this is bbc world news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: russia intensifies its attacks across ukraine, on multiple fronts. this is the result of an airstrike near the city of lviv. those reaching safety, escaping the besieged city of mariupol, have endured weeks of russian shelling. translation: there are dead people lying around _ and no—one to take them. they just lie there. it shouldn't be like this. someone must intervene. at a rally in moscow, vladimir putin praises what he calls "russia's heroic deeds" in ukraine. solidarity in space — three russian cosmonauts have arrived at the international space station, but are they wearing the colours of ukraine?

hello and welcome to bbc news. russia is continuing its assault on multiple fronts across ukraine, with one of the latest attacks, a missile strike on an army barracks in the southern city of mykolaiv. reports suggest at least 45 ukrainian soldiers were killed. earlier there was an attack on an aircraft repair plant, in relatively unscathed western ukraine, near the city of lviv. there were no casualties. lviv has been receiving hundreds of refugees from mariupol in the south, with many saying russia is trying to wipe the city off the face of the earth. but amid the darkness, the authorities there say 130 people have been rescued from the bomb shelter under the city's theatre, which was attacked two days ago. here's our special

correspondent, fergal keane. the sense of security here is ebbing after dawn brought this — a missile strike aimed at an aircraft repair plant. siren wails nobody was hurt, but this close to the city, it's shaken nerves. guards were jittery, journalists shoved. "get your cameras away or i'll break them," a militia man said. people here aren't used to this. the city's mayor reflected the grim mood. translation: there are - no safe and dangerous cities. today, we are all under attack. this shelling was done from the black sea. no—one can predict where the next missiles will fly, so when you hear the sirens, you have to go to the bomb shelter, you have to take care of your health. and thousands were still arriving here today to escape the war.

this, the tunnel leading to their trains west. it's been three weeks exactly since i first stood in this tunnel and watched people queueing to escape the war. still, they come, from mariupol, from kharkiv, from kyiv, from bucha, from kherson, and many other places whose names or deaths we do not know. these are the first arrivals from besieged mariupol — 350 people. this little boy, whose composure is its own statement of determination after the hell he has left behind. a city where killing is piled upon killing. maria grinchenkova was another arrival from mariupol.

86 years old, bruised from a fall in a bomb shelter. her granddaughter described scenes of horror in the city. translation: there arej dead people lying around and no—one to take them. they just lie there. it shouldn't be like this. someone must intervene. the city's been wiped from the face of the earth. there is nothing alive. all the roads are shelled. there are trees torn out by their roots. it's like a horror film. there are now 200,000 displaced people finding shelter in lviv, and today, maria became one of them. the war comes to lviv from everywhere. maria honcharova and her children are from avdiivka in the east. she's a single mother who lost her leg in an explosion at the

start of the conflict eight years ago, and has now had to flee her home for the second time. translation: a new, more brutal shelling has begun. . the civilian population is suffering. there is shelling all around ukraine now. i want to save the lives of my children because we have suffered already. we travelled through the whole of ukraine. there is no safe space anymore. in lviv, they've placed these children's strollers in a central square — one for each child killed so far in this war. 109 young lives gone and more threatened with each passing hour. fergal keane, bbc news, lviv. let's get more now on the russian missile attack on a ukrainian army barracks in mykolaiv, here's our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. it's in the south, close to the black sea coast. it has been on the front line for many weeks,

some of its neighbourhoods around the edges under incessant russian shelling. but today, an army barracks in the north of the city appears to have taken a direct hit from russian missiles. a ukrainian mp told us dozens were wounded and dozens were killed at a base which was being used to train ukrainian soldiers. and this comes after ukrainian armed forces repelled a major russian advance on mykolaiv, but they will try again. mykolaiv matters to moscow. it stands in the way of the magnificent city of 0desa, ukraine's biggest port, and it is, yes, part of a swathe of land along the south that russia wants to take for a land corridor principally between two areas, crimea and eastern ukraine, it already controls. that is regarded as the minimum president putin would want to take away from this war. at the other end, mariupol.

the city bombarded, besieged, a byword now for human suffering in ukraine. the fighting there has now reached the city centre — a city centre which, it said, no longer exists. it's been smashed to smithereens. in the east of the country, ukraine's second city kharkiv has been the constant target of russian attacks for three weeks now. there are still hundreds of thousands of people living in kharkiv, despite the shelling. more than 230 civilian deaths have been reported, including children. security analyst and kharkiv resident, maria avdeeva, joins me now from kharkiv. thank you very much for coming on. there was heavy shelling again on friday morning? yes, the shelling — again on friday morning? yes, the shelling started _ again on friday morning? yes, the shelling started early -

again on friday morning? yes, the shelling started early in i the shelling started early in the shelling started early in the morning and we have replied and i myself had the huge explosion and immediately report came that the university building was destroyed and two nearby residential houses as well were destroyed. i decided to go out to the shop to get some food and the shelling started again and so i hid myself in an already destroyed building to hide from the shelling and then went back home. i was not able to go around the city at all because of the shelling throughout the morning. of the shelling throughout the mornin:. ~ , ., of the shelling throughout the mornin:. ~ ,, ., morning. when you went out, did ou see morning. when you went out, did you see anybody _ morning. when you went out, did you see anybody else _ morning. when you went out, did you see anybody else out - morning. when you went out, did you see anybody else out daring i you see anybody else out daring get food as well? i you see anybody else out daring get food as well?— get food as well? i see now very few — get food as well? i see now very few peeple _ get food as well? i see now very few people outside. i i very few people outside. i would sate most of the people stay in accuse in front of the shops and there are less and less people outside. all those who are trying to get out already did so so now people

staying in kharkiv, staying for some reason, even if they do not have a possibility to go out or have something to do here, generally those people who will stay in the city, and there is still a lot but they are hiding. no—one will be on the street, the city will become completely deserted. it will be only in the morning people go out to the shops, to get water. but still, when you are out, you can easily become are out, you can easily become a target for a missile attack. the shelling happens in the morning as well. you say people have left. are there roots out people are managing to use safely? people are managing to use safel ? . , , ., safely? the city is not located- _ safely? the city is not located. russia - safely? the city is not located. russia did i safely? the city is not| located. russia did not safely? the city is not - located. russia did not manage to do that. so russian troops are now situated in the east and north—east of kharkiv. they have control of some of the

smaller cities in the area by the did not manage to go further. so there are roots to and from kharkiv and also the railway is functional although it is not safe to take this way and i have seen people who go in their car, they put side, children on their car, hoping it will save them from attacks because, well, the aggressor will see that but from what we have seen in mariupol, it does not work. it is not safe on the road. take your risk and try to escape the city if you decide to do so. i escape the city if you decide to do so— to do so. i was talking to someone _ to do so. i was talking to someone from _ to do so. i was talking to someone from the - to do so. i was talking to someone from the world | to do so. i was talking to - someone from the world food programme earlier today and they were saying the food supply chain are collapsing across ukraine but not where you are? across ukraine but not where ou are? , ., across ukraine but not where you are?— you are? they are collapsing and that is — you are? they are collapsing and that is what _ you are? they are collapsing and that is what is _ you are? they are collapsing | and that is what is happening and that is what is happening and it is only because of the

volunteers and municipal council, what they do is they ask people with cars to bring in humanitarian aid and distribute it to people who cannot afford to buy food. there are also some shops open, very few but still, the owners of those shops try to bring in supplies, but they are limited. people are not starving. you can still get something this is a very fluid situation and it can change at any minute so people try to make some resource of food so they will have something at home in case the situation changes in any moment. the situation changes in any moment-— the situation changes in any moment. ., ~ . moment. thank you so much, maria, moment. thank you so much, maria. for _ moment. thank you so much, maria, for telling _ moment. thank you so much, maria, for telling us _ moment. thank you so much, maria, for telling us the - maria, for telling us the situation and i wish it the very best. situation and i wish it the very best-— situation and i wish it the | very best._ live situation and i wish it the - very best._ live from very best. thank you. live from kharkiv. vladimir putin has praised russia's unity over what he calls the country's "special operation"

in ukraine, and he thanked russia's military. his comments came in a public speech, to a packed stadium in moscow. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, has sent us this report. "your president needs you," they'd been told, and they came, some with flags and fervour... all chant: russia! ..others with the letter z that's been painted on some russian military vehicles in ukraine. "i'm a patriot," says tatiana. "if our government's fighting in ukraine, "it must be necessary." not everyone, though, was so excited at attending a kremlin rally. well, we've spoken to quite a few people here who told us they were either forced to come here by their employers or promised the day off if they would come here, but no—one would go on camera. inside the stadium where the world cup final had been four years ago, this time... announcer:

vladimir vladimirovich putin! ..it was president putin out in the middle. 0n the anniversary of russia's annexation of crimea, the kremlin leader gave a patriotic pep talk to his people about events in ukraine. translation: we can see how heroically our soldiers j are acting and fighting in this operation. shoulder to shoulder, they help and support one another. but what happens to russians who call it an unjust war? this. the letter z and offensive graffiti have been sprayed outside apartments of people criticising the russian offensive. journalist anna loiko was among those targeted. this week, she heard her president railing against traitors and pro—western scum. she fears that from now on anyone disagreeing with the authorities

will be treated as an enemy of the state. translation: they see people like me as a worthless part of society. police and mps call us parasites and freeloaders who are working against the country. and i'm called a traitor, of course, like they wrote on my door, as if i don't want russia to win. but i just don't want our country to be fighting. there's something rather sinister about what's happening here. russia's president is dividing this nation into us and them, into patriots and traitors. vladimir putin is looking for scapegoats, looking for someone to blame for the economic problems ahead, so that russians don't blame him. the kremlin creating an alternative reality, portraying russia as a besieged fortress that's under attack at home and abroad. steve rosenberg,

bbc news, moscow. let's look at some of the other latest developments in ukraine. first, president zelensky has called for comprehensive peace talks with moscow in his latest video message. 0ur reporter mark lobel was watching mr zelensky speak. yes, his usual nightly address, but this time outside. if we can show you it, there are some interesting optics on the day that vladimir putin, as we heard in steve's report, was addressing a rally in moscow. he was focusing — president putin — on the fact that he thinks russian soldiers are heroes, fighting genocide in ukraine, but president zelensky said now is the time to meet, the time to talk — that was his key message — he says, before russian losses are too great. we know, lucy, that he has addressed the uk, american and german parliaments. he is planning to do it for the swiss, the israelis, the italians and the japanese, he says.

so, he is going to continue that kind of ring of of international diplomacy. but he also mentioned that theatre that was bombed — if we can remind you of that with pictures. he says that russia has deliberately bombed this theatre in mariupol. russia denies that. he said that hundreds remain trapped underground. 130 survivors have so far been recovered but it all, after that attack on the maternity hospital and this constant shelling for days, he said it has been the greatest ordeal in mariupol�*s history. if i just take you to the story of a refugee from mariupol, this is 0ksana. she fled mariupol. when she first left her house, she just grabbed children's photo albums. that's all they could do. they were in a rush to leave their own house because they felt it was under threat. the house they moved to, where they hid in the basement, was hit six times. then she had to leave her elderly parents there when she went to another shelter with her children. and she was just convinced that the russians were encircling the city that she was inside and she said they were just trying to make sure that they could

all die there. and she said that mariupol, in her words, does not exist any more. she's now somewhere else, in the east of ukraine. it is just so horrendous and the communications are so difficult with mariupol. so, we're really relying on people like her who are getting out to tell us about it. let's move closer to home now and talk about chelsea football club, because the deadline has passed, hasn't it, for the bids? that's right. as part of the ukraine war, oligarchs in the uk have been sanctioned — russian oligarchs like roman abramovich, and his asset was frozen — that was chelsea football club. he has had to sell it, and at 9:00pm on friday night uk time was the official deadline to buy it. we had three bidders, the candy bid, the ricketts family and another consortium. there was additional investment from south korea. the ricketts family is the family that owns the us baseball team the chicago cubs. and the consortium includes london 2012 organiser of the olympics lord coe and the former chairman of liverpool football club.

but, lucy, for chelsea fans, there are some bids expected this weekend — probably about another ten, even though we've passed the official deadline. and that's ok, is it? that's ok — i don't know how it works, but that's ok. there will be a shortlist next week and that will be decided by going through several tests. but he is not allowed to make any money out of this, is he? he can't make any money out of it and they've stopped with profits, and there is no merchandise being allowed to be sold, or tickets. let's show you, quickly, these pictures. this is the arrival of a russian capsule, though — this is how the ukraine war is affecting things in space. the three cosmonauts have been welcomed warmly by americans, russians and a german crewmate. you may have spotted that in the past few days, we have seen them in blue shirts — and if we show you these pictures again — we've seen them in blue shirts before, then they were in the white spacesuits, now they are appearing in the yellow

suits with blue stripes. some may think that it is the colours of ukraine and showing solidarity with ukraine, others say it isjust perhaps a coincidence. mark lobel. ukrainian it experts living abroad are using crowdsourcing technology to plot safe routes out of conflict zones in ukraine. they're using the same technology to connect those civilians with volunteer drivers who are transporting bus loads of civilians to bordering countries. marc cieslak reports. this bus is filled with ukrainian women and children fleeing the horrors of war at home, heading towards safety in another country. it's a journey that has been made possible by dozens of volunteers thousands of miles away. i dozens of volunteers thousands of miles away.— of miles away. i am organising the evacuation _ of miles away. i am organising the evacuation of _ of miles away. i am organising the evacuation of kids - of miles away. i am organising the evacuation of kids with - the evacuation of kids with cancer from the evacuation of kids with cancerfrom ukraine, to cancer from ukraine, to germany. cancerfrom ukraine, to germany. 3 cancer from ukraine, to germany-— cancer from ukraine, to german . �* ~ . ., ., germany. a ukrainian software developer— germany. a ukrainian software developer living _ germany. a ukrainian software developer living in los - germany. a ukrainian software developer living in los angeles one was one of the people who answered the call to help made

by his country's digital minister and its government. he has used his skills gained in the tech industry to create a group called ukrainenow. it's made up of volunteers organised by a messaging app, they immediately set about raising funds and arranging ways to help evacuate civilians from the ukrainian cities under russian attack.— russian attack. i've been building _ russian attack. i've been building tech _ russian attack. i've been building tech start-ups i russian attack. i've been l building tech start-ups for russian attack. i've been - building tech start-ups for the building tech start—ups for the last decade, i'm an engineer myself and i have a degree in systems of artificial intelligence and there is limited capacity of what is left of the un and red cross and there is no—one else to help, it's all civilians, evacuating civilians and we are crowd sourcing and providing the infrastructure to support for these operations. after the bus i have a place for them to stay after they cross the border. �* , ., stay after they cross the border. �* , . ., ., ., border. it's an international effort. civilians _ border. it's an international effort. civilians in _ border. it's an international effort. civilians in ukraine | effort. civilians in ukraine make request for help online. these are picked up by the team in the us. they have a list of

drivers and have purchased or rented buses using money they raise. a dispatcher in the us puts the evacuating civilians in contact with those drivers, who arrange pick up. we cannot go into too much detail about the methods used in order to protect the organisation from cyber and real—world attack. salam aldeen is an experienced aid worker, he has recently returned from evacuating people in afghanistan and is hopping on the ground. i spoke to him as hejourneyed away on the ground. i spoke to him as he journeyed away from the city of nikolai for the bus full of women, children men over 60 travelling to safety by crossing the border into moldova. crossing the border into moldova-— crossing the border into moldova. it's a very risky journey- _ moldova. it's a very risky journey- as _ moldova. it's a very risky journey. as you - moldova. it's a very risky journey. as you know, i moldova. it's a very risky| journey. as you know, we moldova. it's a very risky i journey. as you know, we are driving to the border and there are bombings in the big city and it is insane.— and it is insane. finding a safe route _ and it is insane. finding a safe route is _ and it is insane. finding a safe route is not -

and it is insane. finding a safe route is not easy i and it is insane. finding a safe route is not easy go | and it is insane. finding a i safe route is not easy go and have also a different number of volunteers on the ground send information and data about safer roads to the us team. they cover all of this information together to create what they think will be the safest route possible. this information is then relayed to the drivers. they are essentially crowdsourcing safe passage out of a war zone. for now, passage out of a war zone. for now. we — passage out of a war zone. for now. we are — passage out of a war zone. fr?" now, we are definitely moving closer to the western part of ukraine, to minimise the danger, but even that is not safe. the boss that we just evacuated two days ago went through the rout but was bombed, just ten hours after. lots of the passengers on this bus i've been sheltering in basements for days and all have left somebody behind. unfortunately, my parents. they will stay at home. and i'm travelling alone. we are always afraid about what can happen

and we went without food, we are going to be bombed. eventually, the bus approaches the moldovan border and safety. we are at the border. and there are three buses outside. you are three buses outside. you are crossed _ are three buses outside. you are crossed over— are three buses outside. you are crossed over into - are three buses outside. you are crossed over into moldova now? is the situation in ukraine intensifies, travelling like this will become increasingly dangerous. how long do you think you will be able to continue making journeys like this? i able to continue making journeys like this? i don't know but _ journeys like this? i don't know but i'm _ journeys like this? i don't know but i'm going i journeys like this? i don't know but i'm going to i journeys like this? i don'tl know but i'm going to stop before this war can stop and people think about to their homes and be safe. until that, we need to show our solidarity and do everything we can to save people. marc cieslak, bbc news. in other news, the great barrier reef appears to have been hit once again by widespread bleaching. surveillance flights over the reef revealed damage due to heat stress linked to climate change. the survey has yet to be completed but it would be

the sixth mass bleaching events since 1997. richard leck, head of 0ceans at wwf australia gave me his assessment. what we're seeing is a really serious unfolding on the great barrier reef. parts of the reef are under conditions of an underwater heatwave and we're hearing reports of severe bleaching over an extended area in the central part of the great barrier reef. now, fingers crossed the water cools down over the next few days and weeks and we don't have an official mass bleaching event, but what we've heard now is really serious and it's certainly going to extend for a long length of the reef marine park. we were just looking at some pictures there, and what's so striking for anybody that's ever been on the great barrier reef is the enormous amount of different colours and the beauty of it, and then you look at the bleaching and it'sjust this sort of white colour, isn't it? that's what bleaching is, and that's because the water

is too warm. just explain. so, when you get these underwater heatwave conditions that we have now, the corals become incredibly stressed and that brilliant white colour that you see is them suffering that extraordinary heat stress. it's called biofluorescence, and corals can actually recover from that if those temperatures go down quickly. sadly, we're already hearing that there has been some coral mortality. we really hope that the temperatures do decline as soon as possible and those reefs do recover. as you said in your intro, this is just happening so often — this could be the fourth mass coral bleaching event since 2016. that's more than once every two years and itjust does not give the reefs enough time to recover. you can keep up to date with the latest development in ukraine on our website. it is

updated by our reporters and editors. just go to bbc news .com. goodbye. hello there. at 17.5 degrees celsius in west sussex on friday, it was the warmest day of the year so far. no surprise, really, because the march sunshine is strengthening and there was barely any cloud to block that sunshine out during the course of friday. it'll be a similar story through the day ahead. and with the high pressure sitting around for the foreseeable, certainly for the weekend and beyond, i suspect we will see higher than 17.5 celsius. fairly brisk wind around, at least for the first part of the weekend. and there may well be one or two showers by sunday but, for the most part, because that high pressure is across the uk, it will stay dry and fine. and as the winds start to weaken into the week, temperatures will rise and it

will be really quite warm. it will feel quite warm in that strengthening march sunshine. but a chilly start on saturday and some patchy fog around, so the frost is more likely across northern and eastern areas. not as widespread as friday morning and the fog won't be, but there will still be pockets around potentially. we've seen some in northern ireland, northern and eastern areas, a few other spots as well. but otherwise, it looks like a sunny day on saturday, but a fairly brisk wind. breezier, certainly, than we saw during friday. now, that wind will be strong and gusty, particularly across western areas. but coming in off the north sea, as well, it'll have an effect on temperatures here. so, it's also coinciding with some spring tides, so we've got some potentially overtopping of the waves but some strong and gusty winds across the south—west peninsula but, as i say, for many western areas, and the south as well, gusting to 30 or a0 mph. coming in off the north sea at this time of year, many of us see temperatures at their lowest, so that will obviously hold the temperature right

on the coast down at 15 or 16, as we saw friday but we could actually see 18 in the north highlands with some shelter here from that breeze, so clearly, we may get above 17.5 during the day ahead. more likely saturday, i think, than sunday. sunday looks like it'll be slightly cooler. that's because we'll have more cloud, so a colder start as well. more widespread frost sunday morning and more fog around once again, so we've got that to clear. the wind still coming in from the east off that chilly north sea, bringing the risk of some showers and more cloud into southern and eastern areas and more cloud into the west. so, hence, with more cloud around, it may well be a little cooler than saturday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: russia has intensified its attacks across ukraine. this was the result of an airstrike near the city of lviv. in the southern city of mykolaiv, dozens of people have been killed in a russian missile strike on an army base. in his latest video address, president volodymyr zelenskiy called for comprehensive peace talks with russia. fighting has reached the centre of the southern port city of mariupol, both sides have confirmed. many civilians are still trapped in the city, with more than 80% of residential buildings either damaged or destroyed. vladimir putin has praised russia's unity over what he calls the country's "special operation" in ukraine, and he thanked

russia's military. his comments came in a public speech, to a packed