it is 8:00. good to see you this monday morning. genocide. that's how ukraine's deputy prime minister views what is happening in the country. vladimir putin will be held accountable for his actions. we'll be getting views in a few minutes. and i'll be speaking to some young ukrainian orphans back to scotland. it is monday, the 21st of march.

civilian casualties, at least four people killed, as a shocking center at the capital is hit by russian shells. the race to rescue. amidst the rubble. as firefighters pull people out from a destroyed building. the u.k. backs the international court's investigation of possible war crimes. >> he will absolutely be held accountable for this and if there is an international criminal court that will work on this, and they're already compiling evidence. >> we take you to the front line of the war in kharkiv near ukraine's border with russia, with a special eyewitness report from our correspondent. >> we're still inside the city. but it's a war zone. it's a battle field. tanks and heavy armaments, just about everywhere. >> a very good morning from the

polish border, with ukraine. 10 million refugees have now been displaced within the country and beyond. they continue to arrive here, and the white house has announced that president biden will be in poland at the end of the week. the cost of living crisis. the sky news data reveals that 2.5 million families will be in poverty in april, and reports that the chancellor may be preparing to cut duty on fuel. boosting our chances against rising covid cases. the spreading variant. and later, demanding that a ferry company p & o reinstates the 800 workers sacked without notice. also ahead on the program, shining a spotlight on the crisis, i will be speaking to the dancing stars ahead in a major theatrical fundraiser.

♪ >> and a band in a bunker. we will speak to the ukrainians surrounding the troops and rallying the troops in the streets. good morning, all. claims of genocide a fresh attack on a residential part of the capital. and new intention suggesting the russians advance on the capital is stalling. to last update on ukraine in morning, at least four people have been killed by russian selling on a shop having it in kyiv. the latest intelligence suggests that russian forces advancing on the capital have stalled more than 25 kilometers from the center of the city. ukraine has rejected a russian

demand that its troops defending the besieged city of mariupol lay down their weapons and leave. and both ukraine's president and deputy prime minister have accused russia of genocide. meanwhile, authorities reporting ammonia as a chemical plant and designated a hazardous zone five kilometers around the site. within kyiv overnight, russian shelling hit homes and a shopping district, killing at least four people. security footage shows a huge explosion followed by a series of smaller blasts at a shopping center in the portal district. rescues by firefighter, an outstretched hand was spotted by emergency workers rushing to rescue people from the building. and in the past hour, i asked

the health secretary if he agreed with ukraine's leadership that russia is committing genocide and whether he supports a tribunal for vladimir putin? >> in terms of holding russia accountable, russia and president putin, he will be absolutely held accountable for this and if there is an international criminal court that will work on this, and they're already compiling evidence, the deputy prime minister was in the hague last week offering the u.k.'s full support to hold russia to account. i think it's right that gordon and other, and many people are thinking what ways and mechanisms can the international community use to hold russia to account. right here and now, i think it's really important that we and our allies continue to support ukraine in every way with the military aid that we're providing. >> vladimir putin's heightened

assault against ukrainian towns and cities has caused four deaths overnight in the capital kyiv as well as a mass exodus of now more than 10 million civilians. we have more from odesa and we've been hearing reports of shelling this morning. bring us up to date on the latest where you are. >> reporter: an apartment complex just to the south of odesa right on the coast here, and in the early hours of this morning, the residents heard a series of loud bangs, seemed to be coming from the sea and we know there has been a russian naval buildup in the black sea over the past week but shells started to land here. look at the impact on the road here where one of the shells exploded. and when shells hit and make an impact, they're designed to break up into thousands of pieces of shrapnel, and the effect is pretty obvious to see here on this building, the glass shattered, and if you look

closely on the masonry it's peppered with holes and that is where the shrapnel flew towards this building. and that is what does the damage with shells. and this morning, the residents here have been trying to pick through this mess, glass just cascaded down, from the building, on to the floor here, and they've been trying their best to sweep it up and they all look pretty shocked i have to say when you walk around talking to them and it is pretty sobering when you see the holes in the ground, and the impact that these shells made. and they've been trying to pull the panes of glass down. people living here, this is their homes and you can imagine in the early hours of this morning, a huge explosion, a series of explosions we understand, just rocking this place, and just a bit further around the corner, i counted possibly three more impacts where you see similar damage, where the shells have just exploded and everything in their wake has been shattered. now thankfully, at this stage,

we don't think anyone has been injured or killed, but you know, it takes time for this kind of thing to come through. and they're going to go through the apartments and just check that everyone is okay. i was speaking to a couple just down from here, i can't really show you because of the big building blocking the sea but they have a holiday home and a little awning that and that was completely destroyed by another shell impact and the military here are taking pictures. an ambulance here, just in case anyone was injured. but this damage, this whole of this the front of this building, if you look up at it, you can see the impact, you can see the glass, the windows have been torn, and broken, and all they can do now is just try to repair this damage, you know, for some people, where the front has been completely smashed, it's hard to see them being able to stay here. now, odesa in the south here, key port city, has been pretty much on standby for the last two weeks that we've been here anyway and we've been seeing the

naval war ships on the horizon and it's possible now that they are starting to send shells in, and this is the result. >> nick, i mean stay safe for now, thanks very much indeed. that was the situation in odesa in the south. more about the capital. our special correspondent alex crawford brought us the latest from kyiv's portal district. >> reporter: definitely people are starting to come back on the street, even shops and some restaurants are opening, they're planting flowers, as they feel quite secure, i think, right in the center. but from even from where we were, we could here the volley of explosions late last night. and we want to show you, a massive amount of devastation, and not only is this a gym, a huge shopping center, it's also in the heart of an industrial area, and behind us, and in

front of this blast, there are residential homes and flats, and many of them have had their windows blown out and the fronts shattered. and we know, according to the police, so far, there are about four confirmed deaths, the locals here, and the people who are living all around, who are utterly terrified this morning, believe that the number of casualties could be much higher. and of course, it's not just the devastation that's causing it, it's the absolute terrifying moments that you're going through, when a volley of rockets and missiles are landing right next to you, people talk about it appearing like an earthquake and terrified and they're very scared. and the mayor of kyiv is giving a very defiant message and

sighing that they're never going to give in, but there are a lot of terror once again on the streets of kyiv. >> now, the chinese red cross has pledged to donate 10 million yuan of humanitarian aid to ukraine as russian aggression against the country intensifies. it comes as more than 10 million ukrainians have fled the fighting. many of them of course heading across the border to poland. and mark stone there follows it this morning, good to see you, mark, put your phone away, bring us up to date where you, are it looks like a very confusing situation, any number of humanitarian organizations trying to help people, and you know, fleeing a war. >> reporter: yes, i was just looking at my phone, because i just had the latest numbers through, from the unhcr who tell me that 1.6 million children are now refugees, and an additional 3.3 million children are

displaced within ukraine itself. quite extraordinary number but it is so clear when you watch reports like that from nick martin just now why these numbers are so high, in towns right across ukraine, people are either literally fleeing for their lives, or fear for their lives, and fear what might come, and therefore, are moving in quite extraordinary numbers, and either moving to slightly safer places, within ukraine, or makes that decision to come further still and to come across the border, into places like poland, like romania, and other countries, and we should point out the positive news this morning, it is quieter today, we have been here for three days now and i think this is the quietest it has been which is clearly very good news indeed for authorities and indeed the public, who are really struggling to cope here, as they try to accommodate as many people as they possibly can, in

very, very difficult circumstances. and the white house has announced over the course of the past 12 hours or so that joe biden will be here in poland, at the end of the week, and this is part of a very important week diplomatically, he will be at the nato meeting in brussels on thursday and friday travel to warsaw the polish capital or perhaps down here as well, that much is not clear. he will be doing two things. clearly, he will be show very publicly, support for the country that is right on the border with ukraine, and nato country of course, and he will also i think to put further pressure on european countries to increase sanctions against russia once again. >> many thanks indeed. let's get thoughts of labor now, and joined in the studio by the secretary jonathan, good to see you this morning, and given that which we've been hearing in and around mariupol, kyiv, lviv,

we are hearing any number of stories of atrocities taking place on the ground in ukraine. do you understand why the government feels unable to go quite as far as the ukrainian president and describe these as war crimes, as genocide, and indeed identify vladimir putin as possible for them? >> well, they are heinous atrocity, absolutely appalling, in my view they are crimes now i'm not an international lawyer so there may well be particular definitions, but what we are seeing coming out in ukraine are absolutely the most appalling scenes. i do hold putin responsible. he needs to be held to account. and the international community needs to find a way to do that. but we need to continue to do support for ukraine. we need to support the refugees and i've got nothing but absolutely feelings for my constituency where i've been supporting it, we need to do all we can, and we need to ensure

that maximum pressure is put on pressure through the sanctions regime. >> you say vladimir putin, that he must be held to account. i guess the question is how is that possible, given you're not going to be able to extradite him to the icc. >> there will have to come a time where the international community needs to come together and decide how to hold him to account. but in the immediate term, we've got to support the refugees coming out of ukraine, and the proper humanitarian assistance and the government is putting in place schemes and i've been read nath charity groups and the local governments are understandably looking for help and left in the lurch, and don't know what provisions they are going to get and looking at the government and how they will help the refugees in the short term and of course we need to as an international community work together internationally to put in place a plan in order to hold putin on account. >> what then did you make of the prime minister at the spring conference, i've heard from the health secretary this morning, we heard from the chancellor

yesterday, claiming that he was not drawing a direct comparison between the two and he certainly mentioned them, in short succession. >> he was drawing a comparison but you know why he was doing it, he's a clever operator, a very good manipulator, he froze these things out there, to suck the oxygen out of the big issues around. and he's trying to distract people from the cost of living crisis, where 9 million families, where he is imposing a punishing tax rise on people that will potentially lose 3 to 8 pounds in the value of the pension and he is doing it so we have a rou on that rather than focus on the issues that are effecting the people day in day out and many are starving and freezing. >> and i want to talk about that in a second. but let's talk about something completely with regard to 800 individuals, apparently no warning, fired. what is it that labor are trying to seek in the commons today?

is this just a lead on the efforts made beforehand? >> the way p & l ferries is beyond consent, it is absolutely disgusting. >> is it illegal know? >> neither of us are lawyers, there are plenty of lawyers who suggest that perhaps it wasn't. >> well, but that's why we need clarity from the government. i don't understand, the government knew it was going to happen and didn't tell anyone, what are they playing up? and looking at the tribute from the union and the mps, they're not looking at, well, the transportation secretary, my colleagues, have been superb in fighting for these workers and these practices should be outlawed and the business secretary should be looking into the legalities of it. it should be, if they believe it is illegal, looking at criminal proceedings against the bosses of this firm.

and it's not the mps wringing their hands and saying it is all terrible, many of them voted against legislation which the labor people are forward, for these fire and rehire practices and they should vote in the house of commons to ban these fire and rehire type practices. >> what can the government do by wholesale changes to legislation about a company like p & o ferries, and foreign agencies, individuals, on less than the minimum wage? >> they need to stomp it out. they need to stomp it out. they don't need to parade around, saying it's terrible, i was shocked when i saw it on the screens as well, you know, they're the government, they can do something about it. and the mps can do something about it so we should vote today to send a message to the business secretary and others in the cabinet that they need to fix it. >> just a quick word then from what you would like to see from the chancellor come wednesday. his hands are not exactly tied. there is quite a bit of extra

cash floating around in the treasury with the rise in the cost of living and the extra taxes and where should he be spending? >> 12 years of economic mismanagement which has left us so exposed to surging inflation and we have rising energy bills so unaffordable and rising costs so punishing, and basic pension costs so devastating that people are facing a choice between starving or freezing. we should increase the, we shouldn't be cutting benefits like the pension, and we shouldn't be going ahead with this big insurance, 10% increase and a windfall tax on the oil and gas producers to fund 600 pounds of the heating bills for many households, so there is action the chancellor should take and she take the action on wednesday. >> we'll be find out if he is listening to you then. jonathan, thanks for joining us. >> thanks a lot. the war in ukraine is of course again dominating the front pages of the morning's papers. the daily telegraph reports

accusations that slad peer putin -- vladimir putin has forced the abduction of those in mariupol forcing them to russian cities and the ex-ambassador to the u.n. saying if those reports are true, it is both disturbing and unconscionable. here's the times. it describes the abduction of civilians with the headline, russia accused of genocide. and the mirror reports on the deadline for p & o to explain the decision to sack 800 workers. our correspondent is back with us. good to see you, tam rachlt we've heard from both sides of the chamber. should we start with ukraine then? the health secretary, i'm sorry, the health secretary clearly not wanting to be drawn into the same position as zelenskyy, but he was able to say quite a lot, he goes quite far in accusing

the russian government of war crimes. >> we have seen the british cabinet minister saying the war crimes are being committed in ukraine and wouldn't go as far as the ukrainian deputy prime minister says it is genocide because that must be determined by an international court, it is a legal call and it is very difficult for one to make and we've seen the international criminal court deliberate for years and years on genocide and saying the u.k. will do what it can to help collect the evidence that is needed and look for other avenues such as nuremberg style trials and this is a very high legal bar however it may look to us watching. and you didn't want to get drawn into defending a prime minister's comments on ukraine at the weekend, he was talking to others and seemed to compare with ukraine fighting for

freedom to british people voting for brexit where a lot of people found a distasteful comparison whether he intended to do it as a political device or an unintentional offense, it is for us to decide and lord wicket on how that has gone down in other countries. >> we're dealing with the remarks he has been making over the weekend about comparing brexit to the struggle of the ukrainian people and that was seen as desperately insulting and sensitive all around europe. and i'm afraid we're not going to be helping to shape the agenda with our eu counterparts, we should be, and nato is an important part of britain, we're a major defense spender and the u.k. has been very effective in providing aid and support to the ukrainians but in the crucial discussions that will go on between joe biden and the europeans, for example orn strengthening sanctions, britain is going to be on the sidelines which i think is a great dissent. i think the prime minister ought

to be reaching out and working to improve relations to heal the wounds of the past of the eu, not doubling down. >> tamara, we're going to pause that for a second and breaking news we've had brought in from from the news agency, an incident in china, and involving a passenger plane, and eastern, china eastern airlines on monday, carrying 133 passengers has been described as an accident. and caused a fire on the mountains. and the jet involved was a boeing 737. the number of casualties according to local media report not immediately known. you have to imagine though, that there will be sadly casualties if not fatalities from that crash. we will bring that to you as soon as can get it. and tamara, let's just focus briefly on covid, and today, the government is beginning the

rollout of, for many people, a fourth and for some people in fact a fifth jab. >> indeed. we have forgot been covid but cases are really creeping up. in the last two weeks there has been a really sharp spike in case, and indeed, in hospitalizations, and they're up about 25%. not yet at scale levels. as we've seen in the past but creeping up, because of a new variant of omicron, which the government is quite concerned about, and of course the end of all restrictions in england on the social mixing. and the office for national statistics infections survey, they ram randomly survey thousands of people, they think about one in 25 people in england and wales have got covid far higher in scotland and northern ireland so it hasn't gone away yet, but at the end of the march and beginning of april, the health secretary, they will have 20 pounds a packet at the beginning of april. here is what he told us. >> obviously there are fewer tests around and fewer will be used but the question really is,

do we still need to have a universal free testing offer, which is, as it sounds, that everyone, wherever they want to test, and our determination based on the advice that we received, that is no longer necessary. we're in a much better stage with covid than we have been so far. clearly, it's still there. that's why we still need to keep focusing on our defenses, but the best defense is vaccination. >> so he says we shouldn't be concerned about people not being able to test and people with symptoms not being able to test and no legal obligation to stay at lome and that of course is recommended and he said it is still under control. big problem, the cause of the rising cases though, is waning immunity and that's why all of those over 75 will be offered the booster today, and vulnerable people, with immune suppressed people from the age of 12 onward so he said for now, there is no plans to roll it out further but the government will continue to wait and see. >> thank you very much.

ukraine has accused russia of committing acts of genocide. it follows the bombing of an art school in mariupol, where 400 people, mostly women and children, are taken refuge. and a further sign of just how attrition on the battle for the country's major cities have becoming, russian-backed separatists have said they have used devastating vacuum bombs to break the deadlock but there are some places where the two sides are fighting themselves to a standstill. kharkiv bears the scars of vicious fighting and signs of a stalemate. our correspondent john sparks traveled to the front line on the outskirts of kharkiv, and just a warning his footage has russian shoulders and dead bodies. >> the most desirable cities in the city of kharkir are located within the northern suburbs. but no one comes here now.

unless you man a checkpoint. or carry a weapon. or drive a t-72 tank. on the outskirts of the country's second largest city, the ukrainians and the russians take pot shots in the woods. as the ukrainian army awaits the enemy's next move. >> we're still inside the city, but is' a war zone. it's a battle field. tanks and heavy armaments just about everywhere. we are looking at an access to the suburban frontier and taken to a children's camp in the

tears with marked turrets and cabins and areas to play. >> shells have pierced the grounds, and a rocket hit the door. our guy did not want, our guide did not want to show his face. >> it punched the door here, the rocket. inserted itself through the metal frame. nearby, we found a soldier called doc, he had been planting land mines, when the shels came in. >> what did you see, what did you experience?

>> a few minutes later, we had to use his shelter. >> rockets incoming. the signs of war are all around. with the remnants of a russian column littering the trees. it's a sign of what the ukrainian army is able to achieve. in the suburbs of kharkiv the russian advance has ground to a halt. and in a gruesome display of grit and intent, we were taken to see the bodies of five dead russian service men. the ukrainian captain claiming the russians have refused to repatriate the bodies. the battle may have stalled, but it certainly isn't over. everyone in this city is sure of that.

so they prepare themselves for the seemingly inevitable. regardless of the personal cost. john sparks sky news, in kharkiv. we're following the growing humanitarian and refugee crisis developing in ukraine over the past few weeks. one ukrainian mp has acquired around 20 trucks to deliver food, medicine and weapons to the city's besieged cities and towns around the country and i'm pleased to say that he joins us now. andre, great to have you on the program this morning. just tell us a little bit about how you have been helping your fellow ukrainian, 20 trucks you've managed to secure. >> yes, hello, i'm andre, a member of parliament, of ukraine and now i'm sitting in a shelter underground, because we have the information that could be an air

threat so i am sitting right here, although six months ago i went to london and spent some weeks, there and now, we have the time of war and i can't believe we are inside this process. what you ask, with respect to your question, so i arranged here on the west of ukraine in the city where i was born, a small logistical hub and we are receiving the humanitarian countries around this western part of ukraine, row mania, slovakia, hungary borders, so personally, i brought 300 tons of humanitarian aid, mostly food, like canned food, and some individual hygiene things, and medicine. and we are doing small deliveries to various places in ukraine. we are helping kharkiv, we are

helping mikhailaiv, so many directions, people bring their trucks, their cars to our logistical hub and they take whatever they need, and then they bring that to the places where it is needed. >> andre, i suspect that the journey from that logistics hub to the trucks eventual destination could often be a very, very dangerous journey itself. >> yes, that's true. luckily, most of our deliveries, they brought to the places where we send them, but you are totally right, they're, there are places where we cannot actually send anything. like mariupol. it's not possible to send something there. you've seen now in the picture, part of the train that was filled by our team, it's like 30 continues, in central kharkiv and 40 volunteers are helping me, without any money, to assemble the good, and here, we were in the parliament, in this,

in the capital of ukraine, kyiv, just last monday, so these are pictures i sent you before, before, so thank you for showing that. so we are doing a lot here. our friends, our international friends are helping us. totally, ukraine received more than 100,000 in humanitarian aid, which is very help. ful because our shops, our supermarks are empty so that we need a lot of food to feed people and feed the refugees. as you may know, 10 million ukrainians left their homes and 3 million went abroad, this is the information, and the others, they came to the western part of ukraine. so our infrastructure was not ready for this amount of people. that's why we need, you know, a lot of help from, starving from

food, and ending with mattress, with pillows, with all being provided by our friends and our international partners. >> i'm wondering, andre, what you make of president zelenskyy's leadership at this time. this was a man who was not necessarily very well known in the west before the conflict, before the war with russia, and sadly very well known now. i'm wondering what your thoughts are now, on the man leading your country at the moment. >> well, i have met him a few times and i was given the impression he could be a hero, like we are here, but then, i was just shocked of his transformation, and when he declined to be, to leave ukraine, when he was offered by, i think by the united states of america, to leave ukraine, before the war started, he had declined, saying he will fight here, with his army and that was extremely important for us, because when the head of your

state stands with you, and that means a lot for the army, so everyone here is shocked, we are proud that we have him there, and 93% of ukrainians support him right now. >> andre, thank you so much for joining us in the program this morning. really appreciate it. and i'm sure your fellow countrymen appreciate all you're doing for them. thank you very much. and thanks to all british people for helping ukraine. >> we will pass that on. now, sky news, can reveal that 2.5 million families will be in fuel poverty when the new energy price cap comes into effect starting april. a family has been deemed to be in fuel poverty if more than 10% of the income is spent paying energy bills. since february of last year, the annual price of a standard energy town has increased 800

pounds to almost 2,000 pounds. areas in the west and east midlands also in london, 40% of households in these parts of the country likely to experience fuel poverty. and in scotland, more than 900,000 households are also expected to be fuel poor under the new cap. and two-thirds of them in extreme fuel poverty. sky news has been looking at the numbers and milana, the data, it is staggering and concerning in equal measure. >> quite dire, a quarter of households in england will be fuel poor in april when the cost of a bill is expected to go up by 50%, and that's a million people. sky news analysis shows that the areas where there are nine in ten people will be fuel poor.

and if you are looking at the research by the british medical association, it shows that clearly, children growing up in cold, damp circumstances, to poor health outcomes and the government has done something to try to help this. there is a 200 pound load and 150 pound cancel tax rebate but these are short-term fixes that assume the effect of this price rise in oil and gas which has been heightened by the russian invasion of ukraine is short term but there is no sign of the war abating any time soon, and we've also heard from the petrol retail association saying the chancellor should do more. take a listen. >> we've been looking at a number of occasion, we've been there three times, urging them to cut the ac and fuel duty and we've seen what other governments around the world have done, particularly in southern ireland, where 17 pence offered there, and five is not

as great as what the irish government has done. >> now, the chancellor has hinted at a duty cut may be coming and all eyes on the statement on monday. >> thank you. and if you want to have your eyes on what the chancellor is saying on wednesday, we have live coverage of the spring statement from 11:00 in the morning here on sky news. also making headlines this morning, labor is expected to force an emergency vote to ban fire and rehire practices and demand the ferry company p & o take back their work force. the mass sackings without notice have caused outrage nationwide amidst reports the security funds with handcuffs, used to take certain british workers off the boards. the foreign office says that this man who has british, iranian citizens has been at a

hotel in iran, freed from jail last week. at the same time as nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe and anoosheh ashoori. he was not able to leave the country with the other two detainees. the foreign office says they are working to get him back to the u.k. two men have died, while waiting for hours for fuel in sri lanka as they deal with the most severe crisis in history. millions of school exam have been canceled due to a lack of paper. the international monetary fund has indicated it will e-would be willing to discuss, it would be willing to discuss a financial bailout for the nation. the villagers in belize refused to let the royals on their land but as you can see, things did improve. the duke and duchess of cambridge managed to get the spring back in their step divisionally enough.

william and kate dancing with locals. one doing better than the other. and we'll leave it up to you to decide which. and working with cocoa beans and welcomed by local families on the second day of their visit. and meanwhile, as the russian invasion continues, ukrainians are finding new ways to be looking for international support. ♪ >> i recognize that. the ukrainian punk band putting their own twist on london, their war anthem, kyiv calling, recording near the front line, will go to help fund an alert system to warn the population of threats and lobby for international support. ♪

a group of ukrainian orphans are zoo to arrive in the u.k. later today. ages between two and 19. they will be traveling from poland to london before making their way up to scotland later in the week where arrangements have been made for their care. joining us in the studio, ian blackfort, leader of the smp in blackminister. lovely to have you on the program. let's talk about this. tell us exactly how you got involved in this and what it is that you're hoping to achieve. >> well, we have had an association, give support to orphaned homes and we decided when the war broke out that they wanted to help and wanted to make sure that the children could be helped and cared for in scotland so i helped to get the necessary approvals from the war

office and i'm grateful for the support that eventually we've had from anyone and this is a fantastic story of 50 people that can have the chance to get on with their lives in safety. and there is a message in this as well, that everyone has come together to protect these children. we need to make sure that there are routes for other children that need our support as well. >> just tell us then a little bit about the children that are coming across. as i understand it, today, they're going to get to london and then make their way to scotland. what awaits them when they get to scotland? >> they will go into accommodations the first two or three weeks and let them settle and properly supported and then coming into edinburgh, and the local authority, the football club, those in scotland, they will get a scottish welcome, scottish hospitality, and for all of the time they need to be here before it is safe for them to return to ukraine.

>> and the anecdote there are plenty of reports that there are any number of orphans in ukraine at the moment and it appears to be a bit of an issue. >> there have been various reports but the figure that has been used is as many as 10,000, and i think, you know, one of the important things, is we're doing this to the end, i'm grateful to lord hauly, that have helped us the last few days with helping refugees, and i want to say to conservative mps, think about this, think about the humanity that we're all showing today, let's make sure that we all, all of us, we do our best to make sure that we welcome vulnerable people. and we did this before the second world war with the transport and let's make sure that that generosity, that welcome, that sanctity that people need at times such as this is something we can all be proud of. >> does this mean you will be do david cameron and getting yourself behind the front wheel and heading to the front line or

close to the front line? >> it's not me or anyone else, we have to do what we can do to help and i think myself my colleagues will want to do that and most importantly being a voice for those who need help, being a voice to help the charity, the children's charity in this case and make sure that this is not the end of it, that this is the beginning it and continue to support the people. and we hear what is happening in mariupol which is just devastating to see what's going on, we need to make sure that there are safe routes out for young people, for families that need our support. >> i suspect given your position, you're on the opposition bench, you're not in government, i suspect your position means that you might be slightly freer than the health secretary on the program this morning, we have known that many senior officials senior figures inside ukraine and outside ukraine that vladimir putin, as a war criminal. >> we need to change our law to

affect acts of aggression and it is clear we need to go after the perpetrators of these crimes and the legal niceties in terms of the definition of genocide, these are unspeakable crimes for a man so slaughter innocent civilians in ukraine, that's all we need to do, and this man and his regime need to be held to account. >> let's talk about the orphans that are coming across and you do not have to be a parent to look at the scenes and in mariupol and elsewhere and baby's bodies are being pulled from the rubble, you don't have to be a parent to find that morally appalling but i suspect there will be plenty of parens who would wish to help those children that aren't lucky enough to have parents, how can they? >> i think people can obviously register through the u.k. government site, and of course, they can check the box if they're in scotland for the super sponsors. people want to do this. people want to help. the government needs to make sure that they can help. we are facing war in europe. never of us have seen this, seeing europeans being bombed, people having to flee war, we

need to do all we can and get people here. >> should we have seen it? should we have seen it? given what has happened in 2014, and even in before, should he would not have seen this coming? >> i think there have been policy failures over the past few years, of course, but we have to know, we need to make sure we're supporting ukrainians to the fullest extent with the military support given to them, that has to go as far and as fast as they can. and the humanitarian support, what counts today is the ukrainian people and the way they're suffering from the bombardment of their country. >> we wish you the best with the cases coming across, with the kids coming across. and we will speak to you again when they're settled. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. we will speak to steven, his organization was mentioned there, good to very you on the program this morning, steven. and so let's just start, if you can, just tell us a little bit about the programs that orphanages and the orphanages in

ukraine are experiencing at the moment. they are safe here in the west so far, and it is just the safety, you know, we just need to understand what these people are going through, and make sure that we can support them. >> steven, just tell us a little bit about how the dnipro kids charity came about. what was the genesis for the charity? >> it was basically started on the back of a cup game in 2005 and we were working and got supporters together, and we decided we needed to support one of the orphanages there for them, do something in the moment and go watch football later on and go for a drink, that was the

premise, and the cause, to support them, with the ukrainian hospitality, a bunch of decided to get together and develop the dnipro kid's charity and we have been supporting orphanage children since 2005. >> absolutely fantastic. what will those children be looking for, tell us, what they will be looking for once they make their way to scotland. and we were discussing with mr. blackford, there will be a couple of weeks to get their feet under the table so to speak but after that point, what then happens? >> we will have special scott ish hospital stalt for them when they get here. and one of the things throughout the process, is the words of support, the support that people have stepped up to this, to put things into place for these children, it is unbelievable.

and the flight helping, to go and collect them later today and up in scotland, we've had the edenborough city council helping, and no end of people that have stepped up to the mark here, and provided us, provided us with what we need for these children, to have a safe and hopefully they will enjoy themselves while they're here as well. but ultimately, their homes are back in ukraine, and that's where they want to go to, and as soon as it's safe to do so, that's what we'll be hoping to do. and these family type orphanages that we're bringing over, we'll have to remember that in ukraine, they're kept together as a unit, as ten children and they have an orphanage mother and kids, caretakers looking after them and for all intents and purposes it is a family unite and we're making sure to keep these family units together in one place, so that when it is ready for them to go back,

they're in a good place to be able to do that. >> i suspect that you, like those working with the children in the often gadges in ukraine will be very -- orphanages in ukraine will be very mindful of their mental health and children who have just fled from a war zone. >> yes, and i have to say, that the children for all we can see at the moment are very resilient and the treatment is like an adventure just like many excursions in the past but certainly the older children will see it as an effect on them and the orphanage mothers definitely, being with them, and we'vead very emotional moments, tears, and sadness, about what's happening, and apprehension about what lays ahead of them in the future. so yes, definitely. and again, that's one of the things that when we get them back to scotland, all of these things are in place, things that you might not think about, education, all of this tort

of -- sort of stuff and we're very thorough to make sure the kids are looked after along with their orphanage mothers. >> we will have to leave it there but we wish all of those who are working with the dnipro kid's charity the very best of lup. steven, thanks for joining us. >> thank you very much. now, wales has made it illegal to smack a child. it means that children will be given the same protection as adults against assault. scotland is the only other part of the u.k. to have made the change and they did so back in 2020, joining us now, deputy minister for social services, julie morgan, great to have you on the program this morning, julie. just explain the reason the welsch assembly has decided to take this step and nor will it be controversial for some but in other parts of the u.k., scotland, it wouldn't really be so much so. >> we're very pleased to have taken this, and this is the historic day for wales, and we

feel it is really important that children have the best possible chance in life and have the best possible lives they can live and we don't think physical punishment has got any part of that. and so we decided that we would remove the defense of reasonable punishment, and we've passed the goal two years ago, and since then, the last two years, we've been preparing for this very carefully, and it's great that the day has finally arrived. >> so what then would be the punishment for someone who despite the change to the law continues to smack their child? >> if somebody, you know, decided to break the law, they would obviously have to face the consequences in the law, but we don't anticipate many people doing that, because most people, when they know what the law is, want to obey the law, most people obey the, most people are very law-abiding and we have a huge campaign to make sure that we know the law has changed and for the people who may possibly continue to break the law, there is a whole range of options, i mean there can be no further

action, there can be an out of court disposal, and that's something we worked very hard on to try to make sure there is somewhere between, that we can direct parents, as part of an out of court disposal, where we can help be given with parenting and we all know that parenting is very difficult and we node to give as much support as we can so we anticipate the number of parens that would end up in court that would be very small and that's what all of the international comparisons have shown us. >> of course, definitions are incredibly important, particularly when you're introducing new criminal legislation, so can we be really specific? when we are talking about a ban on smacking of a child, it is more than a mere touching with a hand on a shoulder presumably. >> we're banning any type of physical punishment, punishment we're talking about, so that could be slapping, shaking, smacking, pulling hair, all of those sorts of things. those are the sorts of things

that are going to be illegal. the normal, you know, family life, things that happen in family life, will just continue as they do because sometimes you have to, you know, grab your child, if they're going to run on to the road or stop them touching a hot surface, and sometimes, you know, you have to get a toddler to put her coat on who doesn't want to put her coat on, all of those sorts of things, it is continuing as normal, but it's punishment using physical force as punishment, it is the issue that we're addressing. >> i suspect though, that there will be a number of people who perhaps not arrived at the same conclusions as you as quickly as you, and many others, it should be said, of course, there are many other parts of world where smacking has been outlawed, but we will be sitting and saying you just do not understand what it is like, a short sharp shot to a child is the only way to be brought into light. and i suspect you disagree with that. >> i do disagree.

i think all of the evidence shows that you physical punishment is not successful. what the child remembers is the smack, not the reason why the smack was given. and 60 countries have brought this in, and without devastating consequences, and we feel, you know, very strongly that this is what it is, it is the right thing to do. and how could it ever be right for a big person to hit a little person. it's something i felt, you know, all my life really. you know, bringing up children is very difficult and we want to put the support in as well. as i say, we want this to be a great country for children to grow up in, and we're putting, you know, we are putting in resources in, to ensure parents get the support they need, along with bringing in this very important change to the law. >> julie morgan, great to have you on the program this morning. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. do stay right where you are. we will have much more on russia's invasion in ukraine.

this just in. israel's prime minister has said that despite some progress, and efforts to end the conflict, gabs remain. we'll reflect on that next. next ♪ this is how we do it.. ♪ turns out, montell jordan knows how to do almost everything. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general.

outgunned and outmanned, the ukrainian military keeps the russian goliath of the military from taking its capital. experts now say the war may be approaching a stalemate. where the fighting continues, but neither side advances. meanwhile, russia does claim victory over the key port city of mariupol. and orders ukraine to surrender. the word from ukraine? not a chance. we'll tell you where things stand right now. plus, the latest message and warning from ukrainian president zelenskyy.