this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lucy hockings. our top stories: ukrainian authorities say russia has bombed a school in mariupol where around 400 people were sheltering. president zelensky says moscow has committed war crimes in the city. translation: to do this to - a peaceful city that the occupiers did to it is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come. i'mjames i'm james reynolds i'mjames reynolds in lviv in western ukraine. i will bring you the very latest inside this country. fleeing the war across the danube river between ukraine and romania — we follow those searching for a safer life. their thoughts as they reach safety themselves between one world at war and another world at peace are with those they've

left behind in ukraine. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrive in belize as part of their tour of the caribbean to mark the queen's platinum jubilee. the authorities in the beseiged city of mariupol have accused russia of bombing a school where around 400 people were sheltering. there's no word yet on casualties. president zelensky says russia's siege of the port is a "terror that will be remembered for centuries to come". the mayor of mariupol has accused the russian army of illegally removing thousands of residents and taking them back to russia. vadym boychenko says some young men have been taken to remote cities — his claims haven't been independently verified. the kremlin said nearly 8000 ukrainians had

expressed their desire to escape to russia. let's get the latest from the west of the country — my colleague james reynolds is in lviv. what are you hearing from mariupol? we are hearing pretty much the same information that we are trying to get from different positions across the country, which is to repeat that line from the mayor that potentially thousands of ukrainians had been taken by russian forces and moved across the border. it's impossible for us to independently verify that information, because we cannot get information, because we cannot get in and even the ukrainian emergency services are finding it difficult to go to rescues at the theatre and art school where there are reports that a vehicle in which 400 people had been housed had been bombed but we are hearing from the russian authorities that anyone living under their care is doing so because they want to go to russia and that is

obviously a point we will investigate. to explain for i am speaking from, i am not at the train station in lviv, which is a kind of hub for all those escaping conflict from the east of the country, some of them have stories to tell, fighting back tears as they separate from family members —— i am at the train station. for an overview of what's happening, let's go tojohn donnison. increasingly, ukraine's eastern cities are in ruins. kramatorsk one of the latest towns to come under heavy russian bombardment. the un says it's confirmed more than 840 civilians have so far been killed across the country, but says the actual figure is likely far higher. this is the latest satellite picture, the theatre in the southern city of mariupol, bombed by russia on wednesday. four days on, officials say hundreds are still trapped in the basement but reports of fighting nearby are hampering rescue efforts.

mariupol was once a bustling port city, but not after weeks city, but now after weeks of shelling, and encircled by the russians, it's almost unrecognisable. and this morning there are unverified reports of an art school building where 400 people were sheltering being bombed yesterday, with many still trapped in the rubble. translation: the blockade - of mariupol will go down in history of responsibility for war crimes. to do this to a peaceful city that the occupiers did to it is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come. and the more ukrainians tell the world about it, the more support we find. the more russia uses terror against ukraine the worse the consequences will be for it. and the mayor of mariupol says thousands of residents have been forcibly deported to russia, with some taken to remote cities, a claim the bbc cannot

independently verify, but those lucky enough to escape west tell of days of terror. translation: i could never imagine that a bomb would hit house next - to mine, that my district would be literally wiped out. the outskirts of the city were simply destroyed. and then i realised there were simply no safe places in the city any more. and that's now the case in a number of ukrainian cities. in mykolaiv, in the south, around 200 soldiers were sleeping in barracks when three russian missiles hit. a glimmer of hope as one man is pulled from the rubble, but with temperatures reaching lows of —6 it's feared there might not be many more sui’vivoi’s. around ten million ukrainians have now been forced to leave their homes. officials say more than 6,500 people were evacuated from cities through humanitarian corridors yesterday. among them, some of

the most vulnerable. 71 babies and some children from an orphanage in the north—eastern town of sumy, they had been sheltering on a bunker under russian bombardment for several weeks but have now been moved to somewhere at least relatively safe. jon donnison, bbc news. from our positions across this country we continue to monitor and investigate what's happening in mariupol, the city in the besieged southeast. my colleaguejames waterhouse has this analysis. information as ever when it comes coming out of the south—east is very difficult to verify straightaway, but nevertheless we have another claim from authorities in mariupol that a building where people were taking shelter from the constant bombardment that has now been targeted itself. we know 400 people were inside an art school. no word yet on casualties, but it comes as rescue teams try

and pull people out of the rubble at a theatre. hundreds are thought to be trapped there after a theatre housing more than 1,000 was struck a couple of days ago, and what is making their efforts all the more difficult is fighting breaking out in the streets. there are now russian forces in the heart of mariupol. we understand, suggesting, as feared by the west, that the level of ukrainian resistance might be starting to falter under intense pressure. sustained bombardment, sustained siege for more than two weeks, where more than coming up to 2,500 people are known to have died. the figure is thought to be higher, but nevertheless it has come at a cost for the russians. they have sustained unexpected losses, and the thought from military experts is should mariupol fall, yes, it's strategically significant, it gives the russians a land corridor across the south east of ukraine, but it also means

that the russians' priority is to now regroup instead of launch new attacks because of the costs they've sustained. james waterhouse with that analysis on the situation in mariupol. james was reporting from kyiv. we will continue to try to independently verify the claims coming out of mariupol. the train station is to my right, it's a building in which i spoke to a volunteer who said there were six or seven trains leaving from lviv and going across the border to get people to better safety in poland and i am speaking to you from a humanitarian hub where people can get free lunch and water and pause for a few moments before they either get on a train or on one of the buses. they don't have to pay for this, of the buses. they don't have to pay forthis, it of the buses. they don't have to pay for this, it is a way for them to catch their breath as they might have spent two days escaping the front lines in eastern ukraine.

steve mcandrew is the head of emergency operations for the international federation of the red cross in ukraine how are things going today? we are working hard, we have a large group that has arrived at the train station and we are looking at over 3 million people estimated to have left ukraine and another 6 million or more internally displaced inside the country. 50 or more internally displaced inside the country-— the country. so you have 6 million --eole. the country. so you have 6 million peeple- are _ the country. so you have 6 million peeple- are you — the country. so you have 6 million people. are you able _ the country. so you have 6 million people. are you able to _ the country. so you have 6 million people. are you able to look - the country. so you have 6 million people. are you able to look after| people. are you able to look after them? ., , , people. are you able to look after them? .,,, u, ., them? the red cross cannot look after all of _ them? the red cross cannot look after all of them _ them? the red cross cannot look after all of them but _ them? the red cross cannot look after all of them but we - them? the red cross cannot look after all of them but we try - them? the red cross cannot look after all of them but we try to - after all of them but we try to reach the most vulnerable. we have reached over 300,000 people inside ukraine so farand reached over 300,000 people inside ukraine so far and have reached about 600,000 in surrounding countries but we are working with the authorities and other agencies so it's a big job, it's bigger than all of us but we just keep trying with our persistence. fiur all of us but we just keep trying with our persistence. our viewers miaht be with our persistence. our viewers might be curious _ with our persistence. our viewers might be curious as _ with our persistence. our viewers might be curious as to _ with our persistence. our viewers might be curious as to what's - might be curious as to what's happening behind us. you have a

talent there, can you talk as to what's happening quarter behind meat you will see a red cross feeding centre at the main train station in lviv, people can get a hot meal, some soup and borscht soup before they do on their way there are some buses here or they go back on the trains. we buses here or they go back on the trains. ~ ., ., buses here or they go back on the trains. ~ . ., , , ., ., trains. we have a red cross station where they — trains. we have a red cross station where they can _ trains. we have a red cross station where they can get _ trains. we have a red cross station where they can get some _ trains. we have a red cross station where they can get some clothing, | where they can get some clothing, further back there was a red cross tent for mothers and children under two years old so we are trying to reach the basics, you can seek volunteers giving out water and doing the best we can and this is what is going on and we will keep going at it. it what is going on and we will keep auoin at it. , what is going on and we will keep auoin at it. _, q what is going on and we will keep going at it— going at it. it is about 1pm, it's reasonably _ going at it. it is about 1pm, it's reasonably warm _ going at it. it is about 1pm, it's reasonably warm because - going at it. it is about 1pm, it's reasonably warm because it. going at it. it is about 1pm, it's i reasonably warm because it gets going at it. it is about 1pm, it's - reasonably warm because it gets very cold late night and we have seen snowfall in the rest of the country. how easy is it to get warm clothes to people? it’s how easy is it to get warm clothes to --eole? v , how easy is it to get warm clothes to people?— to people? it's very difficult, so we have some _ to people? it's very difficult, so we have some temps _ to people? it's very difficult, so we have some temps here, - to people? it's very difficult, so - we have some temps here, including tents where people can pick up some clouds. the temps we have set up for

children and infants are heated, in the far corner, sometimes people stay there overnight, sometimes they get on a train and try to get out of the country where they stay here in lviv with friends. if someone has nowhere to go out they stay in our heated tent. d0 nowhere to go out they stay in our heated tent-— heated tent. do you have any idea what's going _ heated tent. do you have any idea what's going on — heated tent. do you have any idea what's going on in _ heated tent. do you have any idea what's going on in mariupol - heated tent. do you have any idea what's going on in mariupol in - heated tent. do you have any idea i what's going on in mariupol in terms of the access you are allowed? the re orts of the access you are allowed? the reports from _ of the access you are allowed? tue: reports from mariupol of the access you are allowed? tte: reports from mariupol are of the access you are allowed? "tt2 reports from mariupol are troubling. the latest we have heard is around 350,000 people are trapped in there and my colleagues in the international community of that red cross are working there, the ukrainian red cross are getting it were possible but it's difficult for access, it's an intense situation but when there is an opening they go in and when people come out we are there when they come out so if they can get with the red cross, they can be safe with us, theyjust need to

get to us but we need to get to them. ,, ~ . �* get to us but we need to get to them. ,, a �* . ~' get to us but we need to get to them. ,, n ~ ., ,, ,, them. steve mcandrew, thank you. i want to talk — them. steve mcandrew, thank you. i want to talk through _ them. steve mcandrew, thank you. i want to talk through some _ them. steve mcandrew, thank you. i want to talk through some of- them. steve mcandrew, thank you. i want to talk through some of the - want to talk through some of the stories i have heard in the last hour. i spoke to one young woman trying to be a psychologist who was taking her seven—year—old daughter and her mother out of kharkiv, they had arrived from there, they were exhausted but she said she had to be strong and could only cry when she closed the door of her room. at the door of the train station i spoke to a 19—year—old man who had two violins, he was looking forward to being able to stay here and pick up his music career, he wants to be a professional musician and i spoke to a mother who has two daughters who had been hiding in the basement of their house in the east. her husband is still there in the east. they feel they are safe here but all their thoughts remain in the east and that is a slice of what life is like here in lviv as some people go

to the station, as some families disintegrate or try to reconnect digitally. and behind everyone there is of course a heartbreaking story. good to see you, james reynolds in lviv. let's get more on the refugees leaving ukraine to find safety in other countries. more than half a million people have now fled into neighbouring romania. i'm joined now by the bbc�*s nick thorpe who's in siret, romania. it's a big border crossing, what's happening there today? yes, this is in north—east romania and as you can see behind me people are arriving from ukraine, from the border crossing, children pretty cheerful this morning, it's cold at night but much warmer during the day. children being handed toys as they cross here and a long line of different countries providing food,

hygienic equipment and so on. i think the people at this store are from greece, there are also people from greece, there are also people from turkey, many romanians. there is a stall further along here from the ukrainian 0rthodox is a stall further along here from the ukrainian orthodox church, people serving there in their long beards, the monks from neighbouring monasteries, very well organised romanian police, fire brigade, they are the first people who go out to hunt people as they crossed the border so very well organised and it's one of the most cheerful moments in the last three or four weeks i have spent on different borders, there is likeness and interestingly the numbers are down a little. yesterday at 4000 people across from ukraine at this crossing, perhaps half of what it was a few days ago. there was a sense across the border in western ukraine, people had been watching those patches of the russian

advances within ukraine but as the russian advance for whatever reason it seems to be stalling, many ukrainians are wondering whether they should stay inside the country, some of the 6.5 million people displaced within ukraine, wondering if it's necessary to play, perhaps staying in safe places like there was relatively safe places the other side of this border in western ukraine, wondering if they can stay for longer. there was also a local border traffic, for longer. there was also a local bordertraffic, ukrainians for longer. there was also a local border traffic, ukrainians who had fled from the other side in the first weeks of the war, now going back to feed their animals in some of the villages on the far side so each border crossing very different but also with many aspects in common. the river danube cuts ukraine in the north from romania to the south like a knife. so many people are fleeing ukraine,

it's easy to miss the few returning by river ferry. you still need a ticket if you're going the wrong way. it's a romanian ship flying the ukrainian flag as a courtesy. irina is one of the passengers, a lawyerfrom kyiv. she's just taken her twin children to safety in germany. now she's on her way back to fetch her mother. i have a happy life in ukraine. my native language is russian. but i don't want putin to protect me. i don't know his protection. ukraine was a great country. but now everything is ruined and i don't know when we will stay in my house in safety. i don't know when i can come back to ukraine. the ferry docks and a dozen or so people disembark.

barely an hour later, the ferry fills with refugees. irina and her mother, natalya, among them. many are from 0desa, but there are also some from mykolaiv, the city further east still blocking any russian advance along the coast. they came by boat, by train, by car to the water crossing, their thoughts as they reach safety themselves between one world at war and another at peace are with those they have left behind in ukraine. in romania, the ukrainians get a warm welcome. he was good, she was crying. she thinks that they will never see each other again. are you happy you are at home? i am not at home- — i will be happy when i return to ukraine. i will be happy.

as the sun sets behind the granite mountains, anotherferry embarks from the romanian shore to bring more ukrainians across. nick, you have been too many border crossings in a number of countries over the past few weeks but i wonder how romanians view the situation in ukraine and the war and the hundreds of thousands of people coming to the country for safety when things are pretty hard for lots of romanians every day as it is. that's right, romania is i think the second poorest country in the european union. 0ne second poorest country in the european union. one should also say that it european union. one should also say thatitis european union. one should also say that it is certainly a transit country, of those half a million, 530,000 ukrainians who have arrived here, it's estimated that about 130,000 have stayed, are still here but that number is changing every day but there is 130,000 people who

are being accommodated in cities here, some were taken by transport to bucharest or other parts of the country so i would say the country's welcome is still much there, romania is a loyal nato country, a relatively anti—russian country in sentiment so there is a lot of sympathy for ukrainians and eight romanian minority across this border behind me so there is a traditional cross—border relation here. on the whole romanians are showing that solidarity we are seeing up and down the border and moments like this you see the balloons put out for children, bubbles blowing around so there is a sense in the warm sunshine here at siret this morning of neighbouring countries helping each other out in there are of need. it's nice to see those moments of

lightness. turkey is one of the countries brokering peace talks and says russia and ukraine art nearing agreement on critical issues. turkey's foreign minister said he was hopeful for a ceasefire if the two sides did not backtrack from progress achieved so far. mark malloch—brown is the president of the open society foundations and a former deputy secretary general of the united nations. he gave his assessment of whether diplomacy could resolve the war. at some point there has to be an end to the conflict but i think at the moment the odds against it remain really high. the demands of vladimir putin's side for essentially a demilitarised tamed ukraine and the sacrifice ordinary ukrainians have made to resist exactly that demand means i fear the sweet spot for negotiation of both sides concluding they can

not prevail on their own terms has not been reached so this remains a long conflict and what we are seeing in mariupol gets repeated in other cities. the key point is there is not a win in russia for this, there is the occupation of key cities. but then the prospect of a long insurgency with the insurgents and the current government armed by the west. still the most likely prospect, grim although it is, is massive insecurity in europe as the two sides contest ukraine and there is the risk russia spreads the conflict to the baltics or to poland to try to break the resolve of nato to back ukraine. in other news — at least six people have been killed in belgium when a car drove into a crowd of carnival—goers early on sunday. police said it was an accident, and not terror related. several other people were seriously injured and the driver has been detained. the incident happened in the southern village of strepy—bracquegnies as people were gathering for

a traditional parade. the duke and duchess of cambridge have arrived in belize, as part of their week—long tour of the caribbean to mark the queen's platinum jubilee. some parts of the trip have been altered following opposition from locals. 0ur royal correspondentjonny dymond is travelling with the couple. not quite the welcome they were hoping for. at one of the first places william and kate were supposed to visit, protests forced the couple to cancel. protester: this is our land, this is our property! - they were meant to visit a cocoa farm, but some objected to prince william's links to a conservation charity that has been working in the area. what would have been the first stop of the first full day of the tour was dropped. but as this week—long caribbean trip kicked off at belize's main airport, it was all smiles from the couple.

it is the first official trip they have done together since the pandemic broke. and across three countries, all of which have the queen as head of state, william and kate will raise the royal profile. and they will be thanking people, on behalf of the queen, for their support over seven decades of her reign. 0pera houses and theatres across europe have offered to help fleeing or stranded ballet dancers affected by the war in ukraine. in warsaw, the polish national ballet has offered shelter to about 30 ukrainian dancers in its opera house and given them the opportunity to join the company class. the bbc visited one of their rehearsals.

the entire company is affected by the war. you know, it's not that we feel fear or we want to run away, but it's more the mood of the company. everyone is worrying about this.

the wonderful support being offered there by the polish national ballet. good to have you with us here on bbc news. it has been a glorious weekend so far with all four nations recording its warmest day of the year so far but the top temperature was 20.2 celsius in kinlochewe. a beautiful day in the highlands without a cloud in the sky but today we may see a bit more in the way of fairweather cloud and it mayjust be a bit cooler with a maximum of 13 or 14 degrees. two areas of cloud i need to point out to you, one down into the south—west and affecting parts of south and this curl of cloud across the low countries which may drift towards the coastline of east anglia as we go through the late afternoon. it may well produce one or two isolated showers. generally a bit more fairweather cloud to the east of the pennines

and the best sunshine in sheltered western areas away from the cloud down into the south—west which could trigger an isolated shower. cooler on the east coast, nine or ten, and top temperatures of 14 degrees. tonight that cloud will continue to drift from the north sea and produce a bit more cloud across the east of england. nothing significant in terms of rainfall. further inland we will see the lowest temperatures, just below freezing and a touch of light frost in sheltered rural parts is possible but as we go through the next few days it looks likely that warmth is set to build. again we could see that cloud just interfering with the far east coast of aberdeenshire and to the south. a little more fairweather cloud but the wind direction light, turning round to a southerly, warmer still, 15 or 16 degrees the high here and we're looking at ten to 13 degrees across scotland and northern ireland. as we move from monday into tuesday, warmer air continues to push up

from the west of europe and it will get noticeably warmer with each day. so as we move into tuesday, dry, settled and sunny, but as the warmth builds it may trigger a few very isolated showers. nothing too widespread but it is worth bearing in mind. temperatures are likely to peak into the mid to high teens in many places. that story will continue through the week ahead and we could see temperatures once again back up to 20 degrees, 68 fahrenheit, way above where they should be for this time of year.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... ukrainian authorities say russia has bombed a school in mariupol where around 400 people were sheltering. president zelensky says moscow has committed war crimes in the city. fleeing the war across the danube river between ukraine and romania. we follow those searching for a safer life. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrive in belize as part of their tour of the caribbean to mark the queen's platinum jubilee. now it's time for dateline.