♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. pele who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i am ben thompso'e watching "the context" on bbc news. >> barehanding over our positions in the military. everything. including food rations. >> he wanted to show his forces could do what the russian military couldot do. and he has hailed it as a great victory for his force. >> we are going to keep strengthening ukraine's position. we are going to get ukraine's defenders what they need when they need it. we are going to remain united.

we are going to standby ukraine for as long as it takes. ♪ ben: hello to you. welcome to the program. does the bloody battle for now over? the head of a russians military group says its forces will hand over the city to russian forces as it declares victory. kyiv says it could control pockets of the city. also on the program, migration is not out of control. the u.k. prime minister says the number of people coming to the u.k. is still too high, after new figures show net migration hit a new record. as business demands more workers will assess new visa systems. armed officers to sit -- descend on central london after a car crashes into the. gates of downing street. . . police say a man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and

dangerous driving. the instance is not being treated as terror related. after a storm of races abuse against him, the president of la liga denies the spanish football league is racist. he calls for the power to prosecute those who are found guilty. what could the legal learn from bertens premier league? we will assess that. we start with ukraine. officials have dismissed claims that the city of has fallen to russia after mercenary said they began handing over control of the eastern city to moscow's army. the battle for the city has been the longest and bloodiest of the war. with this aerial footage taken this month, it shows intense showing in a residential area. those people had already fled before the fighting broke out. is of little value to moscow, but its pture would be a symbolic victory for russia. part of that recording is made

by the russian mercenary group. >> we are withdrawing units from bakhmut. today, it is 5:00 a.m. on the 25th of may. by the first of june, the main parts of the unit will be relocated at the rear camps. we are handing over our positions to the military. ammunition, positions, everything, including food rations. ben: let's take you live to the capital. we are joined by our correspondent who is a member of the ukrainian parliament. thank you for being with us on the program. we hea it there, the head of the group, saying they will hand over bakhmut to russian forces. talk to me about the symbolism, the significance of that. we know it has been the scene of the bloodiest fighting of this war. strategically, not particularly important for russia, but symbolically, hugely sniffing and. >> 100%.

the beating heart of this war, the city of bakhmut, is continually beating. as you have rightfully said, symbolical. no one understands what the strategy is of the russian army. and you know, i think they have confirmed in this video that you have provided another failure of the special group, which i am sure will be recognized by many national parliaments and the counselor of europe where we work -- where they work as a terrorist organization. which is now -- which has now taken over in bakhmut, even though the advance on the flanks without artillery fire, which the russian army is trying to attack us with, are failing. the flanks are still controlled by ukrainian army.

this is just yet another example of the escalations which happened for more than 15 months of the full-scale invasion. we have been watching brilliant operations conducted with recent military supply and temporary occupied territories. we are legible to operate within the 1991 borders and. liberate every village and town. . i think they are trying to save wagoner, which will not be possible any longer. ben: you touched on it there, kyiv saying it controls pockets of the city. but fundamentally, those pockets are small. russia has one in bakhmut, hasn't it? >> i think it is too early to say that. in t recent communications we are having directly with brave soldiers in bakhmut, it has been confirmed -- the army says we are still there. and this is a very direct

message. i don't think we should go ahead with the myths. ben: wagner group says if russian forces are unable to hold that position that they have won in bakhmut, they are happy to return. let me know it is not that simple -- but we know it is not that simple. russian forces will be keen to fill in there. bakhmut not strategically important, but it will give it greater access, give russia greater access to all of that area, which in itself is important. all of the donetsk area. >> i would like to emphasize as a person coming from kharkiv, which faced the aggression, one third of its territory was under occupation, liberated last year, brilliant operation of ukrainian army. every village, every town, every big and small city is vitally important for ukrainian army and

our president as a leader. and every politician and every ukrainian citizen. we can't estimate what is more important or less important. but we are witnessing currently another failure of the russian strategies, which are not operated even for the internal audience. i think way, the way that he has spoken, he is trying to save his own team. at the same time, progress, given to the russian army, which will not be realistic on the ground. to say, ukraine continues to receive great nato weapons, which are operating in the sovereign territory. therefore, i assume there will be another wave of information for internal market. that we are witnessing that russians are not willing to be recruited to the russian army for whatever reason.

they have no motivation. they have low expectations because they are not receiving enough support. he has confirmed it multiple times in his address. we are only aiming for successful liberation operations of our army. and thanks to u.k. and other partners, we do believe it can be realistic at the nearest time. ben: it is really good to have you with us on the program. thank you. that is a ukrainian parliament member for harkey. let's speak to retired colonel brendan kearney. he spent a long time, more than 30 years, in the u.s. marines and is in -- is a military affairs analyst. it is good to have you on the program. i hope you were able to hear a little of that conversation we were having. a suggestion that this is a failure of russian strategy. is that how you see what is going on in bakhmut? >> good to be with you again>>.

she made some interesting statements there. again, i try to be impartial in the sense of giving you a military perspective. in this particular case, i think it is very simple. i don't think anybody knows what the russian strategy is. i think this effort in bakhmut that has gone on for a number of months at great cost to the wagner group and to the russians who are suprting them, the logistic game that has supported the wagoner group, and to the ukrainians, i'm not sure what they accomplished. it is of little tactical operational, or strategic value. this has just been a meat to the benefit of the ukrainians. ben: the wagner group said they would withdrawal, they will hand over that ground to russian troops. from a military strategy point

of view, do you think russian troops can hold that ground? >> it all depends on what the ukrainians want to do. how much effort they want to put to regaining background. statements really define common sense from a military perspective. you don't announce when you are going to have a relief in place. it is a difficult military operation that has to be very carefully choreographed, normally between units that are very familiar with each other. the british expeditionary forces in france and world war i developed this into an art form. and i say that with a great deal of admiration. pro-goshen, the operational security it aspects of him announcing this ahead of time, basically tells ukrainians hey, look, we will be weak for the next couple days, because we will be going back and forth,

relieving forces, the wagoner troops trying to make their way to the rear repair the russian forces coming to the front to occupy those positions. this is a mature hour. if the ukrainians want to, they could turn this into a real defeat for the russians. but if they want to. ben: we have talked about this before whether there are three key players. russian forces, ukrainian forces, and wagner group. is this a different narrative that is now playing out and saying look, we have done our job, it is over to you? >> yes and no. he has clearly handed the responsibility, at least verbally, over to the russian military. at the same time, in his statement, the one i read, he basically was saying look, we are going to the rear, but we are ready to come help you. it is almost like he is implying

that you guys can't handle it,wn military is just not going to receive that very well. and you hit the nail on the head. this is three different parties with their own agendas. the ukrainians have the symbol is one. they are defending in bakhmut. the russians and the wagner group seem to be operating from two different sheets of music. ben: we will talk again about this, i'm sure. really grateful for your insight. thank you for being with us. that is retired colonel brendan kearney, who spent 30 years in the u.s. marines. thank you for being with us. >> thanks, ben. ben: police in london have arrested a man after a car crashed into the gates of downing street. the home of the u.k. prime minister. the man was detained on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving. there are no reports of any

injuries. short while ago, police at the instance was not being treated as terror related. let's show you what happened. what you can see here is a white car. you can see it crossing, approaching the entrance to downing street. the car does appear to slowdown before hitting the gates. they are staffed around-the-clock by armed and unarmed police officers. we can see here the car being taken away. that happened a short while ago. the prime minister was in downing street at the time, but has since left for a scheduled visit. let's speak to helen katz, in western mr. -- western minster. the car has been removed. police are keen to say that this is not being treated as a terror related incident. do we have a clue what happened? >> we know from the footage you have j shown that we saw this car across whitehall about 20 minutes past 4:00, and collide

with the gates of downing street. it was resting against those gates there. it stayed there for several hours until in the last hour, this flurry of activity. a forensics officer was send down a quarter past 7:00. he took photographs from different angles, trying to take those. the number plates were removed. then it was lifted onto the back of a policrecovery vehicle, and taken away about a quarter to 8:00. all the accordance have come down and everything is back to normal. on whitehall, it is a busy street in the middle of london. as you sent, a man was arrested on the scene by armed police. he was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving. we are told that it is not being treated as terrorism. that is all what we know at the moment about what may have happened. ben: we can see the security arrangements behind you. what is incredible, when you look at that footage, and in the minutes before and the minutes after the car driving into the

entrance to downing street, you can see how quickly the police are on the scene. it was a very rapid response. that is exactly what the police there are designed to do and trained to do. >> westminster is one of the most heavily guarded bits of westminster. there are armed police on the gates of downing street at all times, they would have already been in place. there are also unarmed police here. there are usually police armed and unarmed at various buildings all around this building. we are a stones throw away on the back of the police headquarters, that is over in that direction. this is a heavily policed area of london. very quick response on the scene. there are specific units which are deployed purely to protect the government buildings, to protect permanent, the parliamentary and diplomatic protection group. there are always a lot of dedicated police here ready to respond to this kind of incident. ben: it is good to have that

update. helen cat, live in westminster. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. let's have a look at the other stories making headlines across the u.k. most households in england, scotland and wales will see gas and electricity bills come down this summer, after the energy regulator announced a cut in the price cap from july. a typical bill will fall by 400 pounds. prices are not expected to fall much further over the rest of the year, and could edge up again in the winter. nine people have been arrested for allegedly taking part in a riot that followed the deaths of two boys. four men aged between 16 and 29 were arrested in the ely area, and 121-year-old detained. it follows four arrests following the disorder on monday. in southern portugal, police stigated the disappearance of madeleine mccann. they finished their search. the operation at a reservoir around 30 miles from where the

30-year-old vanished into thousand seven has been led by german police. they have named christian bruckner as their main suspect, he is serving a prison sentence for rape. you are live with bbc news. the head of la liga in spain has said racism can never be 100% eliminated. having our was speaking to the bbc after they -- he says he believed racist insults could be driven out of the country's stadium within months the leak would need greater powers. three valencia fans were arrested after he was challenged and challenged his abusers at the weekend. their club stadium has been partially closed for five games as punishment. our correspondent sat down with him for annterview and asked him if he was frustrated with his organization's perceived

lack of power to act. >> eliminating this problem 100% will never be possible. the same way that totally eliminating robberies end other crimes is impossible. but we do -- but we would reduce it a great deal. if we were given the necessary powers, in six or seven mohs, we could say that we don't have racism. ben: let's speak to the head of player engagement at kick it out, an organization that works within football and educational sectors to challenge discrimination and encourage inclusive practices. thank you for being with us on the program. it is good toalk with you. how do you feel when you listen to that clip that the spanish league is not racist? given that behavior that we saw at the match? >> unfortunately, we have all of the evidence for that. that it exists in their leagues. it has existed before him. and he has been the target of some pretty horrendous abuse way

before the abuse he received on sunday. for me, they need to on that. he needs to acknowledge the fact that they have a lot of work to do. one of the things that you said was that they -- he said that they could eliminate it within six or seven months. that will not happen. you have people entering your stadiums that are going there to target the black skinned players. it has happened before. it has not been acknowledged before. because of the strength in the game and the understanding of his talent, he personally flagged up the abuse and has continued to flag up the abuse he has received. i would say is tebas in the organization only responding because of the global outreach? because if they really thought this was a massive problem in their leg, they would have started this problem -- this ocess a long time ago. while we acknowledge there is a process ongoing and thereave

been arrests, and they are trying to take it to legal, i am wondering why it has taken this long, this far, for that process to have started? ben: they say that process is ongoing. tebas saying that eliminating it will never be 100% possible. i wonder whether that is realism or simply a resignation and acknowledgment of failure? >> here in england, i would never say that we can eliminate racism and discrimination out of our game in this country. but you have to make sure you have effective measures to eliminate it -- sorry, to try and reduce it in your country. that is quite obvious. unfortunately, we don't control the fans. there will always be fans who, because of the tribalism of the game, take offense to black players because of the quality of their football. we have been handed in that process for 30 years in this game. while there is a better practice

in english football, for the spanish president to ce out of the leak and say, it will take six or seven months, shows he is not truly aware of the scale of the issue and the problems that exist in laliga. i will reiterate, an understanding of the problems that exist, a commitment to do better in this space, and then we will judge as time goes on. six or seven months is massively optimistic for me. ben: i want to talk about what the powers, what the sanctions may be. because we know he has asked for additional powers from the spanish government. he said simply that they need two laws amended to give them the authority to impose greater sanction. what does he not have that he says he would need? >> this is the area that surprises me. again, relating it back to the english leagues and the fa, our governing body, they have the

rights to sanction. they have the rights to band, and they have the rights to escalate the situation too. i'm wondering why that has never been the case in spain, why they never thought -- fought strong enough to think it was the case. i presume that they are passing on the evidence to the legal areas of the spanish judicial system, wondering why they have never called for it before. and again, i will revert back to the fact that it seems to me that they have never felt any of these situations have en serious enough to do that. the fact that he is calling for it now, i will say again, i think he is under stress because of the global outreach, because of the brazilians who have quite righy come out in support of their player. and we will see where that lands with him. i agree. laliga should, have the powers to ban the powers, to shut

stadiums down, and they should have the powers to eliminate fans from the staini. ben: it is good ttalk with you. he is from kick it out. 2022. u f n.kesigewwe surdho net migration, the difference between the number of people coming to live in the u.k., and the number of people leaving. that rose to 606,000 last year, driven by the from non-eu countries arriving for work and study after the pandemic. that in itself is up from 488,000 in 2021. the figure includes people coming to the u.k. under resettlement schemes from ukraine, because of the war, and hong kong, after the political crackdown in the former british territory. let's talk more about those numbers. . we are joined by an expert on skilled worker visas, sarah barnard. thank you for being with us. if you look at what we have seen

in those figuresrishi sunak says he supports a more pragmatic approach. one seems he is talking about skilled visas. how do you r that? what do you take that to mean? sarah: i think it is a good thing, because 15% of migration is coming from people who are being -- who are on a skilled worker visa, that is great. we need people to fill the 3.2% of jobs. as you said, most of the migration is not coming from the eu anymore. before anyone could come here, regardless of their qualifications, regulating migration and specific -- ben: politically, it feels more palatable if it is a skilled visa. there, there is a time limit. it is more controllable. but we know there is a huge

pblem? a backlog of applications when businesses are crying out for workers to help boost the economy, which we are also polled is a political priority. ben: -- sarah: there is a backlog because it skilled worker visas are difficult to get. employers have to make -- make sure they get job code and salary. they have to make sure it is compliant for every individual visa, which is what causes the backlogs he were talking about. the main solution that we see is using technology available to them to speed up this process, so the u.k. can see the maximum benefit of these visas as quickly as possible. ben: it's good to have you with us on the program. thank you. that is sarah barnard. it is a story that we will talk about again. there are proposals to use ai that may be able to speed up the processf processing those visa applications. much more on all of those stories too on the website, including our top story, that

news from bakhmut that the waggoner mercenary group says it is in control of bakhmut. it will hand over the city to russian forces on june 1. kyiv says it is still in control of pockets of the city. but nonetheless, a fierce battle for the city of bakhmut. more on all of those stories coming up for you. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also proviby, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i thk that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.