hello and welcome to bbc news. reports from ukraine say armed soldiers have been going door to door in occupied parts of the country to collect votes for self styled referendums onjoining russia. russian state media says door to door voting is necessary for security reasons. these are the four areas where voting is being held. they include occupied parts of luhansk and donetsk in the east, and zaporizhzhia and kherson, in the south, and cover around 15% of ukraine s territory. the so called referendums have been widely condemned. president biden described them as a sham and a false pretext to try to illegally annex parts of ukraine. our correspondent, james waterhouse, reports from kyiv. russia s version of their so called referendums a free and fair democratic process where ukrainians in kherson decide whether they want tojoin russia. but, on the same spot today in the city centre, it s deserted. ukrainian officials have posted footage like this. apparently, ballots being
these are the four areas where voting is being held. they include occupied parts of luhansk and donetsk in the east, and zaporizhzhia and kherson in the south and cover around 15% of ukraine s territory. the so called referendums have been widely condemned. president biden described them as a sham and a false pretext to try to illegally annex parts of ukraine. our correspondentjames waterhouse reports from kyiv. russia s version of their so called referendums a free and fair democratic process where ukrainians in kherson decide whether they want tojoin russia. but, on the same spot today in the city centre, it s deserted. ukrainian officials have posted footage like this. apparently, ballots being taken door to door with the support of armed men. on this unverified cctv clip, a man is asked what apartment he s from. i don t live here. are you sure? yes, he says. he carries on down without looking over his shoulder. we ve spoken to several people under russian occupati
a british man freed after being held by russian backed forces in ukraine describes how he was stabbed by a russian officer and thought he was going to die in captivity. and from a dead rat to an exploding martini glass. the bbc gets rare access into the cia s secret museum where thousands of exhibits and artefacts mark the agency s 75 year history. hello and welcome to bbc news. voting is under way in italy s general election. polling stations opened two hours ago. opinion polls taken during the campain suggest the country will get its first ever female prime minister, and its first far right leader since mussolini, in giorgia meloni. a win for her party would be expected to see the return of silvio berlusconi and matteo salvini to government, two men who ve had ties to russia s president putin. our rome correspondent mark lowen reports. there are some things that italians agree on they ve got the best coffee and food and many they don t. politics is one of them, and it s
vladimir putin of sending russian conscripts to their death in ukraine by forcing them to fight in the war. a british man freed after being held by russian backed forces in ukraine describes how he was stabbed by a russian officer and thought he was going to die in captivity. hello and welcome to bbc news. voting is under way in italy s general election. polling stations opened two hours ago. 0pinion polls taken during the campain suggest the country will get its first ever female prime minister, and its first far right leader since mussolini, in giorgia meloni. a win for her party would be expected to see the return of silvio berlusconi and matteo salvini to government, two men who ve had ties to russia s president putin. 0ur rome correspondent, mark lowen, reports. there are some things that italians agree on they ve got the best coffee and food and many they don t. politics is one of them, and it s at the fore today in a crunch election. it was sparked injuly when the