this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lukwesa burak. our top stories... the russian invasion of ukraine continues — trapped for 30 hours under rubble, after shelling in the city of mykolaiv, a ukrainian soldier is pulled out alive. very tense here, it looks like there are planes overhead we heard explosions and soldiers are telling us to leave quickly which is what we are doing now. 80 percent of buildings in the port city mariupol, have been damaged by the russian assault. those who've managed to get out, describe what they've fled. translation: there is no mariupol, we sat in a shelter and did not - leave once. we had no electricity. no water.

i'm james reynolds live in the city of lviv — with the latest from inside ukraine. two former british prime ministers, join calls for a new nuremberg—style tribunal, to investigate vladimir putin for his actions in ukraine. and a convoy of 18 fire engines sets off from southern england, with equipment and supplies forfirefighters in ukraine. welcome to bbc news. ukraine's president has called for comprehensive peace talks with russia, "without delay". volodymyr zelensky also accused russian troops — of causing a "humanitarian disaster", in the besieged city of mariupol.

the mayor of the strategically important port says street fighting is hampering efforts to rescue hundreds of people, trapped inside the basement of a theatre, that officials say was bombed by russia on wednesday. let's get the latest on the ground — my colleague, james reynolds, is in the western city of lviv. thanks, it is quiet here, so quiet thatjust a few thanks, it is quiet here, so quiet that just a few seconds ago, thanks, it is quiet here, so quiet thatjust a few seconds ago, i could hear a church bell in the distance tolling nine o'clock. there is one hour to go until curfew and it is still reasonably quiet here in western ukraine in the city of lviv of a mixture of people who have came here. there are people who will be looking at the phone, they are closer to the front lines and their attention and hours turned to the south of ukraine to mykolaiv well as a strike in the city on a ukrainian base that killed many ukrainian

service people. —— where there was a strike. our correspondent, andrew harding, has spent the day in mykolaiv. welcome to lviv where things are reasonably quiet, this is something of a ref is for people for the rest of the country, for kyiv, for kharkiv and people come here to pose —— hunting for survivors, it is believed to hundred people were here when muscle struck, ukrainian officials are not saying how many people died here but we are told it could be well over 100 and then suddenly a survivors found after 30 hours under the rubble in freezing temperatures. his name unknown for now but most likely a local recruit for a city that is taking a hammering. and then it is time to move, fast. the sound ukrainians have come to dread. very tense here, it looks like somebody heard planes overhead, i heard explosions and the

soldiers told us to leave very quickly which is what we are doing now. a few minutes later, the all clear but nerves are wearing thin here in mykolaiv, the front line for russia's black sea offensive. translation: i cannot tell you how scared we are says julia, we all live in a cellar now. when the bombs hit the army base, everything shook. and everyone's phones are filling up with pictures of their cities' agonies. along the coast, a glimpse of how much worse things could still get. this is mariupol, or what is left of it. used by russia, hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped in the city. heavy fighting means no way out for them in no way to bring in food or water. back in mykolaiv, another error rate

—— air raid siren and more notice that russia is not just looking to kill ukrainian soldiers. it looks like they are targeting purely military sites but more often than not, it is civilian neighbourhoods like this one getting hit. nine people who were queueing on the street outside these shops were killed a few days ago by a russian bombardment. just two blocks away, this man is trying to clear up after this. by chance, he and his family were away when the bomb hit. translation: this is not a war between armies, he says, - the russians are trying to destroy us. nearby, at the army base, the search for more survivors goes on. at night across ukraine, is for many families to be as any basement or cellar, orshelter, families to be as any basement or cellar, or shelter, whatever they

can find to protect them from air raid siren missiles, from rockets and many of the shelters underground were built decades ago, in soviet times to protect from a different enemy and different threat. sol—— so i —— they have now become useful again. —— people in the ukrainian capital, kyiv, have been spending their nights underground, to avoid the threat that hangs over their city. our international correspondent, orla guerin, joined them in a shelter, built during soviet times. the nightly routine as the curfew to send, they seek refuge below ground in kyiv. we cannot say exactly where. some are glued to the radio. like a scene from wars gone by. and they bed down in darkness. forced into the shadows. our guide is zoe, a teacher and translator driven from her own bed by russian attacks.

they bombed the city close to my apartment. at five o'clock in the morning, i got up like crazy, i did not know what to do, it was frightening. the building was shaking like this, and after that, i decided to come here. i am sorry. before, i watched it only in the movies. of the second world war starting. the movie is about it, but now we are in this reality. in a makeshift bedroom nearby, another echo of the blast. —— in a makeshift bedroom nearby, another echo of the past. a discarded lenin. many believe vladimir putin is trying to drag ukraine and europe back to the dark days of the soviet era. at the dinner table, the discussion among friends and neighbours is about the defences around the city. and there are other worries here.

like what to tell the children. julia says her six—year—old keeps asking questions. we tell her she has to cope for a little while and we hug her and kiss her, she says. then it is bed time. mother and daughter counting sheep. a familiar ritual in a time of danger and uncertainty. as we've been reporting — ukraine's president zelensky has again, called for peace talks

with vladimir putin. saying that walls and in agreement. those talks have not happened so far. so what are the chances this meeting will happen? and be successful? here's our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, in kyiv. there is a lot of talk about peace talks, that is what can be said. president zelensky said it is time to talk in time to meet, saying this will take generations for russians to recover from this. will take generations for russians to recoverfrom this. what will take generations for russians to recover from this. what we hear from president putin? he told a big stadium where people either gathered or made to gather us they —— saying we will carry out our plans. we can see on the ground his plans are not finished, we know at the minimum he wants to secure his southern belle to a land corridor between the two

areas, eastern ukraine, the crimean peninsula, which already under his control and the negotiators are talking, they seem to be making progress but we do know there are lines and until progress is made on the ground, we don't know how much president putin one andy talk about talks will just president putin one andy talk about talks willjust be talk. the curfew will begin here in lviv shortly. the curfew will begin here in lviv shortl . , , ., ., ., , shortly. the streets are already em , shortly. the streets are already empty. though. _ shortly. the streets are already empty, though, people - shortly. the streets are already empty, though, people can - shortly. the streets are already empty, though, people can getj shortly. the streets are already - empty, though, people can get out of their homes tomorrow morning to go and buy things from the shops, sue —— to have coffee and have a breather from —— to have coffee and have a breatherfrom being —— to have coffee and have a breather from being trapped —— to have coffee and have a breatherfrom being trapped inside. by breatherfrom being trapped inside. by contrast, another part, and a lot of... the ukraine military have announced a 38—hour curfew, in the southern city of zaporizhzhia, following a russian rocket attack. our correspondent, wyre davies, is there. this is the town of zaporizhzhia.

it's about 130 miles just to the north—west of the besieged city of mariupol, which, of course, has been virtually flattened by russian artillery fire. in recent days and weeks, those people who have been able to flee from mariupol have been coming through here. many of them, including children, being treated at local hospitals. but the big fear here now is that this city will become the next target for the russian offensive. indeed, in recent weeks, there have been sporadic missile attacks in the area. and in the last 2a hours, seven people were reported to have been killed in attacks against a local training base and factories. and that's meant a curfew has now been declared, a 38—hour curfew, in this city declared by the army

and by local authorities and that's already led to pretty big queues at checkpoints in the city. people fleeing the city to the north to dnipro. of course, the fear is that even though many of these big old civic buildings are standing, that this city will soon resemble what has happened in mariupol. here in the west of ukraine which is still relatively safe, when the curfew ends in the morning, many people will go outside and white head to the train station, they might do so to catch the train that takes them across the border to poland and greater safety. zhanna bezpiatchuk is from the bbc ukrainian service. i spoke to her earlier at the train station. first of all, where thing right now is in the train station in western ukraine and we see numerous of these trains leaving for poland, for a polish town and its leaves in a few

minutes, no precise schedule for such trains but it is about to part. almost everybody in those trains does not believe it is for them. they believe they will return to their homeland and the family of one of my friends, one of my closest friends is about to take one of those... to the polish town within the next day. the mother and grandmother, then they are going to poland and then that is the reality for many, many ukrainians, 400 of thousands of refugees from this country that have two fully it and flee the wall. lot of their making. i talked also to many other people who stay here in western ukraine and

i have to remind them yesterday that their aircraft plant was hit by russian missiles and many people that fled the war in the other parts of the country and found the safety here in these of ukraine, now they are buried by the situation but many of the western edge of the country and all the safe lease, for example, many mothers and sons will be continuing their... and they support their children, support their families and it means that people who are from there, areas which are heavily hit, they want to flee the country and this is the safety of a

safe place for ukrainians. haw country and this is the safety of a safe place for ukrainians. how do --eole safe place for ukrainians. how do peeple think _ safe place for ukrainians. how do people think the _ safe place for ukrainians. how do people think the war _ safe place for ukrainians. how do people think the war is _ safe place for ukrainians. how do people think the war is going - safe place for ukrainians. how do people think the war is going to l people think the war is going to end? , ., ., , , end? first of all, the biggest hope of all peeple _ end? first of all, the biggest hope of all people around _ end? first of all, the biggest hope of all people around on _ end? first of all, the biggest hope of all people around on this - end? first of all, the biggest hope of all people around on this train, | of all people around on this train, people in lviv and other regions of ukraine is that this war can end really soon, within a few months. this is the first point that the second is that apple really listened very extensively to what president zelensky says in his televised speeches which already became part of everyday schedules for many people, all ukrainian people watch the resident and what he says every morning, night, in shelters, in basements of this country so he has said very clearly it is time to speakfor ukraine said very clearly it is time to speak for ukraine and russia but the end of the war for ukraine

speak for ukraine and russia but the end of the warfor ukraine means that they have russian ground troops in the north and south of the country in the east of the country. and if we have time, i can give you just very good simple expectations, how people see the end of the war. when the russian ground troops entered the areas close to give, that they are fierce fighting in a town that started just in the first days of the war and the russian army destroyed their big transport aircraft, that was produced in ukraine and it called dream. now you can see posters all across ukraine saying you, russian occupiers, destroyed our dream. but we are ready and we will build the new dream, a more powerful and more

beautiful. that is the end of the war. when they break say, many more people will head to the train station for that short right out of ukraine and into the european union, into what they would hope much greater safety. more than 3 million ukrainians have made thisjourney in the last few weeks. that's it from lviv in western ukraine, time now to hand back to lukwesa in london. heavy bombardment from russian forces continues in kharkiv in the east of ukraine. my colleague, matthew amroliwala, has been speaking to inna sovsu. she's a ukrainian mp and deputy head of the golos political party. she started off by telling us about her family and friends who are currently in kharkiv. i was getting desperate messages from them, from the first day of war. they are all terrified. what is important to know is that kharkiv is a russian—speaking city to a very big extent, and i was getting messages in russian from many, many people

who were saying one thing. we want the whole world to know that kharkiv is a ukrainian city. we want to stay part of ukraine, so please do not surrender. that was the messages from people sitting in bunkers for days and nights without water, without electricity, but the only thing they wanted the world to know is that this is a ukrainian city and they need it to stay this way. tell me the impact it's had on you, because am i right in saying you've been separated from your son recently? my son was relocated to the western ukraine by his father. my boyfriend joined the army. my parents left western ukraine. then my dad came back tojoin the territorial defence and now he's helping evacuate people. i did come to see my son a day ago, just to double check on him and talk to him and calm him down a little bit.

i will have to go back to kyiv, though, unfortunately. but staying away from your loved ones is one of the biggest challenges, of course, for everyone, for us here. i miss my son a lot. now i'm seeing him, but i'll have to leave again soon. i miss my boyfriend so badly. i randomly get messages from him but i never know where he is, if he's safe, and that is of course extreme pressure, yeah. those are incredibly difficult conversations to have. do you think vladimir putin is serious about peace talks and do you think it's partly why president zelensky wants to meet him in person so he can actually make thatjudgment? that is something i actually talked to my boyfriend about this morning, and he is with the army and he wanted me to say this. he says please say thank you to liz truss, if you can, for saying what she said. she basically said that putin is using the negotiations as a smoke screen in order to recruit forces and prepare for further attack.

that is what it feels like on the ground from people fighting against russians here in ukraine. there is no single sign that russian forces are trying to surrender, that they are trying to stop the attacks. they are actually getting more and more violent here in ukraine. and that is why we are extremely sceptical about the possibility to make a deal with putin. we are seeing that they are lying all the time. we did see a week ago when lavrov blatantly claimed they didn't start a war in ukraine, so making deals with such people is extremely dangerous. and that is why we are extremely concerned about the promises they are giving. a final quick thought, and i'm going to put it on to our screen, something you post on social media only a few days ago and you tweeted. .. "a month ago, i had my life, i had myjob, which was frustrating sometimes but i watched movies

with my son and my boyfriend. i cooked dinner. we ordered pizza. i went running. now i wake up to explosions in my city at five in the morning." i mean, it is a very straightforward post that you make but it underlines so totally how dramatically life has changed injust three weeks. it is true and i posted that the day when there was yet another strike in kyiv at 5am in the morning when i think three residential buildings had been destroyed. it was a sunny day. it was the day when we were having the parliamentary session and i walked around the city. i went to the supermarket. i passed by the bakery that i used to go to and the supermarket shelves were half empty. the bakery has a sign, which used to have dozens of baked goods, it had a sign that they are now only selling coffee and bread and ijust felt so acutely this change in my life that i was building for years, that is just completely gone right now and i will never be able to fully get back to how it used to be before.

that is for sure. but i just want at least some sense of normality. as the west continues to impose harsh economic sanctions on russia, it has looked to the world's second largest economy for support. however china has so far refused to condemn the russian invasion and continues to buy its oil and gas. yesterday, us president joe biden warned his chinese counterpart xi jinping there would be �*consequences' if beijing chose to aid moscow more explicitly. but will they listen? well, earlier, my colleague lewis vaughanjones spoke to dr theresa fallon, the director of the centre for russia europe asia studies, which is a brussels based think tank. i think you're trying to sit very carefully on the fence and not look too close to vladimir putin and not too close to vladimir putin and not to upset big markets in europe and asia but i think this has become very problematic after the meeting or phone call with presidentjoe biden. we saw the meeting on monday in rome, a seven hour long meeting with jake sullivan and his chinese

counterpart and that was very testy from what i've been hearing, and so the call yesterday was really to kind of show and demonstrate of the world whose side beijing is on and so they haven't really clarified their position, clearly they are still backing russia so initially they would not support sanctions, so that was a key indicator and if we go back to the february four agreement that was signed between xi jinping and president vladimir putin in the run—up to the olympics, they showed that they have a vision of the future, how they see the new world order, and they need to cooperate and coordinate. just on that, if they _ cooperate and coordinate. just on that, if they do — cooperate and coordinate. just on that, if they do continue - cooperate and coordinate. just on that, if they do continue to - that, if they do continue to cooperate and coordinate, and the west does impose sanctions on china, what impact would that have? it is what impact would that have? it is difficult to say _ what impact would that have? it 3 difficult to say impose sanctions on china, it is a massive economy and their number one trade partner with over 100 countries in the world so what beijing really fears is the

banking system, they are trying to come up with a workaround, they might not do something so in the face as we've seen in north korea, they do get around sanctions, so i think that they could actually give cash to russia, they can use the national banks to send supplies directly to russia and not need swift but they are cautious of the sanctions regime, they did not get what they bargained for, expected perhaps a lightning moved by putin i did not expect to see such solidarity within europe and the alliance, so this is something china very much for years and they are always in and tie sanction mode, we need to remember what happened with the investment and the eu china trade agreement, where they were willing to sacrifice that we are the europeans have given sanctions to form a low level people in regard signal that they are unhappy with the crimes against humanity there, so it is super sanctions against them in order to kind of train them

not even anchor at the sanctions in china. i not even anchor at the sanctions in china. , ., ., , , china. i 'ust want to lastly bring u . china. i 'ust want to lastly bring u- the china. ijust want to lastly bring up the issue _ china. ijust want to lastly bring up the issue of _ china. ijust want to lastly bring up the issue of taiwan - china. ijust want to lastly bring up the issue of taiwan which . china. ijust want to lastly bring | up the issue of taiwan which has been mentioned quite a lot. can you tell me why this situation comes up now? , ., �* , ., , ., tell me why this situation comes up now? ,, �*, ., , ., ., now? everyone's nightmare is a two wronued now? everyone's nightmare is a two wronged fort- _ now? everyone's nightmare is a two wronged fort. everyone _ now? everyone's nightmare is a two wronged fort. everyone would - now? everyone's nightmare is a two wronged fort. everyone would like l now? everyone's nightmare is a two| wronged fort. everyone would like to do that and china has to think that if something happens, if this becomes a bigger war in europe, with nato versus russia, will china do something using the distraction of the us, will they do something with taiwan? that is the big question and many would think, no, but it's hard to predict these things so the fact that an aircraft carrier is going in that an aircraft carrier is going in that region sends a very worrying signals. also beijing is using psychological... 0n the taiwanese, so i think this is something that may be xijinping might have to recalculate because in november, we will be... actually, my impression is that there wants peace and quiet

because he wants to change the chinese norms and be a leaderfor life. he needs to keep everything under control until november. find life. he needs to keep everything under control until november. and we are back shortly _ under control until november. and we are back shortly with _ under control until november. and we are back shortly with more. _ despite the sunshine many of us would agree it feels on the cold side, particularly the wind. the skies are clear with lots of fine weather around and that will lead to a frost tonight. thanks to this high pressure will stick around for the weekend and into next week but around this area of high pressure the winds are pretty strong, blowing in from the east and the sea is very chilly this time of the year. in fact the temperatures around coastal areas are seven or eight degrees. that wind blows off the sea gusting to around 30mph and drags that chilly air off the water inland and then it feels cold. of course it does warm up a little bit inland. up to around 13 or 14 degrees. in western parts of scotland we have

more shelter with temperatures going up to 17 degrees so hints of spring across this part of the world. tonight clear skies with the nagging wind out there but where the wind falls light, particularly inland, there will be a touch of frost, probably around freezing in rural areas and two or three degrees above freezing in city centres. high pressure still with us tomorrow. this area of cloud across the netherlands and belgium is heading our way and for some of us it will be a bit more cloudy on sunday, maybe a few more showers around in east anglia and the south—east. it starts off sunny and breezy and chilly first thing and the area of cloud from belgium and the netherlands moves into east anglia and maybe brings a couple of showers. many central areas from the south to the north lots of sunshine around. a bit chilly on north sea course and about nine degrees in newcastle with the wind blowing off the north sea. monday and tuesday, the wind

switches from the south and it will be much milder. i would say it is even going to feel warm and a really promising outlook for the second half of the week. temperatures up to 17 or 18 and will probably touch 20 degrees, fingers crossed, for the first time this year.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lukwesa burak. our top stories... the russian invasion of ukraine continues. trapped for 30 hours under rubble after shelling in the city of mykolaiv, a ukrainian soldier is pulled out alive. 80% of buildings in the port city of mariupol, have been damaged by the russian assault. those who've managed to get out describe what they've fled. translation: there is no mariupol. we sat in a cellar for ten days and did not leave once. we neither had water or electricity. two former british prime ministersjoin calls, for a new nuremberg—style tribunal to investigate vladimir putin, for his actions in ukraine.

hello. we are going to start with an update with the situation in ukraine. concerning the number of people that have been evacuated. we are hearing from the sea ukrainian official and this is an official within the presidents's office, a total of 6623 people have been evacuated through ukrainian cities on saturday. comparing it to friday's members, considerably fewer. they were just over 9000 on friday. after day's figures, 4128 were evacuated from mariupol. you will know there is concern that some of those in

mariupol are being forced to flee to russia, and confirmed, but there are local reports that we have been hearing. which cities the 6623 are being evacuated to, we don't know yet. we heard from the ukrainian deputy prime minister that ten humanitarian corridors had been agreed. the only figure we have now is that 6623 have been evacuated through humanitarian corridors. where to and where from, detail is limited so far. two former british prime ministers, gordon brown and sirjohn major, have called for a new international tribunal to be set up, to investigate vladimir putin, for his actions in ukraine. they've signed a petition, alongside 140 academics, lawyers and politicians campaigning for a legal system, modelled on the nuremberg trials, of nazi war ciminals, after the second world war. gordon brown spoke to

bbc radio 4 earlier. go back to 1942, when the allies got together and said that they would punish war crimes and that led to the nuremberg trials, what's unique about this is that we are seeing, as you just reported from mariupol, the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, which is against international law, the targeting of schools, hospitals and public buildings, against international law, we are seeing the breach of humanitarian ceasefires, we are seeing the breach of humanitarian corridors that are being created by the russians and of course we are seeing nuclear blackmail. all of these things are adding up to massive loss of life, of course. the petition was started by phillipe sands. he's a specialist in international law. he explained how the system could work. the idea that is beginning to slowly come together is the creation of a tribunal established by a small number of countries drawing on the criminal law of ukraine and russia, which criminalises the crime of aggression

and internationalises the process. it might be situated in the hague, it would have an international investigator, an international prosecutor, it would maybe have international judges, as well as ukrainian judges, this follows precedents that already exist in international law. and the first thing it would do is gather evidence and identify persons of interest. it is not complicated, unlike war crimes and crimes against humanity which take years to put together because you have to link the act that is a crime with the perpetrator and that is pretty tough for crimes against humanity and war crimes. the crime of aggression is pretty straightforward. the second thing that would happen is you'd create that list of persons of interest and that, ithink, would begin to galvanise people's attention. russia says it's used hypersonic missiles, to destroy an underground weapons storage unit, in western ukraine. it's the first time they've admitted using these types

of missiles in combat. james bosbotinis is an independent specialist in defence and international affairs. he told us more about these types of missiles. the kinzhal is an air launched ballistic missile. it can travel at speeds up to ten times the speed of sound and has a range of about 2,000 kilometres. it's designed to provide precision strike capability against both targets on land and at sea. it entered service in late 2017 and this is its combat debut. the speed of the kinzhal puts it beyond the reach of any ukrainian air defence system. and the launch platforms, in this case, the mig31—ik, can launch from ranges beyond the reach of ukraine. the kinzhal was likely launched from southern russia. so, unfortunately for ukraine,

there's no chance of defending against these hypersonic weapons. a group of orphans evacuated from ukraine, with the help of a charity set up by fans of the scottish football club, hibernian, have been given permission to travel 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'll arrive in edinburgh on monday. the bbc�*s 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. in total, 50 children as young as two years old and their orphanage 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 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 on to face time 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. 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. the bbc�*s 0livia le poidevin reports. here is what i hear

in the heart of kyiv. the russian army bombing peaceful ukraine. that's the voice of valentyna from kyiv in ukraine. just months earlier, she had been celebrating new year's eve in the country's capital. now she is fleeing from war. valentyna never thought there 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. she is in regular contact with her aunt, who lives in poltava in ukraine. so, you are russian, you've got family in russia. yeah. you've heard the news about russian soldiers being killed. yeah, yeah. but also you have family suffering in ukraine. how do you feel about that? imean, it's... it's horrible. there will be people falling into two categories. there will be very aggressively kind of motivated people who will be pushed by some ideas of war and, yeah, i don't feel sad for them, but then there will be others that have been dragged into it, and then another side is that i know, i've spokenjust now with one of my parent's friends, their son is at the age of compulsory army service, and they are trying to run away.

i do feel bad, especially there's a lot of young kids, basically, being killed. has there been any tension between your ukrainian and russian side of the family? not yet, because our family in ukraine knows the situation is very difficult in russia, as well. she knows we are not supportive of what is happening. for ukrainians and russians with families in both countries, this war is causing pain and division, and no one knows when it will end. 0livia le poidevin, bbc news. ukrainian it experts living abroad are using crowdsourcing technology to help people plot safe routes out of conflict zones in ukraine. they're connecting those civilians with volunteer drivers, who are transporting bus loads of people to neighbouring countries. marc cieslack 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's been made possible by dozens of volunteers, thousands of miles away. yes, i am organising the evacuation of kids with cancer from ukraine to poland, and then to germany, to hospital. a ukrainian software developer living in los angeles, arthur chaloin, one was one of the people who answered the call to help made by his country's digital minister and its government. he's used his skills gained in the tech industry to create a group called ukrainenow. it's made up of volunteers organised by via messaging apps. they immediately set about raising funds and arranging ways to help evacuate civilians from ukrainian cities under russian attack. i've been building tech start—ups for the last decade. i'm an engineer myself. i have a degree in systems of artificial intelligence. there is limited capacity, too — what's left of the un and red cross — and there

is no—one else to help. it's all civilians evacuating civilians and we're 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. it's an international effort. civilians in ukraine make requests 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've raised. a dispatcher in the us puts the evacuating civilians in contact with those drivers, who arranges 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's recently returned from evacuating people from afghanistan. he's helping on the ground. i spoke to him as he journeyed away

from the city of mykolaiv with a bus full of women, children and men over 60, travelling to safety by crossing the border into moldova. it's a very riskyjourney. as you know, we are driving to the border and anything can happen, whether it's bombings when we're in the big city. it'sjust insane. finding a safe route is not easy, so a number of different volunteers on the ground send information and data about safer roads to the us team. they gather 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're essentially crowdsourcing safe passage out of a war zone. for now, we're definitely moving closer to the western part of ukraine, to minimise the danger, but even that is not safe. the bus that we just evacuated two days ago went through the route that was bombed just, you know,

ten hours after. lots of the passengers on this bus have 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 frightened. we are always afraid - about that it can happen and we are going to be - without food, we are going to be bombed. eventually, the bus approaches the moldovan border, and safety. we are at the border. and there is three buses outside. you're at the border with — you've crossed over into moldova now? as the situation in ukraine intensifies, travelling like this will become increasingly dangerous. how long do you think that you will be able to continue making journeys like this one? i don't know, but i'm not going to stop before this war is going to stop and people can go back 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. p&0 ferries says some of its services from liverpool have resumed after all ships were called back to port on thursday. just hours later the firm announced 800 staff had been sacked and would be replaced with agency workers. the scottish government says it is now reviewing all publicly funded contracts with the company. our business correspondent ramzan karmali reports. protesters let their feelings be known about the sudden dismissal of 800 p80 staff outside the tory party conference in blackpool. the government really needs to get its act together rather than be leading the destruction of the british maritime industry. they should be doing all they can to reverse the loss of 800 jobs and the impact and devastation that

will cause the communities around the coast. in dover, p&0s ferries lie idle. the dubai based owners dp world have come under intense criticism on the way they have treated their workers. if they don't have money in their pockets, then their families are going to be in need. it also means that local shopkeepers are not going to have the benefit of people spending. this is going to impact greatly on the wider community. the government is now also coming under scrutiny about the legal advice it took when told about the plans, and the scottish government told the bbc it's reviewing all publicly funded contracts with p&0. p&0 says it is now taking bookings for its crossing between liverpool and dublin. but for these ferries here in dover and in fact eight across the whole country, the transport secretary grant shapps is insisting on full safety checks. this delay will undoubtedly cost the company money, but it could also

have an impact on businesses and passengers alike. one of europe's biggest transportation companies is worried about the potential long term impact. we are trying to move all our trucks and trailers with cargoes to another lines, but we understand the every, every carrier now will do the same. so we see the lines, the queues slowly growing. absolutely disgrace what's going on. the government has asked the insolvency service to check if dp world acted appropriately. but it's clear p&0's brand has been damaged by this week's firings. ramzan karmali, bbc news, dover. china has reported its first covid deaths since january last year as it faces its worst outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. two people have died in the province ofjeelin in the northeast. officials said they were elderly with underlying health conditions. china has continued with its zero covid policy, locking down entire cities and enforcing mass testing.

three bids have been made to buy the english premier league football club, chelsea, which was put up for sale by its billionaire russian owner, roman abramovich, earlier this month. mr abramovich was sanctioned by the british government last week after officials said he had links to vladimir putin, a claim he's always denied. the three bidders are the british property tycoon, nick candy, chicago cubs owners, the ricketts family, and the pairing of sir martin broughton and sebastian coe, president of world athletics. chelsea have been allowed to continue operations under a special licence, but mr abramovich cannot profit from the sale. the leaders of india and japan have called for an immediate ceasefire in ukraine in a joint statement following talks in delhi. but there was no condemnation in the statement of russia for its invasion of ukraine. india's prime minister narendra modi, who wants to maintain

close ties with moscow, didn't even explicitly mention the conflict in press comments after their meeting. fire—fighting vehicles are among a convoy of specialist equipment being taken from the uk to help recovery efforts in ukraine. fire services across the country have donated. simonjones reports. the biggest convoy of its kind ever organised by the fire service sets off from ashford. 18 fire engines laden with life—saving equipment to be donated to ukrainian firefighters on the front line in the war against russia. i think it's part of the fire service dna. we're here to help people and we're very passionate about it. we know what the fire service in ukraine are going through. this is the type of equipment being sent to ukraine. there are uniforms and ppe, which has all been sorted into sizes. there are generators and also thermal—imaging cameras.

this is all kit that is surplus to requirements here in the uk. a toughjob has become even tougher for the emergency services in ukraine, trying to rescue people from besieged areas, searching the rubble of destroyed buildings for survivors and, recently, fighting a fire at a nuclear power plant that was shelled. i mean, the footage i've been watching on the television has been horrific and i've seen firefighters dealing with the most terrible set of circumstances in ukraine, often with equipment that is outdated or damaged by the conflict, so the stuff we have sent across from every fire service in the uk is going to be vital. the convoy, being driven by serving and retired firefighters and charity volunteers, will take three days to reach the polish border. all those taking part say they hope the kit will help save lives in a show of solidarity with ukraine. 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. 0ne 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 48 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 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. russia's space agency has denied that three of its cosmonauts were showing support for ukraine by boarding the international space station wearing yellow uniforms. the cosmonauts docked safely on friday for a six month mission, joining american, german and russian crewmates already on board. the men's bright clothes, reminiscent of ukraine's flag, prompted speculation they were protesting against the invasion. but a statement from roscosmos said "sometimes yellow is just yellow". it said the cosmonauts' flight suits matched the colours of the univeristy they attended. the standard russian uniform is plain blue.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lukwesaburak. stay with us here on bbc news. despite the sunshine many of us would agree it feels on the cold side, particularly the wind. the skies are clear with lots of fine weather around and that will lead to a frost tonight. thanks to this high pressure will stick around for the weekend and into next week but around this area of high pressure the winds are pretty strong, blowing in from the east and the sea is very chilly this time of the year. in fact the temperatures around coastal areas are seven or eight degrees. that wind blows off the sea gusting to around 30mph and drags that chilly air off the water inland and then it feels cold. of course it does warm up a little bit inland.

up to around 13 or 14 degrees. in western parts of scotland we have more shelter with temperatures going up to 17 degrees so hints of spring across this part of the world. tonight clear skies with the nagging wind out there but where the wind falls light, particularly inland, there will be a touch of frost, probably around freezing in rural areas and two or three degrees above freezing in city centres. high pressure still with us tomorrow. this area of cloud across the netherlands and belgium is heading our way and for some of us it will be a bit more cloudy on sunday, maybe a few more showers around in east anglia and the south—east. it starts off sunny and breezy and chilly first thing and the area of cloud from belgium and the netherlands moves into east anglia and maybe brings a couple of showers. many central areas from the south to the north lots of sunshine around.

a bit chilly on north sea course and about nine degrees in newcastle with the wind blowing off the north sea. monday and tuesday, the wind switches from the south and it will be much milder. i would say it is even going to feel warm and a really promising outlook for the second half of the week. temperatures up to 17 or 18 and will probably touch 20 degrees, fingers crossed, for the first time this year.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lukwesa burak. our top stories... the russian invasion of ukraine continues — trapped for 30 hours under rubble, after shelling in the city of mykolaiv, a ukrainian soldier is pulled out alive. very tense here — it looks like there are planes overhead we heard explosions and soldiers are telling us to leave quickly, which is what we are doing now. 80% of buildings in the port city, mariupol, have been damaged by the russian assault. those who've managed to get out describe what they've fled. translation: there is no mariupol, we sat in a cellar and did _

not leave once. we had no electricity.