hello, i'm yalda hakim, welcome to the daily global, where we'll bring you the top stories from around the world. we start with ukraine, and an exclusive bbc interview with the former us military chief general david patraeus. he's in kyiv and has met president zelensky. he says the ukraine upcoming counter offensive could be — quote — "very impressive." and that russia's operations over the winter largely failed. he's been speaking to our diplomatic correspondent james landale. in other words the results of tags protected by infantry against anti—tank guided missiles, artillery and mortars keep in head down, engineers producing obstacles, or reaching these fortifications that russians have established. air defence, keeping the russians off the ukrainians, electronic warfare,

jamming the russians already admitted control facilities and all orchestrated by very, very good ukrainian command control also using drones out over the russians to attack them in depth with the precision munitions at the us and uk and others are provided. this i think is going to break the front lines for that where they do this attack, i won't speculate on that. although the ukrainians have publicly stated their objective is to sever that ground line of communications. that enables the russians to go along the southeast coast into crimea. i think this is going to be impressive. we achieved combined arms affect in the fight to baghdad when i was a two star general. he headed terrified for the enemy. the differences time over what happened in kharkiv last fall with the ukrainians carried out a very successful attack is that when the lead elements culminate after 72, 96 hours, that's as far as you

can physically go. there are follow—on forces that will capitalise and exploit and maintain the momentum and continue this. i think he hit the battlefield. you make it dynamic. then the russians have to react, they have to move to try to reestablish the defensive line somewhere in the rear of where they are and where they were. it noting that on the russian side, this is a force that has been battered, many of these units have beenin battered, many of these units have been in constant combat for well over a year. they're not pulling units off—line and reconstituting them. in other words, units off—line and reconstituting them. in otherwords, replacing units off—line and reconstituting them. in other words, replacing what losses, the people and equipment and retraining them, they are just adding people to the front lines. that's not the way you produce a cohesive, coherent, well disciplined organisation. i think therefore that's why they are going to crack, comparable and perhaps even collapse. if you can get the russian defences moving then their opportunities more broadly.

general betrayers and former head of the cia speaking with james landau and key. dr patrick bury, defence and security expert at the university of bath and a former nato analyst gave me his reaction to this interview. i think he speaks a lot of sense and obviously he's got some more ground truth having been out in kyiv. it does chime with what i had beginning to coalesce around my own thoughts and analysis on this. just in terms of i think that the ukrainians are getting themselves into a position where we i hope i expect them to be able to break the russian line somewhere. we've seen the pictures of the defences. yes, they're considerable in places, but it doesn't make breaking through them impossible. itjust makes it more difficult, especially when you use, as general petraeus just said, combined arms effects. so making sure that everything, all the different pieces of the puzzle are integrated and communicating and working in synchronicity with each other. and then it becomes very,

very difficult to resist. and my own add, the addition, i would add there as well as that a lot of this, i think, will boil down to human factors and morale. we know the russians have poor leadership, poortraining, some of them recently conscripted and poor morale. the ukrainians, on the other hand, are fighting for their patriot, for their country, their values, and essentially out of love rather than fear on the russian side. and i think that could really i mean, the ukrainians the ukrainians are dealing with with a couple of issues here. the first is that they have a very small window. so really they effectively only have, would you agree, until about october, about three months before the winter really kicks in here? and the second point is, ultimately we have a potential us election round the corner and it's also about the us, the sort of western willpower in all of this. yeah. i think strategically the ukrainians are in a hurry. i think that's correct. at the more operational level

this summer, the yeah. towards the end of october, depending on the seasons and how it goes, usually that then it gets wet again. there's enough time now for there to be a offensive and then a pause and another one. i wouldn't be surprised if this one actually occurred on multiple axes at the same time. i don't think you could rule that out to just fix and deceive as many russian forces as they can. and of course, they've got the preparation. given that if they wait a little bit longer. so say if there's another offensive in the autumn, by that stage, they'd have proper air cover, you'd imagine, because the f—i6s will start coming on stream, and by that stage they'll be really fighting quite like a western army with their air air type cover, followed by combined arms. not long after the war reports began to emerge of ukrainian children being taking over the border into russia.

15 months on and officials claim over 19,000 children have been taken this week. the bbc can't verify that figure but understands many children have gone from care homes and residential schools. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford has followed the story of parents�* desperate attempts to bring their children home. it is the most anxious journey of these mothers�* lives. dashing to reach the children they'd been separated from for six months. ukrainian children, sent to summer camps run by russia, and then never returned. alla tells me every minute now counts. the children have been told they'll be put in care if their mums don't come for them. that means a gruelling trip across thousands of miles, from ukraine, deep into the country that's declared war on them.

translation: i should never have let him go but we didn't know. - theyjust took him and that was that. my son had seen explosions. i wanted him to relax from the war, and then this happened. ijust hope we make it in time. russia has been removing children from parts of ukraine it occupies. it claims it's saving them from danger. but the international criminal court calls this illegal deportation. vladimir vladimirovich putin! it's why he is now a wanted man. vladimir putin has annexed huge chunks of ukraine and claims everything there as russian. even the children. and we've found new evidence of how they're treated. this boy's ukrainian. dressed in the z mark

of russia's war on his country. he's a classmate of tatiana's son, who was also taken by the russians. sasha has special needs. his mum had to travel into enemy territory to rescue him. he tells me how russian soldiers in balaclavas came to his school with guns. they loaded him and 12 other children onto buses and drove off with them. sasha had no contact with his mum for six weeks. when i ask how hard that was... he says it's too distressing to remember. sasha is now safe with his mum, in germany. he's told tatiana the children were banned from even mentioning ukraine, told there was nothing there to return for. translation: it's not only putin who should be put on trial. - it's all the main people.

the commanders, all of them, for what they did to the children. what right did they have? so i called the woman in charge of the school were sasha was taken. hello. deep inside russian—occupied territory. i wanted to know about the z mark. the ukrainian children, dressed as russian soldiers. "so what if they were?" the director shot back. "what kind of question is that?" soon after, the line cut out. for those who do make it back, the long road to home ends here, on ukraine's northern border. the first groups are just coming through. i can see some of the women and children waving as they cross the border, finally. six months apart, then six days

of travel to be reunited. daniil had been scared he wouldn't see his mum again, but alla made it. the stories of their exhausting, dramatic trip spill out between the welcome hugs. but alla tells me it was all worth it to see her son again. daniiljust says the reunion was brilliant. this is a war that's created all sorts of victims. brought all sorts of pain. but it is the fate of ukraine's children that's got vladimir putin indicted as a suspected war criminal. sarah rainsford, bbc news, in northern ukraine. earlier i spoke to daria zarivna — head of bring back kids ukraine project, about the medchanisms of returning the children back.

this is a horrible tragedy. the stories which children which manage to return are telling us, they were just frustrating and terrifying. tell us a little bit more about getting those children back. obviously, we've seen some of those stories there butjust the logistics of this, communicating with the russian side must be very difficult. it is. unfortunately, i won't go into detail because you understand, this is a delicate question. surely we don't want to do any damage to the channels through which we're working and trying to manage to return the children. it's also necessary to understand that in each case it's always the unique composition in a unique mechanism.

sometimes very different channels. unfortunately, i would like to go through details but i can't do this. you don't have to go into the technical details butjust the idea of working very closely with a state that has sort of remove these children to begin with and then get them back. this children to begin with and then get them back. , , , ,, them back. this is the process, it kee -s them back. this is the process, it keeps going- _ them back. this is the process, it keeps going- it's _ them back. this is the process, it keeps going. it's important - them back. this is the process, it keeps going. it's important to - keeps going. it's important to understand that these children are very important witnesses of war crimes. this is why we need to be very delicate with the information in which you get from them. i would just say that all options are on the table and we're working through different mechanisms and different options. that's all i can say. i can also add that yesterday we launched to bring kids back, a special programme under president zielinski. the key idea on this initiative is

to unite all the efforts of government, international organisations, public organisations, current citizens and international powers that are willing to join to co—ordinate everything in 1—way. we have now in action plan, an action plan for three months, for six months. the key idea is to return our children back. and then surely to provide them with the best conditions when they will return. of course they are re—integration into educational process and so on. former uk prime minister boris johnson spokesperson says he's handed over his notebooks and whatsapp messages to the cabinet office. the material was requested by the covid inquiry, which has urged the cabinet office to provide the material in full and unredacted form by 4pm thursday. the inquiry is supposed to help

the government and the public work out what it got right and wrong before, during and after the covid—19 pandemic. the government has before resisted to return all over material. live now to westminster and our political correspondent ione wells. there seems to be some kind of standoff. the former prime minister borisjohnson has handed over his note box and what messages. there boris johnson has handed over his note box and what messages. there is kind of two different _ note box and what messages. there is kind of two different separate - kind of two different separate standoffs that have been going on. the bond that has been going on today has been a century that as you say, borisjohnson, the former prime minister has said he is handed over all is what at messages, notebooks, diaries and in unredacted form to the cabinet office. the cabinet office say officials are now looking at the material that he is handed

over today. at the material that he is handed overtoday. boris at the material that he is handed over today. borisjohnson in his statement this afternoon claimed that the cabinet office has had access to these materials for months now and urge the cabinet office to now and urge the cabinet office to now hand over these materials to the covid inquiry. sources in the cabinet office dispute this account slightly. they say when went boris johnson was being represented by lawyers who were employed by the government they were looking over some of his diaries, what's that messages in notebooks. but when he decided to cut ties with them and be represented by other lawyers they say that the cabinet office lost access to some of that material, which is why they haven't had some of it before today. i think what this doesn't change is a separate standoff going on between the cabinet office and the government and the covid inquiry itself. the covid inquiry says that by tomorrow the government must hand over all unredacted material that it has asked for. the government has

repeatedly argued that they don't think that will be appropriate because they don't want to hand over what they are lawyers are advising them are unambiguously irrelevant material. for example, this could be material. for example, this could be material about some private lives are personal matters which would be included in some of the material they're being asked to hand over. that is a separate standoff going and there is a government doesn't seem to change your view on this which could mean by tomorrow at 4pm the covid inquiry still does not have the material that it is asked for. if that's the case the covid inquiry has been pretty clear that it would deem that a criminal offence and could well take legal action. this standoff is going to carry on for days and possibly weeks to come. . ~ carry on for days and possibly weeks to come. ., ~ ,, carry on for days and possibly weeks to come. ., ~ i. ., , to come. thank you for bringing us u . to come. thank you for bringing us u- to to come. thank you for bringing us up to date- — around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. this could be the most eco friendly

way to navigate the norfolk broads, but this high boat comes a pretty close second. electric powered. it can run on a single charge for six hours. step aboard. okay. james knight's family has been in the business for a0 years. he says the move from diesel to electric is a no brainer. the broads is where we live and where we work. so it's up to us to make sure that we do absolutely everything we can to preserve that environment. and now the charging technology has come on so much in the last ten years. it becomes far easier to do it with more or less off the off the shelf things. so why not switch bigger, higher boats to electric? well, on 125 miles of navigable waterway it's not that simple. and so the talk is of converting weekly cruisers to hydrogen power, but that is still work and technology in progress. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news.

now to the news that itv in the uk has announced an external review into its former host phillip schofields departure from this morning. phillip schofield stepped down from the role alongside holly willougby last week, after admitting to an "unwise but not illegal" affair with a younger male colleague. a letter about it, sent to a uk culture secretary mentions the "significant media coverage concerning phillip schofield" we ta ke we take it very seriously and a barrister will establish the facts. look could this mean for the channel and will the programme be able to keep going? bring us up to date on this ongoing saga for itv. figs keep going? bring us up to date on this ongoing saga for itv.— this ongoing saga for itv. as you sa , it's this ongoing saga for itv. as you say. it's been — this ongoing saga for itv. as you say, it's been almost _ this ongoing saga for itv. as you say, it's been almost a _ this ongoing saga for itv. as you say, it's been almost a week - this ongoing saga for itv. as you | say, it's been almost a week since phillip schofield stepped down from these morning. since then there's been a lot of talk, a lot of speculation, questions notjust for

speculation, questions not just for phillip speculation, questions notjust for phillip schofield himself but also for itv, the broadcaster and to deal with some of that by issuing a not one but two letters today for the one but two letters today for the one letter has gone out to staff at itv the other two ofcom, the department for culture, media and sport and the dc ms select committee. in that letter they emphasise that they take this matter extremely seriously. they say they've reviewed their own records over the weekend. they're trying to emphasise the fact that they believe they've done everything that they should and could have done. some people will be saying well, did itv know about was going on? and if they didn't know should they have known? itv has said that its record showed that when rumours of a relationship between phillip schofield and an employee of itv first began to set

two circulate itv and investigated they say both parties were questioned then and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumors. they say they also spoke to a number of people worked on this morning and the wider daytime programmes that grow from the same department that this morning does it itv and they say they were not provided with and find any evidence of a relationship beyond hearsay and rumor. they say given the ongoing rumours we continue to ask questions of both parties who both continue to deny the rumours, including as recently as this month. they say now of course that phillip schofield and the man in question have admitted the man in question have admitted the affair things have changed. and in a letter sent to both staff and to the department for culture, media and sport as well as others they say that itv has instructed kings council, a senior barrister, of

blackstone chambers to carry out in an external view to read back so that she will review records and talk to people involved with this work will also consider relevant procedures and policies and whether we need to change or strengthen any and perhaps most interest to those people. those letters going out they say that itv will of course share the findings of those in due course. thank you so much for bringing us up to date. nato is to send more soldiers to kosovo after a number of peacekeeping troops there were hurt in clashes with protesters. the disturbances began when ethnic—albanian mayors took over in several towns where ethnic serbs are in the majority. but the crisis dates back to april when kosovo serbs boycotted local elections, thereby allowing ethnic albanians to take control of local councils. dozens of kosovo serb protesters gathered in front of the municipal building in the town of zvejan this morning to demand the removal from office of the elected mayor,

an ethnic albanian. thank you very much forjoining us here on the program. this is a security situation that's really been deteriorating and growing for quite a long time. itjust come to our attention after those nato's soldiers were injured.— our attention after those nato's soldiers were injured. soldiers were in'ured. there's been a ve soldiers were in'ured. there's been everyserreus— soldiers were injured. there's been a very serious protracted _ a very serious protracted deterioration in the overall security of the situation in kosovo for the better part of the last two or three years. much of it rooted in the entrenchment of the belgrade government and their refusal to engage in any kind of meaningful negotiation with the government. also frankly, the inability of both the eu and the us to convince belgrade or to pressure belgrade in any meaningful way to engage in substantive talks.— any meaningful way to engage in substantive talks. there have been

accusations — substantive talks. there have been accusations that _ substantive talks. there have been accusations that the _ substantive talks. there have been accusations that the united - substantive talks. there have beenj accusations that the united states, britain, the eu and have put disproportionate pressure on kosovo and are punishing kosovo as a result of all of this. and are punishing kosovo as a result of all of this-— of all of this. that's right. i think it's — of all of this. that's right. i think it's widely _ of all of this. that's right. i | think it's widely understood of all of this. that's right. i . think it's widely understood by of all of this. that's right. i - think it's widely understood by all experts and people on the ground that the clashes that took place yesterday were not really the result of any kind of protest in meaningful sense of the term, rather these are known associates of the serbian regime and militants who frequently engage in attacks against police, again sense of national peacekeepers with up this was one of the most violent incidents we've seen in years. it is rather preposterous for those, including the us to have pressure or to be now because a sanctioning the government of kosovo for the fact that no militants with close associations to the serbian governments attack nato peacekeepers.— governments attack nato peacekeepers. governments attack nato --eacekeeers. , ., , ., peacekeepers. the question is, how did we ret peacekeepers. the question is, how did we get here? _ peacekeepers. the question is, how did we get here? what _ peacekeepers. the question is, how did we get here? what happened i peacekeepers. the question is, how did we get here? what happened to j did we get here? what happened to the policy of the us, the eu and the

uk for us to get to a place where kosovois uk for us to get to a place where kosovo is punished as a result of this? i kosovo is punished as a result of this? ., kosovo is punished as a result of this? ~' ., ., , �*, this? ithink unfortunately, it's the product — this? ithink unfortunately, it's the product of _ this? ithink unfortunately, it's the product of a _ this? ithink unfortunately, it's the product of a very _ this? ithink unfortunately, it's the product of a very cynical i the product of a very cynical politics that is taken root in the western balkans on the part of many western governments. since the russian aggression or the second russian aggression or the second russian invasion of ukraine in february of last year. the political west is deeply concerned about the creation of a so—called second front in the western balkans by a known russian proxies and allies like the president of serbia and various other individuals in the western balkans. they've decided that the best way to deal with these people is to essentially try to negotiate and appease with them rather than to confront and roll their machinations. i5 confront and roll their machinations.- confront and roll their machinations. , ., ., ~ machinations. is that working? clearly not _ machinations. is that working? clearly not from _ machinations. is that working? clearly not from what - machinations. is that working? clearly not from what we're - machinations. is that working? - clearly not from what we're seeing. no, clearly not. the fact that doubt nato will be forced to send an additional 700 troops to kosovo i think speaks to the fact that this

is a categorical failure as a policy. is a categorical failure as a oli . ~ ., is a categorical failure as a oli . s . , ., is a categorical failure as a oli. . is a categorical failure as a policy. what needs to happen for the whole situation _ policy. what needs to happen for the whole situation not _ policy. what needs to happen for the whole situation not to _ policy. what needs to happen for the whole situation not to spiral - policy. what needs to happen for the whole situation not to spiral out - policy. what needs to happen for the whole situation not to spiral out of i whole situation not to spiral out of control? i whole situation not to spiral out of control? ., , whole situation not to spiral out of control? ~ , ., ., control? i think first and foremost the nato troops _ control? i think first and foremost the nato troops on _ control? i think first and foremost the nato troops on the _ control? i think first and foremost the nato troops on the ground - control? i think first and foremost i the nato troops on the ground need to make sure the situation does not deteriorate further. those troops arriving will help to that end but beyond that i think we need a really categorical reset of foot policy and other major potential flashpoint in the region that will emphasise during the rule of law and actually confronting and ultimately dismantling the network of nationalists and authoritarian russian align political actors in the region, which today has been appeased for that we see the product of the policy on the ground. fascinating talking to you. thank you forjoining us on the program. we will be back in the next few minutes with all the

latest headlines here on the program. you can also go to our website to get the very latest. you can also find me on twitter. can hello there. we've had two types of weather across the uk today. blue, sunny skies like these and it was warm to where temperatures reached the mid 20s, parts of west scotland and western counties of northern ireland. or the second type of weather — cloud. we've had a lot of that across england, even into parts of east wales. indeed, parts of the midlands and eastern england only had temperatures about 11 degrees underneath the heart of this cloud through the afternoon. so extensive clouds been working in with these winds. and because the cloud has

been about three times thicker than it was, for example, on tuesday, that's why it's been much more reluctant to break up today. now, overnight tonight, the cloud willjust re—thicken and move back inland. indeed, as temperatures drop below ten degrees celsius as they will do underneath this cloud sheet, we're going to start to get quite extensive drizzle. so you might find some patches of drizzle across parts of east scotland, central and eastern areas of england, maybe even getting all the way across to east wales. so, for some, it is likely to be a damp start to the morning, thursday morning. the drizzle lasting for the first couple of hours, then it becomes drier later in the morning. much greater chance of seeing the cloud break up across western areas of the uk where if you do start cloudy, keep the faith, you'll get some sunshine. whereas across east scotland, eastern areas of england, particularly towards the north sea, you may well keep that cloud even into the afternoon. if that happens, it would be another cool day where thejune sunshine pops out. first day of summer. it's going to feel warm. temperatures quite widely getting into the 20s. now on friday, high pressure is still with us, but it looks like the clouds are going to be much

thinner than recent days. and so you've got much better chance of seeing sunny skies as we go through the day on friday. quite a cool breeze for east anglia, quite gusty winds towards the headlands of southern england. but in thejune sunshine, i think for most of us it's going to feel quite pleasant, quite a fresh feel to the day. temperatures again into the low 20s. on into the weekend, the high pressure is still with us to the north west of the uk. like recent days, that high will be dragging in some clouds from the north atlantic and shoving it down the north sea. and so this weekend is probably going to be something of an east west split with the weather. western areas having the best of the sunshine and the highest temperatures getting into the low to mid 20s, again it will feel warm. whereas across eastern areas of the uk you are likely to come into some slightly thicker cloud at times and temperatures rather than being in the 20s, more likely to be in the teens. but still not bad where

the sunshine pops out.