singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. we start with a notable increase in military activity increase in military activity in the southern and eastern ukraine. the ukrainian armed forces say they ve launched several attacks, forces say they ve launched severalattacks, but forces say they ve launched several attacks, but the russians insist there attacks have been repelled. russian officials are claiming that their troops have succeeded in blocking attacks around donetsk, luhansk and zaporizhzhia. the ukrainian attack on donetsk was set to be on a significant scale, but the eastern city of bakhmut is described as the epicentre of hostilities, where ukraine s ground forces are set to be moving forward strongly against russian positions. in the moment, we will have the latest from moscow, but there is to keep, and our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse. shhh. in a war of words, a call for quiet from kyiv. shhh. when it comes to its an
this is bbc news. it s newsday. hi there, thank you for being with us. we start with the notable increase in military activity, in southern and eastern ukraine. the ukrainian armed forces say they ve launched several attacks, but the russians insist those attacks have been repelled. russian officials are claiming that their troops have succeded in blocking attacks around donetsk, luhansk, and zaporizhzhia the ukrainian attack on donetsk was said to be on a significant scale. but the eastern city of bakhmut is described as the epicentre of hostilities , where ukraine s ground forces are said to be moving forward strongly against russian positions. in a moment, we ll have the latest from moscow but first to kyiv, and our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse. shh. in a war of words, a call for quiet from kyiv. when it comes to its anticipated counteroffensive, ukraine has certainly revelled in trying to confuse russia. this video came with the caption plans love silence
for a century, the fragile, 600 year old painting had been kept in stable conditions in moscow s tretyakov gallery. but the kremlin ordered its transfer to the church. lev lifshits was part of a group of experts who d advised against that, fearing major damage to a unique work of art. translation: this decision i was someone s personal whim. the gallery s restoration council was categorically against this. this is a political decision. those in power here are looking to the heavens and hoping for help from above. or at least for help from the church in continuing tojustify russia s war in ukraine. translation: this icon returns to the church at a time - when our fatherland is confronting massive enemy forces. it returns so that
here has sparked controversy. for a century, the fragile 600 year old painting had been kept in stable conditions in moscow s tretyakov gallery. but the kremlin ordered its transfer to the church. lev lifshits was part of a group of experts who d advised against that, fearing major damage to a unique work of art. translation: this decision i was someone s personal whim. the gallery s restoration council was categorically against this. this is a political decision. those in power here are looking to the heavens and hoping for help from above. or at least for help from the church in continuing to justify russia s war in ukraine. translation: this icon returns to the church . at a time when our fatherland is confronting