life in bakhmut in eastern _ for years. thank for that. life in bakhmut in eastern ukraine. .ositive covid test result that novak djokovic recently used to enter australia. it allowed him exemption from rules barring unvaccinated people. however, the serial number on his test dated december 16th appears out of sequence with a sample of tests analysed by the bbc. our sports correspondent, natalie pirks, has the details. cheering. another day, another media scrum. but as novak djokovic received honorary received honorary citizenship in a montenegran town today, this hero's welcome was a far cry from his treatment in australia. this shot of the unvaccinated star stuck at the border was the beginning of a saga that ultimately saw him deported. fighting to stay, he'd argued he'd been granted an exemption to play by tennis australia because, very close to the wire, he'd tested positive for covid—19. his legal team presented two covid test certificates to the court from the serbian institute of public health. the first, allegedly taken on december 16th, shows a positive result. the s

of british troops deployed in the region. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin is live in bakhmut in eastern ukraine for us tonight. amid the crescendo of international concern about a possible invasion, there are particular fears about this region. rebels backed by the kremlin had been battling the ukrainian government for years here in the east. today we were given access to the front lines in this conflict which are static but still deadly. ukrainian troops told us they are ready for a russian invasion if it comes. 0ne they are ready for a russian invasion if it comes. one said it will be hard for all of us, but we will be hard for all of us, but we will stand our ground. 0n the frozen front lines, of eastern ukraine, it is heads down in the trenches, to avoid sniperfire. maria is following in the footsteps of her military father. she keeps watch for the enemy, separatists, backed by moscow, who seized territory here eight years ago. if russia invades, she will be facing far worse. do you believe the russians are coming? i try to avoid politics, she says. i try to avoid watch w

our international correspondent, orla guerin, is in the city of bakhmut, in the donbass region, of easterners russia and has been talking to local people there. if president putin is thinking of an invasion, even a limited one, he may well be looking in this direction. as gabriel mentioned, there are russian backed separatists who have been fighting the ukrainian government since 2014 and that conflict has already claimed 13,000 lives. in one scenario, president putin would send his troops across the border presenting them as peacekeepers, claiming that they are coming here to protect russian speakers, and of course, the separatists would welcome them with open arms. we've been speaking to people today close to the border, close to the front line, and rightly or wrongly they've been playing down the threat of a russian invasion despite the massive build—up just across the border. one man said to us, look, we are just pawns and both the russians and the americans are playing games. but he also accepted the very real risk at the moment that in this heightened tension even a small move by one

our international correspondent orla guerin is in the city of bakhmut, in the donbas region of easternf a full—scale russian invasion? russian troops are so far sticking to their side of the border but if president putin is thinking of an invasion, even a limited one, he may well be looking in this direction. as gabriel mentioned, there are russian backed separatists who have been fighting the ukrainian government since 2014 and that conflict has already claimed 13,000 lives. in one scenario president putin would send his troops across the border presenting them as peacekeepers, claiming that they are coming here to protect russian speakers, and of course the separatists would welcome them with open arms. we've been speaking to people today close to the border, close to the front line, and rightly or wrongly they've been playing down the threat of a russian invasion despite the massive build—upjust across the border. one man said to us, look, we arejust across the border. one man said to us, look, we are just pawns and both the russians and the americans are playing games. but he also