this is bbc news, the headlines an interim report published by a british parliamentary committee says there is evidence that the former prime minister, broke lockdown rules on four occasions — and that the breaches of regulations, should have been obvious. boris johnson says the report proves he never knowingly misled anyone. president biden has hosted a meeting with the german chancellor olaf scholz at the white house, to discus the war in ukriane — as the leaders met the pentagon announced washington had given kyiv another four hundred million dollars in military aid. the head of russia's wagner group says its forces now surround most of bakhmut — the east ukrainian city, that's been the focus

of extensive fighting. the mercenary group says the last open roads leading westwards out of the city are under heavy russian shelling. now. ukraine — the children's story. child: the day before war started was just i like any other. we played with our friends and ate with our families. that night was the last time our dreams were peaceful. in them, fireworks danced, lighting up the skies. but we woke to explosions. the sky burst into red and yellow. the windows and walls shook. no—one knew what to do. in the skies above us,

helicopters swarmed and multiplied. we watched as tanks rolled in. millions of people fled. they packed into overcrowded trains, while thousands more waited on platforms. men had to stay behind, so families and loved ones were separated. many people reached other countries and found safety. but some of us couldn't or didn't. and now this... ..is our life. dog barks in distance she speaks ukrainian air raid

siren wails ricky: is that an air raid siren? so we just had a little air raid siren... which means that we have to go outside. you can see, the kids are all going to be lining up, and they don't look very scared. they're used to this. these sirens go off quite often, so this is something they deal with all the time at school. and we're all going to head down to the basement underneath the school, which is the safest place to be. all the teachers are on the phones, trying to get some more information to find out what's happening.

playing games, dancing, carrying on with your lessons. there's a lot here in the shelter to keep your mind off the air raid warning. and this is one school. the air raid alert we heard went off in villages, towns and cities across ukraine — an entire country's children sheltering at the same time. then, after a few hours below ground, we're told the danger is over and everyone can return to their classrooms. everything goes back to normal. but this war, the biggest in europe since world war ii, is now a year old. a year since russian president vladimir putin ordered his armies to invade ukraine, a year of air attacks, of destroyed homes, of uncertainty for the future. a year waiting for a normal

childhood to begin again. i'm here in ukraine to hear the children's story, their own thoughts, in their own words, about a year of war. viola is 13. she tells me she loves playing the piano in her spare time. when the war started, her village was taken over by the russian army. viola wants to share what's happened to her and herfamily. this is my house, near kyiv. every morning, i help mama do the cleaning and shopping before i walk to school. we first heard them talking about war on tv. i was worried, but we didn't

think it would happen to us. then, early one morning, when the sky was still dark, our lives changed for ever. danger crept into our village. the russian military were coming. mama and i covered the windows with blankets as we hid indoors. the sound of gunfire rang out all day long. in the moments of silence, i peeked behind the curtains to have a look outside. mama took pictures of the russian soldiers and sent them to friends, who forwarded them to the ukrainian military. shortly afterwards, the russians were attacked by our artillery. mama began to worry the russians would find out what we did. then, one night, we felt a huge explosion. it lit up my bedroom, shaking the house and waking us up. smoke filled our kitchen,

where mama was standing. she was trying to put out the flames. she told us to leave. i grabbed my sister and we ran. we didn't even have time to look back at our house, and we didn't know where we were going, and so we kept running through other people's gardens, the sound of bullets whistling near our feet. we kept moving. that's when we found help. a man was helping families to evacuate, so we climbed into his car and drove as fast as we could out of the village. but then his car ran out of electricity. we were stuck on the road. i saw cars on fire, people lying inside them. what was going to happen to us? it was chaos. our driver stopped another car fleeing the village. they were driving to zhytomyr.

the car was crowded, with nine of us packed inside. but we made it. we survived. when the fighting in our village stopped, we drove back home. i remember seeing our house for the first time. it was completely destroyed. but ella was still there, looked after by a neighbour. she reminds us of how normal our lives used to be. viola has invited me to come and see where her home once stood. but the memories of what happened here are hard for her to relive. sh... it's a lot for viola to come back here and to look at what's left of her house. and there's very little left. and it's deeply upsetting for her, too, but, at the same time, she wants to share her

story with us, to tell the world what's happened to her and lots of other children here in ukraine. but it really, it isn't easy. so, this is where you had to run, to run away? you went here? viola and herfamily still spend time here trying to imagine what life will be like when their home is rebuilt. viola and herfamily still spend time here trying to imagine what life will be like when their home is rebuilt. but all they can do for now is wait.

an hour away, we meet dmitri. his town was also occupied by russian soldiers. when the fighting started here, his family and their neighbours hid in garages on the edge of their town, hoping they might be safer. but russian shelling began. a young boy and his father in the garage next door were killed. dmitri's family had to run to find somewhere else to hide.

on their way, the family saw that this building, their home, had also been hit. they made their way to a basement in a nearby preschool building, where they stayed, on and off, for two months, sharing the space with 270 others. the conditions were difficult. food and clean water were limited.

the community here are at constant risk of attacks from the air, and the shelter still has to be used regularly. but the teachers here have made it a more comfortable place

for children to stay. dmitri, though, is looking forward to a time when he no longer needs to come down here. the family are now living with dmitri's grandma close by. he tells me rockets and missiles constantly fly over their apartment. but, for now, the family are safer and moving forward as best they can. west of kyiv, two hours by car, is the city of zhytomyr. the skies are loud here, too.

many travelling away from the fighting that's still going on in the east pass through here. missiles have made their mark — one hitting here. this was once the city's main school. it's thought that more than 5 million children, just like those who attended here, have had their education disrupted because of the war. it's very sad, honestly, because this place used to be my second home for a long period of time. i'm getting really upset every time i'm coming here and see my school in such condition. it's so difficult for me because i really like this school and this school means a lot for me. for now, the children

who attended here are studying in other buildings. and, just a few roads away, after months of having lessons online, friends have just been reunited. the community here managed to transform this old building. laughter the corridors are filled with joy. they laugh and sing

do you feel happy, now you can see all your friends? how does it make you feel? being together again is making the students smile. and teachers are trying hard to help the children forget about the war for a moment. laughter chiming they've changed a few things, like the sound of the school bell. loud noises could sound like a siren, so, instead, they play music.

while there's no sirens and it's time to have a break, everyone's enjoying lunch. but, for millions of other children in ukraine, something as ordinary as being in school with your friends isn't possible. either ongoing fighting

or school buildings being destroyed means online lessons only. and, for others, even that's impossible. there is no school of any sort. back near kyiv, i'm in a town that's become known all around the world because of the awful things that happened here. when the war began, president putin's plan was to use the russian army to quickly take over kyiv, remove the ukrainian government and put his own people in charge. putin's plan failed. ukraine's army first stopped the russian military and then pushed them back from here.

and, when the russians were forced out, then it became clear that something terrible happened right here. yegor was born in bucha. he lives in this apartment with his mum. the town is usually quiet. there's a school, a high street and a few shops. this is the view from his house now, a reminder of what happened in march last year. yegor showed me a video of how much of his hometown was destroyed. and you can still kind of make out the fire on the trees. the fences are burnt. yes.

it's thought russian soldiers killed more than 400 people in bucha. in war, there are rules. one of the most important is that civilians — so, that's people like you and me, who are not soldiers and not fighting — are protected. russian forces are accused of deliberately killing civilians here, which is a war crime. the russian government says that the ukrainian authorities faked what happened.

but that claim cannot be backed up with any facts. instead, journalists and international lawyers trained to investigate war crimes found evidence that matched what the people of bucha say took place. the people of this town witnessed utter devastation and a lot of suffering, too. but there are signs of hope. homes are being built again and yegor�*s really happy about that. the war leaves little

opportunity for children to have a normal childhood and do all the things they enjoy. this group has been set up to help them relax. it's a place they can talk, play and create. all the children here... he laughs ..are having a good time. they're smiling, they're relaxed. and it's not something that they experience very often. because of everything that's going on at the moment, lots of them have dads and mums who are out fighting or on the front line, and this is a chance for them to relax, to be happy, to be a kid. and it's so lovely to see. laughter

nobody knows what the long term impact on children will be, and nobody knows when this war is going to end. but what's clear is that the children i've met, despite everything, ave hope, and a determination to carry on. i've come back to visit viola. she and her family wanted to show me where they're living now — a temporary home with many others whose houses were also destroyed. wow, look at this. each family has a warm room to sleep in and store what belongings they have. what do you miss the most from your home?

you said you don't want anyone else to experience what you went through. why do you say that? violet may not be able to play her piano at home, but she can play at church.

hello. some subtle changes in our weather as we head through the weekend. it is going to start to feel just a little bit colder. it will often be cloudy. there will be some scattered showers. most of those showers will be falling as a rain. but into the start of the new week, the changes become more dramatic. it will certainly feel much colder, particularly given the strength of the wind, and there'll be some snow and ice to contend with in places. at the moment, though, the really cold air is quite a long way away. to the north of us, we do have this cold front sinking into the picture on saturday that will bring a band of cloud and some showers in northeast scotland and then slumping onto the east coast of england.

even further west, i think there'll be quite large amounts of cloud. best chance of any sunshine across parts of western scotland, northwest england, maybe parts of wales as well. temperatures six to nine degrees about where they have been really through the last few days. now, as we go through saturday night, again, we keep large areas of cloud, some showers, particularly in the north of scotland. if you do see clear spells for any length of time, you could just about get a touch of frost. most places where it stays cloudy will stay just above freezing. and into sunday, another mostly cloudy day with limited sunshine, but a few more showers around this time. and some of those showers across high ground in the north of the uk could start to turn wintry because it will start to feeljust a little bit colder. but the changes really kick in as we move out of sunday and into monday. developing across the northern isles is this weather front. now, it'll push its way southwards. initially it will bring some rain, but on the back edge that is likely to turn to sleet and snow. and behind it, we open the door to significantly colder air,

it will be cold enough for snow showers in the north of scotland. eventually some snowfall getting down into parts of northern england. and then by tuesday, that weather front continues to journey southwards, clearing most areas through the day. behind it, some sunny spells, but some showers, and it certainly will be cold enough for those showers to fall as snow. and, those are the temperatures on the thermometer, but factor in a brisk wind, particularly in northern and eastern areas. this is what it will feel like. it will feel like minus four celsius at best there in aberdeen. tthere are already met office yellow warnings in force for snow and ice in parts of northern and eastern scotland, northeast england, but there could be some wintry weather in other parts of the uk as well.

this is bbc news. i'm monika plaha. our top stories: a probe into lockdown parties at downing street suggests the former british prime minister, borisjohnson, should have known rules were being broken. i believed implicitly that these events were within the rules, nor did anybody tell me before or afterwards anything to the contrary. in ukraine, the head of russia's wagner group says its forces now surround most of bakhmut, the eastern city that's been the focus of extensive fighting. the white house confirm president biden has had a cancerous skin lesion removed safely from his chest, as part of a routine health check.