a myanmar militaryjet circles a primary school. after seizing power in a coup, they are trying to crush an uprising, demanding democracy. when they think it's safe, they run. but the plane circles back.

explosion and gunfire. 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. captain 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 tattoo 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's a resistance fighter. his unit is part of a civilian militia network, called the people's defence forces. gunfire

they're 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's group seized a military base, capturing three soldiers. shouting. and 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 air power, 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 aircrafts the military are using. the russian presence has become more important. the military�*s actions have been condemned by most nations, but russia — who 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 of 2021, they will continue to provide the myanmar military with air force assets. with russia's help, the military is upgrading its air force, with these fighterjets. 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 8,000kg, 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. chanting 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. gunfire. 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.

and how did your mum 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 their former enemy, 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 captain aung a year to defect and flee across the border to

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

despite her injury, she is fighting on. she hasn't seen herfamily in over two years.

singing.

hello there. temperatures have been creeping up day—by—day and on thursday, we saw the warmest day of the year so far in wisley in surrey. 32.6 celsius, rounding up to 33 degrees. now, most places ended thursday on a dry, warm and muggy note, but some pretty ferocious thunderstorms, northern ireland through scotland have been raging. they will continue to clear the way northwards of the early part of friday and then we'll start to see some low cloud, mist and fog rolling in off the north sea, affecting eastern scotland and north—east england. a very warm and muggy nights come for all areas, particularly across the south. so we start off with this grey,

misty, foggy weather across eastern scotland through the firth of forth and across north—east england. it will gradually burn back to the north sea coast as we move through the morning. so sunshine will make an appearance here fairly quickly, but for most it's another dry, sunny and hot and humid day. a bit of high cloud building across england and wales later on. then we could start to see some thundery showers pushing into the south—west of england as we push into the evening. mid to high 20 celsius, up to 29 degrees or so for north—east scotland, low 30s for south—east england, another hot day to come. through friday night, we could see these showers, thunderstorms becoming a bit more extensive across central and northern areas, but of mist and murk around some coasts. otherwise, for most, it's another dry and a warm, muggy night. so into saturday then, we start off with plenty of sunshine around it'll feel very humid at this point. start to see more wind, cloud, breeze picking up for north—west of scotland

with this weather front. ahead of it will start to see some showers and thunderstorms breaking out. certainly across scotland, northern ireland, maybe northern parts of england and wales. very hot on saturday, we could be up to 33 celsius again in the south—east. temperatures will be coming down, though, in the north—west. for sunday we start to see some changes — the air starts to destabilise from the atlantic as these weather fronts encroach in. so although much of england wales will have another hot and sunny day, there is the threat of showers and thunderstorms becoming more widespread in the north and the west. temperatures will be coming down across scotland and northern ireland closer to the seasonal norm, but still another hot day for england and wales with 30 celsius or so in the south—east. the heat lasts for monday across south—eastern areas, but then all areas will be cooler with sunshine and showers for the rest of the week.

live from washington, this is bbc news. world leaders make their way to new delhi, as the indian capital gears up for the g20 summit. dozens of civilians and soldiers are killed in two separate attacks by islamist militants in mali. and the us promises additional support for ukraine, including controversial weapons as its counter—offensive shows progress. hello, i'm carl nasman. in the coming hours, world leaders will begin arriving in new delhi ahead of this weekend's g20 summit. recent meetings have been dominated by russia's war in ukraine, but india has chosen to shift the group's focus to issues affecting the developing world.

the capital is preparing for the most high—profile event