across myanmar, the military is carrying out air strikes. on the ground, they are struggling to crush the resistance, so they've taken this fight against their own people to the air. the military is increasingly

isolated by western sanctions, but it's russia that's providing them with deadly air power. air strikes are now a daily occurrence for the people of myanmar. more than 200 attacks are being reported since january. monasteries, hospitals, churches and schools have been hit. seven of his friends were killed. the soldiers took their bodies away and burned them.

the deadliest attack in april killed more than 170 people. zay thu aung was a pilot in the myanmar air force for 18 years. everything changed for him when general min aung hlaing seized power in february 2021, ousting the elected government.

it sparked a mass uprising, demanding democracy be restored. the military responded with a violent crackdown. captain aung knew he couldn't stay and started planning

to defect. do you feel ashamed that you were once one of them? thit naong naong took part in the protests. his statue of the face of elected leader aung san suu kyi

became one of the lasting images of the uprising. before the coup, he was a gym instructor. now he a resistance fighter. now, he's a resistance fighter. his unit is part of a civilian militia network called

the people's defence forces. they are being backed by ethnic armed groups who have trained the young protesters, and they're proving to be a stronger force than many expected. in october, thit noang noang seized a military base, capturing three soldiers. in scenes like this have been repeated across myanmar.

these unexpected gains have pushed the military into the air. what would the myanmar military�*s strength be like without the air force? the myanmar military is increasingly relying on its airpower because the resistance forces on the ground have been effective in pushing them out of this territory, and on their ends the myanmar military has been unable to control territory in a consistent manner. myanmar witness is tracking

the aircraft the military is using. the russian presence has become more important. the military�*s actions have been condemned by most nations, but russia, which has long had ties with the military, has stepped up to become their strongest foreign backer. russian representatives have made very clear that despite the war in 2021, they will continue to provide the myanmar military with air force assets. with russia's help, the military is upgrading its airforce. with these fighter jets. the sukhoi 30 is an advanced fighterjet that has both air to air and air to ground capabilities in the version exported to myanmar. it has an even greater capacity

to carry weapons up to 8000 kg, and, as of this moment, represents the most advanced aircraft in the arsenal of the myanmar military. captain aung knows these jets well. before defecting, he helped prepare for their arrival. so far, two have been delivered.

he shares his vital intelligence about the aircraft with groups trying to bring them down. are you ever troubled by the fact that you're giving information to groups that are fighting against your former colleagues, yourformerfriends?

but information that you are giving may lead to the killing of your former colleagues. in the air, this is how the resistance is fighting back. 25—year—old khin sein leads a group of female drone bombers. they adapt civilian drones to carry home made bombs.

the resistance relies on public donations. she was a university student when the coup happened. the military crackdown pushed her to take up arms, and it's scenes like this that keep her in the fight. this village near their camp was destroyed by soldiers. she heads off with her unit to carry out another attack.

things didn't go to plan. the bomb exploded in their hands. thit naong nao�*s group is gaining ground. he frequently comes in contact with the military.

but his guns are no match for the junta's airpower.

across the border in thailand, the impact of the air strikes on the rebel soldiers is clear. these injured fighters are here illegally, so we are not showing their faces.

this 22—year—old is now paralysed from the waist down. what kind of planes were they, could you see them clearly? his mum crossed the border to look after him. how did you react when you said you were injured? and will you keep fighting? this history student lost an eye. he plans to go back to fight with drones.

that night, we head to a safe house, a place the resistance is sheltering there and me. newly defected soldiers from the myanmar military, who refused to fight their own people. the youngest amongst them joined the military when he was just 15.

did you hear how people hated you, hated the military? did you hear what they were calling soldiers? but right now, soldiers, young men like you, are raping women, burning villages, killing civilians. is the military finding it hard now to recruit new soldiers?

it took the captain a year to defect and flee across the border to thailand.

his life now is a world away from his career in the air force. he can't formally work or send his son to school here in thailand, but counts himself lucky to be out.

she hasn't seen herfamily in over two years.

singing. hello there. this fine, settled, dry and sunny spell set to continue throughout this weekend and indeed into much of next week as well. so largely dry and settled thanks to high pressure. always warmest and sunniest. 0ut towards the west. little bit cool and cloudy at times. closer to the north sea coast, but many places will stay dry. bar the odd shower, the center of our high pressure system sitting out towards the northwest the uk so will always have this east northeasterly airflow which will be

fresh over the next few days across the south east corner. and it will continue to drag in low cloud into eastern england and the midlands for the early part of sunday. northern eastern scotland also cloudier, but clearer skies further west, temperatures four to nine degrees. so sunday morning, we start off a little bit gray. central and eastern areas is the cloud should burn back to the coast. elsewhere, plenty of sunshine, just the chance of an afternoon shower developing across scotland, northern ireland, very isolated. mind you, most places will stay dry. and again, the best of the temperatures towards the north and the west, bit cooler along north sea coast and then through sunday night with that breeze in place across east, south east england will drag that low cloud back westwards across much of central, southern and eastern england. also northern and eastern scotland, clear skies out towards the west and temperatures again ranging from around four to nine degrees for many of us. we do it all again. start the new week monday. a bit of a grey start central east now as that cloud slowly burning back to the coast, a bit more breezy again

across the south east, just packing temperatures back, the chance of an isolated shower again for scotland, northern ireland, but very isolated most places dry top temperatures again up to close to the mid 20s, but generally the low 20s here cool along north sea coast. same too for tuesday, a bit more cloud across eastern scotland, eastern england with more of a breeze here. that's the sunshine towards the south and the west again, the low 20s at best, but low to mid or high teens along some north sea coast, then some subtle changes. towards the end of the week, this area of low pressure will hurtle towards our shores, throwing up some showers to southern and western areas. but with a change in wind direction coming in from the south or southeast, we could import some warmer air off the near continent for the end of the week. certainly across parts of england, so many places will be dry, but showers could increase across southern and western areas towards the end of the week, but it'll be noticeably warming up.

live from washington. this is bbc news. nearly 300 people are now known to have died and 1,000 are injured, in india's deadliest train crash this century. recep tayyip erdogan is sworn in for a third term as turkey's president, while his new cabinet could mean a u—turn on inflation. plus, the 2024 presidential campaign gets off to a roaring start in iowa. hello, i'm helena humphrey. great to have you with us. we start in india, where rescue efforts have now ended after the county's worst rail crash this century.

288 people are now known to have died and more