we're live in ukraine, on the day vladimir putin says his invasion, was designed to protect russia. during the victory day parade in moscow, marking the defeat of nazi germany, he made false claims alleging western aggression. translation: preparations - were openly under way for another punitive operation in donbas, and an invasion of our historic lands, including crimea. and, one of britain's biggest energy companies tells ministers to take £1,000 off household bills this winter. coming up in sport on the bbc news channel. sheffield wednesday and sunderland fight it out for a place in the leaguei play—off sunderland fight it out for a place in the league 1 play—off final. good evening. 0n the eve of the state opening of parliament, buckingham palace has announced that the queen has decided not to attend because of what they call �*mobility problems�*. the queen's speech, outlining the government's programme for the yeasr ahead, will be read tomorrow by the prince of wales with prince william also in attendance. it will be the first time in nearly 60 years that the queen will have missed the opening of a new session of parliament at westminster. as our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports, her majesty, who'sjust celebrated her 96th birthday, has had to cancel a number of recent public appearances. it is the most important constitutional duty she performs as monarch, opening a new session of parliament. the queen has only been absent from the state opening on two occasions, in the early part of her reign when she was pregnant. but tonight, the palace confirmed that she would not be there tomorrow. in a statement, the palace said... most unusually, the regency act of 1937 has been invoked to empower the prince of wales and the duke of cambridge as counsellors of state to represent the queen. the prince of wales will read the queen's speech, written, of course, by the government. how are you? well, as you can see, i can't move. but the queen has had difficulties walking, as has been evident for some months now. she's been seen several times using a stick, this is sandringham in february. but quite what the palace means by its phrase "episodic mobility problems" is unclear. officials will not define what those problems are other than to say they are a continuation of the issues she's encountered since last autumn. that there has been a change in her general health is apparent. it began last october on the evening of the 19th of october, the queen was at a reception at windsor castle. the following day, she cancelled the trip to northern ireland and was taken by road into hospital in london, where she spent one night. no reason has ever been given. so, should we be concerned? people had seen her recently and apparently she is on very good form, but listen, she is 96 years old. she's been through an awful lot of difficulties recently, and at least the death of her husband last year. she's been at the centre of the nations affairs for more than 70 years. this was the first state opening of her reign in 1952. tomorrow, the queen will be absent from the state opening due to reasons of health, but the palace sources say she's looking forward to her platinum jubilee and hopes to take part in as much of it as possible. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says he will resign if he's fined by police , for breaking lockdown rules. durham police, who've faced mounting calls from conservative mps and parts of the press, have said they're looking again at a meeting which took place in the city in april last year, where sir keir had curry and beer during an election campaign visit. sir keir said today he was �*absolutely clear that no rules were broken�*. the labour leader has repeatedly called for borisjohnson and rishi sunak to resign, after they were fined for breaking lockdown rules in downing street. sir keir said his readiness to resign was a matter of principle and integrity, in contrast, he said, to the prime minister. 0ur political editor chris mason has the story. the questions had dogged him all weekend. mr starmer, will you resign? dogged him again this morning and were not going to stop. on friday, durham police said it would reopen an investigation into this — sir kier starmer having a beer and a curry. his deputy, angela rayner, was there too, as were party workers last april. the labour leader has always said he didn�*t break the covid rules in place. but today, he placed his political career in the hands of the police. if the police decide to issue me with a fixed penalty notice, i would, of course, do the right thing and step down. what a roll of the dice. it�*s intention is clear, to draw a big contrast with borisjohnson. we�*ve seen 50 fines in downing street, we�*ve seen a prime minister who won�*t step down, we are not all the same. i am different, and i�*ve sent out today how i am different. it was a day�*s campaigning here in durham last year, and what he�*s decided to say since, that has left the labour leader in an almighty mess. his team insist they didn�*t break any covid rules because they were working, but kier starmer was very quick to demand borisjohnson stood down when police decided to investigate lockdown parties in downing street. the british public aren�*t fools, they never believed a word of it. they think the prime minister should do the decent thing and resign. of course, he won�*t, because he is a man without shame. would you agree with me that british food and drink is the best in the world? today, borisjohnson�*s mind was also on catering. the bunting was out in downing street as was the prime minister promoting british businesses. he broke the law, was fined for it, and there may be more to come. so his colleagues aren�*t calling for kier starmer to resign, but they are calling him a hypocrite. he made a great deal of the fact that there were other investigations on other people under way when he probably knew all the time that he may also have potentially come under investigation himself. mr starmer, is this gamble going to pay off? kier starmer hopes by putting his career on the line, it will put the pressure back on borisjohnson. the police and durham have a very big call to make. this might look like a huge gamble from keir starmer but the alternative might be worse. they would havejudged him and his colleagues in cabinet would have investigated him and he hopes it will define him and his character if he isn�*t fined, people will see, in his view, he is honest and trustworthy. but, if he is fine, we know he will be gone, the man he was gunning for the prime ministerfor months on end over covid rule breaking, could be the most high—profile victim ofjust that. we know sir keir will be in the comments and they will be debating the content of the queen�*s speech, what do we know about that? the content of the queen's speech, what do we know about that? plenty of re . alia what do we know about that? plenty of regalia and _ what do we know about that? plenty of regalia and fancy _ what do we know about that? plenty of regalia and fancy dress _ what do we know about that? plenty of regalia and fancy dress and - of regalia and fancy dress and prince charles reading out on the government�*s behalf from several pieces of fine paper. there will be 38 bills, planned new laws from the government tomorrow. a chance to reset and a chance to focus on the domestic agenda from all of the focus on covid and the war in ukraine. in big picture terms, there will be a lot of focus on the cost of living crunch, also this desire to soak all level up, focus on part of the country that feel they have been ignored and also to try and make the most of what they see as the benefits of brexit. the general election will be two years are but ministers will be well aware they have to be shown to be delivering right now. have to be shown to be delivering riaht now. , ., , have to be shown to be delivering riahtnow. , ., , ., right now. chris mason, many thanks. there will be — right now. chris mason, many thanks. there will be full _ right now. chris mason, many thanks. there will be full coverage _ right now. chris mason, many thanks. there will be full coverage of - right now. chris mason, many thanks. there will be full coverage of the - there will be full coverage of the state 0pening there will be full coverage of the state opening of parliament on bbc one. join me at10.30 state opening of parliament on bbc one. join me at 10.30 tomorrow 0ne. join me at 10.30 tomorrow morning. now to the war in ukraine, and over to clive myrie, who is in the ukraianian capital, kyiv, tonight. thanks, huw, good evening from a city and a country, where all eyes were on moscow today — and the much anticipated speech from vladimir putin in red square. the russian leader addressed the huge victory day military parade, saying russian troops fighting here in ukraine, were "defending the motherland". he said the invasion of this country was necessary and had been provoked by the west. but he didn�*t make any major announcement related to the war or suggest when or how it might end. the victory day parade commemorates the anniversary of the defeat of nazi germany in 1945 and is also an annual reminder of the kremlin�*s military might. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports now from moscow. it is the annual pomp to showcase russian power. across red square they marched, thousands of soldiers, in a parade marking a glorious victory — the defeat of nazi germany. but today there is no peace. vladimir putin has invaded ukraine. back from there, parading too, paratroopers — who moscow says took part in the russian offensive. a war of conquest, says the west. the kremlin disagrees. translation: the defence of our motherland, - when its destiny was at stake, has always been sacred. as in the past, you, our soldiers, are today fighting for our people in donbas, for the security of our motherland, for russia. on display — lots of firepower. and yet in ukraine, moscow has suffered military setbacks. what russia does next isn�*t clear. you can march thousands of soldiers across red square, you can parade your very latest military hardware. but that does not automatically make you an internationally recognised superpower. the point is that the kremlin�*s decision to attack ukraine has sparked global condemnation and sanctions — and is turning russia into a pariah. and that has consequences. doused with paint, russia�*s ambassador to poland at a soviet military cemetery today. the crowd is calling the russian officials "fascists". moscow has launched an official complaint. and there were individual protests in russia. the sign says, "no to the new war." it wasn�*t up for long. others came to victory day events with signs that said, "this isn�*t what they fought for." and what about those who fought in world war ii? maria sidorova, who is 100 years old, said all she wants is peace. "the war i fought in, we understood, but this war now, well, maybe i�*m old, but there�*s something not quite right about it." "i hope it ends soon." vladimir putin wants russians to believe the decisions he takes are right. this giant victory day event portrayed him as the father of the nation. but in a system built around one man, if he gets it wrong that is dangerous. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. ukraine�*s president zelensky has released his own video message commemorating the victory over nazi germany, saying his country will win its war with russia. much of the fighting here is taking place in the east and south of the country, with russia�*s defence ministry saying 200 targets have been hit today, mainly in the donbas region, the former industrial heartland that hugs the border with russia. but despite the attacks, the russian offensive overrall appears to have stalled in the east, with reports of heavy losses. the bbc�*s andrew harding has sent us this report from eastern ukraine, and a warning — it contains pictures you may find distressing. a quiet village in the donbas is saying farewell to ivan naduti. killed by a scrap of russian shrapnel. the 30—year—old builder volunteered to fight the day after putin�*s invasion. his wife begged him not to go. now his father is lost in grief. but something else is stirring in this village and across this region. a burning sense of defiance. "he was defending freedom for every one of us," says a village elder, his lip trembling. "glory to our heroes." a lonely ukrainian warplane thunders overhead. the front lines are just a town away to the north. and a defiant blitz spirit is growing here too, as the bombs fall at random in places like kramatorsk. seizing this corner of eastern ukraine, with its close ties to russia, was supposed to be an easier task for the kremlin�*s blundering army. but the blundering goes on. "my shop is hardly a strategic target," says lilia, with contempt. and all this is stiffening the resolve of ukrainian soldiers. we met this tank unit, holding their ground at a spot where russia has been trying to break through. they badly need better equipment, but they have other strengths. we are unity. we fight for our independence from russia. russian soldiers fight for money. they�*re not motivated as we. the russians have been pounding these front—line positions for weeks now, but the big picture here in the donbas is that the kremlin�*s offensive has largely stalled. they have taken hardly any significant towns, and the ukrainians are making them pay a heavy price for every scrap of land. further out, in no—man�*s land, ukrainian volunteers collect the abandoned bodies of russian soldiers. too many to count, according to alexei. "i can�*t see how the russian army can keep going, it�*s losing so many men," he says. "i don�*t understand this madness." back at the village, ivan�*s father is still inconsolable. but his widow brings their five—year—old son to the graveside. "he was a stubborn man and a good man," she tells us, sounding resolute now, as the struggle for the donbas grinds on. andrew harding, bbc news, in eastern ukraine. let�*s get a final thought from our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, who�*s in the central ukrainian city of dnipro. lyse, we all thought we�*d get greater clarity about what could lie ahead in this war from vladimir putin�*s speech. but we�*re all left guessing about his true war aims, the parameters of the fighting, and what victory would look like for russia. us, from the very beginning, this invasion of the president putin�*s war, so it has been a guessing game from the start, what does he want? and that is why there has been so much attention on this speech, but such as the uncertainty about his plans is that it appeared from, well, today he will declare this a war instead of a special military operation, no, he will declare victory and bring it to an end. all we know is that he has said it was going according to plan, and perhaps where we are, in dnipro, can give you a snapshot of the wall. refugees arriving here by the day, ntas, speaking of living in basements for months, houses destroyed and loved ones lost as the russian onslaught gets ever worse. but also this is a city where, just days ago, cruise missiles slammed into the centre of this logistics hub, reminding ukrainians that nowhere is safe, so while even the donbas is the priority, president putin wants to keep this whole country on edge. and perhaps it was best summed up by one soldier we met, he said, when we see what has happened in mariupol, which no longer exists, we feel, he says, both pain as well as pride, but most of all a determination to keep fighting, harderthan of all a determination to keep fighting, harder than ever. {lilia fighting, harder than ever. 0k, thank you. _ fighting, harder than ever. 0k, thank you, lyse, _ fighting, harder than ever. 0k, thank you, lyse, lyse - fighting, harderthan ever. 0k, thank you, lyse, lyse doucet, our chief international correspondent. make no mistake — in the mind of vladimir putin, this victory day wasn�*tjust supposed to celebrate the defeat of nazi germany, it was also supposed to celebrate the capitulation of ukraine. the parade we saw in red square was supposed to have been mirrored here, in kyiv�*s maidan, or independence square. but russia isn�*t winning this war, so there was no victory for vladimir putin to announce. and now president biden hasjust signed the military lend—lease act to fast—track us weapons shipments to ukraine. what could that mean for mr putin and next year�*s victory day parade? that�*s it from me and the team here in kyiv. now back to huw for the rest of the day�*s news. clive, many thanks. and thanks to the rest of the team there in ukraine. in belfast, talks are being hosted by the northern ireland secretary, brandon lewis, with leaders of the five main political parties to try to break the latest deadlock. in last week�*s assembly elections, sinn fein won a majority of the seats for the first time. it means they are now entitled to nominate a first minister, but that depends on the second largest party, the dup, or democratic unionists, nominating a deputy. the dup says it�*s not prepared to move unless all trade barriers between northern ireland and the rest of the uk are removed. the barriers are part of the brexit protocol agreed by borisjohnson. our ireland correspondent chris page has the latest. michelle o�*neill has the keys to the first minister�*s office, but she can�*t unlock the door unless her political rivals become her partners. applause. the sinn fein vice—president is in line to be the first irish nationalist to take the job. it would be a hugely symbolic moment for the party, which wants northern ireland to leave the uk. it�*s time for us all, as political leaders, to have the courage to step forward with unity of purpose and determination, to deliver a stable power—sharing coalition, one that works, and mostly one that delivers. the people want government, and we all want change, and i am committed to both. but the democratic unionist party is committed to changing the brexit trading arrangements, which it says have created an economic barrier in the irish sea. the northern ireland protocol means certain goods, such as some food shipments, are inspected when they arrive here from great britain. the arrangement was put in place to keep open the border with the republic of ireland. it�*s the only land frontier between the uk and the eu, and brussels wants to prevent any products which aren�*t in line with eu standards from reaching the european single market. the dup believes the protocol weakens northern ireland�*s links to england, scotland and wales and says there will be no devolved government unless it�*s scrapped. i�*m not going to say one thing to the electorate and the day after, the election do a volte—face. i�*m not going to do that. i gave my word, i sought a mandate on the basis of sorting out the protocol. i�*m committed to doing that. the sooner it happens, the better. the dup is hoping its stance will put pressure on borisjohnson to take action to remove the protocol on his own, if he can�*t reach an agreement with the eu that deals with unionists�* concerns. but other parties here at stormont have accused the dup of holding the people of northern ireland to ransom. the irish prime minister has denied a claim by london that the eu is being inflexible about how the trade border should work. we do hear the concerns from unionism and from other quarters in relation to the operation of the protocol, but it is our view that those concerns can be addressed. the fallout from brexit has had profound political effects in northern ireland. for now, politicians are out of power. no—one can be sure when, or even if, this will be a place of government again. chris page, bbc news, stormont. the prime minister of sri lanka, mahinda rajapaksa, has resigned, faced with mass protests at the government�*s handling of the country�*s economic crisis. the island has been placed under curfew, after violent clashes between rajapaksa supporters and anti—government protesters in colombo. protests against soaring prices and energy shortages started last month, as our south asia correspondent rajini vaidnayathan reports. an island nation sinking fast. an explosion of anger after weeks of anti—government protests. as the two sides came face—to—face, supporters of the prime minister attacked the south are peaceful demonstrators who were calling for the government to go. they accuse the police of failing them. as you can say, these scenes are extremely tense here. this is outside the prime minister, mahinda rajapaksa�*s house. violence once plagued this nation, during decades of civil war. now an economic emergency has left millions struggling to survive. it economic emergency has left millions struggling to survive.— struggling to survive. it shouldn't be happening _ struggling to survive. it shouldn't be happening in _ struggling to survive. it shouldn't be happening in this _ struggling to survive. it shouldn't be happening in this country. - struggling to survive. it shouldn't| be happening in this country. they want bloodshed again in this country, no gas, no food under various essential medications, and people are suffering, and people are living with one meal per day. can you imagine? iam living with one meal per day. can you imagine? i am so sorry to say this. as. you imagine? i am so sorry to say this. �* . .,, you imagine? i am so sorry to say this. �* . ., you imagine? i am so sorry to say this. a cost of living crisis after a pandemic _ this. a cost of living crisis after a pandemic has _ this. a cost of living crisis after a pandemic has brought - this. a cost of living crisis after - a pandemic has brought thousands to the streets. they blame the government for reckless borrowing, ill timed tax cuts, and a failed experiment in organic farming which has driven food shortages. political heavyweights in sri lanka, prime minister mahinda rajapaksa and his brother, the president, gotabaya, have ruled sri lanka on and off for decades. now the man once known as the country�*s lion has quit. addressing his faithful one last time, mahinda rajapaksa, who has also served as both president and finance minister, is stepping aside to make way for an all—party government. these protesters have just found out that sri lanka�*s prime minister, mahinda rajapaksa, has resigned. it is a big moment for them. they have been calling for the prime minister and the president, who remains in power, to quit over this economic crisis. tonight, the home of a government mp was set alight by protesters. until president gotabaya rapaksa resigns, he and his party will continue to feel the heat. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, colombo. the head of scottishpower is calling on the government to give 10 million households £1,000 each towards their energy bills by october. the supplier warns that 40% of households are heading for fuel poverty this winter, with average energy bills set to rise by over £2,500 a year. the chancellor of the exchequer, rishi sunak, has repeated that people will have to wait until the autumn for any further government help, as our business editor, simonjack, reports. gerard barwick, like millions of other energy consumers, is looking at soaring bills with dismay. he can�*t see how he can afford another rise this winter. we�*ve already cut back on not using as much heating, not using as much electricity. now, come october, they expect you to pull out another £1,000. you�*re already looking at an empty purse, and you cannot pull any more money out of an empty purse. the price cap was introduced in early 2019 to ensure customers weren�*t overcharged. it stayed relatively stable until soaring wholesale prices saw it shoot up to nearly £2,000 this april, and scottishpower estimate that it could hit 2,900 this october, which would see workers on average salaries spending 10% of their take—home pay on energy. that is one definition of fuel poverty and would include ten million households. keith anderson wants £1,000 knocked off their bills, paid for by adding £40 to all bills over the next ten years. ten million households, that is notjust people on benefits orjust people requiring government support. that is average income, average families, who will be suffering real issues with debt and real issues with the ability to heat their home by october. some might describe this as self—serving lobbying to ensure companies like his get paid, but he insisted energy retailers could not continue to lose hundreds of millions of pounds. we can't subsidise the energy sector forever, and that's what we have been doing. last year, we were clearly subsidising our customers' bills. this year, we're subsidising customers' bills. there's a limit as to how long that can go on before you run out of money doing it _ the government has already provided some support. there was £150 council tax rebate for most households from april, and there will be £200 knocked off all bills come october, but that money will have to be repaid over the following years. but there is widespread acknowledgement both outside and within government that more help will be needed if households are to withstand another crippling rise in energy bills this winter. the treasury has said it wants to wait to see how high prices rise before deciding what to do. speaking today, the chancellor gave his clearest signal yet that targeted help is coming. we can do things to support people, and we are going to do what we can to ease the burden. i wish i could make it completely go away, but i can�*t. but where we can make a difference, particularly for those who really need our help, that�*s what we�*re going to do, that�*s what we have done, and we will continue to do so. but scottishpower warned that if the chancellor wants industry help to head off a winter crisis, he needs to act soon. simon jack, bbc news. before we go, a tale of birthday generosity designed to cheer people up after the events of the past few years. paul heaton, who formed the band the housemartins in hull in the 1980s, decided his 60th birthday was a good moment to do something different. so he put money behind the bar at 60 pubs, so that regulars could have a drink on him, as our correspondent danny savage reports. he sang about happy hour — now he�*s creating one for real. # it's happy houragain... # paul heaton today put £1000 behind the bar of 60 pubs to mark his 60th birthday. it's been really, really good, it's been really busy, and it's really good for the community.