this is bbc news. the headlines: the united states is sending another $800 million worth of military assistance to ukraine, including howitzer artillery pieces and phoenix ghost drones developed specifically for the ukraine conflict. president biden said the nature of the warfare on ukraine's eastern front meant different equipment was required. officials in afghanistan say dozens of people have been killed in four bomb attacks across the country. the first explosion killed more than 30 worshippers in a shia mosque in the northern city of mazar—i—sharif. the group that calls itself islamic state said it carried out two of the attacks. florida lawmakers have voted to strip disney of its self—governing status in a move widely seen as retaliation for the company's opposition to a new state law limiting discussion of lgbt issues in schools.

the bill will now head to the desk of the republican state governor. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. what lessons have the russians learned from the progress or lack of it of their military offensive in ukraine? right now, russian forces are focused on the east of the country — the donbas. and what happens in the next few weeks will be critical for the future of ukraine, of russia and of european security. my guest is the former russian oligarch turned arch putin foe mikhail khodorkovsky. if putin is cornered, how will he respond?

mikhail khodorkovsky, welcome to hardtalk. western leaders say that vladimir putin invasion of ukraine must fail. do you think they understand what it will take to ensure that putin means war ends in defeat? —— that putin's war ends in defeat?

in a sense, this war is about will, it's about the will and determination of putin, about the will of ukrainians, led by zelensky, and also about the will of the west to confront putin. whose will, right now, do you think is the strongest? you know putin well — i'd be interested in your answer.

really? because there is a school of thought in the west that putin cannot afford a humiliation in ukraine. and if he is facing humiliation, he will use all of the weaponry at his disposal, including weapons of mass destruction — including, some believe, nuclear weapons. are you saying that fear is misplaced?

you visited washington, dcjust a few days ago. you spoke to us officials, you've seen the latest assistance package for ukraine — $800 million of new weaponry perhaps some heavier weaponry that we seen before but still nothing like the list that president zelensky wants

of heavy artillery, fighter jets, all sorts of things which he is not getting. as you talk to the americans and to european leaders as well, do you believe that they will never provide this weaponry or perhaps they'll provide it but maybe, it will be too late? what is your message to them?

this isn'tjust about weapons, is it? it's also about the vast amounts of money that the west, particularly the europeans, send to russia every single day, every single week, every month of the year in terms of payments for oil and gas — hundreds of millions of dollars every single day. why hasn't that oil and gas revenue to russia been cut off?

but we are where we are. the german chancellor scholz says if germany was to cut off

the taps — the gas taps from russia tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of germans would be thrown out of work. do you really believe that is a politically viable option for a country like germany? crosstalk. let me stop you there. because you are the former boss of yukos energy. you were once arguably russia's richest energy oligarch, you know that sector better than anybody. if europe, in particular, stopped buying russian oil and gas, how quickly would putin's war machine and the russian economy collapse? or at least no longer be able to function in the way it functions today?

in the meantime, what we see as europe discusses oil and gas but, frankly, does very little about it, what we see is some limited sanctions on the banking sector, they've stopped importing coal — or at least they're promising to. and they've taken measures to freeze the huge reserves

of russian money in overseas banks and they've targeted oligarchs. you speak to me as a former russian oligarch. do you think the seizing of yachts, the telling roman abramovich he can no longer own chelsea football club — do all of these big, headline measures, do they make any difference?

as you see the terrible events unfold in ukraine and you reflect on more than two decades of putin in power, do you, in any sense, feel a sense of responsibility and deep regret that,

going back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, you were one of the power brokers in russia that actually aided and supported putin in his bid to take power after yeltsin? without you, putin might have struggled. with you, he was a politicalforce. do you regret your association with him?

do you think he changed or did you get him wrong at the beginning? and you obviously paid a very heavy price, not least ten years in russian prison. and you today are a very passionate campaigner against putin and for what you call an open russia, with an open russia foundation,

with an anti—putin coalition of exiled politicians. you are doing everything you can to change russia from outside but would you accept that what we see today is the failure of your political campaign against putin?

i'm sure you are aware of the total information control that the kremlin operates, you're aware of the narrative that putin and his associates are giving to the russian people. that this is russia's defensive war, that nato is seeking to undermine russian security and that russia has a fundamental right to send its forces into a war which is safeguarding russian culture, russian history and russia's future. that seems to be a message that resonates with the people and that's why i'm wondering whether your message that this is putin's war rather than a russian war, whether that is missing a very important point.

but i want you to address a somewhat different point,

which is simply this, the soviet empire collapsed 30 years ago. in countries like ukraine they have begun to build a civil society, democratic institutions, the rule of law. it is very far from perfect but the process has begun. why, three decades on, has that process not even really begun in russia and people like you have poured money into 0pen russia foundation and other civil society initiatives have failed — why?

do you feel ashamed

of your own country today? because you live outside it, you live in a very different world and ijust wonder whether you really feel russian anymore, whether you just feel shame about your country.

you said just a short time ago that you were absolutely sure, and i'm quoting you, "putin's regime is going to end very soon." why do you say that?

and and then what, and then what? what are the alternatives for the russian people in terms of leadership? boris nemtsov, one of the leading politicians dead, alexey navalny, perhaps the biggest opposition figure today locked up in a prison, people like you, garry kasparov, all exiled, no longer even in russia. what kind of leadership is russia going to get? is it going to be one of putin's associates and, if so, why should things change?

do you intend to go back to being part of that, as you see it, post—putin,

very different russian future? mikhail khodorkovsky, i thank you very much, indeed, for being on hardtalk. thank you. hello. 0ur weather's going to be pretty settled over the next few days. it's fairly quiet out there right now and not much change on the way for friday. one thing that we will notice is that cool breeze strengthening day by day,

particularly noticeable on the north sea coast, and this often happens when we have high pressure close to iceland there over the norwegian sea, low pressure to the south, and that basically shunts quite a strong airstream from scandinavia across the north sea and cuts through the uk. particularly chilly on those north sea coasts. it'll also drag in some cloud, some moisture, particularly to central and eastern parts of england, so a slow, grey, breezy, chilly start to the day here, whereas out towards the west, there'll be sunshine. also, a few showers developing anywhere from london into the south midlands, southern wales, maybe salisbury plain, perhaps the west country, but elsewhere, it should be sunny. so, cold on the north sea. 0n the actual coast, it could be 10 degrees, but warmer spots, maybe south—western parts of scotland, perhaps as high as 19, most of us somewhere in between. also worth noting — the tree pollen levels will be generally moderate to high on friday. so, the weekend, then, that pattern continues,

so the high across the north, low pressure to the south. we can see the rain across spain and france, so the bad weather's to the south of us, but we still have that strong breeze and, again, a few showers. perhaps a little more widespread maybe, spreading into northern parts of england during the course of saturday. again, chilly on the north sea coast, maybe 12 in newcastle, typically 16 there in plymouth and not far off that in belfast as well. here's sunday's weather forecast — more of the same — cold wind out of the north sea and all the bad weather staying way to the south of us and similar temperatures, perhaps not even making double figures there in aberdeen. so, let's have a look at the outlook into monday. slight change in the wind direction, so you can see the high pressure builds down again across the uk, the wind switches direction — it will be more of a northerly. so, temperatures will actually drop as we go through the course of next week, maybe making around 10, ii, 12 degrees across some northern towns and cities.

bye— bye.

this is bbc news. i'm victoria fritz, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president zelenskyy denies russia's claims that mariupol has been captured. he says the city continues to resist. translation: russia, you are makin: translation: russia, you are making your — translation: russia, you are making your country _ translation: russia, you are making your country borrowed | making your country borrowed thanit making your country borrowed than it has ever been, since the civil war, it is better to see peace now. kyiv prepares for the possible return of russian troops. the city's mayor warns those who fled to stay away. portugese prosecutors investigating the disappearance of madeline mccann say they've identified an official suspect, 15 years after she went missing. and, a bbc investigation uncovers why thousands of german nationals have migrated to paraguay in the last 12 months.