Since this invasion, we cant be friends with them anymore. We will never forget what they have done to us, to our people. Hes donated over £1 million to ukraine, and now he says he wants to do the best for his country. I cant be more proudly than i am right now to be ukrainian. So whats next for zinchenko and the fighting, which has claimed Tens Of Thousands of lives . Every single day, i am watching some videos from ukraine with the kids, where theyre hiding themselves in a bunker. And i was just trying to put myself in their position, you know, when i was at that age. I didnt have that, so i was living my proper life. And now, ifeel sorry for them because they dont deserve it, honestly. And, you know, just again, once again, youre just asking yourself, like, theyre doing that for what . To achieve what . I i cannot find the answer, honestly. You must have friends in ukraine with kids and friends also in ukraine who are fighting. What contacts do you have with them and how are they doing . Every time, when i was talking to them, you know, i feel sorry. I feel sorry because im not there as well. Mm hm. Ill be honest with you. I really want to be in ukraine, and i. And i said to my wife and myfamily and, to be honest, the feedback is exactly the same, that all of us, were going to live in ukraine after my football career. You know, the question is where we are more helpful for our country at the moment so here or being there . This is the question. And the answer is clear at the moment that i can do much, much more being here rather than i will be in ukraine at the moment. But definitely, when i have some windows or something, or holidays or whatever, or when the season will be over, i will be there, for sure. So every time, when im talking to my friends or to the guys which is staying on the front line we always, like, have communication between each other im always trying to help as much as i can. Youre 27. Do you have some of your former schoolmates on the front lines . Yes, i have some guys which ive been in school with them, and ijust talking to them sometimes and im just sending some stuff which they really need at the moment and, um. Its tough to understand that just recently weve been in the same school, we were playing in the playground or in the football pitch, and now they have to defend our country on the front line and, um. Honestly, its so hard to accept this, but it is what it is. We cannot give up. Its interesting you say that right now, because, of course, zelensky now has enacted the bill which will reduce the age of particularly young men from 27 to 25. It must be very hard. Theyve fought a hard war. Its kind of at stalemate just now and people are exhausted who are fighting. The only. The only message is clear that its so super tough for all of us and for all the country, that if the president decided to do that, that means there is a tough situation at the moment. And the only thing i know clearly that we cant give up. We cant give up. I know maybe some people might think that its much easier, you know, to talk for me being here rather than being there. I really hope that this war will end soon. But at the same point, you know, im just trying to. Sometimes to visualise and trying to be, like, in the president s spot, and just what i would do, because, like, history shows you that you cant have any agreement with this country. Its so hard. Imean, like. No agreement with russia . I dont know how can you. Like, i really hope the war will end soon, but its super tough. Whats zelensky like on a one to one basis . You know, he must be very proud of you. Well, first of all, im so proud of him because i said this to him as well, that me, personally, me and my family, we are so proud of our president because i dont know what would be with our country if there was another guy instead of him. You can see it also on the pictures, you know, since he. His face before the war and his face now, you know, like for two years different, how much he changed as well. And hes living with this every single day, every single second, and hes trying to do his best. And hes doing amazing, amazing job for all the country. And hes our leader. So, one on one, he seems like a very, very simple guy, which you can talk about anything you want. Does he like football . Yeah, yeah, he likes football so much, so, um. To be honest, like, you dont feel that youre talking to the president , which is so good stuff. As you say, youre living a very comfortable life in london. You know, you play for arsenal, youre a star player. You play for your national side. You talk about going back. If, at some point, you thought it was of more value to leave this behind and go back and fight if you were called, would you go . I think its a clear answer. Of course. You would go . I would go. So youre a Little Boy Playing at Shakhtar Donetsk in the donbas, and then you take your first big job, and its for a russian side. Back then, what were your relations like with russia then . You must have known young russian players who are now presumably fighting on the other side. Well, ill be honest with you, if you look back to my football career, for that moment when i was 17 years old, i didnt have any other option, just, like, to leave ukraine. In a football way, you know . I mean. Because its quite a long story about that, why i decided to do that and stuff. I didnt have any other option, any other option. And the thing is, for time which i use, which i spent there, for 1. 5 years being in russia, ive got some friends, some circle, right there. But since the invasion, like really, really few who texted me and sent me some messages. And i cant blame them, because this is not theirfault, right . I cannot tell them, like, guys, do the protests outside and all these things, because i know how. They can be in prison, you know, for that. And the question is just for the population, do they really like to live in these kind of conditions, in the rules where you dont have any. You dont have free word . So. But the thing is, since the invasion, this circle became to zero, so i dont speak. I dont speak with anyone there at the moment. Thats a regret, surely, that, you know, this is what war causes, that you have presumably people that were your friends that you just cant speak to anymore . Well, like i said, i cant blame them. But in the same time, like. I think the russian population could do much, much more and a lot of different good things, because they used to call us brothers, sisters, i dont know, whatever. But since this invasion, this time showed us, to all the ukrainians that we cant be friends with them anymore. We will never forget what they have done to us, to our people, and thats what i will teach my kids as well. And my kids will teach their kids this is not acceptable. But do you regret your time in russia . It was part of your growing up. Its just. I cant regret about it because without this part, i wouldnt be here with you now. You are very much part of the people beyond ukraine who are trying to help the country. But i wonder if, for you, it becomes an emotional burden in a way that actually being outside the country is sometimes more difficult than being inside the country . Look, since the invasion, ill be honest with you, first couple of days especially, me and my family, we were like. We were like in space. We didnt know where we are. We didnt talk with each other. We were always with our phones, you know, following the news and then, like, 0k, what do we need to do . 0k, send money here, send some stuff here, help here people, call the others, bah bah bah. We didnt know where we are like all of us ukrainians living in the country or abroad. But at the same time, like, we felt togetherness like never before. And now, being ukrainian. Being ukrainian, ithink its a very proud moment because i never. I cant be more proudly than i am right now to be ukrainian. And the thing is, like i said to you, what is my duty now . 0k, how can i help as much as i can to my country, to my people over there and all these things . How . Being there in ukraine or being here, you know, like, sending some money, sending stuff. I dont know, like, helping the refugees and all these things. So that was the question. And we decided with our family to carry on, to continue. I know it was like. It was not easy for the rest as well. Im not comparing myself with the people which is living in ukraine during. Since the invasion, but im just talking about for those which is living abroad. But i feel my duty. I feel my duty that i need to do my best. And every time when i have any opportunity, like now, for example, talking to you, i need to speak out about this. I need to represent my country in the best way i can. And also, like, using this opportunity, once again, i would like to say a massive thanks to all the people which is helping and supporting us, because i know a lot of examples by real life where Football Players� families, you know, helping a lot of ukrainian refugees, and it means a lot for me. And, honestly, i cant be grateful enough for that. But once again, i know if some people got fatigue of this war, im so sorry, but we cant we cant. All of us ukrainians, we can not get any fatigue on that. You fundraise, obviously, for ukraine, but i think you also must be giving money to help, your own money. I dont want to tell you the number. Of course, all of us. I dont want to be a special one or to tell you something. No. But of course. Of course. But youre in a position to give a lot. Yes, exactly. And thats what i have to do. This is my duty. Thats why i decided to carry on being here, you know, and. But, i mean. You dont have to answer. Yeah. But, you know, i imagine its more than a million. Well, its probably. Probably. I would say its around that, maybe more. I didnt count. You didnt count. Since the invasion, we were all of us, especially, like, international players, ukrainian which plays abroad, we had a lot of Different Group chats in whatsapp, every single link where we need to send, and we dont count this. But since this invasion, yeah, it must be more. Does it ever occur to you that when you speak out, and very passionately, that you yourself might become a target for russia . I never thought about that, to be honest. And might be. I dont know. But how can you speak in 2020s that you are or he is or she is a target for someone . This is incredible, no . This is like were living in a wild world, or what . So we dont have any rules . Whats this, you know . Like, this is. This is not. This is. Like, even trying to visualise how it can be, this is, for me, something impossible. I dont know. I might be target for them. I dont know. But im just trying to say the real truth. I dont understand and i never understand about politics at all. I dont understand about this. And i dont have to. And this is not my direction. But what i understand clearly is that if you were born and raised in this place and this is your homeland and you know every single stone over there, the other people from the other countries cannot come and destroy everything around and steal everything around and then just occupy this place and stay there forever. I imagine that when youre back in ukraine, you have been to see children, youve been to see families. But tell me what its like for some of the Young Children whove lost their family. I give you example that there is one place in ukraine which is called city of kindness. And im talking quite often, you know, with this lady which organised everything since the invasion. They started with one building which is helping, you know, these kids which lost their parents during the war and also, you know, for those who lost one of the Family Members as well. They started with one building. Now theyre growing quite big, quite a lot, i mean, and they have, i guess, six buildings, also one hospital, which is trying to treat the kids which are struggling with their health. And im trying to help as much as i can, you know, every single time. And im talking to them, knowing the real numbers when i ask her how many kids you have at the moment, and she said, like, 300 kids and 80 of them is below five, which dont have parents anymore because of the war, and its super tough to accept, to be honest. Youve got kids of your own under five. Exactly. Being a dad, its something like. Anything involved with the kids, for me, its super tough. Im so sensitive person and. He inhales deeply you know, like, seeing that videos or pictures of them, how theyre trying to play with each other and, like, supporting us while we are playing for the National Teams, this is like extra motivation for us. And also i know that there are some kids which is not. Which is, like, below 18, girls which have been raped by russian soldiers as well. And when you talk to the lady personally and shes saying these stories to me, my heart isjust. My heart wants to explode, because this is something like. This is not what they deserve. Instead of living their lives, having some dreams, to achieve these dreams, they. They� re just struggling like that. Theyre losing their parents. Theyre losing their Family Members. And this is. I dont know how to explain. Its super tough. This summer, of course, your country will see you play in euro 202a. Will this have a much bigger significance this year to see the ukraine side . Well, during this qualification, all of us, we knew that this is an amazing opportunity for us to qualify for this tournament and to show again how strong we are as a country. And, um. You know, since the invasion especially, while we are wearing ukrainian badge on our chest, this is like extra motivation for us, you know, to bring some more positive emotions to our people, which is supporting us a lot. Because like you said as well before the interview to me that all of us ukrainians, we love football so much, so its another opportunity. It will be another opportunity for us, you know, to talk about ourself to the rest of the world. Mm hm. And to remind the rest of the world because, of course, you know, the financial concerns of countries are very many and ukraine is but one of them. And i wonder how concerned you are that perhaps some countries will feel, we cant give as much as weve been giving . Well, for me, its a bit super. Its super tough for me to talk about it as a Football Player because i dont want to be wrong somewhere, because, like i said to you, im not political, right . I dont know in terms of, um. How much theyre helping us, how much they can and all these things. I dont know exactly. But what i know 100 that during this invasion we showed to the rest of the world that we can make the resistance against this aggression, terrorist aggression, and we can win this war. But the only thing is we need support. We need support from the others. And maybe some people realise, maybe some not, but today we are proper shield for all the europe. We need this to protect our lands, not to occupy it like the other is doing for no reason. This is simple as that. So you dont have to understand anything about politics. Its just simple like that to protect ourselves. Because today its ukraine, but tomorrow it can be your country. You never know what is in dictators head. And also showing this resistance, were showing the other dictators, maybe, in the world, which might think as well that, oh, its possible to do that, why i should not occupy this place, this place, because there will be no reaction . Thats why we need to show the reaction that this is not acceptable, guys. We need to live in the peace. Peace world. After all this is over, many, many ukrainians have settled in other parts of the world, and they probably thought they were going to these parts of the world temporarily, but what if people feel that its a different country now and that they dont want to go back . What do you feel about that . Well, at some point, i can understand them. But, once again, if you ask me my favourite place in the world, it will be ukraine, because its my homeland and i neverfelt myself somewhere else like i feel when im in ukraine. I really hope and I Have A Dream that this war will end very, very soon and we can rebuild our ukraine like we really want. And i can guarantee you that when war will end, we will rebuild it in the best way we could. Thats for sure. I know. I know also the people which is working now in the president s office, i saw how much they work as well there and, you know, our people, like also with my team mates in the National Team when were talking about, like, guys, lets imagine the war will end very soon and ourfirst home game in front of our fans. You know, even now, my skin is. Its so hard to describe these emotions. And i have no doubts about that. But the really, really hope and dream at the moment is that the war will end soon. And ill give you another example. Like, when i was a kid, i used to say, oh, im dreaming to be a Football Player, professional, but i didnt have any clue what is this like, how much i need to sacrifice, how much i need to work hard and all these things, but i had a dream and i followed my dream, and this is exactly the same. I have dream that ukraine will rebuild in the best way they can. And i really hope it will be. If you close your eyes, where is the place in ukraine that you see . Place . Yeah. Whats your favourite place that you see . Kyiv. Kyiv, straight away. The best place in the world. Whats the message that you have for people in ukraine who might be listening to this broadcast . Well, the message is clear that im so proud of all of you and i know that one day it will end soon. And now is the time to be together again, again and again. We cant give up. And the only message also i would like to say that we are not alone. All the people in europe, they are all with us. That means a lot for us. Thats why, if were going to give up, then we are all in trouble. We have no other option. We have to carry on and we need to stick together. This is the only way to beat this russian aggression, and we can do it. We already showed this during this invasion to the rest of the world, and weve shown to ourselves as well that we can do it, but only together. Help each other as much as we can. I dont know, by anything. Like i used to say, if you can donate, perfect. If you cannot donate anything, no problem at all. Even a sticker on your car. When im driving to the training ground, i can see some stickers that i stay with the ukraine, Stand With Ukraine or something. For me, it already means a lot, so that shows that people are with us. And even this charity game for ukraine, which we did recently in august, look how many big, big names came there, and that means we are not alone. This is my message to the rest. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you so much. A pleasure. Hello there. Some really chilly feeling air for the time of year, and its going nowhere for the next couple of days. But of course, the sunshine� s helping to lift the temperature somewhat. Lots of blue sky across many parts of scotland, 13 celsius in edinburgh, butjust seven degrees for these north sea facing coasts such as scarborough. Lots of cloud, and a brisk, a bitter northerly wind blowing, too. And as we head through the rest of tonight, theres a little feature Running Southwards bringing the threat of some further showers, possibly wintry over the hills of scotland. Temperatures dipping very close to freezing into thursday morning. Watch out for some icy stretches, perhaps. And its still blustery for those north sea facing coasts, and across the Northern Isles as well. A mixture of sunny spells, but also some showers across many Northern Areas of england, scotland and northern ireland. More cloud and some showers pushing southwards across england and wales. Temperatures again towards the east, just 8 10 degrees celsius, but a little milder again further south and west. Now, as we head through thursday night, then therell be a lot of clear spells around. Again, its another cold feeling night for the time of year, the snow levels again dropping across parts of scotland. Another frost for many of us as we head into friday morning. Again, watch out for some icy stretches here and there. Friday, well start to see a few changes. This area of low pressure starts to push in to south west england, affecting parts of the Channel Islands as well, bringing some more showery outbreaks of rain here. And the winds will fall lighter as well, so it wont feel quite so bitterly cold towards those north sea facing coast. But still, the bulk of the showers will be here. A scattering of showers, also some sunny spells, probably sunniest out towards the north and the west again. But temperatures still very low for the time of year, below the average, 8 12 degrees celsius for most of us. Things are set to turn a little less cold, though, as we head through the weekend. Some milderfeeling air. And its going to be quite unsettled, tending to be drier in the north and the west. So, if we just look at this low pressure system. Its spinning in from the south. Its going to give plenty of wet weather, particularly towards the south and the east, but also some milder feeling conditions. Temperatures will rise to more or less the seasonal average. So certainly no heat wave. Heres the Temperature Outlook for our Capital Cities as we head through the weekend and into the start of next week. So not as cold, but really quite showery. Bye bye. Live from washington. This is bbc news. Israel says its moving forward with preparations for a Ground Operation in gazas southern most city, rafah. Iam in i am in los angeles where pro palestinian protests led to clashes with police as tensions escalate on campuses across the us. Arizonas Attorney General announces charges in an investigation into a scheme to re elect former President Trump in 2020. Hello, im caitriona perry. Youre very welcome. Israeli officials have confirmed they are moving ahead with plans for a Military Assault on the city of rafah in southern gaza. Israel says it hopes to launch an assault on the several hamas battalions remaining in rafah. However, aid groups and western allies have warned israel not