ukraine's president zelensky says the country is on the brink of surviving its war with russia. it comes as president biden warns that vladimir putin may use chemical or biological weapons in ukraine because his back is against the wall. he's considering using both of those. he's already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what's about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. russian opposition leader alexei navalny is sentenced to nine more years in prison after being convicted of fraud — while police detain two of his lawyers who intended to appeal the court's decision.

you're watching bbc news, i'm ben brown broadcasting live from lviv in western ukraine. the us presidentjoe biden believes vladimir putin's "back is against the wall" and warned he may use chemical or biological weapons against ukraine. it comes as president volodymyr zelensky says ukraine is on the brink of surviving its war with russia, in a speech to italian mps this morning. his country's forces have slowed down the enemy advance. russian forces, here indicated in red, have failed to make much headway over the past week. but residents of the ukrainian city of boryspil, about 25 miles from kyiv, have been asked to leave the area if they can as fighting against russian forces draws closer. our ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse has this report

from the capital kyiv. "everyone downstairs," not something you would expect to hear in a hospital until 26 days ago. but this is war and this southern city, like so many others, struggling to escape. i am scared but i have nowhere to go, no place to escape to. we have our roots here, we cannot run away. russia has the city in its sights, its people are already paying for standing their ground. here, a soldier's family lays him to rest. mariupol is expected to fall in weeks if not days. after weeks of being surrounded and cut off. this footage filmed from a drone shows factories being destroyed in the city. kyiv also a city under attack,

once again under a curfew. it's around here where the majority of russian forces are thought to be. they haven't made any real gains here. and that's why they are resorting to long—range artillery fire. military experts in the us, as you hear, reckoned most of russia's advances are continuing to stall because of poor planning. president zelensky is hoping that will pull moscow towards the negotiating table but the us is making much darker predictions. the kremlin has once again been accused of trying to create a false justification to escalate things further by claiming ukraine is poised to use more lethal weapons without offering any evidence. his back is against the wall. now he is talking about new false flags he is setting up, including asserting that american have biological as well as chemical

weapons in europe, simply not true. i guarantee you. they are also suggesting ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in ukraine. that is a clear sign he is considering using both of those. all in the hope it would ultimately lead to kyiv falling, its biggest prize. the kremlin says not enough progress has been made in talks for both leaders to meet yet. president zelensky however is hoping vladimir putin's frustration will pull him in. even though we hate these troops that are killing our people, if we want peace, we will have to sit down and talk. the right word is negotiate, negotiate, not deliver ultimatums. he said any concessions to russia should be put to a referendum, asking his people what they would be willing to sacrifice for the future of their country. for now, this war, and for one square in kyiv, the music goes on. james waterhouse, bbc news.

let's cross live to kyiv now and our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. take stock for us where we are, almost a month since the russian invasion, almost a month of warfare. ukraine's president saying his country is on the brink of being able to survive this award. yes, nearly a month on and i think no one, not the ukrainians all the russians, not the world beyond, would have expected this would be the situation across ukraine today. they would have hoped against hope that once president putin's forces invaded ukraine that the war would be over soon. the ukrainian resistance was underestimated and the russian forces were overestimated, perhaps that is what is meant by that unusual comment

from president zelensky saying, we are on the brink of surviving this war. has he been told something by the mid—80s, turkish or israelis, that president putin says when the time is right then they will talk, maybe that time is approaching? —— something by the mediators. that is not the case in places like mariupol where forces are fighting right in the city centre, a city which has been wiped off the map according to residents. in kyiv we have heard a warning in a different direction that the russian forces could be coming in from the south—east, most of the action has been in the north and north—west of the city. president putin has many targets in his sight including a debtor in the southern coast but we will only find out when putin makes it clear what his plans for this war are. you mentioned — his plans for this war are. you mentioned those _ his plans for this war are. you mentioned those peace talks which have been rumbling on for days now,

is there any sign of progress or any sign of areas where there could conceivably be agreement? there is some consistency _ conceivably be agreement? there is some consistency in _ conceivably be agreement? there is some consistency in the _ conceivably be agreement? there is some consistency in the reports - conceivably be agreement? there is| some consistency in the reports that we receive, let me refer again to the turkish and israeli mediators, because there has been a lot of mediators jumping because there has been a lot of mediatorsjumping in because there has been a lot of mediators jumping in trying to end this war. every it gets worse. both the israelis and turkish mediators have said that some things have been taken off the agenda. we had from the israeli prime minister speaking to israeli media this week saying that russia is no longer demanding that russia is no longer demanding that president zelensky�*s government be toppled. it's no longer demanding that the ukrainian military be absolutely removed. and on the ukrainian side, ukraine has understood, and we hear this repeatedly from president zelensky, that joining repeatedly from president zelensky, thatjoining nato may not be an option now. those are the easy

issues. when it comes to the harder issues, about the territory, ukraine 7 issues, about the territory, ukraine ? main demand is still, first ceasefire, second of withdrawal of russian forces from the territory it has second. —— it has taken. it had not taken a major city but large swathes of the south and east. it is hard to imagine president putin agreeing to pull back after all of the effort and a military mobilisation and all the pain and sanctions he has incurred to get this far. ,., ., ., sanctions he has incurred to get this far. ., ., ~ ., , , this far. good to talk to you, lyse doucet, this far. good to talk to you, lyse doucet. our _ this far. good to talk to you, lyse doucet, our chief _ this far. good to talk to you, lyse doucet, our chief international. doucet, our chief international correspondent. let's focus now on romania — where many people are passing through the border town of siret. it's also being used as a hub for sending medical and food supplies into ukraine. our correspondent nick thorpe is there and he says that it's mostly women and children crossing the border. the women really, obviously they have just left the men behind, their husbands, partners, who have maybe delivered them to the border.

perhaps, as in the case of a woman i was speaking to this morning, she left her husband a month ago in kyiv, and then moved to the relative safety of western ukraine behind me, to the city of chernivtsi, and then had decided to move on. but she was really having trouble holding back the tears, obviously very difficult decisions being made here. but her children clustered around there, watching their mothers in situations like this and comforting them very much. so the children in a sense, obviously they are traumatised, obviously they are missing their fathers, their grandfathers, their older brothers perhaps, but they are also really looking after their mothers in these situations. i have been witnessing this time and again, often with, you know, very small children, eight, ten years old. at the moment, there is something of a lull at this particular border crossing. only 2,000 people crossed here yesterday, that is comparing to 5, 6, 7,000 in the days before that,

of the 10,000 to 20,000 people coming into romania a day. but it is very well organised, there are a lot of volunteers, as you can see over my shoulder here. these would be translators, they would be people from the romanian fire brigade who are playing a central role at all these border crossings, and of course the romanian police. there is also a growing awareness of border crossings like this of the vulnerability of so many young women and children crossing. there is a worry among international organisations following the situation as it evolves about the danger of trafficking. there are small groups here warning women and children about this danger. so, generally, one has the sense of a very well organised organisation, humanitarian organisation, within the chaos of this wider refugee situation. nick thorpe reporting.

the ukrainian president's office says there is a "high risk" of neighbouring belarus launching an attack on the country to help russia. but many belarusian dissidents are alreadyjoining the war to fight alongside ukrainian forces. 0ur correspondent in poland, mark lowen, has met some of them. gunfire. a trial run for the terror they will soon see for real. recruits from belarus, training before they go to fight with ukraine. slavic brothers uniting against a common enemy — putin's russia. pavel came back from his life in new york to battle the kremlin�*s forces, who are supported by president lukashenko of belarus. without independent and free ukraine, there is no independent and free belarus. i really admire ukrainian nation. from the very beginning, we supported ukrainians in their fight for freedom, and i would like to have my belarusian nation to be as strong and powerful as ukraine

is right now. do you think lukashenko will send belarusian troops into ukraine? i hope so, because if he send someone to ukrainian soil, we will destroy them on ukrainian territory first, and then we won't have a lot of problems with our comeback to our motherland. for these dissidents, it is in part a proxy war against a regime at home that has made belarus a launchpad for russian attacks on ukraine. 30,000 russian troops advancing from there to kyiv. they'll also take in supplies, and what they hope they won't have to use. and then a crash course in first aid by a polish veteran of afghanistan. the tourniquets and bandages of that vicious conflict now a part of life in europe. whispering: just hours before leaving, they are learning the vital lessons that could save their lives. when you look around you can see that these arejust ordinary guys, mainly, who are suddenly preparing for what it will be

like entering a theatre of war when they cross tonight. for all theirjingoism and unity, the facade cracks as reality hits. i'm afraid, a little. i saw you speaking to your mum earlier. yeah, she's crying. but now, she'sjust...pray, maybe. she tried to tell me that this war is not my, it's not our, it's other country, other people, but i don't agree. so they head off to someone else's war, which has become their own. they shout defiantly. both countries fighting the imperial oppressor. they travel from warsaw to war, hours first to the border. a final sip of safety before a crossing off limits to our camera. their sights set on victory

for two nations in arms. mark lowen, bbc news, on the poland—ukraine border. that's all from us in lviv — now it's back to maryam moshiri the war rages on here, the peace the war rages on here, the peace talks to continue but president zelensky of ukraine saying again and again that he has to talk directly to vladimir putin. no sign yet that mr putin wants to talk to him. that's all from us in lviv — now it's back to maryam moshiri with the rest of the day's news in london. ukranian authorities have said air strikes hit apartment blocks on the outskirt of the country's third largest city — 0desa overnight. no casulties have been reported but the port city is thought to be russia's next target with russian warships stationed in the black sea. let's speak with serhii 0rlov, a representative of the ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs in 0desa.

thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news. i appreciate you taking the time. first of all, let me ask you what is happening where you are in 0desa? ., ., ~ , ., you what is happening where you are in 0desa? ., . ~' , ., , you what is happening where you are in 0desa? ., ., ~ ,, , . in 0desa? hello. thank you very much for this opportunity — in 0desa? hello. thank you very much for this opportunity to _ in 0desa? hello. thank you very much for this opportunity to represent - for this opportunity to represent the situation, the actual situation in 0desa. 0f the situation, the actual situation in 0desa. of course, i guess is quite a peaceful city, without constant shelling like other cities in ukraine, like in kyiv or eastern cities. but sometimes, during the day and that night, we hear air alarms, and from time to time, we hear blasts from air defence, successful work from the air defence, defending us from russian missiles and drones, mainly. and todayis missiles and drones, mainly. and today is the 27th day of the unprovoked russian aggression

against ukraine, and it's now the ninth year of a war unleashed by russia against ukraine. and this war is also not against ukraine itself but against the civilised world. on the territory of ukraine. yesterday in the morning, two russian warships approached our coasts, and with their artillery, they hit some civilian houses and an apartment block on the coast side. there were no casualties, it was reported one person was injured. and now 0desa is well prepared for defence, and i would like to praise the local authorities for their work, they do their best to prepare the city and to supply everything, and to

guarantee the usual work of the city services, of the city system. and in the region as well.— the region as well. apologies, why do ou the region as well. apologies, why do you think. _ the region as well. apologies, why do you think. why _ the region as well. apologies, why do you think, why is _ the region as well. apologies, why do you think, why is 0desa - the region as well. apologies, why do you think, why is 0desa so - do you think, why is 0desa so important to the russians? can you explain to viewers watching at home why 0desa is such a key place for russians, while they are potentially targeting this city next? {iii russians, while they are potentially targeting this city next?— targeting this city next? of course. 0desa is a great _ targeting this city next? of course. 0desa is a great port _ targeting this city next? of course. 0desa is a great port city _ targeting this city next? of course. 0desa is a great port city and - targeting this city next? of course. 0desa is a great port city and in . 0desa is a great port city and in the region of 0desa, there are also seven great seaports. this is very important for russia to cut ukraine off from the black sea. and as well as to get this infrastructure, and also to get access to moldova, occupied by russia. thus, only through 0desa, russia can target moldova. this is very important.

absolutely. how prepared do you think 0desa is? we are seeing pictures of people trying to protect the city, by building up walls made of sand bags. but how prepared do you think 0desa is for any potential attack? i you think 0desa is for any potential attack? ~ , ., you think 0desa is for any potential attack? ~' ,., , attack? i think 0desa is well prepared — attack? i think 0desa is well prepared. the _ attack? i think 0desa is well prepared. the defence - attack? i think 0desa is well l prepared. the defence system attack? i think 0desa is well - prepared. the defence system was built, and the works go on. and local authorities to everything they can. of course, there is a lack of maybe some equipment for the military, and some other stuff, but all the time, humanitarian aid from other countries, comes to 0desa and ukraine to the whole of ukraine. so i think we are quite well—prepared. and 0desa now, this time, due to the

defenders of the city to the north—east of 0desa, mykolaiv, they have deterred the russians quite successfully so we have time to even prepare better. do successfully so we have time to even prepare better-— prepare better. do you think if the attack does _ prepare better. do you think if the attack does come, _ prepare better. do you think if the attack does come, it _ prepare better. do you think if the attack does come, it will - prepare better. do you think if the attack does come, it will come - prepare better. do you think if the i attack does come, it will come from the water? {iii attack does come, it will come from the water? . ., , , ., the water? of course, they tried to attack 0desa _ the water? of course, they tried to attack 0desa from _ the water? of course, they tried to attack 0desa from the _ the water? of course, they tried to attack 0desa from the water - the water? of course, they tried to attack 0desa from the water but i attack 0desa from the water but failed sometimes. and experts think that they cannot attack without ground forces, that can come only through the mykolaiv region to 0desa. without them, probably they will see marine attacks not successful. but they have also put sea mines on the way from the bosporus to 0desa and blamed ukraine for this crime. those mines put in

danger all the civil shipping in the back seat. and i think this danger will last for a long time —— civil shipping in the black sea. because anchor chains will be broken by storms and those minds can travel around the sea. it storms and those minds can travel around the sea.— around the sea. it has been really aood to around the sea. it has been really good to have _ around the sea. it has been really good to have you _ around the sea. it has been really good to have you on _ around the sea. it has been really good to have you on the - around the sea. it has been really - good to have you on the programme, serhii 0rlov, thank you for giving us the viewpoint from 0desa, it important to get it.— us the viewpoint from 0desa, it important to get it. thank you, we are very grateful _ important to get it. thank you, we are very grateful to _ important to get it. thank you, we are very grateful to the _ important to get it. thank you, we are very grateful to the uk - important to get it. thank you, we are very grateful to the uk and - are very grateful to the uk and civilians for support. and ukraine is protecting modern civilisation, remember this. is protecting modern civilisation, rememberthis. glory is protecting modern civilisation, remember this. glory to ukraine. thank you. food prices are set to soar as a result of the war in ukraine due to shortages of major exports such as wheat and sunflower oil. some countries who import these goods could be set to face increasing shortages of basic foodstuffs. 0ne country where events in ukraine are already having an effect is egypt, where the currency has fallen sharply against the dollar, and that's already causing economic

hardship. 0ur correspondent there, sally nabil, says prices are already going up. prices have been going up over the past couple of weeks, and just yesterday, the egyptian pound lost more than i2% of its value against the us dollar which would result eventually in another wave of inflation. and the people here are really complaining that they cannot take it any more. because over the past few years, the government has put some austerity in place, calling it much necessary economic reforms. we are talking about 30% of the population here live below the poverty line, they live from hand to mouth, they literally struggled to put food on the table. so the fact that prices are rising every single day, that would burden them way too much, far beyond what they can take. just to let you know. the pound is still dropping to the moment. and

there is a state of uncertainty. no one knows what's going to happen next. the government blames it on the war and they say it is just out of hand, but experts believe that the governmentjust cannot manage the governmentjust cannot manage the economy, it is mismanaging the country's resources. a russian court has sentenced the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny to nine years in a maximum security prison for what the prosecutors call "embezzlement". and in the last hour it's been reported that two of his lawyers, who intended to appeal the court's decision, have been arrested. it's thought they were later released. mr navalny leads an anti—corruption foundation that claims president putin has illegally acquired a fortune worth billions of dollars, including a huge palace and one of the world's largest yachts. as our moscow correspondent caroline davies reports, the leading kremlin critic's 9 year sentence is in extension to the two—and—a—half year prison term he's already serving. speaking in russian.

this was alexei navalny�*s last moment as a free man. arrested at the airport as he arrived back in russia in 2021. with a kiss to his wife, he was taken by the russian authorities. the kremlin critic is already behind bars. wearing black prison uniform, he heard today's verdict from his jail — guilty of embezzlement. and nine years in a maximum security penal colony. crowd chants. these were the anti—corruption protests mr navalny led. the man who had been one of president putin's fiercest critics has always maintained the legal case against him was political, as have many in the west. in 2020, he was poisoned using novichok and left for treatment in germany. he chose to return to russia. now many of his allies have left the country, afraid of what might happen if they stay. more media sites are banned day by day here in russia. meta, the company that owns facebook and instagram, has been declared an extremist

organisation and both sites have been blocked, and the introduction of a new law that means that anything deemed to be false information about the military can result injail time has led to many independent journalists leaving the country. the window that many russians have on the outside world is virtually closed. the laws in russia, they were strict and draconian before the war, and they became even worse after the war. farida rustamova is an independent russianjournalist. she was out of the country when russia launched its "special military operation," and chose never to return. she's too afraid to say where she's now based. i'm afraid of physical assault, i'm afraid of going to jail for words. the only thing that is allowed is propaganda. i'm absolutely sure that this is just the beginning and that things are going to get worse. chanting. daring to disagree is increasingly

dangerous in russia. with each protest, the crowds shrink. with each week, there are fewer journalists to cover them and anything that contradicts the kremlin. president putin's regime knows that fear can breed silence. caroline davies, bbc news, moscow. stay with us here on bbc news. we have plenty more to come on the situation in ukraine. including the very latest from the city of kherson. we will be talking to someone from our russian service about the lack of food and medicine in that city, the situation is becoming more and more dire as time goes by. we will also bring you the very latest news what is happening in ukraine, including more on president zelensky telling italian mps that he thinks ukraine is on the brink of surviving the war. and we will also talk about other issues including those crossing the border

into romania and poland. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcmaryam. hello, there. it's feeling very springlike out there now, plenty of sunshine around, notjust for today, for the rest of the week, all thanks to high pressure. most places will be dry, sunny and warm pretty much as we head on into the weekend. but the warmth could just set off an isolated shower here or there, though most places will escape them and stay dry. we have got high pressure to the east of us, low pressure to the west. we are bringing up some warmer air on a south or south easterly breeze. but again, the winds will be light throughout the day today, so that means pollution levels will tend to build up, so that is the only downside to areas of high pressure, they bring this stagnant air. otherwise, plenty of sunshine around, just a few showers sparking off into the afternoon through wales, the midlands, northwards, but as i mentioned, they will be pretty isolated, most places will be dry, sunny and warm, and we could see top

temperatures around 20 to the north and west of london. but for many of us, mid to high teens. again, the wind is quite fresh across the far south—west, but light winds as we head onto this evening and overnight. any showers through central and northern areas will fade away and we will see a little bit of mist and fog developing here and there. temperatures dipping down to 3—6 in towns, maybe a touch lower in the countryside. wednesday, we start off on a fine, dry, sunny note, and a little bit of mist and fog around once again, then it is going to be a fine afternoon for most. a little bit of low cloud, mist, affecting northern and eastern coast of scotland. good to see the odd shower across north—east scotland, eastern england, but i think most places will be dry. temperatures may be a notch up still on wednesday. we could see highs of 21 or so across the south—east, but the mid to high teens again for many. thursday, we start to see a weak weather frontjust pushing into the north and west of scotland. that's going to bring more breeze, more cloud to the northern and western isles and into the north mainland there, so that will impact the temperature a little bit, but elsewhere once again

it is another dry, sunny, warm day with temperatures again not far off 20 in the warmest spots. through friday and the weekend, the area of high pressure begins to drift its way westwards, and that will allow a bit more cloud and slightly fresher air to affect northern and eastern parts of the uk. that said, it is still high pressure dominating the scene to end the week and weekend, so many places will be dry with a good deal of sunshine around. by sunday, certainly into next week, it will be turning cooler and a bit cloudierfor some of us.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: ukraine's president zelensky says his country is on the brink of surviving its war with russia. but heavy fighting continues — and the ukrainian military warns that russia is likely to launch more indiscriminate attacks. president biden warns that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyber—attacks in the us. he's considering using both of those. he's already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what's about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences.

and one of the leading kremlin critics, alexei navalny, has been found guilty of large scale fraud by a russian court. nearly three weeks after falling under russian occupation, the residents of kherson are wrestling with acute shortages of medicine and holding daily protests against the kremlin's forces. they are also worried that increased shelling on the outskirts might signal the start of a ukrainian push to capture their southern city, which is a key port. here with me now is anastasia soroka from the bbc russian service. what is the latest on what is happening in kherson? the what is the latest on what is happening in kherson? the city has

been under— happening in kherson? the city has been under occupation _ happening in kherson? the city has been under occupation now- happening in kherson? the city has been under occupation now over i happening in kherson? the city has i been under occupation now over three weeks and all the local defence has been shut down and basically the control of the city, the original government buildings, they are staying in local hotels, and over the three weeks there have been protests, pro—ukrainian protests, some of them very large, people protesting, and although kherson, everyone we spoke to for the article which we just published, they told us that kherson is a russian language city and they assumed the russian forces thought it would have a pro—russian attitude but people have been very pro—ukrainian. the situation is changing every day as we have been told by the locals and

the recent update is that the food and medicine situation is difficult but also the change in the attitude of the russian forces towards the protesters. of the russian forces towards the rotesters. ., of the russian forces towards the protesters-_ protesters. how are they now reacting? — protesters. how are they now reacting? beforehand, - protesters. how are they now reacting? beforehand, the i protesters. how are they now - reacting? beforehand, the russian forces seemed _ reacting? beforehand, the russian forces seemed to _ reacting? beforehand, the russian forces seemed to be _ reacting? beforehand, the russian forces seemed to be quite - reacting? beforehand, the russian forces seemed to be quite puzzled | reacting? beforehand, the russian i forces seemed to be quite puzzled by the protests, but recently they have become a more aggressive and over the weekend we have seen it shooting at the protesters, probably getting very angry and one person got injured, and they are also going around the city looking for local activists and local politicians, members of the ukrainian police and armed forces, confiscating phones, tablets, computers, looking forany information like that, just scaring the public. i5 information like that, 'ust scaring the ublic. , ., information like that, 'ust scaring the ublic. , . ., the public. is there a feeling that the public. is there a feeling that the russian _ the public. is there a feeling that the russian forces _ the public. is there a feeling that the russian forces are _ the public. is there a feeling that the russian forces are trying - the public. is there a feeling that the russian forces are trying to l the russian forces are trying to affect local politics in that sense?

yes, there is a big feeling amongst the locals, that there is a fracture of pro—russian activists which have beenin of pro—russian activists which have been in kherson for many years and they have come into cooperation with these forces and are trying to affect local politics, trying to affect local politics, trying to affect the local authority buildings, and the russians are also trying to take control of the local population in many different ways. there has been attempts to establish... ukrainian intelligence at some point, they came out with the statement that the russians were preparing a so—called kherson people's republic. there has been a not very big rally, may be several dozen people coming to support that kherson people's republic but the ukrainian protest came to push them

out peacefully and that did not have a big support amongst the locals, that idea, so now the locals say that idea, so now the locals say that they are assuming the russian forces are now looking around and seeing if they can push their idea forward, and if they can change attitudes in that way. you forward, and if they can change attitudes in that way.— attitudes in that way. you talk about food — attitudes in that way. you talk about food and _ attitudes in that way. you talk about food and medicine - attitudes in that way. you talk - about food and medicine shortages and issues in terms of getting those things to people, how serious and grave is the situation now and is it going to get worse? this grave is the situation now and is it going to get worse?— going to get worse? this is the issue that _ going to get worse? this is the issue that people _ going to get worse? this is the issue that people are - going to get worse? this is the issue that people are most - going to get worse? this is the - issue that people are most concerned about. over the last week we have spoken to people, it has been changing, medicine situation is the most catastrophic and basically the city has run out of the medicines that people need every day, like medicines for diabetes, for people with cancer, heart problems, asthma, blood pressure issues, these medicines are not there. the pharmacies have got dozens of names

of medicines that they have run out of. basically there is no way to bring them from the other cities of the same region and the region is essentially cut off from the rest of ukraine. the ukrainians authorities tried to organise humanitarian aid with medicines and baby food but it was blocked by the russian forces and the russian authorities. locals say that the situation is so catastrophic but this medicine, in the region, theyjust can't get any, and people are self organising and trying to go out to every single pharmacy that is still open, trying to organise exchanges of medicine or resell them, so the situation with medicine is really serious. hour resell them, so the situation with medicine is really serious. how easy is it for people _ medicine is really serious. how easy is it for people to _ medicine is really serious. how easy is it for people to leave _ medicine is really serious. how easy is it for people to leave kherson - medicine is really serious. how easy is it for people to leave kherson if i is it for people to leave kherson if they want?—

they want? almost impossible. volunteers _ they want? almost impossible. volunteers are _ they want? almost impossible. volunteers are getting - they want? almost impossible. volunteers are getting around. they want? almost impossible. i volunteers are getting around the region, trying to get some food and resources in the city, but it is almost impossible for locals to leave the region and the city. it has been good to talk to you. anastasia, thanks forjoining us. the russian billionaire alisher usmanov says he no longer owns many of his uk properties that once belonged to him. that could leave them beyond the reach of government sanctions. they included a multi—million pound mansion in north london and a tudor manor house in surrey. it raises serious questions about the effectiveness of sanctions imposed since the invasion of ukraine began, as andy verity reports. he's been described as one of president putin's favourite oligarchs. alisher usmanov is said to be worth an estimated $18.4 billion and used to own nearly a third of arsenal. three weeks ago the government announced it was freezing all his uk assets, but how effective will those sanctions really be?

mr usmanov�*s $600 million yacht was reportedly seized in hamburg, but the german authorities later denied that. days later, the uk government targeted two huge properties in the south of england, beechwood house in north london, now estimated to be worth about £80 million, and also a tudor manor house in surrey once owned by the world's then richest man, paul getty. this gilded gate behind me is as close as the public can get to sutton place, one of the assets the government says alisher usmanov has bought with his billions. but he says he's given away much of his estate, and that raises serious questions as to how the government's going to enforce its sanctions. mr usmanov has now said his assets were transferred long ago into irrevocable trusts, and from that point on he didn't own them. but an investigation by the bbc, the guardian and the organized crime and corruption reporting project has found that the trusts holding sutton place and beechwood house

have been linked to mr usmanov and one of his closest business associates. campaigners say it shows how difficult it is to establish who the owners of assets actually are when they are hidden in offshore tax havens. well, the problem is that whilst the government has introduced legislation in recent days to try and go after the suspect assets of individuals, say, linked to the kremlin or corruption cases in russia, it's going to be doing this with one hand tied behind its back because of the secrecyjurisdictions in the overseas territories and the crown dependencies. the government says sanctions are having an impact, saying mr usmanov cannot access his assets, and it is now illegal for any person or company in the uk to do business with him. andy verity, bbc news. time for the business news — ben boulos is here. thank you very much indeed. we begin with the energy giant shell as the bbc understands

it is reconsidering its recent decision to pull investment from a large new uk oilfield. in december, shell said the economic case — along with possible regulatory delays — meant it was withdrawing from the cambo oil field, which is 75 miles off the west coast of shetland. since then oil prices have soared. the current price today is $114 per barrel, slightly down, but it has been volatile over the recent weeks because of the ukraine conflict. shell also last week resubmitted an application to develop the jackdaw north sea gas field — off the east coast of scotland — having had it turned down in october by environmental regulators. this comes as the uk prime minister is expected to set out the government's "energy supply strategy" in the coming weeks.

it's likely to focus on four core areas: nuclear energy, renewable energy, making homes more energy efficient and increasing north sea oil and gas production. earlier, i got the details on that shell decision from our business editor simonjack. if you cast your mind back to december of last year when they initially made this decision to pull out, that was two weeks after we had that major climate summit call cop that was two weeks after we had that major climate summit called cop 26 in glasgow. and there was an awful lot of pressure on all big oil companies to sort of show willing to back out of some new hydrocarbon projects. but as you say, what a change in the last few weeks, let alone the last few months. we are living in an entirely different environmental... well, certainly political, economic and regulatory world and you see people going around the world, borisjohnson going to saudi arabia, there been overtures made to iran

to try and find extra oil to make up for the shortfall that we expect, either through embargo or whether the shut—off that will be taken out of global oil supply. so, a completely different analysis and that's why they're saying, "listen, we're just going to have a rethink. "we are not going to start next to tomorrow, but were going "to have a rethink about that." given the fact that when this energy strategy, which we talked about, that we are getting early next week, we are expecting some positive noises to be made to those people who want to invest in domestic uk assets. i think that is the sort of pattern we are seeing around the world. i should say this is not, "let's go all in on hydrocarbons." a lot of people would say if this crisis has taught us anything, it's the fact that it means we need to wean ourselves off oil and gas, but that's going to take time. renewals will take time, nuclear power takes time to do, those will all be

in there and in the short term they will say, we will try and get more domestic assets out the ground. even though some people say, it won't make much difference, there will still be sold to the highest bidder, much will be exported. there is just the need for more oil at this moment, on this transition. and that means that domestic oil supplies will get favourable hearing. simon, we have got a major economic event in the uk this week, the chancellor, the finance minister, setting out i suppose a mini budget. in the spring there is just an update on the figures, but he is finally going to have to do a bit more than that. the things that he is grappling with are common to finance ministers around the world, aren't they? things like the persistently high inflation. do we have any clue what he might do and what direction the government might go in? you are right, these two stories are not unconnected. it's the invasive nature of energy costs that get into just about everything, into manufacturing, into supplies, into packaging and into transport costs, of course, and there is a general cost of living squeeze, where prices in most countries are going up far higher than earnings. so you are seeing people actually getting a little bit poorer every day and we are only in the foothills

of the squeeze at the moment. many countries, people are being protected to some extent from the full extent of the energy price increases. we have already tried to ameliorate that once with a £9 billion package earlier. but like all finance ministers around the world, it is a massive challenge. he's not going to be able to hold back the waves on everything. so perhaps some changes to the tax thresholds, when you start paying higher rates of tax, that's one favoured, one possible solution. the other one will be looking at the benefits system, to try and get assistance to the people who need it the most. but i don't think, i think in common with other finance ministers around the world, when you have this huge surge of energy costs creating all this inflationary pressures, there's only so much that anyone can do to hold it back. now — how high will interest rates go in the us and how quickly? well, the chair of the federal reserve — the us central bank — hinted there could be more drastic rate hikes in the near future to bring soaring prices under contro.

speaking at a business conference, jerome powell said inflation right now is "much too high." he added the fed might need to move more decisively to bring it to heel. for more on this, our north america business correspondent michelle fleury is in new york for us. a clear sign of direction the us central bank is likely to go in? this is something people have been looking to them for for some time, an indication of what we can expect in terms of the rate rise, we started on this journey at the last meeting when the increased interest rates by a quarter percentage point, and they indicated there would be six more rate increases this year but the question was, how big would they be and what was the pace we can expect on this journey going forward to tame inflation? the fact he is now saying that the federal reserve is prepared to be more aggressive is significant because until nowjerome

powell and other policymakers within the fed have indicated they would take a cautious approach but this suggest they are more concerned about inflation than they have in the past and they are worried about it becoming entrenched. so you are seeing a shift in tone and hence the reaction from investors, seeing this as a sign of what we can expect going forward. as a sign of what we can expect going forward-— as a sign of what we can expect going forward. as a sign of what we can expect auoin forward. . ., , , going forward. separately, there is a ush and going forward. separately, there is a push and an _ going forward. separately, there is a push and an effort _ going forward. separately, there is a push and an effort between - going forward. separately, there is a push and an effort between the l going forward. separately, there is l a push and an effort between the us and the uk to try and unpick what is and the uk to try and unpick what is a legacy of the donald trump era, the tariffs that were put in place on uk steel imports? this the tariffs that were put in place on uk steel imports?— the tariffs that were put in place on uk steel imports? as you point out this goes _ on uk steel imports? as you point out this goes back _ on uk steel imports? as you point out this goes back to _ on uk steel imports? as you point out this goes back to the - on uk steel imports? as you point out this goes back to the donald i out this goes back to the donald trump tariffs, something called section 232, or national security grounds, donald trump imposed tariffs on steel, notjust on the uk but a range of countries, and there was a recent deal with the eu to lift those tariffs and so you would see in the uk, they were agitating that they should be next, when other

tariffs going to be lifted on them? there is optimism because you have the us and uk officials and trade secretaries meeting in baltimore today and so there are hopes that maybe this will be the moment those tariffs are lifted and it would be a huge boost for the british steel industry at a time when there is a great degree of uncertainty because of what is happening in the conflict in ukraine and the impact that has more broadly on the global economy so this would be seen as a gift if you like in some ways to allies, something the british have been pushing for now for a while. fine pushing for now for a while. one other story. _ pushing for now for a while. one other story, after _ pushing for now for a while. one other story, after all _ pushing for now for a while. one other story, after all that service sector has been through, a lot of people going out for dinner and drinks would like to be in a position to tip more generously but there was an article in one of the us papers suggesting that because of the soaring costs and inflation, people just can't tip as much as they would like.—

they would like. yes, it was fascinating _ they would like. yes, it was fascinating to _ they would like. yes, it was fascinating to watch - they would like. yes, it was fascinating to watch during | they would like. yes, it was i fascinating to watch during the pandemic, people started being more generous with their tips, they wanted to support your favourite local restaurant that had been struggling in the pandemic and now we start to see prices creeping up there is a question about what will happen going forward and are the tips going to get smaller and some indications that is already happening in some quarters, and interestingly, the other thing to look at, where i am in new york city, there are more office workers returning to their desks, essentially which means a return to the lunchtime office meal and you are also seeing huge increases, the average price of a salad is up by around 11%, for a sandwich up by around 11%, for a sandwich up by around 16%, these increases have a knock—on effect on how people feel when it comes to tipping so there's a correlation as everyone feels the pinch, how much can they afford? indeed. for now, thanks forjoining us. i'm reliably informed that

michelle always tips generously! more than 3 million refugees have left ukraine since the russian invasion. the people fleeing are mostly women, children and the elderly, because kyiv has forbidden men between the ages of eighteen and 60 to leave. so how has war in ukraine altered the role of women in conflict and the way in which gender shapes our approach to war. earlier, we heard from azadeh moaveni director, the gender and conflict project, international crisis group who says more women have been taking up arms. well, certainly, within ukraine, we are seeing really duelling narratives play out around gender. on the one hand, you have this masculine narrative of men, ukrainian men as protectors of the nation, as amateur warriors, signing up to repel these russian invaders, and you have this put—down in a border policy which as you said doesn't allow men of fighting age, between 18 and 60,

to leave the country. and at the same time you have images throughout social media and this narrative of brave ukrainian women, ordinary mothers, couples returning from the diaspora, learning how to fire guns, learning how to drive tanks, banding together, women, the gentler sex, to repel the enemy. this raises morale and this boosts the moral cause for war on the ukrainian side. so i think at the same time you have a real transgression of gender roles, because we know from so many conflicts that insurgent forces, conventional armies, are just more effective, they fight more successfully when women are mobilised. women can do many things men can't, they can gather intelligence in different ways, they can slip through checkpoints. and also at the same time we're seeing the cementing of traditional gender roles through a lot of this imagery and mobilisation. the idea that this war is so immoral that even mothers, that young women,

that miss ukraine who has posed for social media with a gun, that even they are taking up arms. so i think you see, really, transgression and consolidation of the traditional gender roles at the same time and that's what makes it really quite complex right now. azadeh, we mustn't forget, that there is forced conscription for men as well. not all men, clearly, want to fight. what do you think that does to the gender roles and the balance there? they can actually have quite a pernicious effect. it aggravates the humanitarian crisis, certainly, because women and their children, women and the elderly are crossing borders, are fleeing the country on their own. they're seen by men who might pray on them as more vulnerable, so they are more vulnerable to human trafficking, to sexual exploitation, to all sorts of harm. and then at the same time, separated families, men leaving behind who may not want to fight,

maybe want to support ukraine in other ways, are stopped at the border. you have gay men, transgender women, who may feel vulnerable, maybe feel that they were going to be put in harms way if they were obliged to fight in a conventionally gendered way. so i think forced conscription raises harm for women and children on the move. it's actually not even necessarily of sound military logic, given the way gender roles have evolved. ukraine has no shortage of men and women, people of all genders, who are volunteering to fight. and what matters most is what we can see on the russian side, literally, is willingness to fight and strong morale. so forced conscription seems like quite a dated and also harmful way to approach this conflict. do you think that the role of women, and the gender balance, has actually gone backwards because of what has happened in this war in ukraine? and if so, why? well, we have seen in numerous

conflicts, we've seen in ukraine itself after the 2014 invasion and the ongoing conflict in donetsk, we have seen domestic violence raised and spiked levels of that in the way that we see in all conflicts. really, a society that is mobilised for combat sees heightened levels of violence and gender based violence, and we have seen that certainly in ukraine. but at the same time, we've seen more ukrainian women signing up to be soldiers. the number of women soldiers in the ukrainian militaryjumped from 6% in 2014 to as high as ten, even higher now, 11, 12%. so we see the territorial defence units, the volunteer army that the ukrainian side is mobilising, assigning men and women the same sets of duties. both of them getting rifle training, combat training. so, war and conflict always has

a sort of counterintuitively equalising effect. rescuers at the site of a plane crash in southern china have found burnt wreckage and personal belongings of those on board, but no sign of any survivors. china eastern flight mu—5735 was carrying 132 people when it nosedived 30,000 feet into hills in guangxi yesterday. the cause of the crash is being investigated. recovery work has been hampered by difficult terrain as andrew plant reports. rescue workers walking through the night. pieces of the wreckage spread across this remote hillside area, but there is little hope of survivors. the boeing 737—800 thought to have nosedived from 30,000 feet, killing all 132 people on board. investigations hampered by difficult terrain. translation: the road _ to the accident site is very narrow. cars can't get through,

and we have to transfer supplies, send and pick up people there. motorcycles are more convenient, but small cars would block the road. rescuers have found pieces of the aircraft spread across these hills, and personal belongings, too. china said hundreds of flights have been cancelled and some planes grounded while they look into why the aircraft came down. families of the 123 passengers and nine crew on board are still waiting for news, many gathering together at the airport where the plane took off before suffering what officials have described as a loss—of—control event. flight tracker data shows the jet dropped 20,000 feet injust over two minutes. the aircraft's black box and cockpit voice recorder are yet to be recovered. boeing, the us maker of the plane, said it is assisting in the investigation.

the task now — to find out what caused the plane to nosedive into the hillside here yesterday morning, china's worst air disaster in more than a decade. andrew plant, bbc news. goodbye. hello, there. it's feeling very spring—like out there now, plenty of sunshine around, notjust for today, for the rest of the week, all thanks to high pressure. most places will be dry, sunny and warm pretty much as we head on into the weekend. but the warmth could just set off an isolated shower here or there, though most places will escape them and stay dry. we have got high pressure to the east of us, low pressure to the west. we are bringing up some warmer air on a south or south easterly breeze. but again, the winds will be light throughout the day today, so that means pollution levels will tend to build up, so that is the only downside to areas of high pressure, they bring this stagnant air. otherwise, plenty of sunshine around, just a few showers sparking off into the afternoon through wales, the midlands, northwards, but as i mentioned,

they will be pretty isolated, most places will be dry, sunny and warm, and we could see top temperatures around 20 to the north and west of london. but for many of us, mid to high teens. again, the wind is quite fresh across the far south—west, but light winds as we head onto this evening and overnight. any showers through central and northern areas will fade away and we will see a little bit of mist and fog developing here and there. temperatures dipping down to 3—6 in towns, maybe a touch lower in the countryside. wednesday, we start off on a fine, dry, sunny note, and a little bit of mist and fog around once again, then it is going to be a fine afternoon for most. a little bit of low cloud, mist, affecting northern and eastern coast of scotland. good to see the odd shower across north—east scotland, eastern england, but i think most places will be dry. temperatures may be a notch up still on wednesday. we could see highs of 21 or so across the south—east, but the mid to high teens again for many. thursday, we start to see a weak weather frontjust pushing into the north and west of scotland. that's going to bring more breeze,

more cloud to the northern and western isles and into the north mainland there, so that will impact the temperature a little bit, but elsewhere once again it is another dry, sunny, warm day with temperatures again not far off 20 in the warmest spots. through friday and the weekend, the area of high pressure begins to drift its way westwards, and that will allow a bit more cloud and slightly fresher air to affect northern and eastern parts of the uk. that said, it is still high pressure dominating the scene to end the week and weekend, so many places will be dry with a good deal of sunshine around. by sunday, certainly into next week, it will be turning cooler and a bit cloudierfor some of us.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories — ukraine's president zelensky says his country is on the brink of surviving its war with russia. but heavy fighting continues, and the ukrainian military warns that russia is likely to launch more indiscriminate attacks. president biden warns that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyberattacks in the us. he's considering using both of those. he's already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what's about to come. he knows there'll be severe consequences. russian opposition leader alexei navalny is sentenced to nine

more years in prison after being convicted of fraud, rescuers at the sight of a plane crash in southern china have found wreckage. thejet crash in southern china have found wreckage. the jet went down in a mountainous area and there are no signs of any survivors. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, has told the italian parliament his country is on the brink of surviving the russian invasion, almost four weeks after it began. his cautious optimism comes despite a warning from the ukrainian military that russia will continue to indiscriminately shell cities and infrastructure across the country, with intense fighting reported around the cities of mariupol, chernihiv and kharkiv. meanwhile, president biden has also said there are clear signs

vladimir putin may be preparing to use chemical and biological weapons. my colleague ben brown is in lviv. well, the us president, joe biden, believes vladimir putin's "back is against the wall" and warned he may use chemical or biological weapons against ukraine. it comes as president volodymyr zelensky says ukraine is on the brink of surviving its war with russia in a speech to italian mps this morning. his country's forces have slowed down the enemy advance. russian forces, here indicated in red, have failed to make much headway over the past week. but residents of the ukrainian city of boryspil, about 25 miles from kyiv, have been asked to leave the area if they can as fighting against russian forces draws closer. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has this report from the capital, kyiv.

"everyone downstairs." not something you'd expect to hear in a hospital until 26 days ago. but this is war, and the southern city of mykolaiv, like so many others, is struggling to escape it. translation: i'm scared but i have nowhere to go, no place to escape to. we have our roots here. we can't run away. russia has mykolaiv in its sights. its people are already paying for standing their ground. here, a soldier's family lay him to rest. mariupol is expected to fall in weeks if not days after weeks of being surrounded and cut off. this footage filmed from a drone showing factories being destroyed in the city. kyiv, also a city under attack, once again under a curfew.

it's around here where the majority of russian forces are thought to be. but they haven't made any real gains here. and that's why they're resorting to longer—range artillery fire. military experts in the us, as you can hear, reckon most of russia's advances are continuing to stall because of poor planning. president zelensky is hoping that will pull moscow towards the negotiating table, but the us is making much darker predictions. the kremlin's once again accused of trying to create a false justification to escalate things further, by claiming ukraine is poised to use more lethal weapons without offering any evidence. his back is against the wall. and how he's talking about new false flags he's setting up, including asserting that we, america, have biological as well as chemical

weapons in europe, simply not true. i guarantee you. they're also suggesting ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in ukraine. that's a clear sign he's considering using both of those. all in the hope it would ultimately lead to kyiv falling, its biggest prize. the kremlin says not enough progress has been made in talks for both leaders to meet yet. president zelensky, however, is hoping vladimir putin's frustration will pull him in. translation: even though we hate these troops that l are killing our people, - if we want peace, we will have to sit down and talk. the right word is negotiate, - negotiate, not deliver ultimatums. he said any concessions to russia should be put to a referendum, asking his people what they'd be willing to sacrifice for the future of their country. for now, this war, and for one square in kyiv, the music goes on. james waterhouse, bbc news.

let's cross live to kyiv now and our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. take stock for us where we are. it's almost a month since the russian invasion, almost a month of warfare. ukraine's president saying his country is on the brink of being able to survive this war. yes, nearly a month on, and i think no—one, not the ukrainians, not the russians, not the world beyond, would have expected this would be the situation across ukraine today. they would have hoped against hope that once president putin's forces invaded ukraine that this war would be over soon. but in the end, russian forces were overestimated and the ukrainian resistance was underestimated.

perhaps that is what is meant by that unusual comment from president zelensky saying, we are on the brink of surviving this war. has he been told something by the mediators, turks or israelis, that president putin says when the time is right then they will talk, maybe that time is approaching? that is not the case in places like mariupol, where forces are fighting right in the city centre, a city which has been wiped off the map according to residents. in kyiv, we have heard a warning in a different direction that the russian forces could be coming in from the south—east. most of the activity has been to the north and north—west of the city. president putin has many targets in his sights, including 0desa on the southern coast, but we will only find out when putin makes it clear what his plans for this war are. you mentioned those peace talks which have been rumbling on for days now.

is there any sign of progress or any sign of areas where there could conceivably be agreement? there is some consistency in the reports that we receive. and let me refer again to the turkish and the israeli mediators, because there has been a lot of mediators jumping in trying to end this war. every day gets worse. but both the israelis and turkish mediators have said that some things have been taken off the agenda. for example, we heard from the israeli prime minister speaking to israeli media this week saying that russia is no longer demanding that president zelensky�*s government be toppled. it's no longer demanding that the ukrainian military be absolutely removed. and on the ukrainian side, ukraine has understood, and we hear this repeatedly from president zelensky, thatjoining nato may not be an option now. but those are the easy issues. when it comes to the harder issues,

about the territory, ukraine's main demand is still first a ceasefire, second a withdrawal of russian forces from the territory it has second. it hadn't taken a major city but large swathes of the south and east. it's really hard to imagine president putin agreeing to pull back after all of the effort and military mobilisation and all the pain and sanctions he has incurred to get this far. good to talk to you, lyse doucet, our chief international correspondent. let's just focus now on romania, where many people are passing through the border town of siret. it's also being used as a hub for sending medical and food supplies into ukraine. our correspondent nick thorpe is there, and he says that it's mostly women and children crossing the border. the women really, obviously they've just left the men behind, their husbands, partners, who've maybe delivered them to the border.

or perhaps, as in the case of a woman i was speaking to this morning, she left her husband a month ago in kyiv, and then moved to the relative safety of western ukraine behind me, to the city of chernivtsi, and then had decided to move on. but she was really having trouble holding back the tears, obviously very difficult decisions being made here. but her children clustered around there, watching their mothers in situations like this and comforting them very much. and so the children, in a sense, obviously they are traumatised, obviously they're missing their fathers, their grandfathers, their older brothers perhaps, but they're also really looking after their mothers in these situations. i have been witnessing this time and again, often with, you know, very small children, eight, ten years old. at the moment, there is something of a lull at this particular border crossing.

only 2000 people crossed here yesterday, that is compared to 5000—7000 in the days before that, _ of the 10,000 to 20,000 people coming into romania a day. but it is very well organised, there are a lot of volunteers, as you can see over my shoulder here _ these would be translators, they would be people from the romanian fire brigade who are playing a central role at all these border crossings, and of course the romanian police. there is also a growing awareness of border crossings like this of the vulnerability of so many young women and children crossing. there is a worry among international organisations following this situation as it evolves about the danger of trafficking. there are small groups here warning women and children about this danger. so, generally, one has the sense of a very well organised organisation, humanitarian organisation, within the chaos of this wider refugee situation. nick thorpe reporting. the ukrainian president's office says there is a "high risk" of neighbouring belarus launching an attack on the country to help russia.

but many belarusian dissidents are alreadyjoining the war to fight alongside ukrainian forces. our correspondent in poland mark lowen has met some of them. gunfire. a trial run for the terror they'll soon see for real. recruits from belarus, training before they go to fight with ukraine. slavic brothers uniting against a common enemy — putin's russia. pavel came back from his life in new york to battle the kremlin's forces, who are supported by president lukashenko of belarus. without independent and free ukraine, there is no independent and free belarus. i really admire ukrainian nation. from the very beginning, we supported ukrainians in their fight for freedom, and i would like to have my belarusian nation to be as strong and powerful as ukraine is right now.

do you think lukashenko will send belarusian troops into ukraine? i hope so, because if he sends someone to ukrainian soil, we will destroy them on ukrainian territory first, and then we won't have a lot of problems with our comeback to our motherland. for these dissidents, it's in part a proxy war against a regime at home that's made belarus a launchpad for russian attacks on ukraine. 30,000 russian troops advancing from there to kyiv. they'll also take in supplies, and what they hope they won't have to use. and then a crash course in first aid by a polish veteran of afghanistan. the tourniquets and bandages of that vicious conflict now a part of life in europe. whispering: just hours before leaving, they're learning the vital lessons that could save their lives. when you look around, you can see that these arejust ordinary guys, mainly, who are suddenly

preparing for what it'll be like entering a theatre of war when they cross tonight. for all theirjingoism and unity, the facade cracks as reality hits. i'm afraid, a little. i saw you speaking to your mum earlier. yeah, she's crying. but now, she'sjust...pray, maybe. she tried to tell me that this war is not my, it's not our, that it's other country, other people, but i don't agree. so, they head off to someone else's war, which has become their own. they shout defiantly. both countries fighting the imperial oppressor. they travel from warsaw to war, hours first to the border. a final sip of safety before a crossing off limits to our camera. their sights set on victory for two nations in arms. mark lowen, bbc news,

on the poland—ukraine border. the war rages on here, we heard from lyse earlier on the peace talks continue, but president zelensky of ukraine saying again and again that he has to talk directly to vladimir putin. no sign yet that mr putin wants to talk to him. that's all from us in lviv. now it's back to maryam moshiri with the rest of the day's news in london. the un secretary general addressed journalist about the war in ukraine. he described the war as unthinkable. sooner or later it will move further on the butterfield and that is not questionable. our question is have a more lives must be lost? and many

more lives must be lost? and many more bombs must fall? i'm moore mariupols will be destroyed with might have any more ukrainians and will be killed before people realise this will have no winners, only losers. how many people have to die around ukraine and having people around ukraine and having people around the world had to face hunger for this to stop? continuing the war in ukraine is morally unsuitable, politically indefensible and militarily nonsensical. it’s politically indefensible and militarily nonsensical. it's been nearly four _ militarily nonsensical. it's been nearly four weeks _ militarily nonsensical. it's been nearly four weeks since - militarily nonsensical. it's been nearly four weeks since russia | militarily nonsensical. it's been - nearly four weeks since russia with one of the largest and most powerful forces in the world began its invasion of ukraine. while it has ceased territory in the south and east, russian forces have still struggled to capture large urban centres with analyses more russian forces are being deployed. these images put on social media by a man who says they show chechen forces in ukraine advancing in the direction of the besieged ukrainian city of

mariupol. let's talk now to an emeritus professor of war studies at king's college london. think you so much forjoining us. to me ask you first of all to go back to the secretary general and his words calling this war militarily nonsensical. do you agree with that assessment?— nonsensical. do you agree with that assessment? from russia's point of view, it is- — assessment? from russia's point of view. it is- we _ assessment? from russia's point of view, it is. we have _ assessment? from russia's point of view, it is. we have to _ assessment? from russia's point of view, it is. we have to be _ assessment? from russia's point of view, it is. we have to be careful. view, it is. we have to be careful from a ukrainian point of view because it is not. they are fighting for their survival as a free nation, but from the russian point of view from the start this was a foolish war because it was based on objectives that could not be obtained. and that was true even before the russian military effort ran into so much trouble. so it is nonsensical and obviously it's extremely brutal and tragic every day that passes. but you have to be careful with the equivalence on these things. on the ukrainian point of view, they have territory occupied by an invader and i doubt if they are going to feel the war is

over until those troops have withdrawn. over until those troops have withdrawn-— over until those troops have withdrawn. ~ ., , ., ~' withdrawn. where do you think it went wrong _ withdrawn. where do you think it went wrong for _ withdrawn. where do you think it went wrong for the _ withdrawn. where do you think it went wrong for the russians? i withdrawn. where do you think it | went wrong for the russians? and went wrong for the russians? and went wrong _ went wrong for the russians? fific went wrong from the went wrong for the russians? fific went wrong from the start went wrong for the russians? el“ic went wrong from the start because the whole thing is based on a dilution about ukraine not being a proper nation, lacking a national identity, brittle and not being able to fight so the russians arrogantly believed they could walk in, overthrow president zelensky and be greeted as liberators. that is all one can assume. it went wrong in other respects poorly because of that arrogance. i did not do the things that most military professionals would expect them to have done, which is to gain air superiority, to concentrate their forces rather than for them out all over the place on multiple axes, to a fault of the logistics just in case it did not all and quickly, to have a decent command—and—control and have secure communications. all of those things have gone wrong. but the basic problems from the start,

the basic problems from the start, the underestimate in their opponent. absolutely, and what do you think now the way the ukrainian side had mobilised? ~ ~ ., ., , mobilised? well, the ukrainians think they are _ mobilised? well, the ukrainians think they are winning. - mobilised? well, the ukrainians think they are winning. in - mobilised? well, the ukrainians l think they are winning. in western analysts may not be so sure about that. but that's very clearly the ukrainian view. partly based on the casualties that have been taken by the russian military, the fact that they are stuck, that even with mariupol despite all the terrible things that have happened that city, they are still struggling to occupy that big city. 0desa, kharkiv, kyiv are not yet facing any attempts to occupy them. slowly but surely there are signs of ukrainian counteroffensive. one must be always careful with talking about this because things could change quite quickly. but the russian logistical problems now are so great that they

are going to find it very hard to break out of the areas that they have already taken. and they may start to feel vulnerable and some of those areas. the start to feel vulnerable and some of those areas-— start to feel vulnerable and some of those areas. the ukrainian president has warmed — those areas. the ukrainian president has warmed of— those areas. the ukrainian president has warmed of the _ those areas. the ukrainian president has warmed of the increased - has warmed of the increased likelihood of the belarusians launching an attack on ukraine. we have seen evidence of belarusians coming into ukraine by to fight both for and against the ukrainians. do you think that belarusian involvement is something to worry about for the ukrainians right now? well, i'm sure they'd rather it did not happen then it did. it is not a large army, and i think we have plenty of evidence that it is not a highly motivated army in this fight. interesting to report of anti—lukashenko forces within anti—lu kashenko forces within belarus, anti—lukashenko forces within

belarus, i call them partisans using world war ii language, cutting off the logistics. it was actually re—difficult for them to move stuff into ukraine. so it's a problem. it requires diversion of forces to deal with it, but i don't think it's a game changer. with it, but i don't think it's a game changer-— with it, but i don't think it's a name chanaer. , ,, , . game changer. given your experience as an emeritus _ game changer. given your experience as an emeritus professor _ game changer. given your experience as an emeritus professor of _ game changer. given your experience as an emeritus professor of war - as an emeritus professor of war studies, how do you see this war potentially ending?— potentially ending? well, one assumes it — potentially ending? well, one assumes it will _ potentially ending? well, one assumes it will end _ potentially ending? well, one assumes it will end with - potentially ending? well, one - assumes it will end with negotiation at some point. but it's not easy to see what that is at the moment. people are assuming that there are some concessions of the ukrainians are going to have to make partly because they are being battered so badly. but as we know from the experience of the second world war, battering cities does not actually bring europe a political victory, it just makes you a more determined.

pulling and showing shows that the ukrainians don't want to make any concessions, so essentially it's up to vladimir putin to decide whether or not he has had enough of this. and i think the risk for putin is summing that turns from an embarrassment for his armed forces into a humiliation. major units having to surrender or something like that. and the pressure on his economy. now he lives in his own world and he controls the situation, he is stubborn and it's a difficult thing for him to accept that maybe this is all a terrible mistake. but i think is what we are waiting for. i think is what we are waiting for. i don't think the emphasis on the ukrainians to come up with the big concessions here because there's not any that they can easily make that does not in some way to the mouth this war for the russians.

does not in some way to the mouth this warfor the russians. good does not in some way to the mouth this war for the russians.— this war for the russians. good to talk to you- _ this war for the russians. good to talk to you. thank _ this war for the russians. good to talk to you. thank you _ this war for the russians. good to talk to you. thank you so much i talk to you. thank you so much for your input. mr; talk to you. thank you so much for your input-— a russian court has sentenced the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny to nine years in a maximum security prison for what the prosecutors call "embezzlement". mr navalny leads an anti—corruption foundation that claims president putin has illegally acquired a fortune worth billions of dollars, including a huge palace and one of the world's largest yachts. our moscow correspondent caroline davies reports. speaking in russian. this was alexei navalny�*s last moment as a free man. arrested at the airport as he arrived back in russia in 2021. with a kiss to his wife, he was taken by the russian authorities. the kremlin critic is already behind bars. wearing black prison uniform, he heard today's verdict from his jail — guilty of embezzlement. and nine years in a maximum security penal colony. crowd chants. these were the anti—corruption protests mr navalny led.

the man who'd been one of president putin's fiercest critics has always maintained the legal case against him was political, as have many in the west. in 2020, he was poisoned using novichok and left for treatment in germany. he chose to return to russia. now many of his allies have left the country, afraid of what might happen if they stay. more media sites are banned day by day here in russia. meta, the company that owns facebook and instagram, has been declared an extremist organisation and both sites have been blocked, and the introduction of a new law that means that anything deemed to be false information about the military can result injail time has led to many independent journalists leaving the country. the window that many russians have on the outside world is virtually closed. the laws in russia, they were strict and draconian before the war, and they became even worse after the war. farida rustamova is an independent russianjournalist.

she was out of the country when russia launched its "special military operation" and chose never to return. she's too afraid to say where she's now based. i'm afraid of going to jailfor words. the only thing that is allowed is propaganda. i'm absolutely sure that this is just the beginning and that things are going to get worse. chanting. daring to disagree is increasingly dangerous in russia. with each protest, the crowds shrink. with each week, there are fewer journalists to cover them and anything that contradicts the kremlin. president putin's regime knows that fear can breed silence. caroline davies, bbc news, moscow. you can as always get more information on our website.

you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbcmaryam. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. it's feeling very spring—like out there now, plenty of sunshine around, notjust for today, for the rest of the week, all thanks to high pressure. most places will be dry, sunny and warm pretty much as we head on into the weekend. but the warmth could just set off an isolated shower here or there, though most places will escape them and stay dry. we have got high pressure to the east of us, low pressure to the west. we are bringing up some warmer air on a south or south easterly breeze. but again, the winds will be light throughout the day today, so that means pollution levels will tend to build up, so that is the only downside to areas of high pressure, they bring this stagnant air. otherwise, plenty of sunshine around, just a few showers sparking off into the afternoon through wales, the midlands, northwards, but as i mentioned, they will be pretty isolated, most places will be dry, sunny and warm, and we could see top temperatures around 20 to the north

and west of london. but for many of us, mid to high teens. again, the wind is quite fresh across the far south—west, but light winds as we head onto this evening and overnight. any showers through central and northern areas will fade away and we will see a little bit of mist and fog developing here and there. temperatures dipping down to 3—6 in towns, maybe a touch lower in the countryside. wednesday, we start off on a fine, dry, sunny note, and a little bit of mist and fog around once again, then it is going to be a fine afternoon for most. a little bit of low cloud, mist, affecting northern and eastern coast of scotland. good to see the odd shower across north—east scotland, eastern england, but i think most places will be dry. temperatures may be a notch up still on wednesday. we could see highs of 21 or so across the south—east, but the mid to high teens again for many. thursday, we start to see a weak weather frontjust pushing into the north and west of scotland. that's going to bring more breeze, more cloud to the northern and western isles and into the north mainland there, so that will impact the temperature a little bit, but elsewhere once again it is another dry, sunny,

warm day with temperatures again not far off 20 in the warmest spots. through friday and the weekend, the area of high pressure begins to drift its way westwards, and that will allow a bit more cloud and slightly fresher air to affect northern and eastern parts of the uk. that said, it is still high pressure dominating the scene to end the week and weekend, so many places will be dry with a good deal of sunshine around. by sunday, certainly into next week, it will be turning cooler and a bit cloudierfor some of us.

for this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk for or around the globe. our top stories: ukraine's president zelensky says his country is on the brink of surviving its war with russia. but heavy fighting continues — and the ukrainian military warns that russia is likely to launch more indiscriminate attacks. president biden warns that vladimir putin could use chemical and biological weapons in ukraine. the white house also suggests russia could begin cyber—attacks in the us. he's considering using both of those. he's already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should be careful of what's about to come. he knows there will be severe consequences. russian opposition leader alexei navalny is sentenced to nine more years in prison in a trial his supporters say was a sham. p&o ferries bosses have until 5 o'clock

to explain their decision to sack 800 members of staff without notice. a 17—month old toddler, killed at her home in merseyside by a dog bought only a week ago, has been named as bella—rae birch. an inspection by the police watchdog has concluded — the approach of the metropolitan police to tackling corruption within its ranks is "fundamentally flawed." the uk's ministry of defence is issuing a daily intelligence update on the situation in ukraine — here's what it has to say in its latest. it focuses on military hardware. the tweet begins...

as well as conventional weapons, the white house has also raised the likelihood that russia may resort to cyber—attacks against the us in response to increasingly damaging sanctions. our cyber reportjoe tidy gave me his take on that threat. the warnings are not new and we have heard this sort of thing from the ua

k and us cyber authorities hurt months but hearing this from president biden is rare and also there is some sort of new intelligence —— we have heard of this sort of thing from the uk and us cyber authorities for months. the sorts of things they are fearing, they are twofold, firstly, a direct attack either by the kremlin directly or by one of the criminal cyber criminal gangs operating in russia, the likes we saw last may when a oil pipeline company in the east coast of us was hit and that caused oil supplies and a state of emergency problems for many states across the east coast and it was a real crisis what about a week and a half as oil supplies went dry and there was panic at the pumps and that sort of thing, and that is a direct attack. the other thing that has potentially been fed, there could be a repeat of what happened in 2017, with an overspill attack, where russia attacks ukraine with a

malicious piece of software which spreads around the world and caused about $10 billion worth of damage and in their worst case scenario, it has already been clarified that a very serious cyber attack on some sort of critical infrastructure in a nato country could trigger article five, a collective defence response. food prices are set to soar as a result of the war in ukraine due to shortages of major exports such as wheat and sunflower oil. some countries who import these goods could be set to face increasing shortages of basic foodstuffs. one country where events in ukraine are already having an effect is egypt — where the currency has fallen sharply against the dollar — and that's already causing economic hardship. our correspondent sally nabil says prices are already going up. prices have been going up over the past couple of weeks, and just yesterday, the egyptian pound lost more than 12%

of its value against the us dollar which would result eventually in another wave of inflation. and the people here are really complaining that they cannot take it any more. because over the past few years, the government has put some austerity measures in place, calling it much necessary economic reforms. we are talking about 30% of the population here live below the poverty line, they live from hand to mouth, they literally struggle to put food on the table. so the fact that prices are rising every single day, that would burden them way too much, far beyond what they can take. just to let you know, the pound is still dropping to the moment. and there is a state of uncertainty. no one knows what's going to happen next. the government blames it on the war and they say it is just out of hand, but experts believe that the government just cannot manage the economy, it is mismanaging the country's resources.

the chancellor rishi sunak is being urged to take urgent action to tackle steep increases in the cost of living. tomorrow, he'll reveal his tax and spending plans in his spring statement in the house of commons. mps and pressure groups have called on him to provide help for people hard hit by increasesd in inflation and fuel costs. joining me now is carl emmerson, deputy director at the institute for fiscal studies. thanks forjoining us. the chancellor has pledged to the bbc that the government will help where it can to make a difference ahead of the spring statement, so where can it help? the spring statement, so where can it hel ? ., . ., the spring statement, so where can it help? the chancellor has got difficult decisions _ it help? the chancellor has got difficult decisions to _ it help? the chancellor has got difficult decisions to make - it help? the chancellor has got difficult decisions to make and | it help? the chancellor has got i difficult decisions to make and he can't escape the fact that because the uk import energy and the fact energy prices are higher, that the uk is going to be poorer than expected, and he can't make that go away, and he can't make us rich in response but what he can do is change how the pain is allocated, to

what extent should different households, businesses, public services, be effected in the coming year, maybe over time, services, be effected in the coming year, maybe overtime, he services, be effected in the coming year, maybe over time, he could loan money and give grants to different groups but he has got to trade off, he can't make the pain go away but he can't make the pain go away but he can't make the pain go away but he can change how it is allocated. where do you think the allegation is going to come? —— allocation. the going to come? -- allocation. the idea of trying _ going to come? -- allocation. the idea of trying to — going to come? —— allocation. t“is idea of trying to give going to come? —— allocation. t“ie: idea of trying to give a bit going to come? —— allocation. t“i:e: idea of trying to give a bit to everybody because everyone is feeling the squeeze from rising energy prices, but that means spreading resources very thinly and providing only a bit of compensation to offset the pain or do you target at the grapes who feel the most pain, for example, lower income households who spend a bigger share of their budget on fuel and there to limit were therefore are feeling the squeeze even more —— do you target at those who feel the most pain. what about national insurance

contributions?— what about national insurance contributions? yes, the national insurance rate _ contributions? yes, the national insurance rate is _ contributions? yes, the national insurance rate is coming - contributions? yes, the national insurance rate is coming next i contributions? yes, the national- insurance rate is coming next month, and that is a possible thing to do, and that is a possible thing to do, and it's something they are committed to in their last manifesto, but the problem with that kind of giveaway, it will be a permanent giveaway rather than a temporary one and fundamentally britain will be poorer permanent giveaways are much harderfor the chancellor to be doing a lot as opposed to a temporary giveaway where he has much more scope to spend if he wants. the where he has much more scope to spend if he wants.— spend if he wants. the 155 said eo - le spend if he wants. the 155 said people are _ spend if he wants. the 155 said people are facing _ spend if he wants. the 155 said people are facing the _ spend if he wants. the 155 said people are facing the biggest l people are facing the biggest squeeze since the 1970s —— iss. people are really going to stop feeding this in their pockets. certainly in april, very big increases in the household energy bills, and we're already seeing more expensive petrol, and national insurance increases coming in next month and we are also freezing income tax thresholds and that bites harder when inflation rates are very high, so the next few months will be

a very big squeeze on households and the chancellor at best can only offset a small fraction of that pain. it offset a small fraction of that ain. , ., , ., pain. if you were set on the shoulder — pain. if you were set on the shoulder of _ pain. if you were set on the shoulder of the _ pain. if you were set on the shoulder of the chancellor l pain. if you were set on the - shoulder of the chancellor tomorrow, what would you advise him to do? very much i would suggest he should focus on the next five months and i'm sure the chancellor would like to set along term strategy and give certainty around what he wants to but energy prices are notjust very high but also very volatile. so we are expecting household energy bills to increase substantially again in october but i would tell him now not to worry about that and just to come back and announce more policies if neededin back and announce more policies if needed in august and september, but focus now for the next three or four months. ., ., ., , p&o ferries bosses have until 5 o'clock this afternoon to explain their decision to sack 800 members of staff without notice. many were told via a pre—recorded video message. ministers will then consider

whether the company broke the law by failing to follow "clear rules" on making people redundant. our transport correspondent katy austin is with me. we have these deadline of 5pm at so what are we expecting to happen if anything? we what are we expecting to happen if an hinu ? ~ ., , . what are we expecting to happen if an hinu? ., , . ., anything? we are expecting that the com an anything? we are expecting that the company does _ anything? we are expecting that the company does intend _ anything? we are expecting that the company does intend to _ anything? we are expecting that the company does intend to reply - anything? we are expecting that the company does intend to reply to - anything? we are expecting that the company does intend to reply to the | company does intend to reply to the business secretary by about five o'clock deadline this comes after the business secretary wrote to the chief executive of p&o on friday at one of the things in his letter pointed out that the insolvency service will look into whether the books macro that should be followed whereby if an employer intends to make large numbers of workers redundant they need to give advance notice, they are looking into whether those rules were followed or not, and failing to notify is required is actually a criminal offence and that can leave the company open to a potentially unlimited fine, and the other main thing in the letter was to set out ten specific points that he wanted p&0 to

ten specific points that he wanted p&o to answer and i won't go through all of them but they include what other options were considered before the decision was taken and where were the fired staff working and where were the ships registered, details about their contracts and also whether anybody who has been made redundant has since been offered a similar role but on different terms and conditions. so i'm expecting the company to respond by the five o'clock deadline but there has been a lot of political pressure from all sides really on p&0, pressure from all sides really on p&o, denouncing the action they have taken, but so far i can't see any signs that p&o is looking to row back on what it is done. as far as we can tell it is still getting those new agency staff together to replace the staff who have been sacked and we know that the first inspection of one of the ferries that has to be carried out by the maritime and coastguard agency before they can return to service because the service is currently

suspended, the first of those inspections is taking place today so it looks like they are planning to proceed. it looks like they are planning to roceed. ., , ., , ., ., proceed. there are people who have tickets for ferries _ proceed. there are people who have tickets for ferries who _ proceed. there are people who have tickets for ferries who are _ tickets for ferries who are wondering when services will return, any idea when that will happen? hot any idea when that will happen? tirrit specifically. the liverpool to dublin route has restarted and that is because the crews were not affected by thursday's decision. but the company said it wants to start again other services but that is dependent on these inspections being passed, to make sure that the vessels are being safely operated with these new crew members, and so they can't restart until those inspections have been done and we know that the first of those is now under way but we don't know when the others will be done and how long it will take those ferries to come back into service on routes including the major dover calais crossing. thanks for “oininr major dover calais crossing. thanks

forjoining us- _ a 17—month—old girl, who died after she was attacked by a dog in merseyside, has been named as bella—rae birch. herfamily, who live in st helens, had only bought the dog a week ago. police say the dog attacked bella—rae inside the family home and although an ambulance was called, the toddler died as a result of her injuries yesterday afternoon. detailed investigations are continuing into this tragic event. forensic examinations to determine the dog's breed are ongoing, and we are working to identify all the previous owners of the dog so we can establish its history. we want to continue to support the family and the local community, and officers will remain at scene on bidston avenue during the day today. earlier, our correspondent judith moritz gave us the latest from the scene in st helens. it isa it is a developing picture and the houses are still cordoned off behind me and in fact the cord and was extended for investigators going in and out of the property, forensic suits and a scientific support unit

here, mobile police station and plenty of uniformed officers who are going door—to—door. there has been a heavy police presence since last night, the emergency services were called at ten to 42 a report of a child who has been attacked by a dog, and cpr was given before paramedics arrived and little bella—rae birch was taken to hospital but that is where she sadly died of her injuries. the police are obviously looking into the circumstances surrounding this, the nature of the dog and the breed of the dog, forensic examinations to establish what kind of animal it was, it was humanely destroyed and the family, very distressed, being comforted by specially trained family liaison officers by merseyside police. we have seen neighbours and locals here coming and leaving flowers and good wishes for the family. it is the kind of thing that nobody in this area wanted to wake up to today.

the body which oversees the metropolitan police in london has concluded that its approach to tackling corruption within its ranks is "fundamentally flawed". the findings come in a report which has been published today. it follows the failed investigation into the 1987 murder of private investigator daniel morgan. earlier our home affairs correspondent tom symonds gave my colleague lucy hockings more detail of what's in the report. what it finds is not pretty, and the force is described as arrogant, lethargic and secretive, when it comes to corruption, and the other inspection said we found no evidence that someone somewhere had adopted the view that the daniel morgan issue must never happen again, and some of the detail concerns staff in sensitive positions, like child protection, a major investigation, were not receiving the level of betting they should have received. concerns that 100 members of staff had been found to have broken the law in the last two years and that

other people had been recruited with connections to criminals, and even more worrying, more than 2000 warrant cards, that the police take around with them to show that they are police officers, had gone missing, possibly because people have left the force, and these are cards which can get you into police buildings, and there is a clear concern. something even more sinister, the horrendous case where a police officer, i won't even name him, where he abducted and murdered sarah everard and in doing that he used his own warrant card. he was a serving officer but he used his warrant card to achieve that end. a man has been charged with murdering 19—year—old sabita thanwani at her central london student accommodation. 22 year old maher maaroufe will appear in court later. ms thanwani was found seriously injured in the early hours of saturday. she died at the scene

and a post—mortem examination gave cause of death as sharp force trauma to the neck. a journalist who investigated the 1974 birmingham pub bombings will not have to hand over his notes to police after they launched a legal bid to force him to reveal his sources. chris mullin challenged an application by west midlands police to require him to disclose source material dating back to his investigation in 1985 and 1986. at the old bailey, a judge ruled he would not have to hand over the material. air crash investigators in china say they do not yet know why a china eastern jet crashed on monday. 132 people were on board — it's not thought there are any survivors. the flight recorders have not yet been found. police in sweden say they have not yet established a motive for the killing of two teachers at a high school in malmo on monday. detectives say they recovered several weapons, which were not firearms. an 18—year old student has been arrested. he has no criminal record,

and police are trying to establish if he had any connection to the teachers who were attacked. a new compensation scheme has been announced for post office workers who won a landmark civil case over faulty computer software used by the post office. the 555 people who won the case — part of britain's biggest ever miscarriage ofjustice — will now get the same pay—out as the employees who were wrongly convicted. with more on that compensation. lives and livelihoods were ruined because of these crimes and these false accusations. and they all came from this computer system called horizon, which was in post office branches, but which ultimately was flawed. and so hundreds of people, as you say, over the course of more than a decade, were convicted of things like false accounting and fraud. now, the real turning point came when 555 of these sub—postmasters

and mistresses took a long and arduous battle, frankly, through the civil courts, and at the end of that they won their case against the post office at the end of 2019, and they won compensation. however, a lot of that was eaten up by the legal fees and they only received about £20,000, on average, each. since then, things have really moved on. we have had 72 criminal convictions overturned, we have had a full inquiry set up by the government, and we have had this compensation scheme set up which compensates people for the supposedly shortfalls in their accounts, which they made up with their own money, and it compensates them for that. but the 555 who took on this civil case, they were locked out of this compensation scheme. what has happened today is the government has said they will be compensated in the same way as all those other hundreds of people who are using that

compensation scheme. the duke and duchess of cambridge will travel to jamaica later, as part of their tour of the caribbean. yesterday, prince william paid tribute to ukrainians fighting for their homeland during a visit to a british military training camp in the jungle of belize. our royal correspondent jonny dymond reports. learning about another world, another civilisation, way up in the hills of belize. if you're looking for historical perspective, there are worse places to find it than a mayan temple. the british monarchy has been around for a thousand years, but this place, it's been around for 3,000. think of what it's seen. and now, they came to see it. to gain a better understanding and to catch sight of the country they are visiting.

they're not the only brits enjoying belize's hospitality. the army uses the jungle to teach its soldiers survival skills. the duke was here more than 20 years ago, but now was a chance to brush up his knowledge on... ..how to trap a monkey in the wild. most of all, in the jungle, you need water. the couple were shown ingenious ways to gather the stuff, then given a chance to try out one of nature's water dispensers. a little bark in it! arms by your sides, stood to attention. this was a reunion of sorts. the commanding officer

here was william's sergeant major when he trained at sandhurst. now was time to say thanks to his old trainee. you're 5,500 miles from the uk here, you can feel slightly isolated, we're in the middle of the jungle. so the fact that they take time out of their busy schedules, which are extremely busy, to come and visit us means a lot. you can probably sense the buzz of excitement around the place. it's not every day young soldiers get to interact with royals. last night, at a reception for the couple, william directly addressed the invasion of ukraine. he quoted the queen, talking about the vigilance needed to protect democracies. sadly, elsewhere in the world, that vigilance is being tested today in ukraine. belize hasjoined many others in condemning the invasion and standing up for the principles of international law, peace, and security.

today, we think of those struggling in ukraine and we stand with them in solidarity. from the royals, it doesn't get much blunter than that. the couple head for their next stop, jamaica, later today. jonny dymond, bbc news, belize. let's return now to our top story — the war in ukraine. people around the world have seen images of the 21 surrogate babies being cared for in a kyiv bomb shelter. a top eu official is now calling for their evacuation as their intended parents can't travel to ukraine during the russian invasion. shelley phelps has spoken to one of those surrogate mothers. these surrogate—born babies are starting life at a makeshift nursery in a bomb shelter basement. their foreign biological parents unable to pick them up because of war. more arrive every day and they expect to have around 100 here by the end of the month.

translation: we are worried for ourselves, for our own - children, for these little babies who stay here, for everyone. it's terrifying because we sit here and we don't know what will happen next. even though we stay in the basement, when there is an explosion somewhere nearby, we can hear it very clearly. paid surrogacy is legal in ukraine and there's thought to be hundreds of women carrying babies forforeign couples. but those weighing up whether to flee the war zone are being told they could face complicated legal situations if they give birth in another country. poland or in czech republic or in moldova, in romania, these countries, they do not recognise the legal relation of a child, and first of all, in the countries, from roman

law, the legal mother of a child is the woman who gives birth. it's notjust the international parents who face worry and heartache at being separated from their children. this is natalia, a ukrainian surrogate who travelled to kyiv and gave birth to a baby boy for a german couple. days later, war broke out, with missiles striking roads and railway stations. translation: i was unable to go back to my kids. - unfortunately, they are far away from here, from me, and they are missing me so much, and same way, i am missing them so much. that's why i would like to ask everyone, anyone who can see or hear me, please support us, the ukrainians. please support ukraine. help us to defend ourselves against the invaders. the happiness her own family brings is one of the reasons natalia became a surrogate, and she says she's proud to be helping making others' dreams come true. the parents of the boy she gave

birth to have made it to ukraine to unite with their baby, and natalia hopes she'll be hugging her own children again soon. shelley phelps, bbc news. more news coming at the top of the hour, but now we can have a look at the weather forecast. hello, there. it's feeling very spring—like out there now. plenty of sunshine around, not just for today, for the rest of the week, all thanks to high pressure. most places will be dry, sunny and warm pretty much as we head on into the weekend. but the warmth could just set off an isolated shower here or there, though most places will escape them and stay dry. we've got high pressure to the east of us, low pressure to the west. we're bringing up some warmer air on a south or south—easterly breeze. but again, the winds will be light throughout the day today, so that means pollutant levels will tend to build up, so that's the only downside to areas of high pressure, they bring this stagnant air. otherwise, plenty of sunshine

around, just a few showers sparking off into the afternoon through wales, the midlands, northwards, but like i mentioned, they will be pretty isolated. most places will be dry, sunny and warm, and we could see top temperatures around 20 degrees to the north and west of london. but for many of us, the mid to high teens. again, the winds are quite fresh across the far south west, but light winds as we head onto this evening and overnight. any showers through central and northern areas will fade away, and we'll see a little bit of mist and fog developing here and there. temperatures dipping down to 3—6 degrees in town, maybe a touch lower in the countryside. wednesday, we start off on a fine, dry, sunny note. a little bit of mist and fog around once again, and then it's going to be a fine afternoon for most. a little bit of low cloud, mist, affecting northern and eastern coasts of scotland. could see the odd shower across north—east scotland, eastern england, but i think most places will be dry. temperatures may be a notch up still on wednesday. we could see highs of 21 degrees or so across the south east, but the mid to high teens again for many. thursday, we start to see a weak weather front just pushing into the north

and the west of scotland. that's going to bring more breeze, more cloud to the northern and western isles and into the north mainland there, so that'll impact the temperature a little bit. but elsewhere, once again, it's another dry, sunny, warm day with temperatures again not far off 20 degrees in the warmest spots. now, through friday and the weekend, our area of high pressure begins to drift its way westwards, and that will allow a bit more cloud and slightly fresher air to affect northern and eastern parts of the uk. that said, it's still high pressure dominating the scene to end the week and the weekend, so many places will be dry with a good deal of sunshine around. but by sunday, certainly into next week, it will be turning cooler and a bit cloudier for some of us.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm jane hill. our top stories — ukraine's president says his country is on the brink of surviving its war with russia. the ukrainians say they've carried out a series of successful counterattacks against the russian invaders. but there's still heavy fighting on several fronts, and military experts believe russia will continue its indiscriminate attacks. russian opposition leader alexei navalny is found guilty of fraud in a trial his supporters say was a sham. we meet a group of volunteers in belarus preparing tojoin the fight against russian forces in ukraine. and a russian billionaire sanctioned

by the uk says he no longer owns many former properties, potentially putting them beyond the reach of the law. hello and welcome to bbc news. president zelensky says ukraine is on the brink of surviving the russian invasion, now in its fourth week. his cautious optimism comes despite a warning from the ukrainian military that russia will continue to indiscriminately shell cities and infrastructure across the country and concerns from us presidentjoe biden believes vladimir putin's "back is against the wall" and may use chemical or biological weapons against ukraine. his country's forces have slowed down the enemy advance.

russian forces, here indicated in red, have failed to make much headway over the past week. but residents of the ukrainian city of boryspil, about 25 miles from kyiv, have been asked to leave the area if they can as fighting against russian forces draws closer. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has this report from the capital, kyiv. "everyone downstairs." not something you'd expect to hear in a hospital until 26 days ago. but this is war, and the southern city of mykolaiv, like so many others, is struggling to escape it. translation: i'm scared, but i have nowhere to go, | no place to escape to. we have our roots here. we can't run away. russia has mykolaiv in its sights. its people are already paying for standing their ground.

here, a soldier's family lay him to rest. mariupol is expected to fall in weeks if not days after weeks of being surrounded and cut off. this footage filmed from a drone showing factories being destroyed in the city. kyiv, also a city under attack, once again under a curfew. it's around here where the majority of russian forces are thought to be. but they haven't made any real gains here. and that's why they're resorting to longer—range artillery fire. military experts in the us, as you can hear, reckon most of russia's advances are continuing to stall because of poor planning. president zelensky is hoping that will pull moscow towards the negotiating table, but the us is making much darker predictions. the kremlin's once again accused of trying to create a false justification to escalate things further, by claiming ukraine

is poised to use more lethal weapons without offering any evidence. his back is against the wall. and now he's talking about new false flags he's setting up, including asserting that we, america, have biological as well as chemical weapons in europe, simply not true. i guarantee you. they're also suggesting ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in ukraine. that's a clear sign he's considering using both of those. all in the hope it would ultimately lead to kyiv falling, its biggest prize. the kremlin says not enough progress has been made in talks for both leaders to meet yet. president zelensky, however, is hoping vladimir putin's frustration will pull him in. translation: even though we hate these troops that l are killing our people, - if we want peace, we will have to sit down and talk.

the right word is negotiate, - negotiate, not deliver ultimatums. he's saying any concessions to russia should be put to a referendum, asking his people what they'd be willing to sacrifice for the future of their country. for now, this war, and for one square in kyiv, the music goes on. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. lyse doucet is in kyiv. of course she has been there throughout this conflict. and when you hear ukraine's president say the country is on the brink of surviving, as he put it, what do you make of that? this surviving, as he put it, what do you make of that?— make of that? this is probably the roudest make of that? this is probably the proudest declaration _ make of that? this is probably the proudest declaration of— make of that? this is probably the proudest declaration of a - make of that? this is probably the proudest declaration of a leader i make of that? this is probably the l proudest declaration of a leader who knows that the world had underestimated the might of the ukrainian military with patriotic

resistance of the ukrainian people who look to the numbers, look at the firepower, knew the russian army could out man, outgun, out sheath ukrainians, but here we are, nearly a month, and ukraine is still standing. but president zelensky also knows the price that his people are paying in the destruction, the devastation, the deprivation across this country. he never ceases, every day, to call out for peace talks. and now he's asked pope francis, the head of the roman catholic church, to mediate. he's asked many to try to mediate. he's asked many to try to persuade vladimir putin to come to persuade vladimir putin to come to the negotiating table and he has said he is very sceptical like many ukrainians are, but says there is a 1% chance of ending this war, he will try to take it.— will try to take it. how substantiative - will try to take it. how substantiative really i will try to take it. how. substantiative really are will try to take it. how- substantiative really are they? will try to take it. how— substantiative really are they? at what sort of level are they going

on? , ., ., ., ., ,, what sort of level are they going on? , ., ., ., ., ~ ., on? there is a lot of talking going on. at first, _ on? there is a lot of talking going on. at first, it— on? there is a lot of talking going on. at first, it was _ on? there is a lot of talking going on. at first, it was the _ on? there is a lot of talking going on. at first, it was the level - on? there is a lot of talking going on. at first, it was the level of. on. at first, it was the level of ukrainian and russian negotiators, but there has been at least four rounds of talks and some of the rounds of talks and some of the rounds have gone on for days, many of them remotely. they talked about making progress. we hearfrom some of the countries mediating, including turkey and israel, and the same conclusions emerge, that some of the issues which were on the agenda initially are taken off the agenda. so we hear the words that is more realistic now. we hear it, but only of corsican hand, third hampton, that president putin has taken the issue of overthrowing the ukrainian government, overthrowing president zelensky off the agenda. that's what the israeli prime ministers said that is really media. that he is understood that you cannot simply remove the ukrainian military when you talk about demilitarised in the country. from

the ukrainian side, presidents linsky has said many times he understands that they may not be able to join nato understands that they may not be able tojoin nato partly understands that they may not be able to join nato partly because it was open doors but not so open after all, but also this is a redline for russia. but when it comes to the issues of territorial integrity, thatis issues of territorial integrity, that is where the tough issues lie. he heard of that report from james waterhouse that president zelensky has said we will put issues like that to referendum many ukrainians is that we don't want to get russia in ukraine which russia has to as independent. russia and its crimea independent. russia and its crimea in 2014 and ukraine does not want to really recognise that and what about the territory, the land in the south and east that russia has occupied in this offensive. it's very hard to see resident putin pulling back from those lands after all of the forces he's mobilised and all of the losses that russia has incurred and of course the political cost as well. so there are still some red lines on

both sides, a lot of tough issues, but they are talking and that is one little light in a very, very dark day. little light in a very, very dark da . , , , ., , little light in a very, very dark da. , , , ., , ., little light in a very, very dark da. day. yes, yes, and while they go on, thou:h, it day. yes, yes, and while they go on, though. it is — day. yes, yes, and while they go on, though. it is the _ day. yes, yes, and while they go on, though, it is the human _ day. yes, yes, and while they go on, though, it is the human people - day. yes, yes, and while they go on, though, it is the human people whol though, it is the human people who pay the price, it is the regular civilians who pay the price the longer this drags on. this civilians who pay the price the longer this drags on.- civilians who pay the price the longer this drags on. this war is not 'ust longer this drags on. this war is notjust a _ longer this drags on. this war is notjust a major— longer this drags on. this war is notjust a major military - longer this drags on. this war is| notjust a major military activity. not just a major military activity. it is a huge humanitarian catastrophe. so much of the people are running out of words to describe it. we hear about mariupol, which has seen the worst of the war, that it's help on earth, that it's a living help, that is apocalyptic. we hear the stories of the survivors, about dead bodies lying in the streets, of children not having enough to eat and about people shocked and traumatised. it's beyond... this is a war which is

beyond... this is a war which is beyond belief, it beggars belief. the kind of pain and suffering, devastation, the privation being inflicted on ukraine now, and for all of the sanctions and all of the powerful weapons which have been provided to ukraine and we will hear more of that this week when president biden arrives for meetings on thursday with nato, the g7, the european union, again they will talk about trying to stop the war. but none of it has stopped the war. the war gets more horrific by the day. as ever, many thanks. still in ukraine's capitalfor as ever, many thanks. still in ukraine's capital for us. a russian court has sentenced the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny to nine years in a maximum security prison for what the prosecutors call "embezzlement". mr navalny leads an anti—corruption foundation that claims president putin has illegally acquired a fortune worth billions of dollars, including a huge palace and one of the world's largest yachts. our moscow correspondent caroline davies reports.

speaking in russian. this was alexei navalny�*s last moment as a free man. arrested at the airport as he arrived back in russia in 2021. with a kiss to his wife, he was taken by the russian authorities. the kremlin critic is already behind bars. wearing black prison uniform, he heard today's verdict from his jail — guilty of embezzlement and nine years in a maximum security penal colony. crowd chants. these were the anti—corruption protests mr navalny led. the man who'd been one of president putin's fiercest critics has always maintained the legal case against him was political, as have many in the west. in 2020, he was poisoned using novichok and left for treatment in germany. he chose to return to russia. now many of his allies have left the country, afraid of what might happen if they stay. more media sites are banned day

by day here in russia. meta, the company that owns facebook and instagram, has been declared an extremist organisation and both sites have been blocked, and the introduction of a new law that means that anything deemed to be false information about the military can result injail time has led to many independent journalists leaving the country. the window that many russians have on the outside world is virtually closed. the laws in russia, they were strict and draconian before the war, and they became even worse after the war. farida rustamova is an independent russianjournalist. she was out of the country when russia launched its "special military operation" and chose never to return. she's too afraid to say where she's now based. i'm afraid of physical assault. i'm afraid of going to jailfor words. the only thing that is allowed is propaganda. i'm absolutely sure that this is just the beginning and that things are going to get worse.

chanting. daring to disagree is increasingly dangerous in russia. with each protest, the crowds shrink. with each week, there are fewer journalists to cover them and anything that contradicts the kremlin. president putin's regime knows that fear can breed silence. caroline davies, bbc news, moscow. the ukrainian president's office says there is a "high risk" of neighbouring belarus launching an attack on the country to help russia, its longstanding ally. but some belarusian dissidents are joining the war to fight alongside ukrainian forces. our correspondent in poland, mark lowen, has met some of them. gunfire. a trial run for the terror they'll soon see for real. recruits from belarus, training before they go to fight with ukraine. slavic brothers uniting against a common enemy — putin's russia.

pavel came back from his life in new york to battle the kremlin's forces, who are supported by president lukashenko of belarus. without independent and free ukraine, there is no independent and free belarus. i really admire ukrainian nation. from the very beginning, we supported ukrainians in their fight for freedom, and i'd like to have my belarusian nation to be as strong and powerful as ukraine is right now. do you think lukashenko will send belarusian troops into ukraine? i hope so, because if he sends someone to ukrainian soil, we will destroy them on ukrainian territory first, and then we won't have a lot of problems with our comeback to our motherland. for these dissidents, it's in part a proxy war against a regime at home that's made belarus a launchpad for russian attacks on ukraine. 30,000 russian troops advancing from there to kyiv.

they'll also take in supplies and what they hope they won't have to use. and then a crash course in first aid by a polish veteran of afghanistan. the tourniquets and bandages of that vicious conflict now a part of life in europe. whispering: just hours before leaving, they're learning the vital lessons that could save their lives. when you look around, you can see that these arejust ordinary guys, mainly, who are suddenly preparing for what it'll be like entering a theatre of war when they cross tonight. for all theirjingoism and unity, the facade cracks as reality hits. i'm afraid, a little. i saw you speaking to your mum earlier. yeah, she's crying. but now, she'sjust...pray, maybe. she tried to tell me that this war is not my, it's not our, that it's other country,

other people, but i don't agree. so, they head off to someone else's war, which has become their own. they shout defiantly. both countries fighting the imperial oppressor. they travel from warsaw to war, hours first to the border. a final sip of safety before a crossing off limits to our camera. their sights set on victory for two nations in arms. mark lowen, bbc news, on the poland—ukraine border. let's get more on the situation in mariupol, beseiged for nearly three weeks. every report out of the city is worse than the one before.

tetiana yefremova, from mariupol originally, and has many relatives living there. tetiana's mother and grandmother have finally managed to leave the city. it's an incredibly difficult time but explain the situation with your mother and grandmother who i believe it finally been able to get out. hello. actually several minutes ago, they have come to my house finally because we were waiting for them, light, several days. and they were in besieged mariupol. as you already said. and when the war started, i did not think that mariupol will be so dangerous. i was in kyiv with my brother and my husband. we were hiding in a bomb shelterfor a week. and then we managed to go to western

part of ukraine. but my mother and grandmother were in mariupol. it was one of the most dangerous places in mariupol and now this district is totally cut off from the rest of the city. so from other districts, people can fleet, it can go through checkpoints and leave mariupol. this district is kind of cut off. and one day, my mother called me. she told me that they were in the basement with my grandmother and neighbours. and they did not have mobile connection. their mobile service did not work. but she managed to call me. she was able to call me and it

happened because she moved to another district. she heard that it can be evacuation in the centre of the city, but russian soldiers did not stop shelling. and it was very dangerous, so theyjust moved to another district, but they wanted to leave mariupol. so after that, they spent some time in that district. sometimes she called me. like, once, two days in two days. and i remember one call when i asked her whether she has food and water because russian soldiers did not allow humanitarian aid to go through checkpoints to mariupol and to give food and water and medicine to citizens. and there are four at

100,000 citizens in mariupol. and my mum answered that they have some water, but there is food for approximately three days. and there is six months of baby and some who need medicines. so she was not sure whether they could survive. and after that, she yelled there is a plane, i hear the plane. and it meant they could buy their building. so shejust hung up meant they could buy their building. so she just hung up the meant they could buy their building. so shejust hung up the phone... i5 so she just hung up the phone... is so good of you to talk to us right now because you have just been reunited with your mother and your grandmother in the last few minutes. extraordinarily traumatic. how are they doing? how are they coping? they are safe but presumably they

have lost their homes, have they lost their friends? how are they dealing with that? i lost their friends? how are they dealing with that?— lost their friends? how are they dealing with that? i would asked him to 'oin us dealing with that? i would asked him to join us but — dealing with that? i would asked him to join us but they _ dealing with that? i would asked him to join us but they don't _ dealing with that? i would asked him to join us but they don't speak- to join us but they don't speak english unfortunately. i met them and we were crying of course and we were happy that we could see each other. we are happy. and, yes, we lost our two apartments, and, yet, my mother lost her friends there. she cannot call them. she does not know whether they are alive. and actually we lost everything. now, we are in another apartment that people just gave us for free because they know about our situation and in another city and we don't know what to do. because everything was in mariupol. it to do. because everything was in mariu ol. , to do. because everything was in mariuol. , , ., mariupol. it is so very good of you to talk to us _

mariupol. it is so very good of you to talk to us at _ mariupol. it is so very good of you to talk to us at such _ mariupol. it is so very good of you to talk to us at such an _ to talk to us at such an exceptionally difficult time, and a really poignant time for her family. thank you so much, and we send you all our best wishes but we are at least glad of course that your mum and your grandmother are safe and you are back together again, but extraordinarily difficult. thank you so much from it we really do appreciate it, thank you. originally from mariupol and we know the really truly bleak conditions the people who are still trapped there are enduring, but telling us about her closest relatives who have managed to escape that city. you are watching bbc news, and we are of course very much staying with our coverage of ukraine throughout as you would expect, but we will just also here today take a few minutes take a look at a few other major stories making the news. the body which oversees the metropolitan police in london has concluded that its approach

to tackling corruption within its ranks is "fundamentally flawed". the findings come in a report which has been published today. the report from her majesty's inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services said that the met police's system was "not fit for purpose". let's get more on this with our correspondent tom symonds. he can explain more. from the language i have been reading in this, it is damning but put it in context for us. we this, it is damning but put it in context for us.— this, it is damning but put it in context for us. we have is that about these — context for us. we have is that about these reports _ context for us. we have is that about these reports but - context for us. we have is that about these reports but this i context for us. we have is that | about these reports but this one really is worded in those terms. this is a report that follows a very long—running case, the daniel morgan murder case. you may recall he was merging in the 1980s and it was a very poor investigation and never found the killers and never proved the killers. and police corruption hamper that investigation from the start. fast forward to this year, and the watchdog for the police, the

inspectorate is military was looking at whether the met properly deals with corruption in its ranks. and what it found is that it is phenomenally flawed and not to purpose and end words of one senior inspector is it's arrogant, lethargic and secretive. a few areas had concerns. firstly, vetting. they said they could not be sure from the records that officers working in sensitive areas like child protection and major investigations and had proper vetting. they had concerns that 100 members of staff committed criminal offences in the last two years and also that more than 2000 police more cards had gone missing effectively. they can give you access to a police station, or correct they could be used to pretend that you are police officer when you've actually left the ranks. of when you've actually left the ranks. of course that's quite sinister because the sarah everard case, wayne cousins who murdered her, he was a serving officer but he did use his warrant card to try and prove that he was a police officer and he

was playing closed and went on to kill sarah everard.— kill sarah everard. what response then from the _ kill sarah everard. what response then from the police _ kill sarah everard. what response then from the police force - kill sarah everard. what response then from the police force to - kill sarah everard. what response then from the police force to all. kill sarah everard. what response| then from the police force to all of this? ~ ., , this? the met has said, it points out as it does come report finds | this? the met has said, it points. out as it does come report finds it is pretty good at dealing with large—scale corruption cases so the very high profile ones. that is improved its investigation of murders over the years. but it says we are highly capable of tackling the most serious corruption, but it also says that it has to do more to look at this perhaps lower level endemic corruption that this inquiry beliefs there are processes to really crack down on and stop. the met says we are determined that this report will serve as a further opportunity for us to learn and improve and you detect a slight weariness there from the metropolitan police, which in the last few months has been really in the middle of quite a big crisis. thank you for an out. you're

watching bbc news. hello, there. it's feeling very spring—like out there now. plenty of sunshine around, not just for today, for the rest of the week, all thanks to high pressure. most places will be dry, sunny and warm pretty much as we head on into the weekend. but the warmth could just set off an isolated shower here or there, though most places will escape them and stay dry. we've got high pressure to the east of us, low pressure to the west. we're bringing up some warmer air on a south or south—easterly breeze. but again, the winds will be light throughout the day today, so that means pollutant levels will tend to build up, so that's the only downside to areas of high pressure, they bring this stagnant air. otherwise, plenty of sunshine around, just a few showers sparking off into the afternoon through wales, the midlands, northwards, but like i mentioned, they will be pretty isolated. most places will be dry, sunny and warm, and we could see top

temperatures around 20 degrees to the north and west of london. but for many of us, the mid to high teens. again, the winds are quite fresh across the far south west, but light winds as we head onto this evening and overnight. any showers through central and northern areas will fade away, and we'll see a little bit of mist and fog developing here and there. temperatures dipping down to 3—6 degrees in town, maybe a touch lower in the countryside. wednesday, we start off on a fine, dry, sunny note. a little bit of mist and fog around once again, and then it's going to be a fine afternoon for most. a little bit of low cloud, mist, affecting northern and eastern coasts of scotland. could see the odd shower across north—east scotland, eastern england, but i think most places will be dry. temperatures may be a notch up still on wednesday. we could see highs of 21 degrees or so across the south east, but the mid to high teens again for many. thursday, we start to see a weak weather front just pushing into the north and the west of scotland. that's going to bring more breeze, more cloud to the northern and western isles and into the north mainland there, so that'll impact the temperature a little bit.

but elsewhere, once again, it's another dry, sunny, warm day with temperatures again not far off 20 degrees in the warmest spots. now, through friday and the weekend, our area of high pressure begins to drift its way westwards, and that will allow a bit more cloud and slightly fresher air to affect northern and eastern parts of the uk. that said, it's still high pressure dominating the scene to end the week and the weekend, so many places will be dry with a good deal of sunshine around. but by sunday, certainly into next week, it will be turning cooler and a bit cloudier for some of us.

birch this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories — ukraine's president says his country is on the verge or surviving its war with russia. the ukrainians say they've carried out a series of successful counter—attacks against the russian invaders. but there's still heavy fighting on severalfronts — and military experts believe russia will continue its indiscriminate attacks. russian opposition leader alexei navalny is found guilty of fraud in a trial his supporters say was a sham. and rescuers find burnt wreckage and personal belongings at the site of a plane crash in southern china.

the russian billionaire alisher usmanov says he no longer owns many of his uk properties that once belonged to him. that could leave them beyond the reach of government sanctions. they included a multi—million pound mansion in north london and a tudor manor house in surrey. it raises serious questions about the effectiveness of sanctions imposed since the invasion of ukraine began, as andy verity reports. he's been described as one of president putin's favourite oligarchs. alisher usmanov is said to be worth an estimated $18.4 billion and used to own nearly a third of arsenal. three weeks ago the government announced it was freezing all his uk assets, but how effective will those sanctions really be?

mr usmanov�*s $600 million yacht was reportedly seized in hamburg, but the german authorities later denied that. days later, the uk government targeted two huge properties in the south of england, beechwood house in north london, now estimated to be worth about £80 million, and also a tudor manor house in surrey once owned by the world's then richest man, paul getty. this gilded gate behind me is as close as the public can get to sutton place, one of the assets the government says alisher usmanov has bought with his billions. but he says he's given away much of his estate, and that raises serious questions as to how the government's going to enforce its sanctions. mr usmanov has now said his assets were transferred long ago into irrevocable trusts, and from that point on he didn't own them. but an investigation by the bbc, the guardian and the organized crime and corruption reporting project has found that the trusts holding sutton place and beechwood house have been linked to mr usmanov and one of his closest

business associates. campaigners say it shows how difficult it is to establish who the owners of assets actually are when they are hidden in offshore tax havens. well, the problem is that whilst the government has introduced legislation in recent days to try and go after the suspect assets of individuals, say, linked to the kremlin or corruption cases in russia, it's going to be doing this with one hand tied behind its back because of the secrecyjurisdictions in the overseas territories and the crown dependencies. the government says sanctions are having an impact, saying mr usmanov cannot access his assets, and it is now illegal for any person or company in the uk to do business with him. andy verity, bbc news. we can now assess the situation in ukraine more broadly. our world affairs editor john simpson is with me here in the studio. let's begin with what president

zelensky has said, the comment that has struck everyone, that his country is on the verge of survival, the verge of getting through this onslaught from russia, what do you make of that? you onslaught from russia, what do you make of that?— make of that? you have got to remember _ make of that? you have got to remember that _ make of that? you have got to remember that the _ make of that? you have got to remember that the original i make of that? you have got to - remember that the original purpose of putin's invasion seems to have been to actually take over ukraine and to have it governed by people who were friendly to russia, in other words toadies, and that ukraine would become part of russia once again. but what president zelensky is saying is that we have blocked that, the ukrainians with their incredible resistance, they have not blocked the certainty that russia is going to take more territory of ukraine i can't see any

alternative to that, if things carry on as they are, but we do know that the most important thing is that ukraine will continue as an independent government and an independent government and an independent country with its own way of doing things which were not necessarily be that of russia. the comparison is always with finland, when stalin invaded in 1939, and a great achievement of the finnish people was not to keep all their territory, but to keep independence. putin's plan as it was at the start of this four weeks ago, that has gone, the idea he was going to go and take the capital within a matter of days, that patency is not going to happen, is that over now? —— peyton lee. what does happen, given that we are already at this point after four

weeks? , , , , ,., already at this point after four weeks? ,, , weeks? unless he uses some appalling wea ons weeks? unless he uses some appalling weapons and — weeks? unless he uses some appalling weapons and turns _ weeks? unless he uses some appalling weapons and turns the _ weeks? unless he uses some appalling weapons and turns the tide _ weeks? unless he uses some appalling weapons and turns the tide in - weeks? unless he uses some appalling weapons and turns the tide in his - weapons and turns the tide in his favour, which is not looking quite so likely now, thank god. so i think what we are now looking at is version two, so putin will say, i never had any plans to take over ukraine, what are you talking about? ijust ukraine, what are you talking about? i just want the bit that really belongs to russia, he will say, around mariupol and may be 0desa, the ukrainian hinterland of crimea, and you can see it quite clearly on the map, there is a border which he clearly will want to take and which he will then say to the russian people, we always wanted this, never mind about kyiv, that wasn't our intention. what we want is to

bolster crimea, i think that is what is going to happen. bolster crimea, i think that is what is going to happen-— is going to happen. domestically that will be _ is going to happen. domestically that will be called _ is going to happen. domestically that will be called a _ is going to happen. domestically that will be called a victory - is going to happen. domestically that will be called a victory for i that will be called a victory for him? he will say that is what they were after? but there is no one sane, but look at the state of mariupol, how many billions of dollars would it take to bring the city back to life? i dollars would it take to bring the city back to life ?_ city back to life? i honestly don't think he cares _ city back to life? i honestly don't think he cares at _ city back to life? i honestly don't think he cares at all— city back to life? i honestly don't think he cares at all about - city back to life? i honestly don't think he cares at all about the i think he cares at all about the rubble that beautiful cities, like mariupol, and i was there in about 20 years ago, a gorgeous little place, but that is now destroyed, he doesn't care. russians won't care because they will be told still, long after this war is over, as long as putin is in power, which is another question, but that it was just a fact that the neo—nazis have this place and they had to destroy

the neo— dances. —— had this place and they had to destroy the neo—nazis. and they had to destroy the neo-nazis-_ and they had to destroy the neo-nazis. ., ., , ., i] neo-nazis. what about any talks? i can't think of— neo-nazis. what about any talks? i can't think of a _ neo-nazis. what about any talks? i can't think of a parallel, _ neo-nazis. what about any talks? i can't think of a parallel, actually, i can't think of a parallel, actually, in past conflicts, and both sides have now said they want to talk face—to—face. president zelensky said he wanted to talk to putin face—to—face and putin when he rang the turkish president last week made that clear, that he wanted to do it. putin thinks that only the final and most difficult issue which will be territorial, can be decided face—to—face, but need to be decided, and president zelensky would go today, if he could. but i'm afraid, i think that putin still wants more territory and he wants to finish up on the clearly winning side in territorial terms, even

though, actually, he is the loser already. and president zelensky clearly thinks that, in terms of the overall conflict. for clearly thinks that, in terms of the overall conflict.— overall conflict. for now, john simpson. _ overall conflict. for now, john simpson, thanks _ overall conflict. for now, john simpson, thanks for- overall conflict. for now, john simpson, thanks forjoining i overall conflict. for now, john | simpson, thanks forjoining us. charities in ukraine say transgender people are being turned away at the border because their passports still carry their gender assigned at birth. joining the war effort is not safe for a trans—person in ukraine, and they face discrimination in the military, leaving them stranded from partners, friends and relatives. josh parry has been speaking to one trans woman who is trapped without her hormone medication and is being harassed by other residents. when you wake up and you think, "we survived this night "and the day will be ok." for lenny, the day starts with relief. relief they've made it

through the night without an air raid and relief to hear from their friends and family. but most of all, relief they've made the right choice, the choice to stay behind and help. first day of this invasion was a shock. we just decided immediately to reorganise and work and direct our efforts straight to the community. we help people with food, with relocation, with access to shelters. we are lgbt community. we are united and we are helping our country and we are helping our people to survive and we keep going. but for some, staying behind isn't a choice. translation: i feel anxious. ifeel scared, and it's so, so hard for me. nikita, like many transgender women in ukraine, still has "male" listed on her passport. since the first week of the war, men aged between 18 and 60 have been barred from leaving, meaning she was turned away at the border with moldova. her social media shows a bubbly,

confident young woman who loves to sing and dance. but when we speak, she's quiet and withdrawn. she's wearing traditionally masculine clothes to hide the fact that she's trans. i'm trying to hide it as much as possible. when i hide and people don't know it's still 0k, but i'm not feeling comfortable disclosing this fact. for every person that we've spoken to about this there has been ten or more who are simply too frightened to reveal their trans identity. they speak only through encrypted messaging apps and quite often are too frightened to even give their name or location for fear of being outed. this shelter in lviv is one of a handful of specialist lgbt centres providing a safe space for people who've been forced to flee their homes. they've been inundated with requests for help. hello, elena, how are you?

are you safe? yeah, yeah, more or less. elena spends her days distributing donated medications, offering psychological support online, and sending busloads of lgbt people across the border to safety. if we talk about lesbians, usually there are no issues, we give them to the border, they cross. but with trans people, like, they will go to the border, try to cross, and then they will come back. how many trans people in particular are you finding are being turned away at the border? many, let's say, many. i came here five days ago and it was 11 persons, trans women. from those 11, only four crossed already. another ones are waiting near the border in the hotels, trying to do it again and again. for those left behind, help from their community and the hope that life will one day return to normal is

what keeps them going. kyiv pride, the pride march itself will turn ten years this year in 2022, and we still are looking forward to celebrating. we really hope that this invasion will be stopped soon and we will be marching again. josh parry, bbc news. time for the business news — ben boulos is here. we start in the us. and the question everybody what's to know the answer to — how high will us interest rates go and how quickly? well, the chair of the federal reserve — the us central bank — hinted there could be more drastic rate hikes in the nearfuture in the face of soaring prices, driven by the war in ukraine and sanctions against russia. jerome powell said inflation is "much too high" and that the fed could move "more aggresively" to bring it to heel. for more on this our north america business

correspondent michelle fleury is in new york for us. jerome powell will have in mind the warnings from the imf, a warning of slowing global growth because of the war in ukraine but he has also got to keep in mind the soaring prices domestically. you to keep in mind the soaring prices domestically-— to keep in mind the soaring prices domesticall . ., ., ., ., ., domestically. you are hearing a word we have not — domestically. you are hearing a word we have not heard _ domestically. you are hearing a word we have not heard for _ domestically. you are hearing a word we have not heard for a _ domestically. you are hearing a word we have not heard for a long - domestically. you are hearing a word we have not heard for a long time, i we have not heard for a long time, stagflation which is something they want to avoid at all cost, and it is what has led people to compare what is happening right now to potentially what happened in the 19705, potentially what happened in the 1970s, where you saw exactly that phenomenon, which is the slower growth and higher prices. that being said, the remarkable thing here is that you have got your own power, the head of the american central bank who has been very cautious until now, saying how worried he was about inflation, saying it would pass through, but now you have got these comments saying they are

prepared to act more aggressively as is needed and a former us treasury secretary tweeted not long ago that jerome powell is finally seeing the gravity of the inflation problem and glad to see commitments to do what is necessary to contain inflation, mr summers said. he has been a critic of the fed, saying they had not taken the threat seriously enough before now. we not taken the threat seriously enough before now.— not taken the threat seriously enough before now. we have spoken about the us — enough before now. we have spoken about the us lifting _ enough before now. we have spoken about the us lifting tariffs _ enough before now. we have spoken about the us lifting tariffs on - enough before now. we have spoken about the us lifting tariffs on uk - about the us lifting tariffs on uk steel, and the us side seems to have poured cold water on that suggestion since? ., ~' ., poured cold water on that suggestion since? ., ~ ., , .,, poured cold water on that suggestion since? ., ~ ., , , ., since? you know, this has been a back-and-forth _ since? you know, this has been a back-and-forth for _ since? you know, this has been a back-and-forth for a _ since? you know, this has been a back-and-forth for a while - since? you know, this has been a back-and-forth for a while now, i since? you know, this has been a i back-and-forth for a while now, and back—and—forth for a while now, and in october you may recall the eu got a section 232 tariffs on steel imports into the us and aluminium lifted and that left the uk red—faced, saying, what about the special relationship, we want to see if we can get these tariffs lifted?

in january you saw the us secretary of state for international trade in the uk meeting with her counterpart in the us, from the tray department at the commerce department, and they talked about the fact they were beginning these negotiations —— the trade department. the fact you have the us secretary of commerce meeting with the british marianne trevelyan in baltimore right now over the next two days, that led to speculation and high hopes that maybe tariffs would at last be lifted and that at this point more than ever, solidarity amongst allies, given the situation in ukraine might give the issue a lift, but as you said, there seems to be some doubt as to whether we are going to get an announcement in the next 24—hour is. me we are going to get an announcement in the next 24-hour is.— in the next 24-hour is. we will wait and see. michelle, _ in the next 24-hour is. we will wait and see. michelle, thanks - in the next 24-hour is. we will wait and see. michelle, thanks for - and see. michelle, thanks for joining us. energy giant shell — as the bbc understands it — is reconsidering its recent decision to pull investment from

a large new uk oilfield. in december, shell said the economic case meant it was withdrawing from the cambo oil field off the west coast of shetland. since then, oil prices have soared. this comes as the uk prime minister is expected to set out the government's "energy supply strategy" in the coming weeks. it's likely to focus on nuclear and renewable energy, energy efficiency and increasing north sea oil and gas production. earlier, i got the details on that shell decision from our business editor simonjack. if you cast your mind back to december of last year when they initially made this decision to pull out, that was two weeks after we had that major climate summit called cop 26 in glasgow. and there was an awful lot of pressure on all big oil companies to sort of show willing to back out of some new hydrocarbon projects. but as you say, what a change in the last few weeks, let alone the last few months. we are living in an entirely different environmental... well, certainly political, economic

and regulatory world and you see people going around the world, borisjohnson going to saudi arabia, there been overtures made to iran to try and find extra oil to make up for the shortfall that we expect, either through embargo or whether the shut—off that will be taken out of global oil supply. so, a completely different analysis and that's why they're saying, "listen, we're just going to have a rethink. "we are not going to start drilling tomorrow, but we're going "to have a rethink about that." given the fact that when this energy strategy, which we talked about, that we are getting early next week, we are expecting some positive noises to be made to those people who want to invest in domestic uk assets. i think that is the sort of pattern we are seeing around the world. i should say this is not, "let's go all in on hydrocarbons." a lot of people would say if this crisis has taught us anything, it's the fact that it means we need to wean ourselves off oil and gas, but that's going to take time. renewables will take time, nuclear power takes time

to do, those will all be in there and in the short term they will say, we will try and get more domestic assets out of the ground. even though some people say, it won't make much difference. they will still be sold to the highest bidder, and much will be exported. there is just the need for more oil at this moment, on this transition. and that means that domestic oil supplies will get a favourable hearing. simon, we have got a major economic event in the uk this week, the chancellor, the finance minister, setting out i suppose a mini budget. in the spring there is just an update on the figures, but he is going to have to do a bit more than that. the things that he is grappling with are common to finance ministers around the world, aren't they? things like the persistently high inflation. do we have any clue what he might do and what direction the government might go in? you're right, these two stories are not unconnected. it's the invasive nature of energy costs that get into just about everything, into manufacturing, into supplies, into packaging and into transport costs, of course, and there is a general cost of living squeeze, where prices in most countries are going up far higher than earnings.

so you're seeing people actually getting a little bit poorer every day and we are only in the foothills of this squeeze at the moment. in many countries, people are being protected to some extent from the full extent of the energy price increases. he has already tried to ameliorate that once with a £9 billion package earlier. but like all finance ministers around the world, it is a massive challenge. he's not going to be able to hold back the waves on everything. so perhaps some changes to the tax thresholds, when you start paying higher rates of tax, that's one favoured, one possible solution. the other one will be looking at the benefits system, to try and get assistance to the people who need it the most. but i don't think, i think in common with other finance ministers around the world, when you have this huge surge of energy costs creating all this inflationary pressures, there's only so much that anyone can do to hold it back. that is all the business news for

now. china's aviation authority says rescue workers still haven't found any survivors, following a plane crash in the south of the country yesterday. 132 people were on board the china easternjet when it nosedived 30,000 feet into a mountainside. the cause of the accident remains unclear, and investigators are yet to locate the plane's black box recorders. two teachers in their 50s have died after a violent attack at a secondary school in the southern swedish city of malmo. an 18—year—old student at the school has been arrested on suspicion of murder. local media report that the victims were stabbed, but no firearms were used in the attack. the two women, employees of malmo latin school, were taken to hospital by ambulance but died of their injuries. a 17—month—old girl who died after she was attacked by a dog in merseyside has been named as bella—rae birch. herfamily, who live in st helens, had only bought the dog a week ago. police say the dog attacked bella—rae inside the family home, and although an ambulance was called, the toddler died

as a result of her injuries yesterday afternoon. detailed investigations are continuing into this tragic event. forensic examinations to determine the dog's breed are ongoing, and we are working to identify all the previous owners of the dog so we can establish its history. we want to continue to support the family and the local community, and officers will remain at scene on bidston avenue during the day today. the uk chancellor rishi sunak is facing mounting pressure to take action to tackle the rise in the cost of living in the spring statement on wednesday. let's talk to our political correspondent david wallace lockhart. first of all — the spring statement was originally intended to be no more than an economic update — but things have changed?

is it more like a mini budget? normally this would be more of an economic update but the financial situation we are currently facing in the uk means that the chancellor is widely expected to have do spell out some action to help people, and for a bit of context, the situation we are in, inflation running at 5.5%, expected to reach seven or 8% in terms of the cost of living increases people are seeing. also planned increases in national insurance tax contributions to come insurance tax contributions to come in april and the energy price cap, the cap at which someone pays for our unit of energy, that is going to increase, as well, so all of this means action is widely expected from the chancellor, what can he do? one thing that has been mooted is a cut in fuel duty, when you go to fill up at a petrol station, some of that goes to the treasury, and that has

been frozen since 2010 but there is talk of the chancellor bringing in a cut potentially, around 5p which the rac things could save people £3 30 for filling rac things could save people £3 30 forfilling up rac things could save people £3 30 for filling up a rac things could save people £3 30 forfilling up a tank rac things could save people £3 30 for filling up a tank of petrol and the national insurance rise, people are expected to have from next month, well, the chance that the prime minister adamant that most go ahead to help with the backlog in the nhs and for social care going forward, but potentially what we could see is an increase in the rates at which someone starts to pay national insurance which would help lower earners and would help medium and high earners as well because it would also raise the threshold at the rate at which they start paying it. laboursay the rate at which they start paying it. labour say this is a cynical tax and the wrong tax at the wrong time and the wrong tax at the wrong time and the wrong tax at the wrong time and the reason the chancellor is doing this is so he can then cut taxes towards the next election, but the chancellor says that is needed for the nhs backlog, so we will see what rishi sunak has planned when he

stands up in parliament tomorrow afternoon in the house of commons, but widely expected that some action will need to be taken.— will need to be taken. david, we wait and see. _ will need to be taken. david, we wait and see. thanks _ will need to be taken. david, we wait and see. thanks for- will need to be taken. david, we wait and see. thanks forjoining| will need to be taken. david, we i wait and see. thanks forjoining us. one other story in the uk. a man has been charged with murdering 19—year—old sabita thanwani at her central london student accommodation. 22 year old maher maaroufe will appear in court later. ms thanwani was found seriously injured in the early hours of saturday. she died at the scene and a post—mortem examination gave cause of death as sharp force trauma to the neck. you are watching bbc news. we will keep you up—to—date with all the developments on the conflict in

ukraine on the day that president zelensky has said that the country is on the verge of succeeding. thanks for watching. hello, there. it has been a fine and sunny day for most of us, the warmest day of the year so far, as well, and the next few days, it is going to stay warm and dry and sunny thanks to high pressure, and there will still be the very outside chance of an isolated shower but most places will stay dry. the weather will be influenced by high pressure sitting to the east and low pressure out of the west and that is why we are drawing up this warm air from the south and south—east, so any showers this evening will fade away through central and northern areas in most places will be dry over night, with patchy cloud and mist and fog patches developing, and most places will have clear skies. it will be cold out of town but towns and

cities will see temperatures no lower than around 3—5. a fine start wednesday morning and any early mist and fog will melt away quickly and thenit and fog will melt away quickly and then it is a dry and sunny afternoon for most, maybe a bit of low cloud around the coasts of the north and north—east of the country. but most places will be dry and again it will be another warm day, mid to high teens for most and the low 20s may be in the warmest spots in the midlands and the south—east. as we head through wednesday night, largely dry again, with clear skies and may be more cloud in the north west of scotland and western parts of northern ireland by the end of the night and temperature is here will not be as low as further south because there you have clear skies but it should be a largely frost free start to thursday. plenty of sunshine once again, more cloud for northern and western scotland and northern ireland thanks to a weak weather front, northern ireland thanks to a weak weatherfront, and northern ireland thanks to a weak weather front, and a few showers, but more cloud generally for the

north of the uk which will impact the temperature is slightly so the low teens here but elsewhere another dry and sunny and warm day with top temperatures around 19 and may 20. subtle changes into the weekend, this area of high pressure drifts west and that will allow a bit more cloud and slightly fresher air to move across northern and eastern parts of the country especially as we head through sunday, but with high pressure in charge it will stay largely dry with sunny spells and they will be increasing amounts of cloud in northern and eastern areas, but into next week it begins to turn much colder into the start of april.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm jane hill. our top stories — ukraine's president says his country is on the verge or surviving its war with russia. is on the verge of surviving its war with russia. the ukrainians say they've carried out a series of successful counter—attacks against the russian invaders. but there's still heavy fighting on several fronts, and military experts believe russia will continue its indiscriminate attacks. the world health organisation says half a million ukrainians who've fled the country are traumatised. i'll be speaking to who's europe director live from moldova. also in the news, we meet a group of volunteers in belarus preparing to join the fight against russian forces in ukraine.

and russian opposition leader alexei navalny is found guilty