At 10pm we will be here with a full round up of the days news. First, serbia the russia dilemma. There is something strange happening in serbia. A Shadow Hanging over the balkan nation. Rumours of the Wagner Mercenary group recruiting. Russian propaganda spreading. Symbols of war being sold as souvenirs. Do you get a lot of people buying these . Yeah, is the most selling t shirt. The biggest seller . We sell that t shirt, and this z, most of them. Everything we sell, these two is amazing. Biggest seller. And it is everywhere. Rising out of the serbian countryside, green and gold domes a physical monument to russian influence. They call this putins church. Inside, a double headed eagle, a russian flag, and for sale, just under a pound, key rings bearing a z, the symbol of russias invasion of ukraine. Weve come to belgrade to try and unravel the mystery as to why so many people here support russias invasion of ukraine. It is thought that more than 70 backed moscow over than 70 backed moscow over kyiv. There are many competing ideas. We wont forgive you our murdered childrens. It is like you put a drug dealer among the children, and then do nothing. Russian side was never. In the history do anything wrong to serbian people. They will weaponise anything they can. If they had a chess set these days, they would through the pieces that you. Through the pieces at you. Tens of thousands of ukrainians have arrived here since the war started. Many more russians. Often opponents of the putin regime. They have not always found the arrival easy. Iiuri fled russia, and maria ukraine, because of the invasion. But it soon caught up with them, painted on the front door of their apartment block. Here you can see it. We are sure that those two letters were drawn by our neighbours, because that exact neighbour that asked us where we are from, he started to wear the t shirt with the z letter. And other neighbours in our neighbourhood, yeah. Within weeks, neighbours called at the door, accusing them of making noise. Then, this happened. Dont touch her, man. She screams. Maria called the police, but she was arrested and charged with disturbing public order. She shows us the injuries she said she received that night. And it is not the only time the couple have been attacked. In december, four men hit iurii and grabbed his anti warflag. They then posted this photo in front of a mural dedicated to the wagner group, the same once accused of recruiting. And this the flag that was on my shoulders, and one of those guys, i guess in those sneakers, one of the guys that attacked me. Because ijust remembered his shoes. What is interesting is that iurii and maria say the people that attacked them were not russians, but locals. There is a Battle For Hearts And Minds taking place on The Streets Of Belgrade, with competing influences from within and without, and one seems to be winning. There is no doubt that russia has an increasing influence on serbian society. On its people and its politics. But where does it come from . Is it legitimate interest . Is it political interference . Or is it, as some people suggest, something more nefarious, a form of infiltration . Vlado stanic� s devotion to russia and the man he calls tsar putin is absolute. In 2015, but devotion led him to join a war that was not his own. He refuses to talk about what he did in ukraine, but was jailed on his return to serbia. You say the ukrainians are fascists, but for many people around the world, it is the man on your t shirt, Vladimir Putin and the russians, who are the fascists. He is an extreme example of a wider phenomenon, a sense of pan slavism, the idea that russia and serbia have historic and modern links, as painted on the walls of the city. But, there is another story this graffiti can tell. Not of love for russia, but of hatred for the west. So, this building, what was this . Archive from nato bases in italy, aircraft from a total of 13. In 1999, nato launched an 11 week Bombing Campaign against yugoslavian forces. A response to the Ethnic Cleansing of albanians in kosovo. The air strikes eventually brought an end to the brutality and bloodshed, but not before they had left an indelible mark on The Streets Of Belgrade and the minds of its people. It is not support of russia against ukraine, it is support of russia against nato and the west, who bombed our country. There is something else. This is the moment in 2008 when kosovo declared independence from serbia. The west recognised, even encouraged it. While russia used its seat on the Un Security Council to block its recognition there. We have to understand that russia is a country that supports serbia in other ways, example in the un, to protect kosovo and protect serbian integrity and the people of serbia understand that. How to say, they are zahvalan. They are grateful, they appreciate that effort from the russian side. The russian side was never in the history attacked serbia, or do anything wrong to serbian people. Although it is fair to say not everyone agrees with that. Cedomir stojkovic is maria and iuriis lawyer, and campaigns against russian activity in serbia. It is like you put a drug dealer among children and do nothing. Russia is a drug dealer here, in a political way. For 15 years, russians put agents here, money here. They conduct a huge operation in the intelligence service. They start buying some media, and banning newsletters. They start buying some media, and buying news editors. To that, after the war in ukraine starts, they start to conduct brainwashing of serbian nation. Everything that happened in this case is actually a consequence of russian propaganda, or russian influence. We can see everything, every consequence of that hybrid influence of russia, and that, i call it, hybrid occupation of serbia. Many of those accusations are hard to check, but there is one area that we can examine. So, one of the main accusations is levelled against the tabloid press, that they take a pro moscow line. Heres a few examples of papers from around the start of russias invasion of ukraine. Some of the story choices, the choices of words are very interesting. Here, zelensky, america betrayed us. That is referring to a speech he gave on the 25th of february. We look back on it, that is categorically not what he meant and what he was saying. Heres another one, cowards from the west flee ukraine. This is on the second day of the invasion, the idea that that is what this paper thought was most important to tell its readers. Then we have a headline here, a front page that has become infamous. This was from two days before the start of the invasion, and it says, ukraine attacks russia. We stand behind serbia, i can say that. We approached a number of papers. Only one agreed to speak to us. It was the serbian telegraph, whose headline on day two of the war focused on western cowards fleeing, rather than the invasion itself. They say that wouldnt happen now. Did you find peoples feelings about president putin have changed since the war started . Has your Editorial Policy changed . Yes. Like Srpski Telegraf as a newspaper, every time when we make when we make articles about ukraine, we called it russias aggression to ukraine, not war, not special operation, aggression. Is that a policy that has changed over the course of the war . War changed our policy in that all people see that russia attacked an independent country, ukraine. But, we are against sanctions, because we feel that sanctions doesnt work. One of the accusations made against the media in general is that they are pro putin. There is one paper that is alleged that it is literally paid for by the russians. Do you think there are some that are directly funded, or that get their money from russian sources . Maybe some internet portals, or Something Like that, but mainstream media, no. I think no. They are pro russian for other reasons . They are pro russian because of their feelings or the feelings of their readers. Some would question that, although again it is hard to prove. One thing that is not in doubt is that nato has never been forgiven, certainly in this paper. You know these people, madeline albright, tony blair, bill clinton. It said, we wont forgive you, our murdered children. And that is still clearly very important. It is 2a years past, but when you see these pictures. Here we have a face that appears quite often, president trump, former president trump. President trump is one of serbs favourite president s. He was ready to understand serbs, to understand what were thinking, why is kosovo so important for us. And that is where we come to the place that runs through all of these theories. All roads lead to kosovo. If you have a destroyed building, it is a reminder. It is like a wound that you scratch every day. So it all comes down to kosovo . This is our territory for a 1000 years, someone comes there and says, this is ours. For many serbs, kosovo holds a Central Place in their national story, going all the way back to the 12th century. It is said to have special religious significance. By the 1990s, years of ethnic tension turned into open conflict that ended with nato air strikes and the eventual Declaration Of Independence that was blocked by russia. It is in that context that vlad sells his z t shirts and putin mugs. You know, in serbia, we remember20 years ago what has been. When the american bombarding. It is actually not nato, it is america. This war, it is not a war between russia and ukraine. This war is between russia and america, and we give the support from the sky, because we remember bombarding and that. Interesting. Actually, it is a very sad story, but kosovo now, who has the base in kosovo . America. Christopher hill is the us ambassador. He has been involved in the balkans for decades. I was speaking to a Souvenir Seller this morning called vlad, and he was selling z t shirts and president putin riding a bear, and putin mugs, and i said to him, why are you selling this stuff . His answer was not that we love putin, his answer was that because he is against america. I am not sure i can make vlad happy on this, but i think a lot of serbs have come to understand that the us is in their corner. No question that this bombing in 1999 plays for serbs like it was just yesterday, but when you look at the degree to which serbs have welcomed American Investment in serbia, if you look at the degree to which serbs are engaged in american culture, american sports, i think you will see among serbs a sense that america is a friend. It is ourjob to make sure they understand that we are a major donor here, we have provided not only humanitarian assistance, but also Economic Development assistance. I think we are going to see more of that in the future. This idea that it is dangerous to anger empires are great powers, to anger empires or great powers, but also might be dangerous to be in their embrace. For those who closely watch russias influence in serbia, there is not one simple solution to what is going on. We have heard from different people, different theories about russian influence. One is, it is historical, there is a fraternal link. One is that it is engineered, the russians have been playing hybrid warfare. One is that it is to do with nato and kosovo. Where do you see the truth of that in the context of a conversation . In the context of our conversation . The second two elements, the unpopularity of nato and russia acting as they like to call it as a spoiler power, properly has more to do with the russian presence in the country than any ancient historical ties. This notion about pro russian serbs and this mythical alliance between two slavic and orthodox ties which perseveres for the past 200 years, no matter the objective circumstances, i think it is a myth. The current level of partnership between the two countries is much more rooted in more modern, rather than any distant historical factors. It has much more to do with some of the frustrations of the serbian population with bitter memories of the 1990s and of course what has been alpha and omega of serbian policy, the unresolved kosovo dispute, more than anything else. You see, this is a live debate, one that brings serbs to the streets. An eu led process stalled for years has been reinvigorated, partly by the war in ukraine. But any solution would mean difficult compromises from all sides. Recently, it led to fights inside parliament. This political turmoil leads us neatly to a final theory on russian influence, that it is used as a Negotiating Tool by the serbian government. If the west are scared of russia, and the local legal ship convinces and the local leadership convinces the west that they are the only one who can keep the russian presence in the country at a level that can be tolerated, then they can get political acquiescence from the west for their own regimes survival here. Is there a point, though, that by using russian interference and the threat of russian interference, and the popularity of russia amongst the population, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, that russia genuinely does become popular and does get influence because it has been played up . There is of course this logic of a double edged sword, whereby playing the russian card can be useful for the local leads, but at the same time it can become a potential impediment and a potential source of vulnerability. This region is, as some like to describe it, europes soft underbelly, a point of vulnerability, because part of europe but not fully there yet. This is a pressure point, they can push here and use that to achieve goals elsewhere . Absolutely. It is evident, and no better proof of this is russias involvement in the kosovo dispute. If you accuse the west of hypocrisy, then of course you score points for being brave enough and Strong Enough to say no to the west, so good optic. However, it is even better over the fact that when you frustrate and undermine the west, while at the same time you have a precedent to invoke in territorial conflicts that happen in the post soviet space. So, what of wagner, the shadowy mercenary so, what of wagner, the shadowy mercenaries rumoured to be active here . Well, know when we spoke to said their influence in serbia went beyond a few murals and links with fringe groups. Then, after we left, the president of kosovo made the extraordinary claim that they were Smuggling Weapons and uniforms for a land grab, as happened in crimea. Days later, far right protesters took to The Streets Of Belgrade. Their leader has been pictured at wagners St Petersburg headquarters. We prefer russian. The serbian president responded by saying they did not need advice from wagner on kosovo, calling the protesters anti serbian. A number of arrests are made, and it was said one man had a sniper rifle. Events are moving in an increasingly unpredictable direction. For now, the only thing of which we can be certain is that russian influence in serbia is on the rise. As for the various theories why. The truth of it is all of these things are interlinked. Whatever the historical reality, many people here do seem to feel a connection with russia, although that probably has more to do with recent past than any glorious history. In the end, that idea does have power. It is utilised, some would say weaponised, by moscow to achieve their ends and frustrate those of the west. That involves poking the open sore that is kosovo. The scars of that conflict, of the nato bombing, can still be seen here in belgrade. The end result is that more people in serbia support russias invasion of ukraine than anywhere else in europe, and that is why young men travel from this country to go and fight in ukraine, and ukrainians, when they come to belgrade, are finding themselves under attack. Friday started off on a stormy note across the half the country, with storm also whipping up the seas, some damaging gusts of winds, many homes across Eastern Scotland without power for a time. In fact, the strongest gust recorded were in excess of 80 mph across parts of Eastern Scotland, but even Northern England soccer gusts in excess of 70, 70 five Miles Per Hour recorded in emley moor. However, the strong winds eased down, and there were some lovely sunny spells as you can see here in edinburgh. Whats in store for the weekend . Some sunshine for many, but we have some rain around to begin with, as this series of Weather Fronts pushing around to begin with, as this series of weatherfronts pushing its around to begin with, as this series of Weather Fronts pushing its way and steadily eastwards into the north sea. We have this Horseshoe Swirl of fronts producing clouds and outbreaks of rain. The first across Southern Scotland and Northern England, and then one down towards the south as well. First thing in the south as well. First thing in the morning, a great start, so leasing away some sunny spells coming through, Blustery Winds, but not quite as strong as friday. The far north of scotland under some crisper, sunnier skies, six or 7 degrees, further south, milder here with highs of 1a celsius. We have this High Pressurejust building as we move into sunday, where the front toppling across the high will mean ace slightly spoiled story across the far north of scotland, with outbreaks of rain and Blustery Winds here. A little more cloud into Northern Ireland and Northern England, but generally a fine, sunny day for much of england and wales, with highs of 13 celsius. That mile theme is set to continue for a few days. Hyped pressure dominates as we start of the week, and that air source is coming all the way from the south west, and you can see how it is dragging on this milder air across the country. Temperatures way above the average for the time of year on monday. With that south westerly, there could be some poor visibility, particularly on west facing coast, some grey cloud and drizzle, and mist and fog at times, outbreaks of showery rain, but tempers and eastern areas with the best of the sunshine could peak at 16 degrees, 61 fahrenheit. Very similar stories we head into tuesday as well, a lot of cloud around, but it is a mild feel, and went on the whole quite light, temperature is around nine to 1a degrees. As you move out of tuesday into wednesday, there is a potentialfor us move out of tuesday into wednesday, there is a potential for us to start to see the first signs of change. This area of low pressure means that the winds will then revert back to more than a northerly direction, enhancing some rain out to the north and west, and slightly cooler air is starting to gain as well. It will take its time in doing so, that this temperature perhaps not quite as high as it has been for the early half of the week. We are looking at around eight to 12 degrees. From wednesday into thursday, that wedge of milder air is set to be pushed away as cold air is set to return, something more seasonal, rather than called, potentially, to close out the latter stages of the week. Low pressure will start to dominate the story, which means we could see showers are longer spells of rain. There is a Question Mark as to whether this High Pressure could influence the story and change the theme a little, but at the moment it looks likely that towards the end of the week and into the following weekend we will see showers are longer spells of rain, and noticeably fresher for all. A spy working at the British Embassy in berlin david smith passed on details of the embassy and its staff for Cash Payments but was finally caught out in an elaborate sting by m15. Smith was motivated by anti uk, pro russian views. He understood that the information he was collecting was damaging to british interests. Also on the programme tonight. A Qatari Consortium bids to buy Manchester United ahead of the deadline which has just passed, meaning there are now two contenders. More questions about lancashire polices decision to disclose personal information about the missing woman Nicola Bulley including from the prime minister. And the Hollywood Star bruce willis is diagnosed with dementia at the age of 67