thank you, vitalii shevchenko, _ defection to ukraine. thank you, vitalii shevchenko, from bbc - defection to ukraine. thank you, - vitalii shevchenko, from bbc russian monitoring. bbc news has learned that david cameron's government knew the post office had dropped a secret investigation into its horizon it system that might have helped postmasters who were wrongly prosecuted to prove their innocence. it comes as a row has deepened between the uk business secretary, kemi badenoch, and the former post office chair, henry staunton, whom she sacked. he'd claimed in a sunday times interview that he'd been told to stall compensation payments to victims of the horizon it scandal. ms badenoch said the claims were completely false — mr staunton says he's standing by his statements. aru na iyenga reports. it is another instalment in the post office drama starring henry staunton, and kemi badenoch, the secretary. he's been questioned by mps. he became chair of the post office at the end of 2022 but was sacked by kemi badenoch last month in the aft

thank you, vitalii shevchenko from bbc russian _ him.ss the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. somalia has told the united nations security council that it believes a deal between ethiopia and the breakaway region of somaliland amounts to a declaration of war. the deal would see ethiopia recognise somaliland's independence in exchange for a 50—year lease on a naval base and commercial port, but somalia claims that this equates to annexation of the land. thousands of doctors in south korea have walked out in protest at plans to boost the number of medical students. the government says it wants to solve a shortage of healthcare staff, but doctors say greater competition could reduce their pay. the number of medical students hasn't gone up in 25 years, despite an increase in demand for healthcare in what is an ageing society. nikki haley says she would pardon donald trump if elected because it would be "important for the country to move on". the former us president is the favourite to win the republican nomi

with more on this, i'm nowjoined by vitaliy shevchenko, russia editor at bbc monitoring. from maria pevchikh, a close ally of alexei navalny. she said that talks to release him had reached the final stage. according to maria pevchikh, he was going to be exchanged for a russian state security service assassin who is currently serving a life sentence in germany. together with alexei navalny, two american citizens were said to be exchanged. according to her it was the result of a long and complicated project which had lasted for two years. interestingly, vladimir putin brought up the subject of a possible exchange in an interview with tucker carlson earlier this month. he suggested that an american journalist could be exchanged for that russian assassin currently in germany. he room —— his remarks in a way give credibility to what maria pevchikh has said. according to her, vladimir putin was so opposed to see alexei navalny walk free out ofjail that he killed him. that is the claim from alexei navalny�*s camp. just him. that is the claim from alexei navalny's camp-— navalny'

with more on both this developments is vitalii shevchenko from bbc monitoring.ferent developments so far in just the last couple of hours. let's talk about that mother's appeal for the body. hours. let's talk about that mother's appealfor the body. what do we know about what is happening there? i do we know about what is happening there? ~' ., �* . , do we know about what is happening there? ~' ., �* ., , ~ ., there? i think we don't really know much about _ there? i think we don't really know much about the _ there? i think we don't really know much about the circumstances - much about the circumstances surrounding alexei navalny�*s death last week. and even where his body is currently. russian investigators say that they need at least two more weeks to carry out further chemical tests on his body, but supporters and relatives of alexei navalny call this an attempt to conceal the real causes of his death and earlier today, alexei navalny�*s mother published a video appealing directly to vladimir putin, asking him directly to release her son's body. according to

let's get more on this from bbc monitoring's russia editor, vitaliy shevchenko.hat stood out for you when vladimir putin gave his speech. you when vladimir putin gave his seech. ~ ., , you when vladimir putin gave his seech. ~ . , ., ., speech. what stood out for me was how predictable _ speech. what stood out for me was how predictable his _ speech. what stood out for me was how predictable his speech - speech. what stood out for me was how predictable his speech was. i speech. what stood out for me wasl how predictable his speech was. the russian president still describes his own country of russia as a nation which has been defending its legitimate interests against an aggressive west, which is described, in his speech, as a destabilising force, creating conflicts across the world. the first half hour of his two—hour speech focused pretty heavily on what he describes as a special military operation in ukraine. he claimed that his forces in ukraine are making progress and are fighting heroically. he reiterated warnings to the west, not to get more in ukraine. pu

let's get more details from vitaliy shevchenko, russia editor at bbc monitoring.e of...was, of alexei navalny. she was the head of investigation, so a key figure in his entourage. and she said that the night before alexei navalny died, she had been told that negotiations were at a final stage, potentially leading up to alexei navalny�*s exchange for a russian secret service assassin called vadim krasikov, who is currently serving a life sentence in germany. in exchange, russia was to hand to western powers, presumably to american nationals and alexei navalny. ms pevchikh described this as a result of a un operation, a project which was two years in the making. —— ofan —— of an operation. and she said because vladimir putin was so opposed to exchanging alexei navalny and setting him free, according to ms pevchikh, he killed him. to paris, where the french president emmanuel macron is hosting a conference as a show of solidarity for ukraine. german chancellor olaf scholz and british foreign secretary david cameron are among those attending. our paris correspondent h

with more on this, i'm nowjoined by vitaliy shevchenko, russia editor at bbc monitoring...ns. so a key figure in his entourage and she said that the night before alexi novelli died she had been told that negotiations were at the final stage potentially leading up to his exchange for a russian secret service assassin who is currently serving a life sentence in germany. in exchange russia was to western powers presumably to american nationals and alexi noveul american nationals and alexi novelli. she described this as a result of an operation, a project, which was two years in the making and she said because vladimir putin was so opposed to exchanging alexi novelli was so opposed to exchanging alexi noveuion was so opposed to exchanging alexi novelli on setting and free he killed him. novelli on setting and free he killed him-— novelli on setting and free he killed him. ., ~ i. , . killed him. thank you very much. plenty more _ killed him. thank you very much. plenty more details _ killed him. thank you very much. plenty more details on _ killed him. thank you very much. plen

our russia editor at bbc monitoring and the ukrainecast presenter vitaliy shevchenko has been followingments. he gave me some background on the general who's been dimissed. valerii zaluzhnyi, to put simply, he was in charge of the ukrainian army. and as such, he was the architect of ukraine's initial counteroffensive backin ukraine's initial counteroffensive back in 2022. he is the face of ukraine's relative military success. he is credited well with the fact that ukraine's still there, still fighting, and yet he has been sacked. it's a move that will not go down particularly well with some parts of the military and the public in ukraine. general valerii zaluzhnyi has been very well thought of, respected and revered by many, so questions have been asked and are being asked about why this has happened. there's a lot of talk about a personality clash between the two leaders, between volodymyr zelensky and valerii zaluzhnyi. i keep presidential adviser in ukraine said that one important reason why a reshuffle is taking place in the ukrainian military is the fact that times have changed, ne

with more on this, i'm nowjoined by vitaliy shevchenko, russia editor at bbc monitoring...d _ a little bit more about it. maria said she had been _ a little bit more about it. maria said she had been told - a little bit more about it. maria said she had been told the - a little bit more about it. marial said she had been told the night before mr alexei navalny died that talks about his whole suitable exchange had reached the final stage. according to her, to us nationals were due to be exchanged together with mr navalny for a russian secret service assassin who is currently serving a life sentence in jail in germany. is currently serving a life sentence injail in germany. according to maria, president putin acted irrationally by having mr navalny killed injail. that's the irrationally by having mr navalny killed in jail. that's the claim made repeatedly by mr navalny�*s associates and family after his death and she said right now the family are planning his funeral but the key claims he made was that this operation had taken, this project to organise mr navalny�*s police ha

our russia editor at bbc monitoring and the ukrainecast presenter vitaliy shevchenko has been following

about it with the editor of the russia department of the bbc monitoring service, vitaly shevchenko joins us. vitaliy, congratulations, you are watching the course of the election campaign in russia, but in a minute we will see how putin was nominated. and how can you describe when and how the phenomenon of nadezhdin arose, that is why, in general, socially passive citizens of russia stood in queues, long queues, to sign his candidacy, they stood, that's how it was, but everything related to the elections, of the election campaign, the center of the election committee of russia, and mr. nadezhdin mentioned there, the parliament and so on, i want to use these words in quotation marks, because... because everything that happens around this in russia, it happens with for the reason that it is allowed, yes, it is the kremlin or vladimir vladimirovich putin personally allowed it, the kremlin controls everything so closely that it would be, well, naive to believe that if even boris nadezhdina is allowed to take part in this, that he will win, or even, well, he will do something. difference, there will be s