live from london. this is bbc news. ukraine's most senior security official tells the bbc the country is ready to launch its long—expected counter—offensive against russian forces. long delays for some passengers travelling to the uk — a nationwide issue with the border force system leads to problems with e—gate passport controls. it's the final day of campaigning in turkey ahead of one of the country's most divisive presidential elections where the economy and immigration are key voter concerns. ukraine's most senior security official has said the country is ready to launch its long—expected counter—offensive

against russian forces. in a rare interview, oleksiy danilov told the bbc the planned assault was an "historic opportunity" — but the government had "no right to make a mistake" when making such an important decision. mr danilov has been speaking to our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. we have been talking about this counteroffensive for months, and during that time ukraine has been building up stockpiles of ammunition, it's been taking receipt of tanks and armoured vehicles from the west. it's been training its troops as much as it can. so when we sat down with oleksiy danilov, the man who is at the heart of what is effectively ukraine's war cabinet, it was inevitable that we were going to talk about the circumstances around which this counteroffensive may at some stage begin and this is what he told me. translation: we will figure out | when that will start so we can have that best result at that point of war. it could happen tomorrow,

the day after tomorrow or in a week. it would be strange if i were to name dates or the start of that or another event. that cannot be done. but you are ready? translation: we are always ready. the same as we were ready to defend our country at any time. it is not a question of time. we have to understand that that historical opportunity that has been given to us by god to our country, we cannot lose, so we can truly become an independent big european country. what was really apparent from this interview was just how serious a decision this is for ukraine. oleksiy danilov said it was a responsible decision, he said ukraine had no right to make a mistake because as he said in the clip there, it's just such a historic moment. it's notjust a question of whether or not ukraine can retake a little bit of territory that has been held by russian occupiers. this is the moment when ukraine

will find out can it shift the dial, can it actually break the apparent deadlock that has gripped the military side of this conflict for so many months. and that matters notjust for the ukrainian government, the people of ukraine here, but also for its western backers, who are looking to see whether or not all of their support, all of their money, all of their military equipment, can make a difference on the battlefield. talking of the battlefield, it was inevitable that we spoke to mr danilov about the situation in bakhmut, the eastern city, where in eastern recent days, the wagner mercenary group claim they have been withdrawing. and i asked him about that and this is what he said. translation: we control 'ust a small part of the city i and we admit to that. but you have to keep in mind that bakhmut has played a big role in this war. it was a separate defence operation that played a big role today and in the future.

are the wagner mercenaries withdrawing, as their leader says? translation: yes, that is happening. but it doesn't mean that they will stop fighting us. they're going to concentrate more on other fronts. our intelligence is following that. we understand where they will appear next. they are regrouping to other locations and we are following that. we hear there from mr danilov what is happening in bakhmut, butjames, when it comes to this wider offensive, this counteroffensive ukraine was planning, do we know how russia is preparing to respond? well, we know that russia is spending all of this time preparing its defences. we have got evidence of that, bbc verify showed us some of the satellite imagery of some of the defences that have been built

up along the front line, notjust trench placements but big tank ditches, other things to do what it can to resist that offensive when it comes. the problem russia has got is this. this front line is well over 1,000 kilometres long. its forces are thinly stretched throughout. i had a briefing with western defence officials recently where they said they see no evidence of russia having that crucial sort of division of soldiers and forces in reserve, ready to plug the gaps, wherever ukraine may try and punch through their lines. so, you know, russia has a stiff task ahead of it. but what is also true is this. whenever something like an offensive begins, attackers tend to lose more people than defenders. when this offensive begins, casualty rates could be pretty high. and also there is a fear amongst some here within kyiv that it

might not deliver results quick enough for some of the western allies out there, and there is a fear that perhaps support in the west might wobble a bit if there is not enough quick victories, enough progress, when this offensive comes. and that's one of the reasons why ukraine is making very, very sure that they choose the moment when they think it is right to go. reporting from kyiv. we can tell you more about the situation. the uk's ministry of defence has tweeted this analysis of the situation in bakhmut. it says that both ukraine's military, and the head of the russian wagner group, which is employed by russia to take part in the fighting, have confirmed that wagner forces are being rotated out of the town. the statement suggests that forces from the so—called donetsk people's republic — one of the ukrainian areas seized by russia — have now likely started to enter the city to start clearance operations.

russian regular forces from the 31st airborne brigade have likely been moved to reinforce bakhmut�*s flanks. and it adds the reason for that — that ukrainian forces, had recaptured 20 square kilometres on the edges of bakhmut as of the start of last week. the home office says a nationwide issue with uk border force e—gates is creating longer waiting times at passport control at airports across the country. it's understood the problems started on friday evening. there have been reports of long queues at arrivals in several british airports. a home office spokesperson says they're trying to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. david waddell has more from the bbc newsroom. the e—gates are affecting airports right across the country, not in northern ireland, but in england and scotland and wales. it is affecting all london airports that includes london gatwick, heathrow,

luton, stansted and london city. it also affects edinburgh, glasgow and cardiff airports. several other english airports including birmingham, manchester and newcastle. this is also affecting the eurostar tunnel, these terminals that are affected aren't here in london, but in paris and in brussels. where incoming travellers into the uk have their passport checked. who is affected? it's not affecting people coming from all places. it does affect people with british passports, if they have the up—to—date smart passports. it will affect travellers who are able to use automatic e—gates when they come in. there will be able to make their way into the country but they will have to be checked manually. it also affects people from the european union, and also switzerland. it affects travellers from canada japan, new zealand, singapore, south korea and the united states. it's not affecting everyone but from a wide range of international locations.

some reactions from the public... unacceptable chaos, which he describes as increasingly usual. at heathrow terminal two. here are some pictures. followed by the words poon pictures. followed by the words poor, poor... landing at terminal five,, he says this is a national e—gates outage. that is his experience. this is the situation at luton. he gets down at luton airport, two hours wait at the border. described as hell. this is the home office statement... we are trying to get more reaction to this from different airports and

locations across the country. we are pushing the home office for more information. let's talk now to paul charles, chief executive of the pc agency, a travel consultancy. just how unusual is this sort of destruction? we just how unusual is this sort of destruction?— just how unusual is this sort of destruction? ~ ., , ., ., destruction? we are seeing more of this kind of — destruction? we are seeing more of this kind of disruption _ destruction? we are seeing more of this kind of disruption due _ destruction? we are seeing more of this kind of disruption due to - destruction? we are seeing more of this kind of disruption due to lack i this kind of disruption due to lack of investment in the infrastructure in airports across the uk. in particular in the e—gates software. i apologise, we seem to have lost that video. we will try to get him back. he was going to tell us about those disruptions at the airports. let's take you to turkey. turks will go back to the polls on sunday in a presidential election run—off between the long—time authoritarian leader, recep tayyip erdogan — and his main rival, the secular opposition leader, kemal kilicdaroglu. in the first round earlier this

month, president erdogan won 49.5% of the vote — just over 4% more than his rival. both candidates are chasing support from nationalist voters.0ur senior international correspondent, 0rla guerin reports. chanting "0ne nation... ..one flag... ..one motherland," they chant. take a look at the fervent support for turkey's strongman leader. recep tayyip erdogan is facing into sunday's second round in a commanding position. at this cab drivers�* convention in istanbul, they couldn't get enough of him. we meet kasim, a fan of the president's nationalist message and track record in office. "what our president did in 21 years would take others

a hundred years," he says. "that is why we support him. may god keep him from harm." "erdogan is everything to me," says aisha. "we couldn't get to hospitals before. now we can get around easily. we have transportation, we have everything." and what of the president's rival, kemal kilicdaroglu? from him now, less talk of hope and a much harder tone. "i declare," he says, "as soon as i come to power, i will send all refugees home." that includes more than 3 million syrians. it is a campaign pledge that goes down well here. whoever is turkey's next president, nationalism is already a winner in this election. in kasimpasa, few doubt the outcome.

president erdogan grew up on the streets of this working class neighbourhood. at the corner shop opposite his old home, this woman tells us he brought freedom for religious conservatives like her. translation: there are police, teachers and civil servants - in headscarves now. god bless brother tayyip. we have hot running water and gas in our homes. there has been a great improvement. but for others there has been just the opposite. these are students from the lgbtq+ community. they are already banned from holding pride marches and fear worse to come. when you think about maybe five more years of president erdogan in charge in turkey, what is your gut feeling? scared, i'm scared.

we will still do something and we will still fight but i don't know how hard they will attack this time. because over these two or three years, our hopes were like, yes, he will go after these elections, we can still, we still have a chance. but if he still wins, they will attack us more, they will take our rights more. they will ban many more things. so what is ahead here if president erdogan wins on sunday, as looks likely? supporters say more development and a stronger turkey. critics say more repression and a darker future. 0ur reporter 0nur erem

from the bbc�*s turkish service has more on this. there is still enthusiasm, although it is the first time that this is a second round, the participation rate was already very high in the first round. and both sides are trying to even further increase their participation rate, which was nearly 89%. and because two candidates have completely opposing policies, they are trying to show their support is that there is a lot at stake tomorrow. and you have hinted there at the fact that these are quite polar opposites in terms of the leaders. tell us about what the differences are in what they are offering to the issues that people are most concerned about. so, mr erdogan�*s supporters will vote for keeping modern

turkey's longest leaders in power. he is promising to develop the industrial military complex and make turkey a key player in the region. and on the economy he is prioritising growth over other issues and keeping refugees in turkey. the opposition supporters want to get rid of the presidential system which has been in turkey forfive years, they want to go back to a parliamentary system. their candidate, mr kemal kilicdaroglu said the system gave too much power to the president and they are promising to implement rule of law, accept the decisions of the european court of human rights and reboot the membership negotiations with the eu. they are prioritising lowering the inflation rate and getting foreign investment in the economy. and he wants to find a solution to the increasing number of refugees after turkey became the country with the highest number of refugees in the world.

now it's time for a look at today's sport with mike. hello from the bbc sport centre. hello again, it's a huge day for both luton town and coventry city — one of those teams, will end the day, in the premier league. both teams have really punched above their weight in the championship this season, and now, they meet at wembley in the championship play—off final. joe lynskey looks ahead. it a match that decides two team's destinations. 90 minutes to shape the future of luton town and coventry city. by the end, one of them will reach the top flight, they have both been there before but both return journeys have gone a long way. coventry city are heading down to the first division. 21 years ago, coventry said they would be back, instead they fell further. the club were kicked out of the ground and sent to northampton.

by 2017 they were in league 2, but coventry�*s rise back has been steered by mark robins who came in as coach and i2 promotions. —— to promotions. now the sky blues are back home after two decades in the dark and the premier league is close. it's real, it's there and it's tangible. clearly, the players could have a major impact on their own careers, their lives and the football club. forever. so it's not lost on anybody. you have to bring it back down to the rawness of the game and preparation for the game. albeit, a game of this magnitude, it is a game. at luton town, away fans ahead for the oak stand and enter the ground just beneath the houses. less than ten years ago this club was in non—league, now they've climbed through three divisions for the cusp of the top flight.

last time luton with there was 1992. they went down just before the riches of the premier league rebrand. now the price to get there is £170 million, for a club like this, that would change everything. it would be life changing for the football club, for us. we want to move out of kenilworth road in the not—too—distant future. and not to far away. it would help with that. it is an older ground, it has a fantastic history and we are proud of it. to think they could be premier league teams coming here, it would be amazing for us. in 2018, luton and coventry met in league 2, that year the two clubs were promoted, the path to this match was set. for both of them to be here is extraordinary. now they look to take one more leap. the english women's super league title, will be decided later. at the end of a season, that has been, its most competitive, and most keenly followed.

chelsea go to reading, knowing a win, will secure a 11th successive title, ahead of second—placed manchester united. i think back to every campaign, we have only ever won by a couple of points at best, maybe one game, this is business as usual for us. the preparation is what we prepared for at the beginning of the season. we all know how much hype there can be around boxing but this autumn we mightjust finally get the fight that's been talked about for years. that's if the world heavyweight champion tyson fury gets his way. the wbc champion says he has sent a contract to fellow british heavyweight, and two—time world champion anthonyjoshua for a fight at wembley in september. in a post on social media overnight, fury says "it's a fight everyone wants to see, including myself. come on aj let's give the world

what they want to see." the final practice for the monaco grand prix is about to begin with qualifying in a few hours' time. keep up—to—date with that with the bbc sport website. that's all this sport for now. a 43 year old man arrested after a car crashed into the gates of downing street earlier this week, has been released by police in london. he'd been taken into custody on thursday on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving after the incident, which police had said was not being treated as "terror—related". detectives say he's been released pending further investigations. borisjohnson has insisted that there is nothing in his diary, from when he was prime minister, that showed further rule breaking during the covid pandemic. cabinet office officials referred mrjohnson to the police, after a review of documents for the covid inquiry. speaking to sky news, he said that was "absurd" and denied that any of the entries

referred to socialising. borisjohnson�*s behaviour during the pandemic is once again under scrutiny. a review of his ministerial diary as part of preparations for the covid inquiry prompted officials to alert police to potential further breaches of restrictions in addition to those already established. the cabinet office said they'd been obliged to disclose the documents under the civil service code. but in his first public comments on the matter to sky news, mrjohnson insisted his diary entries did not show any rule breaking. there are tens of thousands of entries in the prime ministerial diary. i've never seen these things before. i've looked through it. none of them constitute a breach of the rules during, during, covid, during... they weren't during lockdown. they were during other periods of the restrictions. none of them constitute a breach of the rules. none of them involve socialising. it is total nonsense. police are now considering their next steps. a commons committee looking

into whether mrjohnson misled parliament over covid rule—breaking was also notified of the new potential breaches. it's now waiting for his official response to the latest claims. the 99 is one of the uk's favourite treats: a cone with a scoop of icecream topped with a cadbury flake. but britain's ice cream sellers are complaining that the quality of chocolate flakes has plummeted since production switched to egypt— and they're now too " crumbly". kevin shoesmith went to investigate. music plays. lawrence has got 99. they are his top seller, but he says the quality

of the chocolate has crumbled since cadbury moved production to egypt. as you can see, this is an example, when you pick them up and go to put them in the ice cream you are left with bits. it's a constant issue with bits. it's a constant issue with the 99. itjust crumbles. with the 99. it 'ust crumbles. have ou with the 99. it 'ust crumbles. have you looked — with the 99. it 'ust crumbles. have you looked for— with the 99. itjust crumbles. have you looked for alternatives? - with the 99. itjust crumbles. have you looked for alternatives? i - you looked for alternatives? i actually use a german chocolate, the quality is virtually the same, as you can see. if you look at the product, you can see it is nice and firm and it is together. if we go back to this, if you do that... it breaks straightaway.— back to this, if you do that... it breaks straightaway. what does cadbury have — breaks straightaway. what does cadbury have to _ breaks straightaway. what does cadbury have to say? _ breaks straightaway. what does cadbury have to say? it - breaks straightaway. what does cadbury have to say? it insist i breaks straightaway. what does l cadbury have to say? it insist the recipe hasn't changed, it says the

chocolate is crumbly by nature. it is aware of complaints but it says it has made improvements to the production process. just down the road, we saw this group of workmen. they look as if the could do with an ice cream. ice cream men and women are telling us it is the flake is to crumbly, have you noticed? sign that i have, i nearly choked. halli crumbly, have you noticed? sign that i have, i nearly choked.— i have, i nearly choked. half the flake has gone _ i have, i nearly choked. half the flake has gone to _ i have, i nearly choked. half the flake has gone to crumbs - i have, i nearly choked. half the flake has gone to crumbs so - i have, i nearly choked. half the i flake has gone to crumbs so there i have, i nearly choked. half the - flake has gone to crumbs so there is nothing _ flake has gone to crumbs so there is nothing left — flake has gone to crumbs so there is nothing left for _ flake has gone to crumbs so there is nothing left for you _ flake has gone to crumbs so there is nothing left for you to _ flake has gone to crumbs so there is nothing left for you to enjoy. - flake has gone to crumbs so there is nothing left for you to enjoy.- nothing left for you to en'oy. would ou mind nothing left for you to en'oy. would you mind if — nothing left for you to en'oy. would you mind if at nothing left for you to en'oy. would you mind if it turned _ nothing left for you to en'oy. would you mind if it turned out _ nothing left for you to enjoy. would you mind if it turned out the - nothing left for you to enjoy. would you mind if it turned out the flake l you mind if it turned out the flake was made by another country? it taste very nice. that _ was made by another country? it taste very nice. that in _ was made by another country? it taste very nice. that in mind - was made by another country? it taste very nice. that in mind for| taste very nice. that in mind for the 99 is still _ taste very nice. that in mind for the 99 is still there, _ taste very nice. that in mind for the 99 is still there, but - taste very nice. that in mind for. the 99 is still there, but lawrence is hoping that it doesn't cause it to crumble. we will leave it there

for now. stay with us here on bbc news. we will have the headlines in a short while. can it will not stay so neat this bank holiday but there is a lot of dry and bright weather, it is going to be dry for most but some areas of cloud in the mix. we take a look at the earliest satellite picture, we can see this tripe of cloud pushing into parts of scotland, that is bringing some bits and pieces of rain, as it goes through the afternoon. southern parts of scotland, northern ireland seeing patchy cloud and a small chance of shower but still spells of sunshine. plenty of sunshine for england and wales, 22 degrees four hole, 22 degrees for cardiff. chilly on the coast in the southeast with a brisk

breeze. with a sunshine overhead, uv levels will be moderate or high, the sun is strong, do protect yourself if you are out for any length. into the night, we will see the strike of cloud pushing southwards, also a lot of cloud running in across western scotland and northern ireland. if this guy stays clear, some spots could drop to freezing, not as cold further south. tomorrow the high pressure is still with us, the dominant feature of the weather, not only for the weekend but pretty much all of the week ahead. some spells of sunshine, some cloud across the eastern parts of england and quite a lot of cloud across northern ireland and particularly the western part of scotland. highest temperatures are likely to be across parts of the midlands, north—west england, wales and the south west at 23 degrees.

cooler in the northern and eastern coasts. breezy in the south—east corner on monday, we will still have some areas of cloud around and some spells of sunshine. a little bit cooler for some of us, 21 spells of sunshine. a little bit coolerfor some of us, 21 in glasgow, western part seen the highest temperatures. high pressure is set to hold firm through the week ahead, keeping things dry, it may be that things turn warmer from the mid week. we could get up to the middle 20s, a small chance of showers in the south in the late of the week but that is a long way off.

this is bbc news. ukraine's most senior security official tells the bbc the country is ready to launch its long—expected counter—offensive against russian forces. in a rare interview, 0leksiy danilov describes the planned assault as an "historic opportunity". a nationwide issue with the uk border force system has led to problems with e—gate passport controls — and led to long delays at several of the country's biggest airports. 0ne airport says the problems started on friday evening. it's the final day of campaigning in turkey ahead of one of the country's most divisive presidential elections where the economy and immigration are key voter concerns. a man arrested after a car crashed into the gates of downing street earlier this week,

has been released while under investigation.