this is bbc news. the headlines: sudan's army launches a major attack on khartoum — as it attempts to retake areas held by the rival rsf militia. tanks and heavy artillery are being deployed to the capital, while residents are told to stay indoor and away from windows. the uk transport secretary has criticsed the decision of rail unions to hold strikes on the day of the eurovision song contest organised in liverpool on behalf of ukraine. mark harper said it was especially appalling due to the role that ukraine's railways had played in resisting vladimir putin. tens of thousands of people attended an open air mass in a central budapest square on pope francis�* third and final day in hungary. the pope called on hungarians to be "open" toward migrants coming from outside europe.

and the british public will be invited to join and swear allegiance to king charles and his heirs during his coronation next monday wherever they are in the world in a first for the british monarchy. 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 their foe. 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. shouting 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. open ground is their enemy's friend.

and the tank brigade doesn't just 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. out 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's just 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. hello there. part two of the weekend is being quite cloudy and wet to start with across more northern and western parts of the country. further east, seeing the best of the sunshine once again. but through the afternoon, the rain will tend to fragment into sunny spells and showers. for many of us, though, i think it'll stay quite cloudy and wet across scotland and the best of the sunshine towards eastern england because we're closer to this area of high pressure there, whereas this weak low in its weather fronts, bringing the cloud and the rain. but we're all into the milder air mass that is away from the very far north of scotland.

so it is a fairly warm feel to things out there. we should see the sunshine breaking through that cloud across northern ireland, much of england and wales. line of heavy showers though, continuing for southern scotland, northwest england, west midlands, wales down in towards south west england. best of the sunshine from the humber down towards east anglia and the southeast. we could see 18 or 19 degrees here, but for most it's the mid to high teens. i think for many now as we head through this evening and overnight, the showers push their way eastwards affecting eastern england for a time. elsewhere, pop from the odd shower tonight will be mostly dry variable cloud. a few clear spells and temperatures of 6 to 8 or nine degrees will be quite typical. so into our bank holiday monday, we start off with the rain or showers across eastern areas. that clears away. sunny spells do develop, but that could set off scattered showers. northerly winds begin to dig in across the northern half of scotland. so here it turns chillier with a mixture of sunny spells and blustery showers. so single figure values in the north, the mid

to high teens elsewhere. and then, as you move out of monday into tuesday and also wednesday, it looks like this week area of high pressure will build in across the country for a time that will settle things down. it should kill off most of the showers. however, as we move through the afternoon, temperatures rise a bit. we'll see cloud developing. that could set off a light shower here and there, but most places will be dry. but i think with more cloud into the afternoon and slightly fresher air mass, we're looking at the low to mid—teens, the temperature across the board. and then that area of high pressure we think begins to break down as we push towards the end of next week and allows low pressure and weather fronts to push up from the south. that'll bring increasing chance of thicker cloud, showers or longer spells of rain towards the end of the week. but you will notice with our air source coming in from the south, it does stay on the fairly warm side.

live from london. this is bbc news. sudan's army launches a major attack on khartoum — attempting to retake areas held by the rival rsf militia. the uk transport secretary says rail strikes during eurovision and with a just a week to go until the coronation , british subjects will be asked to swear allegiance to king charles. in italy, could napoli football club clinch their first serie a title in 33 years? hello. sudan's army has deployed tanks and heavy artillery for a large scale offensive in the capital, khartoum.

there are reports of heavy fighting in the city.