explosions. we've all witnessed the horrors of war and fold in ukraine. i just saw a video. my friend from school, their apartment was destroyed. herfriend is finding out with her children amongst the ruins of mariupol. will they make it out to the safety of friends in wales 7 those with loved ones there are desperate to bring them here. they said, "keep trying, keep trying." how many times do i try? as thousands offer their homes, are too many still waiting?

it's been a long journey for the roberts family. from ukraine to north wales. it's taken weeks and thousands of miles. gareth and natasha went to rescue her daughter and granddaughter. now refugees, they know they're amongst the lucky ones. how are you, natasha? not well. father, mother, killed. terrible. children, killed. sorry. she wants to tell her dad that she's alive. ukrainian men have been asked to stay behind to help defend the country.

suddenly, there'd another siren. siren wails that's in your home? apartment. also in street. bomb warnings are broadcast on tv to warn of incoming attacks. explosion it's a far cry from their old life in the country they've left behind.

this couple run their own property business. albina dreamt of becoming a lawyer. life was good until war came. as the russians invaded, they took their dog and a few belongings before leaving and heading for wales. a last kiss from her dad. she doesn't know when she'll hug him again. i said, "please finish the war." millions have headed out of ukraine in search of safety.

angelina and albina had to drive across the country and over the border to slovakia to apply for visas to allow them to come to wales as refugees. the uk government has promised to open doors and give sanctuary to people fleeing ukraine, but the families we've been following feel that the visa system is anything but straightforward. i'm going to see a welsh ukrainian family who settled here. they have friends and family trapped in ukraine. nataliia, from kyiv, married a man from north wells.

they're raising their young son and daughter here. they started saying, is anybody coming to help us? there said there was nobody coming. she just wanted to say goodbye. nataliia's mother and stepfather live in eastern ukraine, which has seen amongst the worst bombardments. as things escalated, nataliia begged them to come to wales. thousands were fleeing the region. but to do that, they had to leave her elderly grandparents behind. my grandfather looking after my grandmother now. she can't feed herself.

it was a very hard decision for my mother to leave him there. very, very hard. not knowing if or when they return, they boarded a train. the train was so full. so many people who didn't fit, and theyjust closed the doors. i called mum and she said they are all in. half an hour later... they're still here. she said because people are just going under the train, and say if we have to die, better here than from russian army. pure desperation. they were heading for warsaw, where

nataliia and the family went to wait for them. finally, they spot them. these women were able to come to wales, but to stay, they have to apply for refugee status. how is it to have mum here? you feel guilty because my grandparents are still in ukraine. nataliia is also desperately waiting for

news from one of her closest friends. she's trapped in mariupol with her three young daughters. from shcool, yulia, she sent to me _ the bombing and shooting at night. it is day—bright. she took that video and then ran to hide. explosion. in a communal bunker, julia tries to distract the girls the girls from the horrors unfolding above them. they sing. they're hiding amongst these ruins in their own city, which is under relentless attack. yulia has been keeping a video diary.

it's hard to explain war to a child. is not safe anywhere in ukraine at the moment, but there is so dangerous. all the shops were destroyed. they had no supplies, and i ran out of food at some point. when it start to rain,

they were able to drink from the puddle, and the water was so, so tasty. i filled a pan with water so i could...live longer. nataliia is trying to find a way to bring them through the ukraine sponsorship team. she is alone with the children. her husband is fighting on the front line. and as they hid, their home was hit. yulia went back to film the destruction. they'd lost everything. their apartment was destroyed. totally destroyed.

they were in bed by the window. they were sleeping when shooting happened. are they going to get out orjust going die there? nataliia was trying to find the fastest route out of ukraine for yulia and the girls. it had taken weeks for these two to rescue their loved ones. in march, i travelled from them across europe to slovakia to look for their family. we head to a refugee crossing point to look for angelina and albina. hello! you're safe now, 0k? remember?

next morning, still in slovakia, gareth has to begin organising visas to bring them to wales. and he says it's already proving difficult. i'm in a situation where i made an application several days ago. but ijust simply could not get an appointment, and they said, "keep trying, keep trying." how many times do i try? albina is missing her dad.

albina and her mum may not be in danger, but they are in limbo until they can get visas. in caernarfon, nataliia's mum and stepdad are exploring their new surroundings. ludlina is struggling with the decision. she's heartbroken and feels

like she betrayed him. she's trying to explain him, "you take care." while we're filming, there's a call. it's yulia, who's been trapped in mariupol. yul! it's nice to see you. i am so glad that you are safe. it's the first time she's been able to call in weeks. she's in a basement. there was no shower, no toilets, no electricity. they had some food. 0r somebody was stealing from supermarkets and giving to them.

the kids were asking for food so much. that why she try to feed them at times, so they don't feel so bad. yulia's video diaries show things are going from bad to worse for her and the girls. her middle daughter had become ill. yulia has to leave the children while she looks for water amongst the ruins.

but it's the sights of war which are leaving their mark on them. she did say that people in mariupol were killed by rockets. they had no hands, no legs, their bodies were destroyed. they were putting those pieces together and burying them. she feels sorry that she couldn't bury them because she just turned around and left. julia left mariupol when a humanitarian corridor was offered by the russians. so, they started to move out of the city, and city wasjust destroyed. the driver who lived there couldn't recognise her to go. he didn't know which way to go

because everything was destroyed. they managed to board a train heading west to escape ukraine. they'll have to build a new life. nataliia wants to help them do that in wales. it would be a warm welcome for you here.

she translates. more than four million ukrainian children have been displaced by this war. gareth and his family are stuck in europe, staying in hotels and with friends because they haven't been able to sort out the visas. they've made it to prague. this country is ukraine. are you still having school? are your friends online as well? one of my classmates in poland. and one classmate in france. gareth, where are you at now with the visas? it wasn't easy.

i went to the british embassy and they said i went to the british embassy and they said you have to do it online. we had to scan and upload documents. very clear message, we must get approval before we try to enter the uk. but because we've got some contacts here, we're ina— better position than the majority. albina, what do you think of all this? i want visa because i want to visit us i'iow. a few days later, there's news.

they were amongst the lucky ones. bythe end of march, more than 70% were still waiting waiting for visas. nataliia's mum and stepdad are setting in, but officially, they are still tourist and not yet refugees. without this visa, they cannot work. it's difficult now because they are proud people, they feel like they're a burden. until they become refugees, they face restrictions. she can't register. to the bank. we can't do anything. in march, 10,000 people across wales were offering to house ukrainian refugees, but with

millions of people pouring over the border, by the end of last month, the home office had only issued 2300 visas. when we asked them how many ukrainian refugees had actually arrived here in wales, the welsh government couldn't tell us. they insist they have asked for the data, but have been told it's unavailable. the home office told us it's working as fast as it can to provide that information. gareth�*s family are getting to know their way around. my mother, my daughter, my name is angelina. it's blue and yellow,

ukrainian colours. albina has a medical condition which needs specialist treatment, she hasn't had it due to the war. gareth is trying to register them with a local surgery. next, they apply for a place at the local school. "is the child currently attending a school?" no. "current school? " how are you feeling about going to a new school? i'm happy, but little nervous. of course you're nervous. i not very well know english. your children, your classmates.

things are settling for albina's family, but for many others, there's still confusion and delays others, there's still confusion and delays when it comes to getting the right visa. the home office told us that more than 86,000 visas have been granted under various schemes. it's simply finding the forms and boosting staff members so that applications can be processed more quickly. nataliia has been hoping that julia and her girls can come to north wales as refugees. after escaping by train, they managed to board with others to cross the border to safety in poland. hello, julia! how are the children, how are your daughters? are they happy, are they well?

they want to come to wales, butjulia has to sort official paperwork. this family has found sanctuary, but so many others are still searching for it. it's albina's first day at her new school.

english, welsh, not easy! it's a proud day for her mum. fantastic. before, i nervous, but when i visit the school, i happy. nataliia's mum and stepdad have finally given permission to stay in wales as refugees. butjulia and the girls haven't yet made it. they're still in poland,

where she's been given a home, found a job and the girls are in school. i would love to have her here. i was dreaming that she would be here, that one day we would have a cup of tea in our dining room all together, and they can see our life here, and they can have more happy life. ijust would love it. for now, they have a safe place to call home, but theirjourney is far from over.

hello, there. there is a bit more rainfall in the forecast for this upcoming week — most of it's across the north and the west of the country, very little affecting the south and the east, and it will be quite breezy over the next few days, as low pressure will stick close by — in fact, quite windy at times across northern and western scotland. it's all down to this area of low pressure, sitting to the north of the uk. plenty of isobars on the charts, so that's why it'll be windy, and there'll be lots of showers packing into northern and western areas pretty much from the word "go" on tuesday. the overnight weather front through central parts of england will be pushing across east anglia in the south—east, barely anything on it as it moves its way eastwards. eventually, it will clear away, and then it's a bright day, plenty of sunshine around, but scattered showers pretty much anywhere, most of them in the north and the west, where some of them could be heavy, with some rumbles of thunder. these are the mean wind speeds — it'll be a fairly gusty day

across the board, but very windy across the north—west of scotland. scotland, and temperatures will range from around the mid—to—high teens for many, we could see 20 celsius across the south—east. so pollen levels, again, will be quite high, especially across the south east, where it will be driest. but further north, it should be a little bit lower than what we've had the last few days. now, as we head through tuesday night, we'll hold onto the showers across northern and western areas. they will continue to be blustery, and some of them merging together to produce longer spells of rain. a new weather front will start to push into the south—west of england and wales by the end of the night. this promises to bring some more persistent rain across southern areas. and again, it'll be a fairly mild night. so we'll have low pressure to the north of the uk, with scattered showers here. this weather front will be bringing outbreaks of rain to parts of england and wales. so we start wednesday off on quite a wet note for southwest england and wales — this rain pushing into the midlands, and then, across into eastern england, and some of it will be pretty good rainfall for the gardens. however, it could be, again, the south—east of england escapes and stays rather dry, so we'lljust have to wait

and see, a bit closer to the time. but further north, there'll be sunshine and showers, and those temperatures range from around 14—18 celsius. that weather front clears away — a bit more rain across the north of the uk to end the week, and then, into the weekend, a new area of high pressure starts to build in, and that'll start to draw up some warm air from the south. so, in the short term, we'll continue with the strong winds and further outbreaks of rain, by the end of the week and into the weekend, it'll start to turn very warm — in fact, the mid—20s celsius in one or two places by the time we reach sunday.

welcome to bbc news. i'm david eades. our top stories: president putin uses russia's victory day parade tojustify his invasion of ukraine but no indication of any change of course. is ferdinand marcosjunior, the son of a former dictator, heading for a landslide win in the philippines presidential election? i'm karishma vaswani reporting live from manila where mr marcosjunior, known locally as bongbong, appears to have more than twice the number of votes than his main rival, the outgoing vice president, leni robredo. for the first time in nearly 60 years, queen elizabeth will not

attend one of her most important ceremonial duties,