this is bbc news. welcome, if you are watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm shaun ley. our top stories: street fighting in the besieged city of mariupol hampers efforts to rescue hundreds of people trapped inside the basement of a theatre. more than 80% of residential buildings there have been damaged or destroyed. ukraine's president zelensky tells russia to join "meaningful" peace talks or face catastrophic losses. translation: | want - everyone to hear me now, especially in moscow. it's time to meet. time to talk. it is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for ukraine. the ukrainian military announces a 38 hour curfew in the southern city of zaporizhzhia following a russian rocket attack.

meanwhile, in ukraine's second city, kharkiv, rescue workers continue to search for survivors amoungst the rubble of a bombed theatre. translation: the second strike was above us. - it crashed. i fell down and covered my head. i was lucky the wall fell in a way that did not crush me. i'm james reynolds live near lviv, from a humanitarian aid distribution hub. the president of ukraine, volodymyr zelensky, has called for comprehensive peace talks with russia, saying the time had come for a meeting to end the war. in the south of the country a 38—hour curfew is being imposed on the city of zaporizhzhia, which has seen the arrival of thousands of refugees from the nearby port of mariupol.

let's get the latest from the west of the country. my colleaguejames reynolds is at an aid distribution hub near the city of lviv. tonnes and tonnes of eight are coming into this building, which used to be our furniture warehouse. volunteers are repackaging it and sending it out to other parts of ukraine. ., , ., u, sending it out to other parts of ukraine. ., , ., _, ., ukraine. people here have come from different parts — ukraine. people here have come from different parts of _ ukraine. people here have come from different parts of the _ ukraine. people here have come from different parts of the country - ukraine. people here have come from different parts of the country and - different parts of the country and they are following intently news from the rest of the country with the front lines are. they will have been following the news from mariupol, who has said that street fighting in that area is hampering aid efforts. there is the potential

agreement for a narrow humanitarian corridor in one of the areas in the east controlled by russia. once a thriving port city, mariupol has been hollowed out. around 300,000 people are trapped with no electricity, gas or running water. officials there say more than 80% of residential buildings are either damaged or destroyed. after weeks under siege and heavy russian bombardment, fighting has now reached the centre and the city is soon expected to fall. but some have now got out. this satellite image shows a long queue heading out of mariupol. crammed into cars not knowing if they will ever return. the north—eastern city of kharkiv has also been hammered. remarkably, trapped under what's left of this public administration building, somebody is still alive. he emerges dazed and dusty and hardly able to believe he has survived.

translation: the first strike was somewhere further up. i i stood up and heard it was not here. the second strike was above us. it crashed. i fell down and covered my head. i was lucky, the wall fell in a way that did not crush me. overnight, ukraine's armed forces say the russians have managed to cut off the ukrainians from the sea of azov in the south—east. in his nightly address, president zelensky called for meaningful peace and security talks with moscow without delay. translation: we have always insisted on negotiations, - we have always offered dialogue, offered solutions for peace, notjust for 23 days of invasion. i want everyone to hear me now, especially in moscow — it is time to meet, time to talk, it is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for ukraine. but here the foreign secretary, liz truss, has warned that russia is using peace talks with ukraine

as a smoke screen while it prepares to carry out what she called more appalling atrocities and war crimes. meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis grows ever worse. many of those fleeing fighting in the east head to the western city of lviv, still considered relatively safe. the un says nearly 6.5 million people are now displaced within ukraine. 3.2 million more have already left the country altogether. in a central square in lviv, they have placed these pushchairs to represent each child killed in a war that has lasted three weeks and seems far from over. jon donnison, bbc news. john mentioned the fact that lviv is relatively safe. the word relatively is the applicable word. there was an

air raid warning about an hour ago. everybody has the app on their mobile phones. when you get that, you have to find shelter. work continued here for the people in lviv. just a few minutes later, the app said there was an all clear. that is the minute by minute rhythm of life that has been developed in lviv. my colleague james waterhouse is in kyiv, the capital, and he has this update us on the latest situation across the country. it has been a grim game of roulette for so many people that live here, where there is interceptor missiles, for example. every morning we have woken up to reports of a residential block being struck. this morning, you are right, there are sirens that have been sounding off here in the city, as well as the kyiv region, as well as in zhytomyr region, further west, towards where most of the fighting is happening. it's been quite a still morning. we actually had a smog warning

because of burning peat bogs towards the north—west of the city where most of the fighting has been happening. so, it's another reason, sadly, for people to not be able to enjoy this clear, fine day, but we've seen most of the fighting, as ever, overnight, in the outskirts of the country towards the south and east, so, in mykolaiv, this city to the south, the next location in russian forces' sights, in as they try and move west, they say they've launched a successful counterattack on russian forces, in kharkiv and sumy towards the east and north—east, they say they've repelled continued russian attacks, despite coming under heavy bombardment, but, as ever in this war it is mariupol that is paying the highest price for this level of ukrainian resistance. we are now getting reports of fighting in the city. we are getting, once again, reports that moscow is accused of shelling the agreed routes for people to get out. 30,000 have made it out

after several failed attempts, but, as ever, the worry from the west would be that the defences might be starting to soften within weeks. i think it's now looking like a matter of days. all while it's calm here in the capital and in other pockets of the country in this ever—changing conflict. james waterhouse reporting from kyiv. many of the supplies which have been gathered here are going to be heading across the country to places where they are needed most. this supply centre has been said by a number of people who run joining me is maryana bilyk who is the coordinator of the aid distribution centre here. here. where are you getting supplies from? from — here. where are you getting supplies from? from europe _ here. where are you getting supplies from? from europe and _ here. where are you getting supplies from? from europe and all— here. where are you getting supplies from? from europe and all across . here. where are you getting supplies| from? from europe and all across the world. we have things from canada,

the usa, portugal and other countries. is the usa, portugal and other countries-— the usa, portugal and other countries. , ., countries. is it easy to get the sunplies? _ countries. is it easy to get the sunplies? no. _ countries. is it easy to get the supplies? no, but— countries. is it easy to get the supplies? no, but we - countries. is it easy to get the supplies? no, but we are - countries. is it easy to get the - supplies? no, but we are thankful to the --eole supplies? no, but we are thankful to the peeple who _ supplies? no, but we are thankful to the people who help _ supplies? no, but we are thankful to the people who help us _ supplies? no, but we are thankful to the people who help us to _ supplies? no, but we are thankful to the people who help us to do - supplies? no, but we are thankful to the people who help us to do it. - supplies? no, but we are thankful to the people who help us to do it. you | the people who help us to do it. you have a lots — the people who help us to do it. you have a lots of— the people who help us to do it. you have a lots of volunteers here come a lot of older people, as well. they have come to you and said they wanted to help?— have come to you and said they wanted to help? everybody wants to hel and to wanted to help? everybody wants to help and to try _ wanted to help? everybody wants to help and to try to — wanted to help? everybody wants to help and to try to do _ wanted to help? everybody wants to help and to try to do what _ wanted to help? everybody wants to help and to try to do what they - wanted to help? everybody wants to help and to try to do what they can. | help and to try to do what they can. they can select something, move boxes, they can help as best they can. ., . y boxes, they can help as best they can. ., ., , , .,~ can. how many people work here with ou as can. how many people work here with you as volunteers? _ can. how many people work here with you as volunteers? about _ can. how many people work here with you as volunteers? about 300 - can. how many people work here with you as volunteers? about 300 a - can. how many people work here with you as volunteers? about 300 a day. | you as volunteers? about 300 a day. do you know how many tonnes of supplies you have got from across the world? , ~ ., , �* the world? yes, we know, but i can't tell ou the world? yes, we know, but i can't tell you nova — the world? yes, we know, but i can't tell you nova i _ the world? yes, we know, but i can't tell you now. ithink— the world? yes, we know, but i can't tell you now. i think about _ the world? yes, we know, but i can't tell you now. i think about a - tell you now. i think about a thousand- — tell you now. i think about a thousand. when _ tell you now. i think about a thousand. when you - tell you now. i think about a thousand. when you open i tell you now. i think about a thousand. when you open a | tell you now. i think about a - thousand. when you open a box, do you always get the supplies that you need? ., , u, , ., you always get the supplies that you need? ., ., ., , need? no, because for example we have no food- _ need? no, because for example we have no food. we _ need? no, because for example we have no food. we have _ need? no, because for example we have no food. we have no - need? no, because for example we l have no food. we have no medicine. it is very important for us. we have

roller blades, helmets for bicycles, it is not necessary for us. we appreciate that people are helping us, but they need to understand what we really need. i us, but they need to understand what we really need-— we really need. i think some of the --eole we really need. i think some of the peeple watching — we really need. i think some of the people watching you _ we really need. i think some of the people watching you now _ we really need. i think some of the people watching you now would - we really need. i think some of the l people watching you now would want me to ask you one question, what do you need? we me to ask you one question, what do ou need? ~ . , you need? we need medicines, especially _ you need? we need medicines, especially for — you need? we need medicines, especially for things _ you need? we need medicines, especially for things like - especially for things like antibiotics, think she would get from a pharmacy. we need food. we need it in the backline and on the front line. food can be different. maybe not water because they sent us a lot of bottled water, but we can drink from the river. it is not so important. we have no vegetables, fruit. i important. we have no vegetables, fruit. , ., ,., important. we have no vegetables, fruit. , ., ., fruit. i understand in some of the boxes when _ fruit. i understand in some of the boxes when you _ fruit. i understand in some of the boxes when you open _ fruit. i understand in some of the boxes when you open them - fruit. i understand in some of the boxes when you open them you l fruit. i understand in some of the l boxes when you open them you get letters from children. can you tell us about that? it

letters from children. can you tell us about that?— letters from children. can you tell us about that? it is very motivating for us volunteers. _ us about that? it is very motivating for us volunteers. we _ us about that? it is very motivating for us volunteers. we know - us about that? it is very motivating for us volunteers. we know that i us about that? it is very motivating | for us volunteers. we know that we are not alone. it is very important that people support us and we have pictures, letters, we have everything. we make a big wall and when we look at this we understand that we have support all over the world. ., ., ., i. that we have support all over the world. ., ., ., i” 4' that we have support all over the world. ., ., ., ,, ~ i. world. how long do you think you will continue _ world. how long do you think you will continue needing _ world. how long do you think you will continue needing to - world. how long do you think you will continue needing to operate l will continue needing to operate this aid distribution centre? weeks, i ho e, this aid distribution centre? weeks, i hope. but — this aid distribution centre? weeks, i hope. but maybe _ this aid distribution centre? weeks, i hope, but maybe months. - this aid distribution centre? weeks, i hope, but maybe months. more i this aid distribution centre? weeks, i hope, but maybe months. more is| i hope, but maybe months. more is still being... i don't know for how long, but we need help all the time. thank you. so, sorting through the tonnes and tonnes of supplies. i can

see the volunteers working there. they work six hour shifts, they bust themselves in as their way of contributing to the war effort. people around lviv are dealing with how to deal with this war. the men have to stay and fight if they are between 18 and 60. older men, women and children, are allowed to leave the country. many have done so. we know that 3 million people have decided to leave the country. others have decided they can stay put and try to stay in their homes. we can speak now to oleksandra zubal, who is a resident of lviv. how is you and how is your six—year—old daughter? hi. how is you and how is your six-year-old daughter? hi, james. thanks for — six-year-old daughter? hi, james. thanks for having _ six-year-old daughter? hi, james. thanks for having me. _ six-year-old daughter? hi, james. thanks for having me. we - six-year-old daughter? hi, james. thanks for having me. we are - six-year-old daughter? hi, james. | thanks for having me. we are doing fine. my daughter is ok. it is saturday so she enjoy some time off.

all fine, i would say. we saturday so she enjoy some time off. all fine, i would say.— all fine, i would say. we were in lviv yesterday — all fine, i would say. we were in lviv yesterday when _ all fine, i would say. we were in lviv yesterday when there - all fine, i would say. we were in lviv yesterday when there was i all fine, i would say. we were in i lviv yesterday when there was the strike against the aircrafts repair plants. there were four explosions, air silence —— sirens, people saw the smoke. what did you tell your daughter about that? we the smoke. what did you tell your daughter about that?— the smoke. what did you tell your daughter about that? we went to our shelter, so daughter about that? we went to our shelter. so we _ daughter about that? we went to our shelter, so we didn't _ daughter about that? we went to our shelter, so we didn't see _ daughter about that? we went to our shelter, so we didn't see the - daughter about that? we went to our shelter, so we didn't see the actual. shelter, so we didn't see the actual exclusion. we only saw the smoke afterwards. i told her to stay safe because there is some unrest. we haven't talked about the bombings and because they were not near the place we stayed at, we were lucky to escape this conversation with her. but she is aware that the war is ongoing and that her father is fighting right now. you mentioned

her father, your _ fighting right now. you mentioned her father, your husband. - fighting right now. you mentioned her father, your husband. like - fighting right now. you mentioned her father, your husband. like all| herfather, your husband. like all men between 18 and 60 he has to be ready to fight. he has left your home. how difficult is that for you and your daughter? it is and your daughter? it is a challenging _ and your daughter? it is a challenging situation, - and your daughter? it is a - challenging situation, honestly. everything that we knew was destroyed in one day, basically. our routine, etc. we understand that most of the people are now motivated in the right way, men are fighting, women and children are helping and volunteering, so everyone has to do what they are skilled for. i do support my husband. all of my close friends and also my cousin, who

joined the army. we have to be calm and stay here at the rear and support them wherever they are. you must know many people who have decided to leave lviv, as it is too dangerous. you have decided to stay. do you ever think it might be safer, to drive to poland?— to drive to poland? yes, we are considering _ to drive to poland? yes, we are considering this _ to drive to poland? yes, we are considering this option - to drive to poland? yes, we are considering this option every i to drive to poland? yes, we are l considering this option every hour because things are changing. there were bombings yesterday. we always have to think about our safety and i have to think about our safety and i have to think about our safety and i have to consider the safety of my daughter. i still think it is safe here, relatively safe. she could stay with people she knows. it is less stressful for her to do that

rather than leave the country. the trunk of my car is stacked with suitcases and i have my emergency bag nearby. at any moment i am ready to leave the city and drive in 15 minutes. there is some anxiety that is always present, but that is a really hard decision to make. that decision will be made depending on the context. decision will be made depending on the context-— the context. everyone watching will wish our the context. everyone watching will wish your daughter _ the context. everyone watching will wish your daughter in _ the context. everyone watching will wish your daughter in particular, i wish your daughter in particular, your six—year—old daughter, all the best and we wish you to be safe. her bag is packed, the trunk of her car is full, and everyone in lviv has been saying they are ready to go. some volunteers have decided

that it would be better for them to stay. it is interesting to see what has been sent from the rest of the world. shoes that are new, some used shoes. as a previous guest was saying, the medicines, particularly antibiotics, that they need. that is antibiotics, that they need. that is a sense of how things are near lviv. back to you. russian strikes are continuing against the central city of dnipro, seen as a possible point for russian forces moving from the south and east to join together. earlier i wasjoined by nikolai korotja, an intensive care doctor at a hospital in the city of dnipro. he says around 21 soldiers come in to his hospital every day from places like kharkiv, donetsk and mariupol. today we are in a hospital and today we are not experiencing all the experiences of aggression. our medical system works

as far as possible. everyday, about 20 wounded soldiers, to our hospital from kharkiv, from mariupol. all of our soldiers have different types of injuries. for example, mine explosions, gunshots, bombs, head injuries, and all hospital staff work in a nonstop regime. we are mostly separated now from our families and from our children. it is very hard for our soul. our families have left the country and who, day after day, because now at the time of maximum unity and we will stay strong

and we are very brave and this is a time when everyone makes a significant contribution to our common victory. we have a shortage of medical equipment, respiratory equipment budget we require assistance from everyone. we are so grateful for their assistance and the only way we will overcome the evil in the world is that russian federation. you mentioned analgesics, you are and any theologist, what we would call here, and any fittest. pain relief is a very important part of what you have to do. in the absence of analgesics,

what are you able to use? we have other medical equipment in our country because other reference are not ended and of course, some problems with medical equipment and these logistics of medical equipment, it is a very great problem for us. but despite this fact, we are really trying to provide for everyone who needs our help. what about your family because you have stayed there to treat the injured and the dying. what have you had to do about your family because obviously you must be concerned about their safety? i'm separated from my family.

my son and my wife are staying in poland, but i stayed this here because i must do everything to end this war and everything i can do, i can do. that is medical treatment for patients and especially for our ukrainian soldiers. what do you think the prospects are of being able to sustain the sort of medical treatment you are providing now for another two weeks, another month, another two months? how do you think it will pan out? if there is not some kind of peace agreement and a withdrawal of russian troops? i am not really sure. how long can it be? i am not really sure. whether two months or three months or one or two years, it doesn't matter for us. we will provide our help for everyone who needs us. every time and every day.

the war is creating a new fault line between the millions of ukrainians and russians who have family in both countries. with western news sources restricted in russia, families are becoming increasingly divided over what's happening in ukraine. olivia le poidevin reports. jeremy bowen said that he had been speaking to his cousin in russia for 50 years, they have been friends, now they are divided over the war, with him saying that ukrainians are killing russian soldiers, with him saying that russia had invaded ukraine. we have been talking to some of the relatives who are

experiencing this. divided families. ukraine briefly existed as a separate country after the collapse after the collapse of the austro—hungarian empire, but then became absorbed into the soviet union and only emerged after 1991. this olivia le poidevin reports. here is what i hear in the heart of kyiv. the russian army bombing peaceful ukraine. that's the voice of valentina from kyiv in ukraine. just months earlier, she had been celebrating new year's eve in the country's capital. could now she is fleeing from war. valentina never thought i would be a war, particularly because she, like many ukrainians, has family in russia.

almost every family in ukraine is so interconnected. there are relatives living in russia, in kazakhstan. my family is russian speaking, because my dad comes from russia. my mum is half ukrainian, half russian. that's why it's particularly painful for us, because i am the only granddaughter, and my grandmother has never called me since the war began. she watches tv, she watches propaganda, she totally believes that they are liberating us. with western social media and news sources restricted in russia, the information gap is pulling friends and even families apart. how does that feel, personally, when your own grandmother and friends don't believe that there is a war in ukraine? that feels terrible, because on the one hand, you are feeling pity for them,

because they are victims of this regime, but on the other hand, there is no pity, because we should not suffer all this that we are suffering. i am just very much disappointed in the people with whom i've been friends for years. people i know in russia. nobody texted me, and that was also a very frustrating feeling. it's thought that about 11 million people in russia have relatives in ukraine. my family is in russia and part of my family is in ukraine. valentina is from russia, but is living in the uk. don't forget, you can find all the latest on bbc news website that has all the latest on our live page. i'm

sure on the day, back with more and half past the hour. hardly a cloud in the sky out there. a beautiful scene here along absolutely beautiful this morning and here is where we could see highest values as we go through the afternoon. it is this area of high pressure keeping things pretty quiet. it is drifting off into scandinavia and that is where we have a squeeze on the isobars. stronger winds around the edge of that high pressure and coming from an easterly direction, a coolish source at this time of year. there will not be much in the way of cloud at all,

we keep the blue sky and the sunshine and because the wind direction is coming in from the east, that could have an impact because the sea temperatures at this time of year are on the cool side. this wind direction widely around 25—30 miles an hour but we have seen guests today in excess of a0 miles an hour across the channel coast. so, here, temperatures around nine to 12 degrees. further west across england and wales will see 16 but it could be that the highest temperatures today will be across western scotland where we could see 17, possibly 18 degrees. if we get 18, it will be the warmest day of the year so far. high—pressure stays with us tonight. the isobars open up a touch and the winds will fall lighter. we keep more cloud out of the west and so temperatures holding up but in central and eastern areas, we could see temperatures are low enough for some frost, maybe mist around as well. on the whole is we go into a sunday, we keep that dry theme but it

could be a little colder and there could be more in the way of cloud around as well. early morning mist and fog in the north—east and as we go through the day, east anglia and south—east england could see more cloud drifting in and if you use the showers by the end of the afternoon. temperatures through sunday afternoon, nine to 13 degrees, but the dry weather is here to stay and if you haven't already heard, is going to continue to warm up through the middle part of the week with temperatures at mid—to high teens,

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm shaun ley. our top stories: street fighting in the besieged city of mariupol hampers efforts to rescue hundreds of people trapped inside the basement of a theatre...more than 80% of residential buildings there have been damaged or destroyed. ukraine's president zelensky tells russia to join �*meaningful�* peace talks or face catastrophic losses. translation: | want - everyone to hear me now, especially in moscow. it's time to meet. time to talk. it is time to restore territorial

integrity and justice for ukraine. the ukrainian military announces 38—hour curfew in the southern city of zaporizhzhia following a russian rocket attack. city of zaporizhzhia and former uk prime ministers gordon brown and sirjohn majorjoin calls for a tribunal to investigate vladimir putin for his actions in ukraine. the former uk prime ministers gordon brown and sirjohn major have backed a campaign for the creation of an international tribunal to investigate vladimir putin for his actions against ukraine. the former prime ministers are among 140 politicians, academics and lawyers to sign a petition calling for a legal system modelled on the nuremberg trials of nazi war criminals. gordon brown spoke to the bbc this morning — this is what he said about why he's

calling for president putin to be tried for war crimes. what is unique as we are seeing as you havejust what is unique as we are seeing as you have just reported from mariupol the bombing of innocent civilians and humanitarian buildings which is against international law and the breaching of humanitarian corridors by the russians and nuclear blackmail. all these things are adding up to a massive loss of life with children being maimed and people not being able to get treatment and tragic stories in mariupol so with support of the ukraine government are asking for this and with international humanitarian help and military help we believe president putin should not be able to act with impunity and he should face the full force of international law and his colleagues implicit in this she does well and thatis implicit in this she does well and that is why so many lawyers and a0

former prime ministers around the world and three quarters of a million people around the world who signed a petition and asking for this international tribunal to be set up probably in the hague immediately and to put an indictment if that is the right thing to do against president vladimir putin but also against his co—conspirators who we want to detach themselves from vladimir putin. with us now with more on this is our bbc diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. there clearly are a number of prominent figures signed up to this but the fact it has prominent supporters does not presumably make it any less difficult to achieve? this is rather early days and the war has been going on for three weeks and if you think back to the kinds of tribunal this is modelled on, nuremberg after world war ii, the tribunalfor the on, nuremberg after world war ii, the tribunal for the former yugoslavia in the early 1990s, it

wasn't able to unfold until the war wasn't able to unfold until the war was over and those deemed to be culpable were in detention and those are fairly considerable obstacles to any pursuit ofjustice at the moment but i think the reference by gordon brown to 19a2, the year in which the moose first began when lawyers started to think about this process and the fact that the tribunal for yugoslavia was set up a 1993, two years before the war there came to an end, these things tell us that the legal process needs to begin, the legal process needs to begin, the process of assembling evidence, of thinking about how tribunal is could be organised and indictments brought long before the conflicts are actually over so he is one of many people starting to think about what justice many people starting to think about whatjustice might be pursued if and when this war comes to an end. in terms of information and

intelligence gathering, what work is going on within ukraine? international partners are able to monitor to some extent and record data but whatever it is going on within ukraine to document some of the alleged atrocities? i am guessing because i'm not privy to any of this a lot of work is being done. justice is still being done and has been done in syria since the early days of the conflict there. the international criminal court has already launched an investigation into war crimes so there is an evidence gathering process already under way and of course behind all the social media posts and the dramatic videos and the allegations that are made in the heat of battle, there will be a process of documentation that will be going on and i'm sure that western governments will be urging ukraine to assemble and gather as much as it

can. of course it is very difficult. a city such as mariupol where clear evidence of war crimes exists, what happens when the russians conquer that city and records are destroyed. in the electronic age when so much of this information has already been transmitted what it is possible to verify through technical means the kind of visual evidence on the ground, a lot of the stuff will have been gathered and already transmitted to places where it can be kept safely. a fascinating account of some of the tensions fill in play even as the nuremberg war trials began is to be found on bbc podcast series called the trial of the nazi warm criminals which is

available —— war terminals. —— criminals. the president of ukraine, volodymyr zelensky, has called for comprehensive peace talks with russia, saying the time had come for a meeting to end the war. earlier i spoke to the ukrainian mp ivanna klympush tsintsadze, who told me russia is not ready for a serious conversation. not only violence to end and troops getting out but also preserving our territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence and having our ability to choose our path because that is the only thing we are guilty of, that starting from 201a, we wanted to choose our own path and be a democratic, european, free sovereign nation and that is something that is not acceptable fo putin and for terrorists and troops in

the russian federation. that is what we see, they are trying to just wipe us out from the world scene and that is what is happening already on some of the cities like mariupol or kharkiv or sumy. they are just pounding those cities. at this particular moment, there is no real ground for a serious conversation with the russian federation because they are not ready for any serious conversation, besides having their ultimatums being force—fed by ukrainians. that is something that ukrainian society and ukrainian armed forces and politicians, we are not ready for. so therefore, i think the talks can bring exclusively at this particular moment, maybe some decisions on some humanitarian corridors for people to be evacuated, for people to get to safety from those disastrous shelling and bombing and pounding of places that are unfortunately

existing across the country because of the activities of russians. do you think that ukraine should be willing to consider, subject to certain guarantees over its own security, and we know those guarantees have been made before, that is one of the reasons you gave up the weapons you inherited from the soviet union, but nonetheless, something to international accord and in agreement with russia that ukraine should be prepared to consider neutral status? i do not think that ukraine will survive having a neutral status. i want to remind you that in 201a when russia started this eight years of war against ukraine by grabbing part of our territory in crimea and starting the aggression in the east of ukraine, according to our legislation, that point where we are

a non—aligned, non—bloc country, so that means that russia is just interested in ensuring that such a country as ukraine does not exist. from my perspective, accepting neutrality today for us just means slavery for us tomorrow. there are other states that take this formal neutrality stance. finland and sweden are the obvious ones and i know the debate is changing in finland aboutjoining nato. sweden, the government is against the idea ofjoining nato at this stage. those countries don't appear to be slave countries. are you saying that you cannot put the genie back in the bottle now whereas neutrality might have been an option before the invasion, it simply isn't an option now? neutrality was never

an option for ukraine. i do belong to those people who think that if, for example, back in 2008, nato would have taken the decision of granting it to ukraine, we wouldn't have had the georgian invasion by the russian federation in 2008 and then with the weak response from the west, we wouldn't have seen the 201a attack on ukraine so i actually think the only option for us is to be part of the north atlantic alliance. but they won't have you because they think it would provoke effectively a war. that is the problem, isn't it? even your president has conceded that that idea was never an immediate thing but it is vanishingly far off? i don't think so. i think the problem is right now that the leaders of the nato countries are not standing up

enough to the challenge because they are not yet ready to accept the reality that the third world war has already started by the russian federation in ukraine. we either stop it together or russian federation will move on if ukraine fails. we'll move on according to the ultimatum that russia has put on the table in december 2021 to the west and to nato, saying that they want to return back to of 1997. that has to be understood that after us, the other countries that used to be part of the soviet union are at risk. then, if they are done with those, the countries of the eastern and central europe will have joined nato after 1997 are a direct risk and that is something that has to be looked at with sobriety, with reality and with a session of the highest risk that at this particular moment, russia opposes not exclusively to ukraine but also to the whole free world. therefore, i see that the president of ukraine is trying to come up with

some other ideas of additional security guarantees, some new union. i do not believe in this. i just think that we have to work on the societies of the countries' members of nato and those who were guarantors of our security of independence and territorial integrity, like britain, like the us, like france, whojoined later to that particular memorandum. and actually making, if not the leadership of the countries accept the challenge, but the societies accept the challenge and thus working and pushing your leaders to protect them from further putin's invasion by taking action in ukraine. mariupol is seen

as a strategic prize for the russians to create a bridge between crimea, annexed by moscow in 201a, and two separatist enclaves in eastern ukraine. a maternity hospital was bombed last week, sending patients fleeing into the street. a theatre used to shelter families forced from their homes was also struck. viktoria elliott is a uk citizen whose 77—year—old mother lives on her own in mariupol, just ten minutes away from the bombed maternity hospital. viktoria hasn't heard from her mum for over two weeks. i spoke to her earlier. the last time i spoke to my mum was on 2nd march, when she already told me there is no electricity, the water supply

was cut off and she was filling the bathtub with water coming from the top floors, because she lives on the ground floor. that is it. her next message was that the bombing was so strong that the water in the bathtub was moving with the shockwaves, that was it. from 2nd march, i haven't heard anything. i tried to call her, i tried to call her neighbours, i tried to call the other neighbour who i have a telephone numberfor. the message says the telephone is switched off so please just leave a message.

viktoria, is it ok if i use your mum's name, or would you rather we didn't say her name? no, it is fine. i only say it because it is a small world and this interview is being broadcast around the world, you never know somebody might say, "i just saw something on the television about you", "i know the neighbour" or whatever. her name is larissa shlikova? shilkova. she is 77—years—old. she lives in mariupol. she has glaucoma. she has to have eye drops. so if anyone is watching who knows larissa, they could perhaps get in touch with us and we could pass on any information. subject, obviously, to knowing the circumstances. from your mum's point of view, as with so many other people, this must be such a terrifying time for you. yes. i couldn't imagine in my worst nightmares that something

like that can happen. you have lived in the uk for 20 years. obviously, covid has prevented you from going back. is it right to say that mariupol is your city? yes. are you able to bear what you see on the television at the moment or do you have to switch it off? no, i can watch it because i have family here, so i have to function. i still go to work, i was working at home, but i still do work. i cannot cry, i cannot laugh, something hasjust frozen inside me. ballet stars from around the world are rehearsing for a gala performance in london this weekend. funds from the charity event will be donated to the disasters emergency committee, which is providing aid to people fleeing ukraine. tolu adayoye reports.

uniting against war through the arts. royal ballet principal, argentinian ,marianela nunez will be among those performing. former ballet star ukrainian ivan putrov is one of the artistic directors of the show. his mother recently arrived in the uk, having escaped the conflict. it took several attempts and a long time by road and then flying from hungary in the end, so i am very happy that she is safe and she will be here at the performance. other members of family are still in ukraine. it is difficult. one can't really quite describe... in a way, producing this in two weeks has distracted me from what is happening. the gala is at the london coliseum. 2,500 tickets were sold within a8 hours. the english national opera has waived its usual rental fees. it will also support the event musically.

there will be dancers from across the world, including brazil, japan, argentina, france, the uk, as well as russia. we would like to show that russian doesn't equal aggression, russian doesn't equal what is happening now, it doesn't mean support for this war and it should not be... ..thrown away or cancelled. you know, we... i love my russian friends. romanian ballet star alina cojocaru has co—directed. she trained alongside ivan in kyiv and will be performing at the gala. i hope i'm not going to get too emotional on saturday, but part of us... it is dancing out there on stage in hope. the message we want to send with this is that we are dancers, we are musicians, we are all human beings and all we want to do is to be the little bit that we can. that i choose not to stand by thinking, "there is nothing i can

do about it, it is overwhelming, i have no power," to say, "there is something i can do and i am doing it right now." let's not think we have no power. tolu adayoye with that report. a group of orphans evacuated from ukraine with the help of a charity set up by fans of hibernian football club have been given permission to go to scotland. dnipro kids was set up by hibs fans in 2005 after the team played a match there. the charity has already arranged for the children to be evacuated from ukraine to poland and says it hopes they will arrive in edinburgh on monday. catriona renton reports. this was the moment these ukrainian orphans crossed the border. they had made the 700—mile journey to poland from the city of dnipro. they were joined by children from other orphanages. given permission to go to scotland. mothers were taken to a hotel

in poland by the charity set up by hibernian football club supporters. their ultimate destination — scotland. over the last week, the children have been doing school lessons in the hotel while the charity has been waiting for news about whether they would be allowed into the uk. everybody has everything is in place and the only thing that we need is the uk government to say it is ok to bring the children over. we have accommodation organised, we have support packages organised. i've spent much of the last week trying to help the scottish charity dnipro kids, established by fans of hibernian football club... on wednesday, the snp leader at westminster asked about the children's situation. the home office said the authorities in ukraine have confirmed the children can come here. i'm just delighted. i can honestly say that... i think for most people that come into politics, you come in to try to make a difference.

you have a voice to try to assist others. all i've really done is assist the charity and i'm just... tonight i'm just so, so pleased, so pleased for all of them but most importantly so pleased for the children. the home office say they are working urgently with poland to ensure the children's swift arrival to the uk and then they can finish their long journey all the way from dnipro to edinburgh. i'm going to get onto facetime in poland just now and break the news to them and we will see how that goes. i'm looking forward to being able to tell them the good news. and looking forward to seeing them here in scotland? absolutely. catriona renton, bbc news. more than £a2 million has been raised for comic relief, the charity fundraising extravaganza featured on bbc television. the red nose day broadcast, which took place last night, will be donating some of the money to organisations providing aid in ukraine. comedians, actors, musicians and sports stars took part in a variety of sketches and stunts.

our entertainment correspondent colin paterson was watching. welcome to red nose day 2022! tonight, your hosts are... well, one of the hosts was actually missing. before we go any further, you might notice we're a player down tonight. zoe ball unfortunately got covid... audience: aw! ..and was forced to pull out of the show. we will miss you tonight, zoe. we are sending you loads and loads of love. lots of love, honey. there was a special episode of the repair shop featuring french and saunders. erm, this is it. 0h! close—up, close—up! it's a toaster. yes. yes, it makes toast, it makes lovely toast. lovely. it used to make toast. and also damejudi dench

and her daughter, finty williams. that's jay blades. yes. bye, jay. no, mum... bye! come on. bye! bye — bye. bye! 0k, bye—bye. come on. 0h... matt lucas and david walliams brought back their rock profile show, with vernon kay asking the questions and impressions including... adele. # hello! # why is it important for you to be on this charity record? well, i've always loved the song the greatest love of all. you know, i grew up listening to it. i used to sing it in the shower when i was washing me bits. standard! read all about it! get your evening standard! and lady gaga. is there something wrong with the headphones? . i can't hear a thing. lady gaga, one thing you are famous for is your amazing sense of style and outlandish fashion. 0h, hush now! am i? one of outfits that really hit the headlines was the dress completely made out of meat. oh, that was 'awful'. no, it was brilliant! no, it was offal.

it was made from offal. unbelievable! jack whitehall took on england footballers mason mount and declan rice at minigolf. 0h, he's done it. get in the hole! 0h! no! yes! unbelievable! # if you don't want my love if you don't want my love...# and call the midwife's helen george joined tamzin outhwaite, the comedian rosiejones, gemma collins and nina wadia as they learnt how to become opera singers in just 2a hours. by the end of the three—hour main show, more than £a0 million had been raised. colin paterson, bbc newsline, salford. and didn't they do well? thanks to all of you in the uk who raised

money for red nose day. hello there. it certainly has been a glorious start to the weekend. hardly a cloud in the sky out there at the moment. take a look at suffolk from a few hours ago. a beautiful scene here along the coast, but there is a nagging easterly breeze which willjust take the edge off the feel of the weather through this afternoon. a different story, though, further north and west and in highland, absolutely beautiful this morning. here is where we could see the highest values as we go through the afternoon. it is this area of high pressure keeping things pretty quiet. it is drifting off into scandinavia and so that is where we have more of a squeeze on the isobars. stronger winds around the edge of that high pressure and it's

coming from an easterly direction, a coolish source at this time of year. there will not be much in the way of cloud at all. we keep the blue sky and the sunshine and because the wind direction is coming in from the east, that could have an impact because the sea temperatures at this time of year are on the cool side. here they are, around seven or eight degrees. so the wind direction widely around 25 to 30 miles an hour, but we have seen gusts of wind so far today in excess of a0 miles an hour across the channel coast and the south west. so, here, temperatures perhaps around nine to 12 degrees. further west, across england and wales, we will see 16, but it could be that the highest temperatures today will be across western scotland and highland, where we could see 17, possibly 18 degrees. if we get 18 degrees, it will be the warmest day of the year so far. high pressure stays with us tonight. the isobars open up just a touch and the winds will fall lighter. we keep more cloud out to the west, so temperatures holding up, but in central and eastern areas, we could see temperatures low enough for a touch of light frost, maybe some patchy mist around, as well. on the whole, as we go

into a sunday, we keep that dry theme, but it could be a little bit colder and there could be more in the way of cloud around, as well. some early morning mist and fog across the north—east and, as we go through the day, east anglia and south—east england could see more cloud drifting in and a few nuisance showers by the end of the afternoon. temperatures through sunday afternoon nine to 13 degrees, but the dry weather is here to stay and, if you haven't already heard, of the week, with temperatures at mid—to—high teens, perhaps 20 degrees somewhere in the south east by wednesday.

this is bbc news. i'm matthew amroliwala. street fighting in the centre of mariupol in the south of ukraine. the violence is preventing rescuers reaching hundreds of survivors still trapped beneath a shelled theatre building. ukraine's president tells russia to join "meaningful" peace talks or face catastrophic losses. translation: | want - everyone to hear me now, especially in moscow. it's time to meet. time to talk. it is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for ukraine. i'mjames reynolds, live near lviv from a humanitarian aid distribution hub. russia says it's used hypersonic missiles, which travel five—times the speed

of sound, to attack an underground