gordon corera reports. flag is torn down and thrown on the ground, while that of ukraine rises in its place. for the first time since the second world war, russia has found its own territory invaded and occupied. in a move which caught moscow by surprise, ukraine has in the past week sent tanks and thousands of troops across the border, leaving destruction in theirwake, an operation its president acknowledged for the first time last night. translation: i received several reports from commander - in chief syrskyii regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor�*s territory. i am grateful to every unit of the defence forces, ensuring that ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor. tens of thousands of russians are now being hurriedly evacuated from the areas close to where ukraine is operating. some expressed shock and anger at their government for allowing this to happen. a stern faced vladimir putin met his top offi

gordon corera, bbc news.f people in towns and villages outside the greek capital athens have been ordered to move to safer areas, as wildfires are raging in the area. more than 30 have been brought under control, but hundreds of firefighters, as well as waterbombing planes and helicopters, are still battling a number of fires. as nickjohnson reports. the greek capital, sweltering in temperatures nearing a0 celsius. nearby fires shrouding the country's most recognisable landmarks in thick black smoke. dozens of fires have broken out across the country over the weekend. the prime minister, kyriakos mitsotakis, has cut short his holiday to deal with the crisis. greece has experienced its hottest june and july on record. the hot, dry weather accompanied by strong winds to fan the flames. shouting thousands of residents have been told to leave their homes in the region north of athens, including residents of the historic town of marathon. and in nearby varnavas, police go door—to—door to get people out. while many

gordon corera, bbc news.speaking to former deputy minister of defence for ukraine, alina frovola, about the motivation and strategy behind ukraine's offensive. i think that ukraine never declared that we are ready to negotiations now. so i think that there could be a plenty of different other reasons behind, including that we do not perceive that as a like a crossing a border. we do perceive it as a like very flexible border line or front line. and that's just like a change of the initiative on the front line. so that, although, yes, if there would be a negotiations, which doesn't seem realistic now because russia is still not changing their position and demonstrating their readiness to negotiate, that could be some part of the pressure. so ukraine has obviously demonstrated its willingness to take the offensive into russia, but based on its capabilities, resources at the moment, i'm thinking of in particular, how long do you think this offensive can last? well, it depends on what is the purpose of this opera

gordon corera, bbc news.it is deeply concerned by reports that iran is planning to deliver hundreds of satellite—guided close range ballistic missiles to russia. the state department says that would represent a dramatic escalation. nikolai petrov is a consultant fellow on the russia and eurasia programme at chatham house, in london. nikolai gave us his assessment on what the russian reaction is to the current poisiton on its border, with ukraine taking some territory. well, i would say that the ukrainian counteroffensive is perceived by the majority in russia as detached, and it changes the attitude to the war. the war came to their homes, and it is perceived as domestic war. and it causes understandable kind of mobilization. and some russians are saying that, "well, now we see that putin was absolutely right" when saying that the west and ukrainians in particular, do conspire, and their plan was to come to russia from the very beginning. so i would say that reaction in russia is very mixed, because it's the

gordon corera, bbc news. earlier, sergei goryashko from bbc russian gave us his analysis.hered his infamous guys who are in response of the security in russia. among them were the former minister of defence, sergey shoygu, and the people who are the closest to putin. so the leaders of the fsb and the national guard both directly work under president putin. those are now responsible for restoring order in the regions which are touched by that incursion. they are partly occupied by ukrainian forces, and they are going to do that in terms of imposing that regime of counter—terrorist operation. and the one which was imposed before in chechnya in early 2000, when russia was leading its second campaign in chechen republic, and the one which was imposed in some of the russian regions a year ago during the infamous prigozhin�*s mutiny. so this is something really significant, and it allows the fsb and the national guard to do basically whatever they want on the territory. how is the russian media portraying this incursion by ukrainian forces? basically, as putin has already commen

gordon corera, bbc news. with me is sergei goryashko from bbc russian.l, that meeting led by president putin, what more did we learn about that? is a president putin, what more did we learn about that?— learn about that? is a former minister of— learn about that? is a former minister of defence - learn about that? is a former minister of defence and - learn about that? is a former minister of defence and the l learn about that? is a former - minister of defence and the people who are the closest one to putin, the leaders of the fsb and the national guard, they both worked under putin. they are responsible for restoring order in the region which are affected by that incursion, partly occupied by ukrainian forces and they are going to do that in terms of imposing that regime of counterterrorist operation. the one which was imposed before in chechnya in the early 2000 is when russia was leading the second campaign in the chechen republic stop and the one that was imposed in russian regions after their mutiny. it allows the fsb and their mutiny. it allows th

gordon corera, bbc news.about all this i'm joined by dr samir puri, a former ceasefire monitor in ukraine, visiting lecturer in war studies at kings college london, and associate fellow at chathamhouse. if we start with what is happening at the zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, who do you think is responsible? thanks for having me i can't verify who is responsible but i think the very significant act as given where the ukraine forces have moved into the kursk region of russia, there is the separate kursk nuclear power plant the russians have and i wonder whether presuming that the russians are responsible for the attacks and the damage that the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant this is a very clear act of signalling to remind ukrainians ukrainian forces make some kind of bid towards the kursk nuclear power plant russia has got the power to cause damage to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant even the russians have been controlling it is your package said for the best part of two years. package said for the b

our security correspondent gordon corera is with me. how serious was this plot?ut it was a serious plot that led to this cancellation. the individual had the intent to do something. he had also collected some weapons and potentially some chemicals for explosives. i think one of the worrying thing is, it was only disrupted a day or two before those concerts were going to take place, apparently because of a tip—off from the united states which intercepted some communications and then pass them to austrian officials. the austrians have suggested the concrete threat had passed because of the arrests but the promoters still decided to cancel those shows. as we heard, there are those shows are expected in london next week. the expectation is they will go on, the police have said there is no read over from what happened in austria to the uk. the mayor of london has also said the uk has learned lessons from the terrible manchester arena bombing in 2017 and that police and authorities will be working to make sure those concerts do go ahead safely.— do go ahead safely. gor

our security correspondent gordon corera has the latest.d fears that fighting may spread. this is in the belgorod region today where 11,000 people have been told to move. it comes after more than 70,000 were evacuated from the neighbouring kursk region. that is where ukraine launched its lightning advance. people's surprise at the events as they unfolded was clear. translation: my husband kept running to the cellar. _ on the first day i ran to the cellar, then i couldn't. i was in my room. i lay huddled up, and it went bang, bang, bang... the attacks started nearly a week ago with elite ukrainian forces heading over the border into the kursk region. their advances here in yellow. in some cases they had been operating 20 miles inside russia. the plan seems to be to draw russian forces away from the areas in red inside ukraine where moscow had been making steady advances. these burnt—out russian military vehicles are one indication of how far moscow was taken by surprise. but it has promised a tough response to what vladimir putin has called

and we are also joined by security correspondent gordon corera. hello, gordon.lo, adam, hello, paddy, hello, lyse.| hello, gordon! so i was thinking, should we look at the middle east first and in particular the negotiations that are going on in qatar over the israel—gaza situation. then we will pop over to ukraine, or we will pop over to the ukrainian—russian border. and then maybe we will have some big thoughts at the end about the whole world. so let's zoom in on the middle east first, lyse, so there are talks going on. they started on thursday in doha, the capital of qatar. explain to me the actual process and who is there. yes, and let's root this in its context, the very, very grim context. this is now the 11th month of this grievous gaza war, already being described as the bloodiest war of the 21st century, and the agony of the people of gaza, which now, well, more than 70% of it lies in ruins, and the agony of the israeli families waiting for their loved ones to come home. this round of talks is described by some as the last—chance talks. i don't think t

gordon corera, bbc news. let's turn to the us now and the race for the white house.decision to end his race for the white house. well, look, the polls we had showed that it was a neck and neck race. it would have been down to the wire. but what happened was, a number of my democratic colleagues in the house and senate thought that i was going to hurt them in the races, and i was concerned if i stayed in the race, that would be the topic. you'd be interviewing me about, "why did nancy pelosi say... "why did so...?" and i thought it would be a real distraction, number one. number two, when i ran the first time, i thought of myself as being a transition president. i can't even say how old i am. it's hard for me to get out of my mouth. and...but things got moving so quickly it didn't happen. and the combination was that i thought it was a critical issue for me — still is, not a joke — maintaining this democracy, but i thought it was important because, although it is a great honour being president, i think i have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing

with me is now is our security correspondent, gordon corera. , tells more about the details with this. , ., ., ., , ., ., this. austrian authorities have had a ress this. austrian authorities have had a press conference _ this. austrian authorities have had a press conference this _ this. austrian authorities have had a press conference this morning i this. austrian authorities have had i a press conference this morning and they indicated they think this was a serious plot, notjust aspirational. particularly centred around this one teenager who they believe had acquired some the chemicals, perhaps through his work. it looks like they were suggesting the plan was to attack the crowds outside the concert, perhaps with a car or knives or some kind of explosive, but that it has been foiled. it looks like there was international help in spotting this individual and the suggestion has been that it is the suggestion has been that it is the us authorities who might have provided intelligence, possibly from some kind of online chat or conversation that

gordon corera, our security correspondent, is here.hing like this has happened to russia since the second world war. one wonders, are the ukrainians really going to try to hold this territory? it really going to try to hold this territo ? , ., ,., really going to try to hold this territo ? , ., ., , territory? it is a bold and may be risky gamble _ territory? it is a bold and may be risky gamble by _ territory? it is a bold and may be risky gamble by ukraine. - territory? it is a bold and may be l risky gamble by ukraine. resident zelensky suggested this as a defensive move, going after the places where russia has been attacking ukraine. it is possible that ukraine could try to keep some of that territory as a bargaining chip for any future negotiations, but it is very risky and a lot of military analysts think that might be dangerous, because russia will do everything it can to get that territory back. it will amass a huge amount of force. it might not be willing to do what it does in some other countries, lay waste to the territory,

gordon corera is with me.could that mean for her concert here next week?- her concert here next week? it was a serious threat _ her concert here next week? it was a serious threat in _ her concert here next week? it was a serious threat in austria, _ her concert here next week? it was a serious threat in austria, it _ serious threat in austria, it appears, which was disrupted at the last minute. this 19—year—old had been radicalised on line and sworn allegiance to islamic state and our researchers reviewed weapons, explosives, knives, and the intent seems to be that he would turn up outside the concert and try and kill as many people as possible. one of his accomplices is alleged to have got a job working at the event management side at the concert venue. it was only disrupted a day orso venue. it was only disrupted a day or so because those concerts were due to start in vienna, apparently on a tip—off from american intelligence. originally, the austrian authorities said the threat had been dealt with in the c

with me is our security correspondent, gordon corera.rson said that you can understand preferable that the recent attacks may sons from a military point of view. is that true? . ~ military point of view. is that true? ., ~ ., , , , ., military point of view. is that true? .,~ ., , , , ., , true? -- make no sense. it is a very bold gamble — true? -- make no sense. it is a very bold gamble by _ true? -- make no sense. it is a very bold gamble by ukraine. _ true? -- make no sense. it is a very bold gamble by ukraine. there - true? -- make no sense. it is a very bold gamble by ukraine. there are l bold gamble by ukraine. there are risks, because what it has done it is something which no one has expected. it doesn't look like what it is trying to do is to draw russian forces away from other places, particularly the front lines inside ukraine, where russia has been making advances. to draw them back to defend its own territory. but the question is, does ukraine expect to hold this territory, does it respective fight? how long will it respectiv