since russia launched its war on ukraine, kyiv says thousands of children have been taken. translation: it's not only putin who should be put - on trial, it's all the main people for what they did to the children. we've met women forced to travel deep into enemy territory to get their children back. translation: i should never have let him go. | but we didn't know. theyjust took him and that was that. russia claims it was protecting them from danger. speaks russian but we've investigated the ideology that's driving its actions and found new evidence of how the ukrainian children

russia takes are treated. i look at them here in this russian—run school, they've got military uniforms and they've got these zs on their sleeves. the symbol of russia's war on their country. it is the most anxious journey of these mothers�* lives. they're rushing to reach the children they've been separated from for six months. ijoin them on the first stage of their trip. ukrainian women heading for russia to find the children sent to summer camps there and never returned. alla tells me every minute now counts because the children have been told they'll be put in care if their mums don't come for them.

translation: the children started calling us in panic. i and russia is huge. so where would we have looked for them? train horn hoots so this is the start of a gruelling trip across thousands of miles that will take the women deep into the country that's declared war on them. the women converse alla shows me the video her son danila sent from his summer camp in crimea. he's 13 and he went there in october when his own city was occupied. but when her son was liberated, the russians refused to send the children back. so alla has felt like a part of herself is missing for six months. 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. train horn blares alla had been struggling alone to know how to reach her son safely. but in kyiv, she was met by the group that's helped organise this whole trip... ..for alla and dozens like her. they exchange greetings the group has just arrived in kyiv, but this isjust the very first stage of an extremely long

and arduous journey to try and get their children back. kherson is now cut—off from crimea by the fighting. so the women have to make an enormous detour. first to kyiv from kherson, then from here, they'll head for poland before crossing into belarus, which is russia's big ally in this war. it's then a flight to moscow and a 24—hour drive south to the children's camp. thousands of miles to end up a short distance from home. these days, kherson is under russian attack. its forces have been taking their revenge on the city since they were forced to retreat last year, ending months of occupation. daily life now brings terrible danger here. and yet moscow had proclaimed this part of the russian world. patriotic singing that's when ukrainian children

were subjected to this... russian anthem plays ..the anthem of an occupying force. the video from a summer camp was posted by proud pro—russian officials. but look more closely at their faces and what happens when the camera spots the girl with her ears covered. alla is no supporter of russia. but when she sent danila to that same summer camp, she'd begun to doubt kherson would ever be freed. she never thought her child would be stuck on the other side of a front line. translation: we started getting calls saying they wouldn't - bring the children back. they said, "if you want them, come and get them". i ran to the school headmaster for help. i wrote to the local administration, but they did nothing. they said they would only bring the children back when kherson was russia again.

that's when save ukraine stepped in. they've done all the paperwork and the permissions that russia demands. now they're preparing the women for how their children may have been affected... ..by six months living under russian rules. it was like soft, soft power. and step by step, we russify all of these children. it's about months. it's not about one day to threaten them and to convert them to be russian. no. it's like every day you will sing our songs, we will feed you, we will tell you bad things about ukraine. yeah. and if your parents will not take you back, you will stay in russia. you will be russian children. for alla, there's time for a last call home to a family waiting

and worrying. translation: i worry every single day that something i could go wrong. it gnaws away at me. and it will do until i have my son back next to me. i worry i won't make it in time. and i will be worried until we're home and i can breathe again. but i can't yet. engine rumbles this is as far as we

can go with alla. once they leave kyiv, the women will turn off their phones for security. at the border, they'll invent cover stories about their trip, scared of being turned back. the stress will be enormous. a few days after we filmed olga setting off to get her granddaughters, her heart gave out. she died in russia by the side of a road. this is a war that's created all sorts of victims, brought all sorts of pain. this is a war that's created all sorts of victims, brought all sorts of pain. but it's the fate of ukraine's missing children that's driven the international criminal court to issue its first arrest warrants. tannoy announcement in russian. vladimir vladimirovich putin! and that's why he is

now a wanted man. vladimir putin must have thought his war would be swift and glorious. instead, it's got him indicted for the illegal deportation of ukrainian children. and it's been carried out in plain sight. i checked the channel of russia's children's ombudswoman. maria lvova—belova is now a suspected war criminal, too. she's posted all sorts of videos like this where she's removing children from occupied parts of ukraine, delivering them to russian families. vladimir putin changed the law to make it easier to adopt them. she's even adopted a boy from mariupol herself. this is philip, and he's become a russian citizen. we did ask the ombudswoman

for an interview twice, but she didn't reply. online, though, she paints all of this as if russia is saving children from danger. the thing is, i've carried on scrolling through this account and i've looked at all of the posts, and it becomes clear very quickly that this is not a humanitarian mission, it's an ideological one. because, for example, if you look at this video that the ombudswoman has posted just here. speaks russian. she's talking about how russia is protecting the people of eastern and southern ukraine from the nazis there. and she says that these are our people. they're all part of one big family. and that's why russia, she says, can't leave those children. basically, she's saying they're russian children. ukraine says more than 19,000 children have been taken to russia, though its

lists aren't public. we don't know how many have been adopted. we do know that many were taken from ukrainian special schools and children's homes. last september, sasha was taken from his school in north—eastern ukraine, removed without a word to his family. forced separation would be upsetting for any child but sasha has special needs, and for someone so vulnerable, it was deeply unsettling. his mum had to travel thousands of miles to get him back deep into occupied territory. and tetyana has new proof of how ukrainian children are treated there. tetyana's just shown me this photograph. and these kids here are classmates of sasha, of her son.

and look at them here in this russian—run school. they've got military uniforms and they've got these zs on their sleeves. these are the symbols of russia's war on their country. sasha has identified three children in these pictures. the writing on the classroom wall shows the ukrainians were dressed to celebrate a russian military holiday. sasha clearly remembers the day they were taken, when russian soldiers in balaclavas came to their school with guns. they loaded him and 12 other children onto buses and drove off with them. translation: to be honest, it was pretty scary. _ i didn't know where they were taking us. sasha then had no contact with his mum for six weeks. when i ask how hard that was... translation: yes.

to be honest, it's too distressing to even remember. the teenager is now safe with his mum in germany. they're living as refugees because their city is being pounded by russia's military. tetyana remembers how frantic she was when sasha disappeared and the moment she was finally told he was at a special school in occupied eastern ukraine and she could call him. translation: he cried into the phone. - it was the first time we'd spoken in six weeks. he was happy to hear me, of course, but he really cried. he wanted to come home. the children had been told their homes had gone,

that everything had been destroyed. and sasha was afraid we were gone, too. should's town is now under attack by russian forces. ukraine retook the town in september, ending almost seven months of occupation. but the russians did not retreat far. and sasha's school is now in ruins too. the russian missiles landed a few weeks after he left here. the pictures were filmed by a teacher. nicola showed them to meet in kyiv where he and his family have now moved for safety. he told me how he had seen the russian soldiers take sascha and the other children from the school but he had been powerless to

stop them. but he had been powerless to step them-— stop them. they were all identical _ stop them. they were all identical wearing - stop them. they were allj identical wearing russian military clothes. it only took them ten minutes to gather everyone together. they were not talking. all they said was quick, quick! i had a chance to ask where they were taking the kids and to say let me go with them but they said no, go home, because if you leave you won't because if you leave you won't be coming back. i because if you leave you won't be coming back.— be coming back. i put to him what russia _ be coming back. i put to him what russia says, _ be coming back. i put to him what russia says, that - be coming back. i put to him what russia says, that in - be coming back. i put to him i what russia says, that in cases like this, it'sjust what russia says, that in cases like this, it's just taking children to safety. i like this, it'sjust taking children to safety. i lived under occupation - children to safety. i lived under occupation so - children to safety. i lived under occupation so i - children to safety. i lived l under occupation so i know children to safety. i lived - under occupation so i know the difference between what the russians say and what i say to myself outside of my own window. are totally different. —— the too. there was no reason

to evacuate back then. it wasn't like now everyone is leaving. this was abduction. they just took the children. sasha has always been withdrawn but tetyana says he's even quieter these days. he's told his family the children were banned from even mentioning ukraine or speaking their own language. so, i asked tetyana what she thinks about the arrest warrant issued for russia's president. translation: it's not l 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? they knew it was impossible for us to get them back and they didn't care. phone dial tone.

i called the woman in charge of the school where sasha was taken using a russian number, so there was a chance she'd pick up. speaks russian. we know that five of sasha's classmates are still stuck there. but i wanted to know about that z mark — the ukrainian children dressed as russian soldiers. replies in russian. "so what if they were? the school director shot back. "what kind of question is that?" soon after, the line cut out. dead tone beeps. eight days after alla and the other mothers left kyiv, we headed north to wait for their return. past reminders of how war has changed even the most remote corners of this country.

i'd already seen the big reunion in crimea at the summer camp. russian tv cameras were brought in to capture the moment. for alla and her son, the tears, the emotion are real, but the rest is twisted. the reporter claims ukraine did nothing to help these mums — which isn't true — and that russia protected their children. but it was russia's invasion of ukraine that separated them and russian officials who did nothing to get them home. now, the children were about to cross the border, the final stretch of their long journey home, and they had to make this part on foot. so, after about three

hours being questioned at the ukrainian border, the first groups are just just coming through. i can see some of the women and their children waving as they cross the border, finally. dobryden! six months apart and then days of travel to get back here. danila had been scared he wouldn't see his mum again, but alla made it. and the stories of their traumatic trip begin to spill out between the welcome hugs. translation: they held us for 14 hours _ at moscow airport. they kept us like cattle, separate from everyone else. 14 hours being questioned with no water, nothing. the women were asked about ukraine's military movements, but they had nothing to tell.

well, alla is finally back but clearly exhausted and yet, ijust heard her say that she was so happy the moment she took her first step back on ukrainian soil again. the children say they were treated 0k in crimea, but as russians. they'd get lines if they refused to sing the anthem and they confirm what they were told would happen had their mums not come for them. "they said we'd be adopted," this girl says, so alla's relief at her reunion is immense. translation: that moment when we met makes up - for everything we had to go through. as soon as i saw my child running towards me in tears, everything, all the struggle, it was all worth it. i asked danila what he felt. "i don't know," he says,

"it was just brilliant." he had worried it might never happen. he had worried it might never ha en. , ., , , he had worried it might never hauen. , ., , , ., happen. they told us they would onl take happen. they told us they would only take us _ happen. they told us they would only take us home _ happen. they told us they would only take us home from - happen. they told us they would only take us home from camp i only take us home from camp when — only take us home from camp when the _ only take us home from camp when the war ended, when khereon— when the war ended, when kherson was russian. these children told me others were still stuck at the summer camps because russia makes it so hard to return them. 31 made it back on this trip. including sanya, including sa nya, who including sanya, who had been separated from her mum for seven months. translation: we were so seven months. translation: - were so happy. my sister even burst into tears from happiness. now, ijust want to see everyone. the dogs. to hug everyone, and that's it.

those returning are just a tiny handful of the total ukraine's government has recorded as missing. even after vladimir putin was indicted for their removal to russia as a suspected war criminal. hello there. some parts of the country haven't had any rain

since the eighth of may. any rain on the horizon? well, i will answer that later. on friday, we saw the sunshine developing in many parts with the highest temperatures out to the west. even in areas that have been cloudy for the past few days, the cloud was much thinner and the sunshine came through. now, we still have high pressure in charge as we head into the weekend. that's filling with cloud and eventually, that will push down through the north sea. at the moment, we have drier air across the uk, so not much cloud around at all. what cloud there is overnight will tend to burn off and sunshine will develop in many areas. a bit of fair weather cloud developing over high ground in scotland and perhaps southern parts of england. still a bit breezy through the english channel, still a north—easterly breeze, so right on the coast, temperatures will be pegged at 16 or 17 but further west, we could see 22 or 23. a lot of sunshine around on saturday and for many, we will have sunshine on sunday as well. high pressure still there. a brisk wind across

the far south of england. this time, more cloud will be in the north sea and that will push into eastern areas of england in particular and may burn back towards the coast. other parts of the uk will see a good deal of sunshine. it's getting just a little bit warmer day on day. so, 23 or possibly 2a across western parts of scotland. a decent weekend for much of the country. as we head into monday, we've got the cloud in the north sea. it may make more inroads overnight across the midlands and eastern england but it retreats back to those coastal areas. it will always be a bit cooler right on the coast but more warm inland, particularly toward the west, so the temperatures not changing much into monday. the story isn't changing much for the first half of next week, either. still that area of high pressure, meaning dry weather but around it, but areas of cloud coming into northern parts of scotland and more towards the south—east of england seeing a bit more sunshine in parts of yorkshire and lincolnshire. again, the west is seeing the lovely weather continuing.

no sign of rain — blue skies, warm in the sunshine and 22 or 23. it's not hot and the air is not particularly hot, meaning it's quite chilly at night with clear skies. but the high pressure is still there into wednesday with more cloud in the north sea, feeding back into east anglia and maybe parts of lincolnshire and the south—east. some areas will stay cloudy with a bit of patchy cloud developing further north but the lion's share of the uk will see the sunshine continuing. again, temperatures typically into the low 20s at best. what about the outlook? is there any rain on the way? rain is still all really across southern parts england, sundry downpours. —— some thundery downpours. this low pressure here will not reach us. we keep the high in charge. it stays quite breezy in the south. the centre of the high could move into the east, just a bit, allowing a more south—easterly breeze to come

in and it could lift the temperatures, particularly in southern and western areas by the end of next week and perhaps into the weekend as well. but there is no rain. it's still dry and for the most part it's clear skies. cool in the night and warm in the sunshine by day. we could get to 25 or 26 by the end of next week.

live from washington, this is bbc news. welcome to our viewers on pbs and america. a tragedy in india as hundreds are killed in a train collision. in an address to the nation, us president biden hails a bipartisan deal to avoid a debt default. no-one not avoid a debt default. no-one got everything _ avoid a debt default. no-one got everything they - avoid a debt default. no-one got everything they wanted l avoid a debt default. no-one l got everything they wanted but the american people got what they needed. we averted an economic crisis, and economic collapse. economic crisis, and economic colla se. , economic crisis, and economic collase. , ., ., collapse. plus, same language, different spellings. _ collapse. plus, same language, different spellings. we - different spellings. we challenge some national spelling bee contestants on the difference between british and american english. allen i don't

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