in these negotiations so far but the world is coming down and even as of this week, looking at more sanctions and i think the economic sanctions, to be honest, are the ones that are

making the different. we talk about a lot of other different peripheral things but i think showing that the people of russia are suffering might be the one thing that can bring putin to the table in a realistic way. right, the defence ministers meet on wednesday, there is a summit in about ten days time now for nato leaders, but of course ceasefire discussions or negotiations, call them what you will, are taking place on a daily basis. president zelenskiy is talking about maybe some sort of neutrality for ukraine as being the route out of this and accepting that nato membership is a dead duck, basically. aren't you at risk of seeing nato being emasculated by whatever deal emerges here?

not at all. i think that we certainly need to let president zelenskiy and the ukrainian people who are taking the brunt of this decide what is in their best interest. i think that we see them fighting in every way for the freedom but the losses they're taking are just hard to watch and i know it's hard for a president to make the judgement, when do you say we are going to fight are a different way? and the occupation that would follow would be a very difficult thing but i think he has to make that decision and look out for the best interests for the long—term. and i have to just say, i will never forget what churchill said, "if a country is defeated, they will be able to rise again." stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: free but with a fine and 14 hours of questioning. the

journalist who staged a protest on russian state tv. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west,

offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: a 35—hour curfew under way in ukraine's capital as the mayor warns kyiv�*s at a difficult and dangerous moment. millions of ukrainians have fled the country in the past three weeks, and many more are either internally displaced or under siege and in dire need of aid. the governor of lviv region, maxim kozitsky, has criticized international aid agencies for not being visible on the ground and helping ukrainian refugees. he says that western ukraine has been dealing with hundreds of thousands of refugees without much help. translation: i don't see real interest in systematic work -

in ukraine from the un, humanitarian aid or refugee agencies. i don't see active moves from osce, the red cross or council of europe. all work is shouldered by ukrainian volunteers, civil societies and volunteers who are helping ukrainians. where are all the organisations that talk so much about human values and help during difficult times? eric schwartz is president of refugees international, and also former assistant us secretary of state for population, refugees and migration. i asked him for his response to the governor's criticism. i think you do have to make a distinction that there is a lot to what he says because the relief effort, the refugee response, outside of ukraine in neighbouring countries, ithink, it leaves reasons for encouragement. the european union has provided temporary protection directives

so the millions of ukrainians crossing borders i think relatively speaking will be reasonably taken well care of. the real challenge will be in ukraine. the aid has to go in much more quickly and i don't want to sound offensive, but in fairness to the aid organisations, the international community and the humanitarian aid structure before the conflict had really only been exclusive in the eastern portion of the country. so the united nations, voluntary agencies and ukrainian partners have literally have to rebuild the humanitarian infrastructure and build it in new ways so it covers the entire country. it has to build faster, it is not going fast enough but there was very little there by way of humanitarian response infrastructure when the conflict broke out.

it sounds a little bit as if some agencies are saying that the outpouring of refugees is going beyond ukraine. we need to establish bases in some of those neighbouring countries and there is a blockage in the final, , funnel, i haven't got to places like lviv. no, i think the real challenge will be inside ukraine. there are concerns there will be as many as 7 million internally displaced people within ukraine. there are already estimates of a couple of million newly displaced people within ukraine. today, the un has begun to fan out into all parts of ukraine. they will be liaising with local officials, with local private aid deliverers but this is a process just getting under

way so the government's frustration is justified, the aid has to go in more quickly. the irony, of course, is that the international community, the governments of the world, are prepared to provide enough aid. the challenge will be getting it there quickly enough and also to get it in there in an environment of terrible conflict. the russians are engaged in a campaign of wanton violation of the laws of war, so the challenge will be significant and substantial. the president of refugee international eric schwartz talking to me before. to russia now, where a journalist who protested on live tv has appeared in court and been fined. marina ovsyannikova ran on to the set behind the news anchor on russian state tv to protest against the war in

ukraine. our moscow correspondent caroline davies has more. out of court but still in the limelight — today, marina ovsyannikova talked for the first time about what happened after she protested on russian state tv. i don't like... russia started this invasion, and it's been very terrible. "these days have been very hard for me", she says. "i spent two days without sleep, i was being questioned "for over 14 hours. "they did not provide me with any legal help. "i was in a hard situation." last night, shouting "no war" and holding a sign that says, "they're lying to you here," this was her protest against her employer and the president. but today, she was in court because of this video. in it, she explains why she protested and calls on others to do the same. that fell foul of russia's anti—protest laws,

and she was fined 30,000 roubles, around £220. while their employee was being questioned, the channel she worked for made no mention of the protest, continuing to closely follow the kremlin�*s line. russian state tv is still the main source of news for millions here. others covered the protest but blurred her words. war is not how the kremlin describes its actions in ukraine, and it says ms ovsyannikova's actions are hooliganism. some had feared this could have been the first use of a new law, where publishing anything deemed false information about the military could lead to a jail sentence. its introduction has made many in the media anxious. virtually all of the independent media in russia has closed down and many of those journalists have already left the country, but what this case shows on how at least some people within state media feel about their coverage of the situation in ukraine. the rules of the game for the media here have changed, but what many

people don't know is exactly where those new red lines start and end. caroline davies, bbc news, moscow. there will be lots of moments from this conflict, good and bad. seven—year—old amelia melted hearts around the world, when a video of her singing let it go, in a bomb shelter in kyiv, was posted on social media delivering a moment of hope in the middle of a war. amelia is now safe with her grandma in poland and graham satchell has been catching up with her. singing. let it go. a packed bomb shelter falls let it go. a packed bomb shelterfalls silent as shelter falls silent as 7—year—old amelia starts to sing. the rendition of let it go from the film frozen a moment of defiance and hope in

the caves of war. singing. a week on, amelia is still singing, this time a ukrainian folk song. amelia has made it out of ukraine and is now in poland with her grandmother, vera, her parents are still in kyiv. what was it like in the bomb shelter, amelia? it was ok. bomb shelter, amelia? it was 0k- there _ bomb shelter, amelia? it was ok. there were _ bomb shelter, amelia? it was ok. there were other- bomb shelter, amelia? it wasj 0k. there were other children ok. there were other children there. 0k. there were other children there. , , ~ ., ., ., , _ there. this is amelia and happy times, 7-year-old _ there. this is amelia and happy times, 7-year-old girl - there. this is amelia and happy times, 7-year-old girl at - there. this is amelia and happy times, 7-year-old girl at home| times, 7—year—old girl at home with her cat reading with her mother. she is now one of a million ukrainian children separated from their home, country and in her case, her mum and dad who have stayed to fight the russians. there are, what do you think of your granddaughter and her singing?

i know that she really love singing, she really does sing from morning until night. amelia, what do you hope will happen for you and your family in the future? i happen for you and your family in the future?— in the future? i would be very ha - in the future? i would be very happy to be with _ in the future? i would be very happy to be with my - in the future? i would be very happy to be with my mother i in the future? i would be very i happy to be with my mother and father. ., ., ., , father. the extraordinary resilience _ father. the extraordinary resilience of _ father. the extraordinary resilience of the - father. the extraordinary| resilience of the ukrainian people embodied in one little girl, and the words of one song. girl, and the words of one son:. �* . ., girl, and the words of one son:. �* ., ., a, ., girl, and the words of one song-_ just i girl, and the words of one i song._ just one girl, and the words of one - song._ just one of song. bravo! bravo! just one of the very. — song. bravo! bravo! just one of the very. very _ song. bravo! bravo! just one of the very, very many _ song. bravo! bravo! just one of the very, very many people - song. bravo! bravo! just one of| the very, very many people who have got out of ukraine, and so many more still trying to get there. kyiv is in the middle of a 35 hour curfew, it is just coming up to half past six in

the morning there, and also to report the defence ministers of nato member states meeting in brussels later in the day. that is bbc news. hello. there could be the odd interesting sunrise for some of you across the south as we start wednesday, and there could be a few deposits on the car from this. this satellite imagery from tuesday afternoon shows a vast swathe of saharan dust sitting in the sky across much of western europe, and it's tracking its way northwards, but will start to interact with this weather front pushing in from the west. that'll have brought rain through the night and into the start of the day across parts of scotland and northern ireland. but our weather system thatjust drags up that dust is a developing one. it will be a lot of cloud to begin with and not quite as chilly as it was on tuesday morning. greatest chance of frost where we see the clearer skies across western scotland and northern ireland. but here, vastly brighter day,

lighter winds compared with tuesday. that brighter weather pushes into eastern scotland during the afternoon, outbreaks of rain through the morning across the western half of england and wales, slowly turning brighter later. but notice across much of england, we'll see outbreaks of rain develop here and there. some of the heaviest, most persistent into the afternoon will be across that southeastern corner. that's where we're still dragging in the airfrom the near continent, so 13—14 celsius possible here, a little bit fresher elsewhere. as i said, the winds not quite as strong as they were for a time on tuesday. a wet end to the day across parts of eastern england, east anglia and the southeast especially. that rain does eventually clear, though, during the first half of wednesday night. clear skies, then, to take us through much of the night into thursday morning, so a greater chance, certainly away from towns and city centres, we'll see a frost develop for thursday morning. but it will be a lovely, bright, sunny start for the vast majority. this little ridge of high pressure is with us first thing. notice, though, we do have weather fronts pushing in off the north atlantic. the isobars close together once again, so a breezier day, especially for the northern half of the uk. showers through much of the day across parts of scotland and northern ireland, but a bit of sunshine in between. those showers could be heavy. through the afternoon, some parts of northern

england, north wales, maybe the north midlands could catch the odd shower, but much of england, again, and southeast wales will be dry, feeling pleasant in the sunshine. and it's that sunshine which really takes over over the days ahead. it does mean that with clear skies into friday morning, frosty and in places, foggy start, most prone across wales, the southwest and the midlands. some of the fog lingering for a while, but overall, actually, more of you seeing blue skies overhead. temperatures of around 10—15 celsius. warm spring sunshine, a quite strong spring sunshine at that, which will continue into the weekend, maybe a small chance of one or two showers for southern england late on sunday. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a35 a 35 hours curfew is under way in the ukrainian capital. the residence of kyiv are only allowed to leave their homes to go to an air raid shelter. the mayor said that the city is at a difficult and dangerous moment. ukraine's president has thanked leaders to travel to kyiv to meet him despite the continuing bombardment. the eu leaders said the main goal of the visit was to tell ukrainians that europe stood with them. the journalist winter up did russia's main tv news bulletin to protest against the invasion has been fined the equivalent

of $280 by