this is bbc news — the headlines. russia says its troops have completely cleared ukrainian forces from the besieged and heavily bombarded city of mariupol after weeks of intense fighting — apart from one location. president volodymyr zelensky has warned peace talks with russia would come to a halt if the remaining troops in mariupol were killed. the mayor of kyiv has told people who've fled the ukrainian capital not to return yet. vitali klitschko warned of further russian missile attacks in northern parts of the city. he said at least one person had been killed and several others were wounded in strikes early on saturday.

the authorities in south africa say the number of people known to have died in devastating floods in kwazulu—natal province has risen to 328, with 27 people still reported as missing. rescue operations have been taking place but further flooding is possible as rain falls on saturated ground. now on bbc news: stephanie hegarty finds relief and heartbreak in equal measure at ukraine's border, as families begin their new lives as refugees. air raid siren wails explosion it's been a relentless assault on ordinary lives. this is the neighbour, and that's where the bomb, or whatever it was. since the start of the war in ukraine, thousands of people have been killed...

..and millions have been forced to leave their homes, saying goodbye to everything they know. they're from kyiv? yeah, it's all the stuff they brought with them. i'm travelling to northern romania, to the small border town of siret, where relief and heartbreak come in waves... hey! ..to meet the ukrainian families separated by this war... itjust dawned on me that the possibility of me losing her, it's not zero, it's possible. ..and to find out how they're coming to terms with their new lives as refugees. they're here, they're waiting.

kettle whistles this l is the video of the street parallel to my parents'. just a few weeks ago, galya was an estate agent, but she's just escaped ukraine with her daughters. lesia, hersister, came from london to meet them, and they're all staying in the small flat that they're renting, close to the border in romania. but their mum and dad stayed behind in their hometown, bucha. what was it like, looking at all this news coming in of your hometown? it's horrible. like, my school is gone.

like, if, like, most of the places that i've known, they've bombed. my side of where i grew up, it's mostly gone. wow. yeah. it's early—march, and bucha has been under siege for days. this quiet, leafy suburb is one of the last lines of defence, as ukraine pushes russian forces away from kyiv. russia is moving in to take the town, and it's impossible to even imagine the extent of the horror that will unfold here. this is the neighbour. that's his house, and that's where the bomb, or whatever it was. his house is here, my parents were here, and the bomb landed in the middle. and the entrance to the cellar was on this side. they were both in there. we didn't know what was happening with them. so i watched this video and i was like, i couldn't even finish it. i was like trying to call them, but there was no reply.

last they heard, their parents were still hiding in the cellar of galya's house. the same place that galya hid with her daughters before they ran.

on facebook, a lot of people are saying, "can you please pick up my immobile mum or grandmother?", or, "there's children in the basement." you don't know who's alive and who isn't. and there's people on the street, just dead people on the street. finally, they got a phone call. it was their mum and dad. they're alive, and forced to accept that it's time to leave bucha. theyjoin hundreds of people trying to leave the suburbs of kyiv. a pause in intense fighting has been agreed... explosion ..but it's still not safe. travelling through this border region, we find every hotel and every guest house full of people who've left ukraine, and some who are heading

in the other direction. in the town of gura humorului, i meet denys. he's from mykolaiv and, this morning, he woke up to hear that this had happened... explosions just i yesterday night, my city was under attack. my family, my wife, and i have two daughters, 15 years old and ten years old... ok. ..so they're waiting for me. it's mid—march, and russian forces are pushing along the south coast of ukraine. they want to capture the port city of odesa, on the black sea, and mykolaiv stands in the way. denys was working as an engineer in the netherlands when the war started. he wants to drive this van over the border to deliver supplies

and to rescue his family. what are you bringing? oil, food, medicine, er, the most expensive of medicine. how do you feel about seeing your daughters? i miss them. it's... and i worry, and... you'll see them soon. yeah, i will see them soon. from the moment i go across the border, i have not any plans. i cannot make any plans, actually, because i don't know how it will go. it's absolutely unpredictable. sierns wail if you go to ukraine, you can pick up yourfamily, but you can't come out.

yes, yes. i will bring them to the border. later on, my friend, peter, he will cross the border, pick them up and bring to the european union. and i have to stay, so it's a one—way ticket for me. but anyway, i'm ready. but for now, he's stuck here in romania, waiting for a piece of paperwork, so that the van can cross the border. i think it's very difficult. i'm reading the news and, from this, i feel worse and worse. but anyway, we cannot give up. it must be terrifying, though, for you. i cannot... i cannot even explain what i feel now. putin's war has created an exodus from ukraine. since the beginning of the invasion, more than four million people have left. and by mid—march, thousands are crossing into romania every day, at this border, in the tiny town of siret. they're met with a wall of kindness from the romanian emergency services. . . ..and from hundreds of volunteers, like katya. katya is from dnipro, in south—east ukraine. her mum still lives there.

they're from kyiv. yeah, it's all the stuff they brought with them. katya lives in the uk, but the day the war broke out, she came here, with her partner, petro. hands on deck now. i'm looking forward to some physical work! yeah. to warm up, yeah. they're organising the shipment of aid, especially medicine, into dnipro. on the other side, katya's mum is also helping out. look, there's a sign there, "welcome to ukraine". she speaks in ukrainian hey!

natasha, my mum. natasha, hi. i am natasha. this morning has been especially difficult. katya woke up to hear that dnipro was attacked — for the first time. explosion she says she has no time to hide. - katya's afraid she'll lose contact with her mum.

she's been trying to convince her to leave. when do you think you'll be ready to leave dnipro? she doesn't want to. she loves her city. nice to meet you. stay safe, please.

so, have you accepted the fact your mum's going to... not going to leave, or are you going to keep trying? itjust dawned on me that the possibility of me losing her, it's not zero, it's possible. before, it was, you know, an irrationalfear. now, it's a rationalfear. i had a little outburst last night and somehow, though, this flow of warm feelings from the childhood, remembering how she's taken care of me on when i'm little, and ijust lost it for a few minutes. lesia and galya have just heard from their mum and dad. so, they're already on this side of the border, just waiting for us. hmm... still 20 minutes. but one person is not with them. she's saying that she doesn't miss her grandparents any more,

she misses her dad now, because now she knows that her grandparents are coming. yep. it's hard to explain to kids as well that god knows when they're going to see their dad. can you do a facetime call? yeah, but it's not the same, is it? no, not really. because of ukraine's martial law and his work helping with evacuations, galya's husband can't leave. they're somewhere in the building, in some sort of building, yeah, they said they're somewhere in the building, but i haven't seen a building there. how was the journey, long?

she translates good. all good. they got lucky. and here, only 15 minutes, and they were through. two borders in 15 minutes. what was it like leaving home? she translates crazy.

don't ask. yeah. for now, you can't even explain it, but you have to... a0 years building and building and, in one minute, it's all gone. because my dad actually built the house that we lived in and the house that my sister lived in. so, yeah. yeah. after almost two weeks sleeping underground, petro and lyudmila can finally get a warm shower and a good night's sleep. my mum's like, i've been in this hat for ten days, without taking it off! oh! nastya's like, "when we are

home, i will make you warm." but there are thousands of families still trapped by fighting in ukraine. we're just waiting for denys. he was supposed to be crossing into ukraine in the van, but they still haven't got the paperwork, and things are getting so bad in mykolaiv, where his family are, he's going to cross on foot and just try and get there however he can. denys has no idea what to expect on the other side. but there's some good news.

his wife and daughters have escaped from mykolaiv. not the best case, not the best situation when i want to see my country. ok. what's your plan? go home. go home?

not the best case, not the best situation when i want to see my country. ok. what's your plan? go home. go home? what's the latest with your wife and children? i'm waiting, they have to cross the border to moldova, now. i'll go. ok. good luck. thank you.

bye— bye. can't imagine what must be going through his head right now. minutes after he crosses into ukraine, a message comes through from denys. "i'm home," he says. we're just heading back in to meet lesia's parents. they've been in romania about a day now and they've had a chance to have a warm shower and a good sleep, so we're just going to catch up with them and find out a bit more about their journey. tell us a little bit about the past two weeks, how have they been?

so, when did you finally decide to leave?

before he retired, petro was a builder, but he has no idea if he'll return to the home — and the town — that he helped build.

petro and lyudmila have gone to portugal, for now. at the end of march, russian forces were pushed out of bucha.

a neighbour told petro that their house is still standing, but it's been ransacked. evidence is emerging of potential war crimes in bucha. civilians have been found dead on the street. galya and her daughters have come to london to stay with lesia. her husband is still in ukraine. katya and petro are back in london and still raising money to buy medicine to send to ukraine. natasha is still in dnipro. and denys hasjoined the territorial defence forces, in mykolaiv. his wife and daughters made it safely out of ukraine. hello. saturday was a day of more

widespread warmth across the uk, and for many, easter sunday is a repeat performance. for many, not all, because this would suggest there is some different weather on the way the further west you are. and that initially the case in northern ireland and in north—west scotland, with cloud and some outbreaks of rain as the day begins. it will be coolest in east anglia, down to two or three degrees in places. for most, it is clear to begin with, there will be a few mist and fog patches around. but we do have this atlantic weather front with cloud and outbreaks of rain in northern ireland, initially in the western counties in the morning, slowly moving further east into the afternoon before it gets into belfast, and affecting parts of western scotland initially the north—western western isles butjust edging a little further east going through the afternoon and into the evening, though glasgow could well stay dry until then. cooler with the rain, but elsewhere, 20, may 2! degrees in plenty of sunshine.

more of wales, the western side of england, western scotland seeing the rain in the evening, there will be clearing to showers in northern ireland. it does push east overnight and into monday morning, but look how it weakens, so if you do want some rain in central and eastern parts of england, you are likely to be disappointed. now, as the weather front clears on throw into easter monday and it is behind it, well, still perhaps some spells of rain towards north—west scotland where it will be quite windy, and windy, too, in northern ireland. but they will just be a few showers moving on behind this front. it is, though, ushering in cooler air, not cold, just temperatures closer to average for the time of year on monday. but as it has gone through, they will be quite a bit of fine weather around on monday, still. broken clouds, sunny spells, the chance of a shower, more especially in the north and west and mainly for northern ireland, and into western scotland. north—west scotland could well see some longer spells of rain. it will be blustery across north—western parts, breezy elsewhere, and, yes, those temperatures

are closer to average, though still above in the east and south—east of england. a greater chance for showers on tuesday in wales in the southern half of england. some could be quite heavy, we could see some rain into parts of northern ireland and western scotland. and then beyond that as the week goes on, and easterly wind moves in. that is still with a lot of dry weather around, just a few showers, but it will keep temperatures close to average, if not below, especially in eastern areas.

this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories... the siege of mariupol may be nearing its end. russia claims it's taken control of almost all of the city. president zelensky warns if his remaining troops are killed, peace negotations with moscow will be over. the mayor of kyiv urges people to stay away from the capital, as further missile attacks could take place. the death toll rises in south africa following heavy flooding, with a warning more rain may be on the way. and harry and meghan make theirfirst public appearance together in europe since stepping back as senior royals.