plans to invade. several major european airlines are suspending, or reducing, the number of flights to ukraine because of security concerns. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has the latest. it was an astonishing piece of political theatre, played out on russian tv. the protagonist, the president. vladimir putin alone, aloof, like a modern day tsar. the supporting cast, members of russia s powerful security council. i will let you all speak, he said, then we must decide what to do. and one by one, they spoke, all urging president putin to defy kyiv and the west, and officially recognise the pro russia rebel republics in eastern ukraine. we must recognise these republics, the interior minister says, but within their earlier, larger boundaries. the president listened, but looked like a man who d already made up his mind.
in in the town. a practise run taking children down to the bomb shetland e packing them to the rafters. bomb shelter. normally it happens twice a year, today an extra drill as this nation faces a moment of grave danger. extra drill as this nation faces a moment of grave danger. today, russia was celebrating the day of the fatherland, in recognition of the country s armed forces. as president putin orders his troops to advance into ukrainian territory, he maintains that he is always open for direct and honest dialogue with the west. however, france s foreign minister, as well as the us secretary of state, anthony blinken, have now refused to meet the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. russia has also lowered its flag at its embassy in ukraine and begun to evacuate staff. 0ur moscow correspondent caroline davies reports from rostov on don, near the border with donetsk. young voices, singing old melodies.
the new south wales flood emergency. returning to russia s were in ukraine now. during the day in moscow, the kremlin continued to insist that sanctions will not lead to a change of course. the russian leadership insisted again that it was not targeting civilians, despite the rising number of ukrainians known to have died in attacks by russian forces. but it remains unclear how the conflict is viewed by the russian people, and whether they believe the version of events being broadcast by the russian state media. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. from the military chiefs in moscow, no hint of compromise. russia s defence minister says the special military operation in ukraine will continue until mission accomplished. from the politicians here, denials that russia s an aggressor. turns out, it s the west s fault. your country, all european countries, united states, the western civilisation world.
the kremlin continued to insist that western sanctions will not lead to a change of course. the russian leadership insisted again that it was not targeting civilians, despite the rising number of ukrainians known to have died in attacks by russian forces. but it remains unclear how the conflict is viewed by the russian people, and whether they believe the version of events being broadcast by the russian state media. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. from the military chiefs in moscow, no hint of compromise. russia s defence minister says the special military operation in ukraine will continue until mission accomplished. from the politicians here, denials that russia s an aggressor. turns out, it s the west s fault. your country, all european countries, united states,
if you test positive. and the story of how more than 50 people were tricked into working for a fake design agency. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel, novak djokovic gets ready for his first competitive tennis of the year at the dubai tennis championship, as he faces the prospect of slipping from the top of the world rankings. president biden has agreed to a summit with russia s president putin to discuss ukraine although the white house has stressed the talks will only take place if russia does not invade its neighbour. the kremlin has said there are no concrete plans for a summit. russia has massed more than 150,000 troops close to ukraine s borders. despite this, it denies plans to launch a military operation. 0ur moscow correspondent caroline davies is in the rostov region of russia, which borders ukraine. from there she sent this report.