this is bbc news, welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: pounded for weeks, kharkiv has been decimated by russian shelling, but ukrainian fighters are resisting. we have a special report from the frontline. they have tried to punch through here, again and again and again but they have failed. ukrainian forces are keeping them at bay. in the south, rescuers search for survivors, after a theatre is bombed with hundreds sheltering in the basement. are we closer to a peace deal? russia's president has put forward his proposals to turkey.

do they leave or stay behind? the agonising decisions being made in the crucial port city of odesa, including in the main orphanage, where some are too sick to travel. translation: they need oxygen. how can i move them? am i supposed to take the healthiest to safety and abandon them? calls for russia to release american basketball star, britney griner, as a moscow court extends her detention for another two months, over an alleged drugs charge. hello and welcome to the programme. russia's president vladimir putin has set out what he wants in exchange for a peace deal in ukraine. he laid out his demands in a phone call with the president of turkey, who's acting as a go—between in peace talks.

putin wants guarantees that ukraine neverjoins nato, eastern parts of ukraine can break away, and crimea be accepted as part of russia. more on that in a moment. first an eyewitness report from the frontline. ukraine's second city of kharkiv has been under heavy bombardment but the ukrainian army is continuing to hold off the russian advance. for this special report, our correspondent, quentin sommerville, and camera journalist, darren conway, have been following the ukrainian army as they defend kharkiv. russia says it's demilitarising ukraine. instead, it's creating a wasteland. what it can't have, it destroys with vengeance. these were family homes on the edge of kharkiv. civilians are daily targets in vladimir putin's war. by the back door,

a dead russian soldier. suburban gardens have become battlefields from europe's past. but here, the men of ukraine's 22nd battalion have pulled off a miracle. they've stopped the might of the russian army at their city gates. ill—equipped and vastly outnumbered, three weeks on, they're still holding the line. russian boots have failed to gain hold here. frustrated, they've sent troops elsewhere, leaving heavy artillery to bomb the city into submission. explosions.

constantine, a former airforce pilot, has come out of retirement to fight. translation: this is the first line of defence for the city. . if they get through here, they will enter kharkiv. this road takes you from russia to the very heart of the city. but the heart of kharkiv, and ukrainian resistance, is still beating. just beyond this position, there's only open country, and russians. they've tried to punch through here again and again and again and they've failed. ukrainian armed forces are keeping them at bay. they've also tried to encircle the city, but again, they failed. so, they're taking out their frustration with artillery, bombing notjust...

you can hear it... bombing notjust these front lines, but also the entire population of kharkiv. a russian missile screeches above us. in this crater, six ukrainian soldiers died in a single strike. roman tells us, "they're chickens. "they won't show themselves again, "but we'll respond good and proper." and away from the front, no neighbourhood is safe. explosion and breaking glass. russian grad rockets fall all around us. get in here! get in, get in!

this is the reckless targeting of human life. to the south, the invaders are advancing, but here in ukraine's second city, kharkiv stands defiant while russia rages with incandescent fury. and russia knows hundreds of thousands of people are still living here. how do you keep out such horror? explosions. sasha and svetlana's apartment is now the front line. for the men and women of the ukrainian army, she has a message.

translation: i'm very grateful to them for defending our land. | hold on, guys. we will always support you. explosions. both of my daughters and a granddaughter are fighting for ukraine. quentin sommerville, bbc news, kharkiv, in eastern ukraine. in the besieged city of mariupol, there are reports many people have survived after a theatre was bombed by russian forces. hundreds of people were thought to be sheltering in the basement. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky has accused russia of deliberately targetting the theatre but russia has denied carrying out the attack. our international correspondent, orla guerin, reports on the continuing russian assault.

"it's mariupol," he says, "the theatre." "here's the russian world." new footage shows what's left of the cultural landmark where so many sought shelter. ukraine says russia deliberately dropped a bomb here. this satellite image shows the russian word for children clearly marked at the front and back of the theatre. that didn't deter russian jets. in the darkness a week ago, crowds of women and children were filmed in the bomb shelter below ground. officials have said the shelter withstood the attack. so far, there are no reports of deaths, but mariupol is still being shelled, and information is slow to emerge. here's what three weeks of russian bombardment have

done to the city. the authorities say around 2500 people have been killed, but many bodies lie uncounted in the rubble. hard to believe it looked like this last month, when we filmed these pictures. then, it was a bustling port city. families strolling past the theatre that was loved by so many, including an opera singer who has managed to flee. you know, it's so devastating, it's a very personal story for me, as well and as for a lot of actors and musicians who sang there. it's even more devastating to know that this place actually was a shelter for more than a thousand people, including children. today, in moments of quiet, some were getting out, leaving their homes and their city with what they could

carry or drag. "we all left the building," this woman says. "i was the last. "then there was an explosion. "they left us with nothing. "we live in the basement. "how can we live like that? "what was our crime?" the street of this strategic city are littered with evidence of russian attacks. still, the kremlin claims it does not bomb cities and did not bomb the theatre. officials in kyiv say russia is carrying out a genocide. so, the intention of russian aggression is to destroy mariupol to the ground, but the main thing

and the main tragedy that they are losing our people. we will rebuild ukraine, but we will not, you know, we cannot bring back our people. they have died. today, this exodus of the living. they managed to flee, though convoys are often shelled. an estimated 300,000 people remain trapped inside the suffering city, where conditions are said to be medieval. 0rla guerin, bbc news, kyiv. through all of this fighting, of course, has been the hope of a peaceful outcome and now what appears to be an outline of a peace agreement seems to be emerging. in a phone call between president putin and turkey's president erdogan, the russian leader set out his demands. the bbc�*s world affairs editor, john simpson, who's in istanbul, has been given details of that call.

half—an—hour after coming off the telephone call between president putin and president erdogan, ibrahim kalin started to tell me what had been happening. president putin is proposing six things. one is that ukraine should be neutral and shouldn't join nato. well, it has already accepted that it shouldn't. there should be disarmament which simply means that ukraine wouldn't have the kind of heavy weapons to attack russia if it wanted to. thirdly, that it should protect the russian language inside ukraine. and fourthly, the question of denazification. this is kind of a strange thing. to my mind, i still haven't really figured out what that means because ukraine... it is a bit insulting to ukraine, isn't it? yes, of course, and they completely reject that, of course. i mean, there has never been that kind of nazification on ukraine, ukrainian lands. but the russian side has brought this up. however, that is one

of the easier items to deal with. those are the four easy things. now for the two difficult ones. they are both territorial. one is about donbas, although the turks were much, much vaguer about the details of this, but it could be that russia would demand the independence of those two small russian—speaking statelets in east ukraine. and the second is crimea. and this meeting between president putin and president zelensky should take place sooner rather than later, because it is only at that level, at the strategic level where leaders meet, i think the key decisions will be taken, and hopefully a permanent ceasefire and a permanent peace agreement will be reached. all other initiatives are important. they help. but ultimately, you know, it is president putin who is going to call

this thing off. now, of course russia took crimea off ukraine illegally in 2014. now, maybe, russia wants to force ukraine to say that the taking of crimea was legal. which will be a very, very bitter pill for ukraine to have to swallow. can i ask you finally, you were just a few minutes ago listening to president putin talking on the phone. there has been quite a lot of speculation about his state of mind, about his sanity even, and his health and so on. what did you think? what was your impression as you listened to him? he was the same as usual. calm, confident. he didn't talk about nuclear or anything. and — he talked about the negotiations and the items on the table. you know, it was kind of around that tone and framework.

and calm? and calm, yeah. john simpson asking the questions there. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the agonising decisions being made in one of 0desa's main orphanages, where some children are too sick to travel. 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: the ukrainian army is continuing to hold off the russian advance in the second city of kharkiv, even as it comes under heavy daily bombardment. emergency teams in the city of mariupol are rescuing survivors from the rubble of a theatre bombed by russia. officials say the number of casualties is still not clear. new british intelligence

reports suggest moscow's invasion has largely stalled, with heavy russian losses and fierce ukrainian resistance. for places in ukraine like the city of 0desa, yet to witness an offensive, residents are faced with a difficult decision, to leave or stay. russia is eager to take the crucial port city on the black sea coast. 0ur correspondent, andrew harding, is in 0desa as it prepares its defences, and he sent this report. 0n ukraine's black sea coast, they're getting ready for the russians, filling sandbags, and blocking the streets of 0desa, an ancient port city once attacked by lenin, then by hitler, now braced for putin's invasion. some here cling to a sense of normality. "of course the war will come, with all its death and suffering, and for what?" asks 77—year—old alexander.

others are already facing immediate, impossible decisions. in 0desa's main orphanage, 18 of its children are too sick to be taken abroad. translation: they need oxygen. how can i move them? am i supposed to take the healthiest to safety and abandon the rest? for now, her plan is to move them all to the basement. up the road at 0desa's zoo, the staff have agreed to stay put, whatever the war brings. the director now sleeps in his office, afraid the sound of explosions might panic the animals. and more animals keep arriving, pets dropped off by families preparing to flee. i'm afraid. but we stay here. we love our city and we will stay here. and we will fight.

meanwhile, teenage recruits are still signing up for 0desa's civil defence units, ready to fight the russians street by street, knowing it may soon come to that. it is impossible to imagine the russians bombarding this precious city, a place steeped in the russian language, in russian culture, and in centuries of russian history. and yet the events of the past few weeks here in ukraine suggest that this city, 0desa, could be under attack at any moment. out of sight, off the coast, a russian armada is circling. 0desa has already sandbagged its most precious monuments. while each new air raid sends people down to the city's old cellars...

..to wait for whatever russia has in store. andrew harding, bbc news, 0desa. a russian court has extended the detention of a female american basketball star for a further two months. brittney griner, who's a double olympic champion, was arrested at an airport in moscow last month after cannabis oil was allegedly found in her luggage. rachel galligan is a women's basketball analyst with the just womens sport website. she told me that news of the star's arrest was onlyjust begining to filter through. we have kept a not very private. news did not come up close to a month that she had beenin close to a month that she had been in there, and she had been there and was caught with cartridges of cannabis oil, going through the airport from new york and brittney griner has played with top russian

club unnc since 2014. that is a pretty common thing to play professionally amongst women players, very experienced in russia. very unusual circumstances and honestly, many of the details are unknown.— many of the details are unknown. ~ , , , unknown. must be hugely frustrating, _ unknown. must be hugely frustrating, details - unknown. must be hugely frustrating, details are i unknown. must be hugely- frustrating, details are known because clearly we would like to know how she is and what will happen next but i guess not much of a clue for that either? ., , ., ., ., either? no, it is hard, hard to sa . either? no, it is hard, hard to say- there — either? no, it is hard, hard to say. there has _ either? no, it is hard, hard to say. there has been - either? no, it is hard, hard to say. there has been a - either? no, it is hard, hard to say. there has been a lot - either? no, it is hard, hard to say. there has been a lot of. say. there has been a lot of speculation over here in the united states whether this arrest is politically motivated or she was specifically targeted. a lot of speculation. there is no proof to any of that. we don't even know specifically where she is at. she is believed to be in moscow but her primary location is unknown. like i said before, those details have been really

difficult and use even broke today that the us state department has still not had access to her. those close to her have gotten frequent updates from her team of russian attorneys but, really, outside of the extension, which is big news today, that she will be held there until at least may 19 while her child will be continued. there is not a whole lot that we know. — — while court trial. a whole lot that we know. - - while court trial.— while court trial. this is civen while court trial. this is given a _ while court trial. this is given a fresh _ while court trial. this is given a fresh burst - while court trial. this is given a fresh burst of i given a fresh burst of publicity today with hillary clinton? . ., , publicity today with hillary clinton? . . , publicity today with hillary clinton? . ., , ., clinton? yeah, hilary, you have to appreciate _ clinton? yeah, hilary, you have to appreciate. and _ clinton? yeah, hilary, you have to appreciate. and there - clinton? yeah, hilary, you have to appreciate. and there are - to appreciate. and there are two sides of the coin, there is one narrative that is being saying we need to stay quiet and another that says this should be the story in america. 0ver should be the story in america. over the globe, really, should be the story in america. 0verthe globe, really, in terms of what the situation is an hillary clinton came forward

and said three brittney griner! that was a big movement. and it just shows you that when this news broke —— free. she has beenin news broke —— free. she has been injailfor close to news broke —— free. she has been in jail for close to a month, close to 1.5 months, so hillary clinton coming forward and bringing light to the situation, i think, and bringing light to the situation, ithink, was and bringing light to the situation, i think, was a and bringing light to the situation, ithink, was a big move and it will take some heavy hitting power to hopefully try and find some answers for this situation and, unfortunately, it does not look like it will be resolved anytime soon. briefly, for eo - le anytime soon. briefly, for people outside _ anytime soon. briefly, for people outside the - anytime soon. briefly, for people outside the us - anytime soon. briefly, for| people outside the us and anytime soon. briefly, for - people outside the us and those who do not follow basketball, what a big name is she brittney griner is probably like... arguably, the biggest women's basketball name in this type of generation. what she did from the college standpoint to where she is now, standing at six and a dominant presence and i saw

her compare to the tom brady of american football. she is as big a name as it gets in women's professional basketball. saudi arabian state media say the country has executed four more people. three others were put to death on wednesday while the british prime minister, borisjohnson was visiting the kingdom to discuss oil supplies. these latest executions follow those of 81 prisoners in a single day there last week. president macron of france has set out his platform for re—election, promising to steer the country through �*a new era of crisis'. polls indicate he has a growing lead ahead of the first round of voting in april. mr macron said he would make france a stronger, more self—sufficient nation which could contribute to a world facing war and climate change. reports from the united states suggest that russia has made the first interest payment on its foreign debt since sanctions were imposed. the american bankjp morgan is reported to have received a payment from

russia's central bank. moscow says it has met its obligation to pay $117 million in interest on its dollar—denominated bonds. the payment means that, for now, russia has managed to avoid defaulting on its foreign debt. arnold schwarzenegger has called for an end to a "senseless war" in ukraine in a video appeal to russians and russian troops, using russian subtitiles. he warned them not to fall into the same trap as his father, who fought for the nazis, as he said that broke his father's will, physically and mentally. the austrian—born bodybuilder said the world's turned against russia. as a long—term friend of the russian people i hope that you will hear what i have to say. it is a humanitarian crisis. because of its brutality, russia is now isolated from the society of nations. you are not being told the truth about the consequences of this war on russia itself. i regret to tell you that thousands of russian soldiers that have been killed. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @ l vaughanjones. hello there. the weather is really settling down. there's going to be a lot of dry weather, probably, for the next week or so. now, on thursday, we saw more cloud mainly across northern parts of the uk, giving us a few showers. but we're going to see less of this and more of this — blue skies over the next few days, very colourful picture there in the centre of london. now, this was the cloud that gave us the rain on wednesday. that's well out of the way. this cloud is not really reaching our shores, and the speckle cloud, the showers in the north of scotland are tending to fade away. so, with clear skies, light winds, it is going to be a chilly start to friday morning with some frost, particularly across scotland

and northern ireland. maybe a few mist and fog patches across wales, the midlands, across the west country, too. these will lift in the morning, and then the sunshine comes out far and wide once again. the winds tending to freshen up a little bit in the afternoon, but it's likely to be a warmer day than it was on thursday. temperatures of 13 degrees in the central belt of scotland and newcastle, and a high of 16 celsius in the southeast of england. the weather's quitening down because high pressure's building across the uk on friday. the centre of that strong highs going to be pushing to the east of our shores with quite a few isobars on the chart on saturday. it's going to be dry on saturday, but the winds will be quite a bit stronger — that'll be a noticeable change for all parts of the country. so, no frost around, probably no fog around on saturday morning, but there will be lots of sunshine during the day. the winds coming in from the east or southeast means that the highest temperatures will always be across more sheltered western areas. across some eastern parts of england, temperatures maybe no higher than 12 or 13 degrees. could make 16 along the coast of northwest england, but it's up towards the northwest highlands and perhaps even into the moray firth that temperatures could reach 17 or 18 degrees, and it

could be the warmest day of the year so far. as we move into sunday, there are going to be some changes. it's going to be colder for a start and a bit more cloud around, too. there'll still be some sunshine around on sunday, but more cloud, especially for some eastern parts of the uk. it could just be thick enough to give one or two light showers in east anglia and the southeast of england. the winds won't be as strong on sunday, but temperatures are going to be lower, struggling to make double figures around some of those eastern coasts. but let's end on a positive note, because early next week, it's going to get warmer.

this is bbc news, the headlines: russia's president vladimir putin has set out what he wants in exchange for a peace deal in ukraine. he laid out his demands in a phone call with the president of turkey, who's acting as a go—between in peace talks. the demands include a guarantee that ukraine neverjoins nato. the ukrainian army is continuing to hold off the russian advance in the second city of kharkiv, even as it comes under heavy daily bombardment. a planned humanitarian corridor to allow people to be evacuated from the city failed to operate due to shelling by russian forces. in the besieged city of mariupol, there are reports many people have survived after a theatre was bombed by russian forces. hundreds were thought to be

sheltering in the basement. ukraine's president zelensky has accused russia of