tonight at ten... we are live in ukraine where government troops outgunned and outnumbered, nevertheless get the upper hand on russian forces, dragging them back to the border here in the north. we are on the front line of the counter attack near the second city of kharkiv. , . ., ., of kharkiv. every inch of ground they have _ of kharkiv. every inch of ground they have gained _ of kharkiv. every inch of ground they have gained here, every i of kharkiv. every inch of ground i they have gained here, every other mile gives their city respite from the russian guns that you can hear. and united in the face of aggression. borisjohnson sign aggression. boris johnson sign security aggression. borisjohnson sign security deals with sweden and finland, saying the uk will not hesitate to act if either country is

attacked. also on the programme, the government tries to address england's housing shortage. street votes could be used to sort out local planning issues. suffering in silence, how millions of people in the uk live with chronic pain and specialists warn how many are not receiving effective treatment. and celtic are champions, winning the scottish premier league title for the tenth time. coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, we will have a round—up with the action with plenty of fixtures in an exciting night of football. good evening from the ukrainian

capital, kyiv as government forces successfully counter attack against russian troops just north of the country's second largest city, kharkiv. in recent days, they have been retaking a number of towns and villages, pushing russian infantry and artillery back towards the border. the fighting, which has led to a dramatic fall in russian shelling of kharkiv has been slow and costly, but ukrainian forces now say they have the upper hand. kharkiv is within 35 miles of the frontier and russia's retreat could pose a wider threat to moscow does macro aim of capturing significant territory in the east, as fresh ukrainian troops are freed up to join the battle there. quentin sommerville and journalist darrin conway have spent the last week with ukrainian troops in and around the town of ruska losova. a warning, you

might find details in their dispatch distressing. air raid sirens. the spectre of russian victory once haunted this city. but no more. for months, the invaders were at the city gates, but kharkiv has cast out vladimir putin's foot soldiers, forcing them back towards the border. this road is deadly. there are landmines either side, and a number of times vehicles have been hit by russian shelling. so the russians are retreating, but they're not giving up. they're trying to pin these men down, but retreating they are. there is a lot more at stake here than just the city of kharkiv. the russian supply lines to the donbas are also under threat, and these men, they say that if they can take back their city, the second biggest in this country, just by the russian border, why can't they take

back all of ukraine? for more than a week, they've been fighting and winning. still, they have to move fast. an army in retreat is just as dangerous. so they're on guard. above them they know that enemy drones are watching. these men are exposed. at the top of this ridge, russian tanks and artillery still roam and still lay down fire. this has become a far more mobile fight. a deadly game of hide and seek in the kharkiv countryside. you will go there, behind the fence, yeah?

0k? we're following a ukrainian territorial defence unit, all volunteers. sit down. every second out in the open risks targeting from russians who are less than half a kilometre away. the men you see are from kharkiv. they're fighting for ukraine, but they're also fighting for their city, and it's a close quarters battle. but every inch of ground they gain here, every other mile gives their city respite from the russian guns that you can hear. explosions. we're now in the third month of this war. who's winning? we are winning, of course.

ukrainians are winning. every day that our guys do in mariupol, every day that our guys are doing brave acts that they commit, you know, all these are small wins in the big war. their fields and villages, they gain ground. from here, russia attacked kharkiv dozens of times daily. now only a handful of shells make it to the city. but there's still a danger in the village. a shell whizzes just overhead. explosion.

the enemy is there in the forest. out there, a russian tank is on the hunt. but they've grown used to these tactics, so already the men who make up this unit — an economist, a businessman, a mechanic — have taken cover. little prepared them for this, but they haven't flinched. a direct hit knocks out the power. tank fire hammers the bunker. but the men are untroubled and unharmed. russia's occupation has drawn these communities apart. these are local men and a woman under suspicion of

aiding the enemy. they will be handed over to the security services. collaborators face a lifetime injail. with each services. collaborators face a lifetime in jail. with each day of the war, a centuries old ties that bind russia and ukraine together are being torn asunder. this lady has been trapped from the start, she tells me, unable to receive cancer treatment. forcedwhite translation: i treatment. forcedwhite translation: ., , treatment. forcedwhitetranslation: forcedwhite translation: i lost so much wei . ht forcedwhite translation: i lost so much weight because _ forcedwhite translation: i lost so much weight because of _ forcedwhite translation: i lost so much weight because of nerves. - forcedwhite translation: i lost so much weight because of nerves. we i much weight because of nerves. we decided to get evacuated from here. amid the maelstrom and numpty danger... is 66—year—old lady. she grew up in the soviet union, then east germany and she cannot believe it has come to this. her home and

her history in ruins. translation: ,, ., , ., translation: shards of glass hit me in the face. how— translation: shards of glass hit me in the face. how can _ translation: shards of glass hit me in the face. how can she _ translation: shards of glass hit me in the face. how can she forgive - in the face. how can she forgive russia these _ in the face. how can she forgive russia these wounds? - in the face. how can she forgive russia these wounds? why - in the face. how can she forgive | russia these wounds? why didn't in the face. how can she forgive - russia these wounds? why didn't the shra - nel hit russia these wounds? why didn't the shrapnel hit me _ russia these wounds? why didn't the shrapnel hit me in _ russia these wounds? why didn't the shrapnel hit me in the _ russia these wounds? why didn't the shrapnel hit me in the head - russia these wounds? why didn't the shrapnel hit me in the head so - russia these wounds? why didn't the shrapnel hit me in the head so that i shrapnel hit me in the head so that i would die immediately? for days, she suffered _ i would die immediately? for days, she suffered through _ i would die immediately? for days, she suffered through this. - i would die immediately? for days, she suffered through this. but - i would die immediately? for days, she suffered through this. but i - she suffered through this. but i hardly feel _ she suffered through this. but i hardly feel physical _ she suffered through this. but i hardly feel physical pain - she suffered through this. pm i hardly feel physical pain any more, the pain is in my soul. you hardly feel physical pain any more, the pain is in my soul.— the pain is in my soul. you are luc to the pain is in my soul. you are lucky to be _ the pain is in my soul. you are lucky to be alive, _ the pain is in my soul. you are lucky to be alive, says - the pain is in my soul. you are i lucky to be alive, says the medic. yes, my arm is working, but lucky? god did let me die, now i have to live in pain. —— god didn't let me die. in

live in pain. -- god didn't let me die. ., live in pain. -- god didn't let me die. . ., _ ., die. in a time gone by, her father and vladimir _ die. in a time gone by, her father and vladimir putin's _ die. in a time gone by, her father and vladimir putin's father - die. in a time gone by, her father| and vladimir putin's father battled to hitler. but that shared memory is now lost to history. here in russian speaking ukraine, the past runs deep and the suffering brought here will not be easily forgiven nor forgotten. quentin sommerville, bbc news, kharkiv. the latest from our team on the front line. boris johnson saysthe uk "will not hesitate" to act, after signing security agreements with sweden and finland, to defend against any threat from what he called a "21st century tyra nt". both countries, which aren't members of a major military alliance, are considering joining nato, following president putin's decision, to invade ukraine. james landale, our diplomatic correspondent, has been travelling with the prime minister, to both finland and sweden, where his report begins.

first stop, sweden. the chance for borisjohnson to catch up with the prime minister at a country residence, but also a chance to discuss the growing threat from russia and what more can be done to bolster europe's northern flank. to that end, they signed a mutual security declaration, promising to come to each other�*s defence if attacked. a clear response, the prime minister told me, to russia's's invasion of ukraine. in the event of a disaster or attack upon either of us, we commit to come, upon request, to each other�*s defence and support. we have seen president putin's willingness to use extreme, unprovoked violence against an innocent, independent country. in that context, of course, european democracies are thinking about all

security. full democracies are thinking about all securi . ,, �* , security. full sweden's prime minister. _ security. full sweden's prime minister, that _ security. full sweden's prime minister, that could - security. full sweden's prime minister, that could also - security. full sweden's prime. minister, that could also mean ending her country's historic neutrality and joining nato, the military alliance where members guarantee each other�*s security. shire guarantee each other's security. are we safer with this declaration? yes, of course _ we safer with this declaration? yes, of course we — we safer with this declaration? yes, of course we are. this means something _ of course we are. this means something and it is important whatever— something and it is important whatever security policy choice we will make — whatever security policy choice we will make in sweden. the whatever security policy choice we will make in sweden.— will make in sweden. the prime minister says— will make in sweden. the prime minister says this _ will make in sweden. the prime minister says this deal - will make in sweden. the prime minister says this deal is - will make in sweden. the prime minister says this deal is a - minister says this deal is a long—term commitment, it is not a short—term stopgap. but it could be crucial for sweden and finland short—term stopgap. but it could be crucialfor sweden and finland in that slightly awkward period between applying to join nato, that slightly awkward period between applying tojoin nato, if that that slightly awkward period between applying to join nato, if that is what they do, and getting the full security guarantees that membership would offer. next stop, finland and a meeting with the country's president, who is also considering nato membership. russia, he told the prime minister, had attacked a neighbour and they were to blame if finland chose tojoin neighbour and they were to blame if finland chose to join the alliance. if that would be the case that it join, _ if that would be the case that it join, my response would be that you

cause _ join, my response would be that you cause this _ join, my response would be that you cause this. look at the mirror. they. — cause this. look at the mirror. they. too— cause this. look at the mirror. they, too signed a mutual defence agreement, another text and another hand sake. europe's security architecture changing before our eyes. james landale, bbc news. the war in the east of ukraine is bogged down and neither side has the power to land a decisive blow, but in the north the fortunes of war has changed dramatically. a part of the front line, ukrainian soldiers say they are out numbers by the russians, but smaller, more agile and highly motivated ukrainian units are clearly having their day. that is it from me and the team in kyiv, now it is back to sophie in the studio in london. borisjohnson has repeated his threat to overide parts of the agreement with the eu about post brexit trade in northern ireland.

the northern ireland protocol — under which goods from britain going to northern ireland have to be checked — has emerged as a major stumbling block in attempts to set up a new executive in stormont after last week's elections. but the eu says it could launch legal action against the uk if it tries to rip up the agreement. our deputy political editor vicki young reports. for some businesses in northern ireland, trading opportunities have grown, but the rules can cause disruption too. this garden centre in belfast is dealing with extra paperwork and supply issues. it's slowed our deliveries down. we would order lots of stuff from england, from holland. our frustration is that we are a weather—dependent business. as soon as the weather's good, we need to get ordering. we would usually order on a monday for a friday delivery. that has completely changed.

we are now ordering two to three weeks ahead and it is very hard to do that considering the uncertainty and it is very hard to do that of the weather. and this is why the extra checks are happening. when we left the eu it was agreed that goods arriving in northern ireland from the rest of the uk would be monitored to make sure they met eu standards. that's because northern ireland shares a land border with eu member ireland, and brussels doesn't want unchecked products ending up in its single market. an open border is seen as an essential part of the peace process. last week's northern ireland assembly elections have upped the pressure again. sinn fein won. they say the brexit arrangements must stay, but they can't govern unless unionists share power, which they're refusing to do unless the protocol is scrapped. and uk ministers are in washington explaining why changes are essential. this is the bundle of documents that has to be filled out by companies moving goods within our own country. we still want a negotiated solution, but if your negotiating partner is at the point of saying, "there is nothing to talk about,"

then we have a moral obligation to take action to protect our citizens in northern ireland. the uk government wants smoother trade arrangements, and is threatening to take matters into its own hands by scrapping parts of the brexit treaty it signed up to, which could mean trouble ahead. unilateral action will make all of this worse, because what it will do is it will result in legal action. it will result in, potentially, countermeasures. and nobody wants to see friction between the european union and the uk right now. but senior cabinet ministers here think this situation has dragged on forfar too long. they're even considering the dramatic step of drawing up a new law which would allow them to ignore parts of the brexit treaty that boris johnson signed. that could come as soon as next week, and could lead to a trade war. many fear this is sowing the seeds for a wider confrontation with the eu that could affect

businesses across the uk. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. people in england are to be given the right to a local vote on proposed property developments in their neighbourhood as part of new planning reforms. the housing secretary michael gove said the plan would help "build communities that people love". but he also suggested that the government doesn't expect to hit its target of building 300,000 homes in england this year. our home editor, mark easton, reports. borisjohnson loves a hard hat. elected on a promise to build, build, build, his manifesto set a target of 300,000 extra homes a year in england by 2025, with new planning rules to stop so—called nimbys saying "not in my backyard". now those plans have been scrapped in favour of giving people living close to a development a street vote on whether it should go ahead. this place perhaps explains the u—turn. the true blue constituency

of chesham and amersham in buckinghamshire went lib dem in a shock by—election last year. the tory defeat was blamed on local worries over housing development. trying to convince people that new homes in their area are a good thing is never easy, but the housing secretary's convinced that if local communities are confident that new houses will be beautiful and will come with the right infrastructure, opposition will fall away. people have been resistant to developments because far too often you've had numbers plonked down simply in order to reach an arbitrary target, you've had dormitories not neighbourhoods. so, beauty, infrastructure, democracy, environment, neighbourhood. joe is worried about a housing development near his home in chesham, and says the street vote idea is a good one. yes, more consultation, and nicer looking, because the ones that have been built at the end of our street are definitely not in keeping. you would be happier if that would happen? absolutely. the problem with democracy

and housing is that the people with votes are those who already live in a place, not those who'd like to. at a housing conference in brighton today, there was concern at what giving local residents more of a say might mean. in principle that's a great idea, but it has to involve people from across the spectrum within a context of everybody understanding that we needed to build more homes to house us properly as a nation. if we don't manage that, there is a risk that actually it becomes a lever for stopping development, which is not what the government wants. despite government promises to make housing more affordable, the price of the average home in england has soared now at almost £300,000. when you compare the average house price to average annual earnings, back in 1997 it was 3.5 times. last year it was more than nine times, and set to go higher still. 19—year—old law student imani is helping out at the housing conference in brighton, but wonders if she'll ever be able to afford a home of her own. but wonders if she'll ever be able i am quite worried that people of my generation aren't

going to be able to buy a house in our lifetime, really. i think we're going to be quite pushed back and not have the chances or the resources to do so. reaching the target of 300,000 new homes in england a year means increasing supply by almost 40% from current levels. will that happen? on the evidence, no. mark easton, bbc news. the aljazeera news channel has accused israel of deliberately killing one of its journalists during fighting between israeli security forces and palestinian gunmen in the occupied west bank. shireen abu akleh — one of the most famous journalists in the region — died from a bullet wound to the head while covering an israeli army raid on a refugee camp. israel's prime minister, naftali bennett, denied that journalists were targeted and suggested the fatal shot was likely to have been fired by a palestinian. sri lankan president gotabaya rajapaksa has pledged to roll back his powers, but stopped short of stepping down. he addressed the nation

for the first time since protests against sri lanka's economic crisis began, vowing to restore security after the violence. he said he'd appoint a new prime minister and cabinet after his brother, mahinda rajapaksa, stepped down from the premiership. survivors of a tower block collapse in miami and victims families have reached a proposed settlement of almost $1 billion with insurers according to wall streetjournal. the hundred people were killed when the 12 story residential building near miami beach collapsed. crews searched the rubble for nearly a month to recover and identify victims remains. millions of people across the uk live with chronic pain that blights their lives for months, even years. medical specialists say they fear many are not receiving effective treatment to help them manage the condition. according to a survey carried out for the bbc, 26% of people in the uk are living with chronic pain —

pain that lasts longer than three months. of those, nearly a quarter are taking opioids — powerful painkillers — which are extremely addictive and not recommended for most long term pain conditions. and more than 40% of them started taking these drugs, anything from codeine to fentanyl and morphine, more than five years ago. our health correspondent, dominic hughes, has been to meet a woman who is desperate to wean herself off such powerful painkillers. i get this overwhelming rage. you know, i never thought i could be capable of murdering somebody, but when i'm in withdrawal, i could murder. iwant to... hit my horses. which is so against who i am. hey, baby. these are the terrifying feelings that withdrawing from opioid painkillers can stir up. niki's horses are perhaps the most precious thing in her life. she is devastated by even thinking she could harm them. daisy!

but that shows just how difficult and dangerous this process of withdrawal is. i woke up one morning and ijust wanted to die. i couldn't access any feelings of love, and i realised this is withdrawal. opioids such as the highly addictive drug fentanyl first entered niki's life because of a rare and excruciatingly painful nerve condition which developed 20 years ago. it's as if somebody�*s stuck a cattle prod to the side of my face. it's extraordinary, overwhelming pain. i mean, i literally hit the floor, and it basically destroyed my life. this is the patch that i'm on, so this is the fentanyl patch. and the patch is actually these orange bits? yeah, these ones here. you see this one is a whole one, and you see i've cut off little bits. there is no real exit strategy for these patches. in a bid to withdraw safely, niki shaves off tiny slivers

from her fentanyl patches, less than a millimetre at a time. every time i reduce my opioids, my pain increases as i go through the withdrawal process, and then it decreases, and ifeel so much better each time. and i think that one of the things that would help is for medicine to be a little bit more supportive and a little bit more humble about the way they treat people in withdrawal. because we're not the ones writing those prescriptions, they are. so opioids are the whole class, it's everything... a leading pain expert has looked at our nationwide survey, which suggests millions of people are taking powerful medication they may not need. the whole system is set up to support prescribing. we have prescription pads, we have pharmacies where people can collect things. but the other things that people with chronic pain can benefit from, physical activity programmes, programmes to help people

with their mental health, community support, peer support, all these sorts of things, they're not so readily available, and even when they are available, they're not well connected in with health services. in three, two, one! modern pain management involves a different way of thinking about pain, bringing together notjust medication but other therapies including physio and psychological help. niki's taken that on board, so much so that, despite her pain, she's completed a 170—mile charity bike ride. through breathing exercises, mindfulness, understanding the brain can misinterpret the signals it receives, niki is managing her pain better. there's a massive misunderstanding of pain. we think hurt equals harm, but knowing that persistent pain is very different and very complex means that you actually have the ability to change it yourself, and that's actually enormously empowering. with so many people dependent on painkillers, that better

understanding of how to cope with pain could help transform the lives of millions of people. dominic hughes, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge say they have added their support to a new fund set up by the podcaster and cancer campaigner deborahjames who is dying of bowel cancer, saying her zest for life and tenacious desire to give back to society was inspiring. ao—year—old deborah, who was diagnosed in 2016, has now raised more than £3 million injust 48 hours for charity. she revealed on monday that her treatment was stopping after more than five years, because her body simply isn't playing ball any more. just 48 hours later, more than £3.2 million has poured into her bowelbabe fund to help clinical trials and research. it was day two of rebekah vardy�*s libel case against coleen rooney. mrs vardy is seeking damages from mrs rooney who claimed she had

leaked stories to newspapers. colin paterson reports from the high court. coleen rooney arriving at court with her husband, the former england footballer wayne rooney. but it was rebekah vardy, the wife of leicester city's jamie vardy, who was in the witness box all day. in court, coleen rooney's eyes did not move from rebekah vardy the whole time she was answering questions about allegedly leaking stories to the sun newspaper. in one example, rebekah vardy whatsapped her agent that riyad mahrez, then her husband's team—mate, had not turned up to training for the second day in a row, and "the lads were fuming." when her agent suggested selling the story, rebekah vardy replied, "yeah, let's do it." the court heard that rebekah vardy�*s agent, caroline watt, seen here on the left, was repeatedly asked by her client to leak stories to the sun, something rebekah vardy denies, although she did concede that on one occasion she specifically directed her agent to get information from coleen

rooney's private instagram about a damaged car. at one stage rebekah vardy broke down in tears when it was mentioned how trolls had threatened to harm herfamily. she was offered the chance to take a break, but chose to continue. so, an uncomfortable day in the witness stand for rebekah vardy, and she will face more questioning tomorrow. colin paterson, bbc news, the high court. it has been a big night of football. celtic have won the scottish premiership title. this is after drawing tonight with the dundee united. jane dougal has more. the confidence of needing just one point. celtic fans travelled to tayside, top of the table and champions if they avoided defeat against dundee united. this is the man credited with their success. manager ange postecoglou, poised to take the title in his first season.

it was a quiet first half for celtic, but they knew what they had to do. giorgos giakoumakis heading in to put them one up. and it's put away! but united reacted well. 16 year—old rory macleod hitting the post. the rebound, offside. the home side kept the pressure up but couldn't hit the target. dundee united also needed points and dylan levitt�*s incredible shot gave them one. a nervy last few minutes for celtic but it finished in a draw and gave them that crucial point. celtic are champions of scotland after 31 league games. unbeaten celtic have wrestled the title back from rivals rangers and are once again champions of scotland. celebrations are well under way at

tannadice but many celtic fans were not able to get tickets at dundee united's round so several of them have turned up at celtic park, congregating and celebrating in their own way, relishing the title victory. but the final day of the seasonis victory. but the final day of the season is on saturday and celtic play at home, their last game, against motherwell, so regardless of the result, they will be lifting the trophy in front of a home crowd and thatis trophy in front of a home crowd and that is when the party will really start. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are the journalist and times

radio presenterjenny kleeman, and kate ferguson, who's deputy political editor of the sun.