this is bbc news 7 welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm rebecca jones. our top stories... us presidentjoe biden has his first face—to—face meeting with ukrainian government ministers since the russian invasion of their country. on his visit to poland, he spells out a clear message to the kremlin: nato stay absolutely, completely, thoroughly united. ukraine's president says his troops have dealt russian forces a series of "powerful blows" — and calls for urgent, meaningful peace talks. menawhile, russian shelling of ukrainian targets continues — this is the scene in the western city of lviv after explosions are heard there.

in other news: a ferry operated by p&0 has been detained in northern ireland because of fears about staff training. and tributes from across the music industry for taylor hawkins — the drummer with the rock band, the foo fighters — who's died at the age of 50. hello and welcome to bbc news. president biden has been holding face—to—face meeting with ukrainian government ministers since the russian invasion of their country. he met ukraine's defence and foreign ministers in warsaw, before talks with the polish president, andrzej duda. in other developments ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has urged russia to engage in serious peace talks, and claimed that more than 16,000 russian troops have

now died in a month of fighting, including several senior officers. russia announced that it was entering what it called "stage two" of its invasion of ukraine and focussing its forces on the east of the country in an attempt to secure the donbas region. western officials have suggested this means russia's initial strategy of capturing ukraine's major cities has failed. and the world health organisation says it is deeply concerned about attacks on hospitals and other healthcare facilities in ukraine. it has recorded 72 incidents so far. russia denies deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. anna foster reports. a show of strength in a stalling offensive. this russian military video shows cruise missiles launching from the black sea. it claims ukrainian weapons and fuel supplies were destroyed in zhytomyr, but the russian advance is slow

and hasn't come close to capturing the capital, kyiv. it says it will now focus on the complete liberation of the eastern donbas region. for some western officials, that is an admission of failure. but where russia is hitting, it is hitting hard. the deputy mayor of the besieged city of mariupol has told the bbc that people there are desperate and dying. some is dying of dehydration or lack of food. some is dying of lack of medicine, insulin and something like this, because people can't find medical help. ukraine still says it is pushing russian forces back. it believes it could retake the city of kherson in the south, near nikolaev, which has seen fierce fighting. but president zelensky says more support is still needed. translation: it is injustice i that is the basis of what russia is doing against ukraine.

as they exploit their privileged positions in international organisations, and the fear of the use of nuclear weapons. the fear that russia is constantly spreading. in poland, the us president joe bidenjoined talks between senior american and ukrainian officials. later, he will make a speech in warsaw, calling on the international community to oppose the russian invasion. the world now waits to see if this conflict really is about to enter a new phase, although russia is keen to show that it can and will continue its military campaign in ukraine. i want to take you straight to the vivre now in western ukraine because three explosions have been heard near that western city of lviv in the last hour.

an official from the lviv city council said. "there have been three powerful explosions near lviv. ..everyone should keep calm and stay indoors," igor zinkevych said in a post on facebook. you can see there with me the heavy black smoke rising, that is from the north—east side of the city. the cause of these three explosions has not been immediately verified but obviously we will bring you news on that as soon as we get it. president biden�*s been talking in the last hour. let's hear some of what he had to say: the single most important criteria in this time of changing worlds. so much is changing, notjust here but in other parts of the world, is that nato stay absolutely, completely, thoroughly united. that there be no separation

in our points of view. that whatever we do, we do in unison and everyone, everyone comes along. i'm confident that vladimir putin was counting on being able to divide nato and be able to separate the eastern flank from the west. to be able to separate nations based on past histories. but he hasn't been able to do it. we've all stayed together. 0ur correspondent mark lowen is in warsaw — he told us what more to expect from president biden�*s talks with the polish government. i think we are likely to hear an expression of complete solidarity with poland and unity really between poland and its nato and eu partners. that is very much the message of president biden�*s trip up until now, first in brussels and then here in poland. he is meeting the polish president after a slight disagreement a couple

of weeks ago when the polish authorities had proposed that polish fighterjets would be transferred to ukraine via an american air base in germany. that met a fairly cool response from the americans, who said that they were taken by surprise. they were not consulted about that and that they did not think that was a workable plan. because they fear that that would have been perceived by the russians as a direct military confrontation between nato and russia. but we understand that the poles are saying that is still on the table, so perhaps part of those discussions between poland and the us and i think an interesting part of all of this, rebecca, is that the relationship between these two presidents — president duda of poland, president biden of the united states, actually was on a fairly downward spiral before the ukraine war. mr biden had spoken about poland's illiberal drift. he had warned that poland was heading towards totalitarianism because of all this right—wing populism here in poland. remember, president duda of poland was a kind of donald trump man.

but now the russian aggression has kind of pulled the two men together, the two governments together. so even if vladimir putin was hoping to exploit divisions among western nations, it appears certainly from these discussions here and president biden�*s presence in warsaw that he really has achieved quite the opposite. so a key meeting between the two presidents and before that, mark, we know that president biden has met ukraine's defence and foreign ministers in warsaw. what is the significance of that meeting? that's also hugely important because this is the first face—to—face meeting between president biden and these top ukrainian officials, the ukrainian defence and foreign ministers and other various officials from the government in kyiv. they have obviously spoken by phone over the last month but this is a moment when the ukrainians can press, probably expected to have pressed the americans to give them more direct military assistance. remember, they have been calling for a no—fly zone in ukraine, which the americans are so far

rejecting, saying that they do not want nato troops or nato boots on the ground in ukraine. so, you know, an important time to take stock of what is happening and to try to see if they can find ways of transferring even more military hardware to ukraine. poland is very much the logistics and military hub for everything going into ukraine. when we have spent the last month on the border between poland and ukraine we saw a massive build—up of nato military hardware at the airport which is where president biden was yesterday. with military planes and anti—missile systems stationed there ready to drive over the border into ukraine. so clearly there will have been discussions on that sort of topic as well. that was in warsaw. live now to anna foster

in lviv in western ukraine. this is after we understand three explosions were heard.— this is after we understand three explosions were heard. more can you tell us? this — explosions were heard. more can you tell us? this happened _ explosions were heard. more can you tell us? this happened about - explosions were heard. more can you tell us? this happened about 40 - tell us? this happened about a0 minutes ago now. we had sirens, which had become a regularfeature in many parts of ukraine. and then about 50 minutes later, as you say, three explosions heard. and you can see the result of that. —— 15 minutes later. you can see these thick black clouds of smoke. when you look at the smoke it would seem to bear this out that it is some kind of storage depot for oil potentially. at the moment we can't tell you exactly what this is, this is all still unfolding. what it is important to point out though is that lviv is in the far west of ukraine. there haven't been a huge number of air strikes like this in this area. it looks like something thatis this area. it looks like something that is based on the infrastructure around here. but given that russia yesterday talked, didn't i, about how they were going to change their focus, they were going to focus on

the donbas region in the east. that the donbas region in the east. that the first phase was complete. it is interesting that round about 12 hours later we have this air strike here in the far west of the country. absolutely. i was going to raise that point myself that here we have the russians saying that the first phase of that operation was over and that they would be focusing their core efforts on the east and on the donbas region and now, as you say, this explosion in lviv. what though has been the response there on the ground where you are to that russian announcement? that ground where you are to that russian announcement?— announcement? that is a really interesting _ announcement? that is a really interesting question. _ announcement? that is a really interesting question. i - announcement? that is a really interesting question. i think- announcement? that is a really - interesting question. i think people have very much come to distrust russian announcements. they hear various things being said and they almost wait to call some sort of judgment on them. what has been interesting, there were two sirens here yesterday afternoon, around about the time that news was announced. it was a beautiful day yesterday, you can see today there

is clouds and rain but yes it was beautiful sunshine and in fact when the sirens sounded yesterday, people didn't flinch at all, they carried on drinking coffee and children playing in the streets. so i think certainly there was a sense there that while you walk around lviv, piles of sandbags places around churches and people going down to shelters in moments like this, people did start to feel that the focus was very much on the east of ukraine, on those areas like maria paul that we have seen, kharkiv mac, dilley max i think this will come as a surprise given this change of focus for people —— for russia. let's return out of the diplomatic developments today and more on president biden�*s meeting with his polish counterpart.

earlier we heard from dr victoria vdovychenko. an associate professor at borys grinchenko kyiv university. she says western countries haven't been completely united in their response so far. we don't have so much of the west united in terms of this response, just even the nato summit that happened two days ago and the outcomes of the nato summit. they do prove that there are, let's say, misunderstandings or not complete division of how nato sees things about the out chrome outcome of the war. at the moment inside nato there are different complications and scenarios how they see the future going on. so nato allies focus on not tempting the russian federation with some tactics. therefore, the question of lethal weapons supply orjust heavy weapons

supply is not under discussion any more and i think i was one of the points being discussed. with the ukrainian ministry of defence and the foreign affairs minister. they spoke with mr biden just right now, the meeting finished a couple of minutes ago. so there are also nato ally members who definitely support and saying that not only the defence weapons should be supplied to ukraine. in this regard we are thankful with the united kingdom position and the polish position. the discrepancies that there are with inside the nato alliance, it was seen actually during the summit and therefore the implication for that we do understand that the no—fly zone

is not an option and the ukranian president was voicing during his speech to the nato summit that there should be... because for some of the partners the tactics and the tactical and logistical moments in a couple of days for the ukrainian defence forces and territorial defence, they see that it can be a provocation from the russian side that the russian side do not want to give crimea back or do not want to give the territories of donbas back, that is basically those ukrainian territories. there is a secret of this discrepancy happening from some of the nato allied members. still some of the positions of france and italy and luxembourg, which is interesting, being a small country but putting a hint into the foreign policy implications into that. it is just to try to talk to putin, which is not the case for the statements of the president of the united states.

it is not the case for the implications how borisjohnson is presenting it or even the president of poland president volodymyr zelensky says ukraine has inflicted "powerful blows" and "significant losses" on the russians. well in and around lviv residents have been sending specialist equipment to ukrainian soldiers on the frontline. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson. has been speaking to them. high above the battlefield, drones film potential targets. support from a distance so important in this war, whether it is weapons arriving from western nations or drones like this one, personally delivered to order by friends at home. until a month ago, vlad ran a start—up company in lviv. now he ships body armour, drones and rifle scopes to volunteer fighters around kyiv. he is faster than governments

or ngos, he says. this week, he is delivering ias body armour plates to irpin. we have like a lot of friends now who actually fight now in front line and they don't have like ammunition. actually, they don't have anything. they have a strong motivation to fight but they don't have, like, ammunition and other military stuff. vlad gets his supplies from germany, poland and the czech republic. yulia justjoins the queue at her local gun shop. a psychologist with a friend on the front line, it is her first time here. i tried to help a bit with ammunition to my friend who is currently in the ukrainian army. and we know that a lot of stuff around the world focused on supporting our army as well

we as individuals tried to help. these new supply networks are typical of lviv at the moment. the light touch of a war that is largely out of sight. life here in lviv can seem pretty normal if you ignore the sandbags and the boarded—up windows. the restaurants are open, at least until the air raid sirens begin, and the streets are crowded with people enjoying the spring weather. more crowded than usual actually because of the 200,000 people who have come here to avoid the fighting in the east. the war comes back to lviv in coffins. this is igor, killed during the first few days of the conflict in donetsk. this is his mother and this his twin brother, grasping a war that is not seen but felt. lucy williamson, bbc news, lviv. i'm joined now by yuliia rudenko — who fled her home town of chernihiv

with her mother, grandmother and five—year—old sister as it turned into a war zone. we are very grateful for your time. thanks forjoining us on bbc news. i wonder if i ask you first of all if you could tell us what it was like for you and your family when bombs started to rain down out of the sky near to your home?— near to your home? thank you for havin: near to your home? thank you for having me- _ near to your home? thank you for having me- we — near to your home? thank you for having me. we were _ near to your home? thank you for having me. we were very - near to your home? thank you for having me. we were very scared l near to your home? thank you for - having me. we were very scared when we heard the sound of bombs approaching and we were also, we have experienced a lot of mistrust with russians stop because in the beginning they said that they would only target military objects. that is why our family moved from our house, which is located just three minutes away from military object, to our grandparent�*s home, which is

a bit further away from the military target. but still on that night of february 2a we heard the bombs falling so close to us that we even had to go hide in the underground shelter. the noise was so loud that we also had to cover our ears with our hands, so our eardrums would not be damaged. and realise that we could not keep my five—year—old sister and elderly grandmother in a damp, cold underground shelter with all the stress going on around. i think you very kindly sent us some photographs of your little sister in the shelter drawing. and i think we might also have one of the shelter under a house. might also have one of the shelter undera house. it might also have one of the shelter under a house. it was clearly a very, very frightening time. and as you say, you decided that you needed to leave. i think your father is in

the army under way and he has the car, so how on earth did you get out? , ., ., , ., ., out? first of all, it took us a lot of courage _ out? first of all, it took us a lot of courage to — out? first of all, it took us a lot of courage to make _ out? first of all, it took us a lot of courage to make the - out? first of all, it took us a lot j of courage to make the decision because they were verified cases of people being shot on their way out of here. moreover we got information that russian invaders spread around landmines, so we were also afraid to hit them. but we realise that it is better to risk and be safe for the sake of my little sister at least. and by accident we had friends who had a car, so they invited us to join them on this trip. it was a super long trip which took us 30 hours. normally it would take us eight hours, to the western part of ukraine. when we were on the road we

had to be on alert because any moment the situation might change. we are already encircled and we knew that we were going through the villages that could have been occupied. and my dad as military man, monitored this whole situation as we were driving life and he said if we had left one hour later we would have met russian tanks. mi; would have met russian tanks. my goodness, that must have been a very sobering thought. so you were on this 30 hourjourney i think you said. how frightening was it? there must have been times when you and your family wondered if you would survive? we your family wondered if you would survive? ~ , . ., ., survive? we were very much afraid and when we _ survive? we were very much afraid and when we approached - survive? we were very much afraid and when we approached the - and when we approached the checkpoint where ukrainian soldiers met us, they told us that in the

city that we had planned initially to pass bow, a heavy fight started. and at that moment we saw cars turn around in panic and sort of chaos began because people started, this huge line of cars also tried to turn around and were leaving in a very fast way. so the situation was... uncontrolled and very fast changing. so that is what made this lack of uncertainty made is very anxious indeed. ., ., ., indeed. you have now reached the west. indeed. you have now reached the west- how — indeed. you have now reached the west. how safe _ indeed. you have now reached the west. how safe do _ indeed. you have now reached the west. how safe do you _ indeed. you have now reached the west. how safe do you feel- indeed. you have now reached the west. how safe do you feel now? | west. how safe do you feel now? unfortunately i should say that there is no safe place in ukraine any more. half an hour ago i was

outside in the cityjust shopping forfood and i heard outside in the cityjust shopping for food and i heard this loud alarm that some rockets are flying to the western part of ukraine. so i cannot say that i feel safe here.— say that i feel safe here. now, and i can say that i feel safe here. now, and i can imagine _ say that i feel safe here. now, and i can imagine that _ say that i feel safe here. now, and i can imagine that after— say that i feel safe here. now, and i can imagine that after everything | i can imagine that after everything it has been so traumatic what you have been through. yourfather it has been so traumatic what you have been through. your father is still in the army, is still fighting. how is he and how are you hearing about how he and his team are doing? hearing about how he and his team are doinu ? ., ., , ., , are doing? unfortunately, he does not tell us anything _ are doing? unfortunately, he does not tell us anything because... - not tell us anything because... every order he receives is in secret, so he is not allowed to say the information even to us. this secret, so he is not allowed to say the information even to us. as you reflect on what _ the information even to us. as you reflect on what has _ the information even to us. as you reflect on what has happened - the information even to us. as you reflect on what has happened to i the information even to us. as you i reflect on what has happened to your country, do you feel that the west

has done everything that it could have done to help?— has done everything that it could have done to help? personally, my oinion is have done to help? personally, my epinion is that _ have done to help? personally, my opinion is that many _ have done to help? personally, my opinion is that many ukrainians - have done to help? personally, my| opinion is that many ukrainians who would like for the west to, for instance, close the sky, underestimate the risks that what the west is doing now is the most they can do, given the situation. and given putin's ambitions and his desire to have his status in the region. so i'm afraid that more action from the west might cause worse situation in ukraine. that's what i think. so i'm thankfulfor all the support the west has given. yulia, we are very grateful to you

for coming on bbc news to tell us your story. thank you and good luck to you and your family. many thanks. thank you. to you and your family. many thanks. thank ou. ., ., ., . . . thank you. you are watching bbc news. hello. a glorious day for many, you can hardly believe it is only the end of march when we see sights like this, not a cloud in the sky. there are some showers to be found, mostly across the northern and western isles. this is the western isles earlier on this morning. that is because we have that cloud stubbornly sitting there unfortunately spoiling the sunshine. a little fair weather cloud developing across southern scotland down to north west england as well, but the emphasis is dry, settled and sunny with light winds continuing through the afternoon and once again the temperatures peaking quite widely — mid to high teens. don't forget, when you're off to bed tonight, put the clocks forward an hour, we lose an hour sleep and emerge tomorrow in british summer time, so what a surprise to see

there will be a little more cloud for many of us, spilling in off the north sea, particularly anywhere south of hull down towards the south—east. that cloud will act as our friend through the night, preventing temperatures from falling quite as far as they have been, but does mean it could be a rather grey and gloomy start for some on mothering sunday, the cloud tending to nudge further westwards, thinning and breaking for some glimpses of sunshine, but the best of the sunshine for sunday looks likely to be further north and west. that is where the highest values will be, 18 degrees perhaps in one or two spots, cooler where that cloud lingers along north sea coasts. as we move out of sunday into the start of a new working week, a weather front starts to slip across the top of the weakening high, running down to the north sea. that will bring more in the way of cloud, a few scattered showers, some could be hefty across north—east england in particular, we could start the day on monday with a lot of low cloud, mist and fog which will be slow to lift.

the highest values perhaps down towards the south, 16 degrees, starting to get colder, only 6 degrees across lerwick. the colder air will be the story as we move through the week, pushing its way gradually south, accompanied by a northerly wind, it will feel certainly much different. in fact, we are going to close out the month of march with temperatures just below the average for the time of year and we could see some of those showers turning increasingly wintry. that's it, enjoy the sun.

this is bbc world news, the headlines: president biden — who's in poland for talks on russia's invasion of ukraine — says ignoring the crisis would come back to bite the us. earlier, he held his first face—to—face meeting with ukrainian government ministers since start of the war. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskiy, has urged russia to engage in serious peace talks. he claimed more than 16,000 russian troops had been killed, including senior officers. meanwhile, russian shelling of ukrainian targets continues — this is the scene in the western city of lviv after explosions were heard there. a ferry operated

by p&0 has been held in northern ireland because of fears about staff training.