good morning, everybody. welcome you joining us wherever you are around the world. fresh evidence of attacks on kyiv this morning. an extraordinary act of dee defiance from the russian state. and while china denied helping russia, the foreign minister says there is no unequivocal condemnation on the invasion.

we will speak later, and helping to speak to ukraine deputy foreign minister, ukraine's ambassador to the u.k., on this tuesday, the 15th of march. >> explosions heard in kyiv just before sunrise, as fighting continues. russian strikes a residential neighborhood in kyiv. at least one person has been killed. >> china dismisses claims by the united states that russias a requested military help from beijing, there are no guarantees from china that it condemns the invasion. >> we haven't heard that statement from china but what we are looking to do is to be assured that china and every other country around the world is condemning russia's actions.

>> hitting back, ukrainian military released this footage of them striking a russian tank as president zelenskyy says progress and peace talks have been pretty good. >> they're lying to you. the russian state employee, arrested. >> and the u.k. fast tracking laws to sanction more oligarchs. we will speak to the prime minister, dependence on russian oil and gas has left many open to blackmail. u.k. unemployment falls below pre-pandemic levels but rocketing inflation hits

earnings. also coming up for you on the program, this morning, trying to escape, a man trying to get his young daughter out of moldova and into the u.k. ♪ and an abode to ukraine, we will speak to a performer, and almost 100 other musicians in a symphony of solidarity. good morning. ukraine's president says progress and peace talks have been pretty good. but also there is reported evidence of explosions in two ukrainian cities, and a russian strike that hit a residential neighborhood in kyiv.

here's what happened overnight. russian forces have continued bombing suburbs around the capital of kyiv with live blasts heard before sunrise. explosions and gunfire were heard overnight in kharkiv in the north east of the country. these are the latest pictures from kyiv. a series of russian strikes hit a residential neighborhood this morning. 18 miles from the city center. at least one person has been killed. others are thought to be possibly trapped inside the building. ukraine military say they were after the strikes. president zelenskyy was described progress and peace talks with russia as pretty good. the u.k. is set to sanction more oligarchs. the west made a terrible mistake continuing to rely on russia oil

and gas after invading crimea and open to blackmail from putin. the prime minister is headed to saudi arabia this evening to explore other options for oil. and more than 43,000 people are signed up to take in ukrainians under the government's homes for refugees scheme. martha reports. >> with hailed progress in peace talk, russia's warplanes continued their relentless bombardment across the country. the second city of kharkiv coming under heavy fire last night. there is a crackdown on the war in russia but from the bleakness came this act of bravery. >> in a country where denouncing the invasion of ukraine, this employee interrupting one of russia's most watched news

programs. it's propaganda, the sign reads they are lying to you here. stop the war, she chants. as the anchor tries to drown her out. marina was arrested shortly afterwards. but she has pre-recorded this message. >> with a glimpse of opposition to this war, within russia, even as much of it has been scared into silence, horror that the relentless bombardment of ukrainian nabs, new strikes have brought fresh devastation. residents of this ruined apartment block picking through the refuge of their lives. president zelenskyy says talks between ukraine and russia would

continue today as he made a direct plea to russian soldiers. >> we will take lives, there are a lot of you, but your life should also be taken. why should you die? what for? i know you want to survive. we intercept your conversations. we hear what you really think about this senseless war. about this disgrace and about your state. >> despite, diplomatic hope remains. as the war enters the 20th day, the suffering of the ukrainian people multiplies. it's difficult to compute loss on this scale. the national ukrainian refuge has released video showing forces firing on a russian vehicle in mariupol. 2,357 people have been killed in

the besieged port city. a short while ago, i asked whether china had condemned russia's invasion or given us any guarantee it will not get involved. we have reports that moscow had asked beijing for help. >> the statements in the public domain, we feel that the country should be really unequivocal in their opposition to what's going on. they should condemn. a lot of countries did so at the united nations. we would like everybody to continue pushing russia, as you said, in your introduction, we're introducing now, or rather just last night, legislation was passed which enables us to apply even more sanctions on top of the ones that we've already applied. and what we want to do is have international communities speak with one voice, condemning this attack, and putting real financial pressure on to vladimir putin so he can no longer pursue this war progression against ukraine. >> and i do want to talk about

oligarchs in a second but i want to quantify, haz china guaranteed to the u.k. that they will not get involved in the war in ukraine? >> well, we haven't had that statement from china, but what we are looking to do ensure that china and ever other country around the world is condemning russia's actions. >> thanks for joining us. china, they have not given us assurances that they won't get involved. what would you say? >> yes, we just had word from james cleverly this morning, china has been pursuing a strategy over the last years to be a huge global player, interconnected in the world, and imbedded with other country, cultural relationships, trading

relationships, and if china wants to be a global player, then it needs to play its part in helping to make this world a safer place, and not signing up for russian aggression and not supporting what putin is currently doing in ukraine, with the enormous russian aggression and invasion has to stop and there is a situation, there is rarely a situation where there is a right and wrong and this is wrong and this is my message to china. >> why should they listen to us? >> because china wants to be a global partner. it wants to be working with other country, it wants to be respected on the world stage and they are doing a good job at the moment, the world has done a good job speaking with one voice at the moment, we haven't seen that over the last few year, and you see the aggressive confrontational relationships that are between, for example u.k. and the rest of europe, that has fallen away in the last

few weeks and we have stood up to vladimir putin and russian aggression in ukraine and china needs to join us and make sure we speak with one voice. >> and what about saudi arabia, 81 people killed in one single day. >> i think it speaks to the absurdity of the government's actions over the last decade. we degraded our own energy security. we're overly reliant on foreign imports. that has become a big problem in relation to russia as you see. but it is not just the relation of russia, we shouldn't be reliant on countries that abuse human right force energy, that cut our vast storage facilities and slashed tariffs and blocked onshore wind, and that's why we are in this situation. the government needs to bring forward energy strategies. energy security strategies. they promised it last month. it didn't materialize. they promised it this month. it hasn't materialized. it is time. >> in the short term the prime minister has to hold his nose and do business with these people, surely. what else are we going to do?

>> he is in the most appalling situation but -- >> other governments do business with the saudis. >> but we did have an energy security strategy and we did take seriously investing in homegrown energy, particularly clean energy which is the fwurt, which safeguards the future of the planet but it does something that does something dear to my heart, it creates good jobs in places that have lost them. those jobs are being created in china and india and in the united states. and they're not being created here in the u.k. people in places here, that power this country, that built our work forces, deserve those jobs in their communities so their children and grandchildren can power through the next century through clean energy. it matters to everybody in this country and we haven't take continue seriously. >> looking at the center of one of the fracking communities, if you were, if we can describe it like that in the united kingdom, we have to decide today, tomorrow, the next day, whether or not to cap the wells.

what should they do? >> i am just appalled by the way in which the government seems to be standing back, and allowing companies to ride roughshod over community, and not very far, and then we have this situation in black bull, that caused a real concern, across the northern of england, about the impact of fracking and whether that was actually safe or not. we've said for a long time, the government should not be pressing ahead with establishing a new industry in gas against the wishes of local communities. we should be pursuing a clean energy strategy. >> it takes time. >> take it takes time but it takes will, a political will to do it. china has a major foothold of clean energy in the last decade because they have pressed the businesses to invest and they don't just want to be reliant on the united states anymore, they want homegrown energy and they want other countries not to be

reliant on them and this goes to the heart of national security, the government needs to start taking it seriously. >> how many ukrainian refugees can we take? >> at the moment i think the question is are we going to take too many, the question is are we going to take any at all. i have been appalled to see what is happening with the families, people are turned back at calais, in neighboring countries like romania, planes going all over the world, packed except the planes to london. >> and give the credit where it's due, they are trying to sort that out. >> it hasn't. >> this is part of the problem. reliance on the home office issuing a visa for people before they can even apply to the scheme. it is a a-page document. we're asking people who fled vladimir putin, who fled bombs

and asking for documents that they probably don't have, mortgage payments, and utility bills, and freezing cold and children with no place to stay until they are issued a visa. and they have to get to social media and advertise themselves and hope the british family will pick them up. they have to cut off the bu cracy. we can do bio metrics and we can get people in and get people in this winter. >> okay. talk to me about the new action bill that you've described as the future of our democracy. >> it is a real problem with what the government is saying. we've literally just passed measures passed through the house of common, the economic bill, to sanction russian oligarchs, the kremlin, putin, and to clean up the dark money that sustains the putin regime that's found its home in london over the last decade but at the

same time, the government is pressing ahead with measures, to make it easier, for russian money to infiltrate british politics. this is just absurd. it is absolutely wrong headed. it puts our national security at risk and we're saying the government has to drop those measures in the bill. >> i know that you have more but we will have to let it go. you are very much a sports fan. i told one of my son's friends that you were on today and what are they going to do to try to make sure that chelsea and chelsea fans are not finding themselves alongside roman abramovich. >> this is an issue from the heart. we went through almost losing our club a few years ago because we bought by someone who didn't care about the club or the town at all. a couple of things we got to do. of course, we want to keep, we want to make sure that the club can operate for the fans. we've got to get it out of the hands of abramovich and get it

into decent hands but this is a big problem in the sports world, that we've been far too lax in allowing people who are not fit and proper to come in and buy up big assets in this country that matter deeply to a lot of us, and they do it for a reason, they can exert major influence over our democracy. and makes a lot of money and it makes them basically untouchable by the government. >> at the israel airport, heading to moscow yesterday, but certainly not in the u.k. anymore. we're almost out of time. are the owners of newcastle -- >> well, i've actually been very outspoken about that and been very critical about it, but this is the problem. tracy crouch is the mp, is doing the review for the government, we need to put football back in the hands of the fans, my experience with athletics, is

that the people have the most stake in their club, who care the most about it and the life blood of the club, and people who least count, and that's got to change. >> thanks for joining me. good to see you. come back more often. thank you. let's get more on the developments concerning china this morning. and tom is standing by in beijing. hello, you heard what was said about china. and what the british government should and shouldn't be doing. talk to us about the latest situation. >> hi, kay, we're hearing from others speaking about china's global leadership ambitions and maybe that is a spur for them to help in the u.k., and so far, we've seen very little leadership on ukraine at all. they said they want to mediate but it's clear that it is saying it supports the mediation but

not offering -- the reason for that, it finds itself in a bind with the strategic partnership with russia. vladimir putin came here to beijing on the eve of the winter olympics and met with xi jingping and said their partnership had no limits and shortly after that russia invaded. and china has been offering rhetorical support, it refused to call it an invasion, it has repeated russian disinformation about u.s. labs in ukraine, it seems to be taking to russia, but not where it counts and actual action on the ground and that's why we have these reports in u.s. media outlets and british media outlets that russia has asked china for military equipment and assistance for the war in ukraine and what we haven't heard is beijing making a statement. and there is a fear on the u.s. side that china might get involved. and might become a proxy war between the nato and eu and china on the other side with ukraine and russia fighting very bloody in the middle of it.

we haven't seen any of that. i think china has been surprised by the strength of global reaction against the russian invasion and surprised by the strength of the eu reaction as well and a key trading partner. worried about a secondary sanctions. it stopped shipping aircraft supplies, aircraft parts to russia because it might be in fear of breaking the sanctions and it needs those aircraft parts and still relies on the west for large amounts of technology. so far, what it has been doing really is wait and see. the rhetoric is with russia. the actions are very firmly sitting on the sidelines sitting this one out so far. >> thanks so much indeed, tom. thank you. and lots to talk about at 9:00 but let's talk about the prime minister. >> the prime minister is going tonight to meet with the leader of saudi arabia who is also go be to the emirates as well. the world's two biggest oil exporters and basically saying we need to ween ourselves off of russian oil and gas, can you help us with the oil by pumping

more. now, he's coming back from that trip on thursday. we're not expecting something to happen immediately but doing a key in-person meeting to try to convince them at this unprecedented time when the u.k. and the u.s. has said we are not taking any more russian oil and the eu is trying to phase out russian gas and they buy a huge amount of that and we should have acted when russia invaded in crimea in 2014, it was a terrible mistake not to say that russian energy at that point and we have been at the mers i, mery with bullies like vladimir putin and now is the time to action. the former foreign secretary is setting it out for us, if you don't buy oil from russia, you have to buy it from saudi arabia, and people from iran and venezuela, both sanctioned,

human rights abusers. >> what did we hear? >> this is what he told us. >> we need saudi oil. i also would just say, as the world is waking up, we also need iranian oil. and we need mediterranean oil and we will have to see. it's not these things put aside all together, but frankly to attract negotiations, but in the case of saudi arabia, iran and venezuela, for example, those countries, we need our money, they want to sell more oil at the highest price at all and they won't mind at all about putting russia's nose out of joint if they can gain a greater market share of their own oil and gas markets. >> just looking at those pictures from kyiv as we're talking. tomorrow at 9:00, let's talk

about that. thank you. meanwhile, a debate over fracking as well. and which is drilling deep into the grund for gas isn't a new one. but it has been kicked back into life. in the wake of the war in ukraine. boris johnson has imposed a temporary ban on fracking back in 2019. but in our report, planning to reintroduce it in order to curb u.k.'s reliance on foreign imports. we have more in the newsroom. tell us more. >> good morning, kachlt a lot of people remember that the government put in place a moratorium on fracking back in 2020, over banning the practice, but with that invasion of ukraine, has come an energy supply crisis the likes of what we've never seen before and lots of people are calling for the government to make a u-turn, and that debate is centering around two shell wells in lancaster, the only two in the u.k., the government decided to plug those two wells by june 30th, and the people involved in those are

saying that the work must stop imminently, the chief executive of the firm behind those wells is calling for the decision to be withdrawn. and i know you will be speaking to him later but there is also pleasure with 40 tories and mps of britain, the prime minister beginning to rethink, it and you spoke about the potential for a u-turn earlier. here is what he had to say. >> the individual decisions is a matter for the energy department, but the point that i've made is that our direct travel in u.k. is to move toward an economically and diplomatically sustainable model of energy generation and moving away from foreign oil. >> and i think it is safe to say that fracking is a highly

divisive issue and opposed, drilling deep into the ground causes things like tremor and damages the local water supply. but as we enter an unprecedented energy crisis, i think that there will be plenty more calls for a u-turn. >> thank you. meantime russian forces have been shelling southern ukraine, and they want to capture, opening the route to odesa's russia's next strategic goals. nick is there for us on that. nick, explain to us, if you would, why it is so important to the ukrainians that they hold on to odesa? >> good morning, kay. odesa is a huge sea port. you've got to think of it like dover or the east coast, lots of goods come in and out, it is economically important, it is strategically important, and it

used to be the jewel in the crown of the soviet union, for a lot of reason, vladimir putin wants to seize this city. and which is why experts think that it is unlikely that the russians will pound it in a similar way that they have perhaps pounded other ports, because it wouldn't serve their purpose to damage such an important piece of infrastructure. although you could have said that about all of the other cities that are now under heavy attack. we spent the last few days here, in odesa trying to understand the people here, what makes them so determined to defend themselves. but we also yesterday went to the east of here, to nikoaliv, another sea part, crucial in the flow of agriculture and materials up and down the south coast. and what we saw there was a city really in the beginnings of being under siege. there's about 500,000 people living in the area, half of them, 250,000 people, have already left in the last week

and a half. by any means they can. on the way there, as we were going through checkpoints and barricades, we saw after bus coming towards us full of probably women and children. that is one of their only escapes. because one of the main bridges that crosses the river, if that gets damaged, they're still in the city and the only way out is through russian hell territory and that is clearly very dangerous. yesterday was one of the worst days of this crisis of this war in the capital kyiv. rocket attack on an apartment block killed one, and injured many more, it was a 15-story building. engulfed in flames. people were trapped. and our team on the ground said that it wasn't near any military installation, or equipment, and that only fuels the theory that the russians are prepared to target civilians. there is some hope in all of this. one of the big problems, trying

to open up humanitarian corridors, so that the innocent civilians in all of this can freely move to safety. there was some evidence yesterday that around 150 vehicles in mariupol, a city that has been pounded for nearly two weeks, was able to get out, and as i said, we saw people being able to leave mikhailaiv. people here fled north, west to moldova but a lot of people still staying in this city. peace talks, crucial peace talks today between ukraine and russia, they have to try to find an inch of ground to agree on before any of this chaos stops. but here in odesa, they are, and have been for a few weeks now, preparing for the worst because they know vladimir putin has his eyes set on sea ports like this and he will do anything to take them. >> thanks, nick. chelsea football club's omen

abramovich has been spotted in public, seen in a v.i.p. lounge at tel aviv airport waiting to depart to istanbul on a private jet and fly to moscow. we have more from istanbul. what more do we know? good morning. >> reporter: hi, kay. this is the first time we've seen, as you say, since the sanctions have been put on him, on thursday last week, in tel aviv airport, with, wearing a face mask around his chin, getting ready to get on the private jet to fly here to istanbul but he didn't stay here very long, he arrived in the afternoon yesterday and then he flew off to moscow, in the early hours this morning, we understand. so he isn't here anymore. what could he be up to? it's quite an interesting question. we know for example that russian oligarchs have been trying to get their money out of europe.

he has a super jet. which has been in montenegro bay. i looked at where it was last night on marine tracker and it is now heading down the coast of albania. solarus the super yacht that is worth $460 million pounds. which has a helio-pad and its own missile detection system. it is apparently on its way here. so it would be checking out places perhaps that he could keep the yacht here. but we also believe that he may have been trying to arrange, some say, the chelsea football club. he has been in talks, we can confirm, with a businessman here, he is a turkish billionaire, and we have spoken to his press officer this morning, who says that he did make with roman abramovich but not on this visit, last week and

has plans to meet with him again. that is an interesting development. but obviously roman abramovich can't sell chelsea football club because his assets have been frozen and the british government has made it very clear that any sale of the club, the assets would not go to roman abramovich but it may be, obviously, he started this negotiations at the beginning, at some point last week. and it may be that he might still be continuing those negotiations in the hope that at some point he can get those assets back. this turkish billionaire made his money in energy. he also is involved in cryptocurrency. and he also has development business here in turkish, in the turkish resort. so it is possible that that's part of the reason why he's been interested in turkey, but of course the world is getting much smaller for roman abramovich and

all of these oligarchs who are no longer able to keep their asset, it is not just the u.k., europe has also put sanctions on roman abramovich and he was in tel aviv and he is actually an israeli citizen, he is a port geez citizen as well, and he does have assets including a big mansion in tel aviv. and that has not been seized yet. unlike the mansions that he has in kensington and the penthouse that he has in west london. he lost those. those are currently in the control of the british government. >> okay. thanks very much, indeed. still to come on the program, for you this morning, we will be joined by ukraine's deputy prime minister with talks with russia aimed at achiefs a cease-fire continue today. struggling to get his young daughter out of moldova and into the u.k. and we chatted yesterday. and we will find out how well he has managed to move with that

during the last 24 hours. and also, we will speak to the head of travel as the u.k. plans to drop all remaining covid travel measures. l remaini covid travel measures. what is happening with unemployment figures. good morning. >> good morning. kay. we have the latest statistics today telling us what is going on in the world of work and jobs and wages. some good news. unemployment is down. employment is up. but there are some other, some more worrying trends going on, but i think the government is paying very, very close attention to. firstly, wages. and crucially, how they're behaving in relation to inflation. for the second month in a row now, what we call real wage, essentially, a wage that is adjusted for inflation, are down, and of course, they're down a whole percentage point on the three months to january, and they have actually fallen by the fastest since 2014, so quite a big drop in real wages. we know that inflation is very, very high. and unfortunately, we know it is

likely to go much, much higher. these are numbers for january that doon don't include what is happen -- that don't include what is happening in february an march when the war in ukraine broke out when we have seen huge rises in natural gas and oil and wheat and grain and all of those things. and inflation can be okay as long as what we are getting paid keeps up with it but what the government is saying if they get to a point where the families can't spend their money, that has complicated and difficult worrying impacts on the economy that still needs to be growing and businesses need to have people spending their money and that really matters. the other thing that we worry about is vacancies. and we haven't spoken as much about that in recent months. we talk a lot about the labor shortages. more than a million, 300,000, the highest on record. really, really major staff shortages and half of sectors now experiencing record vacancies. half of sectors. so really quite serious. and it matters because if

companies can't find staff, they have to put their wajs up, which means they in turn probably put the prices of their products up, which is inflationary pressures that we're seeing. and a worrying time for families certainly and it's something that i think that the chancllor will be very wary of in the statement next week. and a reminder, we are back with a special episode of ian king live looking at the war in ukraine and how it is affecting the global economy. that is this evening, 9:00 right here on sky news. meantime, mammalton is looking to add a sir name to -- hamilton is looking to add a surname. the formula 1 world champion will include a third middle name. he says he really wants mom's

name to continue on with the hamilton name and that is him, from her majesty. if you don't know what i'm talking about one more world champion, have a look at the final 45 seconds of that final race of the formula one season and you'll know what i mean. it's no more hard road for one rock icon who has taken it upon himself to fix some of potholes that plague britain's roads. he donned a suit and began filling potholes after complaining that they damaged his ferrari. now, if you're planning on doing a little sight-seeing, be sure to pack a windbreaker. a large saharan dust cloud out

of africa and toward the atlantic ocean. the pressure patterns and winds in the atlantic have caused a good environment for the storms to spread to other continents. we've seen it in desert regions of northern africa, more than 70% of the world's dust emissions. so you can see all of that on your car, you'll know where it came from. now, looking at our top stories for you this morning. >> explosions heard in kyiv just before sunrise as fighting continues too in the east of the country. >> ukrainian military strike a russian tank. as president zelenskyy says progress and peace talks have been pretty good. >> my goodness, russian state tv employee arrested after interrupting a live broadcast in protest against the war.

her father is ukrainian. the government says that it has streamlined its visa stream for ukrainians coming to the u.k. and that hasn't been the case for everyone using it, our next guest will tell us about his 2-year-old daughter and ex-pat, stuck in moldova for two weeks, fled ukraine and not given a passport to enter the u.k. just tell me, whether you have had any help in the last 24 hours and just going from day to day and not knowing what is happening. >> good morning, kay. thank you for having me on your show. yes, it's just been absolutely diabolical to be honest you with. the government can do a lot of talking but no action quite frankly. as you said, it is almost been three weeks now, i've been waiting for this u.k. passport. the communications has been terrible. the people on the phone are not very helpful at all. speaking to somebody that kept

on confusing moldova with dover and kent. and that doesn't give you much confidence in the system. another person didn't realize the republic of ireland was a different country with different rules. and you know, she meets the criteria. they have everything. what is taking them so long? they can't give me any answers. i've got automated emails saying it would be another ten days. we've made the decision. but they can't tell me what decision that is. it is just, it is ridiculous. you know, you can see the ukrainians digging ditches and filling sandbags and we're over here struggling with the bureaucracy. quite frankly i feel ashamed to be british right now. >> where is the log jam? >> yes, it's with the united kingdom, visa application center. the home office. but i mean i've been calling the home office, the visa centers,

the foreign commonwealth development office. everybody. you just get diverted to the same phone line. and you get an automated message saying they can't look into your application. or somebody takes your email and your phone number and says someone will get in contact. but it's just not working. the reality of it is totally different. >> and in the meantime, what's happening with the family? how are you coping? >> well, fortunately, the 25th, the day of the invasion, i managed to get them into, a hotel, a lot of the hotels and asias were fully booked so did -- and airbnbs were fully booked and they're there at the moment and they're safe but they're massively frustrated and feeling let down by the u.k. government, as am i oochs. you know and everybody i speak to, is the u.k. government, remove the red tape, make it simple, do what every other european nation is doing, and

you know, the u.k. visa, visa free travel, it's very frustrating, as you can imagine. >> i can't imagine. i really can't. so we are certainly doing what we can on our end. we will check in with you in another couple of days and see how you're getting on. but if there is anything else we can do in the meantime, keep in touch. we will keep in touch with you to see what we can do to help. thank you. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. now, eu finance ministers discussions sanctions against russia and member states have agreed on a package of sanctions and we're hearing from the minister earlier telling us there is a package as far as the british government is concerned and still in brussels, good morning, laura, what is the eu planning? >> hi, kay. listen, it is a fourth set of sanction, all agreed last night, that it is going even further now. so it is going to include a ban on the import of russian steel,

it's going to target more individuals, more organizations, people really close to putin, close to the kremlin, and the biggest name on that list, as we've been hearing roman abramovich and bans on the import of luxury items. a wide list, things like luxury cars, jewelry, diamonds, caviar, even cigar, and the president of the european commission says she does not like the fact there are people in russia enjoying lavish lifestyles while bombs are falling on innocent people in ukraine. so these sanctions are designed to further isolate russia and to put the squeeze on the russian economy and its ability to finance the war even further, it does of course though cover the cost to the eu, and certainly comes at a cost to some eu countries more than others, those who have much closer links to russia, and this morning, as i speak, finance ministers, are meeting here, to look at the impacts of sanctions, and the impacts of european economies and they are saying there is

acceptance that sanctions are important, but they can only go so far, economic sanctions, they cannot change the course of this war, which is why we're seeing this huge shift in european policy recently, to include a military involvement, as we've been hearing now providing ukraine with weapons to help it in this war. >> thank you. >> thanks a lot. and russian state television employee, oh, my goodness, you look at this image, she had been arrested, after doing this. >> the people thought that was a joke. it was obviously not a joke. it certainly was not fake. how did she manage to get on the set? she is an editor of one of the programs, her father is ukrainian, she said she couldn't lie to the russian people any more. she was immediately arrested. she has been taken to a police

station. and she now faces between three and 15 years in jail. she knew that. and yet she still did that because she wanted to tell the russian people that they were being lied to. how brave is he? certainly braver than i. and her's a statement, just released, that she did, just before she made the protest.

>> between three and 15 years she faces as a result of that demonstration. a braver woman than i. hats off to her this morning. ukrainian president zelenskyy, something else who is incredibly brave, one of the most recognizable world leaders, with his trademark army green shirt and unshaven rugged look and clearly this is rubbing off on other leaders, the french

president, emanuel macron has been spotted posing in a hoodie and jeans. and a stark departure from his usual suit and tie. mr. macron fielding calls from international leaders, while bearing a striking resemblance to the ukrainian leader, unshaven, a bit rough, does anybody think he had an election to win? amid covid travels, if wau tonight go to france to see the president, including forms and tests for arrival in u.k. will be removed on friday. it is the first major economy to end all covid-19 restrictions. hallelujah, some might say. including the head of travel from the telegraph, with us now. hi, claire. good morning. >> good morning. >> finally, for that. >> finally. and the travel has been in line with the rest of the country

which is good news for anybody who wants to travel, going to see family and friends. for the rest of this year, and hopefully forever. >> is there any drawback at all? >> well, obviously things could change again. we've seen how quickly, before christmas, with omicron, how quickly scenes can revert. and of course, the facts that the u.k. has been looking at restrictions, it doesn't mean that the destination you're traveling to may have lifted restrictions so travelers from the u.k. will still have to check the local regulations at the destination they're going to. they will have to, whether evacuated or not, make sure that they're adhering to all of the regulations. not just to enter that destination, but also domestically, so for example, they might need to do tests or show their vaccination status to get into restaurants, to get into cafes, and indeed, anywhere

indoors. >> that's an important thing to remember, isn't it, that just because you don't need the vaccination stat us to get into the u.k., you might need to be vaccinated and have identification to go to other destinations. don't be caught without it. >> absolutely. got to remain safe and make sure you know exactly what is going on in the destination, and be flexible. those rules could change quickly as well. so you know, make sure you've got, you know, your vaccine pass, and your test results, printed with photos on your phone, all of those precautions, and the last couple of years, and unfortunately, it still may be necessary if you're traveling overseas. of course, there is worry around flight prices, and the rising cost of oil and fuel is going to mean that those could be going up, so you know, if you are planning to travel this year,

it's worth doing your homework now and having a look at what those prices are now and seeing whether it's something it look at ahead of time. >> something else that strikes me, claire, a lot of the airlines and airports are dropping having to wear masks. >> yes. >> on the airplane. and now i've had covid three times, and twice caught it on airplane, and once i caught it from somebody who was just on an airplane, i will be wearing a mask on an airplane. what do you think? >> there that is so much down to the individual. and there is a lot of research how safe the air circulation system on planes is, so if the airline thinks it's safe, you can take some comfort from that, but of course, it does come down to the individual. in the same way you are seeing on public transport, many people are choosing to continue wearing their masks, if that's what makes them feel more comfortable. and then, you know, it's something you're not going to be

banned from wearing one. and so, you know, if that makes you feel more comfortable. >> that's a very good way of looking at it, claire. we're coming toward easter of course, and flash sales i'm guessing ahead of when restrictions are lifted on friday, do we break straight-away or wait a few days? >> that depends. if you're traveling independently, given the risk around rising flight prices, you are better to book sooner rather than later. lots of airlines hedge their prices, which means that they are pretty safe for the next few months, and should be good for 2022, for example, but at some point the rising cost of fuel will catch up with the prices of air tickets so get those now. alternatively, if you're traveling with a tour operation and haven't yet booked, because

of the risk of surcharges around rising prices you might want to wait just a little bit longer, a little closer to your departure date because if you book within three weeks of departure, you won't be subject to surcharges if cost goes up. >> interesting fact that i didn't know. great to talk to you as always. let's rejoice with what is going on by friday morning. >> absolutely. >> two years to the day. two years to the day almost that restrictions were first put in place in that's mistake. friday. i happen to be traveling on friday. yes. thanks very much, claire. good to see you. thank you. now, time to pass the time, a ukrainian violinist filmed himself in a basement shelter in kyiv. he was contacted by violinists, to reach out to 49 violinists in

29 countries to accompany him in harmony. let's take a listen to what they came up with. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, thanks for joining us on the program this morning. aria, to you, first of all, tell us, what brought you to this place, and why you decided to do this, and how did you reach out to others? >> thank you. good morning. for all of us, is is great to be with you, and now, it wasn't my idea to pick out this video in the bomb shelter, because i am,

i had no other ideas, because in those moments, in kyiv, it was bombing time, and i just, we just head to underground, because when we are living upstairs, we're trying not to have loud sounds because every sound, we're trying to hear sirens, warning, and to go under ground, to be safe, and in all, it started from a message, and i really am grateful for her, and it was her idea, and she decided to choose me, the violinist and the arrangement. >> let's bring in karenz. tell me what happened. you obviously heard him, you

decided to try to set up several dozen musicians to play this particular music. >> yes, well, putin invaded ukraine, i was just wondering what my fellow counterpart violinists were doing in ukraine as i was going about my normal day, practicing my scales, and the usual things that a violinist does, and i randomly contacted someone, on instagram earlier and i was horrified to find that they were sheltering in basements. and they still have their violins with them. and their phones. and they were having to think about arm themselves. and it was such a horrific situation. and this is the most powerful prayer i could think about creating. so i just texted some colleagues around the world, some really amazing violinists who all dropped everything they were do immediately and sent me videos of them playing in harmony with aria, and it kind of grew and grew, and i ended up with 94

violinists from 29 different countries. and we pasted it together, and in this beautiful video. >> amazing. >> a -- i know that aria is not in a place that he feels safe to play and we acknowledge that and i wonder if you could take a few moments to play for him. so please feel free. >> i will try. we'll see how this goes. ♪ ♪

>> amazing. aria, hopefully that may lift your day, we hope that you are safe, before too long. thank you both for joining us on the program. in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected. her strength, respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us is you.

day 20 in the russian invasion of ukraine and so far no break throughs after a fourth round of talks. russia continued to target civilians in residential areas and a metro station overnight. this stunning video also made the rounds yesterday, showing the very moment a russian missile blasted a neighbor. and we have this show of defiance from a woman who stormed a set of a russian state television news broadcast to protest the war. and reporting that the white house is considering whether to send president biden to europe in the