this is bbc news, the headlines: the un has issued a stark warning that somaila is facing the worst drought in a0 years. aid camps have been admiting a starving child every minute, often from families who have spent days walking in search of life—saving help. climate change and conflict have both contributed to the severe food shortages. the authorities in ukraine say the latest russian air strikes have left more than one thousand towns and villages without power. president zelensky criticised moscow's widespread use of iranian—made drones in the current spate of attacks, and said the situation was now critical, with water supplies also affected. president biden has promised that the first bill he will sign into law next

year, if the democrats retain control of congress will be to reinstate nationwide abortion rights. the democrats have made reproductive rights a central part of their campaign for the midterm elections. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen sackur. ukraine has proved its resilience and resolve in the eight months since vladimir putin launched his all—out invasion. but this war of survival keeps throwing up new challenges right now, the biggest threat comes from russia's missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure. spreading terror and threatening winter energy supplies. my guest is ukraine's energy minister german galushchenko. battlefield gains cannot disguise strategic vulnerability.

german galushchenko in kyiv, welcome to hardtalk. hello, sir. minister, you have had another day of air strikes in kyiv. these so—called kamikaze drones supplied to russia by the iranians that are causing havoc right now in kyiv and in many towns and cities across your country. how worried are you about the fear they are spreading?

well, we have seen now, they started using drones and targeting the energy infrastructure and that is the massive shellings which started from the monday a week ago and the shellings continue every day and is not only drones. aeveral hours ago and shelled by missiles and the number of energy objects in all of ukraine and that is a new approach of russians against ukraine and the targeting of energy infrastructure. and i know you and ukraine are careful about giving too much information about the targets and the success the russians have had in knocking out targets but it is quite clear your energy infrastructure is vulnerable.

i believe that after the first wave of strikes, that you referred to a week ago, more than 30% of your energy infrastructure received hits and there were many cases of serious power outages. you are vulnerable, aren't you? of course, we are trying to repair as quickly as we can. but it is obvious when the missiles hit any objects or it makes dramatic damages to the infrastructure, but of course, the energy sector is working 2a hours a day and repairing everything what they can and still maintain stability of the energy system but, of course, we also need to make some extraordinary decisions in this very difficult situation.

in terms of air defence, you are clearly lacking right now. you are shooting down some of the cruise missiles and some the kamikaze drones, but not all of them. what do you need? you will remember in the beginning of the war, the first days of the war, it started with the shellings of the nuclear station west of chernobyl, then it was zaporizhzhia and it was a matter of security in the world. and that's why we asked from that time, we need to have air protection system we need to close the skies 100% to be sure that this type of attack fails. you cannot close the skies of your allies are not prepared

to give you their most effective and sophisticated air defence systems. we understand the germans are sending their so—called that the americans of promise to send systems we understand the germans are sending their so—called eris system. the americans have promise to send systems and it's not as i understand it in ukraine yet. you keep making these requests for months and months. what do you make of the delays that you have clearly encountered ? as i understand it, some of the systems are already in ukraine and transmitted quickly and some are on the way. it gives us the feeling that we should be better protected before the winter. now, it's very important because the temperature is not below zero and gives us possibility to repair very quickly and even when we speak to some consumers, for several hours,

it, if these missiles and drone attacks will be repeated during the winter, it is very important that we have strong air protection. one country under the spotlight is israel. israel has a very sophisticated air defence system that they call the iron dome that stops rockets from being fired — iranian—made rockets — being fired by hezbollah from hamas into israeli territory. it is not clear that israel is in any way prepared to give you assistance to create some sort of iron dome shield. have you or your government had any contact in recent days with israel about this? as i understand that, due to the close cooperation of iran and russia,

the position of israel could be changed or maybe already, so, leave that more to the diplomats but i understand that the communications exist, i hope we can count on them. you refered to winter coming, and temperatures are going to drop rapidly in ukraine. can you guarantee the ukrainian people will have access to electricity, heat and hot water through difficult months to come? we do everything to guarantee this and to prepare for this really hard winter and we cannot compare it to any winter which was before. and we have been preparing for this, for this difficult situation, we need to do some

extraordinary decisions, and implement it, but what is also important is we have to speak to our people and say we are fighting and doing everything every day but we need help and now we are asking our people, the population, to restrict consumption of electricity to be lowered in peak hours and the home, and it works because the whole nation is fighting against and they need to unite also the issue of where they could help the state to maintain. so, your answer is the ukrainian people should sit in a relatively cool apartment, they should not be expecting to heat their homes in the way they have done in the past? we do not ask them to sit in darkness and without heating, no. we could supply electricity and gas to the apartment if all heating systems

are operating. but they could shift the time using a number of equipment which consumes more electricity, they can do it not in peak hours, which is from five o'clock in the evening to ii and you could do it during the night to give the system more stability. some fundamentals which that approach is not going to deal with it. zaporizhzhia is your most important, your biggest nuclear power plant that is producing zero electricity for the grid and that is not going to change because the plant is controlled by the russians. how do you cope with the loss of your biggest power plant? of course, that is the most important issue, in the energy sphere.

zaporizhzhia, the biggest nuclear power plant in europe, produces more than 6000 mw of electricity, which is a huge amount and even the occupation, the ukrainian staff operating in zaporizhzhia, we supplied electricity to ukrainians. from september, this possibility, because we understand that this is all the same change. because now, in zaporizhzhia, they started targeting the energy infrastructure, it's already influencing one difficult decision which we made the previous week, but we have to stop exporting electricity to europe. even during the war we were exporting. and it was quite of a win—win situation. and from one hand, to give money to ukraine in financial

part of energy markets and on the other side, we help europe to save on russian gas and oil. and coal. right. that deal is now off, you cannot supply any electricity to the rest of europe, i get that, and i think many people watching and listening around the world will be more worried about the remaining serious potential for dangerous outcomes in zaporizhzhia in the nuclear power plant itself. the russians are in control and there is fighting close by and they accuse you of shelling in the vicinity of the plant. we know that power is consistently being cut to the plant, it's reliant at times, i think maybe even now, on diesel generators to keep the cooling systems going. to the outside world, this looks horribly dangerous. and you're absolutely right. all that has happened

in zaporizhzhia, that is really the danger and is a big threat because what happened today, today, they shelled the line supplying electricity to this, and to generate and caused the blackout of the station and this is the fourth time it's happened. it's a very dangerous situation, especially from many points of view. when you're ready on these generators, it means that you depend on some accidental shelling that could stop this generator operation and then you are facing a nuclear disaster. and also the russian soldiers on that side. you're not occupying the plant, the russians are, and they face serious questions about what they're doing in zaporizhzhia, but you face serious questions too. your military needs to, you military needs to back off the region in and around that power plant, doesn't it? it's just simply too dangerous to engage in military operations there.

we're not talking about the military operations on the plant or shelling it, that is what really russians did when they captured the station, it was night during march and they shelled the station from any kind of weapons, from tanks and that's really the craziness of what they're doing. and we're not talking about the operation on the site, the station or shelling it. we understand the risks. you are at war with russia but you must be very aware of the bizarre relationships that you still have with the russians, albeit one step removed. for example, you need gas in ukraine. i know you built your reserves up, but you still need to import gas and a lot of the gas to get

comes from europe but it's actually russian gas which your re—importing via pipelines in europe. you want the europeans to completely wean themselves off russian gas, you're going to have to wean yourselves off russian gas and russian petroleum products as well, aren't you? in fact, that is an issue adverse that... ..all that is happened around the gas and supply of gas to europe, that is a big question of a russian monopoly in europe and now, we have the nord stream i and 2 which are cut from the supply of the gas to europe and so, ukrainian pipe is whether very important pipes today and taking this into account, decreased the volumes of gas and supply through ukraine. we stopped legally buying russian gas here from 2015. but the truth you're still using gas which originates from russia, right?

today, we are producing ukrainian gas which we put in storages, but also we use imported gas. that could be any gas. you know that some of it is russian. it could be, some of it. but we buy it from our european allies. i know you do. i'm just saying there are some very bizarre outcomes at the moment and it is not going to change until ukraine truly finds a way of developing the infrastructure that is not reliant on these fossil fuels that russia continues to dominate. that is most important and the goal of our energy structure and strategies for the future. we do not want to use any of their gas in the future.

that's one of our main strategies for the future before the war. how worried are you that in the end, this coming winter is going to be very, very difficult for europe and the difficulties that european citizens face with their energy supplies might well corrode support for ukraine. let me quote the belgian prime ministerjust a few days ago when he was talking about the difficulties with energy supply. he said a few weeks like this and the european economy could go into a full stop. there is a risk of deindustrialisation and the severe risk of fundamental social unrest. that is what putin wants and that'll be very bad for ukraine and support you get from europe. i know this narrative, it's not only in belgium. we follow the situation in europe very closely and from my personal feelings,

this very important sanctions. if we can think of any kind of way where we can, for the price of gas, you should pay more for the gas and that's what russia wants. they tried to influence the european country with gas it is not a commercial deal, it is a weapon and this possibility to push politically on the countries. and we will discuss on the level that we need to pay more for the gas because of the prices — this incredible increase in prices is because of them. but it comes down to the fundamental problem that ukraine can not do not anything about it is you're

fundamentally dependent on western allies. that is, the americans and the europeans. you're so dependent on them for notjust military support, but for economic support as well. and in the coming months, when things get truly difficult, that support may begin to crumble. and that would be the great mistake of the civilised world. and that's not the issue, now, we are on the front line. but we are fighting forjoint values and fighting for civilised choice and i think that is more important than payments and how much you should pay for the gas and that is the issue of solidarity. european solidarity, which is really very helpful and you're right, we understand that this is support that we need. you must be a realist and you're talking to me from your office, you're wearing military fatigues and i know that is a symbol of the struggle that

you and all ukrainian leaders feel you are in. it is an existential war, as you see it. but it's not quite as existential if you are living in paris, i guess, and the truth is, the french government to take one example, is not offering you the levels of economic or military assistance that you say you need. why do you think that is? i think that's more the question of... i don't want to say that about some country. but the most important issue is everyone should understand that this is the most important thing that is happening in their history. we cannot think that, after the war, we will be as before.

that's not only the issue of ukraine, we will never live as we lived before, before february, the whole world changed. that is very important to be part of the right side in the situation. i cannot imagine that you would just watch on tv. as your allies, the americans put in $50 billion worth of military and economic assistance, europe not so much. but still running into the multibillions. they have a stake in what is happening. they watch your strategy and see that you made significant gains in the east in kharkiv, but also in the south, you appeared to be intent on pushing towards kherson. they see that but they do not believe that you can deliver a knockout blow to the russian occupation forces. so they want to know what is your end game, what is your strategy for ultimately ending this war?

is it all about liberation of every inch of territory or can you acknowledge that there may be something short of that? i am sure that the end of the war for us will be the liberation of our territories in accordance with the international law. in accordance with the international rules. you know, for vladimir putin, that cannot happen. that, for him, is an existential threat. where is there any prospect of this war ending? i'm struggling to see it. in fact, they are planning to take half of ukraine at least kyiv for three days, and it's what putin was planning and he failed and i'm sure he will fail to stop us. i just wonder whether you feel that in washington,

for example, they are calibrating their support for you. they certainly do not want ukraine to lose, but they do not necessarily want ukraine to achieve all—out victory because asjoe biden says, the world is very close to what he called armageddon. nuclear confrontation. and he is determined in the white house to avoid that. i understand that but without a victory, we cannot be safe. any kinds of agreements or whatever would be discussed with russia, they will solve nothing. he's talking about nuclear we already have the accidents in chernobyl and zaporizhzhia and every day, the world is on threat of nuclear accident. it already exists. it's not a question of nuclear

weapon, it already exists. what do you think happens next? we are assuming the government launched that dramatic strike on the bridge. that seemed to lead to putin's retaliation with missile strikes across your country. escalation appears to be inevitable. given what you're saying to me, give what putin is saying in moscow, is there any way out of escalation? the escalation decided in moscow, the war started from moscow and if they want to stop this war, they can do it immediately. the question is, how they can communicate to their people, what it was, special operation, mobilisation, and that is more challenging for them now. and in the end with winter coming, it's going be very hard for the coming months and have great faith that ukrainian

people as well as the ukrainian military can sustain this fight? i am sure about this. i am sure that ukrainian people and ukrainian army will sustain this fight and we will achieve great results and we will win. german galushchenko in kyiv, i thank you very much forjoining me on hardtalk. thanks. thank you, sir. hello again. yesterday, once the early morning mist and fog patches had cleared out of the way,

most parts of the uk had plenty of sunshine but there were some big contrasts in the temperatures from north to south. across england and wales, very mild weather. in parts of sussex, temperatures as high as 20 degrees but even though we had sunshine across the north of the uk and scotland, here, it was much cooler, with temperatures in shetland just reaching 10 degrees. the reason, well we had this cooler air mass underneath this area of high pressure and that will be slipping eastwards over the next few days and this area of low pressure to our south—west really is going to dominate and will be very slow—moving so we will transition to even more unsettled weather conditions, really, and that transition is taking place right now. we are seeing outbreaks of rain arrive with strengthening winds and look at this, towards the start of wednesday morning, the end of the night, we're looking at temperatures of 16 degrees in plymouth and those temperatures are higher than they should be during the middle of the afternoon, let alone at the end of the night. through the rest of wednesday, these bands of rain are going

to erratically work their way northwards and a little bit further eastwards as we go through the day. i suspect parts of east anglia, north—east england and scotland will stay dry but there will be more cloud around, a few bright or sunny spells and a windier kind of day, gusts running into 30s of miles per hour but still very mild, 15—19 for england and wales, those temperatures a bit below average for scotland and northern ireland. for thursday, another band of rain comes up and this one is going to be heavier, perhaps with some rumbles of thunder as it swings across all of the country. just tending to clear, the skies brighten up there could be further hefty showers arriving late in the day from further south. temperatures are still mild, 16—19 for england and wales, temperatures rising a bit in northern ireland but still close to average really in scotland. on friday, the low pressure is still firmly in charge. there will be plenty of showers around, potentially merging to give some lengthier spells of rain towards parts of wales, western england and northern ireland, closest to that centre of low pressure but it's mild again, temperatures are starting to rise a little bit in scotland with highs heading to 15 degrees or so through the central belt. that low pressure, though, is stuck with us through the weekend, so it's a case

of further rain or showers, but it does stay on the mild side. that's your latest, bye—bye.

this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. without power, but russia's military commanders say they're preparing an evacuation from the occupied city of kherson. the worst drought somalia has seen in a0 years. the stark warning from the united nations, as aid camps admit a starving child every minute. you get a good idea here of how quickly this crisis is starting to accelerate. three, even 400 people now, arriving at this one small camp every day now. rights, if democrats keep control of congress in the mid—term elections.