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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello, i'm christian fraser and this is "the context." >> this is a place where russia has really asserted its dominance. it is the black sea athlete from which it has launched history, blockaded ports. >> before february last year, russians proclaimed that the black sea is a russian lake. now things are changing. it's a huge signal that ukrainian forces started actually the occupation of crimea. >> but now, almost one year and

seven months into the so-called special military operation against ukraine, the heart of russia's black sea athlete suffered a pretty humiliating attack. ♪ christian: an attack on the hequarters of russia's black sea athlete in crimea. the ground war might be frozen but the attacks are intensifying behind russian and ukrainian lines. president zelensky now in ottawa is winning the argument. the canadiens will provide more, the u.s. has just announced it will supply the long-range missiles kyiv so badly wanted. we'll get reaction. also the lower commission in england recommendations rape trials be held without members of the media in court.

and two of the biggest master recess collapse. good evening. when russia invaded ukraine in february last year, the ukrainian navy was outnumbered 12-1 but the russian black sea athlete. they were not considered a meaningful force inny way. in the last 10 days, ukraine has destroyed a submarine, one of only six that russia operated in the black sea, a large landing shim, a communications center of the russian black sea athlete on the crimian peninsula and today they hit the athlete tees main headquarters. the naval done and missiles developed and adapted in ukraine now target russian shims in their own home ports and that has eroded much of rush i-'s naval superior. six vessel have left the main port of odessa through a

temporary corridor. two of them sailing for asian and african markets and all that without any permission being sought from russia. we have the latest from our correspondent. >> this is a clearly a continuation of ukraine's tactic of specifically targeting sites in outed crimea but the apparent direct hit o russia's naval headquarters is hugely symbolic. it's not yet clear what operational damage will be caused for russia but this is a place where it has exerted such dominance through its navy, where it lawrence missiles across ukraine and blockades ukrainian ports. i think in undermines russia's continued occupation in a place that seems a corner stone of itself invasion from as far back at of as 2013.

-- 2014. what ukraine is trying to do is frustrate russia's supply lines an isolate swath of occupied territory in the hope that troops will one run out of supplies. president zelensky has just completed a visit to the u.s. he's in canada currently and i think we're seeing battlefield progress increasingly getting linked to the politics of it all. yes, he's been warmly welcomed by both corners but there are political factions that have grown increasingly skeptical as to how long they should be pump thing funds into ukraine. zelensky is having to do a fair bit of negotiating in his foreign policy. member of the yugoslav and canadia christian: let's speak to a former member of the canada oral armed forces and the weapons

specialist. welcome you have to. the fact that the ukranians are event shipping grain from odecembera shows how much the balance of power has shifted in the black sea. would it be true to say now that areas to have black sea are not safe for the rsian athlete? >> the shipping grain or sending the commercial ships into certain routes, it's advantage for ukraine but not something that rushier actually interfered. they may do that in the near future but they don't see any reason to do that so ukraine is going to continue with that but the implication on the overall exports or provoking any reaction of the russian black sea athlete is not really significant according to the circumstances. christian: it would be a gamble, wouldn't it? on the evidence of what's

happened in the last 10 days. it would be now a gamble for the russians which shows how far the game has shifted. >> yes, because the shims are basically sailing through the black sea but ukraine doesn't have any means to detect those ships so all intelligence is coming from nato. so nato has assets that will pinpoint locations to the russian ships so that those naval drones and aerial drones can be launched from the ukrainian side and also, nateo is involved in the guidance and more importantly, they are actually following the positions andanythings of the russian air defense system that record regarding thi attack, it is obviously supported by some means of intelligence provided over the romannian territorial waters by one of the nato

planes. christian: can we talk about what's going on elsewhere at the moment? pictures of the area where president zelensky and prime minister trudeau will include. more training for f-16 pilots and there's speculation that the white house is going to ok the sending of the longer-range missiles. what sort of a game changer would that be? >> first, regarding canada. canada already shipped whatever was available. the canadian armed forces, here we face a lot of shortages. for example, i think we sent 12 leopard tanks. richs, infantry weapons and also

anti-tank lawrence but very minor -- there were -- they were in questionable conditions. canada doesn't offer f-16's so canada can give some kind of general flying training but contribution to f-16 will be zero because we don't have that. we have f18 which is not still on the list but i will not exclude that in the near future. some to the available canadian planes may be shipped. the u.s. the talking about limiting the number. those misses are old ones. ukraine nopalses enough stronger weapons.

french version. ballistic resource -- they're much easier to engage because they have ballistic trajectory. so russia has the means to do that. they have amendment ballistic systems available so in my opinion there is nothing going to change. ukraine may be able to launch a couple of them and neighbor even score some hits but ukraine needs to achieve some success on the battlefield and that is now bogged down because ukraine is suffering terrible casualties. since this morning more than 4500 cautious through the whole front line and a few ballistic missiles, event 100, can't change anything. christian: but then, like you say, they do have the storm shadow and a cruise missile we think was exploded at the

headquarters. what does that say about the s s-300 systems. they were much feared before the war started. >> er in, the best systems in the world. christian: but not that good. >> no, please by realistic. those -- be realistic. those systems are proven. nato is providing information. nato is pinpointing location of the individual lawrence, individual fighter controller systems. ukrainian forces are doing plenty for the attack. everything is information. ukraine doesn't have the means to do anything without nato. ukraine simply can't do anything. russia, the implication of this attack is more symbolic. slap in the face. ukraine will do much more if

they get a launch rocket system. those systems are the ones that are hammering you cranian troops in the field. it's in the building, no matter how spectacular that is, yeah, for the p.r. stance, marketing and morrall, it's excellent but the strategic or tactical implication is zero and on the ruian side, people are now starting to call for retall tori attacks for destroying bridges and infrastructure. russia is not going that for now. in war is not going to finish anytime soon. christian: mike, thank you very much for that and you're looking at pictures of the situation in ottawa where if the zelensky and justin trudeau are scheduled to appear

trudeau pledged nearly $500 million to ukraine and hot on the heels of the world tour through the united states monday through wednesday. he received a series of standing ovations as he afforded canadian law makers, an honor he was refused by republicans yesterday in washington. he said ukraine would never give up. >> ukraine and canada are the same. we stand and we fight for life. ukraine, not genocide will be victorious in this war. people will be the winners, not the creme lincoln. freedom will be the winner. justice will be the winner. you can know this for sure about us because you know for sure about yourself, that you would never submit to evil.

[applause] christian: important trip, this, for president sch zelsky, given that some of the alleys are wavering. we saw that particularly yesterday on the republican side. there are reports om several sources that the european commission is about to begin membership talks begin with you crane in earnest and then e.u. leaders will be asked to sign off on it. most likely at their summit meeting in december. les talk with josefiak, talk to me about in. obviously it's all rumor and speculation at the moment but for a number of sources now saying the commission has made a decision. is that right? >> yeah, they are about to make

that sort of decision. they recognized that ukraine hadn't made sunt enough progress and these were recommendationses that commission set out a year ago. that will come in a larger reporter at the end of october most likely where they recommend ukraine and maldives will start talks. so likely 2023 is the time to clear the decks and move ahead and offering ukraine as a possibility is a symbolic low-hanging fruit they feel they can offer. christian: huge morrall builder for the ukrainians. ukraine's borders are come poise case for moldova. what is the change in the

thinking within the commission? >> of course, offering talks doesn't mean that ukraine will become a member today. it will take years. so right now this is sort of a call it the light at the end of the potential tunnel that we want you to be part of the european family but this is just is start of some very difficult negotiations that will go on. so yes, the country is at war right now. lots of other problems. economic problems, problems with corruption but is it is that sort of carrot they feel they can offer knowing full well that this is a process that will take time and hopefully that's the hopeful scenario for brussels and the west that by the time ukraine might be ready to join that they control most of their sovereign territory. christian: before y can accept an expanded union, you have to

reform the way the european union operates and there's an enormous debate to be had about how the rules would work. >> absolutely. i think you discussed on bbc yesterday, talks about the reforms that have to be made. they're enormous. example, such a simple thing that -- more than 700, will that be increased offer stay the same? the commission we have is already 27. way too many already. but they have to make efficient decisions because right now in the european union, most things are done by unanimity. that slows things down so to move that to some sort of majority voting wl be an enormous change and most likely need a treat is exchange. that usually means refunda in

some countries and those are not easy to win so this is a monumental task further your off-season union. christian: would it be universally accepted among the 27 leaders if it was put to them in december? >> my indication is that it will. i think the country to look out for is obviously hungary. they have a slightly different view on ukraine compared to others. >> do they have a veto? >> absolutely, they do but brussels is an exciting place at the end of december. hungary needs money and e.u. money has been frozen for hungary so i can see a quid pro quo happening there just before christmas. christian: thank you for telling us about it. those are the pictures from ottawa. at the moment they're all on standby there and it could be some time yet so we'll bring that to you when we see it. around the world and across the

u.k., this is bbc news. a ick look at other stories making news today. detectives investigating the depth of 10-year-old sh sha shareef, releasing pictures of her. her stepfather and uncle have been charged with her murder. considering reform of the school system here in england. the prime minister's plans could include the compulsory study of math and english up to the age of 18. the shakeup of a-levels would be controversial but no final decision has yet been taken. king charles and queen camilla have wrapped up a three-day state france visit to france. they ended up in a vineyard in the southwestern city of bordeaux where they samp -78d

some wine. two days of formal events in paris where he gave a speech to the french senate. you're live with bbc news. the car workers in the united states are expanding the strikes across the country in a move that could cost the u.s. economy billions in lost revenue. talks with two of the big three manufactures. g.m. and the jet stream maker have collapsed and in response the auto union workers s they'll order awalkout ott 38 plants in 20 different states. it's not for the moment targeting ford where the talks are progressing toward a new contract. so here's what they're looking for, a 40% raise for workers over four years. a four-day workweek. wants the companies to restore cost of living provision. it wants a limit on part-time workers and forced overtime and also some protection from those

job losses thatay result from electric vehicle production. these companies are already idling workers who are on assembly lines that can't function. g.m. said it would lay off 2,000 of its worrs from its factory in kansas while ford told 600 workers not to report to work at its michigan plant. let's hear from the union boss. >> we invite and encourage everyone who sports our cause to join us on the pickett line. from our friends and families all the way up to the president of the united states, we invite you to join us in our fight. we will shut down parts distribution until those two companies come to their sens and come to the table with a serious offer. >> i'm joined by "the new york times" auto nova reporter. while we're talking to you, i'm going to show our viewers some live pictures of zelensky and

trudeau who just come out to meet the cap practice. just how serious is this? i read a few days ago that a 10-day total strike would cost the u.s. economy around $5 billion? >> yes, it would be very costly if it were an across the board strike. but what the union is doing this time around, this is a new strategy, they're calling very targeted strikes. the first wave started a week ago. it was three off plants. one owned by ford, one by g.m. and one they stalais. today they expanded those strikes but they're only targeting the fair part installation centers of g.m. and stalantis. it's only about 5,000 workers but it does hamper the companies because that means the flow of parts for repairs and

maintenance to dealerships is going to stop. so it's a very targeted strike and as far as any ripple effects throughout the economy, that hasn't been seen just yet. christian: president biden calls himself the most pro-union president there's been. what do you make of his response so far? >> he's trying not to go too far in either direction. he doesn't want to oppose the union but he's being careful not to go overboard in support of the union. he's walking a very tight line there and the democrat ek presidents typically get the endorsemt to have u.a.w. i think in the end that will eventually happen but for now they're withholding that in hopes of getting more support from president biden in this strike. christian: what is it that ford is offering that the other two are not? >> they're all offering about

20% wage increases over four years. formed said they would give cost of living adjustments if inflation rises before a certain rate. all the workers would get their pay bumped u789 to soften the blow of that inflation. they're also offering to wipe out tiered wages where new w workers make significantly less than older workers. they have agreed to allow the union to strike over plant closures. that's something that in the past has been negotiated and not allowed but formed is going that far. the other far haven't moved nearly as far on those issues and those are big ones that the union cares about beyond wages. christian: i mentioned in the introduction that this doesn't just affect the striking workers, does it? it affects nose who are being laid off from assembly lines that just can't function. >> that's true and as you mentioned in the intro, there are 2,000 workers at a g.m.

plants in fairfax, kansas. that plant is not the target of the strike but g.m. has shut down operations there and laid off the workers because it is getting parts from the plant that is the target of the strike and this is why the union is making this limited strike. they're don't want to hurt other people, say workers at suppliers or workers at companies and a half business with these factories. they want to try to make it as targeted and make the fain mainly by the automakers themselves as opposed to the other people connected to those locations. christian: it's getting serious, when you combine that with the actors and hollywood strike. two big things on president biden's plate. thank you for that. you'll have seen that justin trudeau is on his feet and just addressing the core important there at the press conference.

he is in english now so let's get to that. >> ensuring ukraine has the predictable support it needs for long-term success. as part of this approach i'm announcing $650 million in new military assistance over the next three years to supply ukraine with 50 armored vehicles, including armored medical evacuation vehicles that will be built by canadian workers in lonn, ontario. [applause] we will also contribute pilot and maintenance strictors to the joints coalition f16, as well as support for leopard tank maintenance. [speaking in french] christian: so there you have it. the contracts just signed at the table before they went to the podium. three years of support from the canadiens, including some 50

armored vehicles as well as training of f16 pilots, although is as you heard from my guest at the top of the program, that would not necessarily be training for pilots, more for maintenance crews that narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.