this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. russian missiles and drones rain down on ukraine's civilian infrastructure, causing untold damage. it's been happening for months.

this is ukraine's energy war, a constant battle for heat and light, with an army of engineers racing to keep the country connected. for ukrainians, it has been a winter of darkness and uncertainty. for ukrainians, it has been a winter of darkness and uncertainty. how does a country respond when the stakes are so high? if the power system collapses, that would mean the suffering of tens of millions of people during wintertime. we cannot allow that,

not on my watch. we follow the teams fighting this war. what the missiles destroy, they rebuild, in places where people are living on the edge. this power plant in central ukraine has been hit repeatedly. it's a huge place, but this is what well—aimed russian missiles have done to the country's infrastructure. missile fragments litter the place.

for security reasons, we have been asked not to identify the plant or its manager. so what happened here? this is where electricity begins its journey from the power plant to the world outside, the first links in a complex chain.

since october, moscow has been working systematically to sever those links, to break the system into pieces, to break the will of the people. every corner of this huge complex bears the scars. while the threat still exists, not everything

will be repaired. millions of people depend on this coal—fired power station, built in the soviet era, its great turbines turning away at the heart of ukraine's sprawling power network. fantastic machine. the system now generating half as much electricity as it did a year ago. the staff here know they are in russia's sights. ihor is the plant's chief technician, on duty the morning of the first attack. when he arrived here in the main control room, he found a chaotic scene.

so the whole power station is run from this room. did all of this get switched off?

it has been weeks since the last attack here, but this morning, the alarms keep coming. alarm blares so there's the siren. we had been expecting it this morning. we have to get out of the turbine hall and head straight for the shelter. incoming missiles have been detected, flying towards ukraine from the south and east. there is time to take cover. on days like these, hours are spent underground. anxious moments as news comes in of a fresh wave of attacks. their colleagues at a power station in the west have taken a direct hit. they know this could have been them, and closer to home, word is spreading

of something much worse. across town, the tragedy is unfolding. a missile has struck an apartment building. the rescue effort is frantic. dozens of people have died here. the missile that did this was huge. designed half a century ago to destroy aircraft carriers. it was almost certainly aimed at the power station. some of russia's attacks are accurate. many are not. russia's assault has brought death and darkness to ukraine's cities. the nights are long and cold, the power cuts frequent. the whole nation plunged into a world of adjustments.

for david, not yet two, it is mostly a game. that's how his parents prefer to keep it, especially when sirens wail and missiles fall. it's 8:30. a power cut is coming. it's time for bed. here we go. yes, yes. there we go, it is 9:20 and a few minutes late but the power cut has begun. after months of this, the fear and the novelty have long gone. this is how millions of ukrainians have learned to spend the evenings — unfazed, organised.

this war on energy is notjust about ukraine's power stations, it's about the entire infrastructure, the grid that keeps this vast country with electricity and heating. and it's that grid that has been hit over and over again since october. we're off down a rather bumpy road see a piece of that grid now. and again, we cannot tell you where it is.

this is serhii's substation. the place where he has worked for 30 years. since september, he has watched it be demolished, bit by bit, six separate attacks. four months ago, he saw a kamikaze drone destroy the control room and his office, knocking the whole substation off—line, cutting power to millions of people. the attackers knew exactly what they were doing.

the substation�*s 750 kilovolt transformers won't be easy to replace. they weigh 300 tons and take months to produce. only three or four countries in the world make them. one of them is russia. ukraine is scouring the globe, looking for substitutes. we are far from this war�*s frontlines but everyone who works here feels like a soldier. in this forest of machinery, there is a quiet, steely determination.

do you feel angry? for who? we travel on south, towards frontline communities under regularfire. ukraine's battalion of engineers racing from one repairjob to the next. speaks ukrainian this happens all the time, volodymyr tells me. we're on our way to a village shelled just last night. the power lines are down, again. the repairs won't take long but the men know they will be back.

the battle to keep ukraine connected takes many forms — repairing wires, diverging power, concealing what is and is not working. it's a constant struggle, fraught with danger. distant explosions in the nearby village, the sound of artillery has the mayor ducking for cover.

how long do you think you can carry on living here in this situation? or do people want to leave? in places where the frontlines have moved, there's other work to do. here, teams are busy reconnecting towns and villages

cut off behind russian lines for months. where the army has been, the engineers must follow. speaks ukrainian fedir is another veteran. his home town is under regular attacks, so his wife and grandchildren are living in poland. he is out in the field every day. pylon by pylon, cable by cable, connections are re—established. these are battered places, scarred by recent conflict.

fresh graves speak of long, difficult months and long, difficult lives. the engineers wait as emergency teams go ahead, inspecting the ground, looking for discarded weapons. it's slow, painstaking work. how long do you think it will take to fix everything?

and while the country waits, it simply copes. city streets echoing to the sound of generators. mobile phones lighting the way. life somehow continuing. and a mounting sense that ukraine has, for now, weathered the storm. this battle is finely balanced between russia's ability to inflict damage and ukraine's efforts to repair it, to give people just enough power to get by.

those who run the grid have no illusions about the struggles ahead. russians failed to take down our system or to cause big disturbance in our system. having said that, unfortunately, they are gradually destroying very important items of equipment in our grid, which takes time to be restored. and yet, despite all of this damage, as you travel around this country, it becomes obvious that ukraine is not on its knees. we were prepared and we were very resolved to win this particular bout. we have no other way than to win, because if we lose,

if our system collapses, that would mean suffering of tens of millions of people during wintertime. we cannot allow that. when i am asked this question, i often say, "not on my watch." and if somebody told me before that our power grid could stand 1000 missiles and drones and still run and still deliver power to consumers, i would probably not believe it, but now, we know that we are resilient and we are much more ready now for the new attacks than we have been on the 10th of october. russia thought it would break ukraine, but its campaign isn't working. half the grid may be in tatters, but in helmets and body armour,

these men are keeping it alive. the war�*s terrible cost is evident wherever you look. the sacrifices have been immense. but power, the lifeblood of a nation, still reaches across the land.

hello there. friday starts with something rather more turbulent, some strong winds particularly across scotland. the tops of the pennines in the north—east of england, disruption to travel, very likely indeed. it is because of this area of low pressure that has been named by the danish weather service storm water because of the impact it is likely to have in denmark but even for us, lots of white lines, lots of isobars, is likely to have in denmark but even for us, lots of white lines, lots of isobars, the very strong winds, knowledge across scotland, gusts of 80 miles per are and exposed spots in the north for a time. more broadly gusts of 65 to 75 miles prior. but also very windy through the morning over the tops of the pennines and in north—east england, gusts potential of 75 miles prior. but also very windy through the morning over the tops of the pennines and in north—east england, gusts potential of 75 mph. for high

sided vehicles on trans— pennine routes that could make conditions very difficult. as we go through the day, the winds only slowly easing. this band of cloud and increasingly patchy rain seeking south. petisco is flung behind but more rain in northern ireland and saw the shares will be wintry over higher ground. it will be more chilly for the south, another very mild day. heading into saturday, we see the next area of low pressure, that will bring some outbreaks of rain. clearing quite quickly eastwards during saturday morning. still some snow for over higher ground. fairly large amounts of cloud, may be some further outbreaks of patchy rain, but some sunny spells, temperatures ranging from eight celsius in aberdeen to 15 in norwich, another mild day for most. saturday into sunday, briefly this ridge of high pressure giving a drier interlude but this next weather system this time feeding rain into scotland, some snow over

the grampians and the highlands, certainly up of a high ground. the further south you are, quite a lot of cloud, some sunny spells, the best of south wales and the south of england. maybe not quite as mild but 8 to 12 celsius. sunday into monday, we see these frontal systems running across the north of the uk, some strong winds as well. but we will find ourselves in a wedge of very mild air to start the new week. temperatures through money and indeed into tuesday likely to be well above the norm stop with the frontal systems running across the north we will see some rain particularly in northern scotland. some patchy rain for the south but some spells of sunshine. i suspect it will be the sunniest spots that see the highest temperatures, maybe 15 or 16. solar highest temperatures, maybe 15 or16. solarweatheras highest temperatures, maybe 15 or 16. solar weather as we head into tuesday. what a lot of cloud, the odd spot of rain, but it's a very mild conditions with temperatures between 13 and 15 celsius in many places.

you can see some slightly more unsettled weather, exactly how this part of the forecast will develop his open to a certain degree of question. through the middle part of the week it is likely that we will seem some unsettled weather, showers for longer spells of rain and asset unsettled weather drops away will be left with something a little bit colder. at the moment, it looks like temperatures will not fall dramatically, we will go back closer to where we should be for the time of year but they could be some frost at night. a bit of rain at times, some showers but some spells of sunshine as well. goodbye for now.

welcome to bbc news — i'm lisa—marie misztak, our top stories... the bbc hears from two leaders, on opposing sides, of the war in ukraine. president zelensky warns neighbouring belarus against helping russia launch a new offensive. it will be big mistake, for him and for belarussia, it will be a historical mistake. but belarus' leader, alexander luckoshenko tells foreign journalists he would be prepared to allow his territory to be used again — for any new invasion. translation: yes, i'm ready. you say invasion, we have different views of this. i'm ready to provide territory again. in other news, the state of ohio asks washington forfederal support after a train derailment

releases toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water. the british prime minister travels to northern ireland —