comes at a time when russia has lost territory that it controlled there on the ground in battles. ukraine has mounted a counteroffensive in recent weeks that has been very successful and vladimir putin and russia are on the back foot. he is trying to turn things around and draw a line in ukraine and say this isa draw a line in ukraine and say this is a whole new stage in this game, if you like. he is claiming ukrainian territory and is saying to ukraine, stop now, stop there, don t push forward any further. this is russia and if you push i will hit back. he has said he will defend the territory with every means possible, which implies a nuclear threat, he made that very explicit. it is a line in the sand but is coming from a position of weakness and it s important to remember that context. and it risks for him with this move as well, he will be able to go to the russian people and say, we are gaining this territory, in his view, but it brings risks. it gaining this territory, in his vi
fact that they are even inside what russia is about to declare what is russian territory now. at three o clock in moscow vladimir putin will claim this is russia but there are ukrainian forces on the ground in those areas. ukraine has no choice but to carry on because it is occupied and it has said clearly that it will liberate those territories. it has the support of the west. we have heard from president biden and the un secretary general that the referendums were a sham and the annexations will be illegal. at the moment western support is firmly there for ukraine to carry on exactly as it is doing now. sarah rainsford speaking exactly as it is doing now. sarah rainsford speaking to exactly as it is doing now. sarah rainsford speaking to me - exactly as it is doing now. sarahl rainsford speaking to me earlier. exactly as it is doing now. sarah rainsford speaking to me earlier. in a few moments i will speak to the former british ambassador to russia, sir roderic lyne. britain s pr
has to be. actually using nuclear weapons would have massive downsides for russia. i wouldn t like to go into too much detail on that! but it is designed to intimidate people in the west to try to build up the pressure in western public opinion, just as i think threatening western critical infrastructure is, if russia were behind the bombing, the explosions in the gas pipeline, to undermine western support for ukraine. . ~ undermine western support for ukraine. ., ,, , ., , undermine western support for ukraine. ., ,, , . ,, ukraine. thank you very much, sir roderick. at least 19 people have been killed in an explosion outside an education centre in the afghan capital, kabul. officials say the suicide bombing injured another 27 people. the blast targeted students who were preparing for a mock university entrance exam. 0ur south asia correspondent yogita limaye has been giving us the latest.
independence of these territories, he has held, stage managed, faked referendums in those territories which are now asking to be incorporated into russia which he will now sign into effect, but the script has been brushed, is happening at a time when russia doesn t control any of those regions. some of them are mostly controlled but there is fighting ongoing, places like zaporizhzhia and donny x, massive chunks of those territories are so controlled by ukrainian troops. it is a messy process. vladimir putin wants to make this a legal line, you want to say this is russia and if you continue to attack then we have the right to respond with extraordinary force. it s a threat. his escalating this because he doesn t want the word go on forever, he wants to draw a line and scare into stopping. ukraine has said quite clearly it
house, insulation, curtains, draft exposures well worth investing in. holly, thank you very much. do get in touch with what you re doing to save money on energy bills, any tips you want to share, you can get in touch with me on twitter and i can share them with yours. in ukraine 23 civilians have been killed in the southern city of zaporizhzhia after a russian missile struck a convoy of vehicles. that s according to the governor of the province. initial pictures that have started coming in show ambulances arriving at the scene. our correspondent who s just arrived there reports that the victims seem to be civilians. the attack comes just hours before president putin is expected to hold a ceremony to declare that four partially occupied regions including zaporizhzhia where this attack took place over the last couple of hours will become part of russia. the kremlin says luhansk, donetsk, zaporizhzhia and kherson voted overwhelmingly to join russia