this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hours straight after this programme. child: the day before war started wasjust 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? air raid siren wails. so we just heard 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. shh... 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. 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.

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. bells 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. 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 home town was destroyed. and you can still kind of make out the fire on the trees. the fences are burnt. yes. gasps.

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... 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, have 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?

viola may not be able to play her piano at home, but she can play at church.

hello. we've had some lovely weather watcher pictures of the snow coming in today, but it has caused disruption, and it will, snow will cause more disruption, ice as well over the coming few days. different areas seeing the snow on different days but many will see that snow and it'll cause problems, as much as vehicles being stranded and power cuts as the winds whip up as well. there are numerous warnings in force for the coming few days. they're all on our website, and it is likely to be snow and ice because we're all into this

arctic air now. a blast right the way down from the north. so, as these weather fronts approach, they'll turn to snow. they certainly have done during the today, and that threat remains of snow, particularly northern scotland, one or two for the east coast and northern ireland. but we could also see a smattering in the south tonight and increasingly snow later tomorrow right across the south, including the southeast, as much as 5—10 centimetres of snow, which will cause problems, disruption and a widespread snow event then into thursday, further north across parts of wales, northern england, northern ireland and into scotland. we'll be firming up on the details, but potentially a lot of snow, perhaps more than we've seen for some time. the snow showers continue to come across the north through this evening and then this weather system perhaps just gets a little bit more active through the early hours and might give a light covering to some in the morning or by morning, i should say. and it'll be icy as well, where we've had the showers and where we have that mixture of rain on the coast but snow inland overnight. the coldest night of the winter

so far, particularly across scotland, —13 or “14, but a sparkling start, plenty of sunshine around. ice, obviously a concern, particularly where we have the showers and they'll continue to fall across the northern isles, northern scotland, perhaps fewer northern ireland and eastern areas. but it's another cold, dry and sunny day for many except the south. here we've got that next weather front gathering. initially is some rain, but turning to snow over bodmin, dartmoor, exmoor, certainly over the south wales valleys, turning heavier as it moves into south eastern areas tomorrow evening. and we've got more to come, as you can see across the south, west, southern england, the south midlands and east anglia. that will cause some disruption, as much as 5—10 centimetres. and then this is the next system, a deep area of low pressure. so those winds combined, it'll be windy anyway tomorrow evening in the south, but we could have gales under this all around this slow moving band of snow, which will linger, we think northern ireland, parts of northern england, scotland and into north wales as well. pretty nasty weather.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. the british prime minister has defended his plans to stop illegal immigration across the channel — insisting his new legislation will work. the number coming by small boats across the english channel has risen sharply — 45 thousand last year alone. labour says the government's bill is a rehash of failed policy. but the uk government is not alone. the us is facing similar pressures on its southern border, despite the white house introducing new asylum corridors, it hoped would ease the pressure. and a war of words — the chinese leader, xijinping, is unsually outspoken about the united states and the dangerous path the two countries are on. tonight with the context, the writer and broadcaster

jenny kleenman and dr larny chen formerly policy director for