live from london. this is bbc news. russia's wagner mercenary group claims its units new control the embattled ukrainian city of bakhmut, while kyiv insists its forces still hold it. after a pro—kremlin blogger was killed in sunday's bomb blast at a cafe in st petersburg, russia names a suspect and adds her to its wanted list. here in russia, questions being asked for who was responsible for the killing of a prominent military blogger. from centre left to centre right, finland's conservative leader petteri orpo wins a nail—biting three—way election race, defeating prime minister sanna marin. questions asked after a weekend of long delays at the port of dover,

uk port authorities apologise and say there'll be a review of plans ahead of the easter weekend. hello and welcome. i'm ben thompson. we begin in eastern ukraine, where russia's mercenary wagner group claims it's in control of the fiercely contested town of bakhmut. the head of the group unfurled a russian flag at bakhmut�*s city hall and declared this. translation: this is the private military company's _ translation: this is the private military company's flag, - translation: this is the private military company's flag, in - translation: this is the private military company's flag, in the i military company's flag, in the legal sense, military company's flag, in the legalsense, it military company's flag, in the legal sense, it is ours. it remains. the commanders who captured the building in the district will carry

on and put these flags up. that's a claim disputed by kyiv, which says its forces still hold the town. the wagner chief also paid tribute to the leading russian military blogger vladlen tatarsky, who was killed in an explosion at a cafe in saint petersburg. in the last hour, russia's interior ministry has named a woman called darya trepova as a suspect in the killing and placed her on its wanted list. live now to our correspondent will vernon in moscow. ring us up to date, events are moving quickly and this last hour. the suspect has not been named, talked about the significance of that. —— has now been named. it is that. -- has now been named. it is not clear who _ that. -- has now been named. it is not clear who was _ that. —— has now been named. it 3 not clear who was behind this killing, butjust recently the russian interior ministry have added a 26—year—old woman from st petersburg, darya trepova, to their federal wanted list, she was named

by several russian media as a person of interest in connection with this bombing. we should say she has not been named as a suspect yet. it doesn't say why she is being sought, but russian media have linked her as a person of interest. what we do know is that at last night an unidentified explosive device detonated in the cafe, killing vladlen tatarsky, a prominent military blogger. and several russian media said that, just before the blast, vladlen tatarsky was passed some kind of statuette which the expose of materials could have been hidden in. you might be thinking, "why is this all important? this was not a russian official or even military officer, this was a blogger, albeit a very well—known one." you know, the community of pro—kremlin military bloggers have taken on this quite high profile in russia since the war started just over a year ago, and many of them even go as far as to criticise the russian authorities, the military, even the president

himself, for perceived setbacks on the battlefield in ukraine. as we know, there have been plenty of those. and last night's bombing, several russian officials have already pointed the finger of blame at kyiv. the ukrainian spokesperson denied ukraine had anything to do with it. what i think is clear is that this incident will worry a lot of ordinary russians, because this will be yet another kind of sign that, for them, the war is coming closer and closer to their homes. stay with us, there are more development i want to discuss with you this morning. let's bring on our corresponding hugo bachega who is in kyiv for us. talk to us, and will touched on it there, the battlefield in ukraine of course when the fighting still continues, talk to us about the significance this morning about the significance this morning about the significance this morning about the mercenary group which is claiming control of bakhmut. we had this claim from _ claiming control of bakhmut. we had this claim from the _ claiming control of bakhmut. we had this claim from the head _ claiming control of bakhmut. we had this claim from the head of— claiming control of bakhmut. we had this claim from the head of the - this claim from the head of the wagner— this claim from the head of the wagner group, which has been leaving

the fighting there in that part of the fighting there in that part of the country. he has claimed that the russian _ the country. he has claimed that the russian flag has been raised in the city. russian flag has been raised in the city~ we _ russian flag has been raised in the city. we have not had any reaction from _ city. we have not had any reaction from the _ city. we have not had any reaction from the ukrainians this morning. we had an— from the ukrainians this morning. we had an update from the army which said, _ had an update from the army which said, "fighting continued in bakhmut." but there was no confirmation that this claim was true _ confirmation that this claim was true. obviously bakhmut has been the main focus _ true. obviously bakhmut has been the main focus of russian forces in the east of— main focus of russian forces in the east of the — main focus of russian forces in the east of the country, and for a very long _ east of the country, and for a very long time, — east of the country, and for a very long time, the ukrainians have been defending _ long time, the ukrainians have been defending this city. the authorities here so_ defending this city. the authorities here so that it is important to defend — here so that it is important to defend bakhmut because if the russians were to capture of this city, _ russians were to capture of this city, they— russians were to capture of this city, they would be in a position from _ city, they would be in a position from which _ city, they would be in a position from which they would be able to attack _ from which they would be able to attack major cities in the east of the country. they also believe that this is— the country. they also believe that this is part — the country. they also believe that this is part of a strategy that by engaging — this is part of a strategy that by engaging the russian forces in this war of— engaging the russian forces in this war of attrition in bakhmut, they

are causing major casualties on the russian _ are causing major casualties on the russian side. the russians are also iosing _ russian side. the russians are also losing a _ russian side. the russians are also losing a lot — russian side. the russians are also losing a lot of equipment and using a lot of— losing a lot of equipment and using a lot of ammunition. this is happening as the ukrainians are expected — happening as the ukrainians are expected to launch a major offensive to try _ expected to launch a major offensive to try to _ expected to launch a major offensive to try to take back territory that is now _ to try to take back territory that is now under occupation. so obviously— is now under occupation. so obviously if this is confirmed, it has a _ obviously if this is confirmed, it has a lot— obviously if this is confirmed, it has a lot of— obviously if this is confirmed, it has a lot of symbolism, and obviously— has a lot of symbolism, and obviously for the russians, they have _ obviously for the russians, they have been— obviously for the russians, they have been trying to capture bakhmut because, _ have been trying to capture bakhmut because, as will was saying, they have _ because, as will was saying, they have suffered a number of military setbacks _ have suffered a number of military setbacks on the battlefield, and we need some kind of victory to show the public— need some kind of victory to show the public at home that they can achieve — the public at home that they can achieve their goals here in this invasion — achieve their goals here in this invasion. , achieve their goals here in this invasion. . ., achieve their goals here in this invasion. , ., �* , , invasion. yes, hugo, let's bring in a will once — invasion. yes, hugo, let's bring in a will once again. _ invasion. yes, hugo, let's bring in a will once again. it _ invasion. yes, hugo, let's bring in a will once again. it is _ invasion. yes, hugo, let's bring in a will once again. it is interesting| a will once again. it is interesting if you start looking at this, you go talking there about to be important a propaganda point of view about that about that victory that they are claiming in bakhmut, interesting that the ukrainian presidential adviser blaming that blast in st petersburg on russian internal

political fights, petersburg on russian internal politicalfights, saying "spiders political fights, saying "spiders are politicalfights, saying "spiders are eating each other in a jar." this will be a war of words, won't it? ., �* , this will be a war of words, won't it? ., �*, ~ ., ., it? that's right. the ukrainian line very much — it? that's right. the ukrainian line very much has _ it? that's right. the ukrainian line very much has been _ it? that's right. the ukrainian line very much has been that - it? that's right. the ukrainian line very much has been that this - very much has been that this is internal, some sort of internal battle. of course, we don't know that. what we do know is that there are certainly a lot of men with guns in this country. last year, we had prisoners, convicts being released from russian presence, given guns, mobilisation, huge large—scale recruitment campaign for the russian army because, as we know, the russian army is low on troops. that is a kind of toxic mixture of lots of quite angry young men and lots of weapons. the commerce and russian newspaper reported last week that murders in this country have risen, last year they rose for the first time in 20 years. i'm just seeing a short statement that has coming from the russian investigative committee, which is russia's version of the fbi

who have been investigating the blasts last night in st petersburg. a short statement saying that in connection with the explosion in the cafe in st petersburg, employees of the... and just translating this, sorry. "employees of the investigative committee, together with other services, have arrested or have detained darya trepova." so thatis or have detained darya trepova." so that is the 26—year—old woman from st petersburg we were talking about earlier, again, we don't know to what extent she is a suspect yet, but she has been detained, it seems by the russian authorities. than by the russian authorities. an interesting development there, thank you for that. before you go, let me just ask you about news this morning that russia is to move some nuclear weapons closer to the border of belarus. so, one would assume that escalating the tensions with nato member is of course and escalating moscow's stand—off with the west. yes, this was a statement we saw

yesterday from the russian envoy to minsk, who said that nuclear weapons, nuclear missiles would be moved to belarus's western borders. so that is right on the border with nato countries. this was expected. president putin right back in december last year said that missiles, nuclear capable missiles, were already being moved to belarus, which is of course moscow's closest ally, a country with which there is formally a union state between the two nations in which, of course, allow its territory to be used as a staging post for russian's invasion of ukraine in february last year. so, not a huge surprise that this bill! these plans were unveiled, but something that i think will cause a lot of worries in the west, dominator, in the eu, and of course most immediately amongst belarus's

closest neighbours. —— in the west and nato and eu. closest neighbours. -- in the west and nato and eu.— the leader of finland's main centre—right party, petteri 0rpo, has won a tight election race in finland and will likely be the country's new prime minister. his national coalition party won 20.8% of the vote, with the right—wing populist finns party coming in a close second — with a record 20.1% share of the vote. it was a bitter defeat for prime minister sanna marin's party, who trailed with 19.9% of the vote. let's take a listen to what sanna marin had to say following the result. translation: this is a great day, because we _ translation: this is a great day, because we have _ translation: this is a great day, because we have done _ translation: this is a great day, because we have done well - translation: this is a great day, because we have done well in - translation: this is a great day, because we have done well in the l because we have done well in the elections, congratulations also to the coalition party and to the fins. democracy has spoken, the finnish people have cast their vote in the celebrating democracy is always a wonderful thing. ms marin became the world's youngest prime minister in 2019, aged 24.

she's received praise for steering the country to within days of nato membership. but she's been seen as a polarising figure. she came under scrutiny last year when a video of her singing, dancing and drinking became public. with more on this, i'm joined by our europe regional editor paul moss. good to see you. talk to us about the significance of this result, it was a very tight result. it the significance of this result, it was a very tight result.- was a very tight result. it was, wasn't it? _ was a very tight result. it was, wasn't it? it — was a very tight result. it was, wasn't it? it is _ was a very tight result. it was, wasn't it? it is a _ was a very tight result. it was, wasn't it? it is a bit _ was a very tight result. it was, wasn't it? it is a bit of- was a very tight result. it was, wasn't it? it is a bit of a - wasn't it? it is a bit of a collision with elections to talk about a knife edge result, but this really was. yes, the national coalition party centre—right came in first, but it did with just over 20%. the far right vinh's party got just over 20%. the place social democrats with just over 20%. neither party won a majority, so that means they will have to have a coalition government of sorts. but i think this makes forming a coalition very difficult, because whoever goes into partnership with the centre—right national coalition

party, given the closeness of the result, they will want some influence, won't they? i don't think there will be accepting a few token places like ministry of a pencil distributional. so the negotiations to form a government will go on for weeks. and finnan will go and be very divided i was quite serious issues. . . ~ very divided i was quite serious issues. , ., ~ ., , very divided i was quite serious issues. , ., ~ ., issues. yes, talk to us about the main issues _ issues. yes, talk to us about the main issues in _ issues. yes, talk to us about the main issues in this _ issues. yes, talk to us about the main issues in this election. - issues. yes, talk to us about the i main issues in this election. given what we are seeing around the world, the economy and cost of living affecting many people. sanna marin quite a polarising figure in this election. . quite a polarising figure in this election. , _, ., , quite a polarising figure in this election. , ., , , ., election. yes, the economy first of all, in election. yes, the economy first of all. in case — election. yes, the economy first of all. in case of _ election. yes, the economy first of all, in case of thin _ election. yes, the economy first of all, in case of thin and _ election. yes, the economy first of all, in case of thin and there - election. yes, the economy first of all, in case of thin and there was i all, in case of thin and there was more debt, which built up as the country try to recover from the effects of covid. two very different approaches on offer, the ruling social democrats talked about borrowing to invest, the national coalition party, which won, said what is needed is cuts to public spending, and that argumentjust about seems to have one. personality is also very important. sanna marin

often described as very charismatic, the youngest prime minister in the world when she took power. as you said, she was criticised by some when photos emerged and video of her dancing at a party. others thought it was rather good to have a leader in touch with young people. a very different kettle of fish when we look at the leader of the centre—right national coalition party. petteri 0rpo is usually described as sober both in what he wears and in his politics. a graduate of economics, seen as what is often called a safe player of hands, not one for dramatic gestures, i think we will see a very different style if, as eclectic, he becomes prime minister. finland has a hue becomes prime minister. finland has a huge border— becomes prime minister. finland has a huge border with _ becomes prime minister. finland has a huge border with russia, _ becomes prime minister. finland has a huge border with russia, we - becomes prime minister. finland has a huge border with russia, we have l a huge border with russia, we have just been talking about the political complexities there. was that an issue in this election? it that an issue in this election? it is strange, because in one way russia is the biggest issue facing finland at the moment. the huge border with the country, when russia invaded ukraine, that changed everything in finland in terms of

security. the abandoned years of neutrality to apply to join nato, they started to build a fast fence along the border. yet it wasn't really an issue in the election for the simple reason that all parties seemed to agree on what needs to be done. 0ne seemed to agree on what needs to be done. one of the first thing is that the leader of the national coalition party did when a sanna marin granted that he had won, he said to ukraine, "don't worry, we are still behind you." so in many ways, that major issue didn't feature and i don't think there will see any major changes from finland now as a result of this contest. their application tojoin of this contest. their application to join nato seems to be going full steam ahead and will probably be approved this year. it is steam ahead and will probably be approved this year.— approved this year. it is good to talk to you- _ approved this year. it is good to talk to you. thank _ approved this year. it is good to talk to you. thank you. - approved this year. it is good to talk to you. thank you. a - approved this year. it is good to | talk to you. thank you. a couple approved this year. it is good to i talk to you. thank you. a couple of lines of a breaking news to bring you at this point in the day, the news comes in the uk's national education union. many of you may know they have been balloting their members on industrial action. they

have now voted to strike on two dates, one at the end of april and the beginning of may. teachers had rejected the uk government's latest pay offer which ministers insist is reasonable. we will have the latest on that shortly later in the programme. let's look at some of the day's other news. the renowned japanese composer and producer ryuichi sakamoto has died at the age of 71 after a long battle with cancer. he was a pioneer of electronic music but became inernationally renowned as a film composer and was the first japanese musician to win an oscar. fifty years ago today, the world's first mobile phone call was made from a street corner in new york. an american engineer made the call to taunt a rival that his invention was a success.

the phone was about four times the weight of a modern iphone ia, had no screen, no camera and no messaging functions. it also took ten hours to charge, providing only half an hour of talk—time. and president trump is expected to travel from florida to new york, ahead of a court hearing on tuesday. he will face charges relating to the role he played in payments to a porn star to keep quiet about an alleged affair. he denies any wrongdoing. we'll be live in new york with the latest. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. former us president donald trump is expected to fly into manhattan later today to face charges over hush money payments to a former porn star. let's take you straight to new york

now, and cbs correspondent jarred hill is live outside manhattan criminal court. thank you for being with us. start of a big week, just explain what is expected to happen this week? this will be a historic week, because former president trump is not the first former president of the united states to be facing criminal charges. what we are expecting is for the former president to fly to new york from his home in florida, he will then come to the courthouse in manhattan on tuesday. this is where he will be fingerprinted. there will likely be a mug shot, in essence, the former president. we are not expecting handcuffs in this situation, because of security concerns, he will be with secret service. then they will be this arraignment where we learn what exactly he is being charged for. you mentioned this was centred around this hush money payment, but the question here is whether there

was illegal falsification of business documents. there are some sources telling cbs news that this could be at least one felony count in relation to that. what else we might say, we will have to wait. this might say, we will have to wait. as ou might say, we will have to wait. as you said, we don't yet have the details of what these charges will be. mr tom's lawyer says the former president is gearing up for a fight. this could be a bitter dispute. that's right, the lawyerforformer president trump said they are gearing up for president trump said they are gearing upfora president trump said they are gearing up for a fight and said that they potentially might try and get this case thrown out. based on an argument that this should be a federal case is not a state case. again, we will have to see what a judge ends up deciding when all of that comes into play here. this could be both a legal battle for the former president as well as a political one, because remember he is running for president in 2024, and we have already learned that there is another republican, a

former governor of a state here in the usa who is now throwing their name in the hat for that 2044 race. also saying former president trump should drop out at this race because of the charges, saying this is too much of a sideshow for the country. for now, thank you. that is jarrod hill outside manhattan criminal court. live now to angelia wilson, a professor of politics at the university of manchester, specialising in american politics. thank you for being with us. we don't yet have details of the charges, talk to me about the significance of this week and what we may see play out. the first president ever to face criminal charges. it is out. the first president ever to face criminal charges.- face criminal charges. it is an unprecedented _ face criminal charges. it is an unprecedented week, - face criminal charges. it is an unprecedented week, the - face criminal charges. it is an| unprecedented week, the first face criminal charges. it is an - unprecedented week, the first time a president has been facing such criminal charges. i think there are two things to look for, the immediate reaction which is going to be, i understand on tuesday after he

is charged he will fly back to mar—a—lago and hold a rally, so there will be the immediate aftermath. both possibly in new york and definitely at mar—a—lago with the potential for violence. certainly the violent language and plans for violence if he is going to be convicted of these charges. 0n the other hand, it is about the long—term implications, and for trump, this is in many ways a gift. he wants to keep his name in front of the public. his supporters will continue to support him, they are not going anywhere. there is a recent survey by the public research group which says that far right voters, which —— christian right voters, which —— christian right voters believe that a politician can behave ethically in office and have all sorts of personal transgressions. in 2011, only 30% of

those christian right voters thought that would be the case, by 2016 — i7, that would be the case, by 2016 — 17, we now have 72% of those that think that. so his supporters are not going anywhere, in fact, they will be emboldened by this. president trump denies any wrongdoing, and using their son to mobilise his supporters. 0ne wrongdoing, and using their son to mobilise his supporters. one would expect we will see much more of this is the week goes on.— is the week goes on. yes, and tom's definition of— is the week goes on. yes, and tom's definition of wrongdoing _ is the week goes on. yes, and tom's definition of wrongdoing is _ is the week goes on. yes, and tom's definition of wrongdoing is a - is the week goes on. yes, and tom's definition of wrongdoing is a fairly i definition of wrongdoing is a fairly fluid, ithink definition of wrongdoing is a fairly fluid, i think we can all agree. to what he thinks is wrong doing and what he thinks is wrong doing and what his supporters think is wrongdoing are very different and maybe what much of the american population thinks is wrongdoing. this is a minor charge, there are other charges that are expected to come from election interference in georgia, perhaps in terms of incitement to violence on january six, so this is the first charge or group of charges to come down, it

will not be the last. and there are some that are questioning why we start with this kind of minor charge, but it is something that is going to continue to roll and roll between now and the elections in 2024. and trump will not be far from the headlines, so today, the next 48 hours will be an interesting and historical moment. but there will be plenty of those between now and the election in 2024.— election in 2024. yes, absolutely. we are grateful _ election in 2024. yes, absolutely. we are grateful for— election in 2024. yes, absolutely. we are grateful for your _ election in 2024. yes, absolutely. we are grateful for your insight. l we are grateful for your insight. thanks are being with us, a professor of politics at the university of manchester. as you would expect, we will have so much more on this story. we will be live in new york, so stay with us here on bbc news. in the uk, severe delays at the border in dover at the weekend when coaches full

of schoolchildren and holiday—makers left stranded for more than 12 hours because of immigration issues. things appear to have settled down a little, but with the easter holidayjust a week away, there are fears that there's more misery ahead. louisa pilbeam reports. tired and hungry, these youngsters finally made it to their ski trip in france in the early hours of this morning. stjoseph's high school, from wrexham, one of hundreds of coaches stuck in these barely moving queues at the port of dover over the last three days. it took 16 hours before they made it onto the ferry. we were put in a holding area, where there were limited access to toilets. what access there were, were very substandard. the fear among travellers is this could happen again when the next wave of the easter getaway kicks off on thursday. travel experts say the government may step in to avoid a repeat of the last few days. i can imagine that ministers are going to call the port of dover, ferry companies and say, "right, we can't have this again." so therefore, there will be mandated capacity limits which will be

carefully worked out by the port, by the ferry companies, so that they know that they can cope. for now, the queues have eased. the port of dover confirming in the early hours of this morning the port of dover confirming all backlog was cleared by 12:30am. the port authorities say part of the problem has been caused by more rigorous passport checks post—brexit. but the home secretary suella braverman says delays are not down to brexit. suggesting high volumes of coach bookings and bad weather were more of a factor. ferry companies p80 and dfds have also confirmed there are no queues at the port's entrance and said border controls are free—flowing. but the easter weekend is just a few days away, and people preparing to travel across the channel will wonder if this how their holiday will begin. louisa pilbeam, bbc news. much more on all those stories on the bbc website. also download the bbc news app for the very latest. we

will be here throughout the day and will be here throughout the day and will see you very soon. gusty winds round the outer hebrides, breezy along the north sea coastline, east anglia, kent and the english channel. so feeling a little bit cooler here, but for most of us, the breeze is very gentle. temperatures today could get up to 15 degrees, somewhere around the moray firth. generally we are looking at about 9—13. through this

evening and in the night, temperatures will follow quite rapidly, as temperatures come in, it will bring thicker cloud and rain across western scotland and northern ireland, so not as cold here with temperatures freezing or indeed below for much of the rest of the country. tomorrow then, the high pressure is still with us. these weather fronts trying to make inroads, not making a huge amount of progress, but fate still will produce thicker cloud and some spots of rain across the north and west. still gusty winds, we could have gusts as high as 45 mph. ahead of that, we are looking at a lot of dry weather once again, a lot of sunshine. some telling hazy as the fronts try to push that bit further south and east across eastern scotland. in temperatures once again nine to about 15 degrees and not feeling as cold along the north sea coastline. wednesday sees a bit more in the wake of an active front coming in, introducing thicker cloud and also some rain, pushing steadily

south—eastwards. ahead of it, the cloud will build but it should stay dry until later. behind it, the far north of scotland, it will brighten up, but that will be quite late on in the day. how was about 14 degrees. as we head towards the easter bank holiday weekend, we do have that weather front stalling for a time on thursday in some eastern areas, but it clears and high pressure takes over once again. on thursday, in the east in particular, there will be rained around and thicker cloud, but then we see the sun return, with highs potentially up sun return, with highs potentially up to 14 or 15.

live from london. this is bbc news. i'm ben thompson and these are the headlines... russia's wagner mercenary group claims its units now control the embattled ukrainian city of bakhmut while kyiv insists its forces still hold it. russian officials say they've detained a woman after a pro—kremlin blogger was killed in sunday's bomb blast at a cafe in st petersburg. from centre left to centre right — finland's conservative leader petteri 0rpo wins a nail—biting three—way election race, defeating prime minister sanna marin. schools in england face further closures as the uk's largest teaching union rejects the government's pay offer and calls further strikes. questions are asked after a weekend of long delays at the port of dover — uk authorities apologise,

and say there'll be a review of plans ahead of the easter weekend