welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... ukraine says russia has launched its large—scale offensive in the east of the country. president zelensky says the battle for the donbas region has begun. we have a special report from inside the donbas region. in the city of lviv, in the west, seven people die, as parts of the country previously unscathed come under fire. ukrainians believe this is a reminderfrom russia that it still has firepower and is prepared to use it. the chinese city of shanghai, which has been under lockdown for more than three weeks, has reported its first official covid deaths in two years. and the ukrainian athletes

inspiring prince harry at the invictus games. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's six in the morning in singapore and 1am in ukraine, where, in the last 2a hours, russia has expanded its bombardment, hitting sites right across the country. in a televised address, president volodymyr zelensky said he could confirm that the battle for the donbas region had begun. in the east, thousands continue to flee as russia steps up its new offensive, massing troops in the region, where ukrainian forces have been fighting russian led separatists, for the past eight years. our defence correspondent, jonathan beale, reports now, from eastern ukraine.

this is now the sight and sound of the donbas. severodonetsk, another city and another target for russia's unrelenting bombardment. we tried to enter to speak to families taking shelter, but the thump of artillery was steadily coming closer. explosions let's go. well, we just came here to go to a shelter, but there's shelling a bit close to us, and so we've had to move out. a lot of crump of artillery going on at the moment. nothing appears to be sacred when russia wages war. this, one of the holiest sites in the donbas, but that didn't save svyatogorsk�*s historic monastery from being scarred by a russian air strike.

this was once a popular tourist destination. now it's just another town from which people flee. translation: what can i say? i'm overwhelmed with grief. i'm 70 years old and i've nowhere to live. the few who've stayed behind have to queue for food. they're notjust hungry, though, they're scared. translation: i cry every day. what kind of god would allow this to happen? i cry every day — what kind of god should be asked to stop all this? what kind of god should we ask to stop all this? there is now a strong military presence in this town. just a few miles down the road, russian forces are advancing from the north. a ukrainian soldier shared this drone footage of how they were trying to slow down the russian columns, blowing up a bridge. but they know more will be coming.

translation: we know that russian forces are bringing i reinforcements into this region, - but we're doing everything possible. we are ready to repel the russian occupiers and prevent _ the capture of our cities. we will stand to the last . and defend our homeland. we headed south, the roads eerily empty. four, five... we soon found out why. plumes of smoke — once again, we were within range of russian artillery. turn, turn. staying put is like russian roulette but with heavy shelling. galena's home was nearly hit overnight. they were still replacing the blown out windows. inside, her 11—year—old granddaughter anastasia, too frightened to come out... ..cowering under a desk

that's become her bedroom. anastasia's mum, svetlana, fears they're now trapped. the constant bombardment�*s also taking its toll on the city of avdiivka. here, they're praying for divine intervention. pastor oleg offers a blessing and food for those who've stayed behind. but in a heated discussion, one man tells him, "it's the russians who'll bring salvation." pastor oleg tells him, "i'm not against russia — i'm against its invasion of ukraine." nowhere is safe within range of russian artillery, and as we've seen, russia is pushing forward from the north, from the east and from the south. and there's a real danger that ukraine's forces here could be surrounded.

for now, ukrainian forces are holding out. so, too, are the remaining citizens of avdiivka, hiding in bunkers. but for how long? jonathan beale, bbc news, eastern ukraine. as we mentioned, in his latest address ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said that russia has started a large—scale offensive in donbas in eastern ukraine. let's take a listen. translation: we can assess now that russian military has begun the battle for donbas, for which they have been preparing a long time. a very large part of the russian army is now concentrated for this offensive. no matter how many of the russian troops there, we will be fighting, we will defend ourselves and do everything we must to keep what ukrainian. what is not, we simply

don't need it. meanwhile, seven people have been killed in missile strikes in the western city of lviv, which has been relatively unscathed throughout the conflict. our correspondent, danjohnson, has been to the site of one of the attacks, and sent us this report. this is how the people of lviv found that there is that it wasn't as safe out their city it wasn't as safe as they thought. missile strikes across the skies on a clear morning hitting buildings right in the heart of the city and bringing the conflict closer to the west. an industrial unit was hit. firefighters filmed their efforts to put out the blaze and save the lives of the people inside, having their morning coffee before work when the missile landed.

the families of those caught up in this couldn't keep back. this couple tried to call their only son and got no answer. he was 26. translation: he was going to marry and now we have to bury him. what's your message to the people who did this? translation:. they are not humans, they are barbaric invaders —— it has not been done by humans. the crater gives some sense of the explosion and i saw the muscles this morning flying across the city skyline and then hitting. this is one of the places that has been devastated, car garage, service centre, the place that you get tyres fitted, but it is completely devastated and there is so much clearing up to do here, and that's to say nothing of the loss of life. four of the workers here were killed this morning.

ukrainians believe this is a reminderfrom russia that it still has firepower and is prepared to use it. we're told the missiles were fired from aircraft in the region of the caspian sea a long way away. they shook the whole neighbourhood. this woman's lived just across the road all her life. translation: our windows were - shattered, everybody was frightened. we didn't know what to do. we started praying. we didn't know whether to stay or flee. - local officials said there were three strikes warehouses in addition to the garage. across the city, seven people died and ii were injured. translation: what we see today in ukraine is genocide which - is purposefully committed by the aggressor who kills civilians. seven civilians had plans for life. today, their lives have ended. once again, ukrainian rescue teams are carrying out the grimmest tasks, passing on the worst news to families. once again, ukrainian rescue teams are carrying out the grimmest tasks, if anyone needed it, this was an early morning

reminder that this country, all of it and all its people, are still at war and still under threat. danjohnson, bbc news, lviv. joining me now is denys ganzha, who is a ukrainian youth delegate to the un and founder of an ngo public diplomacy platform, currently supporting volunteer hubs across ukraine. it's great to get you on the programme. thank you for your time. it must be so busy doing the work you're doing. listening to my colleague's report, this idea that the entire country is still engaged in what is an increasingly hostile offensive. i know you've been in kyiv and are currently in kharkiv. what's the mood there right now? first of all, i would like to say that freedom does not come for free, and this is what most of the ukrainian people understand. the

morale here, it's very strong. everyone is involved in the fight. 95% of the population are doing something to make sure that our country wins this war. kharkiv feel that the most.— that the most. denis, that's insniring — that the most. denis, that's insniring to _ that the most. denis, that's inspiring to hear, _ that the most. denis, that's inspiring to hear, but - that the most. denis, that's inspiring to hear, but at - that the most. denis, that's inspiring to hear, but at the| that the most. denis, that's - inspiring to hear, but at the same time, i believe we're having difficulty getting through to denys. we will try and get denys back on the programme as and when we can. 0h, the programme as and when we can. oh, i've been told he's back. i'm going to try again. you are just talking about how it is something that ukrainians, young ukrainians like yourself feel very strongly that freedom doesn't come for free. those of the words that you used in our conversation just now. talk us through how challenging it's been in

terms of being able to deliver the kind of a that you need to deliver in your work as a volunteered. ewen; in your work as a volunteered. every da , in your work as a volunteered. every day. thousands _ in your work as a volunteered. every day, thousands of _ in your work as a volunteered. every day, thousands of young _ in your work as a volunteered. er day, thousands of young ukrainian drivers, railway workers, they make sure that all the aid is delivered, especially the aid that you sent from your countries from all around the world. thousands of people are involved. we risk our lives to make sure the right aid is received in mariupol, and kharkiv and occupied territories. people need to understand that right now, we stand united. everyone protects everyone. denys, when you look at the future of your country, i know it's very hard right now, given the fact that you're in the midst of this war, but for young ukrainians like yourselves, in terms of rebuilding and moving on from this, what are

some conversations you've had with your friends?— your friends? first of all, we're s-ueakin your friends? first of all, we're speaking about _ your friends? first of all, we're speaking about how _ your friends? first of all, we're speaking about how we - your friends? first of all, we're speaking about how we win - your friends? first of all, we're| speaking about how we win this your friends? first of all, we're - speaking about how we win this war, because right now, to tell you the truth, we need all of the support from all of you to make sure that we win the war. we dream a lot about the country... i think one of the most powerful in europe, because we have proven to the world that we are very strong partners and you can trust us, you can trust us with projects and investments, because we will protect everything and make sure that the work is done in the right way. sure that the work is done in the riaht wa . , , , sure that the work is done in the rirhtwa. , i, ., ,, sure that the work is done in the riuhtwa., i, ., ,, sure that the work is done in the right way-— sure that the work is done in the riuhtwa., i, ., ,, . right way. denys, thank you so much for “oininr right way. denys, thank you so much forjoining us— right way. denys, thank you so much forjoining us on _ right way. denys, thank you so much forjoining us on the _ right way. denys, thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. - right way. denys, thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. i i forjoining us on the programme. i really appreciate the time you spent with us. i want to tell you about the story now that we've been following for you on newsday this week. a national state of disaster has

been declared in south africa in response to floods that have claimed hundreds of lives. the south african military has deployed more than 10,000 troops to help with relief and rescue operations following the devastating floods that swept through parts of kwazulu—natal province last week. the death toll now stands at over 440 and more than 60 people are still missing. the bbc�*s pumza fihlani has more. we've just come across a community which are trying to rebuild a bridge that was washed away a few days ago. they told us that this has been here for many decades, but because no help has come, they have decided to come out and try to put whatever infrastructure they can to hold it in place, and the reason for that is that there's a schooljust across from where we are standing, a primary school. they're worried that in a few weeks' time when schools reopen, children won't be able to go to school.

another reason why they have decided they don't trust the authorities to do this — just on my right here, there is a bridge that was last constructed in about 2016, and they say if this bridge had been standing, that people here would not have to come out and it would have been spared, and they also said how they physically had to go out into the community and tried to locate people who had been washed away further upstream and their bodies were found here. they said a week in, no one from the government has come over the weekend and no one from any sort of rescue effort has visited this area. he says that officials who have made numerous promises to the people he says that officials here have made numerous promises to the people of this village to try and rebuild this bridge that's decades oldm but so farm nothing's happenedm and he says they are the sort oldm but so farm nothing's happened, and he says they are the sort of community that gets up and tries to do things for themselves. he said they realise how dangerous

the task is, but that on the other side of it are communities who are isolated with no shops, and this is the only route that will make it possible for them to get to hospitals or even shops, so it's a matter of deciding between letting the people from either side to stop or doing what they can to help them. a reminder of our top headlines. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, says the expected large—scale russian offensive in the east of the country has begun. at least seven people are killed in ukraine's western city of lviv, as russia intensifies its air raids across the country. in china, the authorities in shanghai have reported the first covid deaths since 2020. official figures show three people died on sunday. all had underlying health conditions. lockdowns remain in place across parts of the city, four weeks after they were first introduced. and some residents are understood to have been taken to

quarantine facilities — with reports of food shortages in parts of shanghai. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, has been analysing the authority's approach. after more than 400,000 infections in shanghai in this outbreak, these are the first three people to have been listed to have died from covid. the question of death and what causes it is a very complicated one. 0fficials causes it is a very complicated one. officials in shanghai have said these three people, a 91—year—old man, a 91—year—old woman and an 89—year—old woman, all had underlying health problems, plus all three of them had not been vaccinated. when it comes to vaccinations, new figures released would appear to show that china really has dropped the ball when it comes to booster shots. so, when we consider the number of people over

the age of 60 in shanghai who had two shots, that's over 60%. could be higher, but not too bad. those over 60 who had the booster shot, it's only 38%. it's too low if you really want to ease off restrictions in those cities. some have asked why the government doesn't switch closest from this mass testing and centralised mass isolation —— a switch focus, tour the big push on getting those booster done. the government is not showing that it's going to change tact. that was steve mcdonald. we can speak now to krishna udayakumar, who is the founding director of the duke global health innovation centre. hejoins us now from raleigh in north carolina in the united states. it's great to get you on the programme. ijust want it's great to get you on the programme. i just want to start by asking, we've heard from her correspondent in china about those

deaths that we've seen so far. how surprised are you by this, and do you think it's an accurate record of representation? if you think it's an accurate record of representation?— representation? if you look at the number of — representation? if you look at the number of cases _ representation? if you look at the number of cases in _ representation? if you look at the number of cases in the _ representation? if you look at the number of cases in the hundreds | representation? if you look at the i number of cases in the hundreds of thousands, i would number of cases in the hundreds of thousands, iwould be number of cases in the hundreds of thousands, i would be shocked if it was only three deaths, especially in the context of the age and demographic of the population. as well as the vaccination and booster rates. this goes back to the accuracy. if we look at the entire pandemic so far, it's just about 4640 deaths that have been reported. when we see different modelling, it would tell us that that's off by anywhere from a factor of three — maybe three times as much — as much is 100 times. we don't think the numbers are quite accurate from across the pandemic. i would argue the same as to what we're seeing now in shanghai. the same as to what we're seeing now in shanahai. . ., the same as to what we're seeing now in shanghai-— in shanghai. should we be worried about what's going _ in shanghai. should we be worried

about what's going on _ in shanghai. should we be worried about what's going on in _ in shanghai. should we be worried about what's going on in china, i about what's going on in china, apart from the fact that what is happening to people there? as a sort of lesson for the rest of the world, or is this quite a distinct case we're seeing in china.- or is this quite a distinct case we're seeing in china. one, i think it's showing _ we're seeing in china. one, i think it's showing us _ we're seeing in china. one, i think it's showing us that _ we're seeing in china. one, i think it's showing us that our— we're seeing in china. one, i think it's showing us that our strategy i we're seeing in china. one, i thinkj it's showing us that our strategy of zero covid is not sustainable in the long term. it's also showing us that just getting high rates of vaccination coverage in a population level isn't that protective if you don't use effective vaccines and you don't use effective vaccines and you don't vaccine eight fully, which we now know requires three doses. if you have lower rates of vaccination in the most vulnerable, which are the highest aged populations. not only do we have to increase vaccination rates for everyone, we have to protect the most vulnerable in our populations so that we're protecting them from severe disease and death, while also protecting our economy to stay open and protecting

our health systems from being overwhelmed. 50. our health systems from being overwhelmed.— our health systems from being overwhelmed. ., , ., �*, overwhelmed. so, do you see what's ha enin: overwhelmed. so, do you see what's happening in — overwhelmed. so, do you see what's happening in china _ overwhelmed. so, do you see what's happening in china right _ overwhelmed. so, do you see what's happening in china right now- overwhelmed. so, do you see what's happening in china right now - - happening in china right now — obviously, they have their own distinct challenges — being repeated in other parts of the world? are you seeing some of these challenges? yes, i do think what we saw previously and hong kong is what we're now starting to see in parts of china, where there are significant increases in cases, but also some increases in hospitalisation and potentially death. we do need to make sure we're protecting against that in every country by rolling out a more comprehensive set of tools. vaccination remains critical and we should increase vaccination and booster rates everywhere in the world, especially in low and middle income countries. we also need to make available therapies, including and. that requires a test to treat

strategy. we have to roll out all of these things at a the —— of the need to finance a pandemic. these things at a the -- of the need to finance a pandemic.— these things at a the -- of the need to finance a pandemic. thank you so much forjoining _ to finance a pandemic. thank you so much forjoining us _ to finance a pandemic. thank you so much forjoining us on _ to finance a pandemic. thank you so much forjoining us on the _ much forjoining us on the programme. let's go to sweden now. there have been violent protests in six cities over the weekend after far—right groups said they were going to burn copies of the quran, the islamic holy book. more than 40 people have now been arrested. maddy savage has more from stockholm. it should've been a peaceful public holiday weekend, with many swedes celebrating easter or fasting and reflecting during ramadan. instead, there was violence in six different cities, including norrkoping, two hours south of stockholm. cars were set on fire, police vans were looted and officers were attacked with stones. translation: those who do that are really stupid. - they only want to cause trouble and destroy.

translation: when i was young, you might have gotten _ into a fist fight, but today, it's stones, knives and weapons. the violence is escalating. the protesters were reacting to a far—right group known as the stram kurs, led by rasmus paludan, a danish politician who's trying to drum up support in sweden, where his father's from. he planned a series of anti—islam rallies and appeared to burn several copies of islam's holy book, the quran — an action deeply offensive to muslims, who consider it the sacred word of god. far—right events have triggered counterprotests in sweden before, but police say they've never seen violence on this scale. they believe the latest riots were organised by criminal gangs, and they're stepping up resources because of worries the violence could spread to other cities in the coming days. maddy savage, bbc news, stockholm.

in other news for you today — the manchester united footballer christiano ronaldo and his partner have said one of the twins they were expecting has died. writing on social media, the star said, "it is with our "deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. "it is the greatest pain that any parents can feel." the message was signed by him and his partner, georgina rodriguez. and finally, prince harry has hailed the courage of the ukrainian national team at the invictus games, the international sporting event for injured servicemen, women, and veterans. he was speaking to the bbc as the competition continues in the hague. from there, our correspondent anna holligan reports. these athletes represent not only their nations, but recovery and resilience. this year's invictus games have added poignancy, as they're taking place on a continent in conflict. speaking to the bbc, prince harry highlighted how much team ukraine has already achieved. i think what people need

to remember, or perhaps don't even know yet, is a vast majority of the ukraine team were serving in some shape or form. so, they removed their uniforms, put their team strips on, jumped on the coach, came over here, slept for a couple days, tried to decompress and then were straight into it. and then they've got to go back. so, i think to have them here is extraordinary. the ukrainians received special permission to travel and will soon be changing from tracksuits to combats as they return to the front line. translation: we don't have another choice. - it's simply the question of survival of our nation and our people. all of us must fight. this is a chance to show the world ukrainians are fighting back and staying alive. the games are on until this friday. anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. that's it from us. thanks so much

forjoining us and do stay with bbc news. hello. for those of you who have extended your easter break into this week, there is some good weather news in that will be a lot of dry weather around. admittedly, there will be some more showers around, more especially during the next 24 hours. as the week goes on, increasing breeze will turn eastern areas that bit cooler. 0ut there to start tuesday, a bit of a chilly start as it is. touch of frost in places, particularly in southern scotland, across ireland and towards the borders of southeast wales and southwest midlands. a lot of cloud across england to begin with, already producing one or two showers, a few lingering showers in the west from overnight. but through the day, the cloud starts to increase across parts of england into wales, showers become a bit more abundant. showers become a bit more abundant, some becoming heavy and thundery. showers throughout the day in the highlands of scotland.

and while the odd one's possibly in northern ireland, the in northern ireland, the southern and eastern scotland there will be dry and sunny weather to come here. and much more sunshine in east anglia later. temperatures down in recent daysm but at levels we should be at this stage in mid april. som some showers continue into the nightm but notice how they are starting to track further westwards. a further developing easterly breeze. most noticeable for england and wales. that could bring in some mist and low cloud toward some eastern coast of northern england and east scotland not only through the night but into wednesdaym where again, we could start with a touch of frost in the north and the west. but for most on wednesday, actually a lot more sunshine around away from those eastern coast, a few showers dotted around the west, but more of you will have a dry day. but with that east to southeasterly wind, you're going to notice temperatures along those coastal strips close to the north sea a good deal cooler than you're used to. whereas, sheltered in the west, you're going to see temperatures climb up into the mid—teens, maybe high teens for one or two. so, big east—west contrast, whereas across europe, it's a north—south contrast.

who would've picked norway out for your easter break? 20 degrees in oslo on wednesday compared to wet and windy conditions and rather cool conditions across eastern spain. spanish costas not looking great over the next few days due to this area of low pressure. as that pushes its way in towards the mediterranean, high pressure expands across the north atlantic, iceland and scandinavia. still that east—west split as i mentioned with temperature conditions. but as we go into the end of the week and weekend, it does look like whilst many in the north will stay dry, increasing chance of some showers spreading out from the south.

hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are kieran andrews,

who's the scottish political editor at the times scotland, and the broadcaster and writer, jemma forte. tomorrow's front pages, starting with... the mirror leads on boris johnson's "walk of shame", as he is the first british prime minister to address parliament having broke the law. the top story on the guardian claims that number ten has been suspected of being targeted by pegasus spyware — a software that can turn a phone into a remote listening device. the times highlights president zelensky declaring that the "next phase of the war has begun" — following open fire in regions of donetsk and luhansk in eastern ukraine. the i also reports on the ongoing war in ukraine, its headline that "nowhere is safe" showing pictures of the western city lviv being bombarded.