this is bbc news. the headlines: fighting in sudan rages on, as thousands flee the country. the leader of the rsf militia group tells the bbc he won't negotiate until the fighting ends. nurses in england go on strike on sunday night over pay — action that the health service says will cause significant disruption over the bank holiday weekend. all four teaching unions in england say they will co—ordinate strikes over pay if their members vote for industrial action. the move could lead to widespread school closures. russian authorities say a massive blaze at an oil terminal in russian—occupied crimea was triggered by a drone attack. videos on social media show smoke and flames billowing from the facility in the port of sevastopol.

it comes five days after a ukrainian drone attack in the same area. now on bbc news, defenders of donbas. they're one of ukraine's most decorated brigades in a daily battle to hold back russia on the eastern front. for the 1st tank brigade, it's the fight of their lives. under constant attack from airand ground... come, quickly. ..they gave us unprecedented access to their front lines... ..while they fight to keep russia out from a town under constant attack. dog barks explosion the bombing is relentless. explosion

shallow trenches offer the barest of protection from russian fire. come on! this way. down. down, down, down, down. get in, get down. we follow closely in their daily life—and—death struggle to halt their enemy. outgunned and outmanned, they refuse to give ground. explosion they are the defenders of donbas. first light on the eastern front... ..and the opening battle of the day for ukrainian forces heading forward... ..is with the mud. war has left donbas ploughed and churned. this is their second spring since russia invaded,

their second season of muck and misery and their second year in their struggle to keep their country free. ukraine's eastern front stretches for nearly a thousand kilometres, mostly across the luhansk and donetsk regions that make up donbas. capturing here is now russia's principal war aim. we met up with ukraine's 1st tank brigade on the zero line just outside velyka novosilka. few know how to handle this heavily contested ground better than them. with aged armour, the battle—hardened crew get ready to fuel up and face theirfoe. it's familiar territory. they've been fighting russia in one form or another in donbas for eight years. but the threat hangs heavier now. their enemy is close by,

and ukraine's forces are outmanned and outgunned. still they show no fear. he laughs but does russia have a chance of winning this war? and this is a well—worn routine for tank commander serhii. first, he faced russian separatists in donbas, and now it's the russian army.

since the invasion, he's only had a week away from his tank and crew. his brigade is one of the most decorated in the ukrainian army. today, they're out to hit russian observation posts near their lines. their tanks may be old, but they've barely given the russians an inch of territory here. it's a fast game of cat and mouse, life or death, and it's left as deep an imprint on the landscape as it has on the men. the shell craters stretch for miles. and serhii and his crew are soon in the thick of it. they've found their target across the next field, over 500 metres away, and they unleash everything they've got. gunfire

watch as serhii's rounds hit top right. seconds later, they lay down a smokescreen. the orders are get in, get out... gunfire ..and take cover... ..before russian guns can start working on their positions. a response is expected, so it's time to move and to seek cover wherever it can be found. these fierce battles happen daily and have created a wasteland. explosion go! drone. quickly!

it could be a reconnaissance drone or armed. they don't wait to find out. go to position. go quickly. go quickly. open ground is their enemy's friend. explosion message over radio

and the tank brigade doesn'tjust have tanks at its disposal. they're using everything they've got to defend the town of velyka novosilka. the reminders of lives once lived here are scattered everywhere. but the rubble of the town is now as much of a front line as the trenches. this was the local kindergarten. it's now the temporary base for the brigade's armed drone team. they're a small, light unit

constantly on the move, climbing and crawling their way through the town's ruin, always on the lookout for the closest position to the russians to launch an attack. these off—the—shelf drones are armed with a grenade and sent into flight. unlike the tanks, they're on the hunt for smaller targets. drones buzz at the town's edge, a trench comes into their crosshairs. it's a direct hit. russian vehicles are next.

it's deadly effective. but their enemy is using these same tactics. war now occupies every inch of velyka novosilka. and months of russian bombardments are tearing apart what's left, piece by piece. its people have mostly fled, the pets they have left behind driven wild by russian shelling. dogs bark at a secret location, we head to a mobile command post... ..to meet the man charged with holding the town. your men have seen some really hard fighting. as a leader, how do you keep your men motivated?

this is what a year of russian shelling does to a town. war�*s burden is crushing, and for most of the people who lived here, it was too much to bear. russian shelling has blown the life out of this place. and along 600 miles of the eastern front, the ukrainian army is absorbing russia's blows. but its enemy isn'tjust targeting soldiers, it's targeting towns and villages, it's targeting civilians. now, velyka novosilka, where we are now, was nothing special, but the people who lived here are very proud of their new school, they sent the kids to the local kindergarten.

russian bombs mean that all of that's gone now. emptied of life, the streets still have traces of a thriving town that once existed here. but few dare linger out in the open. as abandoned as it is, russian bombs still fall here. explosion a mortar lands to the left of our car. it's dangerous to spend too much time above ground here,

but we risk the school run. rubble—strewn streets have become bombers�* alleys. much of the town is within range of russian guns. explosion another mortar lands... ..even closer. they're zeroing in. any movement here captures russian attention, so speed matters.

0ut here in the open, a moment's hesitation can prove fatal, so we move fast in search of cover. the school lies broken and forlorn. piano plays the last children were removed a few months ago. but the piano teacher clings on. across empty playgrounds and through silent hallways, her music echoes. russia has shattered her town. it has dulled and deadened her piano. but it hasn't broken iryna babkina. the memories of the town that she loved and the children that she taught keep her here despite the hardship.

iryna takes us to one of the town's remaining shelters. oh, it's very cold. the conflict raging above has driven them down here. in the darkness they've made their home, they can survive. but it's a place of emptiness and sadness. and almost unseen in a far—off corner... violin plays ..a woman sits alone and bereft. what was life like here before?

can you tell us what happened to your husband?

we head back out in the fading light, slowing only for broken bridges. russian guns are still within range and barricades and tank traps along the road. and we arrive at war�*s familiar stricken landscape. here, russian eyes are always watching. the torn limbs of trees are a reminder of the reach of russian artillery and grenade fire. we're heading to zero line, the closest trenches to the russian positions.

brigade infantryman dima — he's just 22 years old — is escorting us forward. gunfire mortars, tank fires, grads — they get hit by everything here. dima'sjust told me the village over here is half held by the ukrainians and half held by the russians. we're told to tread carefully. land mines litter the ground. and they're not the only danger. gunfire as we move closer, russian fire begins to fly overhead. explosion it's time to head for cover. even the shallowest trenches will do.

gunfire but the team is split up after the first strike, and some of us are left exposed, out in the open. gunfire he breathes heavily whoa! explosion whoa! that shell hits just a few metres away. dima and my colleague darren conway call us towards the trench.

come here, liuba. here. liuba, fast, fast, fast. come on. let's get to that trench. quick. stuart, - there's a bunker here. this way. come on, run, run. run. straight to me. come on, this way. down. down, down, down, down. down. get in, get down. that was two russian shells that have just come in. i think it's tank fire landing very close to these positions. it gives you an idea of how exposed it is here. there's absolutely no tree cover. the safest place for these men is in the trenches. they've already taken

a couple of casualties here in the last week. he breathes heavily you all right? yeah. keep down. - there's no time to pause for breath. dima leads the way to better cover. these few logs offer some protection, but it's already packed tight in here. explosion that was even closer. they grab every inch of shelter they can. explosion and when the next distant boom might end in a direct hit, it's hard not to flinch.

what is dima fighting for, we ask. those phone calls let his mother know her son has survived another day. but does dima think russia could win here?

explosion

dima stands lookout, waiting for a sign that the attack is over. explosion his adult life has barely started, and already war�*s toll is written plainly across his face. and, colonel, what's your message to the men out there, the men that are in the trenches, the men that are in the tanks, your men that are fighting every day? what's your message to them?

and what's your message to the rest of the world? the war consumes

every waking hour in ukraine. a day on the zero line can feel like a lifetime. but the cover of darkness brings dima relief... ..for now. in the gloom beyond lies a constant threat. russia could attack again at any moment. and while its guns are silent, dima shows us the path out. distant explosion but dima will stand his ground here. and he's not alone. a shift change brings fresh reserves to the front. for the defenders of donbas, this is more thanjust the fight of their lives. their country is at stake, but so too is the right to live free for generations of ukrainians

still to come. for many parts of the uk there has been a change in the feel of the weather. a change to something warmer with some spells of sunshine, but that warm sunshine has helped sponsor big shower clouds, we will continue to see some heavy showers through the rest of today and through the rest of today and through the rest of today and through the rest of the weekend. some spells of warm sunshine too, however on the earlier satellite picture we can see this zone of cloud as part of scotland and north—east england. underneath that we have some spots of rain and it does feel rather chilly. to the north of that, certainly in some

colder air comes in sunshine yes, but some scattered showers. further south, northern ireland, northwestern, wales, the midlands and the south of england, that's where we have the warmest weather, 14 to 19, maybe 20, a mix of sunny spells but scattered heavy infantry downpours. as we head through this evening until i come of this band of cloud, a more widespread showery weather will push in from the west. ahead of that, a few mist and fog patches, temperatures in east anglia down to 3 or 4, just two for shetland but further west, 94 plymouth, 10 for belfast so a mild start. tomorrow, the band of cloud and showers will drift eastwards, more persistent rain likely to develop across 0rkney moving up into shetland. behind that for northern ireland, the sun will come out through the afternoon but we will see some heavy and probably thundery showers breaking out. east anglia and the south—east corner likely to stay dry for a good part of the day with some sunshine. temperatures climbing to around 19. and into

monday, we see this weather system moving eastwards, that does bring the transfer showers on monday particularly through the morning across parts of east anglia and the south—east but more generally through the day i think we will see and showers across eastern parts. further west, a bit drier, large amounts of cloud at times but spells of sunshine too. turning a bit more chilly in the north—east of the uk, highest temperatures further south, 17 for cardiff, 19 for london. high pressure is set to build for a time into the new week. tuesday looking like a mainly fine day. but we will see low—pressure starting to develop to the south—west of us. as we head towards the end of the week there is the increasing chance of some rain and it may turn just that little bit cooler as well.

live from london, this is bbc news. fighting in sudan rages on — as the militia group leader tells the bbc he won't negotiate until the violence ends. russian authorities say a massive blaze at an oil terminal in russian—occupied crimea was triggered by a drone attack. all four teaching unions in england say they will co—ordinate strikes over pay — if their members vote for industrial action.

hello, i'm lucy grey.