In the last few weeks and water levels have dropped alarmingly. Spain has also suffered from the drought. Now on bbc news, ukraine a year on the frontlines. Over the past 30 years or so, ive covered conflicts in the middle east, in the balkans and in africa, but this is unlike anything that i have ever known. This is a war that we did not expect to see in europe in ourtime. There was a sense that the Security Architecture that we knew, the safety, the security that we thought we had since the end of the cold war, that was gone. I was here injanuary and february of last year, counting down to the invasion. I was sure it would come, but it turned out to be even worse than i expected. We were in mariupol, which is a port city in the east. Its only 30 miles from the russian border. But inside the city, there was this surreal atmosphere of calm. And i remember we went to film in a supermarket. There was no panic buying. The shelves were full. We met a lady called tatiana, who was 7a, and very feisty. And i remember she almost seemed angry that we had dared to ask the question will the russians invade . Maybe it was denial. Maybe it was disbelief. Ive thought about her so often since, and id wondered, did she survive . Im a bbc ukrainian bilingual correspondent, and ive been covering the war in my country since its very beginning. On the first day of the russian invasion, i was in kyiv. The bbc� s zhanna bezpiatchuk, whos sheltering with her parents as i speak in a residential suburb in kyiv. For the moment, the whole country, all of ukraine became the front line. At some point, i had to take some breaks between lives and just get out of my home and watch what was happening. If any Missile Strikes were in the air in the skies over kyiv. I wanted very much to do everything that it was possible to at the moment. So i decided to continue reporting. And at the same time, i had this thought in my mind all the time, how to tell parents what to do when we have to evacuate, if we have to flee kyiv. So, that was the beginning of warfor me. One of the things that i realised that its really important to meet your professional commitment as a journalist. I felt that, in fact, all my previous experience with journalism was like a preparation that helped stay focused and be able to do yourjob on this day. What seemed very clear in those early days was that the russians would try hard to get to the capital and to topple the Ukrainian Government and try to achieve a quick victory. So, we set off driving from the east. I remember how empty the roads were. It was a very eerie journey. For long stretches, we were the only thing moving. We went filming at the Northern Edge of the city where there was a Territorial Defence unit. And when we arrived, there was an extraordinary scene. There were a few dozen people of all ages wrapped up in winter coats and woolly hats. A Typical Group of civilians, there could have been a Residents Association meeting, filling bottles with petrol and putting rags in the top. They were all making Molotov Cocktails because people felt that the russians could arrive at the gates of their city at any moment. Thats our country, and thats hurting us a lot. Hard to discuss it. Did you ever think youd find yourself in a situation like this . Never imagined. Nobody imagined like this. When we were filming there, someone caught my eye a young guy with a woolly hat. He looked quite scholarly and, frankly, very out of place, sitting behind a lookout post with a rifle. And we went to speak to him and it turned out that he was a lawyer. A week ago, i was representing my cases in the courtroom, and now. Its difficult to grasp, but if you dont think about it, i and simply do what you have to do it, it actually feels pretty, already, normal. I mean, have you ever held a gun in your hands before . At school, weve trained, uh, to deal with these sort of things, but i have never dealt with it and never even shot a gun or a pistol. I there was a real sense at that time that ukraine and, indeed europe, was being dragged back in time. We were at the edge of the city one day in a forest, and we were watching young men, lines of young men digging trenches with shovels. Chopping down trees, frantically trying to create a line of defence around the city. And its a scene that could have played out and, indeed, did play out in world war i. This could have been the somme, but it was the edge of a European Capital in 2022. You can hear lots of shooting, tear gas coming in. Ive been based in the middle east covering conflicts in iraq, syria, libya for the past ten years. Before that, i was in afghanistan. Ive covered a lot of catastrophes, a lot of wars. Never been to ukraine before. All of that was new, and it was just very different. The raw fear in those early days. Like nothing id ever seen before. Just that overall sense of uncertainty. It was clear when the invasion happened, the scale of russias invasion, that this was something different. It was like a 9 11 moment. This was going to change the world. This would change European Defence policy. It would change European Energy policy. It would change how all of us felt about our collective safety. We set out. At first, we didnt know where we were going to go, but it seemed to make sense to go east. There were no flights, there were still no commercialflights in ukraine. So, you had to drive, and its driving a long way. And in those early days, there were checkpoints everywhere. People were sojumpy, so suspicious, especially of foreigners. It took us a long time to get to kharkiv. We arrived there and there was a ghost city. There were no people on the streets. There was just an abiding sense of fear and terror and an expectation that, at any moment, the city could collapse. One of the first things that happens when were there is we get stopped by the police. We get searched. I get patted down. Other colleagues have been thrown on the ground. Had guns pointed to their heads, because there was that fear of saboteurs everywhere. We spoke to the police and we said, ok, were journalists now. Can we ride along with you at night through the city just to get a sense of whats going on . And we did. A lot of buildings had been destroyed. Hardly anyone on the street, anyone who was on the street was treated with suspicion. You know, i think on the first night, a Cruise Missile took out the building opposite our hotel. Whole building shook. And that was how it was in the early days, just attack after attack. Co nsta nt artillery, Co Nsta Nt Fear and a constant sense of, well, i really dont know whats going to happen. I dont know how long ukraine will manage to hold on here. Having covered the conflict in afghanistan and because of the talibans regime in the 1990s, you expect a level of brutality in that conflict. But i think when i went to cover the war in ukraine, perhaps because it was in europe, perhaps because it involved global powers, you know, it might have been naive of me, but i didnt expect to see the level of brutality that i saw on the ground there. The first time i went to cover the story, it was at a time when Russian Forces had just withdrawn from northern ukraine. And so areas around kyiv that had previously been under russian control were areas that we could access. There were so many stories of civilians being executed, of civilians being tortured, of crimes against women. One of the most distressing stories we covered, i think, was about how this mass of people was held. More than 100 people crammed together in a basement for weeks. The windows were completely sealed shut, so there was no ventilation. It was in a town outside of the Northern City of chernihiv. And i remember as we walked underground, just this stench assailed us. Foul, decaying smell. When i think about it or when i see those pictures again, itsjust, you know, i can smell it again. Those who died in this room, they were mostly elderly people. Ijust. I couldnt make sense of it. I really couldnt make sense of it. What form of torture is this . What are you going to gain out of it . The one thing for me that really stood out about the man that we interviewed and i still remember his name, nicola, and it was just his face, the trauma that was just visible. When we asked him to recount, it was the tears just came streaming down. There are moments in which sort of the senselessness of war strikes you and i think for me, that was one of them. Why were these perfectly ordinary, happy lives destroyed . What for . I remember i was standing amid literally the sea of children and women that were trying to get on buses and trains to poland and other countries. As russias invasion continues, its hard enough for a Single Family to get their kids out of the country. But the task of helping Tens Of Thousands of Vulnerable Children find safety is almost an impossible one. I felt that it was so easy to drown in this huge sea of people. I saw many, many exhausted children around me and, at the same time, it was a sea of pain, despair, fear, and some hope at the same time because, at that time, in march 2022, it was already clear that the ukrainian people, Ukrainian Army, Ukrainian Government opted forfighting for the home and it gives hope that these small children will have an opportunity to regain their home, and i could feel that its a very, very difficult choice for people around, but this is exactly the courage the real courage of people under the most critical circumstances of their life. We drove about half an hour from the centre of kyiv out to the edge of the city, and to a Commuter Town called irpin. A lot of people who worked in kyiv used to live there. And when we arrived, there was an exodus of people desperately trying to get out. You can see the smoke is still rising. You get a sense of what people are fleeing from. Theres a steady stream of people coming here now. Theyre carrying their bags, their suitcases. Some of them have their pets. Theyre taking just what they can carry. And i remember thinking, what would i take if it was me . What would i be grabbing if i had to run out the door with little or nothing . Now, the ukrainians had blown the bridge at the entrance to irpin because if the russians had got that far, they could have literally driven straight down the road into the capital, so the only way out was by foot. It was a very precarious journey. You had to cross an icy river on planks of wood that were balanced on boulders and all the while, the shelling was continuing. People were being targeted as they fled. This is where we saw very clearly that the russians, contrary to what they were claiming, they were targeting civilians and they were targeting civilian areas. Screams. And it was extraordinary to stand there and hear the shelling and feel the biting cold and actually hear screaming and to remind yourself that this was happening in europe in 2022. It was the scale of the russian attack which was overwhelming. Glass smashes. The blunt force that russia was using to smash through neighbourhoods, to get into cities. Get in here get in, get in that blunt force that russia was using was was overwhelming. Ive just never seen anything like it in my life. I mean, ive covered a lot of wars, but not wars where you have that force of artillery, of tank fire. Just beyond this position, theres only open country. And russians. Theyve tried to punch through here again and again and again, and theyve failed. The Ukrainian Armed forces are keeping them at bay. Everything was being thrown towards kharkiv and to civilians and to the people there. Explosion. And russia was saying it was only targeting military installations. That was a lie it was very clear that was a lie. And we knew these were lies because i covered syria for many years and russia helped Bashar Al Assad defeat the revolution in syria, and did that with absolute brutality, without care for civilians that russian playbook we were seeing played out again in ukraine. As a ukrainian and as a journalist, i realised quite fast that this is more than just russias attempts to seize some lands in ukraine or to occupy the ukrainian territories. This is pretty much the existential struggle of ukrainians for themselves, for their future and for their identity. We travelled all across the region of kharkiv that was retaken by the Ukrainian Army in september 2022, with their successful counter offensive. We spoke to really brave teachers, educators. They told us Terrifying Stories of tortures for refusal to teach in russian and to teach their schoolchildren that they are not ukrainians any more. I spoke to the School Director and when we arrived in her house, she burst into tears and she told me, now i feel that my pain, my choice and my life really matter because my story will be told. So, at that point, it became so clear that beneath bombardments, shelling, attacks from air, from land, from sea, there is also a big identity battle, and ukrainians really have to defend their own identity in this war with russia. When we went to kherson late december, i think it became pretty clear for us quite quickly that, you know, what weve seen about it before in the from november onwards from when it was liberated was really the stories ofjubilation, of people saying, yeah, were still under attack, but well endure this. But then, we were there on a day when, according to ukrainian official numbers, 41 mortars landed in the city of kherson. You know, we cant verify that because we didnt count it but we were there and it was continuous. This is a constant sound that we hear in kherson of Artillery Fire Being exchanged. This city is essentially now pretty much on the front line, close to the river, which has become the de facto front line in the south. Behind me, actually, is where an explosion took place just over an hour ago. Five people were killed here, 20 were injured. Its not a very big city, so wherever you are in the city, you kind of hear it quite loud and i think, really, the spirit of that city where it was, like, you know, we can endure the cold, we can endure having no power, we can endure having no Running Water and then suddenly, when you are shelled a0 times in a single day, many people, their spirit broke, and theyjust decided they want to leave and we saw that happen literally in front of our eyes in a matter of few hours. Right at the beginning, we met this young man. He was with the National Guard then. Eugene gromadskyi. Fighting for his country. Fighting for his survival. And one of the first things i heard when i met him was that his father had been killed a few days earlier as they fought to push back the russians. Eugene would eventually be awarded the Hero Of Ukraine award from president zelensky for his bravery that day for keeping back the russians. And, you know, one of the interesting things in this war is because ukraine has held on and because people have, by and large, managed to stay in place, weve been able to keep in contact with them. So, at the end of last year, we revisited eugene and he is transformed. Hes gone from this young lad wearing Training Shoes to a fully fledged soldier whos been battling for his life. Hes seen his comrades die and hes Battle Hardened in every sense. Battle scarred, too. There have been a lot of casualties in this war. Youve lost a lot of people. Do you fear death . And thats an interesting transformation because its a transformation that ukraine has undergone. Its changed its economy. Its changed how how people live their lives. And the terror from the russian bombing campaign, whether its missiles or artillery, still exists there. But underneath all of that, theres a determination. Its our country. We wont give it up. Its ourfamilies. Its our land. We are not going to give up this fight. I was observing that dense, black, smoke billowing over the horizon of the city when suddenly, i spotted the young couple newly married couple in the empty street of lviv. And it was very gloomy, it was almost twilight, and you could feel uncertainty and danger in the air. You can feel that even amid this horror and terror, life and love are winning over this. Now were a year in, the world is still paying attention, the west is still sending weapons, but you have to wonder how long is that focus going to stay here if there is no major breakthrough this year, in 2023 . And that is a real fear that people here have that the longer the war grinds on, the less the outside world will be paying attention. Weve been there through all seasons. We arrived in the midst of winter, the snow on the ground, it was freezing cold. Then, there was the thaw of spring. Then, the sunflowers were planted and then, we saw them grow. And then, we saw the sunflowers rot on the stalks, not harvested because the russian aggression was still happening. And well go back again and then, it will be another cycle, another four seasons. And you wonder how many winters, summers, springs, autumns will ukraine have to endure before this war is over . Hello there. Were starting off with the weather news that february was a very dry month across the whole of the uk, but particularly so in england. The driest in england for 30 years, and parts of essex only had 3. 5 millimetres of rain for the whole month. Now, this is the Satellite Picture from wednesday. You can see the extent of the cloud across the uk, but look closely, weve got some clearer skies set to head into Northwest Scotland and some clearer skies over the continent that are set to break the cloud across east anglia, the South Midlands and southern counties of england as well. Whereas this thick cloud out in the north sea, thats going to continue to bring outbreaks of rain over the next few hours. Light and patchy stuff across the south and east of scotland and northern england. So, certainly some pretty damp weather here, albeit the rain not particularly heavy. Now where the skies do clear, were looking at a widespread frost towards the southeast east. Lowest temperatures about 2 and down to about 4 in the Highlands Of Scotland in the coldest spots. Now, well take a look at the charts then for thursday. Remember, weve got that much thicker cloud across northern england, southern eastern scotland. Still some patches of light rain to come through the morning, so quite a damp start to the day. Best of the sunshine across southern england, the South Midlands, Southern Wales and also north west scotland, and maybe some breaks in the cloud getting into Northern Ireland at times. Temperatures not really changing much, in what weve seen over recent days, 8 to 10 degrees, but feeling cooler than that in the chilly Northeasterly Wind that weve still got. I think on friday, by and large, it should be a dry and bright day for most of us, with some sunny spells breaking through at times. Temperatures not really changing a great deal, were looking at highs again around 8 or 9 degrees celsius or so. Now, there will be some changes in the Weather Pattern as we head into this weekend. What were looking at on saturday is probably a bit more cloud coming back in from the north sea and sunday, the cloud thickens further to bring us some patchy outbreaks of light rain. And, so, probably a dry day on saturday, bright conditions sunday, the chance of a few patches of rain from time to time, but nothing particularly heavy. Beyond that, the weather gets a bit more interesting into next week. What happens is we get northerly winds bringing polar Air Southwards across the uk, and with that therell be a significant drop in temperatures, well see a return of widespread night time frost. Will be a bit of sunshine around, but, also, for some of us, were looking at a return of wintry weather with snow in the forecast for some of you. Thats the latest. Welcome to bbc news. Im lisa marie misztak. Our top stories was it a lab leak after all . The fbi says its most likely covid originated in this facility in china. More than a0 dead after two trains collide in greece. Its been described as the worst Rail Disaster the countrys ever seen. Theres grief and anger protests take place over a rail Network Demonstrators say has been neglected for years. We could be on the verge of a water crisis the french governments warning as europes Winter Drought goes on. And canadian Popstar Justin bieber cancels the remaining dates of his World Tour Due to health issues