for months, bakhmut has been a key target for russia in the donetsk region, and has been partially destroyed. with no end in sight to the war in ukraine, cities and towns across russia are scaling back on their new year celebrations, cancelling large scale concerts and firework displays. at the same time the russian authorities are using this festive season to promote patriotism and to glorify the armed forces. steve rosenberg reports for the siberian city of chita. at first glance, siberia is a world away from the war in ukraine. but normality is an illusion, because war is changing russia. all of russia. pushing the country in a darker direction. in chita, they re preparing for the ice festival. no santas with reindeers.
various fronts, low pressure still in charge. so some rain, but it should clear through the afternoon. for saturday, the rain comes at night time into sunday morning, so it stays largely unsettled into the weekend. but the temperature still remains exceptionally mild, in the mid to high teens celsius. well, not long now until bonfire night. not all the usual firework displays will be going ahead. we ve got details online on which councils have cancelled events so do take a look. that s it from me. i ll be back in half an hour. now it s back tojon and victoria. good morning. welcome to breakfast withjon kay and victoria valentine. our headlines today. rishi sunak will hold his first cabinet meeting this morning after a major reshuffle of ministers. it comes as he warns
people all over the world bringing in the new year with arise and covid cases looming over the celebration but nonetheless a happy new year. brian is live with more. happy new year, ryan. happy new year to you. not just looming over the celebration but in the room at least here in london, one in 15, at least one in 15 have the virus. hospitalizations in the uk, highest they spent because of covid since january. yet at the stroke of midnight, may my neighborhood erupted in a crescendo of fireworks, people chose to stay home and have their own firework displays, friends and family over and they watched fireworks, the city s fireworks if you will on tv, that s what the mayor asked people to do though watching them in person would have been